Q ' Maere Research Facility The Q ' Maere Research Facility was a scientific outpost established by University of Sanbra to study exotic branches of planetology and xenobiology . Some of the original scientific staff broke away from facility and formed the Qektoth Confederation . Sometime during his reign as Imperial governor of the Kathol sector , Moff Kentor Sarne secretly took the facility over and converted it into a penal colony . Layout . The Q ' Maere Research Facility consisted of six sealed habitat domes arranged in a hexagon , connected to each other via access tubes . Each dome contained three levels , and could be sealed off from the rest of the facility in the advent of a breach . A seventh structure , a landing pad , sat in the middle of the domes , and was connected to Dome Six by a retractable access tube . Dome One . Dome One served as the facility ' s Administration Center . The upper level contained the operations and communications equipment , while the middle level housed offices . After being turned into a penal colony , the lower level was retooled into an interrogation and punishment center , referred to as the " disciplinary wing " . The facility broadcast a landing beacon with a METOSP from the operations center . Dome Two . Dome Two was the facility ' s Botany Center , and all three levels were given over to plant life . The corridor passing through the interior of the dome was transparisteel , allowing individuals to see the foliage . Dome Three . Dome Three was the facility ' s Xenobiology Center , although it was retasked when Moff Sarne took over the facility . By 8 ABY , the dome was devoted to staff quarters . The lower level was for personal storage , the middle level contained recreational facilities , and the upper level was reserved for quarters . Dome Four . Dome Four was the facility ' s Climatology Center . It was converted into a prison block when Moff Sarne took over the facility . Dome Five . Originally the facility ' s housing block , Dome Five was converted into a prison block . The upper level contained the Special Detention and Interrogation Center . Dome Six . Dome Six was designated as Maintenance , Repair and Storage . The main generators for the facility were located on the lower level , and the surplus food grown in Dome Two was housed here . Landing pad . The landing pad was a sealed hexagonal platform connected to Dome Six via a retractable access tube that attaches to vessels . The pad was large enough to accommodate at least two transports at a time . Access tubes . Each access tube was fifty meters long , and had blast doors at either end . The doors to the tube could be overridden and controlled from the Administrative Center in Dome One . Water , air and power conduits were laid under the metal floor of each tube . History . The Q ' Maere Research Facility was originally established by the University of Sanbra as a scientific outpost . Several of the facility ' s original scientists were radicals , and left the outpost to form the militant biotech engineering union known as the Qektoth Confederation after the failure of a series of silicon biology experiments . Some time after the scientists left to form the Confederation , Moff Kentor Sarne secretly took over the facility , converting it into a penal colony and re - education center . Inmates at the facility were referred to a " patients " , and were treated as mental deficient and unbalanced . Sarne staffed the facility completely under the command of the Director , Doctor Langstyn Kraay , and included a military contingent drawn from the remains of COMPNOR . Sometime during the facility ' s operational lifetime , Doctor Vin Emil developed an antidote to the bacteria mutation that plagued ships traveling through the Kathol Rift by spoiling their food supplies . Shortly after the fall of Kal ' Shebbol , Sarne made a brief layover at the facility . He transferred all the military personnel and key staff to his forces , leaving behind those that he considered inept . Of those left behind , many fled the facility in the few hyperspace capable vessels they had , feeling no loyalty towards the Moff that had abandoned them . However , by taking all the functioning spacecraft , they left the facility cut off from the rest of the galaxy , and stranded the prisoners and several members of staff . Several weeks later , the New Republic vessel " FarStar " arrived at the facility looking to replenish their food supplies . Eager to get off the planet , Doctor Kraay took their landing party hostage , and ransomed their lives for passage off the planet . However , the " FarStar " personnel , with aid from the prison population , staged a riot and took control of the facility . The " FarStar " was unable to transport all the inmates and patients away from the facility , although several volunteered to crew the vessel . Doctor Akanseh , Chief Medical Officer of the " FarStar " , remained behind on the station to care for the affected , and to atone for his own time as an unwilling torturer under Moff Sarne . Known personnel . Before Moff Sarne stripped the facility of much of its staff , the outpost was fully manned . When the " FarStar " encountered the facility in 8 ABY , only a handful of staff remained .