From Jalassociatecomics

Death Star III

Somewhere in 5 to 6 ABY, the Grand Marshal, Aden'la Darasuum discovered the old plans for the First Death Star in an abandoned Sienar Flight Systems factory - ironically enough, the same plant raided by the developers of the Grand Marshal fanonical craft#Republic Strike Fighter. He constructed the fearsome battlestation around the Wild Space planet of Hurikane, where such activity would not be noticed either by the Empire nor the Alliance.

Through superior engineering methods, the battlemoon was completed in less than six months. There was a dark secret about the battlestation: there was no turbolaser. The Marshal had counted on the Rebel's previous fears of the Death Stars to provoke an attack on it, and to give false hope to the Rebels when they did capture it.

As predicted, the Rebels invaded after Luke Skywalker was captured after attempting to sabotage the station. The battle station was then renamed the "Hope Be3acon and was mainly reffered to as a "space station", where dignataries were hosted before arriving on Yavin 4 Although Leia Organa and Han Solo rescued Luke, the Rebel invasion was a difficult one. Nonetheless, they triumphed, in accordance with the Grand Marshal's plan. Main page: Battle over Yavin

After the Imperial defeat on the battlestation, the Marshal escaped in a personal shuttle, sending a double to head the seemingly-hasty attack on the Rebel base. This other failure, better documented at Grand Marshal fanonical conflicts, gave the Rebels the false idea that the Marshal had been defeated.

This was orchestrated so that the Rebels would think they had a backup plan. They commited several of their best staff to the Death Star.