Yavin 4

"Welcome to Yavin 4....There are cells gathered here from every corner of the galaxy."

- Rebel Captain Garazeb Orrelios

Yavin 4 was the jungle-covered fourth moon in orbit around the red gas giant Yavin. Prior to and during the Galactic Civil War, it hosted the headquarters of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, a group of resistance fighters that opposed the dominant Galactic Empire. Following a major battle that took place around Yavin, the Alliance relocated its headquarters to Hoth.

Description
The surface of Yavin 4 was divided into several continental masses, two of which were Starloft and Wetyin. Notable natural formations included Massassi Valley, Skygazer Hill, and the Ferra Groves.

The moon's landmasses were covered by dense jungles and rain forests whose flora included purple-barked Massassi trees, grenade fungi, bioluminescent orchids, and climbing ferns. Yavin 4 also had swampy areas.

History
Five thousand years before the Battle of Yavin, the ancient warrior race of the Massassi lived on Yavin 4 and constructed the Great Temple. Being enslaved by the Sith, the Massassi species would be extinct by the time the Alliance to Restore the Republic would utilize the temple during the Galactic Civil War as a base of operations against the then-dominant Galactic Empire. It was from this base that Operation Fracture was dispatched to Jedha. Shortly following this, Alliance snub fighter squadrons with orders to destroy the Death Star were also launched from Yavin 4. After the space battle and the related award ceremony, the rebels evacuated the base to escape any retaliatory strike by the Empire.

After the temple was abandoned by the rebels, a Special Galaxy Reporter was sent to Yavin 4 to write a travel advertisement about the ruins.

Later, a rebel force was sent to the moon in order to seize leftover data centers from the previous rebel occupation. However, the Empire managed to discover the plot and also sent forces to secure them for its own purposes. In the time before the Battle of Hoth, multiple battles between Alliance and Imperial forces would occur on the moon's surface.

After leaving the rebellion, Shara Bey and Kes Dameron settled down on Yavin 4 and planted the twig of a Force-sensitive tree on the moon.

Behind the scenes
Yavin 4 first appeared in the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, the first installment of the Star Wars original trilogy.

The real-world location of Yavin 4 is the ruins of an ancient Mayan city at Tikal, Guatemala. Most of the shots of approaches to Yavin 4 from space are just repeats or copies of the Millennium Falcon approach in A New Hope, the only change being a ship replacement.

Non-canon appearances

 * Rogue One: Recon A Star Wars 360 Experience
 * Rogue One: Recon A Star Wars 360 Experience