Prison Base Prison Base was a four - story high - security prison on the planet Branth , with one of the levels underground . Prior to being a prison , the building had previously been an old non - military starbase . It was partially converted , mostly on the inside , to house Wookiees when the Empire turned the planet into a wasteland . There were twelve short , thin structures outside the base which were used as guard towers , though not all of them were always manned . The manned towers generally contained two stormtroopers equipped with blaster rifles . A chain link fence connected all these towers to each other which was designed simply to slow any escapes for a few moments . The prison itself was a huge , sprawling complex which provided ample opportunity for both prisoners and intruders to get lost , confused , and cornered . Generally , the corridors of the base were almost empty ( when there was no immediate threat , there was no real need to heavily patrol the halls ) , though as soon as intruders were detected , or prisoners escaped , the corridors were swarming with groups of stormtroopers and bounty hunters . Because the prison was designed to house Wookiees , the base had a rather heavy garrison . All stormtroopers ( and probably the bounty hunters too ) had strict orders to set their blasters to stun . The reason for this was very simply ; if they started dropping prisoners like flies , there would be a wild , full - scale breakout attempt . History . Sometime during the Galactic Civil War , a Wookiee member of the Rebel Alliance discovered the location of this base and , when he found out there were Wookiees being held there , immediately hijacked his group ' s starship and took them to it with the intent of freeing all slaves . The group of rebels , along with an old droid that had been cast out since the time the planet was used to produce experimental starfighters , managed to gain access to the base . They soon discovered that the base held 390 Wookiees , 43 Humans , 18 Mon Calamari , and 17 Ewoks . While in the base , they managed to meet up with Commander deWolf , the Imperial officer in command of the base , who offered them a false bargain where they would have to leave the prisoners behind and leave in one of the base ' s CR90 corvettes . The group saw through his lies , however , and a firefight broke out in deWolf ' s office . Whether or not deWolf survived this encounter is unknown . After the meeting , the group of rebels managed to free the prisoners , some of whom escaped in the Imperial ships docked at the base , the others escaping aboard the rebels ' own ship . Layout . Level 1 - The Basement Level . The first level , which was underground , was a sprawling labyrinth of tunnels and corridors , much like the ground level and just as confusing with the same potential for hitting dead ends unless you knew where you were going . The entire level had rather poor lighting which made it a very dank and dreary place . The prison cells were all in roughly the same area , but there were many of them ; approximately 45 cells with 18 prisoners per cell . There were 5 turbolifts which led down to this level , all of which had 2 stormtroopers posted at them at all times . These were the only entrances and exits for the entire prison level . One of these turbolifts went to the hangar deck . A column in the center of the cell area had a computer console on it which controlled all the jail cell doors , and a communications console which could be used to make announcements to the entire base as well as sound an alarm in case of a breakout . Four stormtroopers were posted around this column at all times . Level 2 - The Ground Level . The ground level of the prison base had a single main entrance as well as several smaller maintenance entrances . The cavernous , fully enclosed flight hangar was also based on this level . The main entrance to the base was a wide , double doorway which opened into a fairly large lobby area . This room was previously the registration area for the starbase but was converted into a checkpoint for stormtroopers assigned to outside guard duty . Two stormtroopers were always at the desk here , and at least two more were almost always checking in or out . Doorways on the left and right sides of the lobby led to a maze of corridors , which in turn led to office and , eventually , turbolifts . The maintenance entrances were always locked from the inside , and were alarmed though it was possible to hack your way in . Prisoners were never brought in through these entrances , instead being delivered straight into the hangar and taken down a turbolift to the prison cells . Most of the offices on the ground level contained computer consoles , many of which were not in full working order . Furthermore , the consoles could only be used to retrieve information , never to operate turbolifts or security doors ; all those actions were controlled by the computer console in Commander deWolf ' s office on the fourth floor . The consoles on the ground level could be used quite easily to obtain a layout of the base , although this was an old layout before the base was converted from a starbase . It was also possible to obtain a prisoner readout from these consoles , as well as finding out how many ships were docked in the hangar . The turbolifts were distributed rather sporadically throughout the maze of hallways and connect all four levels of the base together . Inside each turbolift was a small keyboard which was used to enter the desired floor number . An additional code had to be entered to reach the basement level which contained the prisoner cells . An additional means of getting around on this level are the long forgotten maintenance ducts , which the cleaning crew have neglected to work on , causing them to become dirty and oily . These dimly lit ducts wound their way just above the ceiling of each level and could in fact be used to climb or descend levels in the base , though they were fairly tight ; Wookiee ' s would most likely rub against the walls . It was possible to access various pieces of machinery through these ducts , though it was next to impossible to know what you were accessing as they were not clearly labeled . A large door led off one of the corridors into another short , wide corridor which led in turn to the hangar . Inside the hangar itself was the final turbolift which led only to the basement level and was used primarily to bring prisoners in . The hangar ' s normal compliment was nine TIE / LN starfighter s , two standard Bulk freighters , three light freighters , one CR90 corvette , and a large number of speeder bikes and countless other small repair vehicles . The inside of the hangar was cluttered with defunct machinery , and the worthless shells of old experimental starships , some of which were still in working order . Level 3 - The Armory And Stormtrooper Barracks . The third level of the base had many more open areas than the ground level , and fewer winding corridors . One of the few long , well - lit corridors on this level led to the armory . In front of the door leading into the armory was a desk which always had two stormtroopers sitting guard at it , and generally anywhere between one to six additional stormtroopers checking weapons in or out . There was also a camera above the door which was always trained on the desk itself , and a security guard on level four was constantly monitoring the camera feed . If the guard saw any disturbances on this level , he would send in a group of ten stormtroopers , as well as activating the Decimator 397 stored in the armory . The armory itself was generally equipped with a supplement of 83 blaster pistols , 95 blaster rifles , 54 repeating blasters , 12 heavy repeating blasters , 25 thermal detonators , and 120 grenades . All supplies were stored loosely , hanging on the wall racks or lined up against the wall , rather than in boxes . Additionally , standing against a wall in the armory was a Decimator 397 series assassin droid which was connected to a computer on level 4 through a small wire which ran from the base of its neck into the wall . Also on this level were the stormtrooper barracks , a series a several large rooms which were home to the bases compliment of 150 stormtroopers . No more than a third of these stormtroopers were ever in the barracks at any one time , but any intruders blundering into the barracks would quickly find themselves captured . Level 4 - Commander deWolf ' s Headquarters . The fourth level was not as large as the other levels ; it contained all the security systems for the base , as well as Commander deWolf ' s headquarters . There were essentially three important rooms on this level ; the security / communications room , the computer room , and Commander deWolf ' s office . The computer room housed the main computer which operated the base . This computer controlled everything from the life support systems to the turbolifts and the opening and closing of prisoner cell doors in the basement level . With the computer console here , it was possible to override any computer - controlled system in the entire base . The security / communications room contained the guards which monitored all cameras which were placed at key locations in the base ( e . g . , the armory , the cell block , the entrances on level 2 , and several other locations ) . From here general announcements could be made which were broadcast throughout the entire base . If the armory was attacked , the guards sitting at this station would issue a " red alert " status for the base , meaning that all 150 stormtroopers were to ready themselves for combat , and all doorways leading in and out of the base would be secured . Two stormtroopers stood guard outside the base commander ' s office at all times . Inside the room was simply the commander ' s desk , along with several chairs to seat both the commander , as well as any guests he had .