The Maw



The Maw, or the Maw Cluster as it was sometimes called, was an unstable and mostly unnavigable cluster of black holes located near the planet Kessel. Theories of creation included creation by an unknown people (possibly the Celestials, the Rakata, or the Killiks) in 1 million BBY and an enormous explosion in space.

History
It was the site of Grand Moff Tarkin's Maw Installation to build the first prototype Death Star, and most of the first Death Star (although it was completed at Despayre). Tarkin knew that the Maw's near-inaccessibility and remoteness made it easy for him to hide the project.

The only reason the Maw was visible is due to the ionizing gasses being drawn into it.



The installation was actually located within a safe zone inside the cluster discovered just prior to the start of the project. The remaining area of the Maw was saturated in radiation, plasma, and strong gravitational forces. Anything that neared the edge of the Maw would notice pieces of their ships being pulled apart, and some brave smugglers and criminals used it as a shortcut past the Kessel Run.

The stability of the cluster itself was something of a mystery, with some believing that an advanced civilization might have constructed it, rather than it merging together like a normal cluster would.

A large asteroid in the Maw was also the site of an Imperial detention base which was attacked by Rogue Squadron in year 3 ABY. During the battle, numerous prisoners escaped and the prison was destroyed.

The Maw was also the location of the creation and destruction of the Sun Crusher; it was constructed at the Maw Installation and destroyed when it was sent into one of the black holes within the Maw. Other superweapons designed and built there include the World Devastators, the Tarkin, the Ion Ring, the Galaxy Gun, and the Subspace Holotransceiver.

During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Lando Calrissian sponsored the construction of a space station called Shelter, which was built with the remains of Maw Installation as a refuge for fugitive Jedi Knights. Shelter was located at the very heart of the Maw and at one point housed the wartime generation of Jedi apprentices and surviving Praxeum students.

The Killiks claimed to have placed the Maw Cluster around Kessel, but their collective memory made this disputable; it was more likely that a member of the real makers joined one of their hives.

Appearances

 * Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
 * Echoes of the Jedi
 * Deader than a Triton Moon
 * The Hutt Gambit
 * Rebel Dawn
 * A Death Star Is Born
 * Death Star
 * Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
 * Star Wars: X-wing Alliance
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * X-wing: Wedge's Gamble
 * Jedi Search
 * Dark Apprentice
 * Champions of the Force
 * I, Jedi
 * Young Jedi Knights: Crisis at Crystal Reef
 * Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
 * Emissary of the Void
 * Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
 * Destiny's Way
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee
 * Dark Nest I: The Joiner King
 * Dark Nest III: The Swarm War