A phase connector was a highly sought-after mining instrument, utilized for the purpose of fracturing asteroids and smaller planetoids. Both the Mining Guild and the First Order desired this tool. Flix and Orka, who were business partners, possessed a phase connector within their establishment, known as the Office of Acquisitions. This store was located on the supertanker fuel depot called Colossus, situated on the Mid Rim planet of Castilon. At some point in time, they completed a sale of it to a mining colony situated on the terrestrial astronomical object Valashar, subsequently storing it in their backroom area.
In the year 34 ABY, Teroj Kee, an operative of the First Order, formulated a plan to steal the aforementioned device. This was to occur on a specific day when Flix and Orka were scheduled to be away from their shop, visiting Flix's mother. However, the pair had entrusted the management of the shop to Kazuda Xiono, a mechanic, along with his astromech droid, BB-8. These two individuals then made an attempt to foil the thief's plans. After Kee successfully transported the phase connector onto his ship, Xiono pursued him and, with the assistance of the gorg named Bitey, sabotaged the vessel. Despite the operative's efforts, along with those of two stormtroopers, to salvage the device, he was compelled to abandon the mission and escape in an escape pod before the vessel crashed into the ocean of Castilon. Kee reported his failure to Commander Pyre, while Xiono intended to inform the Resistance about the First Order's pursuit of the device.
A phase connector served as a mining implement, enabling the excavation, drilling, and fracturing of small planetoids and asteroids. Its structure was generally cylindrical, featuring a gray outer shell that concealed a luminous, light blue interior.
During the time of the Cold War between the Resistance and the First Order, phase connectors were rare and valuable pieces of equipment, highly prized by entities such as the Mining Guild. The First Order also sought to obtain one, using them to core out celestial bodies in the Outer Rim as tests for their Starkiller Base superweapon. At some point, the business partners Flix and Orka came into possession of a phase connector and stored it at their place of business, known as the Office of Acquisitions, which was based on the Mid Rim planet Castilon's supertanker fuel depot Colossus. The pair subsequently sold the device to a mining colony located on the terrestrial astronomical object Valashar, documenting the sale in their database and placing the phase connector in their back storeroom on a hoversled.
The First Order became aware of the device's presence on Castilon and dispatched Teroj Kee, one of their operatives, to acquire it from the business. Flix and Orka declined to sell it to him because he had attempted to steal from their store for years. Commander Pyre of the First Order then contracted Kee to forcibly take the device from the pair in exchange for money, as the item was needed for mining operations. The operative made plans to carry out the mission on a day when Flix and Orka were scheduled to close the store and visit Flix's mother, monitoring their comlink communications. However, on one day in 34 ABY, the pair left the Office of Acquisitions under the supervision of Kazuda Xiono, a mechanic, while they were away, instructing him not to enter the back storeroom where the phase connector was located. Kee, surprised to find the store open, told Xiono that he was a member of the Mining Guild and had placed an order for a phase connector from the Office of Acquisitions several weeks earlier, informing the mechanic about the rare and costly item.
Xiono checked the business's orders and found no record of any order placed by Kee, informing him that the store did have a phase connector in its back room, but it had already been sold to a Valashar mining colony. Despite Kee's insistence that the mechanic sell him the item, reiterating that it was present in the store, Xiono continued to refuse. Bitey, Flix and Orka's pet gorg, bit the First Order operative painfully as he began to make an offer on the phase connector, causing him to curse at the creature. Kee, seeking to draw Xiono away from his post managing the shop so that the device would be left unguarded, then ordered several items from the store's available merchandise, which the shop assistant gathered and prepared to deliver to him.
While Xiono was absent from the store, he left his astromech droid BB-8 to keep an eye on the establishment. Kee then trapped the mechanic in loading dock 23 within the Colossus's loading docks. With the mechanic out of the way, he used his blaster to break into the Office of Acquisitions' locked storeroom and stole the phase connector, laughing when he found it. The First Order operative was overjoyed, believing that the item would make him rich, and he used its hoversled to transport it towards his ship, a Darius G-class freighter. Kee and BB-8 briefly engaged in a skirmish, with the droid failing to prevent the theft and subsequently informing Xiono of what had happened.
Meanwhile, Bitey secretly hitched a ride on the phase connector's hoversled, unnoticed by the First Order operative. Xiono, having escaped from the loading dock, pursued Kee onto his ship as the thief pushed the stolen phase connector aboard and placed it among other cargo containers. After boarding the vessel, the mechanic approached the device but quickly hid himself, realizing that First Order stormtroopers were also on the freighter.
Bitey then emerged from beneath the phase connector's hoversled as Xiono approached to inspect it, biting his hand. Kee reentered the room accompanied by stormtroopers and instructed them to prepare for the ship's launch, as they had acquired what they came for. Panicking, Xiono then began to devise ways to prevent the vessel from leaving the Colossus, hoping to recover the device for Flix and Orka.
As the ship departed the Colossus, Xiono tricked Bitey into biting through a wire, which sabotaged the ship's electrical systems, causing the vessel to begin listing sideways. Kee and two stormtroopers rushed to the phase connector and attempted to stabilize it. However, they soon lost their balance as their freighter shuddered and plunged towards Castilon's ocean, realizing that their efforts were futile. Xiono, Bitey, Kee, and the stormtroopers fled the ship via escape pods, leaving the phase connector to plunge into the sea.
Afterward, Kee informed Pyre of the endeavor's outcome, and the latter indicated that Captain Phasma would not be pleased with his failure to secure the critical component. Meanwhile, Xiono explained to Flix and Orka that Kee had attempted to steal their phase connector. Although initially furious at the state of disarray in their shop, Orka was impressed that Xiono brought down an entire ship rather than allow a thief to abscond with their device. The pair explained a phase connector's uses to the mechanic and informed him that he had to return the following day to compensate for the loss of the destroyed phase connector. Xiono then informed BB-8 that he would send a message to Poe Dameron, a Resistance pilot, informing him that the First Order was seeking a phase connector so that he could notify Leia Organa, the Resistance's General. The mechanic then speculated to the droid about why the First Order would want such a device, wondering whether it was to mine dedlanite or some other material.
A phase connector made its initial appearance in "Dangerous Business," which was the thirteenth episode of the first season of the animated television series Star Wars Resistance. It was broadcast on January 20, 2019.