- "Aphra is on the Cosmatanic Steppes in the Outer Rim. You will return her to the Executor. Failing that, she must be silenced."
- ―Darth Vader, assigning 0-0-0 and BT-1 their mission
The Cosmatanic Steppes was a flat[4] layer of mantle suspended above a gas giant located in the galaxy's Outer Rim Territories. The terrain was mostly grassland. The system was a center of archaeological digs and scavenging. In 0 ABY, Imperial droids 0-0-0 and BT-1 traveled to the Cosmatanic Steppes to apprehend Doctor Aphra, a former consultant accused with betraying Imperial information to the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
During their mission, the droids led their platoon to burn the town to the ground as part of their priority mission to silence Aphra, although she surrendered to them and was brought back to Darth Vader. After assisting in a mission to Mon Cala, Tunga Arpagion was brought to the Cosmatanic Steppes in the Millennium Falcon.
Description[]
- "Let me explain the Cosmatanic Steppes. It is a layer of mantle suspended above a gas giant. It's been a center of archaeological digs for the last hundred years of the historical art rush."
- ―Chelli Aphra, to 0-0-0
The Cosmanatic Steppes was a flat layer of mantle that was suspended above a gas giant[2] in a star system that had multiple suns.[1] The gas giant itself was located in the Outer Rim Territories[2] and the Slice regions[5] at the coordinates R-16 on the Standard Galactic Grid.[6] The Cosmatanic Steppes was located along the Triellus Trade Route between the astronomical objects Roon and Tatooine.[7] The surface of the mantle was made up of vast grasslands. Locations included the town Fulan Ro and the outpost of Archaeo-Prime.[2] It was the homeworld of Ky Narec.[8]
History[]
An unsuccessful hideaway[]
- "Hello, strangers. I'll warn you, droids aren't too popular around here…"
"I daresay that they'll be considerably less popular by the time we're finished. Have you seen this woman, sir?" - ―A Twi'lek resident and 0-0-0
Around a hundred years before the time of the Galactic Civil War, the Cosmatanic Steppes became a center for archaeological digs as part of the historical art rush. The Archaeological Association notably operated there out of the outpost Archaeo-Prime, where recovered artifacts could be sold into the association.[2] In 0 ABY,[9] the rogue archaeologist Doctor Chelli Aphra made her way to the Cosmatanic Steppes to lay low and frequented a bar in Fulan Ro, on one occasion coming to the realization that the Rebel Alliance hero and Jedi-hopeful Luke Skywalker was the son of her former employer, the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Aphra knew Vader had also caught on that she was close to figuring it out, meaning he would never let her be free.[10]
Meanwhile, Inspector Thanoth of the Galactic Empire's Inspectorate learned that the rogue archaeologist was on the Cosmatanic Steppes and informed Vader, being killed by the Sith Lord immediately after. Vader left the job of capturing Aphra to the assassin droids 0-0-0 and BT-1.[3] The two droids led a force of BX-series droid commandos to Fulan Ro, where they were greeted by a Twi'lek resident. The droids threatened the resident into revealing Aphra had gone into the bar, killing the Twi'lek after. 0-0-0 then ordered his commando droids to take positions and attack the town in order to reduce potential witnesses to the secrets Aphra held.[1]
In the bar, the Aphra noticed the blood bath taking place and questioned what the two assassin droids were doing. Upon 0-0-0's brief explanation, his forces attacked the rogue archaeologist until she chose to surrender, cutting the massacring short. The rogue archaeologist was taken aboard the droids' starship, where the black Wookiee bounty hunter Krrsantan was present. Aphra unsuccessfully attempted to bribe the bounty hunter to help her escape. The starship departed, leaving a portion of Fulan Ro on fire.[1]
Aphra's business[]
- "Master Aphra! I take it by your continued breathing you managed to avoid being backstabbed by that ruffian, Ulbik Tan?"
"Oh, no. He backstabbed me and left me for dead. But I wasn't! Then I backstabbed him and left him for dead. But he is!" - ―0-0-0 and Aphra
Aphra eventually returned to the Cosmatanic Steppes[2] after surviving an attempted on her life by Vader, which he had believed to be successful.[11] The rogue archaeologist operated with 0-0-0 and BT-1, who had since become at service to her, and Krrsantan, whom she had a debt to. Aphra also made a deal with the Cerean crime lord Soo-Tath to partially buy a new ship, the Ark Angel II, leaving her in debt with his syndicate.[2]
Aphra worked with the criminal Ulbik Tan to try and recover a relic from inside the caves under the surface of the mantle. There, Tan left Aphra for dead and recovered the relic from the carcass of a massive droid. The droid reactivated and attacked the criminal, who fled the cave on his speeder while loosing bombs to destroy his pursuer. Aphra, who had survived the betrayal by Tan, shot the criminal dead after he had left the cave, taking the relic back to Fulan Ro on his speeder. There, the rogue archaeologist met back up with her droids at the Ark Angel II.[2]
Soo-Tath then confronted Aphra with two Gigorans as muscle. The rogue archaeologist was able to stall her debt with him after Krrsantan beat up the Gigorans, Aphra promising to pay extra to help fix up the Gigorans when she returned. 0-0-0 and BT-1 went to confront Soo-Tath in his establishment at Fulan Ro, the former fatally poisoning the Cerean. Once the droids had returned to her, Aphra went to Archaeo-Prime to sell the relic, only to find that her doctorate had been suspended, making her unable to put it onto the lucrative artifact market. The cause of the mishap was Aphra's father,[2] Korin Aphra,[12] who confronted his daughter thereafter.[2]
Behind the scenes[]
The Cosmatanic Steppes were created for Star Wars: Darth Vader Book IV: End of Games, a 2016 comic book written by Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Salvador Larroca.[1]
Appearances[]
- Doctor Aphra: An Audiobook Original
- Darth Vader (2015) 20 (First mentioned)
- Darth Vader (2015) 21 (First appearance)
- Doctor Aphra (2016) 1
- Doctor Aphra (2016) 2
- Doctor Aphra (2016) 6
- Doctor Aphra (2016) 13 (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars (2015) 49
- Doctor Aphra (2020) 22 (In flashback(s))
Sources[]
Star Wars: Build Your Own R2-D2 67 (Droid Directory: Triple Zero Protocol Droid)- Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Character Encyclopedia - Join the Battle!
- Star Wars Galaxy Map
- SWCA 2022: 7 Things We Learned from the Lucasfilm Publishing Behind the Page Panel on StarWars.com (backup link)
- Star Wars: Timelines
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Darth Vader (2015) 21
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Doctor Aphra (2016) 1
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Darth Vader (2015) 20
- ↑ hey-jordan-what-exactly-are-the-cosmatanic by Kieron Gillen on kierongillen.tumblr.com (June 11, 2016): "From what was approved, it's definitely a wide and recognisable area that people would know about, in the same way that we've all heard of the Grand Canyon. So the Cosmantic Steppes are like that, but flat. It's about as flat as it gets." (archived from the original on December 19, 2018)
- ↑ Star Wars Galaxy Map places the Cosmatanic Steppes gas giant in the area of space Star Wars: The Galactic Explorer's Guide identifies as the Slice.
- ↑ Star Wars Galaxy Map
- ↑ The Star Wars Galaxy Map places the Cosmatanic Steppes gas giant along a hyperspace route that
Where in the Galaxy Are the Worlds of Rogue One? on StarWars.com (article) (backup link) identifies as the Triellus Trade Route, the section of that route being between Roon and Tatooine according to the latter article.
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Character Encyclopedia - Join the Battle!
- ↑ The events of Darth Vader (2015) 20 take place between the Battle of Yavin and the mutiny at Mon Cala. Star Wars: Galactic Atlas sets the Battle of Yavin immediately before 0 ABY while Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy establishes that the mutiny of Mon Cala took place nineteen years after the formation of the Galactic Empire, which Galactic Atlas dates to 19 BBY. The events of Darth Vader 20 must have therefore taken place in 0 ABY.
- ↑ Doctor Aphra: An Audiobook Original
- ↑ Darth Vader (2015) 25
- ↑ Doctor Aphra (2016) 33