Hetzal was the main world of the Hetzal system in the Outer Rim Territories and was orbited by two inhabited moons, the Fruited and the Rooted. The entire system was committed to agricultural production, exporting food all over the Outer Rim and in some parts of the Inner Rim. During the High Republic Era, the planet attempted to grow bacta, a new substance supposed to revolutionize medicine, in plants.
Home to billions inhabitants, Hetzal Prime was filled with rivers, lakes, and golden fields of cropland that grew honeyfruit, kingberries, ice melons, and more. As the whole System believed in using every bit of available space to grow crops buildings and structures on the planet were roofed with cropland and fruit vines additionally rivers and lakes were used to grow algae and waterweeds. Because every crop of the galaxy could grow somewhere on Hetzal and the three suns gave the planet uniquely long growing seasons, there was always something in Season ready to be harvested by harvester droids.
The Great Hyperspace Disaster which affected Hetzal Prime was instigated by Marchion Ro.
Hetzal Prime was the homeworld of the famous gill-singer Illoria Daze. It was protected by the Hetzal's security division.
In 232 BBY, the Great Hyperspace Disaster occurred, in which the debris of the starship Legacy Run was suddenly launched out of hyperspace and in trajectory with the populated primeworld and moons. The Hetzalian government, under Minister Zeffren Ecka, was forced to issue a system-wide evacuation order and to request assistance from Coruscant, the capital of the Galactic Republic.
Several ships from the Republic and the Jedi Order lent assistance in the evacuation and in destroying a number of pieces of the Legacy Runs debris, saving many lives. However despite the best efforts of the rescue party a small hyperspace fragment hit Hetzal Prime's surface. The fragment, which impacted the sea, destroyed thousands of square kilometers of algae farms and sent huge amounts of water vapor into the atmosphere and a huge tsunami toward the coast, killing hundreds in the process.
In 229 BBY, with the creation of the Stormwall, Hetzal was caught in the Occlusion Zone. This caused the Republic to have to redistribute the harvests of other worlds, to avoid a water and food supply crisis througout the Mid Rim Territories.
Due to the symbolism Hetzal had gained to the Republic in the aftermath of the Great Disaster, Marchion Ro decided to occupy the planet and make it the main base of operations of the Nihil. For this, a large fortress was built on the ruins of the former parliamentary building. The fortress was built out of wreckage, with its walls and chambers made out of the parts from destroyed spacecrafts. Atop the fortress, laid a huge metallic figure in the shape of the Eye of the Nihil. The metal used on the forging of the Eye figure was taken from the remains of the Legacy Run, the ship used to create the Great Disaster.
The Nihil occupation of Hetzal significantly transformed its agricultural operations, crucial for sustaining control over the Occlusion Zone. The agricultural workforce on Hetzal was coerced into increased productivity: workers, constantly monitored by Nihil guards, toiled in the fields alongside menial droids, harvesting crops and loading them into large metallic containers. The presence of the Nihil guards ensured that every grain of produce was accounted for, with harsh consequences for those who failed to meet their quotas. With the tight control of Hetzal's agricultural, the Nihil were able to control the distribution of grain shipments all across the Occlusion Zone, starving planets who decided to not pledge themselves to Nihil control, or to pay the tributes demanded.
Some time after the creation of the Nihil fortress on Hetzal, Avar Kriss returned to the planet, and with the help of her pilot, Belin, and Jedi Master Porter Engle, rescued Rhil Dairo, a journalist who had been forced to work as the spokesperson of the Nihil while imprisoned on Marchion Ro's fortress.
Aguirre City was the capital city of Hetzal Prime. During the Great Disaster, the Hetzalian government was based in the Ministerial Residence, within Aguirre City.