Polis Massa / Legends Polis Massa was once an arid , habitable , barren planetoid and originally the homeworld of the origin of the little - known Eellayin civilization , which dwelt in underground cities such as Wiyentaah . Polis Massa was later struck by a mysterious cataclysm . This natural disaster destroyed the planet and formed a field of asteroids which remained known as Polis Massa , especially the largest of them . The Eellayin civilization disappeared . History . Around 519 BBY , the Kallidahin from Kallidah , another world in Subterrel sector , abandoned their homeworld and under the leadership of the Archaeological Research Council of Kallidah established the Polis Massa Research Base . They sought to prove the Eellayin were the ancestors of the Kallidahin through cloning tissue samples recovered in their digs . The most important find was the lost city of Wiyentaah ( not far from the Research Base ) , discovered 59 BBY , began an archaeological mining project on this planetoid , to uncover the mysteries of the cataclysm and the native species it destroyed . The Local Dig was established over Wiyentaah . Such was the length of this project , the Kallidahin became known as Polis Massans themselves . Excavations on the largest Polis Massa asteroids uncovered many prize artifacts , mostly from deep within the planetoid . The Polis Massans analyzed these artifacts for organic tissue suitable for cloning . Though the aliens frequented the Subterrel Sector , they had little contact with the galaxy and as a whole , the Polis Massa outpost remained remote and hidden . Polis Massa was technically a loyal part of the Galactic Republic and friendly to the Jedi . Far from any major hyperlane , the remote settlement served as an emergency sanctuary for the Jedi after Order 66 , during the rise of the Empire and Palpatine ' s Great Jedi Purge . The colony also housed the medical facilities in which Padmé Amidala gave birth to the twins Luke and Leia , and subsequently died because she lost the will to live . It was here that Bail Organa chose to adopt Leia into his family . When Yoda arrived with Bail , he was visited by the specter of Qui - Gon Jinn who offered to tutor Obi - Wan Kenobi , as well as Yoda himself , in the art of surviving one ' s death with the consciousness still intact . Shortly after Padmé ' s funeral on Naboo , Yoda returned to Polis Massa to retrieve a Kallidahin escape pod , to make his exile to Dagobah . Not long after the formation of the Galactic Empire , the Inquisitors Malorum and Sancor began investigations of Polis Massa , discovering much information to be sent to Lord Vader . In a fateful run - in with Obi - Wan Kenobi at the Research Base , Sancor lost his life . Galactic Civil War . During the first days of the Alliance to Restore the Republic , a movement that started in 2 BBY , the Rebel ' s established a secret base on Polis Massa . The base was crewed by beings of different species , including Human troopers , Wookiee archers , and Bothan spies . They were equipped with FX - series medical assistant droids and kept AAC - 1 speeder tank s in several small hangers throughout the base . The Alliance launched many operations from their Polis Massan base , although the Rebel Alliance did their best not to disturb the nearby Kallidahin excavations . The Empire raided this base repeatedly but the base survived these attacks . In 0 BBY , the Polis Massan Rebel base received an important transmission from other Rebels : the plans of the Empire ' s new armored battle station . Knowing that the transmission had been made , Darth Vader ordered his agents of the 501st Legion to recover the plans and destroy the Rebel outpost . The Bothan spies , knowing that the Empire would have tracked the transmission , secretly forwarded the plans to another Rebel outpost , the " Tantive IV " starship , and prepared a forgery to trick the Imperial forces as much as they could . The Empire discovered the deception during the attack but was slow in issuing new orders to the 501st . Eventually , the 501st obliterated the Rebel presence on Polis Massa and found a new trail to follow , tracking Princess Leia Organa ' s corvette orbiting over Tatooine . Yuuzhan Vong War . Polis Massa did not attract the attention of the Yuuzhan Vong and remained unscathed during the Yuuzhan Vong War . Behind the scenes . In the DVD commentary for " Revenge of the Sith " , John Knoll explains that George Lucas specifically designed the look of Polis Massa to be an homage to the look of the Clavius moon base in the 1968 film " " . The asteroid colony was first known as Polis Matza during script development of . Slowed down footage of the asteroid field from was used as a placeholder in the evolving edit of Episode III .