Tantiss Base, which was also known as the Weyland facility, functioned as a highly secretive scientific installation under the authority of the Galactic Empire. It was constructed inside of Mount Tantiss located on the planet Wayland found within the galaxy's Mid Rim. The specifics regarding the base's operations were kept confidential, and its precise location remained a secret.
Following an incident that occurred on Setron early in the Imperial Era, Doctor Royce Hemlock and the Advanced Science Division relocated to Tantiss Base. There, they initiated development on Project Necromancer, a highly classified biological research endeavor involving M-count transfer. Tantiss Base was also the site of other highly classified investigations and programs.
After a raid conducted by Clone Force 99, which resulted in the death of Hemlock, a containment breach involving a Zillo Beast, and a subsequent revolt by the facility's clone prisoners, Tantiss Base suffered extensive damage, leading to the destruction of all research within. Subsequently, Governor Wilhuff Tarkin instructed Captain Bragg to permanently shut down the facility and reallocate its resources to Project Stardust.
Tantiss Base served as a top-secret scientific facility operated by the Galactic Empire. Its physical structure consisted of two distinct installations: one situated within Mount Tantiss, known as Tantiss Base, and another located on a nearby mountain. Both were on the planet Wayland. The Tantiss base was constructed of two rings, each with multiple hangars carved into the mountain. These hangars included open spaces for landing ships and windows to let natural light into the base. The base was surrounded by a jungle containing dangerous creatures like the dryax while a river was nearby. The base served as the headquarters for the Advanced Science Division and was the final destination for scientists, experts, and related technology gathered from across the galaxy. Key figures included lead Doctor Royce Hemlock, who oversaw the facility's research division, his assistant Emerie Karr, and former Republic clone commando Scorch, the commander of the Imperial royal guards stationed there. Kaminoan Nala Se, the former chief cloning officer, was also held prisoner at the facility and provided her expertise in exchange for the safety of the genetically defective clone Omega.
The Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine himself regarded the facility and its experiments as one of the Empire's most valuable assets. He mandated that its location be kept secret, even from most Imperials. The planet's coordinates were officially removed from all transports heading there, and no records of the system were kept off-site, with references only using the sector's name.
To reach the base, starships were required to dock at Imperial Station 003 on Coruscant, the Empire's capital planet. There, the crew, including droids and organic beings, underwent inspection, and the coordinates for Wayland were directly transmitted to the navigation computer. This ensured that neither the crew nor the commanding officers ever learned the planet's actual location.
The Imperial Military heavily guarded the facility, which included a number of turbolaser turrets scattered around the rings to defend against aerial threats. Several V-wing starfighters from the Imperial Navy were on standby to intercept unauthorized ships entering the atmosphere. Should infiltrators bypass the aerial defenses, Low Altitude Assault Transports were stationed in the base to deploy search parties of TK stormtroopers into the jungle. Trained lurca hounds were used to maintain a perimeter around the mountain to protect the base and its inhabitants from the planet's wildlife. Personnel venturing outside this perimeter were considered lost.
The base's interior featured a network of tunnels and rooms, including a detention level where Nala Se and other prisoners were guarded by clone commandos, a communication center, and a command center for monitoring the prison area and essential functions. Spartan cells were provided for former clone troopers used as test subjects, including Crosshair. This clone prison was cross-shaped and monitored by two TK stormtroopers from a central command console.
To support the Imperial cloning program, Tantiss Base housed numerous research rooms and laboratories. A massive underground containment zone held multiple cloned Zillo Beasts created by the cloning program and transported by science vessels like transport 904, held in stasis for maximum protection. One Zillo Beast was experimented on using weaponry similar to the RX-200 Falchion-class assault tank. Nala Se also had a lab where she experimented with the viability of clone blood to support an m-count. Stables housed native lurca hounds, captured by the Imperials and cared for by Omega and the labor droid K-9X1 to protect personnel stranded on the perimeter or to be released against intruders. The most important and well-protected room was the Vault, a secure zone with reinforced tubes holding subjects from which m-counts were sourced. Eight Imperial royal guards guarded the entrance, shielded by laser barriers. The vault also included living quarters for Force-sensitive children collected from across the galaxy by class one bounty hunters and tended to by Imperial nanny droids. Tantiss medical droids collected their blood daily for testing.
Following a incident at the laboratory on Setron, the Advanced Science Division moved its headquarters to Tantiss Base on Wayland. After the Empire's Attack on Kamino, which destroyed the Kaminoan facilities, Vice Admiral Edmon Rampart sent cloning technology and essential personnel, such as Chief Medical Scientist Doctor Nala Se, to Tantiss Base on the orders of Governor Wilhuff Tarkin.
Blood tests were conducted on retired clone troopers held at the Base to find midi-chlorian-rich blood donors. Hemlock began capturing Force-sensitive subjects from around the galaxy and had them delivered to Tantiss Base for his experiments. Other research included developing Zillo Beast clones, unlocking Kaminoan secrets, and brainwashing clones for the Clone X division.
Galactic Emperor [Sheev Palpatine](/article/darth_sidious] paid an unannounced visit to the secret facility to review the progress of Doctors Hemlock and Se on Project Necromancer. Hemlock gave him a tour of the site, including the Vault, claiming that with more time and resources, they were confident in successfully replicating M-counts. Emperor Palpatine assured Hemlock that he would receive whatever he needed to achieve Project Necromancer’s goal, considering their work vital to the Empire's future.
When Governor Tarkin’s fleet arrived to assist in ending the attack on Tantiss Base, they discovered extensive damage to various sections, the deaths of Doctor Hemlock and several troopers from the Advanced Science Division, and the destruction of all research. Se destroyed the databanks to prevent Rampart from using Hemlock’s research to regain his position in the Empire and save her close friend Omega. Governor Tarkin, believing Hemlock’s failures had cost them enough, posthumously punished him by instructing Captain [Bragg](/article/bragg] to permanently close Tantiss Base and transfer all funding and assets to Commander Orson Callan Krennic’s Project Stardust.
The Weyland facility was featured in the season one finale of the animated TV show Star Wars: The Bad Batch, titled "Kamino Lost," on August 13, 2021. It was first identified by name in the episode guide on StarWars.com, although the spelling differed from the planet's previous spelling. In Star Wars Legends, Wayland's Mount Tantiss housed Emperor Palpatine's secret storehouses, including thousands of Spaarti cloning cylinders.