Kessel/Legends

Kessel was a planet located in Kessel Sector, in the Outer Rim, near Hutt Space and the dangerous celestial bodies of the Maw. It was a prison world, and was home to the Galaxy's largest spice mining operation. Under Imperial rule, slave labor was in extensive use.

The planet had a sole moon called the Garrison Moon, which was destroyed by Tol Sivron using the Death Star Prototype.

Nature
One side of the planet had a barren, rocky landscape. The atmosphere was very thin, most of the air being provided by factories on the surface. Ancient, possibly Sith tombs and ruins, haunted by skeletal avians, dotted the landscape. The prison had been established in these inhospitable settings.



The other side of the planet was lush and fertile, and included the Giant Fungi Forest and the city of Kessendra.

History
Kessel was the only source of glitterstim spice, a valuable drug used both therapeutically and recreationally. During the Galactic Republic's time, the prison was administered by the Colicoids. Later the prison was controlled by Imperial Warden Commander Dewt Kluskine. Several prisoners rose to positions of power under him as trustees. The most powerful of these was Moruth Doole, who gained effective control of the spice trade by manipulating the Warden's accounts. Doole engineered the assassination of Kluskine by a Wookiee prisoner named Gyylghrard, and eventually seized control of the mines himself.

Shortly after the execution of Order 66, a small Jedi conclave was called in one of the abandoned mines of Kessel by Shadday Potkin in a futile attempt to lure Darth Vader into a deathtrap. The plan ultimately failed and all the Jedi who attended were killed.

During the Galactic Civil War, Wedge Antilles became a prisoner and slave at one of the Empire's Spice mines, after being captured near the Imperial Enclave on Kile II. He was scheduled for termination, and was being transported by train to a death camp, but the timely intervention of Luke Skywalker and Rogue Squadron allowed him to make a last-minute escape. A few days later, the Rogues returned with Rebel General Crix Madine and a task force of commandos, who used Wedge's knowledge of the prison camps to quickly rescue a large percentage of the slaves working for the Imperials. Tyber Zann was another prisoner here, but he escaped during a prison revolt he caused.



The people of the paradisical Giant Fungi Forest had not suffered from an earthquake in so many eons they did not know what one was, until Imperial Captain Bzorn used the Ion Ring Ship to torment the planet with groundquakes and cyclones, trying to force the Rebels on Kessel to surrrender to him. Professor Volz, creator of the Ship, eventually refused to help Bzorn continue the devastastion of the planet, despite the fact that his daughter, Mira Volz, was (supposedly) being held hostage. In reality, Mira had escaped from the Empire. She recruited the help of Han Solo and Luke Skywalker, and they rescued her father, who destroyed the Ion Ring Ship.

Kessendra was administered by Grand Moff Bertroff Hissa, and was known for its grandiose colosseum. After the Battle of Endor, Hissa set up the mutant Trioculus as the new Emperor, in opposition to Ysanne Isard on Coruscant. He was defeated by the unintentionally combined efforts of Isard and SPIN. Also during that period was the revolt of the staff of the Imperial Correctional Facility. The prison's administrator and his guards kept more than half of the planet under their control until 11 ABY.

Under the New Republic, the planet had no slaves. A legitimate spice mining business was run by Nien Nunb, who was installed as administrator around 13 ABY by Lando Calrissian, who had purchased the mines. Mara Jade was also involved with running Calrissian's business, at least for a time. Nunb employed craniopods, blind, sapient insectoids who thrived in the underground tunnels.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Purge
 * The Paradise Snare
 * The Hutt Gambit
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * The Second Kessel Run
 * X-Wing Alliance
 * Kessel: Hell in Space
 * Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed
 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * The Jedi Prince series
 * X-wing: Rogue Squadron
 * ''X-wing: Wedge's Gamble
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
 * Jedi Search
 * Champions of the Force
 * I, Jedi
 * Children of the Jedi
 * Young Jedi Knights: Crisis at Crystal Reef
 * Balance Point