When the Hutts left their homeworld of Varl, they displaced the Evocii, native to Nal Hutta, to Nar Shaddaa. Eventually the moon was annexed by the Hutts, who started building spaceports and docking bays across its surface, some stretching out into orbit. Over the centuries, Nar Shaddaa grew as an important center of interstellar trade. Ancient refueling spires and loading docks reached out from the native soil into orbit. In between these ports, massive vertical cities grew. The urban areas on Nar Shaddaa were known as vertical cities since new layers of housing and entertainment buildings were built on top of older layers. Like Coruscant and Taris, the lower levels fell into disrepair and became havens for the lowest lifeforms (particularly the descendants of the Evocii which mutated into unwholesome savages) on the moon. The Hutts continued to exploit the Evocii in their new home, buying up their land and using them as a cheap labor source.
Though Nar Shaddaa was once a prosperous trade center, it lost its glory as the trade lanes shifted. Eventually, Nar Shaddaa became a criminal haven and gained a reputation of being the center of illegal operations in the galaxy. While much of Coruscant was filled with gleaming apartments and well-maintained skywalks, the entire moon that was Nar Shaddaa was dominated by decaying urban landscape and congested, polluted cities. Now distant from most galactic trade centers, the moon was allowed to run its own affairs with little outside interference.
The moon was protected by often-malfunctioning planetary shields. Anything illegal elsewhere could be bought and sold on Nar Shaddaa, and many young smugglers, pirates and criminals started their careers on the Smugglers' Moon. Various sections of Nar Shaddaa were controlled by the Hutts and other criminal organizations.
Sections of the urbanized moon's vertical city included the Duros sector and the Corellian sector, which contained three bars popular with bounty hunters—the Burning Deck, the Slag Pit, and the Meltdown Café, and another corner tavern called the Orange Lady.
The Ebon Hawk on Nar Shaddaa.
The Ebon Hawk on Nar Shaddaa.
In 3,951 BBY, the moon was visited by the Jedi Exile in her search for Zez-Kai Ell, a Jedi Master who cast her out of the Jedi Order. Ever since the Jedi Civil War ended, Nar Shaddaa became swarmed by thousands (if not millions) of refugees from destroyed worlds across the Galaxy, and still more ex-soldiers from both sides in the conflict choking up its spaces looking for work and/or new homes. Its refugee sector was one of the most crowded in the entire galaxy, and tightly controlled by the Exchange.
Around 1,002 BBY, the Brotherhood of Darkness operated a Sith academy on the world that specialized in the training of Sith Assassins. In 1,000 BBY, after the Battle of Ruusan, Set Harth and Bal Serinus dueled on the moon, but were both imprisoned by a Hutt crimelord. Before her death in 32 BBY at the hands of Darth Maul, native-born Pa'lowick Aneesa Dym and her ship the Dusty Duck called the Smugglers' Moon home. In 28 BBY, the Colicoids took over the spice processing on Nar Shaddaa. Han Solo spent part of his early career as a smuggler on Nar Shaddaa. There, he learned the tricks of the smuggling trade from some of the galaxy's best smugglers such as Salla Zend, Shug Ninx and Roa. He had an apartment on the Smuggler's Moon, which was maintained by his old house-keeping droid ZeeZee, but after he decided to leave the moon for the Corporate Sector, it was left unused.
[edit] Galactic Empire
Nar Shaddaa with an ominous Imperial presence.
Nar Shaddaa with an ominous Imperial presence.
Jaxxon and Amaiza Foxtrain teamed up as smugglers, headquartered on the moon. Lando Calrissian also spent his early career on Nar Shaddaa. Prior to serving Raymus Antilles, C-3PO and R2-D2 traveled to the Smuggler's Moon in an attempt to apprehend the criminal, Olag Greck. The bounty hunter Greedo the Younger and his family lived in the moon's Corellian sector for several years, until an Imperial attack on a Rebel hideout resulted in the destruction and collapse of nearly twenty sector levels. Following the Battle of Yavin, Rebel agent Kyle Katarn traveled to Nar Shaddaa in order to find Imperial navigational charts related to the Dark Trooper Project; the Imperials had already put a bounty on his head which resulted in a skirmish in the streets.
The Vertical City around 5 ABY.
The Vertical City around 5 ABY.
In 5 ABY Katarn caused havoc once more while chasing the information broker droid 8t88 that had his father's holodisc. When he found him, Kyle shot and severed the droid's arm, and had to descend into the sewers to find the disc before ascending and being picked up by Jan Ors.
In 10 ABY, Han returned with his wife, Leia Organa Solo. During the trip, Leia encountered Purge survivor named Vima-Da-Boda who gave her an ancient lightsaber. When, he returned to his apartment, it was still being maintained by ZeeZee. There was yet another surprise for him; the dreaded bounty hunter Boba Fett, waiting on Nar Shaddaa to capture Solo. After a chase through the streets of Nar Shaddaa, they escaped along with Solo's former comrades Salla Zend and Shug Ninx on the Millennium Falcon and the Starlight Intruder to Byss.
Later that year, while en-route to New Alderaan, Han and Leia along with his smuggler friends returned to Nar Shaddaa. Upon arriving at the city moon, they discovered an Imperial presence in the form of the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Invincible, which was under the command of the Dark Jedi Zasm Kath and Baddon Fass. During an adventure through Nar Shaddaa's broken-down cities, they encountered Gank bounty hunters, Boba Fett, Imperial troops, and deadly vrblthers. The Solos also encountered Vima and took her with them. As they were leaving Nar Shaddaa, they were met with resistance from Mako Spince and the Invincible though they also managed to escape. During the escape, the Invincible attempted to capture the Falcon though unfortunately it dragged the skyscraper where Mako Spince was located. As a result, the Invincible crashed onto the surrounding cityscape, causing heavy damage to lives and property.
The Lady Luck in a hangar.
The Lady Luck in a hangar.
In 13 ABY while looking for Desann, Kyle Katarn once more returned to the city and looked for Rodian crimelord Reelo Baruk. He freed Lando Calrissian from Baruk's hold and eventually found him; however the gangster managed to entrap him in a room full of turrets, but the Jedi escaped. Katarn and Calrissian managed to find Lady Luck and refuel her, using pipelines. When they were about to make their escape from Nar Shaddaa, Reelo attacked them with a handful of mercenaries. The criminal used a gun platform to hit the ship while his thugs boarded the ship, but Katarn leapt into the laser turret of the Lady Luck and shot down the gangster.
In 14 ABY, Lannik Racto manufactured droids in a hidden facility on the moon and sold them on the Invisible Market until Jaden Korr captured him at his headquarters on Coruscant, where Racto revealed the location of the factory.
In 26 ABY, the cities of the Smuggler's Moon were destroyed by the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong. The Y'Toub system was surrounded by some of the Yuuzhan Vong's deadliest warships. Several organic creations were sent down to Nar Shaddaa for multiple purposes. Different types of bacteria killed off the most of the inhabitants, then processed their remains into the soil of Nar Shaddaa. Then all the technology on the moon was also broken down and absorbed into the soil. Nar Shaddaa was then Vongformed to suit the invaders.
Though Nar Shaddaa was vongformed, after the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War, it again became a haven for smugglers around 40 ABY.
-Places on Nar Shaddaa-
[Catina]
[Droid shop]
[Space port]
[Apartments]
[Swoop tracks]
[Tavern]
[Restaurant]
[Casino]
