Taspan II

Taspan II was a planet in the Taspan system, in the Inner Rim. The Galactic Empire had a weapons facility on the planet, where gravity well projectors were tested by Imperial scientists. However, the facility was abandoned and the planet destroyed during the cataclysmic Big Crush. After the destruction of Taspan II, floating debris from the former planet played a role in the Battle of Mindor in 5 ABY and the subsequent destruction of the system.
==Description==
Taspan II was the second planet in the Taspan system—located in the Inner Rim—revolving around the star Taspan. It was, at one point, hospitable enough to support a full staff of Galactic Empire scientists, who tested gravity well projectors on the planet. But after the Big Crush, the planet was torn apart into fragments and sent hurtling through the system. By the time of the Battle of Mindor, the asteroids still had not had enough time to stabilize into a settled orbit, and were still flying through the system, making travel through the vicinity of the former planet very hazardous.
Before the time of the Big Crush, a group of Melters, energy-based beings that lived in a natural substance called meltmassif, resided on the planet. They lived on Taspan II for millennia until the Big Crush, and survived on the fragments of Taspan II afterward.
==History==
At some point before 5 ABY,The Essential Reader's Companion dates the events of Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor to 5 ABY. The novel states that the Big Crush happened four years before the events described, placing it in 1 ABY. the Galactic Empire had a presence on Taspan II in the form of a weapons facility, where the Empire tested various designs of gravity well projectors. In 1 ABY, the facility was abandoned after the Big Crush, a cataclysmic event where the planet was torn to pieces after a mishap while testing a gravity well projector. Afterward, all that was left of Taspan II was an asteroid field, akin to the Graveyard of Alderaan. The debris from Taspan II's destruction had not had time to stabilize as of 5 ABY, and debris was still hurtling through the Taspan system, making its sister planet Mindor, also known as Taspan I, almost inaccessible.
The debris was later used to the advantage of Empire warlord Shadowspawn during his campaign against the New Republic in 5 ABY. Shadowspawn set up his main base of operations on the former resort planet of Mindor, hidden by the flying asteroids. While discussing the warlord's base, New Republic pilot Wedge Antilles compared the debris of Taspan II to the Graveyard of Alderaan, but General Lando Calrissian claimed that Taspan was far worse. In 5 ABY, the New Republic battled Shadowspawn's forces at Mindor, led by Jedi General Luke Skywalker. During the Battle of Mindor, the culmination of Shadowspawn's efforts, planetesimals in the Taspan system, including the fragments of Taspan II, were captured by the gravitational pull of the star Taspan. The impact of the fragments making contact with the star emitted hard radiation and flares, which tore through Mindor's surface.
==Behind the scenes==
Taspan II was mentioned in Matthew Stover's novel Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, released in 2008. The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas placed the Taspan system, and therefore Taspan II, in grid square M-8.
==Appearances==
*Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor 
==Notes and references==
Category:Destroyed planets
Category:Inner Rim planets
Category:Taspan system