Nar Shaddaa / Legends Nar Shaddaa was the largest moon of Nal Hutta . More commonly known as the Vertical City , the Smugglers ' Moon and Little Coruscant , Nar Shaddaa was similar to Coruscant in that its surface was entirely overgrown with city sprawl for millennia . But unlike Coruscant — which was only relatively rundown and dangerous on the lower and under levels of the world city — Nar Shaddaa was filthy , polluted , and infested with crime everywhere . Nevertheless Nar Shaddaa remained the most important financial and trading center of Hutt Space . Description . Nar Shaddaa was tidally - locked to Nal Hutta , which resulted in the fact that only one side of the moon always faced the parent planet , while the other side was faced towards the empty space . Ancient refueling spires and loading docks reached out from the native soil and some built in the upper atmosphere . In between these ports , massive vertical cities grew . The urban areas on Nar Shaddaa were known as vertical cities since new layers of housing and entertainment buildings were built on top of older layers , like Coruscant and Taris . While much of Coruscant was filled with gleaming apartments and well - maintained skywalks , the entire moon that was Nar Shaddaa was dominated by decaying urban landscape and congested , polluted cities . The moon was protected by planetary shields . Anything illegal elsewhere could be bought and sold on Nar Shaddaa , and many young smugglers , pirates and criminals started their careers on the Smugglers ' Moon . Various sections of Nar Shaddaa were controlled by the Hutts and other criminal organizations . Despite the criminal activities on the Smugglers ' Moon , it was known that many of the galaxy ' s most advanced technologies were actually developed on Nar Shaddaa . Corporations that wanted to avoid regulations that prohibited testing often developed such dangerous and even valuable technology within the lower levels of the city of the moon . History . Old Republic . When the Hutts left their homeworld of Varl , they displaced the Evocii , native to Nal Hutta , to Nar Shaddaa in 15 , 000 BBY and immediately destroyed the remaining Evocii agriculture . Eventually the moon was annexed by the Hutts , who started to force the Evocii into slave labor , completely changing the moon ' s unknown original natural terrain , by building spaceports and docking bays across its surface - some stretching out into orbit . Although the moon ' s urbanized construction had just started , it quickly began to prosper , along with Nal Hutta . In a short time , the moon was completely urbanized , and the Evocii were finally free since their work was complete . However most had died off during the construction and the few that remained , took refuge in the Undercity . Unfortunately the Evocii began to mutate into unwholesome savages due to various technologies practiced in the moon ' s undercity . For about eleven thousand years , it rivaled the galactic capital Coruscant as an important center of interstellar trade and continued to grow . In 4000 BBY when the trade lanes shifted , Nar Shaddaa and its planet became obsolete and were eventually abandoned by the Republic . Nar Shaddaa became a criminal haven and gained a reputation of being the center of illegal operations in the galaxy , earning the moniker " The Smugglers ' Moon " . Now distant from most galactic trade centers , the moon was allowed to run its own affairs with little outside interference . Sections of the urbanized moon ' s vertical city included the Duros Sector and the Corellian sector , which contained three bars popular with bounty hunters — The Burning Deck , The Slag Pit , and the Meltdown Café — as well as another corner tavern called the Orange Lady . In 3951 BBY , the moon was visited by the Jedi Exile in her search for Zez - Kai Ell , a Jedi Master who cast her out of the Jedi Order . After the Jedi Civil War ended , Nar Shaddaa became swarmed by thousands — if not millions — of refugees from destroyed worlds across the Galaxy , and still more ex - soldiers from both sides in the conflict choking up its spaces looking for work and / or new homes . Its refugee sector was one of the most crowded in the entire galaxy , and tightly controlled by the Exchange . The Exchange was exploiting the refugees to lure any remaining Jedi into their hands . The Exile attracted the Exchange ' s attention by persuading Saquesh , the " Overseer " , to loosen his grip on the Refugee Sector , and rescuing locals from Exchange thugs . After she went to the Jekk ' Jekk Tarr to meet with the Exchange member Visquis , G0 - T0 intervened in Visquis ' attempts to kill the Jedi and collected a misinterpreted " bounty " . However , her companions rescued her and they succeeded in destroying G0 - T0 ' s yacht , the " Visionary " , destabilizing the Exchange and other criminal organizations throughout the entire sector for many years . During the Cold War , both Republic and the resurgent Sith Empire were vying for alliances with the Hutt Cartel . Several criminal organizations , including the Exchange , continued to be active on the moon in this period , struggling against one another for control of the criminal underworld . Around 1002 BBY , the Brotherhood of Darkness operated a Sith academy on the world that specialized in the training of Sith assassin s . In 1000 BBY , after the Ruusan campaign , Set Harth and Bal Serinus dueled on the moon , but were both imprisoned by a Hutt crimelord . Before her death in 32 BBY at the hands of Darth Maul , native - born Pa ' lowick Aneesa Dym and her ship the " Dusty Duck " called the Smugglers ' Moon home . In 28 BBY , the Colicoids took over the spice processing on Nar Shaddaa , thanks to the efforts of Jedi Siri Tachi . Han Solo spent part of his early career as a smuggler on Nar Shaddaa . There , he learned the tricks of the smuggling trade from some of the galaxy ' s best smugglers such as Salla Zend , Shug Ninx and Roa . He had an apartment on the Smugglers ' Moon , which was maintained by his old house - keeping droid ZeeZee , but after he decided to leave the moon for the Corporate Sector , it was left unused . Galactic Empire . After the rise of the Galactic Empire , Nar Shaddaa ' s citizenry celebrated for an entire month . They were overjoyed by the regime change not because of what it meant for the galaxy , but because the Empire was turning its attention inward and they hoped that that would give them more leeway for their illegal activities . In 3 BBY , Galen Marek journeyed to Nar Shaddaa under the orders of Darth Vader to execute the Jedi Rahm Kota , who was attacking the critical Imperial shipyard in Nar Shaddaa ' s orbit . During the duel between the two Force - adepts in the control room , the controls were destroyed , causing the facility to fall toward the moon . While it was falling , Kota fell out of a window , but was protected by the force and made his way to the undercity of Nar Shaddaa and became an alcoholic . Rahm Kota was rescued by Bail Organa and Marek by Juno Eclipse . In 2 BBY , Marek returned to Nar Shaddaa , hoping to find Kota , whom he knew had not died in their duel . Although the Jedi had left Nar Shaddaa by the time Marek arrived , Marek was able to pick up Kota ' s trail , eventually tracking him to Bespin . Jaxxon and Amaiza Foxtrain teamed up as smugglers , headquartered on the moon . Lando Calrissian also spent his early career on Nar Shaddaa . Prior to serving Raymus Antilles , C - 3PO and R2 - D2 traveled to the Smugglers ' Moon in an attempt to apprehend the criminal , Olag Greck . The bounty hunter Greedo and his family lived in the moon ' s Corellian sector for several years , until an Imperial attack on a Rebel hideout resulted in the destruction and collapse of nearly twenty sector levels . Following the Battle of Yavin , Rebel agent Kyle Katarn traveled to Nar Shaddaa in order to find Imperial navigational charts related to the Dark Trooper Project ; the Imperials had already put a bounty on his head which resulted in a skirmish in the streets . New Republic . In 5 ABY Katarn caused havoc once more while chasing the information broker droid 8t88 that had his father ' s holodisc . When he found him , Kyle shot and severed the droid ' s arm , and had to descend into the sewers to find the disc before ascending and being picked up by Jan Ors . In 10 ABY , Han Solo returned with his wife , Leia Organa Solo . During the trip , Leia met Purge survivor named Vima - Da - Boda , who gave her an ancient lightsaber . When he returned to his apartment , it was still being maintained by ZeeZee . Unfortunately , there was yet another surprise for him — the dreaded bounty hunter Boba Fett , waiting on Nar Shaddaa to capture Solo . After a chase through the streets of Nar Shaddaa , they escaped along with Solo ' s former comrades Salla Zend and Shug Ninx on the " Millennium Falcon " and the " Starlight Intruder " to Byss . Later that year , while en route to New Alderaan , Han and Leia along with his smuggler friends returned to Nar Shaddaa . Upon arriving at the city moon , they discovered an Imperial presence in the form of the " Imperial " - class Star Destroyer " Invincible " , which was under the command of the Dark Jedi Zasm Katth and Baddon Fass . During an adventure through Nar Shaddaa ' s broken - down cities , they encountered Gank bounty hunters , Boba Fett , Imperial troops , and deadly vrblther s . The Solos also met Vima again , and this time , took her with them . As they were leaving Nar Shaddaa , they were met with resistance from Mako Spince and the " Invincible " , though they also managed to escape . During the escape , the " Invincible " attempted to capture the " Falcon " , though unfortunately it dragged the skyscraper where Mako Spince was located . As a result , the " Invincible " crashed onto the surrounding cityscape , causing heavy damage to lives and property . In 12 ABY while looking for Desann , Kyle Katarn once more returned to the city and looked for a Rodian crimelord Reelo Baruk . He freed Lando Calrissian from Baruk ' s hold and eventually found him ; however the gangster managed to entrap him in a room full of turrets , but the Jedi escaped . Katarn and Calrissian managed to find " Lady Luck " and refuel her , using pipelines . When they were about to make their escape from Nar Shaddaa , Reelo attacked them with a handful of mercenaries . The criminal used a gun platform to hit the ship while his thugs boarded it , but Katarn leapt into the laser turret of the " Lady Luck " and shot down the gangster . In 14 ABY , it was discovered that Lannik Racto was manufacturing assassin droids in a hidden facility on the moon and selling them on the Invisible Market , until Jaden Korr captured him at his headquarters on Coruscant , where Racto revealed the location of the factory . Shortly after that , New Republic Intelligence raided the facility and thwarted its operations . Yuuzhan Vong Empire . In 26 ABY , the cities of the Smugglers ' Moon were destroyed in an orbital bombardment by the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong . Most of the inhabitants were killed and the entire urban moon was reduced to rubble . The mutant Evocii had been among the few survivors since they were living at the very moon surface itself and were not caught in the orbital bombardment . The entire Y ' Toub system was surrounded by some of the Yuuzhan Vong ' s deadliest warships . Nar Shaddaa had several organic creations sent down to the remains of the surface for multiple purposes . Different types of bacteria killed off all of the remaining inhabitants . All the Evocii among them thus the Evocii on Nar Shaddaa became extinct , living in the undercity since their civilized ancestors had taken refuge down there in 15 , 000 BBY . Then all the carcasses , Evocii or not , were buried and dissolved into the soil of the original surface of Ground Zero . Next , all the rubble on the moon was broken down and absorbed into the soil . Thus Nar Shaddaa became a lifeless , barren world with no inhabitants . The surface of Nar Shaddaa was then Vongformed to suit the invaders . Nar Shaddaa , along with Nal Hutta itself — and indeed all of the Y ' Toub system — in the Yuuzhan Vong ' s grasps was used as a stronghold in Hutt Space . The entire Hutt Oversector was swallowed up by the Yuuzhan Vong empire and began to desolate Hutt Space . Legacy . In 29 ABY when the Yuuzhan Vong were defeated they abandoned the moon and Nal Hutta . Since Nar Shaddaa was Vongformed during the Yuuzhan Vong War , it did not yet return to the state of an ecumenopolis , though many small cities were built across the moon . It became a haven for smugglers once more in 29 ABY , and the Hutts eventually reclaimed Nar Shaddaa , rebuilding that which was destroyed . The moon , along with the planet , joined the Confederation in 40 ABY , although the Hutts themselves were relatively neutral during the Second Galactic Civil War . Later in the war , however , the Hutts eventually joined their fellow non - Hutt criminals in the great conflict . By 43 ABY , much of the world ' s surface had been built over once more which again began to glimmer . Tobb Jadak , a former smuggler from the last days of the Galactic Republic , reflected on how similar Nar Shaddaa was to its original state years before the Vongforming . He also noticed that security on the world was much tighter than in the days of the Republic . The place where people went to quickly and easily disappear now required retinal and body scans to enter the moon ' s spaceport . Behind the scenes . The galaxy map from " Star Wars Insider " # 65 incorrectly identifies Nar Shaddaa as its own planet , while it is in fact the moon of Nal Hutta . In " " , Nar Shaddaa is spelled as " Nar Shadaa " with only one " d " . Nar Shaddaa ' s first mention in the " " endnotes identified Nar Shaddaa as the " Smugglers ' Moon " . This was repeated in " " and the majority of later Star Wars Legends sources . On occasion a minority of sources have erroneously identified Nar Shaddaa as the " Smuggler ' s Moon " .