Vitea

Vitea was a long abandoned and forgotten planet that was the original homeworld of the Human Species. Few beings in the Galaxy knew where the Human species originally came from. Many beings believed Humans came from Coruscant, and throughout the Galaxy this was often generally accepted. However, this world was colonized much later. It was Vitea that was the true homeworld of the Humans. Vitea was located in the deep core, in a system by the name of Sandexi, orbiting a star also known as Sandexi. It was probably one of the planets closest to the galactic centre. Hidden so deep within the ever-shifting hyperspace routes, it was almost impossible to locate, let alone reach. It was the ancient species known as celestials that saw the potential of the primitive primates which lived on the surface. It was they who transported the Humans to the primitive Notron, later known as Coruscant, as well as to Corellia, Lorrd, Kuat and other minor worlds. It was also the Humans who ultimately caused the downfall of the celestials, ending their rule of terror. The Humans continued to evolve and spread throughout the galaxy, and Vitea was forgotten. However, the planet would one day play a pivotal role in one of the most climatic battles in history.

Geography
Vitea was enormous, over 60000 kilometers in diameter; nearly 5 times the size of Coruscant, and unlike the city planet, its surface was a wild landscape. The planet varied in temperature, with 2 freezing poles at the north and south tips, and warm, moist rainforests at the centre. There was one huge landmass which ran along the equator of the planet, with many smaller landmasses toward the poles, as well as millions of tiny islands in the ocean. Unlike the oceans of many other terrestrial planets, the water bodies of Vitea were fresh water rather than salt. One main feature that occurred all over Vitea were the enormous mountains, with huge steep canyons running between them, often with rivers at the bottom. The mountains and the ground itself were riddled with caves. Some caves were so deep that they reached through the various layers of the planet. Vitea had many volcanoes, but most of them were calm if active or otherwise dormant, unlike the hellish spectacle seen on Mustafar and other volcanic worlds. Apart from its crust, Vitea was composed of many layers of mantle, including regions of freezing liquid helium and nitrogen. Such zones were close to the surface, but deeper down, the inside of the planet was composed of molten metals and minerals, and with a core of searing liquid rock. The pressure here is so great that legend tells of the core containing hypermatter. One of the most legendary aspects of Vitea’s geography was a gigantic weapon carved within the planet itself, known as the fire of savoir. If the planet was in critical danger it was capable- through its own decision- of rupturing its magnetic field, creating an expansion in the upper layers of rock and ice and creating titanic currents in the inner layers of molten slag. The searing insides of the planet would shoot out of the crust, usually out of the volcanoes that riddle the surface. This caused the volcanoes to erupt, but there were four fabled volcanoes which existed because of this weapon. They blasted the molten slag like cannons into space. This natural defence mechanism was powerful enough to breach any defence: If a lethal enemy was attacking the planet and its inhabitants, this ultimate weapon would activate and the fiery blast would incinerate any foe. The infernal slag erupted from the one primary volcano on the equator of the planet and the three minor volcanoes just above or below. It fired from the three smaller volcanoes in unison, forming an enormous inferno in the sky. When the primary volcano erupted it formed a fiery beam which blasted into space at the target, consuming anything. The origin of this phenomenon is unknown- it predates anything created by even the celestials. How the planet could sense danger and ultimately activate this weapon is currently unknown, but it was occasionally said that Vitea was a living planet similar to Zonama Sekot, and that it had an affinity to the force. Regardless of its origin, the fire of savoir could never be controlled by other forces, but when it did fire, its capabilities exeeded those of the Death Star, the Galaxy Gun, and even the Centerpoint station.

Vitea had 15 large moons, all of which were habitable. They were Tinox, Carax, Cala, Shapide, Shadel, Irtiv, Irdi, Alfi, Velas, Erac, Norma, Notric, Novuc, Gona and Arma. Alfi and Irdi were the two largest moons. They were roughly identical in size, though Irdi’s composition was significantly denser.

Life, Ecology and Humans
Vitea was a planet strong in the light side of the force, and the Jedi had searched for it for millennia. Due to its affinity to the force, Vitea was rich in life hundreds of millions of years before Humans had even begun to evolve. Vitea was notable for its variety in life, with plants, animals and other life forms in abundance. The vegetation came in millions of shapes and sizes, from small flowers to shrubs, creepers and bushes to enormous trees dominating the landscape. Animals were also prominent, thriving both on land and in the oceans. The fascinating thing about Vitea was the symbiotic relationship between Humans and the rest of the planet, unlike the careless and expansionist behavior of Humans in the greater galaxy. It was believed that the celestials altered the brain structure of the Humans while transporting them from Vitea, causing them to become more like their masters. Massive creatures such as maron, dragons and the legendary titanosaurs dwelled on the surface, while huge sharks and jellyfish-like creatures lived in the ocean. The natural life on Vitea blended in with what was built by the Human race, creating an aura of mystery for any visitors to the planet. The Humans originally evolved from ape like creatures which dwelled in the high trees and cliffs. Gradually loosing much of their mammalian-inherent body hair, they became what they are now in the civilized galaxy. Humans were greatly successful in the greater galaxy, but with all the Human species has become, they never even knew their own home planet.

History
Nothing is known to have been of any great importance on Vitea prior to the invasion of the Celestials. Celestials kidnapped thousands of Humans from Vitea and transported them to other planets. Legend tells of the Celestials altering the DNA of the Humans, making them more like their masters. This ultimately lead to the downfall of those mighty beings. After about a millennia, the Humans grew tired of their slavery. They attacked the celestials at Vitea, where the majority of the celestial population resided on an enormous space station as large as a planet. Even though the Human’s efforts were useless against their great masters, the battle triggered the activation of the fire of savoir. The titanic blast from the planet incinerated the celestial’s artificial world reducing the once imposing and godly species to refugees on the run. The Humans heard of a second celestial worldstation, and forced it to flee Vitea. The celestials were caught between Vitea and the SMBH, the core of the galaxy. In the end the second worldstation was driven back by the imposing Vitea and its dreaded weapon. It was snared by the black hole and reduced to simmering X-rays. The remaining celestial forces vanished into hyperspace, and those who couldn’t were destroyed by the now bloodthirsty and vengeful Humans.

The Invasion
"It has ruined us. From our ancient cults to what we are today. Vitea is with the light side. Vitea is with the Jedi!"

- Darth Krayt

Vitea was invaded by the sith of Darth Krayt’s empire in 132 ABY. The dark lord feared the world, as he sensed it was dangerously strong with the light side of the force. Eager to crush the planet with a swift stroke, Krayt unveiled the Eliminator, a titanic sith weapon hidden for millennia in the deep core. The Eliminator had the power to destroy an entire star in an enormous supernova blast which consumed most of the star system, leaving a Black Hole in the aftermath to swallow up what was left. Its effects were similar to those of the sun crusher, except that the dreaded machine consumed the energies of the star into a huge core, harnessing the necessary power to destroy another star. The Eliminator also doubled as a gargantuan battlestation, and according to sith legend, was capable of taking on ten thousand ships. Krayt, armed with this dreaded device, invaded Vitea. The sith fleet was also present, as were the sith army and the death fleet. The alliance remnant, lead by Cade Skywalker and aided by the remnant of the Fel Empire was present defending the Humans of the planet.

Human resistance
Even at the time of the invasion, the Humans of Vitea were considered primitive. However, like the ewoks of Endor, these beings had their own ways of defending themselves. They could use ropes, wood, lava, rocks, plants and animals to cause serious damage even to the deadly ships and battle machines of the sith empire. With the help of the Alliance remnant, these beings created a massive and dangerous resistance.

Vitea was riddled with huge canyons wide enough for a star destroyer to fly through clean. These deep canyons and trenches were usually were the rebels set their traps. The cliffs were rigged with huge bridges that spilt lava on the enemy, tree trunks large enough to smash the bridge of a star destroyer, thick ropes to drag enemies to the ground, laser shield generators to block enemy ground forces, and electric fields and tesla towers to snare the air force.

The sith army was equipped with enormous 2-legged walkers known as Terex Titans, and the rebels answered with the formidable reptilian beasts which dwelled on Vitea’s surface, as well as in the oceans. The largest of these creatures measured nearly one and a half kilometers from head to tail and stood at least 1000 meters high, a formidable opponent. Flying creatures were also used along with the old rebellion-era starfighters. The Humans of Vitea had no fear of hazardous manoeuvres in combat, viewing the risk irrelevant due to the apparent risk of dying anyway. A Human male named Hardif and Wookiee Lumparawoo, the son of the famous Chewbacca, swung together from a liana over a kilometre above the ground to assault the cockpit of a Titan walker. After killing the crew, the two used the walker to launch a surprise attack on the super star destroyer Dark Hand which ended in great success, the giant ship crashing into a canyon, crushing several other ships in the process.

The Vitean Human’s technology was primitive compared to the weapons of the sith, but they were very powerful all same, and in great number. Simple cannons fired iron balls at the enemy, and due to their huge numbers the relentless pounding of iron balls, rocks, electricity from tesla coils and lava from overhead, even the giant ships of the empire were brought down.

The end of the death fleet
As well as hundreds of regular battleships, Darth Krayt authorized the use of the dreaded death fleet, an armada of DS-1/B enhanced battle spheres, capable of reducing entire planets to cinders and debris. The death fleet had been used on many worlds before, and as if the great Eliminator wasn’t enough, the sith deployed the dreaded superweapons to defend the titanic weapon. However, the death fleet met its match in the h’nemthe general Ne’vinn C’roth and his commando team, which included the Wookiee Lumparawoo and the Vitean Human Hardif. After a daring infiltration of one of the battle spheres, the team was able to temporarily take control of the miniature death star, and managed to destroy over 6 other battlestations, before fleeing their own. The station they had used was vaporized only seconds after their escape, signifying the loss of 7 stations altogether.

Ne’vinn C’roth then theorized that firing one of the battlestation’s superlasers at the planet might trigger the activation of the fire of savoir. After taking control of yet another battlestation, the commandos fired several devastating shots at the planets creating massive tremors and quakes. After this, they fled. Several minutes afterward volcanoes began to erupt on Vitea, and soon the fire of savoir erupted, sending a searing ray of molten rock and explosive hypermatter into space. The death fleet was obliterated by the inferno, along with nearly 1000 star destroyers. With every unit of the death star fleet destroyed, the legacy of the DS-1 planet destroyers was ended.

The Eliminator
The Eliminator was not present when the fire of savoir devastated the sith armada and the death fleet, for it was heading towards its true target, not Vitea but Sandexi, the sun. The destruction of a star system, especially one with an enormous red giant at the centre, would be a perfect demonstration of the dark side’s power. After it was realized the Eliminator was not present at Vitea, the, alliance leaders began to question its disappearance. They realized only too late that the weapon was already attacking the sun. They sent out the alliance fleet, but by the time they reached their destination, Sandexi was no more. The star exploded into a supernova, igniting Vitea’s atmosphere and blasting the planet out of orbit.

The distance between the sun and the planet had saved Vitea, but the surface was ablaze, and the fleet sent to attack the Eliminator had been reduced to dust. Only the Eliminator had survived. The remaining forces on Vitea had only a few minutes to act before the dead star collapsed and the system would be drawn into the hole. Unfortunately, the fire of savoir showed no signs of activity, and the only hope of survival was in general Ne’vinn C’roth and his commandoes. The general theorized that the destruction of the Eliminator could bring back the solar energies it had consumed. The only need was to keep it from fleeing the system. The commandoes were rushed into action, and were joined by Cade Skywalker. The team manned a squadron of small A-wing starfighters, and assaulted the weapon. Through careful manoeuvres, the fighters were able to rupture the engines on the giant weapon, causing it to veer towards the planet. In a final effort to destroy the weapon, the alliance starships concentrated all their firepower on the primary volcano of the fire of savoir. The tactic worked as well as expected, and the weapon was activated a second time, blasting the flames into space. Although it missed and only managed a glancing hit, that was enough to send the eliminator towards the dead star, which at that point collapsed into a black hole and drew the Eliminator into its core. The weapon exploded, sending the star’s energies into the hole. The black hole was put out and in its place; the bright stellar energies glowed once more, forming a blue giant star, the new Sandexi. The Eliminator had been destroyed, but not before Darth Krayt and other key sith leaders fled in emergency shuttles. Cade Skywalker later theorized that the fact that the fire of savoir had nearly missed the Eliminator was a deliberate mistake, meaning to push the battlestation away from the planet before releasing the energies of the sun, ensuring the star be reborn not to close to its planet.

Legacy
The Human species never recalled its homeworld, but these beings are still a product of the planet. Throughout their existence the Humans have shaped galactic society into what it is today, and still playing that role further. The battle of Vitea also largely symbolized the end of the use superweapons, with the largest and most deadly devices ever created being obliterated in that system. The planet was strong with the light side of the force, and was considered by many beings to be almost alive. Like the Sanctuary moon of Endor, Vitea was a location where the light side triumphed over the dark. After the battle of Vitea, the planet was more or less abandoned once more save for a few Jedi seeking enlightenment. All of the moons of Vitea have habitable atmospheres, as well as water, and have evolved their own life. However, none of the moons have evolved intelligent beings and have had virtually no contact with Galactic society.