Once the location of a Jedi temple, Chespea was a world covered in forests. In the year 230 BBY, the Nihil launched an attack against the temple, obliterating it along with all the Jedi inside. This act, a shocking display of anti-Jedi aggression, reverberated throughout the Jedi Order. This event, synchronized with an attack on the planet Banchii, strategically diverted Galactic Republic resources away from the Starlight Beacon space station, leading Chancellor Lina Soh to understand the Nihil's ongoing danger. During the Imperial Era, Luke Skywalker, a Jedi hopeful, possessed a list mentioning Chespea among other Jedi sites.
A planet within the Galactic Republic, Chespea was a terrestrial world densely covered in forests. Its location was situated several hyperspace jumps distant from the Eiram system in the Outer Rim.
During the High Republic Era in 230 BBY, Jedi Master Imgree was in charge of the temple situated on Chespea. The Jedi Knights stationed at this temple operated with greater autonomy compared to those on other planets; Imgree had never once communicated with the Jedi Temple located on Coruscant. However, Nihil pirates descended upon the planet with the intention to destroy the Chespea Temple below, sending a clear message of ruthless intent to the Jedi Order.
This assault was strategically coordinated with a parallel attack targeting the planet Banchii. The Nihil aimed to draw away support from the Republic's Starlight Beacon space station, given the considerable hyperspace distance separating the worlds from it. Imgree directed her Padawan to make contact with Coruscant for the first time, not to request assistance, but to report their impending doom. This message was barely transmitted before the temple's destruction, resulting in the death of all present Jedi. Approximately one hundred other inhabitants of Chespea witnessed the arrival of the Nihil starships, but as the Nihil had no interest in them, they were left unharmed.
News of the Chespea tragedy reached Chancellor [Lina Soh](/article/lina_soh], who was deeply troubled and recognized the ongoing threat posed by the Nihil. The Jedi High Council responded by deploying Jedi to Chespea to investigate the devastation. They also ensured that other temples were informed of the attack and prepared with defenses. Stellan Gios, the Jedi marshal of Starlight Beacon, later deduced the coordinated nature of the Chespea and Banchii attacks, realizing the strategic significance of the chosen targets. Shortly thereafter, Jedi Master Elzar Mann was compelled to deprioritize Chespea, choosing to concentrate on the pressing issues at Starlight Beacon. He believed that their focus should be on refugees seeking shelter on the station due to Nihil attacks, while Padawan Bell Zettifar was more preoccupied with a disturbance in the Force that the Jedi had been sensing. Jedi Master Harli Cogra referenced the Chespea attack in the seventh chapter of the publication Chronicles of the Jedi, within a section dedicated to the crisis at the world Eiram and beyond in 229 BBY, in the context of discussing Nihil attacks.
Centuries later, sometime between 3 ABY and 4 ABY, [Luke Skywalker](/article/luke_skywalker], a rebel and aspiring Jedi, came into possession of a list written in Aurebesh detailing potential Jedi locations. This list, obtained from the Galactic Empire, was assumed by Skywalker to represent sites that had been ravaged and destroyed. Chespea was included on this list, marked with a line through it.
Chespea received its initial mention in a hologram featured in the nineteenth issue of Marvel Comics' Star Wars comic series, penned by Charles Soule and released on December 8, 2021. The planet then made its debut appearance in the 2022 novel The Fallen Star, written by Claudia Gray as part of Phase I of the Star Wars: The High Republic multimedia initiative.