2932, The Blue-Eyed Youth
Outer Rim Territories, edge of Hutt Space—Tatooine.
This planet, a paradise for space pirates, adventurers, smugglers, mercenaries, and bounty hunters, had never changed.
Even though the Fourth Empire had once extended its rule here, and even though the Hutts, under the leadership of the Goresla Family, were gradually unifying, Tatooine's situation remained unchanged.
Though it was conveniently connected, it was simply too remote... and its natural environment was harsh, with virtually no natural resources.
It was not that there were absolutely none, but the resources produced by Tatooine were utterly useless in this interstellar age—low-grade, poor-quality metal ores and chemical minerals suitable only for fuel combustion. That was all.
Tatooine's resident population was sparse, but its transient population was enormous. One day it might have hundreds of thousands of people, and the next, that number could swell to several million.
Tatooine's official figures still listed its total population as two hundred thousand. But who knew how old those figures were, or how they had even been obtained.
Perhaps someone had simply flown a survey ship over the planet, performed a rough scan, and made an estimate.
Thus, the planet held almost no strategic significance. Even the Fourth Empire had never planned to fully occupy Tatooine.
Even now, Tatooine remained part of Hutt Space, and the Hutt Goresla Family merely maintained the status quo here.
Tatooine was still a lawless planet beyond anyone's control.
More than twenty years ago, Tatooine had mainly contained two cities—Mos Eisley City and Mos Espa Port. However, the Hutts' prolonged civil war had instead driven more war refugees to Tatooine.
Now, Tatooine had five cities, along with many small villages and settlements.
Another important reason the planet could support more people was the development of the Fourth Civilization's atmospheric terraforming technology.
Some