The Garrison Moon was the moon of Kessel, and was commonly referred to by the miners of Kessel as the Sky Bogey. It was shattered by the Death Star prototype in 11 ABY, but a large fragment of it was still orbiting Kessel as of 43 ABY.
The moon appeared to have been hollowed out in order to house the Kessel Correctional Facility and a garrison. Only a large docking bay and a communications tower were visible on the surface. Slave pens and processing centers took up the first four levels of the facility, while the command center was on the lower, fifth level.
During the reign of the Galactic Empire, the Garrison Moon was chosen to host an Imperial garrison station. Prisoners destined for the Spice Mines of Kessel were commonly transported first to the Garrison Moon's correctional facility, where they were sent through a decontamination process before being loaded on a cargo shuttle for the trip to Kessel itself. Some prisoners were sent back to the moon to carry out menial services for the administration staff.
After the fall of the Empire, Kessel, along with its moon, were taken over by the Rybet Moruth Doole, who housed his fleet in the correctional facility's large docking bay.
Seven years after the Battle of Endor, the New Republic attempted to form an alliance with Kessel, sending Han Solo and Chewbacca to meet with Doole. As they flew towards Kessel in the Millennium Falcon, dozens of ships launched from the moon and shot down Solo and Chewbacca, causing them to crash on Kessel's surface.
Eventually, Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian went to Kessel to investigate the disappearance of the Falcon. Posing as entrepreneurs wishing to invest in the spice mines, they met with Doole in the Kessel prison, who gave them a tour of his operation. When Skywalker inquired about the planet's defense, Doole arranged for a shuttle to take them up to the Garrison Moon. As they landed in the moon's hangar, Skywalker and Calrissian began to inspect the ships docked there, eventually identifying the Millennium Falcon; the ship having been seized by Doole and integrated into his fleet.
The pair, upon entering the ship and confirming that it was indeed the Falcon, grabbed Doole and demanded to know where Solo and Chewbacca were. Doole pulled out a hidden blaster pistol but Skywalker quickly reacted and pushed him away with the Force as he fired, causing the bolt to ricochet around. Doole scrambled away and raised the alarm, as Skywalker and Calrissian took the Falcon and piloted it out of the hangar, with Doole's fleet in pursuit. Shortly after, Doole, angry about being tricked, entered the moon's control room and yelled to his fleet's pilots that Skywalker and Calrissian were to be killed. However, the pair managed to escape when the stolen Sun Crusher arrived, followed by Admiral Daala's fleet of Imperial Star Destroyers.
The Garrison Moon is destroyed by the prototype Death Star.
Eventually, Mara Jade and the Smugglers' Alliance managed to take the moon and planet from Doole, who had barricaded himself inside of the prison and was later killed by one of Kessel's Energy spiders. Like Doole, Jade also placed her fleet in the moon's hangar. Calrissian, this time truly wishing to invest, bought the spice mines and Garrison Moon from Jade. While inspecting his new operation, the Death Star prototype, commanded by the Twi'lek Tol Sivron, arrived from the nearby Maw Cluster, having recently escaped from a raid by the New Republic on the Maw Installation.
Sivron and his scientists onboard decided to test the destructive power of the prototype Death Star's superlaser on Kessel. When the superlaser's fired, its targeting mechanism was so badly out of alignment that the Death Star missed Kessel totally and hit the moon instead, destroying it. Causalities were minimal, however, as the majority of the Smuggler Alliance fleet had evacuated as soon as the Death Star prototype appeared, with only two ships being caught in the blast and another being hit by the moon's debris.
After its destruction, many pieces of the moon were pulled towards Kessel due to its gravity and burned up in the atmosphere. At least one piece stayed in orbit and was large enough to be visible from Kessel's surface. In 43 ABY, it was used as the evacuation point for Kessel's workers and inhabitants while Lando Calrissian and his friends attempted to save Kessel from destruction.
- The Jedi Academy Sourcebook
- Geonosis and the Outer Rim Worlds
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