And the asteroid base:
The base was originally conceived by the Modirin Mining Concern (a front company for the Tenloss Syndicate) in 0 ABY as part of a plot to defraud investors who were told that the many, treacherous asteroid belts surrounding the planet Vaal, in the Gordian Reach on the Outer Rim, were rich with mineral resources. The asteroid base was built ostensibly as a command center for the proposed mining operation, complete with weapons, cargo space, hangars, maintenance and repair bays, living quarters, etc. When the investors found out that the Vaal asteroids actually had no valuable minerals of any sort, it was too late; Modirin declared bankruptcy, and the investment was lost. Tenloss would continue to operate the base, however, leasing it to pirates and other interested parties such as the Rebel Alliance.
When a similar base in the Vergesso asteroids—also built by Tenloss and leased by the Rebellion—was destroyed by the Star Destroyer Executor in 3 ABY, Tenloss was eager to disassociate itself with the Rebels to prevent any more Imperial reprisals on its many, many illegal operations. Rather than evict the Rebels from the asteroid base at Vaal and risk a confrontation with them, however, Tenloss simply sold the base to the Rebellion and washed its hands of the responsibility. But in the following year, as the Rebel Alliance capitalized on its victory at Endor and began to reassume control of many worlds in the Gordian Reach, such as Stenos and Yavin 4, they had less need for a clandestine asteroid base like the one at Vaal. And so it was abandoned.
But although the Rebels had gone "respectable" and had no further need of the base, this was not true of the countless pirates and smugglers that made the base their home. Today, it is known among certain criminal elements as a safe harbor; a place to rest, refuel, and resupply (and to have a drink at the base's bar). It is generally referred to as "the Redoubt" or "the Refuge." Because it is independently operated, it has more enemies than just the Republic and the Remnant—the Hutts, too, and Black Sun are competitors who might attempt to take over the base. As a result, it is well defended; it has a redundant, extra layer of shielding, several light turbolaser and point defense laser emplacements, and, additionally, is defended by automated asteroid warhead launchers, asteroid laser batteries, and ion mines situated throughout the surrounding belt. The inside of the base, too, boasts a number of automated turrets. The defense network is controlled from the base's command center.
Crew
Varies (2 minimum)
Notable Crewmembers
M-3PO; droid, command crew
Wriluur; male Wookiee, bartender
Capacity
(10) starfighter-sized craft (varies)
(15) larger/mid-sized craft (varies)
Defenses
(3) improvised asteroid warhead launchers
(3) improvised asteroid laser batteries
(12) Defender ion mines
(10) tractor beams (as a precaution against asteroids)
Miscellaneous
Backup power generator
Redundant shielding
