Emperor's Citadel
General information
Constructed	19 BBY
Destroyed	11 ABY
Location	Byss
Builder	Galactic Empire
Height	Several kilometers
Usage
Era(s)	Rise of the Empire era Rebellion era New Republic era
Affiliation	Order of the Sith Lords Galactic Empire Dark Empire

[Source]

The Emperor's Citadel, also known as Imperial Citadel, located on the planet Byss, was a great black and red-tinted tower in the center of the throne city. Six years after the Battle of Endor, the reborn Emperor Palpatine reigned from this hidden location.

DescriptionEdit

This great black and red-tinted tower contained the personal quarters and offices of Palpatine and his officials. The Emperor's throne room, cloning facilities which kept his collection of clone bodies, dark side Sith alchemical laboratories, the Great Hall, a war room, libraries filled with dark side tomes were also located within the Emperor's Citadel.

It was in this citadel on his throne world that Palpatine experimented on a wide range of life with his dark side powers, even sentient beings. There were also sublevel breeding facilities which birthed the deadly Chrysalide rancors. Elite Imperial Sovereign Protectors—the best of the Imperial Royal Guard—were also stationed at the Imperial Citadel. He kept his cloning facilities within the palace to make it easier and faster to resurrect himself when needed.

There were also a series of training rooms in the Palace compound where Palpatine trained his Dark Side Adepts and a few chosen Inquisitors. He also kept several Jedi and Sith holocrons which he had acquired. The Emperor throne room was also capable of serving as a military command center which he used to supervise the World Devastator assault on Mon Calamari.

HistoryEdit

The citadel was constructed shortly after Palpatine rose to power, following the end of the Clone Wars. The Empire used slaves from many conquered worlds—including Gamorr, Toydaria, and Utapau—to complete the citadel quickly.

Reborn in a clone body after his death aboard the second Death Star, Palpatine brought Luke Skywalker to the citadel, and was able to convert the Jedi Master to the dark side. Later, Leia Organa and Han Solo breached the citadel's defenses to rescue Luke. The citadel was attacked by New Republic agents through the use of sabotaged X-1 Vipers during the Battle of the Emperor's Citadel, but the attack was thwarted through the use of alchemically-altered Chrysalides. The citadel was destroyed along with the rest of Byss in 11 ABY when the Eclipse II rammed into the Galaxy Gun.

EquipmentEdit

The Citadel was guarded by three stormtrooper legions, and 600 Imperial Sentinels. Chrysalides, Dark Side Adepts, and Hunter-Killer droids and Scorpenek annihilator droids also patrolled the area.

Its equipment included HoloNet stations, battle computers and command rooms, the Clone Labs, prisons, a throne room, the Great Hall, a meeting area for the Imperial Inner Circle, libraries, museums, gardens, and gladiator combat arenas.

Behind the scenesEdit

In the original drafts of A New Hope, the Imperial City was to have been located on the top of an impossibly high spire, far above the surface of the capital world. This was eventually changed into Cloud City for the sequel, but may also have served as an inspiration for the Citadel on Byss.

AppearancesEdit

• Evasive Action: Recruitment
• Dark Empire 2: Devastator of Worlds (First appearance)
• Dark Empire 4: Confrontation on the Smugglers' Moon
• Dark Empire 5: Emperor Reborn
• Dark Empire audio drama
• Dark Empire II 1: Operation Shadow Hand
• Dark Empire II 3: World of the Ancient Sith
• Dark Empire II 4: Battle on Byss
• Dark Empire II 5: The Galaxy Weapon
• Dark Empire II audio drama
• Empire's End 1: Triumph of the Empire
• Empire's End audio drama
• Crimson Empire 0 (Appears in flashback(s))
• Jedi Search (Mentioned only)

SourcesEdit

•  Dark Empire Sourcebook
• A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Second Edition
• The Essential Guide to Characters
• Star Wars: Chronicles
• The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology (Under Universal Energy Cage)
• Star Wars Encyclopedia
• The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons (Under Byss)
• Star Wars: Behind the Magic (Under Byss (Emperor's Retreat))
• Star Wars: The Action Figure Archive
•  "Star Wars Episode VII: Rise of the New Republic"—InQuest Gamer 50 (Non-canonical source) (Picture only)
• The Essential Chronology (Under The Resurrection of Emperor Palpatine)
• Handbook 3: Dark Empire (Under Byss)
• A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Third Edition
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 25 (UNI1-2, Universal Energy Cage)
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 93 (BYS1-2, Byss)
•  Byss and the Deep Core, Part 1: Byss on Wizards.com (original article link, backup links on Archive.org)
• "20 Most Memorable Moments of the Expanded Universe"—Star Wars Insider 83
• The New Essential Guide to Droids (Under Colicoid Creation Nest Annihilator Droid)
• Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force (Under The Tedryn Holocron)
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Jedi Academy Training Manual
• Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 22
• The Essential Atlas
• The Unknown Regions
•  Luke Skywalker in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link on Archive.org)
•  Salla Zend in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link on Archive.org)
• The Essential Guide to Warfare