Coruscant

**Coruscant** (pronounced /'kɔɹəsɑnt/), also known as **Imperial Center** during the rule of the Galactic Empire, was an ecumenopolis—a city-

   covered planet, collectively known as Galactic City—in the Coruscant system of the Core Worlds. Noted for its cosmopolitan culture and towering skyscrapers, Coruscant's population consisted of approximately one trillion citizens hailing from a vast array of both humanoid and alien species. Though debated by historians, it was generally believed that Coruscant was the original homeworld of humanity. In addition, Coruscant's strategic location at the end of several major trade routes enabled it to grow in power and influence, causing the city-planet to surpass its early rivals and become the hub of galactic culture, education, finance, fine arts, politics and technology. It was the location of several major landmarks, including the Jedi Temple, Monument Plaza and the Senate Building.

Serving as the capital of the galaxy since the ancient days of the Old Republic, Coruscant was at the center of many historic events, such as the Jedi Order's conflict with the Sith. Although the planet fell under Sith occupation for a time, Republic forces ultimately liberated Coruscant with the aid of the Jedi Knights. Their victory was so decisive to the point where the Sith were all but extinct, replacing an age of darkness and strife with the democratic rule of the modern Galactic Republic. Retaining its status as galactic capital, it was on Coruscant where the Galactic Senate governed the galaxy for centuries, establishing an era of peacethat lasted for almost a millennium under the protection of the Jedi peacekeepers.

During the Fall of the Republic, political intrigue wrought by corruption and secession transformed Coruscant into a dangerous environment by the time of the Clone Wars—the first major war waged on a galactic scale in a thousand years. Between assassination plots and terrorist bombings, the Senate turned to the leadership of Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine. As Palpatine's authority increased exponentially, the presence of the Grand Army of the Republic on Coruscant also grew at a steady rate, from the establishment of the Coruscant Guard to building the Republic Center for Military Operations in the Federal District.

Following a direct attack on the capital by the Confederacy of Independent Systemsin 19 BBY, the Senate granted additional wartime powers to Chancellor Palpatine who, on the eve of the New Order, declared all Jedi enemies of the state. Palpatine, who was, in fact, the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, succeeded in his scheme to turn the Republic into a military dictatorship. He then instructed the Grand Army clone troopers to execute Order 66 against their Jedi Generals, resulting in a galaxy-wide purge that all but destroyed the Jedi Order. Without the Jedi to oppose him, Palpatine dissolved the Republic and declared himself Galactic Emperor to the applause of the now Imperial Senate.

Coruscant continued to serve as galactic capital under the Empire, having become the Emperor's official throneworld, although Palpatine himself disappeared from public view for the most part, choosing to leave the day-to-day business of governing the galaxy to his advisors on the Imperial Ruling Council. The Empire maintained a firm hold on Coruscant throughout the Emperor's reign, but with his death at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, the citizens of Coruscant celebrated by revolting against the Imperial government. Meanwhile, across the galaxy, various high-ranking officers fragmented the Imperial Military in a rush to succeed Palpatine as ruler of the Empire. Unable to command the military's allegiance, Grand VizierMas Amedda's rule was contained within Coruscant, which he also lost control of to the supporters of Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax, the self-proclaimed Counselor to the Empire. Hoping to escape prosecution for war crimes, Amedda surrendered himself to the New Republic, which demanded that he surrender the entire Galactic Empire in return for amnesty. Following Rax's death and the destruction of his faction at the Battle of Jakku in 5 ABY, Amedda signed the Galactic Concordance—a peace treaty recognizing the Empire's capitulation and the end of the Galactic Civil War. In addition, the Empire ceded its own capital to the Republic, although Amedda was permitted to return to Coruscant as the head of a provisional government. Yet his authority was merely ceremonial; under the supervision of Republic overseers, he became a virtually powerless figurehead.

Unlike previous galactic governments, the newly restored Galactic Senate broke with millennia of tradition by not establishing Coruscant as their headquarters, instead preferring to designate other member worlds with the status of galactic capital through an electoral system. At the height of the New Republic, Coruscant had gained senatorial representation and, by the time of the cold war, was aligned with the worlds that identified as Centrists—a faction that advocated for greater executive control and an overhaul of the armed forces. Senator Arbo, a citizen of Coruscant noted for his militaristic views, was representing the interests of his homeworld in the Senate by 28 ABY. His junior colleague, Orris Madmund, also hailed from Coruscant and was likewise an ardent Centrist.