The Galactic Empire constructed a military installation, known as the Imperial garrison base, within the city of Mos Eisley on Tatooine during the era of the Galactic Civil War. Its placement on Tatooine was strategic, occurring soon after the Alliance to Restore the Republic achieved significant victories such as the Battle of Yavin, where the First Death Star was obliterated. Despite the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, personally overseeing the base's expansion, Luke Skywalker and Anduvil successfully infiltrated and sabotaged the complex shortly after the Sith Lord's departure, leading to its complete destruction.
Within the Tatooinian city of Mos Eisley stood the garrison base of the Galactic Empire, a large and fortified stronghold comprising numerous buildings and a command bridge connecting two turbolaser batteries. Among its features were a TIE hangar, a medical center, a detention block, a landing platform, a central patio, and external autoturrets. The primary entrance faced Straight Street, while the remainder of the outpost overlooked Kerner Plaza.
The base accommodated a substantial number of troops, officers, and medical staff, and at different times housed vehicles such as a Lambda-class T-4a shuttle, All Terrain Armored Transports, All Terrain Scout Transports, All Terrain Advance Raiders, armored tanks, Omega-class freighters, a TIE lander and TIE/LN starfighters.
Following the Battle of Yavin and the Rebel Alliance's successful destruction of the Death Star, a superweapon/battle station with the capability of planetary annihilation constructed by the Empire, the Galactic Empire decided to construct a permanent military base on Tatooine, as a symbolic gesture. In 0 ABY, Darth Vader, a Sith Lord, personally visited the base, accompanied by a member of the Emperor's Royal Guard, to supervise its expansion, which stirred unrest among the local population. This expansion involved the routine use of armored tanks by the Empire to demolish nearby private residences, extending the garrison's boundaries toward Kerner Plaza.
Watto, the Toydarian owner of a junkyard, was compelled to visit the base on occasion, largely due to his inability to refuse the Empire's demands. Despite this, he found some recompense in the droid bargains, observing the local wildlife, and appreciating the ancient city of Mos Eisley, which helped offset the inconvenience of dealing with the Empire. Watto also suspected that the base's establishment primarily served the interests of Emperor Palpatine's Sith allies rather than the residents of Mos Eisley.
The base's medical facilities were utilized, among other things, to analyze potential infections of Bledsoe's disease. The medical team, led by Doctor Kaaldar, would record star maps obtained from the disease's "window-eyes" symptom, revealing the locations of secret Rebel Alliance bases.
However, this practice was unexpectedly disrupted when a transport capsule containing Bledsoe's disease was inadvertently intercepted by a Jawa sandcrawler. Luke Skywalker, a member of the Rebel Alliance, contracted Bledsoe's disease while investigating the wreckage of the sandcrawler and was subsequently taken to the base, where the Imperials placed him in a medical chamber. Later, a section of the base's main gate was severely damaged when the sandcrawler, operated by Skywalker's droids, C-3PO and R2-D2, attempted to breach the base to rescue Skywalker.
The Imperial garrison base was ultimately destroyed when Anduvil, a Rebel intelligence operative, sabotaged a P-s4 twin ion engines of one of the TIE/LN starfighters by misaligning the energizer, thus compromising the recharging system. Anduvil achieved this by infiltrating the main hangar bay, which was unguarded due to the diversion created by C-3PO and R2-D2's attempt to breach the main gates. The resulting ion explosion consumed the complex, killing numerous stormtroopers and officers, including Doctor Kaaldar, while Luke, Anduvil, and the droids escaped safely on a landspeeder.
The Imperial garrison base made its initial appearance in the 1979 comic strip Tatooine Sojourn, distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, authored by Steve Gerber, and illustrated by Russ Manning. The outpost received its formal designation in the 2004 reference book Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy and was later featured in the 2012 online puzzle game Star Wars Galactic Spy.
However, the portrayal of the base differs somewhat between Tatooine Sojourn and Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy. Star Wars Galactic Spy largely draws from Inside the Worlds, incorporating minor adaptations such as the addition of military units and characters. Tatooine Sojourn depicts the outpost in the Tatooinian desert, on the outskirts of Mos Eisley, while Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy places it within the city itself. Discrepancies in design, size, and coloring are also evident between the two versions.
Given that all three stories are set around 0 ABY and in the same geographical area, this article assumes that they are referencing the same structure.