Bespin

Bespin is a gas giant that is unique for its valuable Tibanna gas. This led to the creation of floating communities in the "Life Zone," where breathable atmosphere exists thirty kilometers deep. These communities include Cloud City, which is a famous floating pleasure palace and Tibanna mine. The planet is home to humans, Lutrillians, and Ugnaughts.

Cloud City was built by Ecclessis Figg as a facility to collect Tibanna for hyperdrive coolant. It later became a floating resort, known for its repulsorlift cities. Under the New Republic, control of Cloud City was given to local Ugnaught leaders.

Planets	Type	Moons
Miser	Searing rock	0
Orin	Volcanic rock	0
Velser's Ring	Asteroid field	—
Bespin	Gas giant	2

History

Gas giants are rarely worth the expense of colonization, but Bespin is an exception: Its rose-colored clouds contain a fortune in valuable Tibanna gas. That’s led to the creation of many floating communities in the “Life Zone,” a band of breathable atmosphere thirty kilometers deep. Bizarre floating, flying, and drifting creatures native to the planet now share this area with repulsorlift cities that are home to humans, Lutrillians, and Ugnaughts, as well as numerous tourists. The most famous such settlement is Cloud City, a floating pleasure palace and Tibanna mine.

Culture

Cloud City was built by Ecclessis Figg, the eccentric “Master Trader of the Outer Javin,” purportedly as a facility to collect Tibanna for hyperdrive coolant. In reality, Figg was spin-sealing this gas for use in blasters—an operation that would attract the attention of the powerful Mining Guild and Imperial Figg’s profits. To deflect the guild’s attention, Figg turned his mining colony into a graceful, cosmopolitan resort, with the Tibanna operations hidden away. Soon the lie became the truth: Tourism alone made Cloud City profitable. The city’s gambit failed when Boba Fett followed the Millennium Falcon there, leading to a visit from Darth Vader. Vader left behind a garrison, and stability wasn’t restored until after the Battle of Endor. Under the New Republic, control of the city was given to local Ugnaught leaders, fulfilling a deal made by Lando Calrissian during his days as administrator.

Economy

Bespin’s Life Zone is home to clouds of phosphorescent algae and colossal invertebrates known as beldons, which some scientists think produce Tibanna gas. The beldons are preyed upon by sharp-toothed predators called velkers. Rawwks are bat-like scavengers that have claimed abandoned prospecting stations for their roosts. Finally, a herd of Alderaanian thrantas calls Bespin home; their riders perform vertiginous “sky rodeos” for tourists. Besides Cloud City, visitors sometimes tour Tibannopolis, a repulsorlift city abandoned during the Clone Wars, and the Ugnaught Surface, a floating platform designed to mimic conditions on the Ugnaughts’ homeworld of Gentes.

References