Great Temple

For other uses, see Great Temple and Massassi.

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There are two conflicting sources for this article: Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon 23 Guide to the Galaxy: Yavin 4's Massassi Temple and Star Wars Helmet Collection 76 Databank A-Z: Xev Xrexus–Yavin 4.

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"I grow tired of asking this so it will be the last time: Where is the rebel base?"

―Grand Moff Tarkin to Princess Leia Organa — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[3]

The Great Temple, also known as the Massassi outpost, Base One, or the Yavin 4 Rebel Base was a temple on the moon Yavin 4 that served as the headquarters of the Alliance to Restore the Republic early in the Galactic Civil War. In its struggle against the Galactic Empire, the Rebel Alliance had refitted the ancient-looking stone structure that notably contained a grand ceremonial chamber, a control room, and a vast hangar for starfighters. Following the Battle of Yavin, the Alliance evacuated the Great Temple and within three years, built and populated a new base of operations on the snow planet Hoth.

History

"These temples were built by the Massassi race thousands of years ago, and they're still standing. Hard to believe."

―Leia Organa, to Luke Skywalker^[6]

The Great Temple was constructed over 5,000 years before the Battle of Yavin^[1] by a group of Massassi, a slave race once ruled by the Sith, under the leadership of the Sith Lord Naga Sadow.^[4]^[1] It was surmised that the temple's site was either holy or significant for primitive scientific purposes.^[7]

At some point, either as part of the original intent of the building or through ulterior additions, the Ordu Aspectu used the Great Temple to store data, including a map room giving directions to the Citadel of Rur on Garn.^[8]

The Massassi eventually went extinct millennia^[5] before 0 ABY,^[9] sometime after finishing their temples.^[8] Over five thousand years after its construction,^[1] the Great Temple was rediscovered by the Alliance to Restore the Republic, who, having abandoned its former base on the planet Dantooine to evade detection by the Galactic Empire, had its engineers convert the large structure into its base of operations,^[4] designating it Base One.^[3] From the Massassi Base, Jyn Erso, K-2SO, and Cassian Andor traveled to Eadu. The Alliance then launched a force of X-wings and Y-wings to the planet from the base.^[10] Later, when Rogue One was trapped on Scarif, nearly all of the Rebel forces at Massassi Base were sent with the Alliance Fleet to attack the planet.^[10]

After successfully attacking the Empire's Death Star from the Temple, the Alliance was forced to evacuate Yavin 4 for fear of retaliation.^[11] At some point following their departure, the Empire took over the Great Temple.^[12]

Layout

The Great Temple was a lofty pyramidal structure consisting of a number of successively receding stories and a high-ceilinged chamber at the top. It was built from huge blocks of stone hewed from Yavin 4's crust, with no visible signs of advanced machinery. After the Alliance to Restore the Republic took possession of the building, it arranged the Great Temple according to its needs, drilling new cavities and reinforcing the interior walls with sheets of seamed metal and the stone floors with ferrocrete.^[7] The Rebels also added elevators from the subterranean level to the open hangar.^[7]

With the Rebel additions, the base was large enough to hold at least sixty fighters and two Gallofree Yards GR-75 medium transports.^[7] The base's barracks had space for thousands of soldiers.^[7] Though this was plenty of space, there were not enough bunks for every soldier, so some fashioned hammocks from cargo nets.^[13]

Deep below the surface of the moon were survival bunkers, connected to the temple with turbolifts. The Alliance installed them as a "last refuge" in the event of an Imperial planetary bombardment.^[7]