Bozhnee sector

Within the galaxy, the Bozhnee sector was a part of the Outer Rim Territories, specifically in the area known as the Trailing Sectors. It shared borders with the Tungra, Videnda, Brema, and Hadar sectors. It also bordered the Ninth Quadrant, a region that was previously controlled by the Senex-Juvex—an independent space region governed by a group of Ancient Houses—until the Galactic Republic forcibly annexed the Quadrant and integrated it into the Bozhnee sector. This acquisition extended the Bozhnee sector's borders to include both the Senex and Juvex sectors. The Bozhnee sector was traversed by at least three trade routes: the Velga Route, originating in the Velga system within the Juvex sector; the Anturi Reach, connecting the Senex sector to the Nothoiin Corridor; and the Belsavis Run, linking the planet Belsavis in the Bozhnee sector to the planet Tekurr'k in the Senex sector. The region also featured stellar phenomena such as the Greeb-Streebling Cluster, a collection of dust and protostars, and the Noopiths.

Within the Bozhnee sector were numerous planets and star systems, with several harboring sentient species. The most prominent planet was the icy Belsavis, located at the end of the Belsavis Run, known for exporting vine-coffee and vine-silk. Belsavis' settlements were situated in volcanic valleys, enclosed in domes to shield them from the extreme cold. Millennia before the Galactic Civil War, the Infinite Empire controlled a vast area of the galaxy, including Belsavis. They established a prison on the planet to hold the galaxy's most dangerous criminals, secured within vaults and stasis fields. Despite the Infinite Empire's eventual collapse, the prison remained. Approximately fifty years before the Great Galactic War began in 3681 BBY, the Galactic Republic discovered the prison with its inmates still contained. The Republic stationed forces on the planet to manage the potential threat posed by the inmates as the containment systems inevitably failed, and constructed a new Republic prison called "The Tomb" on the surface. During the Great Galactic War, The Tomb served as a prison for captured Sith Lords, Mandalorians, and Sithspawn. Although the Republic attempted to keep the prison's location secret, Imperial Intelligence uncovered this information, leading the Sith Empire to launch a ground assault to liberate their imprisoned allies, resulting in intense battles around the prison. Thousands of years later, Belsavis was inhabited by a humanoid species known as the Mluki, and following the Great Jedi Purge after the Clone Wars, it became a temporary sanctuary for Jedi younglings who survived the massacre of the Jedi Order.

Two planets, Garnib and Ossel II, were originally part of the Ninth Quadrant and were used by the Lords of the Senex-Juvex to acquire slave species for use throughout their territories. With the Republic's forced annexation of the Quadrant, the native species—the Balinaka and the Ossans, respectively—came under Republic jurisdiction, although slave-breeding farms had already been established on other planets within the Senex and Juvex sectors. Garnib, another icy planet, was known for its highly prized, and potentially addictive, Garnib crystals. Managed by the Garnib Crystal Corporation, the planet was a haven for artists from across the galaxy. Garnib also served as the adopted homeworld of the Vernol, who migrated there in large numbers after their own homeworld became uninhabitable. With the rise of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, Garnib fell under Imperial control. The Garnib system also included the planets Hultomo, Mastala, and Coomputu. Mastala later lent its name to a DP20 frigate that served the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War. Ossel II was a swampy, high-gravity planet that exported syp wood. The native Ossans regularly traded syp wood for indentured service on trader ships, refusing any other form of credits or barter.

Jankok was a warm planet inhabited by the Srrors'tok species. This technologically primitive species lived in tribal hunting clans and followed an honor system similar to the life debts of the Wookiees from Kashyyyk. The Sibilaar system was once the location of the homeworld of the Sibilaari. This planet suffered a cataclysm that destroyed the world, although the Sibilaari survived by constructing shelters in the most stable areas. When the planet was destroyed, large fragments survived, many with shelters containing Sibilaari safely inside. The sector also included the Brodogon system, which was linked to the slaving organization known as the Brodogon Consortium.

The Bozhnee sector, located in the Outer Rim Territories, originally bordered the Ninth Quadrant, a region of space situated on the edge of the Senex and Juvex sectors. In 700 BBY, the ruling Ancient Houses of the region annexed this area to create a buffer against the growing political and industrial influence from the planet Eriadu, which threatened their isolation from the Republic. It was named the Ninth Quadrant because the original territories claimed by the Houses of the Senex-Juvex consisted of eight regions, four in each of the Senex and Juvex sectors. In the century following the marriage of warlord Osted Picutorion to Princess Farasa Anturi—the unstable heir to one of the weaker Senex houses—in 553 BBY, the Senex-Juvex region underwent internal changes as the Houses realized that their isolation had caused them to fall behind the rest of the galaxy technologically. The alliance between Picutorion and House Anturi led them to defeat the combined forces of Houses Vandron and Petro, liberate the Hutlarians from slavery, and occupy the planet Karfeddion. With the end of the "Crimson Days" conflict, the Senex-Juvex faced several crises. House Mekuun, known for its rebellious nature, dissolved itself to reconstitute its holdings as a Republic sector. More significantly, the Republic forcibly removed the Ninth Quadrant from the Senex-Juvex region, integrating it into the Bozhnee sector. However, the Houses of the Senex-Juvex continued to consider the Ninth Quadrant and its planets as part of the Mid Rim, while official records listed the region as part of the Outer Rim Territories. Spacers continued to use the term "Ninth Quadrant" to refer to the area.

At some point, the Sibilaari homeworld suffered a catastrophe. Although the species was warned of the danger through their innate connection to the Force, they lacked the technology to evacuate. Instead, they built shielded chambers in the most stable parts of the planet and retreated into these havens. When the planet was destroyed, large chunks of the crust were ejected into space, many carrying comatose Sibilaari secured within the shielded areas. These fragments drifted through the galaxy with their dormant passengers; at least one was discovered in 32 BBY in the Cularin system of the Expansion Region.

Around 50 BBY, a wave of immigration brought a large number of Vernols to settle on Garnib. Their own homeworld had been rendered uninhabitable by a meteor strike, and they viewed Garnib as a safe and secure place to live. The native Balinaka allowed them to stay, although the two groups had limited interaction.

During the Clone Wars, the Bozhnee sector was located within Republic-controlled territory. In 22 BBY, shortly after the Battle of Mon Calamari, Republic forces organized a mass evacuation of the citizens of the planet Argul, located in the D'Aelgoth sector. The designated rendezvous point for the evacuation transports was near Belsavis. However, by 20 BBY, Belsavis was considered a neutral world, not aligned with either the Republic or the separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems.

In the final days of the Clone Wars in 19 BBY, Republic Supreme Chancellor Palpatine—secretly a Sith Lord plotting the downfall of the Republic and Jedi Order—issued Order 66, declaring all Jedi as traitors to the Republic and ordering their immediate termination. The Jedi had served as senior commanders of the Grand Army of the Republic, and most were killed across the galaxy by the clone troopers they commanded, although some managed to escape into hiding. A group of refugees, primarily younglings, fled to Belsavis, where the Ho'Din Jedi Master Plett had resided for approximately seventy years. Despite Plett's protection, the Empire discovered the enclave in 18 BBY. Initially, Emperor Palpatine ordered the destruction of the refuge using a battlemoon, the Eye of Palpatine. However, Jedi Knights intervened in the Moonflower Nebula, preventing the superweapon from reaching its target. As a contingency, a wing of Imperial starfighters assaulted the enclave, but the attack inflicted minimal damage, allowing the refugees to escape.

During the Imperial era, Garnib fell under Imperial rule. Governor Verus Carbinol was responsible for governing the planet, and the native Balinaka offered no resistance to their new Imperial overlords. They saw no point in fighting an enemy they could not defeat, so they continued their lives as before and paid their taxes promptly. The Imperial presence on the planet was generally low-key, as it was considered a safe and easy assignment. Despite the Balinaka's pacifism, an anti-Imperial movement emerged on the planet. During the Galactic Civil War, these fighters attempted to assassinate Gam Rothwall—an Imperial Advisor who had ordered the kidnapping and execution of several important Garnib Crystal Corporation officials—during a surprise inspection tour. The Empire also exploited Garnib for slave labor, placing it alongside worlds such as Alzoc III and Trosh.

Following Emperor Palpatine's death at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, the Empire fractured as senior officials vied for power, creating warlord states. For at least two years, the Bozhnee sector was controlled by Superior General Sander Delvardus's Eriadu Authority. In 8 ABY, the Bozhnee sector was a point of contention between the New Republic and the remnants of the Empire. During the Republic's campaign to subdue several Imperial warlord states, a senior Imperial official—believed to be a Moff or admiral—began to incite unrest in the region. With limited resources, Admiral Gial Ackbar, Supreme Commander of the New Republic Defense Force, was forced to redeploy his task forces to contain the Imperial official and neutralize the threat. The task force assigned to the liberation of Kal'Shebbol in the Kathol sector was ordered to rendezvous with a fleet commanded by Sarin Virgilio in the Minos Cluster before proceeding to the area.

In 12 ABY, New Republic Intelligence received information from an informant on Nar Shaddaa that a shipment of Tenloss DXR-6 disruptor rifles destined for Belsavis had been stolen while the transport vessel was refueling at the Smugglers' Moon. New Republic Intelligence had no information about the identity of the thieves or their reasons for heading to Belsavis.

In that very same year, Roganda Ismaren, formerly an Emperor's Hand, began a scheme to bring the Empire back to prominence with her son, Irek Ismaren—who she claimed was Palpatine's offspring—as its leader. For the past seven years, she had been in seclusion on Belsavis, training her son in the ways of the dark side of the Force. Utilizing a subelectronic converter, the boy gained the ability to manipulate machines simply by visualizing their designs. Roganda Ismaren sought backing from the Ancient Houses of the Senex-Juvex, and she used her son's abilities to reactivate the Eye of Palpatine, which had remained inactive in the Moonflower Nebula for more than three decades. Her hope was that the combined wealth of the lords and the military strength of the battlemoon, along with other weapons amassed over time, would galvanize support for their cause. However, Leia Organa Solo, the New Republic Chief of State, and her husband, Han Solo, were on Belsavis investigating reports of the hidden Jedi enclave that Jedi Master Plett had managed many years prior. Subsequently, Organa Solo was taken prisoner.

The Eye of Palpatine, brought back online by Irek Ismaren, journeyed to Belsavis. Luke Skywalker, a Jedi Master, along with two of his trainees, had been captured by the automated battlemoon as it attempted to fulfill its programmed objectives, which involved collecting detachments of stormtroopers stationed on various planets. However, because three decades had elapsed, the stormtroopers were either deceased or no longer present. Nevertheless, the Eye of Palpatine gathered indigenous species from the planets it visited, with the intention of completing its mission to obliterate the Jedi enclave. Through separate but coordinated efforts, the Ismaren plot was thwarted by the Solos, aided by Mara Jade, while the Eye of Palpatine met its end when one of the Jedi students, Nichos Marr, gave his life to halt the battlemoon. The Ismarens successfully fled the planet, relocating to the Atravis sector.

By the year 137 ABY, the Bozhnee sector fell under the control of Darth Krayt's Sith-dominated Galactic Empire, which had ascended to power after the Sith manipulated the two dominant powers of the era, the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances and the Fel Empire, into a destructive war. Following the conclusion of this conflict, where the Fel Empire emerged victorious over the Galactic Alliance, Krayt seized the throne from Emperor Roan Fel and proclaimed himself the galaxy's supreme ruler.

The Balinaka were a race of amphibious mammals that evolved on Garnib, a planet within the system bearing the same name. Originating from an arctic world, the Balinaka possessed thick fur coats, and their amphibious nature endowed them with a dual lung/gill respiratory system, enabling them to thrive both on land and in water. Known for their individualism and affability, the Balinaka maintained strong bonds with their families and communities, with their daily routines centered around the heswe, a spacious open area serving as a gathering place, marketplace, and religious hub. Inquisitive and curious by nature, they were also a playful species with a penchant for creative arts. Despite their sentience, some Balinaka were exploited as slaves by House Vandron in the Senex sector. Slave-breeding facilities on Karfeddion produced Balinaka slaves for deployment throughout the Senex-Juvex region.

The Mluki were a species indigenous to the planet Belsavis. They experienced rapid maturation, reaching adolescence by the age of seven, and were considered elderly by the age of thirty. Mluki were characterized by their hunchbacked posture, with their heads positioned at shoulder level and a prominent hump on the back of their heads. They also possessed heavy brow ridges. Mluki constructed settlements from stone on Belsavis, engaging in small-scale crop cultivation and undertaking hunting expeditions across the icy terrain of their home planet.

The Ossan were a humanoid species hailing from the planet Ossel II in the Ossel system. While they maintained a primitive way of life, they interacted with the broader galaxy by trading their services aboard ships belonging to independent traders who visited their world in exchange for syp wood. This often resulted in Ossan becoming indentured servants or slaves, a situation they perceived as a favorable exchange. Ossan considered themselves astute negotiators, although this was rarely the case. Many Ossan were released from their contracts prematurely due to incompetence. Breeding farms for Ossan were established on Karfeddion in the Senex sector, where House Vandron utilized them as slaves throughout the Senex-Juvex region.

The Sibilaari were a sentient, Force-sensitive species that evolved on a planet within the Sibilaar system. Reaching approximately three meters in length, Sibilaari possessed five limbs: three on the lower portion of their bodies and two upper appendages. Each limb terminated in a four-fingered hand capable of precise manipulation. Sibilaari exhibited black coloration and had six eyes arranged in a line between their two upper limbs. They lacked any other bodily openings. Sibilaari possessed the unique ability to metabolize sound to generate energy, resulting in complete silence in their immediate surroundings. This ability also allowed them to absorb light to a limited extent and rendered them sensitive to the Force. Consequently, they could survive in any environment containing sound, light, or the Force. Their connection to the Force forewarned the Sibilaari of an impending cataclysm that threatened their homeworld. Lacking the technological means to evacuate the planet, they instead constructed shielded structures in stable regions of their world. They sought refuge within these structures, and when their planet was ultimately destroyed, these shielded areas were propelled into space, carrying the Sibilaari inside in a comatose state.

The Srrors'tok, native to the planet Jankok, were a bipedal felinoid race covered in a short coat of golden fur. Due to the structure of their mouths, they found it challenging to speak Basic, and their native language, Hras'kkk'rarr, involved a combination of sign language, snarls, grunts, and clicks. They preferred warm climates and wore minimal clothing in such environments, typically only belts and pouches sufficient for carrying tools and weapons. However, they were vulnerable to cold and required layers of clothing to endure frigid conditions. Technologically underdeveloped, Srrors'tok lived in tribal societies and adhered to an honor-bound societal structure resembling that of the Wookiees of Kashyyyk.

The Vernol were a species of stocky humanoids averaging 1.5 meters in height, characterized by blue skin with orange markings around their eyes and mouths. The Vernol inhabited the planet Garnib, although it was not their original home; they migrated to the planet approximately fifty years before the Galactic Civil War, after a meteor strike rendered their own planet uninhabitable. They perceived Garnib as a safe haven, and despite sharing the world with the native Balinaka, the two groups rarely interacted due to the Vernol's territoriality and skittish nature. Nevertheless, they were skilled foragers, capable of locating food, water, and other necessities wherever they went.

The Bozhnee sector was initially referenced in the 1995 short story The Saga Begins, authored by Timothy Zahn, which served as an introduction to The DarkStryder Campaign, published by West End Games. The sector remained unmentioned until the 2009 release of The Essential Atlas, which positioned the Bozhnee sector adjacent to the Senex and Juvex sectors and placed the planet Belsavis within its borders. Additionally, the online companion to the book, accessible at StarWars.com, identified several other planets located within the sector's boundaries.