Mid Rim

Population

Compared to the densely populated Core Worlds, the worlds of the Mid Rim had a more spread-out population, leading to a preference for less crowded living conditions. The Galactic Republic's exploratory and colonial Outbound Flight Project required its planned 50,000 passengers to reside in cramped quarters with minimal privacy on the six Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers that were to be combined to form the Outbound Flight. The project's Preparation Center intentionally created cramped living spaces to simulate the conditions of the expedition. Consequently, many individuals native to the Mid Rim withdrew from the Outbound Flight Project before its departure in 27 BBY.

Historical Narrative

Origins

During the time before the Pre-Republic era, the Wookiees of Kashyyyk were under the control of the Infinite Empire of the Rakata, which spanned the galaxy and terraformed the planet's surface for agricultural purposes. After their empire fell, the terraforming machines were left unattended, causing the planet's vegetation to grow abnormally large. The Hutt Empire controlled several Mid Rim worlds, including Nal Hutta and Nar Shaddaa. The Bothans, however, resisted Hutt expansion and established their own independent region of space, which evolved into the Bothan sector.

The political development of the Mid Rim was a result of a colonization surge in the Expansion Region during the Great Manifest Period (20,000–17,000 BBY). The success of business ventures in the Expansion Region motivated several Inner Rim political systems and religious organizations to colonize and develop the worlds in the Mid Rim's section of the Slice. This colonization boom did not attract many corporations, which preferred to stay in the Expansion Region because of its business-friendly policies. Over the following millennia, the Mid Rim experienced a steady and gradual colonization process, providing successive generations of colonists with plenty of room to expand. Due to the stronger presence of the central government from Coruscant, there was less criminal activity in the region compared to the more remote Outer Rim Territories. Hutt Space, which was dominated by crime, bordered the eastern edges of the Mid Rim.

Around 15,000 BBY, the Aqualish, who were known for their internal conflicts, were discovered by the Galactic Republic after a violent initial encounter that led to the Aqualish–Republic War. Later, the Aqualish joined the Republic after agreeing to follow Republic law. In 12,000 BBY, Ord Mantell was settled by Corellian colonists as a Republic military base. Around 8000 BBY, the Republic established a base on Malastare, which was home to the intelligent quadruped Dug species. In 4020 BBY, Kashyyyk was rediscovered by the Czerka Corporation, which renamed the planet G5-623 and then Edean.

Around 4000 BBY, the Mid Rim was known as the Frontier or Galactic Frontier, as it represented the edge of the explored galaxy at that time. Most Mid Rim colony worlds became reliant on low-cost manufacturing and agriculture as the foundation of their economies. However, this prosperity drew the attention of pirates, who used unexplored space as a refuge and a base for raiding colonies. This became a significant issue in the period after the Sith Civil War.

During the Mandalorian Wars, the Mandalorians considered invading Kashyyyk and using it as a training facility for their troops but eventually abandoned those plans. Later, the Wookiee Chuundar seized power as Chieftain from his father Freyyr and exiled his own brother Zaalbar. Chuundar actively cooperated with the Czerka Corporation by allowing them to exploit Wookiee slave labor in exchange for weapons. Freyyr went into self-imposed exile in the Shadowlands of Kashyyyk. In 3956 BBY, Czerka's control of "Edean" was disrupted when the enslaved Wookiee population, led by Freyyr and the former Jedi Revan, overthrew the local corporate headquarters and expelled all outsiders from the planet, except for the crew of the Ebon Hawk.

Around 3951 BBY, the Grizmalltian Queen Elsinoré den Tasia sponsored an expedition led by the Republic explorer Kwilaan, who discovered the planet Naboo. The planet became famous among big game hunters who favored the native veermoks, although it would be five decades before permanent Human settlement. Eventually, around 3900 BBY, Human refugees fleeing a violent revolution on Grizmallt settled in the mountains and great grass plains. Cultural differences between the Human colonists and the indigenous Gungans led to tensions and conflict over the centuries.

In 3700 BBY, the discovery of the Hydian Way stimulated colonization in the northern and southern arcs of the region. By this time, the region had been organized into structured government-zoned settlement districts. After the Great Galactic War, large parts of the Mid Rim came under the control of the resurgent Sith Empire following the Treaty of Coruscant in 3653 BBY, including loyalist worlds and species like Rodia and the Bothans.

The Era of the Galactic Republic

During the New Sith Wars in 1800 BBY, Republic forces bombed the Ubese homeworld of Uba IV and wiped out all life on Uba I, II and V. This led to the near-extinction of the Ubese species, who harbored a lasting hostility towards the Republic and the Jedi. Throughout this period, Gap Nine and Almas were the sites of battles between the Republic and various Sith factions. In the Light and Darkness War, the Brotherhood of Darkness invaded Kashyyyk and Trandosha. However, the Trandoshans killed many of the troopers. The Sith retaliated by invading their world and burning the homes of the Trandoshans, leading the surviving Trandoshans to save themselves from death by pledging loyalty to the Brotherhood. In 1000 BBY, the lush world of Ruusan was the site of seven epic battles which ended with the destruction of the Brotherhood. Following the campaign, the Republic enacted the Ruusan Reformations, which increased the powers of the Galactic Senate while reducing the number of senators.

Around 1000 BBY, Malastare was colonized by Gran colonists from Kinyen, which resulted in a bloody and violent war. Using their influence in the Senate, the Gran settled the conflict in their favor and established the colonial Gran Protectorate. The native Dugs were demilitarized and resettled on Malastere's western continent, where they were exploited by their Gran colonial masters over the millennia. Throughout the last centuries of the Republic, the Gran colonists dominated Malastare.

In 32 BBY, Supreme Chancellor Valorum increased taxation of Outer Rim trade routes, prompting the Trade Federation to blockade and occupy Naboo. With the support of the Jedi and the Gungans, the Naboo Queen Padmé Amidala regained control of the planet during the Naboo crisis. Meanwhile, Trandoshan terrorists attempted to assassinate the Wookiee senator Yarua in protest of their homeworld being directly represented in the Senate by Kashyyyk. In 23 BBY, further tensions between the two species led to a Wookiee blockade of Trandosha, and peace talks collapsed when it was revealed that the Trandoshans were seeking to obtain representation with Trade Federation backing.

In 22 BBY, the secession of various Republic worlds into Count Dooku's Confederacy of Independent Systems created a flow of Loyalist refugees from Separatist worlds. The Refugee Relief Movement organized the resettlement of these refugees on ten Mid Rim worlds including Naboo, Kalarba, Monastery, Cerea, Sneeve, Bimmisaari and Durkteel. The Aqualish government on Ando also joined the Separatists but were opposed by the rival Andoan Free Colonies, which remained loyal to the Republic. Due to Jedi intervention, the backwater world of Ansion remained within the Republic. Similarly, the Gran Protectorate on Malastare remained loyal to the Republic with its Senator Ask Aak serving on the Loyalist Committee. An organization called Dugs-for-Democracy opposed the Military Creation Act and fought for the civil rights of Dugs.

During the Clone Wars, control of the Mid Rim shifted back and forth between the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Galactic Republic. The Confederacy exploited the interspecies rivalry between the Wookiees of Kashyyyk and the Trandoshans by arming Trandoshan commercial raiders to attack Republic shipping. In 22 BBY, the Separatists launched their first offensive against Kashyyyk with Trandoshan support but were defeated by Republic forces. During the Dark Reaper campaign, the Chiss mercenary Sev'rance Tann raided a Wookiee colony on Alaris Prime. Due to its vital fuel reserves, Malastare was targeted by Separatist forces, who were defeated by local Dug forces and Republic reinforcements under Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, who accidentally awakened the Zillo Beast.

In 21 BBY, Separatist attempts to persuade the planets Junction V, Bezim, Delaluna and Vicondor to secede were unsuccessful due to Jedi intervention. Republic forces under Anakin Skywalker also captured the Techno Union Foreman Wat Tambor on Metalorn and destroyed the Confederacy's cortosis battle droid project. In 19.9 BBY, Armand Isard—the Director of the Senate Bureau of Intelligence—deployed mutant stone mites on the backwater world of Orleon in response to rumors of Separatist biolabs. While such rumors were later proven false, the stone mites destroyed much of the planet's infrastructure; prompting the planet's entire population to emigrate offworld.

In 19 BBY, Separatist forces were defeated at Azure. Towards the end of the war, most CIS forces were pushed back to the Mid and Outer Rims. Separatist forces also launched a massive invasion of Kashyyyk in an attempt to capture the Claatuvac Guild's secret archive of hyperspace routes. Republic reinforcements under Jedi Master Yoda crushed the droid army, but the Jedi were then targeted for extermination under Order 66. Under the Emperor Palpatine's new Galactic Empire, Imperial forces invaded Kashyyyk and enslaved the Wookiees with the collaboration of the Trandoshans, who profited in the slave trade.

The Imperial Era

Following the Declaration of a New Order, a number of Imperial academies were founded across the Mid Rim. The Empire heavily patrolled it, fearing that the Rebellion would establish bases there. The region's interstellar markets also benefited from favorable trading incentives. As the Empire retreated from the Rim after their defeat at Endor, the Mid Rim remained one of the few areas firmly under Imperial control. After the Battle of Endor, it housed many hidden Imperial bases and makeshift shipyards. Many rival Moffs maintained "private empires" in this region, provided they supplied troops and taxes to legitimate Imperial fleets in the area. During Palpatine's return in 10 ABY, the Mid Rim was still a significant Imperial power base that kept their massive fleets supplied.

In 11 ABY, Palpatine's final clone body and spirit were destroyed during a battle at Onderon. After his demise, the Alliance's successor state, the New Republic, reclaimed much of the Mid Rim. By 19 ABY, the Empire had been pushed out of the Mid Rim into eighteen remote sectors in the Outer Rim known as the Imperial Remnant. During the Caamas Document Crisis, the Bothan capital of Bothawui was the site of fighting between various pro- and anti-Bothan factions. With the appearance of Imperial forces, these disparate factions united to defeat a common foe. Shortly afterwards, the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic signed the Bastion Accords, which ended the Galactic Civil War.

The Post-Imperial Era

During the Yuuzhan Vong War, much of the eastern Mid Rim was invaded by the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong. In 25 ABY, Ithor was devastated by a Yuuzhan Vong bioweapon while New Republic and Imperial forces evacuated many refugees from Ord Mantell. In 26 ABY, the Yuuzhan Vong conquered and devastated much of the region as part of their campaign to secure the strategic Corellian Run. Several worlds including Sriluur, Druckenwell, Falleen, Ando Prime, Rodia and Ansion were conquered and occupied. Kalarba was destroyed by using the Yo'gand's Core tactic to draw down its moon Hosk Station, while Rodian captives were "shaped" into Vagh Rodiek warbeasts. The Yuuzhan Vong also invaded Hutt Space, capturing Nal Hutta and Nar Shaddaa. However, they failed to penetrate the well-defended Bootana Hutta region. The region was also economically wrecked due to the collapse of the local economy and trade routes. A few worlds escaped invasion by aligning themselves with the collaborationist Peace Brigade only to be raided by New Republic forces during the later stages of the war.

With the end of the war and the recapture of the galactic capital Coruscant, those Peace Brigade worlds were unpopular with the Galactic Alliance government—the successor state to the Republic. Rejecting foreign aid, the Mid Rimmers rebuilt their worlds and established new trade routes, which brought a post-war boom to the region. Meanwhile, the slave-trading Senex and Juvex sectors encouraged the immigration of refugees. During the Second Galactic Civil War, Bothan Space, Bimmisaari, the Halla sector and Beris sided with the Corellian-led Confederation against the Galactic Alliance. Following a coup by Darth Caedus, Alliance forces attacked Kashyyyk for sheltering Jedi. Orbital bombardment of Kashyyyk's forests created a firestorm that engulfed much of the planetwide jungle and killed many Wookiees. In response, the Confederation redirected fleets from Kuat in the Core Worlds to help the Wookiees which led to the repulsion of Alliance forces. Despite Confederation assistance, the Wookiees joined the Jedi Coalition.

Following the Sith–Imperial War in 130 ABY, Darth Krayt's Galactic Empire took control of much of the Mid Rim and sought to "divide and conquer" the various worlds and species. Viewing the Wookiees as a potential threat, the Sith Empire did not enslave the entire species as their predecessors but rather isolated Kashyyyk from the rest of the galaxy by destroying all spaceports and shipyards. No Wookiees were allowed to leave or visit Kashyyyk without an Imperial order and HoloNet transmissions to the planet were completely cut off. Supplies and traders still could come and go, after swearing under penalty of death not to provide Wookiees with information of the state of the rest of the galaxy, but the Wookiees themselves were completely isolated and largely left alone. In contrast, other species like the Trandoshans and Rodians prospered economically and militarily as "favored species." The Trandoshans prospered from the redirection of trade to their homeworld while Rodian bounty hunters claimed more Jedi bounties than their rivals.

Spatial Arrangement

The Mid Rim encompassed a vast area, containing over 160 sectors, in addition to a region of independent subsectors located on its southwestern sides. Some of the sectors situated within the Mid Rim included: