Uphrades, a planet situated within the Uphrades system found in the Inner Rim, was once a thriving agriworld characterized by its green and fertile lands. In the years leading up to the Galactic War, which pitted the Galactic Republic against the reconstituted Sith Empire, Uphrades served as a major supplier of food to Coruscant, the Republic's capital planet. This earned it the moniker "Coruscant's Granary". However, this all changed in 3643 BBY when Darth Angral, a Sith Lord, targeted the agriworld as part of his campaign of vengeance.
Driven by his desire for retribution against the Republic and the Jedi Order for the death of his son, Tarnis, Angral chose Uphrades as the testing ground for the Desolator superweapon. The resulting attack devastated the planet's surface and killed millions. The few hundred survivors were then trapped on the planet after Angral ionized its atmosphere. Fortunately, Doctor Senessa and the crew of the Republic medical frigate Daybreaker were able to sustain the survivors during the months it took for the ionizing field to dissipate, but the planet was left a desolate and barren wasteland.
Uphrades, a green agriworld for much of its existence, was situated in the Uphrades system, a star system not far from the planet of Mindor. This system was located in a section of the Inner Rim positioned between the Hydian Way and the Perlemian Trade Route hyperlanes. The galactic region known as the Northern Dependencies housed the terrestrial planet, which possessed particularly fertile soil due to significant volcanic activity approximately 20,000 years prior to the Cold War between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire. Furthermore, Uphrades enjoyed a temperate climate and a Type I atmosphere suitable for [Humans](/article/human-legends], along with ample surface water that divided its landmass into five continents.
However, the use of the Desolator superweapon by the Sith Lord Darth Angral dramatically altered Uphrades. The planet's surface was shattered, and its atmosphere was transformed into a massive ion cannon. Substantial portions of the planet's crust were torn away, revealing magma pockets and generating an asteroid belt around the planet. The areas where the crust had been removed became craters. The planet's oceans evaporated, and its once lush green surface turned to ash, leaving behind barren, rocky plains and canyons filled with lava flows.
Around 1,500 years following the founding of the Republic, Uphrades underwent significant volcanic activity, enriching the planet's soil over the next two millennia. By 20,000 BBY, at the start of the Great Manifest Period, Uphrades was within the expanse of space explored by the Galactic Republic. The Uphrades system remained within the Republic's territory throughout its existence, until the Republic was reformed into the Galactic Empire. By the conclusion of the Great Galactic War with the Sith Empire, Uphrades had become a prolific agriworld, supplying a large amount of food to the Republic's capital, Coruscant. This earned it the name "Coruscant's Granary" by the time of the Cold War, during which Jedi Master Syo Bakarn and the Jedi Restoration Concord partnered with the people of Uphrades to quadruple the planet's food output in only two years.
At some point between 3645 BBY and 3643 BBY, Jedi Master Bela Kiwiiks and her new Padawan, Kira Carsen, visited the planet. However, in 3643 BBY, Uphrades became a target of the Sith Lord Darth Angral's crusade against the Republic. Angral, seeking vengeance for the death of his son, Tarnis, at the hands of a Jedi Knight, deployed the Desolator superweapon against Uphrades. The Desolator, built using stolen Republic weapons technology, ionized Uphrades' atmosphere, trapping all 16 million inhabitants. It then destabilized the planet's core through seismic vibrations. This attack ravaged Uphrades' surface, killing millions and leaving only a few hundred survivors.
The Republic medical frigate Daybreaker was in the Uphrades system when Angral's warship, the dreadnought Oppressor, arrived and attacked the planet. Debris from Uphrades damaged the Daybreaker. Subsequently, an Imperial boarding party attacked the disabled frigate, but a Jedi Knight—Tarnis's killer and the target of Angral's wrath—intervened. Following the attack, Doctor Senessa, the Daybreaker's medical officer, detected survivors on the surface and decided to take the frigate down to provide aid. The ship's captain, the Cathar Dal, objected, realizing that entering the atmosphere would disable the Daybreaker, preventing their escape. He chose to take an escape pod rather than sacrifice himself. Using the supplies on the Daybreaker, Senessa and the crew ensured the survival of those on the surface for the months it took for the atmosphere to clear. Once Republic aid ships could safely enter the atmosphere, the survivors and the Daybreaker's crew were rescued.
Before Angral's attack, Uphrades was home to 16 million farmers and food technologists, distributed across its five continents. The Desolator's devastating effects resulted in the deaths of almost all of these people, leaving fewer than a thousand survivors.
Uphrades made its initial appearance in the 2011 video game Star Wars: The Old Republic as part of the Jedi Knight storyline. The destruction of Uphrades and the assault on the Daybreaker are featured in the Jedi Knight mission "Uphrades," which includes a significant alignment choice. Dal presents a dark-side option, asking the Knight to persuade Senessa that the sensor readings indicating life on Uphrades are false, as Dal wishes to return to his family. In return, the captain offers to bribe the player with medical supplies from the Daybreaker's inventory.
Choosing the light-side option of refusing Dal's offer leads to him taking an escape pod, while Senessa and the crew of the Daybreaker descend to the surface, knowing they will be unable to leave. Senessa later sends a message of gratitude to the player, confirming that the people on the surface will survive until the atmosphere is safe and the Republic can initiate rescue operations.