When the Galactic Empire established the Sanctuary Pipeline, a hyperlane meant for the transportation of construction materials and components to the Death Star II battlestation in the Endor system, the Murk system became the penultimate stop on the hyperspace route. On the system's innermost planetoid, also named Murk, an Imperial cargo-transfer station was established, where cargoes arriving via the Sanctuary Pipeline were unloaded for subsequent shipment to the Endor system. Following the Battle of Endor, the Shell Hutt Tagoonta escaped to the Murk transfer station from troubles in Hutt Space.
The Murk system was situated in the Outer Moddell systems area of the Moddell subsector, one of the subsectors constituting the Inner Zuma Region of the Outer Rim Territories' Zuma sector.
The system contained the red dwarf–type star Murk, which, due to its dimness, was not visible to naked-eye observers on any of the Moddell subsector's inhabited planets. The star was orbited by several planetoids, the innermost of which was an airless, frigid, barren rock of the same name. The latter took ninety-eight local days to complete an orbit around its sun.
During the Galactic Civil War, the Galactic Empire began the construction of the Death Star II battlestation over the Forest Moon of Endor, in the Endor system. To allow for expeditious, secret transportation of the necessary materials and components to Endor, the Empire artificially extended the Silvestri Trace hyperlane from the Brema sector planet Sullust directly to Endor, with the Murk system becoming a penultimate stop on the new hyperspace route, known as the Sanctuary Pipeline.
The Murk system became the penultimate stop on the Sanctuary Pipeline.
To add another layer of secrecy to the Death Star project, an Imperial cargo-transfer station with both ground-based and orbital facilities was established on Murk, used to unload shipments arriving via the Sanctuary Pipeline for further transportation to the Endor system. Following the Imperial defeat by the Rebel Alliance at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, the Sanctuary Pipeline became largely unnavigable and the Murk transfer station was abandoned. By the time of the reign of the New Republic, the Shell Hutt Tagoonta and his retainers found refuge at the transfer station from troubles in Hutt Space.
The Murk system was introduced via map label in the article "Endor and the Moddell Sector," which was published in the ninth issue of the Star Wars Gamer magazine on February 22, 2002. The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas provided the system with a visual depiction and placed it in grid square H-16.
- "Endor and the Moddell Sector" — Star Wars Gamer 9
- The Essential Atlas