Kessel

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Climate:
  Frigid

• Terrain:
  Desolate salt flats, barren rock and dark caverns

• 

From the Movies

The infamous world of Kessel is known for its dreaded mines, hard labor correctional facilities where convicts are often sent to extract valuable spice from the rock. Smugglers have established a secret route in and out of the system called the Kessel Run.

From the Expanded Universe

A lumpy asteroidal mass that can barely be considered a planet, Kessel's claim to infamy lies in the precious strands of glitterstim spice that striates the otherwise unremarkable rock of the frigid world.

The Outer Rim planet is too small to hold an atmosphere of its own, so its surface is marked by massive air-producing factories that belch out breathable air. Despite these measures, the air is still too thin to breathe without oxygen masks, and the factory's output eventually bleeds away into space, leaving a vaporous trail behind Kessel as it orbits its bleak and distant sun.

The term "spice" has come to describe a wide variety of stimulants mined or processed from a number of worlds, but the glitterstim found on Kessel is easily the most valuable. Not only a euphoric psychotropic drug beneficial in therapeutic uses, the photoactive fibrous strands imbue a user with a temporary increase in latent telepathy. This, combined with the rarity of the substance, makes it incredibly valuable --- valuable enough to kill and die for.

When the Empire rose to power, it took control of the spice mining operations, cutting into the profits of a number of underworld enterprises. The Empire constructed a correctional facility on Kessel's blighted surface where criminals and political prisoners were forced to toil in freezing underground caves to extract the spice. Since the spice would be activated by any light whatsoever, the indentured miners had to work in absolute darkness as they harvested the precious strands.

Faulty breathmasks, malfunctioning heating gear, sudden cave-ins and wrong turns were not the only threats an unfortunate miner could face. It was discovered that the source of the spice was a species of voracious energy spider that spun the spice strands as a form of web. A hapless miner that wandered too deep into a cave bearing a spice vein could find himself impaled by a spider, and have his life energy completely sucked out in mere moments.

When not in the darkness of the mines, a criminal could find little hope in looking to the stars above Kessel. Not only was the system adequately guarded, but the skies were dominated by the startling display of the Maw Cluster, an unlikely conglomeration of black holes that would forever remind any souls on Kessel of their inescapable mortality.

The criminal underworld still found ways to profit from the Imperial spice trade. Corrupt officials could easily be bribed to let portions of glitterstim cargoes go "missing," only to show up on Black Sun or Hutt freighters. Foolhardy smugglers looking to risk their lives for incredible profit would risk Imperial patrols near Kessel.

The term Kessel Run came to encompass a number of smuggler methods designed to separate spice cargoes from licensed Imperial shippers. One particular method saw the quick distribution of spice along a slowly moving train of cargo freighters, while another approach was just a pure contest of raw speed that skirted dangerously close to the black holes of the Maw Cluster. A smuggler that managed to shave off a sizable portion of the 18-parsec Kessel Run had bragging rights indeed.

Aside from the spice, Kessel had another strategic value. It was the gateway to the Maw Cluster, wherein resided a top-secret Imperial think-tank devised by Grand Moff Tarkin. From the scientists sequestered in this forsaken patch of chaotic space came such stunning technological breakthroughs as the finalized Death Star design, the World Devastators, the Sun Crusher, the Ionic Ring, and the Subspace Holotransciever.

Following the defeat of the Empire at Endor, a Rybet prison official named Moruth Doole seized control of the planet and the spice mining operation. Doole was in charge of the complex seven years after the Battle of Endor, when Imperial forces finally emerged from the Maw to battle the New Republic. Kessel became a battleground as experimental Imperial technologies were unleashed. An operational Death Star prototype opened fire on the planetoid, destroying its garrison moon.

In the skirmish that followed, Doole was killed and the mining complex fell to entrepreneur Lando Calrissian. He eventually turned the reigns of the operation to his friend Nien Nunb, who did away with forced labor and instead employed droid miners to harvest the spice.

Behind the Scenes

Kessel first appeared in dialogue in A New Hope, where subjects such as its spice mines and the Kessel Run were mentioned in passing. The Kessel Run has been the topic of much speculation given Solo's confusing boast of completing the Kessel Run in "less than 12 parsecs." Given that a parsec is a unit of measurement and not of time, it hardly seemed like a speed record.

The Star Wars Technical Journal came up with a workable explanation that saw a Kessel Runner have to deposit smuggled spice shipments in between freighters traveling at a fixed speed, so that the shorter distance covered by said freighters during a Run was worth bragging about. Another version of the Kessel Run, spun out of the Jedi Academy Trilogy, required a smuggling ship to skirt close to the black holes of the Maw Cluster, shortening the distance only through skillful piloting and powerful engines.

Of course, the simplest solution is the one favored by George Lucas, and the one that appeared in the screenplay for A New Hope. Han's boast was nothing more than a lie, meant to hoodwink provincial customers. Obi-Wan's knowing glance suggests he saw right through Solo's meaningless bragging.