Nespis VIII, or Nespis 8, also known as the Nespis VIII spaceport or Space City, was a space station in the Auril system constructed sometime during the dawn of the Galactic Republic.
The orbiting city was constructed during the early days of hyperspace travel as an isolated interstellar beacon. As of 10,000 BBY the City was listed by Vicendi as one of the Twenty Wonders of the Galaxy. It lasted through thousands of years of galactic conflict, including the Sith War and the destruction of the Cron Drift, but was largely abandoned by the time of the Clone Wars. As a result, the station was filled with ancient relics from every era of space travel. A repository of Jedi records was located on the station, but Darth Vader destroyed this library and killed its guardian, Aidan Bok during the Great Jedi Purge. Imperial scientist Borborygmus Gog created a false library in place of the original, hoping to lure and capture Force-sensitive subjects for his studies.
Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, Mammon Hoole and the Arranda children sought refuge on the station with ForceFlow, a HoloNet friend of Tash Arranda's. ForceFlow tricked Hoole and the Arrandas into joining the many artifact prospectors searching for the legendary Jedi library. Tash Arranda located the library, and the spirit of Aidan Bok, who warned her of Gog's artifice. ForceFlow subsequently revealed himself to be Borborygmus Gog, but with the help of Aidan Bok, Tash escaped the Imperial scientist.
In 10 ABY, Luke Skywalker and Kam Solusar met there, and Luke brought Kam back to the light side. Mon Mothma and the New Republic leadership fled to the space station after the destruction of Pinnacle Base on Da Soocha V, and it became the birthplace of Anakin Solo. It was armed with V-200 ion cannons by the New Republic, during the events surrounding Operation Shadow Hand in the Galactic Civil War.
A traitor within the New Republic soldiery leaked Mothma's location to the Galactic Empire. However, R2-D2 alerted his masters to this betrayal, and the New Republic began evacuation immediately. Attempting to slaughter the Alliance leaders wholesale before they could escape, the reborn Emperor Palpatine ordered the launch of a Galaxy Gun projectile to destroy the ancient space city. Although New Republic starfighters failed to deter the massive missile, a faulty timing mechanism manufactured on Roonadan prevented the weapon's detonation. The enraged Emperor fired a second projectile, but the bulk of the Alliance fleet made hyperspace just as the space station exploded.
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