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In a galaxy far, far away....
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in: Legends articles, Dathomir locations, Galactic Empire prisons

Dathomir Imperial Prison

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"That prison steals the mind! I will kill you before I go back!"
―An unidentified mercenary warlord[5]

Dathomir Imperial Prison was an Imperial prison complex located on the planet Dathomir in the Outer Rim sometime during the Galactic Civil War.

Description[]

"Political prisoners?"
"And conscientious objectors. Potentially too valuable to the Empire to lose and too dangerous to let remain free and join the rebellion."
"That's why the Empire imprisoned them here, on a virtually uncharted planet. If they were dangerous felons, they'd be sent to a maximum security facility where the Empire could boast that they'd never escape. But these are people that the Empire wanted simply to disappear."
―Han Solo, Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker[3]
Dathomir Imperial Prison

An AT-ST patrolling around the prison.

The Dathomir Imperial Prison was a maximum-security prison for political prisoners considered too valuable to the Empire to be executed but who could not imprisoned in a facility known to the public.[6] These prisoners were thought to be some of the most dangerous to the Empire, and as such were left in this remote facility to be forgotten about.[7]

The Dathomir prison was a typical monotonous and sharp-cornered Imperial construction made of ferrocrete and plasteel. The lower levels of he main building contained the prisoner cell blocks and a hangar while the upper levels housed administrative offices, kitchens, and barracks.[1] Thousands of prisoners could be detained in the prison.[6]

The prison was surrounded by walls and protected by laser turrets.[1] It was guarded by a regiment of stormtroopers and several AT-STs were also stationed here.

History[]

"I believe the Emperor himself was afraid of the Nightsisters. That's why he interdicted this planet. Years ago, he started a nice little penal colony here, not knowing about the Nightsisters. When he learned about them, he blew the planet's airfield from orbit and stranded hundreds of his own people here, along with the prisoners, rather than risk letting Gethzerion escape."
―Leia Organa, to Han Solo[3]

The planet Dathomir had a long history of use as a penal colony. The Galactic Republic had used the planet as a place to send various criminals. These people were left on the planet with no possible means of escape to live out the rest of their lives in solitude, struggling against the ferocious wildlife of the planet.[8] Around 600 BBY when the Jedi Knight Allya was exiled to the planet by the Jedi Council—her descendants became the Force-sensitive natives known as the Witches of Dathomir.[9]

Around the time of the Battle of Yavin,[1] the Empire established a presence on the planet Dathomir in order to restore the ancient penal colony.[9] While Emperor Palpatine was aware of the presence of the native Force-sensitive Witches of Dathomir on the planet, he allowed the construction of the prison.[1] The complex was overseen by Warden Vinzel Haylon and the Imperial Inquisitor Olof. Mozo Bondog served as chief of security. Xarot Korlin also worked in the prison.[5]

Then, it was not long before the Nightsisters, a sect of evil Dathomiri Witches, approached the Imperial commander. Their leader Gethzerion offered the services of her clan to control prisoners. Although the commander was quite suspicious about her true intentions, he finally accepted her offer. Gethzerion and her dark minions thus became a familiar sight in the Imperial compound.[9] Using the dark side of the Force, the Nightsisters began to corrupt the Imperial troops and progressively usurped control of the prison staff from Imperial officers. When the Empire discovered the situation, Gethzerion and the Nightsisters turned Imperial troops against their officers. A battle therefore erupted on Dathomir between loyal Imperial forces and the Nightsisters backed by their Imperial slaves. Eventually, the Nightsisters were defeated and repelled from the prison.[10]

Rarepainting

A painting of the Dathomir Prison

Dolac Legasi was incarcerated in the Imperial Prison at one time, as well as Jabba the Hutt's top assassin Imo Vledmo, the Alliance pilot Gabriel Ian.[5] At some point, the Wookiees Imarrra and Orrekazzapirr were captured by the Empire on Kashyyyk and brought to the prison on Dathomir.[11] In 1 ABY,[12] a Rebel spacer sent by Queen Kylantha of Naboo managed to infiltrate the facility and helped them to escape.[11] The same year, Corellian corvette of the Rebel Alliance was captured by the Empire and the surviving crew was incarcerated on Dathomir. A Rebel agent sent by Master Sergeant Crowley later infiltrated the prison to find information about the capture of the ship.[13] In the meantime, Rebel officer Adar Tallon dispatched an operative to the facility in order to retrieve the security override codes of a corvette that was carrying a captured highly-decorated Alliance pilot.[14]

Due to the threat posed by the Nightsisters, Emperor Palpatine eventually decided maintaining the Imperial forces at Dathomir was not worth the risk of the Witches possibly escaping the planet. Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, the prison was subsequently bombarded from orbit by captain Zsinj, destroying every vessels parked there.[15] All communication equipment present on the planet was also destroyed.[10] Dathomir was blockaded by Imperial starships with strict orders to never land on the planet.[9] The prison, including Imperial troops who survived the bombardment, were then completely abandoned by the Empire.[1] The staff of the prison continued to fight the Nightsisters for years but they progressively fall under the control of Gethzerion and her dark followers.[10] Then, the Imperial prison was ruled by the Nightsister War Chief Robetheri who set up a throne in the warden's office.[1]

In 1 ABY,[12] several prisoners, including a Janta clan leader, a Teräs Käsi mater and a Lokkian mercenary warlord succeeded in escaping the prison. This prompted Chief of Security Mozo Bondog to recruit Imperial agents to kill the fugitives.[16] The same yer, smugglers Lucia and Tylar conducted business from within the confines of the prison walls.[17]

In 8 ABY, the Heroes of Yavin discovered the prison while they were trapped on Dathomir by Warlord Zsinj. Allied with the Singing Mountain Clan, they eventually defeated the Nightsisters and their Imperial slaves, liberating every prisoners. In the meantime, a Hapan fleet broke the blockade of the planet and destroyed Zsinj's fleet. Both Zsinj and Gethzerion were killed in the battle.[3]

Sometimes after the defeat of Zsinj, the prison was reused by the Sith Lord X1 who deployed a contingent of his Imperial troops and built an underground cloning center below the prison. Jedi X2 and New Republic's Grey Squadron later raided the prison in order to find information about the location of the main base of X1.[2]

The prison was then used to detain the Dathomiri Witches of the Dreaming River Clan during the Imperial invasion of Dathomir in 12 ABY.[4]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 The Courtship of Princess Leia
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 WizardsoftheCoast "Nightsaber" (original article link) on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Cracken's Threat Dossier
  7. ↑ SWG logo sm Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided — Point of Interest: "Imperial Prison" on Dathomir
  8. ↑ Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 The Dark Side Sourcebook
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 SWInsider "Who's Who in Star Wars Galaxies" — Star Wars Insider 65
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 SWG logo sm Star Wars Galaxies: Rage of the Wookiees — Rebel Quest: "To the queen's aid" on Naboo
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 According to its opening crawl, Star Wars Galaxies was set sometime after Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. The only precise time indication in the game was given by the character Ruwan Tokai, who referenced the destruction of the Death Star at the Battle of Yavin as occurring one year earlier, placing the game sometime around 1 ABY. Later, multiple elements confirmed the placement of the game storyline in 1 ABY. First, The Essential Reader's Companion established that the tie-in novel Star Wars Galaxies: The Ruins of Dantooine took place in 1 ABY. Furthermore, the game expansion Star Wars Galaxies: Rage of the Wookiees was set during the Blockade of Kashyyyk, one year after the Battle of Yavin according to The Star Wars Holiday Special. Additionally, the main scenario of The Nightsister's Revenge from the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game was set over a year before the Battle of Hoth (3 ABY), so around 1.5 ABY. Finally, the reference book Strongholds of Resistance placed the events of Star Wars Galaxies's Chapter 9: "The Fury of Exar Kun" one year after the Battle of Yavin. Of note, Galaxies's Chapter 11: "The Battle of Echo Base" introduced the Battle of Hoth in the game. However, the developers were quite clear that this was only intended to be a completely isolated "Star Wars Moment" without any effect on continuity for the rest of the game.
  13. ↑ SWG logo sm Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided — Corellian Corvette Pre-Quest: "Master Sergeant Crowley"
  14. ↑ SWG logo sm Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided — Corellian Corvette Pre-Quest: "Adar Tallon"
  15. ↑ The New Essential Guide to Characters
  16. ↑ SWG logo sm Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided — Static Quest: "Mozo Bondog" on Dathomir
  17. ↑ SWG logo sm Star Wars Galaxies: Starter Kit — Smuggler Quest: "Smuggle Contraband" on Dathomir

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