Christophsis

Christophsis, situated on the major Corellian Run hyperlane and in proximity to Rodia, was the only habitable planet in the Christoph system within the Savareen sector's Outer Rim. As it orbited its star, Christoph, accompanied by its single moon, the Outer Rim world of Christophsis possessed a temperate climate and terrestrial terrain. The world was well-known for the beauty of its surrounding asteroid belts—the Barren, the Hammers, and the Halo—but its location near the asteroids made it susceptible to stray rocks. While the planet imported some foodstuffs, the system's asteroid belts were rich in raw materials. The planet exported artwork and industrial products, among other things.

The surface of Christophsis was covered in massive green-blue hexagonal crystals, which could be used as lightsaber crystals. The inhabitants of Christophsis made use of the natural spires, constructing cities within and around the crystalline formations, utilizing the crystals' solid structures for support. The size of the world's buildings often depended on the size of their supporting crystals. Some of the world's cities were so large that they could be seen from space. Occasionally, solar storms would pass through the upper atmosphere of Christophsis.

Ruled by a mercantile oligarchy, Christophsis's asteroid belts were both visually appealing and hazardous to those attempting to profit from mining them for thousands of years. The belts were unpredictable, and stray rocks frequently reached Christophsis, often with destructive consequences. Around 600 BBY, a family of Tepasi nobles invested in transforming the star system into a viable mining operation. Over a century, the native Christophsian inhabitants employed Givin mathematicians to chart the courses of numerous asteroids, eliminating those that posed a threat to their homeworld. The Christophsians also contracted Verpine technologists to improve starship and mining technologies for work in the dangerous asteroid belts.

Despite the significant expense, the Christophsians' investment in the aliens' services proved beneficial when repositories of chanlon, hfredium, quadrillium, and Nergon-14 minerals were discovered to be abundant in the surrounding asteroids. The Christophsians, unwilling to share their valuable materials with their collaborators, hired skilled Vippit lawyers to disenfranchise their Givin and Verpine partners. The planet's inhabitants renamed the system to "Christoph" in their own honor, and the system's richness in raw materials eventually transformed it into a mining haven. The world's natural crystals were also used as exports.

By the time of the galaxy-wide Clone Wars, the mining expertise and manipulation of mineral markets by the Christophsis oligarchs had earned them grudging admiration from the rest of the galaxy. However, they were also viewed with suspicion due to their secrecy and self-absorption. High-ranking members of the Mining Guild who visited the system were rarely invited to Christophsis itself, instead being received in the Halo's utilitarian space habitats. The Christophsians' ways became so developed that the planet's populace was rumored to live luxurious lives and enslave Rodian and Kerkoiden immigrants and lower-caste Humans. The city of Chaleydonia, more commonly known as Crystal City, served as the capital of Christophsis.

In 22 BBY, after the Clone Wars began, the Confederacy of Independent Systems invaded Christophsis, aiming to force the crystalline planet to join their cause. The oligarchy abandoned the population, and General Whorm Loathsom of the Retail Caucus, a conglomerate of the Confederacy, ordered the planet's inhabitants to submit to Separatist rule via a massive holotransmission. At some point following the Confederacy's invasion, a squad of clone troopers was dispatched to Christophsis to retrieve datapacks before the Separatists could acquire them.

As the Christophsians unsuccessfully defended their home against the Separatist Droid Army, they appealed to the Jedi High Council for assistance. A faction of the Grand Army of the Republic was dispatched under the command of Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to liberate the Outer Rim world. By the time the Jedi had broken through the Separatist blockade surrounding Christophsis and landed their ground troops on the planet, the civilian population had already fled. The Republic forces landed in Crystal City and set up a base. Clone Sergeant Slick and his unit of clone troopers were sent to reconnoiter a suitable location from which to ambush the Separatist battle droids. Locating a business center with towers facing the north and south and overlooking a major plaza, Sergeant Slick and his men headed back to the Republic base.

On its way back, the squad came across B1-Series battle droids that were attempting to clear one of the city's main boulevards of Christophsians. The battle droids discovered a crippled refugee and discussed killing the man, but the Christophsians diverted the droids' attention to the clones, who intervened and eliminated the droids. After returning to the base, however, Slick—who had become fed up with his position in the Grand Army as a virtual slave to the Jedi and become a Confederate spy—secretly transmitted the Republic's intended battle plan to General Loathsom and the Dark Acolyte Asajj Ventress, who had arrived on the planet. Preparing to ambush the Confederate droid forces, Kenobi, Clone Commander CC-2224, and Slick stationed their men in the South tower, while Skywalker and Clone Captain CT-7567 were based in the parallel North tower. Acting on Slick's information, a squad of B1 battle droids ambushed Kenobi in the South tower, and Skywalker's men used grappling hooks to traverse the gap between the buildings and enter the adjacent South tower.

The Republic forces were able to escape from the roof of the South tower via clone pilot Hawk's LAAT/i gunship. Back at the Republic base, CC-2224 and CT-7567—nicknamed Cody and Rex, respectively—examined the stolen cranial unit of a Confederate tactical droid, but the droid only confirmed that the Confederacy had been aware of the Republic's plan before it stopped processing. Suspecting that there was a traitor amongst their troops, Skywalker and Kenobi left on a mission to infiltrate enemy lines to search for the instigator behind the ambushes, while Rex and Cody stated to find the Confederate spy. Arriving at a 23-story mansion that the Separatists had taken over and made headquarters out of, Skywalker and Kenobi were greeted by Ventress, and engaged the Dark Acolyte in a lightsaber duel. Luring the Jedi to the roof of the building, Ventress revealed a massive battle droid army in greater size than the Republic had originally believed, stating that the Confederacy was preparing to assume control of the world.

The two Jedi briefly continued the duel before fleeing on stolen Single Trooper Aerial Platforms, and Ventress relayed orders through a tactical droid to Loathsom. Ordering the Kerkoiden general to march on the city, the Dark Acolyte left the planet in her ship, the Trident, to execute a mission for her Sith Master, Count Dooku. Meanwhile, having traced an irregular wavelength to a terminal in Sergeant Slick's barracks, Cody and Rex proceeded to individually interrogate Slick's men, believing that one of them was the traitor. Slick himself was eventually revealed to be the spy, and managed to sabotage the Republic's weapons depot, gunship landing platform, and AT-TE walkers with several pre-planted explosives. Cody and Rex fought the Separatist spy in the base's command center and apprehended the clone turncoat. As dawn broke on Christophsis, the Jedi returned, and although the Republic forces were only able to salvage their artillery guns from the destroyed weapons depot, they regrouped and prepared to fight the Confederacy.

The Confederacy launched an attack on the Republic forces in Crystal City, and Kenobi and Skywalker fought the first wave of Loathsom's battle droids. After several days, the Confederacy was forced to retreat, but the initial stages of the battle caused many Christophsian civilian casualties. Soon after the Republic cruiser Hunter—under the command of Admiral Wullf Yularen—was dispatched for supplies, Loathsom and his droid forces launched another assault, marching straight through the main street of the city toward the Republic forces. While Skywalker, Rex, and the Torrent Company unit made their way through sidestreets and behind the droid lines, surprising several advancing Octuptarra magna tri-droids from above, Kenobi led Ghost Squadron in a charge on the Separatists' front lines. With the Republic's artillery cover, Loathsom was forced to retreat once more.

A shuttle arrived from the galactic capital of Coruscant and landed in City Plaza, but in place of the Republic's expected reinforcements was young Padawan learner Ahsoka Tano, who had been recently apprenticed by Jedi Grand Master Yoda to Skywalker. From the Star Destroyer that had delivered Tano, the Jedi contacted Master Yoda—who had been unaware of their predicament of being stranded on Christophsis—and requested reinforcements, but the Star Destroyer was damaged under increasing fire from the Confederate blockade surrounding the planet and was forced to retreat. Loathsom launched yet another attack, this time advancing his forces in two groups from the south and the east. Kenobi and Alpha Squad halted the south force's approach, but Bravo Squad was unable to stop the east force's advance. The Separatists advanced behind an expanding deflector shield, which effectively negated the Republic's use of long-ranged artillery. Kenobi and Rex marshaled a defense of the Republic base, while Skywalker and Tano infiltrated the droid lines to destroy the shield generator.

The shield soon passed over the Republic forces in Crystal City, and Kenobi led the clones to attack the droids, attempting to draw the Confederacy into the buildings and gain an advantage over them. While Kenobi pretended to surrender to Loathsom in order to gain time for Skywalker and Tano, Captain Rex retreated to defend the heavy cannons with the rest of the troops. After fighting LR-57 combat droids that were guarding the generator, Skywalker and Tano were able to plant explosives and destroy the generator. As the shield receded, Kenobi captured Loathsom and took the Kerkoiden captive. Returning to Christophsis in the Spirit of the Republic and several other Attack Cruisers, Admiral Yularen finally arrived with reinforcements and was able to break through the Confederate blockade, forcing the enemy armada to retreat. The Republic cruisers landed, along with several clone trooper units as further reinforcements on the liberated Christophsis. However, the costly Republic victory had reduced several key cities to rubble, leaving many in the galaxy secretly cheering the damage that had been done.

Later in the war, the Separatist Droid Army set up a base near the planet's core to mine for its crystals. Because Christophsis's crystals could be used to power lightsabers, the Confederacy planned to use them to power its new superweapon, the Devastation, which was powered by Force-activated crystals. After the Republic starship Sedawan's supply of lightsaber crystals was raided, the Jedi Council began to come onto the Confederacy's plan. During the analysis of data provided by the turncoat Nightsister Ros Lai, the Jedi Council enlisted Senator Padmé Amidala's help. Traveling to Christophsis with Captain Rex, the astromech droid R2-D2, and the protocol droid C-3PO, Amidala discovered that the Confederacy was mining for something and reported her findings to the Council. Before the group could leave the planet, however, their ship was shot down, and Captain Rex was injured in the crash. The group was taken captive and placed in a holding cell inside the Separatist base.

A team of two Jedi was sent with Clone Commander CC-1004, nicknamed "Gree," and an LAAT/i gunship to rescue Senator Amidala. However, the gunship was shot down over the planet as well and skidded toward the edge of a cliff. Gree told the two Jedi to continue the mission themselves, and the LAAT/i soon dislodged from the cliff and plummeted into the depths of Christophsis. Unable to help Gree, the Jedi entered the Separatist base and began to search for Amidala. Fighting DSD1 dwarf spider droids and several of the dark side–wielding Nightsisters themselves, the two Jedi discovered that a few of the Christophsis crystals were harnessing the Force itself. On the exterior of the facility, the two Jedi fought a group of Nightsisters before Commander Gree—having recovered his gunship—and his vessel arrived and opened fire on the dark side practitioners, defeating them. The Jedi ordered the clone commander to find a nearby landing site while they continued the search for Senator Amidala.

Re-entering the Separatist base, the two Jedi fought more Nightsisters before finding and freeing Senator Amidala, Captain Rex, R2-D2, and C-3PO from their holding cell. Amidala reported that they had overheard the Separatists confirming that they were harvesting crystals from the planet core, and the Jedi questioned why the Confederacy was after lightsaber crystals—first the Sedawan's cargo of lightsaber crystals had been stolen, and now the Confederacy was mining on Christophsis. While Amidala took Rex, who had been injured when the ship crashed, to Gree's transport, R2-D2 and C-3PO stayed with the Jedi to assist in the continuing investigation. The two Republic droids went to find the facility's central computer, but were discovered by B1 battle droids and forced to pose as configuration droids. R2-D2 and C-3PO regulated the temperate of a large crystal, but were also able to gain and transmit the coordinates of Gree's gunship—which had been forced to relocate itself—to Amidala.

Elsewhere in the facility, the two Jedi were ambushed by battle droids. From a computer terminal, R2-D2 and C-3PO opened a door and provided the Jedi with an escape, and also discovered the location of the Devastation, which they immediately sent to the Jedi Council. The pair of Jedi were then confronted by B1 battle droids, and the two Republic droids accidentally stumbled across a boss miner droid. R2-D2 and C-3PO trapped the mining droid in the hallway it was advancing through before activating a mechanism that squashed the B1 battle droids attacking the Jedi. With their battle droid adversaries disabled, the two Jedi found the Sedawan's stolen lightsaber crystals before Count Dooku himself appeared and escaped with the supply of crystals. Thanks to the discovered location of the Devastation, a team of Jedi managed to infiltrate and destroy the battleship.

In 19 BBY, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine transformed the Republic into the first Galactic Empire, and Christophsis became a reluctant but compliant member of the new government. However, the Outer Rim world remained independent of the New Republic and any future governments, all but ignoring the following galactic powers.

The original inhabitants of Christophsis were the Christophsians, a race of brown-skinned humanoids. These proud people contracted alien species to enhance the safety of their world and to further their mining technologies. However, after the discovery of mineral-rich asteroids in the vicinity, the Christophsians, driven by a desire to protect their profits, sidelined their alien partners. Christophsis was governed by a commercially-minded Christophsian oligarchy, whose leaders demonstrated expertise in both mineral market manipulation and mining operations.

Among the sentients who migrated to Christophsis were humans and various alien species, including Rodians and Kerkoidens. Rumors circulated throughout the galaxy, suggesting that these immigrants were essentially prisoners of the affluent and dominant Christophsians, forced to cater to their every whim and perform their most basic tasks. The languages spoken on Christophsis were Galactic Basic Standard and Rodese.

From space, several of Christophsis's urban centers appeared as verdant, branching networks. One of the planet's cities was Chaleydonia, more commonly known as Crystal City, which served as its capital. True to its name, Crystal City seemed to be hewn from shimmering gemstones. Constructed largely from crystals, the city featured towering residential skyscrapers and apartment complexes, interspersed with several public plazas. Crystal City was the primary location for the Battle of Christophsis, eventually hosting both the Confederacy and Republic, with the former establishing its headquarters in a 23-story mansion. However, much of Crystal City was left in ruins following the Republic's liberation of the planet. Numerous bridges spanned the city, many of which collapsed during the Separatist invasion. A significant number of buildings, especially those along the city's main thoroughfare, were also destroyed during the intense conflict.

In the early phases of the Battle of Christophsis, the Republic established a networked base on the planet before relocating directly into Crystal City. This base included a command center, a dining hall, and living quarters for the Republic clone troopers. When the Separatists returned to Christophsis with the intention of mining lightsaber crystals, they constructed a deep underground base. This large facility, situated near the planet's core, was protected by multiple squads of battle droids.

Christophsis was conceived as a planet for the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated television series. Originally, it was intended to be featured in a "flashback" episode of the first season titled "The New Padawan." However, after George Lucas made the decision to launch the series with a feature-length film, the episode was shifted to its proper chronological position. As the setting for Anakin Skywalker's initial encounter with his newly appointed Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, Christophsis is prominently featured in the movie's promotional materials, including the online Live Fire game and various young reader adaptations of the film.

The episode "The Hidden Enemy" was subsequently produced at Lucas's request to provide more background information about Christophsis and was broadcast during the television series' first season. Christophsis also made an appearance in the webcomic Shadowed, which served as a prelude to the episode. The planet was incorporated into the video game Jedi Alliance for the Nintendo DS in 2008, as well as the Nintendo DS version of the 2009 game Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes, which elaborated on the events of The Clone Wars film and television series. Elements of Christophsis and its history were detailed in the 2009 publications The Clone Wars Campaign Guide and The Essential Atlas.

The crystalline aesthetic of Christophsis drew inspiration from earlier discarded concepts for the planet Mygeeto during the pre-production phase of Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. These same concepts were later repurposed in the design of the planet Mandalore for the television series' second season.

In the Nintendo DS version of Republic Heroes, one of the two missions depicting the Battle of Christophsis is significantly inconsistent with The Clone Wars film and television series. This mission portrays Senator Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker arriving in Crystal City to investigate droid activity in a sector recently lost by the Republic. Skywalker and Amidala navigate through the city until they encounter a force field blocking their path. Master Yoda then intervenes, disabling the field, allowing them to proceed and eventually confront Count Dooku inside a Christophsian structure. Following a duel with Skywalker, aided by Amidala with her blaster, Dooku retreats.

However, during the duel with Dooku, Skywalker reveals to the unsuspecting Count that Confederate General Grievous is planning to acquire a superweapon from beneath a lava ocean on the planet Mustafar. Skywalker only learns of Grievous's plan during the Mission to Skytop Station, which occurs after the Republic has already secured victory in the Battle of Christophsis. Due to this confusing narrative, which would require considerable speculation to integrate into the established storyline, this article assumes that the video game's mission is non-canon.