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"This facility houses some of the galaxy's most dangerous criminals. Was one of the Republic's best-kept secrets until the Empire caught on."
―Warden Playt[src]

Belsavis prison was a large-scale Republic prison complex located on the planet Belsavis. Built in the years before the Great Galactic War with the Sith Empire, the complex was built over and surrounding a series of ancient structures built by the Rakatan Infinite Empire in the age before the Republic, and it served two purposes: to imprison the Republic's worst and most powerful offenders, and to study and contain the horrors within the structures left behind by the Rakata.

Description[]

The Belsavis prison was a massive detention center located on the planet Belsavis in the Outer Rim Territories. The prison was divided into three official districts: the Minimum Security Section, the High Security Section, and the Maximum Security Section. A fourth unofficial region of the prison was the Rakatan complex nicknamed the Tomb, though it was largely unexplored and not part of the Republic complex.[9] However, there was also a fifth district: Section X, the original site of the prison when it was first established.

Section X[]

Section X was the site of the first Republic attempt at building the prison.

Minimum Security Section[]

The Minimum Security Section was located within one of Belsavis's tropical rifts and served as the location of the prison's main administrative facilities. By other prison standards, the section was considered to be escape-proof, but by Belsavis standards the Minimum Security Section was considered to be the lowest level of security that could be permitted for its inmates. Most of the prisoners in Minimum Security were pirates, murderers, gangsters, and other violent criminals who were humanoid and willing to communicate with the prison authorities; prisoners who needed more specialized holding facilities were shipped out to other districts.[5] The rift within which the section was built was criss-crossed by towering walls several meters thick, and a number of subeterranean cell blocks were located throughout the region. Aphor trees were a common sight in the Minimum Security Section, particularly in the area known as the Aphor Grove,[2] where the Imperial Military converted the remains of an early Republic explorer camp into a fortified base.[5]

The Minimum Security Section had two primary points of access to the High Security Station, which lay to the west: HiSec Prison Access was a canyon that linked the two districts' northern regions, and the HiSec Facilities Access lay to the south, providing access to the prison maintenance facilities that were located in the southern end of the High Security Section. The Primary Thoroughfare ran down the middle of the section, with various roadways branching off to link different sections of the prison. The Prison Administration Center was located in the northeastern corner of the district, and a significant number of defensive systems, turrets, and walls protected access to the subterranean Administration Center Command. The Inmate Recreation Zone was located near the Administration Center, and allowed prsioners to work in crop fields as well as other activities.[2]

The Prisoner Intake facility and Detainee Processing Center were located along the eastern cliffs, and much of the section was divided into various yards such as the Terrorist Detention Sector, Mercenary Containment Cells, Carbonite Prisoner Storage, and Larcenous Prisoner Holding, into which the Minimum Security prisoners were divided depending on their reputation, status, and capabilities. The Varactyl Vale was a large open valley that was located on the western side of Minimum Security, and it was named after the large number of varactyl creatures that made their home there. A Rakata vault designated Vault K-23 was located in the area, as were Republic Guardposts Alpha and Beta, which kept watch over the path to the generators built into the western cliffs that powered Minimum Security. A second Rakatan vault, Vault K-66, was located in the southern end of the district.[2]

High Security Section[]

The High Security Section of Belsavis prison was home to both cell blocks and the complex's medical, scientific, and engineering facilities. Water, foodstuffs, electricity, and other necessities were produced in the High Security Section, and the science and medical teams in the district were tasked with developing and maintaining methods to contain the complex's more dangerous and unusual inmates. High Security's cell blocks were designed to hold small communities of nonhuman prisoners with similar cultural or physiological needs; official prison policy was to keep prisoners in species-tailored conditions with specific foods, atmospheric mixtures, and other factors in order to keep them more peaceful, despite the fact that many alien species were able to live alongside Humans.[6] As a result, High Security was home to cell blocks such as the Gand, Gen'Dai, and Trandoshan vaults, as well as Rattataki Block Alpha, the Rodian Internment, and the Gran Exile.[2]

Maximum Security Section[]

The Tomb[]

The Tomb, officially known as the Deep Prison, was the Rakatan prison complex whose discovery originally led to the establishment of Belsavis prison.

History[]

The ice planet of Belsavis was discovered by the Republic.

During the Great Galactic War, the prison played host to Sith Lords, Mandalorians, rebels, violent species, political prisoners, and more. The most dangerous inmates were sent to The Tomb: the most secure and secretive portion of the complex that was still staffed and operated by ancient Rakatan warden droids. Around 3643 BBY, at the end of the Cold War, the Sith Empire learned of the prison's existence and launched a full-scale operation to free Imperial prisoners of war and to disrupt Republic operations on the world. The massive prison complex became a warzone that ultimately destroyed much of the facility itself and released many of the ancient Rakatan terrors.

Behind the scenes[]

Belsavis prison was originally titled "the Tomb," in the Holonet, but by the time of the game's release, the Tomb had been established as only the Rakatan part of the complex

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 SWTOR icon Belsavis on The Old Republic Holonet (backup link) (content now obsolete; original version)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Star Wars: The Old Republic
  3. SWTOR mini STAR WARS: The Old Republic - Question ! :) - Page 3 on The Old Republic's official website (backup link) places Star Wars: The Old Republic about ten to twelve years after the signing of the Treaty of Coruscant, which is dated to 3653 BBY by Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia. The Old Republic—The Lost Suns 2 takes place ten years after the treaty, one week after the mission to Nar Shaddaa, and around the time of the SpecForce Incident. Since the mission and the incident are respectively part of Act I of the Jedi Knight and Republic Trooper's storylines, and the Trooper's Act I occurs concurrent to Act I of the Smuggler storyline, the general events of Act I for all classes can be assumed to occur in 3643 BBY. The Prologue for each class immediately precedes Act I, and The Old Republic Encyclopedia places the Battle of Ilum at the end of Act III in 3640 BBY. Assuming that in-universe chronology of the Star Wars: The Old Republic events roughly aligns with the release of story content in real-life as with SWTOR mini Forums: Dear Story Team, What Year Are We Currently In? on The Old Republic's official website (backup link), the Act III Epilogue must take place near the end of 3640 BBY since it was the chronologically latest story of the The Old Republic base game, which was released toward the end of 2011. Therefore, assuming that The Old Republic takes place over the course of three years per the former of the two aforementioned swtor.com posts, Act I takes place near the end of 3643 BBY.
  4. SWTOR mini Developer Dispatch: HK-51 Activated on The Old Republic's official website (backup link)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 SWTOR mini Star Wars: The Old Republic — Codex: "Minimum Security Section"
  6. 6.0 6.1 SWTOR mini Star Wars: The Old Republic — Codex: "High Security Section"
  7. SWTOR mini Star Wars: The Old Republic — Codex: "Maximum Security Section"
  8. SWTOR mini Star Wars: The Old Republic — Codex: "The Tomb"
  9. Star Wars: The Old Republic Explorer's Guide
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