Okator VIII, also referred to as simply Okator, existed as a Mid Rim celestial body situated within the Eucer sector. Its environment was cold, and its terrain consisted of forests alongside tree-laden hills. Native creatures of Okator VIII encompassed nightscowls, shakwulfs, and whellays. During the Tionese War, a conflict spanning a century between the Galactic Republic and the Honorable Union of Desevro & Tion, a family hailing from the world of Little Atullus relocated to Okator VIII, having acquired a property there. This family established a farm, sustaining themselves through whellay herding and the cultivation of diverse plants.
A few months prior to the conclusion of the war, Tionese warships launched an attack upon Okator VIII, resulting in the destruction of several settlements. The young boy belonging to the farmer family also bore witness to the annihilation of his family's farm during this assault. Eventually departing from Okator VIII, the boy enlisted in the Republic Military, though he did not engage in combat before the war's end. Twelve years after being stationed on the Republic fortress world of Falang Minor, the soldier recounted the attack on Okator VIII, recording it on a Baragwin sense lattice.
Okator VIII, also known as Okator, was a terrestrial celestial body located in the Okator system, which is part of the Eucer sector within the Mid Rim. During the Tionese War, which occurred between the Galactic Republic and the Honorable Union of Desevro & Tion, Okator VIII was positioned in a region referred to as the Divide, situated away from the Perlemian Trade Route, a super-hyperroute that connected the Republic's core territories with the Tion Cluster, within what would later be known as the Outer Rim Territories.
A single sun illuminated Okator VIII, which possessed a cold climate. Its surface was characterized by forests and hills covered in trees. The soil on this world was of poor quality but could be improved with effort. Farmers on Okator VIII cultivated charsby orchards, galt-gourds, and saria. The wildlife on this celestial body included shakwulfs and whellays, both of which were amenable to domestication, as well as forest predators identified as nightscowls.
During the Tionese War, which lasted for about a century starting around 24,000 BBY, some traders from the Core Worlds planet Brentaal promised a family living on the Inner Rim world of Little Atullus inexpensive land on Okator VIII. The parents of this family used their savings to buy a property on this celestial body and moved there, bringing their young son with them.
Over time, the family established a farm on their land, raising a herd of the local whellays and growing various types of plants in their fields. They occasionally visited the local town to hear news about the ongoing war against the Tionese; however, the family's son didn't think the conflict was relevant to them because Okator VIII was so isolated. Eventually, the boy came to enjoy life on the farm, especially his favorite shakwulf, Brun.
Approximately months before the war ended around 23,900 BBY, a group of Tionese Tionjack warships arrived at Okator VIII. They began attacking the settlements on the planet, destroying Derway Township by dropping a pressure bomb on it. At the time, the farm boy was tracking a lost whellay in the forests with Brun, and he saw the destruction of Derway and the subsequent destruction of the Duny Gap and Shillagh Hollow settlements. A Tionjack then prepared to destroy the boy's family's farm. Brun and the boy rushed home, only for the boy to witness the warship burn everything, including property and animals, using a plasma torch. After completing their task, the Tionese warships left Okator VIII.
Three weeks later, a courier starship on a business trip from the world Hleua arrived on Okator VIII and discovered the destruction of Derway Township. The boy managed to hail a scoutship that took him off-world, marking the last time he—or anyone else, to his knowledge—saw Okator VIII. Although he was encouraged to share the story of the attack on Okator VIII on Coruscant, the capital world of the Republic, he instead joined the Republic Military at Abhean, which was then the Republic's farthest major world.
However, the war ended before the young Republic soldier could get revenge on the Tionese in combat. The soldier was eventually assigned to Falang Minor, one of the Republic's fortress worlds established along the Coreward borders of the Tion Cluster. After twelve years of monitoring starship traffic, intelligence, and transmissions from the cluster under the command of watchmen from the Jedi Order, the soldier recorded an audio-visual account of the attack on Okator VIII on a Baragwin sense lattice. In this record, the former farm boy mentioned that he had heard the Tionese chose Okator VIII as their target instead of a major Republic city-world because they wanted to attack a place where they could "kill everybody."
The people who lived on Okator VIII included a family of farmers who originally came from the world of Little Atullus. Besides the family's farm, there were also other settlements on Okator VIII. Republic tradeships and couriers from Hleua regularly visited the planet. These starships used the hyperspace jump-beacon at Uthtara to reach Okator VIII, and when the jump-beacon malfunctioned, the ships would not visit the planet for weeks.
The settlement of Derway Township was located on Okator VIII, beyond the natural formation known as the Pinson ridge. Additionally, the settlements of Duny Gap and Shillagh Hollow were separated by a ridge from a valley where a family of farmers owned a farm.
Okator VIII was initially supposed to be mentioned in the 2012 reference book The Essential Guide to Warfare by Jason Fry and Paul R. Urquhart; however, the section that would have mentioned the planet, which Fry described as a "Republic frontier world" on his personal blog, was removed before the book was published.
The information about Okator VIII was later released in 2014 as part of Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare Author's Cut, a series of articles published on the StarWars.com Blog by Fry and Erich Schoeneweiss that contained content that had been removed from The Essential Guide to Warfare. The Online Companion to the 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas on StarWars.com placed the Okator system, and therefore Okator VIII, in grid square Q-7.
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Jason Fry's Dorkery — EG to Warfare: Endnotes Pt. 2 on Tumblr (backup link)
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