Tantiss Base, also identified as the Weyland facility, was a clandestine scientific complex under the Galactic Empire, built within Mount Tantiss on the planet Wayland in the galaxy's Mid Rim. Details of the facility operations were classified and its extant coordinates remained hidden.

After an incident on Setron during the early Imperial Era, Doctor Royce Hemlock and the Advanced Science Division relocated to Tantiss Base, and began development on Project Necromancer, a secret biological research project that involved M-count transfer. Tantiss Base also maintained other top secret research and programs.

In the aftermath of a raid by Clone Force 99 which resulted in Hemlock's death, a Zillo Beast containment breach, and the subsequent uprising of the facility's clone prisoners, Tantiss Base sustained heavy damage with all research inside being destroyed. Governor Wilhuff Tarkin later ordered Captain Bragg to have the facility be closed indefinitely and redistributed its funds to Project Stardust.

Overview[]

Layout[]

Tantiss Base was a classified scientific installation utilized by the Galactic Empire,^[10] located on two facilities: one on Mount Tantiss,^[10] codenamed Tantiss Base,^[6] and the other on a neighboring mountain, both in the planet Wayland. The Tantiss base consisted of two concentric rings comprised of multiple hangars dug into the mountain, with ample space for landing ships in front of them as well as windows providing natural light to the interior of the base, and was surrounded by jungle, which was home to dangerous creatures such as the dryax^[8] while a river lay a short distance away.^[11] The base was the headquarters of the Advanced Science Division and the final destination of scientists, experts and technology related to it and gathered from around the galaxy.^[10] Chief among them were lead Doctor Royce Hemlock who was in command of the facility's research division, his assistant Emerie Karr and former Republic clone commando Scorch, the commander of the Imperial royal guards stationed there. Kaminoan former chief cloning officer Nala Se was also imprisoned in the facility^[12] and provided her expertise in exchange for the genetically defective clone Omega's safety.^[6]

Access[]

Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine personally considered the facility and the experiments within to be one of the Empire's most important assets, and stipulated that its location remain a closely guarded secret even among the Imperials themselves.^[8] Coordinates for the planet were officially scrubbed from all transports heading there^[12] while no mention of the system was held in archives off-site instead only referring to it by the sector's name.^[13]

In order for a starship to even locate the base, it had to dock on Imperial Station 003 on the Empire's capital planet Coruscant, where it had its crew-including droids and organics-inspected and the coordinates to Wayland transmitted to the navigation computer via direct link, ensuring that the crew^[11] and even the officers in command never learned of the planet's location themselves.^[14]

Exterior fortifications[]

The facility was heavily guarded by the Imperial Military, who enforced its exterior which included A number of turbolaser turrets were scattered around these rings to protect against airborne threats,^[10] and several V-wing starfighters from the Imperial Navy were on standby to intercept unauthorized craft entering the atmosphere.^[8] Should any infiltrators get past the aerial defenses, Low Altitude Assault Transports were also stationed in the base to deploy search parties of TK stormtroopers in the jungle to look for them.^[15] In addition to these measures, to protect the base and its inhabitants against the planet's wildlife a perimeter was carefully maintained around the mountain by using trained lurca hounds to prevent any lifeforms from getting too close; any personnel wandering outside of it were considered to be lost.^[6]

Interior facilities[]

Inside the base was a network of tunnels and rooms including a detention level where Nala Se and former Prime Minister Lama Su were held under guard from clone commandos,^[12] a communication center,^[6] and a command center from where the area around the prison and its essential functions could be monitored. The facility also included spartan cells for the former clone troopers used as test subjects by the program, including Crosshair. This clone prison was arranged in a cross-shape and being guarded by two TK stormtroopers who monitored the prisoners from a central command console.^[8]

In order to carry out the purposes of the Imperial cloning program, Tantiss Base included many research rooms and laboratories. A massive underground containment zone held multiple cloned Zillo Beasts created by the cloning program and transported by science vessels such as transport 904, which were held in stasis for maximum protection.^[12] One such Zillo Beast was experimented on using weaponry similar to that of the RX-200 Falchion-class assault tank.^[16] Nala Se also maintained a lab in the facility, which she used to experiment with the viability of clone blood to support an m-count. There were also stables for native lurca hounds, which were captured by the Imperials and tended to by Omega and the labor droid K-9X1 to protect personnel stranded on the perimeter zone against the native wildlife,^[6] or be unleashed against intruders wandering there. By far the most important and well-protected room in the mountain, however, was the Vault; a secure zone holding a number of reinforced tubes where the subjects the m-counts were sourced from were being kept. The entrance to the Vault was guarded by eight Imperial royal guards and shielded by laser barriers to prevent unauthorized entrance.^[8] The vault also included living quarters for Force-sensitive children collected from around the galaxy by Class One bounty hunters and delivered to the Division for a price; they were tended to by Imperial nanny droids and had their blood collected for testing on the daily by Tantiss medical droids.^[5]

History[]

Hidden experiments[]

Soon after a incident in a laboratory on Setron, the Advanced Science Division relocated its headquarters to Tantiss Base on the planet Wayland.^[13] Following the Empire's attack on Kamino which destroyed the Kaminoan facilities, essential personnel were sent to Tantiss Base such as Nala Se.^[18]

Blood tests were performed on former clone troopers held in the base^[8] to continue the search for midi-chlorian-rich blood donors.^[19] Hemlock^[20] began capturing Force-sensitive subjects from around the galaxy^[19] were delivered to Tantiss base and kept in stasis inside the Vault to be preserved for his experiments.^[8] Other research performed at this time included development of the Zillo Beast clones,^[12] the development of exotic fuels^[8] and brainwashing clones for the clone assassin program.^[21]

Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine made a surprise visit to the secret facility to review the progress Doctor Hemlock and Se had made on Project Necromancer. Hemlock gave him a tour of the site, including the tightly guarded chamber. Hemlock stated that with more time and resources, he was confident that they would be able to successfully replicate M-counts. Considering their work of paramount importance to the Empire, the Emperor assured Hemlock that he would have whatever he required for the project.^[8]

Decommissioned[]

Sometime later as Imperial reinforcements reclaimed the base, they found various wings of the base had sustained heavy damage, along with Doctor Hemlock and several troopers being dead and all of his research being non-salvageable due to the databanks being destroyed. Governor Tarkin then ordered Captain Bragg to close the facility indefinitely and redistribute all funding and assets to Project Stardust.^[2]

Behind the scenes[]

The Weyland facility appeared in the August 13, 2021 season one finale of the animated TV show Star Wars: The Bad Batch named "Kamino Lost,"^[10] and was first identified by name in that episode's episode guide on StarWars.com, though the spelling did not match the planet's prior spelling.^[4] In Star Wars Legends, Wayland's Mount Tantiss housed Emperor Palpatine's secret storehouses, including thousands of Spaarti cloning cylinders.^[22]

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Appearances[]

• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Kamino Lost" (First appearance)
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Metamorphosis"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "The Outpost"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Tipping Point"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Plan 99"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Confined"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Paths Unknown"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Shadows of Tantiss"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "A Different Approach"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "The Return" (Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Identity Crisis"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Point of No Return" (Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Juggernaut"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Into the Breach"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "Flash Strike"
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch — "The Cavalry Has Arrived"

Sources[]

• Kamino | Star Wars: Much to Learn on the official Star Wars Kids YouTube channel (content now obsolete; backup link)
• "Kamino Lost" Episode Guide | The Bad Batch on StarWars.com (backup link) (First identified as Weyland facility)
• SDCC 2023: 10 Reveals from the Lucasfilm Publishing Panel on StarWars.com (backup link)
• Star Wars: Dawn of Rebellion: The Visual Guide
• "Shadows of Tantiss" Episode Guide | Star Wars The Bad Batch on StarWars.com (backup link) (First identified as Tantiss Base)
• Bad Batch Declassified: 5 Highlights from "Shadows of Tantiss" on StarWars.com (backup link)

Notes and references[]