Kessel/Legends

"Kessel has always been last on my list of places in the galaxy I'd like to see."

- C-3PO

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
"We'll be sent to the spice mines of Kessel, or smashed into who knows what!"

- C-3P0

The misshapen, asteroid-shaped planet had a barren, rocky landscape. The atmosphere was very thin, with most of the air being provided by factories on the surface. Ancient tombs and ruins, possibly of Sith origin, dotted the landscape, haunted by skeletal avians. The prison had been established in these inhospitable settings. There was a single large settlement on the planet, 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, thanks to his lieutenant Urai Fen.





In 0 BBY, the Imperials kept several massive communication satellites in orbit to maintain control over the prisons and also to permit passage through the system and to coordinate ship landings. One of these satellites were guarded with a Victory-class Star Destroyer, two Acclamator-class Star Destroyers, two Tartan-class patrol cruisers, and multiple squadrons of TIE fighters, TIE interceptors, TIE bombers, and a single squadron of elite TIE defenders. The Zann Consortium had an opportunity to corrupt this spice world by destroying a communications sattelite with IG-88, two Crusader-class corvettes, two Vengeance-class frigates, and four full squadrons of StarViper-class starfighters.

Kessel 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 surrender to him. Professor Renn Volz, creator of the Ship, eventually refused to help Bzorn continue the devastation 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.

Kessel was also rumored to be a chunk of rock from the Maw Installation before the Maw was created. Unfortunately, no proof has been given to this connection.

Behind the scenes
Kessel, as depicted in Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures, was a lush, idyllic world containing the Giant Fungi Forest. How this depiction, along with the equally hospitable vision depicted in The Glove of Darth Vader, is to be reconciled with the current desolate depiction of the world has yet to be determined.

In Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed Kessel is portrayed as a spherical planet, whereas other official sources portray it as a potato-shaped planet. In the New Essential Chronology, Kessel is mistakenly portrayed as a greenish-blue, lush-looking spherical planet.

Appearances



 * Star Wars Episode I: Racer
 * Jedi Quest comic
 * Star Wars: Purge
 * Star Wars Dark Times: The Path to Nowhere
 * The Paradise Snare
 * The Hutt Gambit
 * Rebel Bass
 * Interlude at Darkknell
 * Ringers
 * Star Wars: Empire at War
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novelization
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * The Second Kessel Run
 * Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance
 * A Bitter Winter
 * Gathering Shadows
 * Kessel: Hell in Space
 * Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed
 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * Combat Moon
 * Shadow Stalker
 * 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
 * Ambush at Corellia
 * Young Jedi Knights: Crisis at Crystal Reef
 * Balance Point
 * Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
 * Ylesia