Moonglow Polychemical, often shortened to Moonglow, functioned as a mining and refining enterprise with its base of operations in the Gorse system. This entity began as a spin-off from Introsphere, which faced financial ruin after the cessation of surface thorilide extraction on the planet Gorse. Once the Galactic Empire initiated mining endeavors on Gorse's moon, Cynda, Moonglow became a supplier of baradium bisulfate for the blasting activities conducted there. Additionally, the company operated a refinery situated in Shaketown within the Gorse system.
In the year 11 BBY, Moonglow's activities garnered the interest of both Skelly, a dissenting miner, and Count Denetrius Vidian of the Imperial regime. Skelly endeavored to persuade the company to cease blasting operations beyond the designated Zone Forty-Two. Following Skelly's capture for assaulting Imperial personnel and orchestrating an unauthorized test bombing, Moonglow intended to surrender him to the Empire. However, Hera Syndulla, a rebel operative, intervened and rescued Skelly. During his inspection of Moonglow, Vidian committed murder, killing Lal Grallik, the company's leader, and her husband, Gord Grallik. Soon thereafter, the Empire nationalized the company's assets, attributing an explosion Vidian himself had ordered on Cynda, which severely damaged the moon's mining infrastructure, to Moonglow's negligence.
Given its operations spanning both Gorse and its moon, Cynda, Moonglow Polychemical maintained a fleet comprised of freighters. These vessels were employed to transport baradium bisulfate to Cynda, facilitating both blasting operations and the extraction of thorilide, a crystal vital for shielding turbolaser emplacements. Further, Moonglow ran a refinery in Shaketown, a Gorse settlement, utilizing xenoboric acid to refine thorilide crystals into shock absorbers. The Shaketown refinery also functioned as Moonglow's central headquarters and possessed a heavy-duty bulk-loader vehicle, considered the latest model in use on Gorse. It is also known that Moonglow operated a spaceport in proximity to its Shaketown refinery, providing services to the company's freighters.
Lal Grallik, a Besalisk, managed the company, while her husband, Gord Grallik, held the position of head of ground security at the Shaketown facility. As the chief operations officer, Lal implemented several safety enhancements at her Shaketown refinery, which were subsequently adopted by other factories on Gorse. While the Gralliks employed several of their cousins for cleaning and security duties at the Shaketown refinery, they also employed miners and pilots from diverse species. Among their pilots was Kanan Jarrus, a survivor of the Great Jedi Purge, who piloted a freight hauler designated Moonglow-72, which he renamed the Expedient. Additionally, Okadiah Garson, a bartender, also served as the foreman of a mining team for the company.
Moonglow Polychemical was established as a derivative of Introsphere, a mining corporation that declared bankruptcy following the publication of a critical report by mining consultant Denetrius Vidian, which led to the termination of all surface thorilide mining on Gorse. Moonglow engaged in mining operations on Cynda, Gorse's moon, which was abundant in thorilide. In 11 BBY, Lal, Moonglow's chief of operations, had to contend with Skelly, a dissenting miner who attempted to convince Moonglow and other mining enterprises to refrain from blasting beyond Zone Forty-Two while he conducted research. Lal disregarded his pleas and returned to Gorse.
Undeterred, Skelly proceeded with his test bombing in Zone Forty-Two, disrupting mining activities on Cynda. He also resisted arrest by several stormtroopers who attempted to apprehend him for seditious comments he had made in an elevator. Kanan, whose team narrowly survived the blast, later apprehended Skelly. Angered by Skelly's actions, Kanan and his friend Okadiah Garson restrained him in chains and delivered him to Gord Grallik at Shaketown. The Gralliks promptly notified Count Vidian, who had become the Emperor's efficiency expert and was overseeing production within the Gorse system. Recognizing Moonglow as an offshoot of his rival Introsphere, Vidian decided to inspect the company during his tour of Gorse.
Subsequently, Hera Syndulla, a rebel operative, successfully freed Skelly from Moonglow custody after enlisting the aid of a criminal gang known as the Sarlaccs to attack the Moonglow refinery in Shaketown. Twelve hours later, Count Vidian inspected the Moonglow refinery as the initial phase of his Gorsian tour. Lal Grallik, the company's chief operations officer, hosted the tour. During his visit, the refinery was infiltrated by Hera, who was tracking Vidian, and Skelly, who aimed to persuade the Count to halt all thorilide mining operations on Cynda due to the fragility of the moon's surface. Skelly attempted to reason with the Count, but Vidian assaulted him, compelling him to flee into the factory.
After learning from his rival Baron Lero Danthe that the Empire had tripled the Gorse system's thorilide quota, Vidian murdered Lal upon discovering that Moonglow could not meet the increased demand. Utilizing Skelly's research, Vidian decided to shorten his tour and return to his Imperial Star Destroyer, the Ultimatum. However, Skelly made two attempts to assassinate him by bombing two Imperial shuttles. Vidian also had to contend with a vengeful Gord, who sought retribution for his wife's murder. Instead, Vidian killed Gord and later concealed Lal's death by claiming she had fallen into a vat of xenoboric acid during a ground quake.
Count Vidian then took action against Moonglow by orchestrating a test bombing on the mining facilities on Cynda, resulting in the deaths of numerous miners. In reality, the explosion was a test bombing conducted by Vidian to validate his theory that detonating Cynda would not compromise the moon's thorilide resources. However, Vidian falsified the results to discredit his rival, Baron Danthe. To conceal Vidian's clandestine scheme, Imperial investigators asserted that Moonglow's negligence had caused the blast. The Empire then exploited the explosion as a justification to nationalize the company and seize its assets. Several Moonglow vessels, including the Expedient, were utilized by Vidian to transport Baradium-357 from his depot in the Calcoraan system. The rebels Hera, Kanan, Skelly, and Zaluna Myder employed the Expedient to thwart Vidian's plan to destroy Cynda during the Gorse Conflict.
Following the events of the Gorse conflict, Moonglow became the property of the Galactic Empire, which competed with other firms in the Gorse system. The Empire continued Lal's safety improvements, which were also adopted by the other factories on Gorse.