Entry Twenty-One – Days after Geonosis One Hundred Thirty-Five
The CIS invaded Ryloth today. Major Kayi, with whom I have taken to discussing the evening war news, says this represents a very smart move by the Separatists. Though nominally a Republic member, the Twi'lek homeworld has long been heavily influenced if not outright controlled by Hutt enterprises. Kayi's very awareness of this is testament to how deep-rooted and prevalent the connection goes. Apparently a great many of the routes provided to the GAR by the Hutts are likely to use Ryloth as a transfer point due to its position on the Corellian Run. That means that so long as the Separatists can contest the system the benefits of our freshly struck alliance with the Hutt Clan will be minimized. The Council, it seems, has made the same strategic calculations. Records show master Ima-Gun-Di is stationed there with a clone garrison. He is a veteran warrior with a stalwart reputation, though not one I know personally. I hope the Force grants him strength.
News of this attack is on everyone's lips, ironic considering it represents a direct countermove to the results of the widely ignored recent campaigns on Christophsis and Teth. I suspect the difference in underworld public attention is tied to the participants. Though the Christophsians are a genetically distinct population, their planet is treated as simply one of the galaxy's countless human worlds, and of course the wise citizen does their best to avoid thinking about Hutts overmuch.
Twi'leks, by contrast, are found everywhere and known to everyone. While demographic estimates on the galaxy wide scale tend to be rather nebulous, regrettably, it is highly probable that Twi'leks represent the galaxy's second most populous sapient species. Intuitively I believe this is not only true, but that the margin over other highly numerous species is considerable. Found throughout the galaxy at almost every possible position and stratum of society, they are shockingly well known. Generally, if a person knows a member of only one species not their own, it is liable to be a Twi'lek.
And Ryloth is their homeworld. That too is curious. The planet's actual native population is quite modest and as such represents only a minute fraction of the total Twi'lek diaspora. I strongly suspect Coruscant, and perhaps the underworld alone, may have a greater number of Twi'lek residents than Ryloth, and the same is likely true of other extremely populous systems such as Denon or Metellos. However, and the anecdotal representation among my patients strongly supports this, all Twi'leks nevertheless identify Ryloth as their homeworld. This remains true even when they have never visited it and most likely never will.
This measure of solidarity is quite different from the status of most other widespread species whether their homeworld is unknown, as in humans, or known, as in Zabraks. Members of these species tend to view their planet of birth as their homeworld, not some distant orb they have never visited. There are also those species, such as Rodians, who seem to hold to both approaches at once.
I suppose I find all this fascinating because of the mirror it raises to my own circumstances. Twi'leks are spread across the whole of the galaxy. No world can be said to possess even a plurality of their population and no individual is likely to ever be far from others of her people. Whereas I am not only the sole Rebaigaic on Coruscant, I can reasonably believe I am the only one not on my homeworld at all. Strange that I should be prompted by this news to think about that again. It brings to me a conscious awareness of my headdress I have not felt in some time. My wearing traditional costume was part of the conditions under which I was admitted to the Order. I've usually don't think of it at all. Master Undili and others have similar arrangements in place, and no one among the Jedi ever comments on them. To do so would be impossibly rude, utterly inappropriate for Jedi. On Coruscant itself, surrounded by wild and endlessly varied Coruscanti fashions, the headdress itself is utterly innocuous. Truthfully, I suspect many people on the street consider me to be human, simply wearing skin-spray.
I wonder what I would think if the Separatists attacked my homeworld? Would it feel personal as it does to the Twi'leks? Or would it simply be another statistic? It is not my home, and truly never was, but I must have some connection even if I cannot name it now. I suppose I will never know, since Rebaig is not notable enough to attract pirates, never mind armies. That is probably best.
Notes
The bit about Hutt Clan hyperspace routes running through Ryloth is speculative, but seems reasonable.
Twi'leks are in fact the second most common species, behind only humans, in all Star Wars media, by a huge margin (Wookieepedia lists nearly 900 Twi'lek individuals, their nearest competitor is Rodians, are slightly over 600). Presumably this reflects actually galactic demography on at least some level.
Legends sources list the population of Ryloth at 1.5 billion, of which only 1.1 billion were Twi'leks. While the Disney canon version of Ryloth is considerably more habitable and may consequently have a larger population, it's unlikely to be more than a single digit billion number. This cannot be more than a tiny fraction of the galactic Twi'lek population and might not even be in the top ten for Twi'lek populations throughout the galaxy (not only Coruscant, but even a place like Nar Shaddaa probably has more Twi'lek inhabitants than Ryloth).
Some background regarding Nema's origins as I have conceived of them. She is from a no-account desert planet called Rebaig in the Mid-Rim (I chose to make her origin a desert planet because her costume reminds me of those of Egyptian pharaohs) where the tiny population of her species is confined to the north polar region. Though not technologically primitive her species simply does not practice spaceflight on its own. She was discovered by a Jedi mission to the planet and brought to the temple after negotiations. As a result, her cultural solidarity with her species goes essentially as far as her clothes and no further. She's been socialized entirely into the mores of the Republic and Jedi Order.