Xerxes

For other uses, see Xerxes.

Xerxes was a terrestrial planet^[2] located in the Xerxes system of the Core Worlds.^[1] During the Galactic Civil War between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance, it had a planetary police force and was the site of a weapons shop.^[2]

At one point during that conflict, the smuggler Roark Garnet visited Xerxes, where the local police were looking for him. He wished to visit a weapons shop but, wary of an ambush, spent around an hour watching the establishment for any signs of a stake-out. Ultimately, while still not convinced it was safe to enter, Garnet attempted to recruit the assistance of passersby before offering a Human pedestrian twenty credits to go into the shop, look around it, and then report to the smuggler of what he saw inside.^[2]

Behind the scenes

Xerxes placed on a map of the Harron sector included in Voyages SF 13. — Xerxes placed on a map of the Harron sector included in *Voyages SF* 13.

Xerxes was first mentioned in the 1987 rulebook for the first edition of West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game.^[2] It shares its name with "Emperor Ford Xerxes XII" and "Alexander Xerxes XII," character names that were written down in 1973 by the Star Wars franchise's creator, George Lucas, during the early writing stages of^[3] the first part of the original trilogy, the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, and that eventually morphed into the character of Emperor Palpatine of the Galactic Empire.^[4]

"Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, How I Wonder Where We Are," a 1990 roleplaying game source article published in the thirteenth issue of the Voyages SF magazine, placed Xerxes in the Harron sector. Since that article was released outside of the Lucas Licensing process,^[5] it was considered non-canonical with respect to the Star Wars Legends continuity.^[6] The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas subsequently placed the Xerxes system, and therefore the planet itself, in grid square M-11, also overriding the Voyages SF 13 placement by establishing that it was situated outside of the Expansion Region^[1] in which the Harron sector was later placed.^[7]