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 local days . It was the endpoint of the Byss Run . Byss itself was somewhat of a myth , seeming to be the perfect place to live . Its eerie blue - green glow , caused by its sun , also added to the strangeness of the world . Despite this outward appearance , however , Emperor Palpatine ' s dark - side energies were everywhere , corrupting not only the inhabitants , but the planet itself . Byss was the secret throne world of Palpatine and the location of his towering Imperial Citadel . He also kept his secret supply of clone bodies there . Description . Byss was a mythic paradise world enshrouded in the dark side of the Force , located within the isolated and nearly inaccessible Deep Galactic Core . It was situated at the end of the Byss Run , a heavily guarded artificial hyperlane kept open by hundreds of non - mass S - thread boosters , connecting the planet to the Core Worlds . The planet was otherwise nearly impossible to reach safely through hyperspace , due to the high density of stars in the Deep Core and the constantly shifting patterns of the region ' s natural hyperlanes . Byss was the fifth planet of the Beshqek system and orbited the star Beshqek ; it was one of two habitable planets in the system , the other being Relus . The planet was orbited by five moons , which had little influence on its tides . Physical features . Bathed in a blue - green sunlight , Byss was originally a lush and fertile world . A natural conduit of Force power , it invigorated practitioners of the dark side in a flood of Force energy . Byss was corrupted by dark energies after Emperor Palpatine made the world his personal retreat and began leeching Force energy from the immigrants he lured there . Over time , the planet was transformed into one of the most powerful nexuses of dark - side energy in the galaxy . Byss was renowned throughout planets under the control of the Galactic Empire as a legendary world of serene , paradisiacal natural beauty . The planet was dotted with chains of lakes and rivers where microscopic lifeforms dwelled , as well as wind - smoothed plateaus and canyons . Its isolation from much of the galaxy allowed for its natural islands and pre – Expansionist Era ruins to remain untouched for thousands of years . After its corruption , the planet ' s soil lost much of its natural quality and produced little more than fern s and lichens . No intelligent species ever evolved on Byss , and what wildlife there existed was largely nocturnal and harmless . Byss was also devoid of any rare elements or heavy metals . The planet ' s calm , balmy climate and mild seasons , ranging from clear to rainy , were primarily caused by its minuscule axial tilt and stable geologic foundation . Violent phenomena , such as storms and volcanism , were extremely rare . This led to the creation of a myth , fabricated by the Empire , concerning a beautiful and mystic siren world hidden from the galaxy at large , where blissful contentment awaited any who chose to apply for immigration to the planet . Government and role . Politically , Byss was ruled by three major galactic powers . The planet was controlled by the Rakata n Infinite Empire for nearly five - thousand years before its collapse , and thousands of years later the planet came under the rule of the Galactic Empire , where it served as Emperor Palpatine ' s resort world . A towering citadel was built using non - Human slave labor at the heart of the ruling city , along with ornate buildings and resort complexes , and soon an entire continent , the Imperial Control Sector , was covered in city . The planet was ruled as a dark - side theocracy , led solely by Palpatine and his Dark Side Adepts . Byss became one of Palpatine ' s fortress world s after the Empire ' s collapse at Endor , and served as the capital world of his reborn Empire . At this point , the planet became a rallying point for the remaining fragments of the Empire and the base of operations for Palpatine ' s reconquest of the galaxy . It also became the construction site of numerous Imperial superweapons , including the World Devastator s , the " Sovereign " - class and " Eclipse " - class dreadnoughts , and the Galaxy Gun . After its destruction , the Imperial Remnant remained active in the Beshqek system and patrolled Byss ' s remains . Security . Under Imperial rule , Byss became one of the most reclusive and heavily guarded worlds in the galaxy . Most natural routes into the Deep Core were mined and the rest were covered by the Imperial Hyperspace Security Net — a system of gravity well projectors and hyperwave transceivers designed to monitor and control traffic into and out of the Deep Core . As a fortress world , Byss was guarded by a number of security forces and technologies , all of which were overseen by Byss Security itself . The Byss Security Zone , a restricted area of space around Byss , was guarded by a ring of Star Destroyers , while an entire sector fleet was additionally spread throughout the Beshqek system . A METOSP , or " Message To Spacers , " was broadcast to all travelers entering the system as a warning against trespassing . Gargantuan Hunter - Killer probot s were responsible for patrolling the skies above Byss , and were used as capture and detainment platforms for unauthorized ships . The planet itself was surrounded by a planetary shield controlled by Byss Security , and a system of Gauntlet Scanner Station s were used to monitor traffic around the planet . The Gauntlet Scanner Stations comprised of many Golan III Space Defense NovaGun s orbiting Byss , where security personnel would coordinate space traffic with the scanner satellites spread over the planet . Officers stationed aboard these platforms typically oversaw the daily operation of the Byss Security Zone by monitoring IFF transponder codes , security codes , and other forms of authorization used to control traffic to and from the surface of Byss . If any traveler was found possessing forged documents , the Star Destroyers guarding Byss had authorization to use lethal force against them . The Gauntlet Scanner Stations additionally served as orbital defense platforms for Byss , boasting firepower equal to some capital ships , and also housed squadrons of TIE fighters and other defensive forces . On the surface of Byss , surveillance and a heavy military presence was commonplace . Stormtroopers were stationed at every street corner , each landing pad was guarded by a TIE fighter , and undercover Imperial Security Bureau agents were present at most of the planet ' s public areas to watch out for any potential traitors . Additionally , shipyards , fighter bases , and military barracks large enough to hold an entire army were present all across the Imperial Control Sector . All of these complexes were camouflaged behind colorful plazas and public buildings , themselves armed with the latest defense turbolasers and shock field s . History . Around 30 , 000 BBY during the Pre - Republic era , Byss was ruled by the space - faring Rakata . Using Force - based hyperdrives , they traveled to many worlds around the galaxy that possessed significant signatures in the Force , uniting them to form the Rakatan Infinite Empire . They constructed large temples on Byss . After five thousand years of galactic dominance , the Rakata retreated to their homeworld . Their temples collapsed into ruins overtaken by the jungle , leaving no clues for later settlers as to how or why they died out . The surface of the world was dotted with " spectacular " ruins that were said to be pre – Expansionist Era . 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 including the Utapaun s and Gamorreans after the Clone Wars . 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 Antinnis Tremayne , would eventually become a High Inquisitor . It was the site of the Sarlacc Project , where a Super Star Destroyer prototype was under creation before being destroyed by a group of freedom fighters and pirates under Bail Prestor Organa and Alya Aldrete . The Emperor drew ignorant followers to the planet under the pretext that it was a paradise world . Among them were survivors of the Destruction of Alderaan , which he offered to resettle on Byss in a public speech delivered following the destruction of the world . Once they had settled into their new lives on the paradise world , the Emperor revealed his true plans for Byss . Immigrants lived out their lives in elaborate pageants and amusements , which distracted them from what Palpatine was really doing : draining 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 bathed the world in a strange glow . Byss had orbital drydock s for World Devastator s , Super Star Destroyers and , later , the Galaxy Gun . At the height of its power , the world was encircled by warships and battle station s for the Emperor ' s protection . Byss was fanatically loyal to the Emperor even after his first 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 , which Palpatine planned on rebuilding into the beginnings of a universe - spanning magocracy . Byss was destroyed during a battle with the New Republic when R2 - D2 rammed " Eclipse II " into the Galaxy Gun , causing the last projectile of the Galaxy Gun to misfire and aim toward the planet , destroying it . With the destruction of Byss , millions of refuges from Relus fled to Prakith and beyond . The energies of the Deep Core erased the Byss Run and rendered the system unreachable , causing millions to be marooned . In 14 ABY , Tavion Axmis absorbed the lingering dark - side energy from the remains of Byss during her campaign to resurrect Marka Ragnos . Rosh Penin was sent to investigate , but was seduced to the dark side by Tavion . Kyle Katarn and Jaden Korr later embarked on a mission to Byss to discover Penin ' s fate . The " Raven ' s Claw " was captured by a " Dreadnaught " - class cruiser among the planet ' s remains , though the Jedi ultimately escaped the clutches of the Imperial Remnant . Behind the scenes . The first edition of " " ( 1989 ) identified the homeworld of the Abyssin species as an Outer Rim world name Byss , which differed greatly from its Deep Core counterpart introduced three years later in " Dark Empire " . , published several years after " Dark Empire " , addressed the two worlds having the same name and specifically stated that the Abyssin homeworld and the Emperor ' s retreat were two distinct planets in different parts of the galaxy . Nevertheless , the ninety - third issue of " The Official Star Wars Fact File " later confused the two worlds , listing the Abyssin as a native species of the Deep Core Byss in its entry for the planet . According to the " Dark Empire Sourcebook " , Byss is located in a binary star system and orbits a blue star with a blue dwarf companion , but according to " Byss and the Deep Core " and " The Essential Atlas " , Byss is located in a single - star system . The board games " Risk : Star Wars Clone Wars Edition " and " Risk : Star Wars Original Trilogy Edition " mistakenly place Byss in the Core Worlds region . Both the " " and the " " indicate that Byss possesses no native fauna , while the " Dark Empire Sourcebook " mentions the existence of nocturnal wildlife . Byss has also been inconsistently depicted visually through various sources . There are drastic differences in how the planet appears in " The Official Star Wars Fact " File 93 , " The Essential Atlas " and how it appears in " " and .