Gorse, whose pronunciation is approximately /gɔːɹs/, existed as a planet with a tidal lock situated on the Inner Rim. A single moon, named Cynda, orbited it, and was abundant in thorilide deposits. During the Age of the Empire, Gorse, having seemingly depleted its own thorilide supplies, became a significant refining center for thorilide originating from the newly established mines on Cynda. The conflict that occurred on Gorse involved the Galactic Empire and a small group of rebels under the leadership of Hera Syndulla alongside Kanan Jarrus, a former Jedi Padawan. Subsequent to the Gorse conflict, thorilide extraction was implemented on the sun-facing side of Gorse, while Cynda was returned to its previous status as a protected natural environment.
Gorse, an unusual instance of a tidally locked planet, maintained a tight orbit around its nearby star. The gravitational influences exerted by both its star and its moon, Cynda, resulted in one side of the planet always facing the sun, while the opposite side remained in continual darkness. Consequently, the hemisphere of Gorse exposed to constant sunlight reached temperatures capable of melting droids. The only habitable region was the humid night side. The planet was also prone to frequent groundquakes due to its peculiar gravitational condition. Much of Gorse's dark side was occupied by cities. Thorilide crystals were imported from Cynda to these urban centers, where they underwent refinement and processing for use in shielding starships against turbolaser weaponry. Many of the workers in this sector resided at Crispus Commons, an apartment complex designed for veterans of the Clone Wars. Among Gorse's urban areas were Gorse City, Shaketown, and Highground.
Cynda, Gorse's moon, was of a size that nearly qualified it as a double planet alongside Gorse.
During the final years of the Galactic Republic, Gorse hosted numerous thorilide mining operations. While on Gorse for business, Lemuel Tharsa, a mining inspector, contracted Shilmer's syndrome, a severe illness that caused the degeneration of his flesh and limbs. Following the installation of a [cyborg](/article/cyborg] body, Tharsa reinvented himself as the business magnate Denetrius Vidian. After secretly acquiring a financial interest in Minerax Consulting, a company specializing in comet exploitation, Vidian released a damaging report asserting that Gorse's thorilide resources were exhausted. As a result, surface mining companies like Introsphere collapsed, and the remaining companies were compelled to shift their operations to Cynda, which was abundant in thorilide.
To house Skelly, a Corellian demolitions expert, and other homeless veterans of the Clone Wars, the Republic constructed a housing project called Crispus Commons in Gorse City. The Galactic Empire, the Republic's successor government, neglected Crispus Commons, allowing it to fall into disrepair.
The Imperial Navy's rapid growth placed a strain on Gorse's capacity to meet the Empire's substantial demand for thorilide. In response, Emperor Palpatine deployed Count Vidian, a management consultant, to enhance production within the Gorse system. After eliminating problematic and elderly workers from the Cynda mining workforce, Vidian turned his attention to Gorse. Although his initial plan was to communicate with the local mining executives via hologram, Vidian altered his strategy after Moonglow Polychemical, based in Shaketown, captured Skelly, a rogue miner. Skelly had threatened the Empire, resisted arrest, and detonated an illegal test bomb.
Moreover, Count Vidian destroyed the medcenter in Gorse City where he had received treatment for Shilmer's disease to conceal the fact that he and Lemuel were the same individual. Imperial records still listed Lemuel as an independent mining consultant. Vidian used the Lemuel alias to generate fraudulent reports that benefited his business ventures. In addition, Vidian initiated a review of Transcept Media Solutions, the company responsible for the security cameras that captured Skelly's subversive activities. Consequently, Hetto, the surveillance operator, was apprehended for communicating with Hera Syndulla, a known rebel operative on the HoloNet.
Before the Empire could apprehend Skelly, Hera, aided by the Sarlaccs, a local criminal organization, rescued him from Moonglow custody. When the Sarlaccs demanded higher payment and attempted to rob Hera, Kanan Jarrus, a freighter pilot and former Jedi Padawan who had survived the Great Jedi Purge and recently moved to Gorse, intervened. Hera later attempted to enlist Skelly in the rebellion, but the miner was solely focused on preventing Cynda's destruction. Hera then met with her local contact, Hetto, at The Asteroid Belt, a local cantina. There, she learned from [Zaluna Myder](/article/zaluna_myder], Hetto's friend, that Hetto had been arrested as part of Vidian's crackdown.
After learning from Skelly about Vidian's planned inspection of Moonglow, Hera persuaded Kanan to lend her his Moonglow ID card. The two rebels infiltrated the refinery in a hoverbus, and Hera attempted to follow Vidian. Meanwhile, Skelly infiltrated the Moonglow refinery to convince Vidian to halt all mining operations on Cynda, even presenting a holodisk containing his research, but the Count attempted to kill him. Despite his serious injuries, Skelly managed to escape into the factory's conveyor belt system.
Later, Vidian murdered Lal Grallik, Moonglow's chief operations officer, after learning from his rival Baron Lero Danthe that the Emperor had tripled Gorse's thorilide output. Lal informed him that Moonglow could not meet the Emperor's new quota. Using Skelly's research, Vidian devised a plan to destroy Cynda to meet the Emperor's new quota. Before he could return to Captain Rae Sloane's Imperial Star Destroyer Ultimatum, Skelly attacked Vidian, detonating his shuttle. Vidian and his surviving entourage, including Captain Rae, commandeered the hoverbus and traveled to the spaceport at Highpoint.
Skelly pursued Vidian to the spaceport and destroyed the second Imperial shuttle. Vidian's situation was further complicated by the arrival of Gord Grallik, Lal's vengeful husband, who sought retribution for his wife's murder. Gord managed to kill several stormtroopers before Vidian killed him. Skelly, Hera, and Kanan seized the opportunity to escape in the hoverbus. Vidian and Sloane dispatched several Imperial Troop Transports and two TIE fighters after them, but the rebels evaded capture and abandoned their hoverbus in a quarry.
Zaluna, who had inadvertently stowed away in the hoverbus' toilet, joined Hera, Kanan, and Skelly. Using Skelly's research, Count Vidian convinced Captain Sloane and her science officer Lieutenant Kanna Deltic to conduct a test bombing on Cynda to support his claim that detonating the moon would not damage its thorilide crystals. Under Vidian's orders, stormtroopers carried out a test bombing that resulted in the deaths of numerous miners on Cynda. The explosion was witnessed by many on Cynda, including Hera, Kanan, Skelly, and Zaluna. In response, the rebels formed an informal group to thwart Vidian's scheme.
While the initial reports indicated that a detonation would degrade the thorilide crystals, Vidian used his phantom consultant Lemuel to produce a false report stating otherwise. Due to his stake in the comet-chaser industry, Vidian wanted the comet-chasers to exploit Cynda's thorilide crystals before they disintegrated. He also wanted to discredit his rival Baron Danthe. Satisfied, Captain Sloane acceded to Vidian's plan. The Imperials did not care that Cynda's destruction could have catastrophic ramifications for Gorse. Count Vidian ordered all empty mining cargo ships in the Gorse system to follow the Ultimatum to his depot in the Calcoraan system. To cover up his true plan, Imperial media like Imperial HoloNews claimed that Moonglow's negligence had caused the explosion on Cynda and that Vidian was leading a "heroic effort" to stabilize the moon. As a result, the Empire seized the company's assets.
The combined efforts of Hera, Skelly, Kanan, and Zaluna thwarted Vidian's plot. After learning about Vidian's deception, Kanan passed the original results to Captain Sloane while claiming to be an "agent" of the Emperor. Sloane dispatched the original results to Baron Danthe, who forwarded them to the Emperor. As a result, the Emperor terminated Vidian's project and Sloane issued orders to suspend the planned detonation and to arrest Vidian. When Vidian defied her and expressed his intention to proceed with the detonation, Captain Sloane ordered the Imperial fleet to bombard Vidian's flagship Forager. While the other rebels escaped, Skelly sacrificed his own life to kill Vidian; effectively saving Cynda from destruction.
Following Count Vidian's death, the Galactic Empire shifted all thorilide mining operations in the Gorse system to the planet Gorse; with Cynda being restored to its status as a nature reserve and tourist destination. Vidian's rival Baron Danthe gained control of the thorilide industry in the system and opened up the planet's sunward side to mining. Due to the dangerous conditions there, this mining was carried out by Baron Danthe's heat-resistant mining drones. Gorse's refineries received a new lease of life due to the thorilide mining in the planet's sunward side. Due to her efforts in stopping Vidian, Sloane was given permanent Captaincy of the Ultimatum.
The Galactic Empire planned to launch a strike at Gorse in order to distract the New Republic from an attack on the Nadiri Dockyards, a heavily defended facility. Admiral Rae Sloane, who was now an admiral, gave the order.
Various sentient species inhabited Gorse, including humans, Sullustans, Besalisks, and Twi'leks. Because Gorse's nightward side was never exposed to sunlight, the planet's time was organized into diurnal cycles. Gorse was a major refining hub with businesses like Moonglow Polychemical operating there. In addition, other businesses on Gorse included Transcept Media Solutions and its surveillance division Myder's Mynocks, Okadiah Garson's cantina The Asteroid Belt, and two spaceports (one of which was owned by Moonglow).
A New Dawn, a canon novel by John Jackson Miller, was the first time Gorse was mentioned. The author selected the name "Gorse" because it rhymes with "coarse."