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Great Temple, The

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located on Yavin's fourth moon, in ancient times it was the center of the Massassi civilization. When Exar Kun arrived on the moon and used the Massassi souls to power his own greed, he destroyed the Massassi, and the temple was abandoned to the relentless jungle. When the Alliance needed a remote base, it chose Yavin 4 for its huge temples, and set up their primary command center in the Great Temple. Following the Battle of Yavin, the Alliance abandonded the base, and it lay empty until Luke Skywalker asked Mon Mothma for a place to train the new Jedi Knights. She suggested Yavin 4, and Luke set up his Jedi praxeum in the Great Temple. The temple has five distinct levels, plus an observation level at the very top. The temple stood for several years before it was attacked by the Shadow Academy. The shields which protected it were destroyed by Commander Orvak, who also placed several proton grenades in the Temple. He hoped to bring the Temple down on itself, but his explosives only damaged minor areas of the structure. Luke chose to rebuild the Temple, rather than relocate, because it was still salvageable and it would help his students train and rehabilitate after the attack. A trader from Tatooine loaned the use of a ronto to assist in moving the large chunks of rock which could be found, and the Temple quickly began to retake its shape. The Temple's rebirth only lasted a few years, until the Yuuzhan Vong realized that they coulf capture the students at the Jedi training center for use in determining the source of The Force. Then, when a team of Shapers was sent to Yavin 4, the Temple was razed and "eaten" by five huge damuteks to make room for the Shapers' complex.