PM-1203

"So I gotta leave the Ghost and go to this nasty-filled asteroid&hellip;as a favor to Tseebo?"

- Ezra Bridger objects to Kanan Jarrus's plan to lure the Galactic Empire to PM-1203

PM-1203, colloquially known as the Fort Anaxes asteroid, was a planetoid located in the Anaxes asteroid belt, within the Azure sector of the Core Worlds. It was created from the remains of the planet Anaxes, which was obliterated in a cataclysmic event near the end of the Clone Wars. However, Fort Anaxes, a Galactic Republic military base located on the asteroid's surface, miraculously survived the planet's destruction.

Within the smuggling community, Fort Anaxes became a fuel depot and neutral meeting place for those who required privacy in their dealings&mdash;though, unbeknownst to its visitors, the facility had also become home to a colony of vicious fyrnocks that nested on PM-1203. During the early rebellion against the Galactic Empire, the Spectres undertook several missions to the asteroid, where they encountered the fyrnock colony and faced off against the Grand Inquisitor.

Description
"Sunrise comes along fast in these parts."

- Sabine Wren, watching an asteroid block out PM-1203's sun

A temperate planetoid located in the Azure sector of the galaxy's Core Worlds, PM-1203 was located within an asteroid belt composed of the planet Anaxes' remnants. It was located in grid square L-9 on the Standard Galactic Grid. The planetoid was large enough to support light gravity and even a thin atmosphere, which was enough to support a colony of fyrnocks, silicon-based life-forms that evolved to survive on asteroids with similar harsh conditions. They inhabited the caverns of the abandoned planetoid's pockmarked surface. Other asteroids in the belt sporadically eclipsed its sun, shrouding PM-1203 in darkness.

Anaxes cataclysm
Near the end of the Clone Wars, a cataclysmic event obliterated the planet Anaxes, creating an asteroid belt that included thousands of planetoids, including PM-6986 and PM-1203. Built into a mountainside by Galactic Republic engineers, the Fort Anaxes military base was miraculously protected from Anaxes' destruction, remaining intact on the surface of PM-1203, also known simply as the Fort Anaxes asteroid.

The planetoid's location was a well-guarded secret within the smuggling community, and Fort Anaxes became a fuel depot and neutral meeting ground for those who required privacy in their dealings. In addition, dangerous excursions into the facility having the potential to yield Clone Wars-era weaponry, ship parts and fuel. Despite this, most scavengers avoided PM-1203, citing ghost stories and other superstitions. Everyone knew someone who knew the lone survivor of scavenging attempts, and their wild claims of the bloodthirsty ghosts of Anaxes soldiers scared most spacers off. However, it was, in reality, an overwhelming fyrnock infestation that was the source for these superstitions.

The early rebellion
"Ezra, when we were on that asteroid, you made a dangerous connection through the Force."

- Kanan Jarrus, to Ezra Bridger

During the early rebellion against the Galactic Empire between 5 and 4 BBY, Hera Syndulla and Sabine Wren of the Spectres went on a supply run to PM-1203 to rendezvous with an enigmatic ally known as "Fulcrum" at Fort Anaxes. Though the supplies were retrieved by the rebels, Fulcrum was already gone by the time they arrived. However, the rebels' shuttle, the Phantom, was leaking fuel, forcing the pair to hold off a nest of fyrnocks until they were rescued by their crewmates aboard their light freighter, the Ghost.

In the year 4 BBY, Jedi Kanan Jarrus and his Padawan Ezra Bridger of the Spectres returned to PM-1203 to draw the Grand Inquisitor away from the rest of the group, which had rescued a defecting Imperial Information Office worker named Tseebo from the Empire. After arriving at Fort Anaxes with a squad of stormtroopers, the Inquisitor and his soldiers were attacked by fyrnocks under Jarrus and Bridger's control. The Inquisitor ultimately defeated Jarrus in lightsaber combat, though Bridger drew upon the dark side of the Force to summon a massive fyrnock, which attacked the Jedi hunter and allowed him and his master to escape aboard the Phantom.

Behind the scenes
"Built on an asteroid, Fort Anaxes was a remote military base used during the Clone Wars. It was no longer used after the war's end, though it still served a purpose as a meeting place for those who required privacy in their dealings. And it wasn't completely abandoned: a colony of vicious fyrnocks nested throughout the massive rock, emerging in the darkness to attack anyone who stepped foot on Fort Anaxes."

- The original Databank entry for Fort Anaxes

PM-1203 first appeared without identification in "Out of Darkness," a 2014 episode of the animated series Star Wars Rebels' first season. It was first identified in Ezra's Duel with Danger, a 2015 junior novel adaptation of the Star Wars Rebels episodes "Empire Day," "Gathering Forces," and "Path of the Jedi" written by Michael Kogge. Additionally, the accompanying "Out of Darkness" episode guide on StarWars.com features a concept art of PM-1203 by Amy Beth Christenson, labeled simply "Asteroid belt planetoid," circa November 22, 2013.

While early sources claimed that Fort Anaxes was built upon an asteroid that some sources mistakenly conflated with the military base itself, the Databank entry for Fort Anaxes was later updated to clarify that the base was formerly located on Anaxes and survived the planet's destruction on PM-1203's surface, confirming it to be one and the same with the base that was originally created for the unfinished Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes "The Bad Batch," "A Distant Echo," and "Unfinished Business."

Appearances

 * Star Wars Rebels: Recon Missions
 * Path of the Jedi: A Star Wars Rebels Cinestory Comic
 * Ezra's Duel with Danger
 * Ezra's Duel with Danger