Belderone

Belderone was a terrestrial world situated in the Belderone system, located where the Outer Rim Territories met the Slice. Its coordinates were R-6 on the Standard Galactic Grid, and it was positioned on the Salin Corridor hyperspace route between the celestial bodies Trogan and Columex. It shared its designation with the encompassing Belderone sector.

From the beginning of the Galactic Empire's reign, Belderone hosted an Imperial naval base and an R/M Facility Four deepdock. During this time, Imperial Army personnel, including stormtroopers, generally disliked being assigned to Belderone. The prevailing belief was that troops stationed furthest from the Imperial capital of Coruscant held the least significance to the Empire's cause. Consequently, any transfer to Belderone was often perceived as a form of punishment or demotion.

The Salin Corridor offered a route to the Cron Drift, an asteroid field that was the only known path to the ancient world of Ossus, a planet steeped in Jedi lore. The Imperial Navy restricted access to the asteroid field, establishing checkpoints at key jump points along the Perlemian Trade Route. However, the Salin Corridor and the Tion Cluster saw less patrolling, leading to the emergence of cottage industries on Belderone and other planets like Foran Tutha, catering to treasure hunters in search of Ossus.

In 14 BBY, a rebel cell under the leadership of former Galactic Republic Intelligence officer Berch Teller stole the Carrion Spike, the personal corvette of Imperial Moff Wilhuff Tarkin. After Tarkin and the Sith Lord Darth Vader acquired a replacement ship, Emperor Sheev Palpatine was informed of the situation by several high-ranking Imperial officers, who reported that Vader and Tarkin were pursuing the captured corvette toward the Fial system. Vice Admiral Dodd Rancit further informed the Emperor that the closest Imperial presence was in the Belderone system, prompting Palpatine to instruct the admiralty there to provide starships to Vader and Tarkin as needed in their pursuit of the hijacked Carrion Spike.

Following the Carrion Spike's use in an attack on Galidraan Station, Tarkin, still in pursuit of his stolen vessel, conferred with the Imperial colonel on board the space station, inquiring about nearby Imperial resources. When the colonel mentioned Belderone's two naval facilities, Tarkin asked about the ships stationed at the R/M Facility Four Deepdock, and the colonel confirmed the presence of several CR90 corvettes, two Carrack-class light cruisers, two Victory-class Star Destroyers, and the Venator-class Star Destroyer Liberator.

Tarkin, after discussing the Carrion Spike's likely next target with Vader, determined that Belderone was too heavily defended for an attack and predicted that the planet Nam Chorios would be the target. Vader then ordered that Belderone be contacted to send the Liberator to Nam Chorios, and Tarkin instructed the colonel to facilitate contact between him, Belderone, and Coruscant to arrange this. In another meeting of high-ranking Imperial leaders, Deputy Director Harus Ison of the Imperial Security Bureau criticized the withdrawal of ships from Belderone as reckless, arguing that it risked disrupting pacification efforts elsewhere. The Liberator arrived at Nam Chorios, found no rebel attack, and was subsequently redeployed to the planet Ord Cestus.

During the Galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance, Belderone's facilities were a key component of the Empire's network of shipyards and drydocks. In 3 ABY, the Alliance's 61st Mobile Infantry initiated Operation Ringbreaker against the Kuat Drive Yards, targeting less protected industrial centers to force the redeployment of security forces from Kuat. As Alliance Intelligence monitored the campaign and its initial successes, rebel General Crix Madine created a galactic map of major Imperial shipyards, drydocks, and mining centers considered potential targets if the Kuat Drive Yards were successfully sabotaged.

Belderone was marked on the map as a high-priority target with a medium security rating. The map was included in an official document from Madine to Alliance Commander-in-Chief Mon Mothma, eventually being collected by archivist Hendri Underholt for The Rebel Files, a compilation of non-electronic documents. The 61st ultimately abandoned Operation Ringbreaker before reaching Kuat Drive Yards.

Belderone was added to Star Wars canon with a mention in the 2014 novel Tarkin by James Luceno. Within Star Wars Legends, Belderone's first appearance was in the third annual issue of the 1977 Star Wars comic-book series, written by Mary Jo Duffy, illustrated by Klaus Janson, and published by Marvel Comics on August 30, 1983.