Around the time of 0 ABY, the Galactic Empire resorted to the drastic measure of gassing the planet Anoat. While dissidents were known to be hiding on Anoat, their location remained elusive to the Empire. Consequently, Captain Ubrik Adelhard, a relatively new military advisor commanding his own Imperial-class Star Destroyer, made the decision to release toxic gas across the entire planet. This action rendered Anoat uninhabitable and [poisonous](/article/poison], compelling a large portion of the population to abandon their homeworld. Those who remained on the planet experienced mutations, transforming into savage beings referred to as Lurkers. Furthermore, the events of Anoat served as a crucial lesson for the Alliance, highlighting the importance of avoiding operations within civilian populations.
According to the official narrative of the Empire, Anoat suffered from the release of toxic gas and its inhabitants were "moderately damaged" due to "a series of tragic industrial accidents."
The gassing of Anoat was initially referenced in the 2015 video game Star Wars: Uprising, establishing the event as occurring several years before the Battle of Yavin. The first visual depiction of the event occurred in the 2024 comic Battle of Jakku — Insurgency Rising 1. However, a contradiction arises between Insurgency Rising 1 and Uprising's established timeline, as the comic depicts Ubrik Adelhard being summoned by Darth Vader to the Executor immediately following the event. The Executor's construction is completed shortly after the events of the comic Darth Vader (2015) 25, which is set post-Yavin and is dated to 0 ABY by the reference book Star Wars: Timelines. Therefore, this article considers the pre-Yavin date to be an error.