Scarif

**Scarif** was a remote, tropical planet in the Abrion sector of the Outer Rim Territories. Although a small and idyllic world, Scarif played an important part in the Galactic Empire's military-industrial complex, becoming a center for top-secret research beyond inspection distance of the prying eyes of the Imperial Senate. Among the projects stored here was the Death Star battle station, a construction so important the entire planet was covered by a planetary deflector shield that could only be entered via a Shield Gate, a Golan M3185 space station.

## Characteristics

Scarif was a verdant, beautiful if relatively small world, measuring just over nine thousand kilometers in diameter. It had a remote and isolated galactic location in the Abrion sector of the southeast Outer Rim Territories. A deep-blue world speckled with clouds, Scarif was comprised of tropical, volcanic island chains rising from clear, shallow oceans. Deeper oceans teeming with life were surrounded by rocky archipelagos. The planet's mantle was filled with dense metals that became valuable in starship construction. Scarif's sandy beaches were tranquil and idyllic, and some led into jungle canopies filled with wildlife, including areca nut palm trees and the giant peetalex sea grape, which offered natural protection. The world had a temperate and comfortable climate and from the surface appeared as a tropical paradise despite its challenging ecosystem and dangerous predators.

The Galactic Empire constructed its Imperial security complex across a wheel of islets and landmasses connected by sandy tombolos and artificial transit tubes. The region was surrounded by a volcanic island covered in jungles, and the central islet housed the monolithic Citadel Tower.

## History

### Imperial Era

Although Scarif's planetary mantle was filled with dense metals valuable in starship construction, its remote location deep within the Outer Rim Territories meant that supplying shipyards of the Core Worlds proved too costly. However, the Galactic Empire saw Scarif as a potential place to house their most classified projects away from the inspection distance of the Imperial Senate. To this end, the Empire built a major security complex in the planet's northern hemisphere, garrisoned by a special deployment of the Tarkin Initiative, centered on a Citadel Tower. Large swaths of land were excavated in order to build starships, and a high-altitude Shield Gate station allowed entry past the planetary deflector shield, which itself was protected by several Imperial Star Destroyers. Scarif became the principal construction facility for the Empire's vast war machine.

Over the years, various officers treated Scarif as a place for an unofficial retirement, where they could neglect their duty in the comfort of a tropical paradise.

In 9 BBY, the Death Star, an armored battle station whose superlaser would be capable of destroying entire worlds, was moved from Geonosis to Scarif to continue its construction under the supervision of Director Orson Krennic. The designs for the station were transferred to the massive databanks of the Citadel. Despite the importance of the project, the officers of the garrison, commanded by General Sotorus Ramda, became complacent, mainly because of the confidence placed in Scarif's defenses which included at least two Imperial I-class Star Destroyers, a Cantwell-class Arrestor Cruiser as well as many TIE/ln space superiority starfighters stored in the hangars of the shield gate.

#### Battle of Scarif

The Battle of Scarif was a battle between the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire, taking place in the year 0 BBY. The Rebels had received information from Jyn Erso that the Death Star plans were being held in the Citadel Tower, and decided to attempt to capture them. The group successfully infiltrated the tower and successfully managed to transmit the plans to Princess Leia Organa and the Alliance Fleet. However, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin ordered the Death Star to fire a precise single reactor blast at the planet in an effort to halt the transmission, as well as to eliminate his longtime rival Krennic.

The blast did not destroy Scarif itself but dissipated its planetary shield and obliterated everyone in its vicinity, seemingly destroying the Citadel Tower. The Death Star's superlaser boiled the oceans of Scarif, burning a part of the planet's surface. The Scarif Slush recipe had been smuggled off of Scarif by that point, allowing the drink to survive the devastation of its namesake.

### New Republic Era

#### Boba Fett's mission to Scarif

Eight to nine years after the battle of Scarif, the partially-destroyed Citadel Tower was still standing, albeit on the verge of collapsing entirely due to damage caused by the fireball in the wake of the Death Star's attack. The part of Scarif's surface that had been hit by the superlaser had been slowly healing over the years. Many parts of the Imperial security complex had survived, as well as scattered remnants of destroyed Rebel and Imperial forces left over from the battle. In orbit, the remains of the Shield Gate remained, along with other debris from the space battle. Boba Fett, under orders from Andressa Divo, traveled to Scarif to recover the *Black-Saber* data tape from the remains of the Citadel Tower. However, his arrival was spotted by XJ9-CS15, a viper probe droid that had been dispatched to Scarif to find the Rebel base a few years before. The droid transmitted its findings back to General Maximilian Veers, who arrived in force to claim the data tape. However, after a ground battle and space skirmish, Fett was able to depart with the data tape in tow. Shortly after his escape, New Republic ships arrived to engage Veers' forces.

## Appearances

* Into the Great Unknown (First appearance)
* *Boba and Fennec* (Mentioned only)
* Gambit on Geonosis (Mentioned only)
* The Believer (Mentioned only)