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Farstine
Astrographical
Region	Mid Rim[1]
Sector	Ryndellian sector[1]
System	Farstine system[1]
Grid coordinates	P-17[1]
Trade routes	Five Veils Route[2] Triellus Trade Route[2]
Physical
Atmosphere	Methane[3]
Societal
Population	Between 500 million and one billion[4]
Affiliation	Galactic Empire[3]

[Source]

Farstine was a planet within the Farstine system, situated in the Mid Rim's Ryndellian sector. The planet was located on two major hyperlanes; the Five Veils Route which connected the Mid Rim to the Svivreni and Skine sectors in the Outer Rim Territories, and the Triellus Trade Route which spanned a large section of the Outer Rim within the Slice. Farstine possessed a methane atmosphere, requiring oxygen-breathing species to use breath masks to survive while on the surface. Relatively untouched by galactic events, a battle was fought at Farstine in 19 BBY between Separatist holdout forces commanded by Trade Federation Customs Vizier Marath Vooro, and an Imperial fleet headed by Octavian Grant. The planet was known to be one of the spice trade's major transshipment hubs, and was under Imperial occupation at some point during the Galactic Civil War.

DescriptionEdit

Farstine was a planet^[3] located in the Ryndellian sector^[1] on the edge of the Mid Rim in the Trailing Sectors.^[2] Situated within the Farstine system,^[1] Farstine was the starting point for the Five Veils Route, a trade route that directly connected the world to Trigalis. The Five Veils Route,^[2] also known as the Five Veils' Tour trade route,^[5] boasted two separate endpoints,^[6] connecting Farstine to the planets Skynara in the Skine sector,^[5] and Svivren in the Svivreni sector, both in the Outer Rim Territories.^[2] It was also located between the planets Zhar and Ryndellia on the Triellus Trade Route, a hyperlane that connected a swath of the Outer Rim contained within the Slice, skirting Hutt Space before turning into the Mid Rim and terminating at Enarc.^[2] Farstine had a methane atmosphere, and breath masks were required for survival by oxygen-breathing species.^[3] By 25 ABY, Farstine had a population numbering between 500 million to one billion inhabitants.^[4]

HistoryEdit

Farstine was discovered and settled sometime prior to the Cold War,^[7] an uneasy eleven-year period of peace between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire following the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant that ended the Great Galactic War in 3,653 BBY.^[8] The Rattataki criminal Kaliyo Djannis visited the planet with her lover, the arms dealer Yjal, before the war. They broke off their relationship while on the planet.^[7] Over two thousand years later, during the New Sith Wars contested by the Republic and the Sith Brotherhood of Darkness^[2] between 1,004 BBY and 1,000 BBY, Farstine was located in disputed territory.^[9]

During the Clone Wars that raged from 22 BBY to 19 BBY, fought between the Republic and the breakaway separatists of the Confederacy of Independent Systems,^[2] Farstine fell within space controlled by the Republic.^[10] In 19 BBY, following the end of the Clone Wars, the victorious Republic was transformed into the Galactic Empire. Trade Federation Customs Vizier Marath Vooro refused to recognize the legitimacy of the treaty signed by Sentepeth Findos which effectively dissolved the Trade Federation—a major contributor to the Confederacy of Independent Systems—by signing over all their assets to the Empire. Vooro retained command of Trade Federation Defense Fleet ships and battle droids at Enarc, which lay on the Triellus Trade Route relatively close to Farstine. Seeking to bring various Separatist holdouts—including Vooro—to heel, the Empire launched a series of campaigns to reconquer the Outer Rim Territories. A fleet commanded by Octavian Grant faced Vooro's forces at Farstine and defeated them, forcing Vooro to retreat down the Five Veils Route. Grant subsequently captured Vooro on the fringes of the Hook Nebula.^[11]

Farstine was well-known as a major transshipment point for the spice trade, with consignments of the narcotic travelling along both the Triellus Trade Route and the Five Veils Route upon which Farstine was located.^[12] During the Galactic Civil War fought between the Empire and the insurgent Alliance to Restore the Republic, Farstine was occupied by Imperial forces. While the Empire was taking control of the planet, a bounty hunter encountered a child who had been orphaned when his parents were killed by Imperial troops. The homeless, penniless, child had only fifteen minutes of oxygen remaining; taking pity on the boy, the bounty hunter—who privately admitted that the orphan stirred memories of a younger brother that had died at an early age—took charge of the child.^[3]

The luxury yacht Veil of Skynara regularly ran cruises for tourists from Farstine to Skynara in the Skine sector during the Galactic Civil War.^[5] In 3 ABY, Farstine was used as a navigational stopover^[13] for the bounty hunter Boba Fett as he traveled from the Vergesso Asteroids in the Lybeya system to the planet Tatooine with the Carbonite-encased Han Solo in the hold of his starship, Slave I.^[2] In 9 ABY, Imperial forces allied with Grand Admiral Thrawn passed by Farstine on route to Svivren, where they laid siege to the planet on 44:7:24 as part of Thrawn's campaign against the New Republic, the galactic government and successor state to the Alliance.^[14] By 137 ABY, Farstine fell within the space claimed by Darth Krayt's Empire.^[15]

Behind the scenesEdit

Farstine was first mentioned in Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, First Edition, published by West End Games in 1987. It was later mentioned in 1993's Galaxy Guide 9: Fragments from the Rim, also published by West End Games. Farstine received an entry in 2008's The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, and was mentioned in dialogue by the character Kaliyo Djannis in 2011's Star Wars: The Old Republic, a MMORPG by BioWare.

Galaxy Guide 9: Fragments from the Rim establishes that Farstine is the head of the Five Veils' Tour trade route, which linked Farstine to Skynara in the Skine sector. In 2009's The Essential Atlas by Jason Fry and Daniel Wallace, no mention was made of the Five Veils' Tour trade route, but a Five Veils Route was included, linking Farstine to Svivren in the Svivreni sector. In a thread on the Jedi Council Forums on TheForce.Net, Jason Fry clarified that the Five Veils' Tour trade route and the Five Veils Route were the same hyperlane and that the differing destinations were a result of tourism and shipping companies setting different endpoints.^[6]

Farstine's entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia established that it was located in the Skine sector; while Skynara, the end point of the Five Veils Route, had been established to be located in the Skine sector in Galaxy Guide 9: Fragments from the Rim, Farstine had not. The Online Companion to 2009's The Essential Atlas established that Farstine was actually located in the Ryndellian sector.

In The Essential Atlas, a map entitled "Galactic Explorations" on page 120 charts when regions of the galaxy were first discovered and explored. Farstine is located within an area stated to have been explored between 3,000 BBY and 1,000 BBY. However, as Farstine is mentioned in dialogue in Star Wars: The Old Republic, set between 3,643 BBY^[16] and 3,640 BBY,^[17] the planet must have been discovered prior to that date.

AppearancesEdit

• Star Wars: The Old Republic (Mentioned only)

SourcesEdit

• Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, First Edition (First mentioned)
• Galaxy Guide 9: Fragments from the Rim
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia

Notes and referencesEdit