Merson asteroid belt

The Merson asteroid field was at the juncture of many hyperroutes, in the Stenness Node. Starliners passing through the field in the years surrounding the Clone Wars had to engage in silent running protocol to avoid detection by the pirates from nearby Merson. Prior to the Clone Wars, the Merson pirates scuttled a liner carrying many Sy Myrthians returning to Sy Myrth from Coruscant as a result of Sy Myrth's secession. During the Clone Wars, Tap-Nar-Pal and Gilad Pellaeon led Galactic Republic forces in space against the space forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems in the Merson asteroid field while Ronhar Kim led ground forces on Merson itself: the battle was set up by Darth Sidious to ensure the deaths of Kim and Tap-Nar-Pal, and Pellaeon was forced to withdraw from the conflict, leaving Tap-Nar-Pal, Kim, and the ground forces to their doom. Obi-Wan Kenobi later saved a luxury cruiser from being destroyed in the field by the Merson pirates.