Byss/Legends

Byss was a planet in the Deep Core, near the center of the Galaxy, discovered no earlier than 45 BBY. A local day lasted 31 standard hours and a local year lasted 207 standard days. It was the endpoint of the Byss Run.

Byss was the secret throne world of Emperor Palpatine and the location of his towering Imperial Citadel. He also kept his secret supply of clone bodies there.

History
During the Galactic Empire's expansion into the Deep Core region, Palpatine selected Byss as his personal retreat and his secret throne world. Thousands of non-Human slaves were forced to labor in the "recolonization efforts" on Byss. It was on Byss that a number of captured AgriCorps workers and Padawans were held captive under the supervision of Sly Moore, until the Emperor introduced them to Darth Vader. Vader killed all but four of them; these four he trained to be Inquisitors. One of the chosen, named Tremayne, would eventually become a High Inquisitor.

The Emperor later drew ignorant followers to the planet under the pretext that it was a paradise world. Once they had settled into their new lives on the paradise world, the Emperor revealed his true plans for Byss. He enslaved them and drained their life energies to power his abominable experiments. Eventually, Byss was entirely enveloped in the dark side of the Force. This was evident by the eerie blue-green sunlight that bathes the world in a strange glow. Byss was fanatically loyal to the Emperor even after his technical death at the Battle of Endor. When the Emperor was reborn in a new clone body, Byss became the capital world of the Galactic Empire. Byss was destroyed during a battle with the New Republic when the Eclipse II rammed the Galaxy Gun, causing the last projectile of the Galaxy Gun to destroy the planet.

Behind the Scenes

 * The name "Byss" no doubt came from "abyss", though "byssus" or "byssos" can refer to a gauze-like cloth of the ancient world, suitable for veils or shrouds&mdash;which has connotations with the dark shroud Palpatine placed over the inhabitents of Byss.

Appearances

 * Evasive Action: Recruitment
 * Empire at War
 * Dark Empire
 * Dark Empire II
 * Empire's End
 * Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy