Bestine (city)

Bestine, fully known as the Bestine Township, and formerly as Bestine Point, was a small city on the Outer Rim Territories planet of Tatooine. Melnea Arnthout and other survivors of the crashed Dowager Queen founded the original settlement alongside an additional group of colonists from the Red-Sin Valon starship. After its founding, Bestine suffered early difficulties, including a severe economic depression and a lack of water. However, Bestine survived, and its residents even had a hand in forming other settlements across Tatooine, including Fort Tusken and Mos Eisley, the latter of which was built around the remains of the Dowager Queen. Following the Declaration of a New Order, Bestine was adopted by the Galactic Empire to serve as the planet's officially recognized capital. The office of Governor Tour Aryon was based in Bestine, and other Imperial officials, such as Prefect Eugene Talmont, regularly conducted business in the capitol. By the time following the Battle of Yavin in 0 BBY, Bestine was a thriving city, regarded as a stately gem of Imperial politics. Due in large part to the influx of Imperial personnel and their credits, Bestine flourished while other cities on Tatooine struggled. By then considered to be the safest of all cities on Tatooine, Bestine was attractive to honest traders and merchants interested in doing legitimate business on Tatooine. The city also played host to a series of divisive political elections between Director of Commerce Sean Trenwell and Officer of Defense Victor Visalis, both of whom held radically opposing views on how to manage the city. As the Galactic Civil War intensified, the Alliance to Restore the Republic recognized Bestine as an important strategic location. As such, the Rebel Alliance launched a daring invasion of the city, culminating in a series of ongoing sieges that saw the city exchange hands between Imperial and Rebel forces throughout the course of the war.

Text and facts from the “Bestine (city)/Legends” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.