Ord Mantell Proving Grounds

The Ord Mantell Proving Grounds were an Imperial factory complex on Ord Mantell that trained All Terrain Armored Transport (AT-AT) pilots and gunners. As part of the training process, the AT-ATs were tested in outdoor firing ranges.

The Ord Mantell Proving Grounds were originally a fossil fuel depot established in the waning days of the Old Republic. During the Clone Wars, the site became the headquarters of the Republic's Eighth Sector Army, and was used to store weapons and equipment, and house soldiers in addition to store fossil fuels. When the Galactic Republic reformed into the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, the Imperial Army left the site, and it reverted back to being a backwater storage facility of weapons and fuel.

The Ord Mantell Proving Ground was established in 1 ABY, when General Maximillian Veers began integrating the AT-AT walker into service all across the Empire. The site was repurposed, and multiple engineers, technicians, pilots, and AT-AT walkers were brought in to establish the site. Captain Gavin Dallo was assigned as the head administrator of the site, and was in charge of all Imperial Army and civilian personell. The Ord Mantell Proving Ground had a permanent staff of roughly 400 people, including a company of stormtroopers, administrators, engineers, and laborers.

The facility consisted of an administrative center, a medical center, multiple barracks for stormtroopers, engineers, administrators, and laborers, a large hangar bay, and a landing pad. The defense grid that protected the site included electrified fences,  anti-aircraft artillery guns, and multiple anti-personnel autoturrets.

In 3 ABY, the Ord Mantell Proving Grounds were destroyed when a Rebel SpecOps group, Task Force 35C, attacked the installation after receiving intelligence that plans for the Death Star II were contained there. The Rebels were able to infiltrate the facility, and while the Death Star plans were not there, they were able to plant explosive charges and destroy the walkers used there. The attack on the Imperials was not without its problems, though. When the Imperials recovered from the sneak attack, they counterattacked. The Rebels took refuge in the shell of a walker that was being repaired, believing that they were being surrounded by a superior number of stormtroopers. In reality, Captain Dallo only had a fraction of his forces left. With the Rebels pinned down, Captain Dallo was able to bluff his way into escape with his remaining forces and a prisoner. It was only later that Task Force 35C learned that they had been fooled.