Emperor ' s skyhook The Emperor ' s skyhook was the extravagant personal skyhook retreat of Emperor Palpatine during his reign as supreme ruler of the galaxy . The skyhook hung in low geosynchronous orbit above the Imperial throneworld of Coruscant and was tethered to the planet ' s surface in the Palace District of Imperial City via a long umbilical connection that provided turbolift access to the station . The Emperor ' s skyhook , grandiose in size and carefully protected , boasted a sprawling central park with a magnificently tailored garden of massive timbers and a climate - controlled jungle that was maintained by the Emperor ' s best horticulturist . The Dark Lord Darth Vader and Dark Prince Xizor of the Black Sun crime syndicate met briefly on the Emperor ' s skyhook in 3 . 5 ABY , discussing the existence of a secret Rebel Alliance shipyard , intelligence of which Xizor offered to the Empire as a means of increasing his favor with the Emperor . In the meeting ' s aftermath , the Emperor arranged the death of his gardener after Xizor , greatly impressed with the man ' s botanical work , hired him away to work on the Dark Prince ' s own personal skyhook . The New Republic later gained control of the skyhook after seizing Coruscant from the Empire and used the installation to track enemy aerial traffic in Imperial City during a military operation in 7 ABY before grounding all of Coruscant ' s skyhooks for safety concerns . Description . Emperor Palpatine possessed a grandiose , opulent personal skyhook , a city - sized satellite installation that hung in low geosynchronous orbit over the galactic capital planet of Coruscant , above the Imperial Palace of Imperial City . The Emperor ' s skyhook was tethered to Coruscant ' s surface by a long umbilical that provided turbolift access to the orbiting structure , by which most passengers and cargo traveled . Access to the skyhook via personal transport was alternatively available . By comparison , the Emperor ' s skyhook was one - and - a - half times as large as " Falleen ' s Fist " , the palatial skyhook of Dark Prince Xizor , Underlord of the Black Sun crime syndicate , and far more luxurious . The Emperor kept some of his best treasures in his huge space habitat . The skyhook ' s interior was dominated by an enormous central park encircled by a wide , elevated , lighted terrace that looked out over the plaza . The park , a verdant botanical garden , was maintained by a gardener , the Emperor ' s best horticulturist . Standing at the middle of the central park was a giant , multi - tiered fountain from which water cascaded into a series of large streams meandering throughout the garden . Flanking the fountain itself were two massive , identical humanoid statues with arms raised , holding illuminated globes above their heads . The top of the fountain extended in a spire to the park ' s expansive , transparent ceiling , which offered a sparkling view of the surrounding Coruscant system . The park ' s flora included full - grown evergreen and deciduous trees , some topping thirty meters in height . One section of the park was climate - controlled into a thriving jungle , complete with colorful and phosphorescent flowers of every hue , and other plants among them , including a waxy , broad - leafed vine that was naturally nearly black . The oxygen - rich jungle emanated a fine odor teeming with life , a combination of wet mushrooms , leaf mold , and fresh grasses . A gentle chorus of singing birds echoed throughout the park . As with all Imperial locations , the Emperor ' s skyhook maintained a special throne room reserved for the Emperor ' s personal use , from where he could monitor and manage all Imperial activity and contemplate the dark side of the Force . The skyhook also maintained private holocamera s that visually recorded activity aboard , and , by the time of the New Republic , the orbiting structure had a security office capable of monitoring aerial traffic from the planet below . History . Imperial grandeur . During Emperor Palpatine ' s dominion of the galaxy , skyhooks became symbols of prestige and power in the skies over Imperial Center . Some of the Core Worlds ' most prominent citizens maintained skyhooks above Coruscant as exclusive luxury retreats . The Emperor himself , being no exception , enjoyed his own extravagant and well - protected personal skyhook . In the year 3 . 5 ABY , in the months following the Battle of Hoth during the height of the Galactic Civil War , the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader tended to business on the Emperor ' s skyhook . He agreed beforehand to a requested meeting aboard the skyhook with Dark Prince Xizor , leader of the Black Sun criminal empire , who had carefully manipulated his way into the Emperor ' s favor in a personal bid for power . Rather than journey to the skyhook via conventional means through the station ' s turbolift tether , however , Vader opted to travel aboard his own personal shuttle . He preferred to be in control of his own ship and dark side mastery rather than placing his stock in a skyhook lift , which was vulnerable to internal and external ambush . While waiting for Vader to arrive , Xizor , flanked by a dozen bodyguards , stood on a terrace balcony overlooking the sprawling central park of the Emperor ' s skyhook . Although Xizor cared little for botany , the grandeur and magnificence of the garden below greatly impressed him and heightened his appetite for power . The Dark Prince even considered hiring away the Emperor ' s gardener for his own personal skyhook . Once Vader did arrive , Xizor informed the Dark Lord of a sizable Rebel Alliance shipyard operating in the distant Bajic sector , which , unknown to the Empire , was owned by Ororo Transportation , a rival of Black Sun . By orchestrating the destruction of the Rebel base , Xizor planned to benefit twofold — his trust with the Emperor would increase , while a competitor would be greatly damaged . Once the meeting with Vader concluded , Xizor indeed instructed one of his guards to discover who was responsible for the Emperor ' s garden and to offer him twice his salary to work on Xizor ' s own skyhook . Vader , wary of Xizor ' s growing influence with the Emperor , had the recordings of the meeting erased from the skyhook ' s holocameras and his own recordings sealed away , and did not reveal to the Emperor the source of the intelligence regarding the Rebel shipyard . Meanwhile , the Emperor ' s horticulturist accepted Xizor ' s offer , only to meet with a fatal lift accident of the Emperor ' s design shortly thereafter . New Republic control . Following the death of the Emperor and the Rebel Alliance ' s defeat of the Empire at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY , the New Republic — the Rebellion ' s successor state — liberated Coruscant from Imperial rule . The New Republic eventually assumed control of the Emperor ' s skyhook , still in orbit of the galactic capital . In 7 ABY , the New Republic organized a mission to disrupt the Palpatine Counter - Insurgency Front ( PCF ) , a pro - Imperial terrorist group that was preparing a strike against a bacta storage facility in Coruscant ' s Alien Protection Zone . The New Republic starfighter unit Rogue Squadron would be tasked with destroying all enemy speeder craft , any number of which the New Republic believed would be transporting a bomb . Because any PCF speeder craft would be more easily able to navigate the urban maze of Imperial City than Rogue Squadron ' s X - wing starfighters , Alliance Intelligence Chief General Airen Cracken arranged for the Emperor ' s skyhook to provide Rogue Squadron with a tracking feed from the skyhook ' s security office during the operation . Nevertheless , as squadron Commander Wedge Antilles admitted pre - battle , some enemy craft might still slip away in the fighting . Ultimately , Rogue Squadron succeeded in stopping the terrorist group ' s attack , although the battle saw the escape of de facto Imperial leader Ysanne Isard from Coruscant aboard the Super Star Destroyer " Lusankya " . In the wake of Isard ' s destructive flight from Coruscant , the New Republic Provisional Council grounded all skyhooks for safety reasons . The grounded skyhooks previously hanging over Imperial City ' s Palace District served as housing for survivors of the battle and allowed for the resources being used to maintain those skyhooks in orbit to go toward other endeavors . Behind the scenes . The Emperor ' s skyhook first appeared in the May 1996 novel " Shadows of the Empire " , written by Steve Perry as part of the larger " " multimedia project . The skyhook ' s interior central park , as described in the novel , was illustrated by artists Tim Hildebrandt and Greg Hildebrandt for the series ' Topps set . Choosing to depict the Emperor ' s skyhook allowed the Hildebrandt brothers an opportunity to paint a spectacular landscape for the set , which was one of their hallmarks as artists . The October 1996 novel " " , written by Michael A . Stackpole , makes a passing mention of the Emperor ' s skyhook . The story , released simultaneously with the " Shadows of the Empire " series , makes several references to subjects created for the project .