Polis Massa

Polis Massa was once an arid but habitable planet in the Subterrel sector of the Outer Rim Territories; and the homeworld of the little-known Eellayin species. Polis Massa was later struck by a mysterious cataclysm. This natural disaster destroyed the planet and formed a field of asteroids. The largest fragment of the planet remained known as Polis Massa and was colonized by the Kallidahin who dedicated their entire species to excavate the remains of the now-vanished Eellayin civilization.

Description

Polis Massa was located in the fringes of the Subterrel sector of the Outer Rim Territories.^[6] It was once an arid^[7] desert planet^[8] inhabited by the Eellayin civilization, which dwelt in underground cities such as Wiyentaah.^[6]

After the mysterious cataclysm that totally destroyed the planet and annihilated the Eellayin, the largest fragment of the planet — a barren asteroid — remained known as Polis Massa. The Kallidahin had colonized the Polis Massa Asteroid Field, establishing research outposts on Polis Massa and other asteroids^[5] under the leadership of the Archaeological Research Council.^[7] The Polis Massa Research Base in the Wiyentaah crater^[5] was the most important Polis Massan facility and served de facto as planetary capital.^[4] Though the aliens frequented the Subterrel Sector,^[10] they had little contact with the galaxy and as a whole, the Polis Massa outpost remained remote and hidden.^[6]

History

Old Republic era

Around 519 BBY,^[7] the Kallidahin from Kallidah, another world in Subterrel sector, abandoned their homeworld and settled on Polis Massa.^[5] They sought to prove the Eellayin were the ancestors of the Kallidahin through cloning tissue samples recovered in their digs. The most important find was the lost city of Wiyentaah (not far from the Research Base), discovered 59 BBY, which instigated an archaeological mining project on this asteroid, to uncover the mysteries of the cataclysm and the native species it destroyed.^[7] This project lasted long enough that the Kallidahin became known as Polis Massans themselves.^[1] Excavations on the largest Polis Massa asteroids uncovered many prize artifacts, mostly from deep within the planetoid. The Polis Massans analyzed these artifacts for organic tissue suitable for cloning lost species.^[7]

Far from the more populated areas of the galaxy, the remote settlement served as an emergency sanctuary for the Jedi fugitives Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda after Order 66, during the rise of the Galactic Empire and Palpatine's Great Jedi Purge.^[6] The colony also housed the medical facilities in which Padmé Amidala gave birth to the twins Luke and Leia, and subsequently died. It was here that Bail Organa chose to adopt Leia into his family. When Yoda arrived with Bail, he was visited by the specter of Qui-Gon Jinn, who offered to tutor Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda in the art of surviving one's death with the consciousness still intact. Shortly after Padmé's funeral on Naboo, Yoda returned to Polis Massa to retrieve a Kallidahin escape pod, to make his exile to Dagobah.^[11]

Not long after the formation of the Galactic Empire, the Inquisitors Malorum and Sancor began investigations of Polis Massa, discovering much information to be sent to Lord Vader. In a fateful run-in with Obi-Wan Kenobi at the Research Base, Sancor lost his life.^[12]

Galactic Civil War

During the first days of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, a movement that started in 2 BBY, the Rebels established a secret base on Polis Massa.^[1] The base was made of isolated outposts scattered on the asteroid and connected by hidden underground tunnels. The Polis Massans were sympathetic to the Rebels and allowed them to use the Polis Massa Research Base in the Wiyentaah crater.^[5] The Alliance launched many operations from their Polis Massan base, although the Rebel Alliance did their best not to disturb the nearby Kallidahin excavations. The base was repeatedly raided by the Empire but survived these attacks.^[1]

In 0 BBY, a Polis Massan Rebel outpost received an important transmission from other Rebels: the plans of the Empire's new armored battle station. Knowing that the transmission had been made, Darth Vader ordered his agents of the 501st Legion to recover the plans and destroy the Rebel outpost. The Bothan spies, knowing that the Empire would have tracked the transmission, secretly forwarded the plans to another Rebel outpost, the Tantive IV starship, and prepared a forgery to trick the Imperial forces as much as they could. The Empire discovered the deception during the attack but was slow in issuing new orders to the 501st. Eventually, the 501st obliterated the Rebel presence on Polis Massa and found a new trail to follow, tracking Princess Leia Organa's corvette orbiting Tatooine.^[13]

Behind the scenes

In the DVD commentary for Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, John Knoll explains that George Lucas designed the look of Polis Massa to be an homage to the look of the Clavius moon base in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The asteroid colony was first known as Polis Matza during script development of Revenge of the Sith. Slowed-down footage of the asteroid field from Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back was used as a placeholder in the evolving edit of Episode III.^[6]

Star Wars: Battlefront II uses a texture of Jupiter's moon Ganymede as a texture for the planetoid.

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references