Condoria

Condoria was a planet in the boundaries of the Mid- and Outer Rim that was the heart of the Eagle Sector. It was the homeworld of the Condorians.

Geography and Environment
Condoria is smaller than the standard gravity for a habitable planet, and produces around .87 G. Because it is six billion years old, and life on the planet did not start evolving into complex organisms until later than usual, the planet has a cool core and has a relatively weak magnetic field. The star that it revolves around generates high intensities of solar wind and radiation, so the planet is usually doused in aurora boreali. The Condorians, in a way, worship the dancing lights in the sky in this manner.

Condoria has very uneven terrain, and a somewhat thick atmosphere containing more oxygen than a normal Type I atmosphere. Most of the mountains, rainforests, and deserts of the planet were teeming with life. A single vast ocean, spotted with islands and penninsulas, circumnavigates the planet and is not clearly divided by land. Most of the landmasses, though the planet is 40% covered in solid ground, are not large and considered islands over continents by most geographers.

A puzzle that startled scientists for a long time was the freshness of the oceans. The water is hardly salty, and is pure enough to drink on a beach. The current working theory supported by the most evidence is that the high concentration of sodium in the Condorian soil makes the water that erodes from it very heavy, and sink to the bottom of the ocean, where the hydrothermal activity separates the water from the particles it carries. There, it supposedly solidifies on the ocean floor, and build up into a new island. In this way, most islands can erode away into ocean while the ocean builds into an island, making the coast ever changing along the lapse of millions of years.

This theory still does not explain the jaggedness of many cliffs and hills that would and should be smooth under this kind of erosion. Geologists are still puzzling over this question.

Biology
Because Condoria does not obstruct nearly as much ultraviolet radiation as most planets, the life on Condoria adapts to this problem in several ways. Most plants are resilient to ultraviolet light, and are pigmented a deep purple hue to absorb and make use of the otherwise harmful rays. Animals, which are suprisingly uncommon for a world this far into evolution, and not as diverse as predicted, usually live under the dense rainforests and jungles that shield them from the sun. However, many animals take advantage of the eight-year solarmax cycle of Condoria's sun, which is considered by those who study the biology of that sector the most impressive feats of adaptations.

Condorians, among other animals, migrate to the North and South Poles of the planet (Condorians head south, while most other animals go northward), taking a jagged route that appears to be taking advantage of the global wind systems. At the magnetic poles, the ions created by the solar wind react with the atmostphere to create a shiny, non-toxic particle that is absorbed by Condorian lungs, and travels through the bloodstreams and pigments the feathers. The reaction between the solarmax and the upper atmosphere creates a chemical that can protect a Condorian for the eight years until the next migration. It is mostly on Condoria that has this curious effect, with the proper settings for star, planet, and atmosphere (as well as body chemistry) can take place, though several others, most notable Athloopa, do have the right atmospheric content and solar radiation to duplicate this pattern. When an animal is pigmented with this chemical, its skin, fur, and/or feathers will become a glossy black, and the flesh with this pigment will repel ultraviolet radiation efficiently. In addition, the contact between the massive solar storm and the lower atmosphere creates a weak ozone layer that lasts for two years, so the pigments aren't really needed for the full eight-year cycle.

There are two species that do not use any of these techniques for repelling the harsh radiation, both of them solicon fungi that are traced to have evolved in an asteroid field and brought to the planet by a meteor collison.

History
Condoria, formed around 6,000,000,000 BBY, is hard to track in the history because almost no sediment on the planet is safe from frequent erosion and difficulty with carbon dating. The most Condorian and galactic archeologists and historians can extract from the planet's history is that 40 million years old, and even a planetwide history can't be constructed from the little evidence of that era. Before that, not enough effort has been exerted to find out the specific history of the planet's biology (this is partially because Condorians believe in their religion that the planet is hardly ten thousand years old, and don't want their religious beliefs to be contradicted by pig-headed scientists who "think they can look at dirt and tell what happened before he was born," according to one Condorian extremist).

What is known of the Condorian society, at least, is known through generation-to-generation storytelling and eventually manuscripting. Condorians were generally hunter-gatherer flocks that hunted together, while the females used their beaks for cracking nuts and extracting juices (consequently, the male and female Condorians have very distinguished beaks). They seemed to inhabit the second largest landmass and the two great islands neighboring it at this time. Around 6,000 BBY, the Condorians started moving elsewhere for reasons unknown, though from the few fossil records and sedimentary deposits that still exist, Condorians still migrated to the South Pole every eight years at that time. It also seems that a primitive "shepherd" technique was adapted by the birds around this time, and they finally gained a foothold in the biological race as the competition with other predatory semi-sentient species swelled.

Up to 3,000 BBY, machines, guilds, and markets evolved slowly, but surely, driven by the amounting harshness between the many semisentient species that competed for resources. It is known that Millennium Falcon, a Force-sensitive Condorian, unified the Condorian race and wiped the partially sentient reptiles, mammals, and amphibians extinct, and both acts led to the jump to spaceworthy capability before Millennium Falcon died. This remarkable technological leap probably has something to do with the realization of the ability to harness the ion energy that penetrates the atmosphere, but still startles historians nonetheless. Condorians expanded into the Eagle Sector barely four generations later (a Condorian generation being exactly sixteen years).

Condoria was subject to attack by an extraterrestrial species that was provoked by crusading Condorians, but the Condorian race managed to repel the alien attackers and conquer their homeworld. It was then realized by the ancient scholars and priests of Condoria that the mission of Condorians assigned by "Sahawk," one of the gods of the Condorians, was to purify not only their homeworld, but the universe itself. (Condorians, being biologically different from any other species on their homeworld, consider themselves made separately from the rest of life, and therefore pure and having the right to rule all other life. Scientists still drive themselves crazy trying to identify any direct ancestors of the Condorians)

As the Condorians freshly took control of the Eagle Sector, they participated in Galactic trade, and their artistic and unique products were exported for high prices. During this era, Condoria was considered the center of Outer Rim trade, and the Condorians became very powerful.

So powerful, in fact, that the Confederacy of Independent Systems wanted their allegiance horribly.

About a hundred years BBY, Condorian civilization became more or less declined in their potence and prominence. War at various levels erupted constantly between human and Condorian colonies, and eventually the civilization became more and more xenophobic. By the time the Confederacy of Independent Systems sought their cooperation, the Condorians reluctantly agreed to become and ally to the Confederacy, but be free from the control of the Separatist leaders.

When the Galactic Empire took control in 19 BBY, the Condorians were enslaved as a punishment for their Confederacy sympathies, and sent to work for Sienar Fleet Systems. There, Condorians were forced to use mass production techniques they despised, though they did learn the technologies of the rest of the Galaxy. The dethroned commander of the Condorians, Commander Ravenous, led a rebellion in the Eagle Sector that resulted in the Liberation of Condoria, a time which Condorians claimed the products they produced under Sienar and integrated their own technologies, suddenly wielding a formiddable fleet. Their kamikaze tactics and prime engineering made the Condorians a lethal enemy, and they declared themselves neutral to the Rebellion.

When the Empire was overthrown, however, the Condorians wanted to retain their unique monarchist culture and practice their religion that did somewhat contradict parts of the Constitution. This resulted in the division between the New Republic and the Condorian society, and they allied with the Hutts and Geonosians under the leadership of Darth Monarchist to continue their quest of purification of the Galaxy. Commander Ravenous also thought Darth Monarchist was the Chosen One of a Condorian prophecy made by Millennium Falcon, one of "the detested race" who would "liberate the People from oppressive war." Thus sparked the Second Clone War.

The Second Clone War was lost at the Battle of Thule, when the last descendent of Millennium Falcon was killed, but they continued their onslaught desperately during the Next Sith War, where Condoria suffered a hard battle, though the New Republic was driven from conquest. The Force ghost of Anakin Skywalker, however, took leadership of the Condorian civilization, and proposed a different interpretation to Falcon's scripture.