Golrath Station was an abandoned magma smelting plant located in the mouth of a volcano on the planet Golrath. In 3 ABY, it briefly served as a Rebel Alliance base after the Rebels' defeat at Hoth and the abandonment of Echo Base. The Rebels destroyed Golrath Station not long after their departure, after learning that the planet's bedrock had the ability to play back images that occurred nearby, potentially putting secrets at risk.
A large force field dome protected the entire station from extreme thermal temperatures and the rivers of lava that would rise up on the volcano's perimeter from time to time. The bedrock that comprised the station's foundations harbored several strange characteristics. When heated, the mineral compounds absorbed ambient light rays, but when it cooled, it released those rays, playing them back; essentially, a natural hologram.
Shortly after the Battle of Hoth, the Rebel Alliance maintained a temporary base of operations on Golrath. They used the base as a makeshift training facility, but due to the cooling of the magma supply, they abandoned the hostile region to settle on the more temperate world of Arbra.
Golrath Station being searched by Imperial forces
Imperial forces learned of the abandoned station's existence and Darth Vader sent Lieutenant Mils Giel there to supervise a survey team in the hopes of uncovering information concerning the Alliance. During his occupation, he discovered several holograms projected from the bedrock foundations detailing Rebel training sequences. He immediately transmitted a communiqué to Darth Vader describing what he had learned.
Meanwhile, Princess Leia Organa likewise learned about their old station's holographic capabilities. Aware that Golrath Station was now under Imperial control, she personally led a strike team to the planet's surface to destroy any past evidence of their existence. Giel and Princess Leia faced one another inside the plant's reactor core chamber. Giel activated the overload circuits hoping that the destruction of the base might also kill Princess Leia. Both Leia and Giel managed to escape before the reactor core exploded, destroying the station.
Golrath Station was a setting of two issues of the original Marvel Star Wars comic run, written by Archie Goodwin and David Michelinie, and illustrated by Al Williamson and Tom Palmer.