Relaea

Relaea was the fourth orbiting the  composed of the s Relius Prime and Relius II in the Relaea system of the. The sole habitable world in the system, it developed no life, which led to it being ignored by the nearby  civilization, though the s did use the planet for weapons testing. After the Rakatan shattered and fell in, Relaea was all but forgotten.

In, Relaea was rediscovered by personnel from their outpost in the  a mere 3 light-years away, but remained uncolonized due to the winds of the planet, which could reach speeds of 800 km/h and were caused by the rapid rotation of the world. Being a world with conditions inhospitable to s and not having large deposits of metals, it was generally ignored, though an outpost was built into a mountain to study the climate and geology of the planet. After this establishment was abandoned in, Relaea became uninhabited once again.

Millennia later, in 8 ABY, a newly formed splinter faction, the Empire of the Hand, colonized the planet in an effort to provide minerals for the war machine. The only major settlement, Relaea City, was constructed on a plateau surrounded by peaks to shield it from the winds, while a network of underground tunnels, mines and facilities were drilled into the crust. In 15 ABY, a civil war took place on the planet between Imperial loyalists and those seeking separation, which ended with an Imperial victory. However, following the merging of the Empire of the Hand into the, the new rulers abandoned the system, evacuating most of the inhabitants, and the inhabitants that chose to stay had to survive on their own.

Description
Fourth in the Relaea system and the only habitable in the system, Relaea was located within the  of, inside a stellar-poor tract of  known as the , three  from the. Illuminated by two orange stars, Relius Prime and Relius II, and being swept by some of the galaxy's most powerful gales, seventy-there percent of Relaea's surface was covered by oceans. The remaining dryland was mainly plains, with little to no trees due to the winds. Coastal regions and low archipelagos lacked vegetation due to the tsunamis continually generated by the weather, while those craters and canyons that were shielded from the wind were overgrown with evergreen forests.

No sentient species evolved on Relaea, and the little wildlife native to the planet limited itself to the mountainous regions for protection against the wind, remaining in the forests and hiding in caves against sudden wind strikes. The mammalian, carnivorous peak wolves developed innate abilities to sense incoming gales and detect nearby prey, such as the cold-blooded Relaean iguanas, which generally evaded the woodlands and remained in windproof shelters carved into the upper side of valleys, which were warmed up in the day. Another native species, the omnivorous boaks, lived in the caves littering the mountain ranges.

The flora of Relaea was mostly composed of various specimen of grass, which grew on the flatlands and were able to withstand the wind strikes. Trees could only be found in areas shielded from the wind, such as valleys and mountain craters.

Pre-Republic (&mdash;3,655 BBY)
Relaea was first explored by the of the  civilization from nearby Lehon. The planet, lacking native sentient species and thus a potential source of slave labor, was largely ignored by the s, although they built an outpost into a mountain, the remains of which were still visible millenia later. The Rakata also tested radioactive weapons on the planet, measuring the speed of their dissipation and spread of the substances, before their empire crumbled in. The testing inflicted heavy damage upon the planet's ecosystem, and the Relaean flora and fauna needed ten millennia to recuperate.

Galactic Republic and beyond (3,655 BBY–8 ABY)
Following the conclusion of the in  with the destruction of the Rakatan spatial manufacturing station known as the, the  maintained an outpost on the edge of the Lehon system. In, scouts hailing from the outpost rediscovered the planet as part of a scientific mission, naming it and the system "Relaea". They deemed the planet unsuitable for colonization due to the gales, but constructed a research station into the side of a valley, with a landing platform at the front. The scientists working at the station used s to place instruments atop peaks to measure the speed and determine the direction of the wind, studied the volcanic and sedimentary rocks forming the mountain ranges and examined the Force-based talents of the peak wolves. The station was abandoned in to reduce costs, thus ending Republic presence on the world. However, the planet remained embedded in registries

In the years that followed, the scientific station became a haven for the creatures of Relaea. The central became a nesting place for Relaean iguanas, while the  stored in tanks was consumed by various mammalian herbivores that sought shelter in the base. The damage caused by these inhabitants caused the station to deteriorate visibly, while the structural supports&mdash;made of low-quality from &mdash;began to crumble.

Rediscovery
In, Grand Admiral &mdash;Thrawn&mdash;returned from the western parts of the Unknown Regions to the   at the western, uncharted part of the. After hearing the news of the fragmentation of the, he began to expand the diminutive splinter faction carved out by  into a potential enemy of the &mdash;the Empire of the Hand. As part of his plan to acquire resources and food, Thrawn ordered the settling of multiple planets in the Unknown Regions.

In, Imperial scouts came across the Relaea system, and with it, Relaea. Although the explorers found the planet inhospitable, they reported it as being an acceptable candidate for colonization, as their sensors detected deposits of metal in the mountains. The initial settlers sent by the Empire constructed Relaea City beneath a plateau suitable for landing and constructed subsurface hangars and mining facilities for mineral export. A garrison of s was stationed in the city to maintain order, supplemented by s and a of s.

Civil war
In 15 ABY, the inhabitants of multiple smaller settlements and the slums of Relaea City rebelled against the Imperial authorities due to inadequate social services. The resulting uprising initially resulted in the fall of many districts to the rebels, but the garrison of Relaea City eventually cracked down the rebellion and restored order.

Abandonment (40 ABY&mdash;)
In 40 ABY, acting Grand Admiral Chak'oan'gen formally merged the Empire of the Hand into the successor of the mainstream, the. The new rulers held little interest in planets with few resources left to exploit, and since nearly all of Relaea's deposits had been mined, the planet was abandoned. Most inhabitants chose to leave, but about 3.7 million stayed on the planet, maintaining nominal trade with the.