Polis Massa

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Climate:
  Artificially maintained temperate environment

• Terrain:
  Airless asteroid

• 

From the Movies

A jumbled collection of lazily floating asteroids, Polis Massa is a small Outer Rim mining settlement far removed from the more populated areas of the galaxy. The airless rocks are host to sealed outposts inhabited by the strangely silent Polis Massan aliens.

It was at one of these outposts that Jedi fugitives Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi regrouped following the disastrous decimation of their order by the rise of Empire. Having failed to thwart Palpatine, Yoda fled to Polis Massa with Bail Organa to recover. Obi-Wan Kenobi, having defeated Darth Vader on Mustafar, soon joined them.

He arrived on Polis Massa aboard Padmé Amidala's Naboo star skiff, and carried an ailing Amidala aboard. The Jedi rushed Amidala to the medical center, where the Polis Massan medics and droids tried to stabilize her vital signs.

Padmé died on Polis Massa, but not before delivering the twins she was carrying. She gave birth to Luke and Leia, infants that carried with them the hope for the future.

From the Expanded Universe

In the fringes of the Subterrel sector of the Outer Rim Territories, Polis Massa was once an intact world that was home to the underground-dwelling Eellayin people. The people mysteriously vanished when the world was destroyed by an unknown and ancient cataclysm. Over 500 years ago, an archeological expedition began combing the rocky fragments for the remains of the Eellayin. The alien researchers, believing themselves to be descendants of the Eellayin, became so entrenched in the asteroid remains over the centuries that they simply became known as Polis Massans to all who dealt with them.

One of the largest topside facilities is called the Local Dig, and it is situated above the remains of Wiyentaah, an Eellayin city that the Polis Massans are meticulously uncovering. The interior of the Local Dig's scientific chambers are kept in pristine and sterile conditions, preserving any fragile artifacts that are found. The medical centers are stocked with the latest in recuperative technology, though it is tailored for the physiology of the alien researchers. The Polis Massans employ cloning technology in attempts to recreate extinct or vanished pre-cataclysm life-forms from any scraps of usable genetic material found within the rocks.

Polis Massans keep to themselves, discreetly digging away at the rocks and desperate to avoid attention. Given the rampant piracy found in the Outer Rim, their solitude is warranted -- they do not want to attract the avarice of space-faring tomb raiders. This isolationism made Polis Massa the perfect refuge for Jedi fugitives.

Behind the Scenes

The asteroid colony was first known as Polis Matza during script development of Revenge of the Sith. Slowed down footage of the asteroid field from The Empire Strikes Back was used as a placeholder in the evolving edit of Episode III. The Polis Massa medical chamber and adjacent observation room was shot as a full set on Stage 7 at Fox Studios Australia. The observation dome, where Yoda meditates prior to Obi-Wan's arrival, was shot as a miniature environment at Industrial Light & Magic.