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Scarif

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Sources

Darth Vader Annual 2,Tales of Villainy: The Short Goodbye,Star Wars: The Rebel Files,Dawn of Rebellion,Star Wars: The Galactic Explorer's Guide,Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

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Scarif

Astrographical information

Region

Suns

1^[7]

Moons

0^[1]

Trade routes

Manda Merchant Run^[3]

Orbital period

287days^[8]

Physical information

Diameter

9,112kilometers(5,662 miles)^[8]

Climate

Temperate^[9]
Tropical^[10]

Terrain

Oceans^[1]
Rocky archipelagos^[7]
Sandy beaches^[9]
Verdantjungles^[9]
Volcanic island chains^[11]

Points of interest

Aurek-14^[1]
Death trooper training camp^[1]
Imperial Center of Military Research^[10]
Scarif orbital shipyard^[4]
Mines and refineries^[11]

Flora

Areca nut palm tree^[1]

Fauna

Blixus^[12]
1,500 knownfish species^[12]
Manycolorful birds,reptiles, andinsects^[12]

Societal information

Other species

Humans^[1]

Population

475,000^[1]

Major exports

Starships^[13]
Supplies for theDeath Star^[13]

Affiliation

Galactic Empire^[10]

"Scarif? They're going to Scarif? Why doesnobody ever tell meanything, Artoo?"

―C-3PO, to R2-D2^[14]

Scarif was a remote, tropicalplanet located in theAbrion sector ofthe galaxy'sOuter Rim Territories. Although a small and idyllic world, Scarif played an important part in theGalactic Empire'smilitary-industrial complex, becoming the center for top-secret research beyond inspection distance of the prying eyes of theImperial Senate. Among the projects stored here was theDeath Star battle station, a construction project so important that the entire planet was covered by aplanetary deflector shield that could only be entered via theShield Gate, aGolan M3185 space station.

Description[]

The beautiful world of Scarif was turned into a military base for secret projects.

Scarif was a verdant,^[9] beautiful if relatively smallworld, measuring just over nine thousandkilometers in diameter. It had a remote and isolatedgalactic location^[1] in theAbrion sector of the southeastOuter Rim Territories.^[3] A deep-blue world speckled with clouds,^[7] Scarif was comprised of tropical,volcanic island chains rising from clear, shallowoceans.^[1] Deeper oceans teeming with life were surrounded by rocky archipelagos.^[7] The planet's mantle was filled with dense metals that became valuable instarship construction. Scarif's sandy beaches were tranquil and idyllic, and some led into jungle canopies filled with wildlife, includingareca nut palm trees and the giant peetalex sea grape, which offered natural protection.^[1] The world had atemperate and comfortable climate and from the surface appeared as a tropical paradise despite its challenging ecosystem and dangerouspredators.^[9]

TheGalactic Empire constructed itsImperial Center of Military Research 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 monolithicCitadel Tower.^[7] The Imperial installations on the planet were known to be one of the very few sites where pure, refinedcoaxium fuel was stored, other thanMercy Island.^[15]

History[]

Imperial Era[]

"Jung."
"Sir?"
"Elaborate on these added protection requests for traffic to the Abrion sector."
"Proactive measures, sir. There's an increase in construction shipments going to Scarif, sir."

―Major Lio Partagaz andLonni Jung^[16]

Although Scarif's planetary mantle was filled with dense metals valuable instarship construction, its remote location deep within theOuter Rim Territories meant that supplyingshipyards of theCore Worlds proved too costly.^[1] At one time, a smallresort was based on Scarif, where theScarif Slush was served.Strono Tuggs tried the drink at the resort.^[17] However, the Galactic Empire saw Scarif as a potential place to house their most classified projects away from the inspection distance of theImperial Senate. To this end, the Empire built a major security complex in the planet's northern hemisphere, garrisoned by a specialdeployment of theTarkin Initiative, centered on a Citadel Tower. Large swaths of land were excavated in order to buildstarships, and a high-altitudeShield Gate station allowed entry past theplanetary deflector shield,^[1] which itself was protected by severalImperial Star Destroyers.^[14] Scarif became the principal construction facility for the Empire's vast war machine.^[10]

The Death Star under construction over Scarif

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.^[7] CodenamedProject Stardust,^[18] the designs for anarmored battle station capable ofdestroying entire worlds, theDS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station, were kept in the massivedatabanks of the Citadel^[14] while thebattle station itself was constructed over the planetGeonosis under the supervision ofDirector Orson Callan Krennic.^[18] Around9 BBY,^[19] the Death Star was moved fromGeonosis to Scarif to continue its construction and keep its existence a secret.^[1] It continued under the supervision of Krennic.^[14]

In the final stages of its construction, including the assembly of itssuperlaser, work on the Death Star was being finished in orbit of Scarif thanks toEta-class supply barges delivering materials, which were then assembled byconstruction droids.^[20] Despite the importance of the project, the officers of the garrison, commanded byGeneral Sotorus Ramda, became complacent, mainly because of the confidence placed in Scarif's defenses,^[1] which included at least twoImperial-class Star Destroyers, aCantwell-class Arrestor Cruiser, as well as manyTIE/ln space superiority starfighters stored in the hangars of the shield gate.^[20]

Galactic Civil War[]

Main article:Battle of Scarif

"He said we can find the plans. That they're in a data vault on the planet Scarif. Tell the Alliance: they have to go to Scarif and get the plans."

―Jyn Erso, to Cassian Jeron Andor onher father's message^[7]

Imperial forces and the forces of Rogue One fought each other on Scarif.

TheBattle of Scarif was a battle between theRebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire, taking place in the year1 BBY.^[19] The Rebels had received information fromJyn Erso that the Death Star plans were beingheld in the Citadel Tower, and decided to attempt to capture them. The group successfully infiltrated the tower and successfully managed to transmit the plans toPrincess Leia Organa and theAlliance Fleet.^[14]

As the battle came to its end,Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin ordered the Death Star to fire a precise single reactor blast at theplanet in an effort to halt the transmission, as well as to eliminate his longtime rival Krennic. The blast did not destroy Scarif itself^[14] but dissipated its planetary shield^[7] and obliterated the Citadel Tower, as well as everyone in its vicinity.^[14] The Death Star's superlaser boiled the oceans of Scarif, burning a part of the planet's surface.^[21] The Scarif Slush recipe had been smuggled off of Scarif by that point, allowing the drink to survive the destruction of its namesake.^[17]

Behind the scenes[]

Scarif is a tropical planet that was created for the2016 Star Wars anthology filmRogue One: A Star Wars Story. The first footage of the planet was shown in theRogue One teaser trailer that was released onApril 7,2016.^[22] The planet's islands were filmed in the Maldives, while the interior of the Citadel Tower was filmed at the Canary Wharf stop on the London Underground.^[1]

Early inRogue One's production, Scarif was conceived as a sort of "dry dock" for the Death Star, with an immense portion of the planet's surface excavated in order to house the battle station.^[23]

DirectorGareth Edwards said the planet's nature came about after the crew noticed howGeorge Lucas had been inspired by every theater of World War II except the Pacific front.^[24]

At the2017 South by Southwest film festival, Edwards revealed that the planet's name, Scarif, came from a misspelling of his name on a coffee cup, telling the audience, "I must have said, 'It's Gareth,' and they wrote 'Scarif.'"^[25]