Echo Base

The Echo Base was the Rebel Alliance facility established on Hoth after the Battle of Yavin. The base was attacked by Imperial forces in the Battle of Hoth, forcing the Rebels to abandon it.

Description

Internal layout

After two standard years, construction of the Echo Base was completed. Two large bay doors provided main entrances at the north and south ends of the mountain range. The hangar was one of the first segments built to allow for the steady inflow of resources.^[source?] Internal facilities included a full medical facility, a command center, multiple briefing rooms, including a large auditorium with fixed seating, and pens for the tauntauns used by the Rebellion as mounts.^[6]

At its height, the base housed 7,500 combat and command personnel, 350 medical personnel, 120 droids, and thousands of support staff. The main hangar bay, located at the south entrance of the base was large enough to simultaneously house at least thirty GR-75 medium transports. The base as a whole hosted sixty Rebel Alliance X-Wing and Y-wing starfighters, at least twelve snowspeeders,^[6] the Millennium Falcon,^[3] and the Outrider.^[7] A smaller hangar, Hangar Bay 7, was located at the north entrance to the base. It hosted one squadron of X-Wing starfighters and one of snowspeeders with additional space for a light freighter, and was protected by a heavy blast door and shield door that was required to be closed each night due to low temperatrues. Patrols were regularly dispatched to the north of the base from this hangar. Directly below Hangar Bay 7 was a maintenance level. If in need of extensive repairs or modification, ships were lowered to this level via a massive lift. Lieutenant Nela Arseli served as a Deck Officer in the bases's hangers, directing operations within them.^[6]

At one location inside the base, several bridges streched over a deep chasm.^[8] The medical lab focused on healing and rehabilitiation casualties and was staffed by hundreds of doctors and specialists;^[6] it also featured at least two medical droids, 2-1B and FX-7, as well as a bacta tank.^[5] Rebels in need of critical treatment were sometimes brought to the medical center from off-world, but in order to preserve secrecy, it was not used as a hospital for the Rebellion at large.^[6] The base consisted of multiple levels connected by turbolifts and tunnels. Quarters and barracks were spread across several levels and were a mixture of self-contained units and both natural and engineered caverns. Some quarters were set aside for officers, in-transit personnel, and VIP quarters. All quarters were subject to extreme cold, and most contained only a bunk, storage space, and daily necessities.^[6]

Defenses

The facility's defenses included perimeter defense trenches, static anti-infantry and anti-vehicle turrets,^[6] vehicle emplacements,^[source?] a v-150 Planet Defender ion cannon, an OrC-19 planetary com-scan unit, and a planetary shield. This shield protected the planet and base from bombardment from space, but prevented ships from leaving the planet while active.^[6] The outside of the base was protected by a Rebel Alliance Fortress and other military buildings,^[9] and a defense bunker was connected to the base.^[10] The ion cannon was protected by trenches and anti-material laser cannons,^[11] and a tunnel connected the control bunker to Echo Base.^[12]

The perimeter of the base was dotted with scout posts labeled "Echo Stations," such as Echo Station 3-8, Echo Station 3-T-8 and Echo Station 5-7.^[9] The ion cannon control bunker was connected to its own hangar.^[13]

History

Rebels on thin ice

After the Rebel Alliance's victory at the Battle of Yavin^[14] in 0 ABY,^[1] the Rebel base on the moon Yavin 4 was destroyed, and the Alliance scrambled to find a new location from which to base their operations. Major Kem Monnon, who had a history of collecting direct and anecdotal information on tramp space freighters before joining the Rebels, offered his own suggestions, placing a particular emphasis on the^[4] Outer Rim^[15] planet Hoth.^[4] While fleeing forces of the Galactic Empire, the Jedi Luke Skywalker and the protocol droid C-3PO crash-landed on Hoth. Following an encounter with two Human replica droids resulting in both droid's destruction, Skywalker suggested the Alliance use Hoth as their next haven.^[16] After further recommendation by their Habassa allies,^[17] Alliance High Command began to consider Hoth as a suitable location for the base.^[18]

High Command dispatched a commando team to gather further information on potential bases, and eight months after the Battle of Yavin, Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa, and the smuggler Han Solo helped the team infiltrate an Imperial data station to compile a list of planets that met the desired criteria: worlds that were currently uninhabited but contained existing facilities, such as abandoned mining complexes.^[19] Soon after, Airen Cracken's mission to Poln Major resulted in the Alliance acquiring a wealth of cold-weather material, shield generator equipment, and a dozen combat-modified airspeeders. However, the distinctiveness of the equipment later allowed Senior Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo of the Galactic Empire to identify the rebel base's planetary characteristics, enabling Darth Vader to narrow down the possible locations for his search and thus,^[19] in conjunction with General Veers's discovery that the base was located somewhere near the Elrood System,^[20] greatly accelerate his discovery of the base.^[19]

To better examine Hoth—the planet having been selected as the location of the new base—the Alliance Special Forces established a small outpost on the world to evaluate the potential of building a larger base.^[21] Although the outpost came under attack by a small Imperial force, the Special Forces successfully defended it, and no Imperials remained alive to report the base's existence.^[22] A reconnaissance and survey team was dispatched to Hoth on a low-orbital mapping expedition to scout for possible locations for the new Rebel headquarters. Geothermal analysis indicated that the best location for the base was on the northern edge of the only livable temperate band near the equator, where seismic and volcanic activity had cracked the thick ice sheet, creating vast networks of caverns. The team discovered a series of ice caverns,^[4] including some formerly inhabited by the Mon Calamari smuggler Salmakk, inside the primeval glacial flow^[23] known as the Clabburn Range south of the Nev Ice Flow,^[3] and Monnon knew they had found their new home.^[4]

In frigid fraternity

Rather than adhering to the Empire's modus operandi of forming a planet's surface to their needs, Monnon's team worked with the natural environment of Hoth, despite its inhospitability. Using the natural resources instead of shipping in huge cargoes of supplies and prefabricated structures also served as a military tactic, allowing for greater efficiency and leaving minimal traces of activity on the surface. While they waited for the rest of the Alliance Fleet to arrive, surveyors mapped the labyrinths of ice, probing far underground where the sunlight only managed to penetrate the ice in the form of a dim, rainbow-like glow. The scouts located solid rock inclusions and lava tubes that released steam that froze into giant sulfur-and-ice stalactites, which they tapped into as a power source. However, Monnon considered them too far beneath the surface to serve as the base proper. The idea of being trapped that far down during an attack also made the major uneasy.^[4]

Monnon's engineers reinforced the natural ice caverns beneath the surface of Hoth to serve as pathways,^[4] using LC-10bW^[24] laser ice cutters and excavation machinery to expand the cave network by blasting larger grottoes and connecting chambers. The team ran power conduits and communications tubes along the walls of ice and packed snow. The Rebels' equipment initially struggled to withstand the extreme temperatures, failing frequently and forcing engineers to rely on staff to deliver messages in person, with lesser functionaries and runners in exile carrying recordings from deep tunnel excavations to the upper command centers and back, processing supply requisitions from matériel ships requesting design and computer assistance form the fleet's other specialists.^[4] Eventually, Rebel technicians became adept at altering the equipment to better endure the cold climate. During the construction process, the Alliance cleared the base of wampa ice creatures, though they continued to be a threat throughout the Rebel occupation. When a wampa entered the base, usually attracted by the sounds of Rebel technology, it was quickly isolated and dispatched by the base's troops.^[6] Corporal Jobin led the soldiers of 4th Squad in setting up perimeter defenses over many hours.^[25]

The base became partially operational before completion, only staging limited operations and dispatches, and High Command relocated to the facility despite complications from the cold and construction wrapping up. The cold hindered all operations within Echo Base, including the most routine. The staff were trained in surviving sub-zero temperatures and issued adverse weather gear. ^[6] Supplies of this necessary gear were constantly short, delaying crucial work like adapting the fleet of T-47 speeders to the cold. These shortages only grew worse when an urgently-needed supply convoy, together with its fighter escorts of Renegade Flight, was ambushed and destroyed near the planet Derra IV. After this loss, the personnel of Echo Base had to make do with less, and Luke Skywalker, promoted to the rank of Commander, took charge of readying the base's snowspeeders and pilots in the newly-formed Rogue Flight.^[26]

Most Echo Base personnel were focused on construction;^[6] even the astromech droid R2-D2 was reassigned to digging duty.^[26] However, even in this early stage, some Rebels dispatched operations throughout the galaxy. Though the Hoth's remoteness offered a tactical advantage, it left the crew themselves feeling isolated. With no cities to relax in, Rebel soldiers had to find their own sources of entertainment.^[6]

At one point, C-3PO and his companion, R2-D2, due to a misunderstanding between the two, ended up activating the thermal heaters inside Princess Leia's chambers, causing the room to partially melt, ruining Princess Leia's wardrobe in the process.^[27] Both were given a stern reprimand by the base's stuffy coordinator droid, K-3PO.^[26]

The dangers of Hoth

In 3 ABY,^[1] Skywalker and Solo rode on a tauntaun patrol outside the base to place sensors to scan for life signs. Skywalker spotted what he believed to be a meteorite crashing—in actuality an Imperial probe droid, one of thousands of Viper probes searching for the Rebels—and stayed behind to investigate while Solo returned to Echo Base. Skywalker was attacked by a wampa and taken to its cave. At the base, Solo returned to Hangar 7 to check in on Chewbacca's progress in repairing the dysfunctional Millennium Falcon before heading to the command center. The captain informed General Carlist Rieekan of his intention to leave the Alliance to settle his outstanding death mark. Subsequently, Solo had an argument with Organa in the south passage of Echo Base, as other Rebels shuffled past them. Organa unsuccessfully tried to persuade Solo to say, while the smuggler argued back that he believed she was motivated to do so because of her feelings for him, which she denied.^[5]

Solo returned back to the Hangar Bay to continue repairs on the Millennium Falcon with Chewbacca. Organa discovered that Skywalker had not returned to the base and attempted to contact Solo, and when he did not respond, she sent C-3PO and R2-D2 to the Hangar Bay to find him. Solo instructed deck officer^[5] Tamizander Rey^[28] to check the south entrance to see if Skywalker had entered there. When the commander could not be located, Solo resolved to go find him. The speeders were still not adapted to function in a Hoth night, so he had to rode out on a tauntaun, even though Rey warned him that his tauntaun would freeze to death. R2-D2 continued operating his scanners near the gates of the base in the hopes of detecting Skywalker, although no reports were heard from Skywalker or Solo. As the night grew darker, Major Bren Derlin reported to Organa that they would need to close the shield doors, to which the Princess reluctantly agreed. After the doors closed, Chewbacca growled in despair, and C-3PO attempted to reassure Organa unsuccessfully.^[5]

Finding Commander Skywalker

The following morning, Rogue Squadron flew out from Echo Base in snowspeeders, and Rogue Two, Zev Senesca, located Solo, who had in turn found Skywalker and kept him warm overnight, using the carcass of his dead tauntaun and an emergency shelter.^[29] The two wilderness survivors returned to Echo Base, where Skywalker was placed in a bacta tank in the medical center to recover. Solo was forced to remain at the base as General Rieekan believed it was too dangerous for any Rebel ships to depart the Hoth system. While Skywalker recovered, he was visited by his friends, which resulted in another argument between Solo and Organa about their romantic feelings and led to Organa kissing Skywalker to engender Solo's jealousy.^[5]

Solo and Organa were then summoned via the intercom to the command center, as a metallic movement had been detected outside Zone Twelve, along with an audio signal unfamiliar to the Alliance. The Empire's probe droid had located Echo Base's shield generator and transmitted an image of it to the Executor-class Star Dreadnought the Executor, the flagship of the Sith Lord Darth Vader, who was leading the hunt for the Rebel base out of a desire to find Skywalker, his son. Solo and Chewbacca left the base to investigate to the probe droid's signal. When they found the droid, Solo fired at it, triggering its self-destruct. Solo reported his findings back to the command center, and, deducing that the Imperials had found them, Rieekan ordered the evacuation of Echo Base to begin.^[5]

Meanwhile, the probe droid's image reached the Executor in the Qeimet system,^[15] where Captain Firmus Piett reported it to Admiral Kendal Ozzel. The admiral dismissed it as an uncharted settlement, but Vader overrode him, confident that the Rebel base and Skywalker were indeed on Hoth. He ordered them to set course for the Hoth system and for General Maximilian Veers to prepare his troops.^[5]

The Battle of Hoth

A bleak evacuation

The Rebels prepared their evacuation; Solo and Chewbacca struggled to repair the Falcon when a recovered Skywalker approached them to say his farewells. In the command center, the Rebels detected the Imperial fleet exiting hyperspace in Sector Four, leading Rieekan to divert power to the base's energy shield to protect from bombardment and order the Rebels to prepare for a ground assault. Vader summarily executed Ozzel for his error in allowing the Rebels time to prepare for the Empire's arrival and ordered the newly promoted Admiral Piett to land the Imperial troops outside of the energy shield while the fleet blockaded Hoth to prevent Rebel starships from leaving the system.^[5] The Rebels fought a delaying action to allow time for Code 1-5—the evacuation of the base.^[30]

In the main Hangar Bay, Organa briefed an assembly of Rebel pilots for the upcoming Battle of Hoth. The plan was for the energy shield to be opened briefly to allow Rebel transports and their accompaniment of two starfighter escorts to depart the base at a time. The ion cannon would also be fired to deactivate the Imperial Star Destroyers to ensure the safe passage of the Rebel ships, which would then proceed to Haven, their rendezvous point. As the first transport left Hoth, the ion cannon was fired at the Star Destroyer Tyrant, successfully deactivating it. The transport's safe passage was announced over Echo Base's intercom, resulting in cheers from the evacuating Rebels. The pilots prepared to fly out of the base. Skywalker flew a snowspeeder as Rogue Leader with Dak Ralter serving as his gunner.^[5]

The troopers at Echo Station 3-T-8 spotted the approaching Imperial All Terrain Armored Transports on the North Ridge. Rebel Sergeant Trey Callum reported the sighting back to Echo Base. Within the base, the thudding of the walkers was felt, with pieces of snow dislodging from the roof and hitting R2-D2. The AT-ATs began firing at the outlying stations.^[5] As Imperial troops approached Echo Station 5-7, Corporal Jobin called for air support; his response was recieved and responded to^[25] by Skywalker as Rogue Squadron flew towards the Imperial forces.^[5] As Veers approached the shield generator in his AT-AT, Blizzard 1, he reported his location to Vader, allowing the Sith to land on Hoth.^[5] Vader's 501st Legion were first deployed on the ground to capture an outlook command post, followed by a forward bunker.^[12]

The squadron was able to bring down several of the advancing AT-ATs.^[5] Assisting them in this operation was Dash Rendar, a mercenary who was stuck at the base, and was exceptional at fighting on the ground and in a snowspeeder.^[7] The Imperials deployed additional forces via Sentinel-class landing craft^[11] at a landing craft near a Rebel defense bunker.^[31] Inside the command center, Rieekan raised his uncertainty that the Rebels would be able to protect departing transports at once, but Organa insisted that the risky option needed to be taken as they were running out of time. She then ordered the evacuation of the rem taining ground staff. Within Hangar 7, Solo continued working on the Falcon stressfully, while R2-D2 loaded himself into Skywalker's X-wing starfighter to locate the commander. C-3PO warned the astromech droid to be cautious.^[5]

Imperial snowtroopers took control of the ion cannon and killed the ion control staff. The Rebels were unaware of the attack until one of them spotted an AT-ST and several snowtroopers approaching the cannon on the south ridge and reported it to Jobin. The corporal led a team of four other troopers, including Roj, Grond, Sora, and another trooper, towards the cannon, where Jobin destroyed the AT-ST with an explosive package.^[25] The Imperials managed to damage Echo Base's command center, word of which reached Solo, who headed there to retrieve Organa to ensure that she was safely aboard the final Rebel transport. Organa maintained her command, ordering troops in Sector Twelve to protect fighters in the south slope.^[5]

Imperial victory

Jobin's troops entered the ion cannon control center and attacked the five snowtroopers inside. Two of the rebels were killed, including one who grabbed an intercom to announce that Imperial troops had entered Echo Base.^[25] Following the announcement, Organa ordered a subordinate to release the evacuation code signal, beginning the retreat of the remaining ground troops. She was then grabbed by Solo and they ran for the last transport.^[5] Meanwhile, Jobin was forced to stab a snowtrooper in the eye with an icicle in order to fire the ion cannon, saving two of the Rebel transports. He and his two surviving companions then set the ion cannon to self-destruct and ran for Hangar Bay 7.^[25]

During the battle, the Rebel operative X2 secured the main hangar, and then escorted an R2 droid to the ion cannon control bunker.^[13]

Blizzard 1 eventually destroyed the base's power generator.^[5] Solo and Organa's passage to the last transport was blocked when falling rubble covered their passageway, leading Solo to take Organa back to the Millennium Falcon in Hangar Bay 7, trailed by C-3PO. Vader^[5] and the 501st^[12] entered the base, arriving at the Hangar Bay shortly after Solo, Organa, C-3PO, and Chewbacca had entered the Millennium Falcon. As the snowtroopers caught up, Solo activated an hidden turret on the ship, killing several of them. The Falcon flew out of the Hangar just as Vader arrived, and was witnessed by Skywalker, who was walking on foot to his X-Wing after his snowspeeder had been shot down.^[5]

Jobin and two of his companions entered Hangar Bay 7 immediately afterward—Vader ordered his troops to take them and so the Rebels sprinted to Hangar 10. As the trio reached a Y-Wing, Jobin was shot down by the snowtroopers, but was able to pass along a recording he had made for his mother: Alliance Head of State Mon Mothma. The corporal was then executed with a Force choke by Vader.^[25] Skywalker entered his X-Wing and departed the base for the Dagobah system.^[5]

The 501st continued fighting their way through the base, destroying a panel in the command center to access the rear hangar, where a GR75 transport was loading. A trooper placed a beacon, allowing a Star Destroyer to launch an orbital bombardment at the spot, destroying the transport and its defenders.^[12] While for reasons as yet unknown, the cannon they had set to explode failed to self-destruct,^[source?] the rest of the base was destroyed by the Rebel special operations group Renegade Squadron, who set explosive charges around the base.^[31] During the battle, Blizzard Force advanced to the front of the base and destroyed the Fortress and other defenses protecting the base.^[9]

Echoes of war

The base itself survived, however, and nearly a year and several months later, it was made a tour destination for one of the travel packages for the travel agency Star Tours.^[32] When Skywalker and Callista Ming returned to Hoth in 12 ABY, they encountered a band of desperate wampa-pelt hunters holed up in the deserted base while their hungry quarry waited outside. Though the two Jedi tried to rescue the group, the wampas demonstrated their uncanny ability to work together as a killing team. Luke and Callista barely escaped from Hoth with their lives.^[33]

In 14 ABY, an Imperial Remnant force occupied the ruins of Echo Base. Hoping to discover the location of Dagobah in the working segments of the Alliance computer core, the Sith devotees of the Disciples of Ragnos and their Imperial subordinates dug an entrance to the base underneath the hulk of a fallen AT-AT. However, their activities were discovered by Jaden Korr, and the young Jedi destroyed the force of snowtroopers and AT-ST walkers, and chased off the Sith acolytes. He dueled Dark Jedi Alora and defeated her, but she fled, promising to encounter him again in the future. It was during Jaden's exploration of the frozen ruins of Echo base that he discovered the firing control room of the ion cannon, from which the still-intact cannon itself could be seen. Although no longer capable of tracking a target, the cannon still drew power from its reactors and was capable of firing.^[2]

Behind the scenes

The Empire Strikes Back

Echo Base was created for the original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back,^[34] which was released on May 21, 1980.^[35] However, the base made its actual first appearance in the film's novelization, which was written by Donald F. Glut^[36] and published on April 12 of the same year.^[35]

Building the base

The sets for the Echo Base scenes were built at Elstree Studios. Construction of the sets was delayed by several months, as a catastrophic fire destroyed the "Colorado Lounge" set for director Stanley Kubrick's film The Shining on January 24, 1979, putting the filming for the movie behind. The original plan was for The Shining to wrap up filming by February 1 and for the Empire team to move in and build the sixty-four sets needed for the film, but the fire meant Kubrick's team did not know when they would be finished. During the final months of filming for The Shining, Gary Kurtz reminded Kubrick that he needed to finish every time he saw the director, as Kurtz had sets to build. Kubrick assured him he only needed a few more days, having a few things that needed to be wrapped up. When construction finally started, the set for the hangar was constructed on Stage 6^[39] and was so large that a special stage, known as the "Star Wars Stage" was built.^[34] The stage measured seventy-six meters long, thirty-seven meters wide, and fourteen meters high, and had a total capacity of 35,000 cubic meters.^[40] The control room and medical room sets were constructed on Stage 1, with the bacta tank used to heal Skywalker being three feet in diameter.^[34]

Filming

On March 13, 1979, the main unit filmed a scene in the Millennium Falcon's main hold while the ship was in the base's hangar. Slate 205 for the scene covered the master scene and included three takes, two of which were printed. Slate 205A covered the end of the scene, with two of the six takes printed, and slate 205B covered the beginning of the scene, using two cameras, with one getting a close-up of Leia's face and the other a close-up of Chewbacca's. The scene included ad-libbed dialogue, and two of the six takes were printed. Slate 205C captured the master scene with two cameras, with two different close-ups of Solo. Two takes from both cameras were considered good enough to print. In the end, Kershner presented eleven takes from scene 205 to be cut together.^[39]

While filming Solo entering the hangar on his tauntaun after returning from patrol, the crew created the sensation of movement by the tauntaun by rotating the camera around the immovable puppet. During the scene where Solo approaches Chewbacca while the latter is repairing the Millennium Falcon, Ford recited, "I'll take a good fight any day over all this hidin' and freezin'!"^[39] The line was not included in the final cut of the film.^[5] The scene where Solo realizes Skywalker might be in serious trouble was filmed using multiple cameras.^[39] The control scenes were shot at Stage 1 late in March 1979. The medical room scenes were also shot at Stage 1, and a wet-suited stuntman was used to check if the bacta tank was in working order.^[34] An insert was shot including a medical droid peeling gauze off Skywalker's face.^[39] The hangar scenes were filmed by the film's main and second unit from May 22–June 6, 1979. To make the hangar look bigger than it actually was, children were dressed as Rebel pilots and soldiers and placed in the background of shots.^[34]

Wampa attack

The first draft of the film's script included a scene in which wampas attacked Echo Base in an attempt to reclaim their territory. In the scene, the creatures infiltrate the base through an intricate tunnel network, and a wampa breaks through and throws Rebels around after attacking a snowtrooper before being killed by a bazooka. Although the Imperial attack was the primary focus, the wampa attack was considered the main threat and remained in the shooting script, which reduced the scale of the attack to a couple of scenes featuring R2-D2 and the Rebels prior to Imperial forces marching on the base. At the beginning of the scene, the wampas were mysterious figures in the background, meant to create a tense atmosphere reminiscent of the 1951 film The Thing from Another World as evidenced by a shot of R2-D2 with a wampa visible in the distance.^[39]

The scene was shot by the second unit over six days in April 1979 and took fifteen setups to complete. The Daily Shooting Logs for April 2–3, 1979, show the difficulties of filming setup 44A. In the setup, R2-D2 moves through an ice tunnel when a wampa smashes out of the wall. As four cameras were poised for the action, actor Des Webb did not have enough leverage to knock through, resulting in no usable takes. The entire attack scene was ultimately cut from the film. According to film historian Paul Duncan and George Lucas the purpose of the scene was to include moments featuring R2-D2 and C-3PO so the audience would not forget them, but after cutting it together, they realized so much else was happening that the scene was not needed. Problems with the scene put production an additional two days behind schedule.^[39]

Interactive retellings

Shadows of the Empire

Echo Base appeared in the first two levels of the 1997 LucasArts video game Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, titled "Battle of Hoth" and "Escape from Echo Base."^[7] For the team at LucasArts, the opportunity to utilize the Nintendo 64 console to represent the Battle of Hoth was irresistible. Shadows of the Empire thus became the first real-time, interactive 3-D recreation of the iconic battle. The game studio's enthusiasm for staging action between snowspeeders and walkers was the reason the battle was included as a chapter in the life of the game's main character, Dash Rendar.^[41]

An early internal game outline document dated to April 17, 1995, which described the challenge LucasArts wanted to create for the player/character in the first level, stated the objective of the level as, "Give Rebels time to escape Echo Base." Jon Knoles created computer-generated models of All Terrain Scout Transport walkers and the Outrider, Rendar's ship, in Echo Base. Project leader Mark Haigh-Hutchinson supervised the development of the Battle of Hoth level and programmed the artificial intelligence of the player opponents in the level. When describing the layout of the level, Haigh-Hutchinson stated they wanted a measure of predictability to allow the player to progress and improve while balancing it with an element of randomness so the player did not feel the game was set in stone.^[41]

Galactic Battlegrounds

The 2001 video game Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds shows two different versions of Echo Base, one in the Darth Vader campaign^[9] and the other in the Leia Organa campaign.^[30]

Non-canon video game depictions

In the 2006 non-canonical video game LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, the Battle of Hoth and Solo and Organa's escape from the base is adapted with differences than how it is portrayed in the film.^[42]

In an alternate, non-canonical DLC of the 2009 videogame Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition, Starkiller, a newly appointed apprentice to Darth Sidious' is sent to the base to intercept the escaping rebels, following the Battle of Hoth. After successfully infiltrating the base, Starkiller eventually confronts Luke Skywalker in the hangar housing the Millennium Falcon. As the fighting goes on, Skywalker eventually gives in to the dark side. However, he still loses to Starkiller and loses his hand. As the Millennium Falcon moves to escape, Starkiller stops the ship with the Force. He tells Luke that only the dark side can save his friends. Faced with this, Luke attacks Starkiller with red force lightning. Starkiller blocks Skywalker's attack and releases the Falcon. Starkiller declares the now yellow-eyed Luke his apprentice.^[43]

Appearances

Non-canon appearances

• "Les anges de Charlie" — Casus Belli 107 (Unlicensed)
• Choose Your Own Star Wars Adventure: The Empire Strikes Back
• "Free Memory" — Star Wars Tales 10 (In flashback(s))
• Star Wars Infinities: The Empire Strikes Back 1
• "Ghosts of Hoth" — Star Wars Tales 17
• "Perfect Evil"
• LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
• "Murder on the Executor" (Unlicensed) (Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition
• LEGO Star Wars: Microfighters video game
• LEGO Star Wars: Vader's Secret Missions

Sources

Non-canon sources

• LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy: Prima Official Game Guide
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga: Prima Official Game Guide
• LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary
• LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia
• LEGO Star Wars Heroes Ultimate Sticker Book
• Angry Birds Star Wars Sticker & Poster Activity Annual 2013 (Indirect mention only)
• LEGO Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded

Notes and references

Main Rebel Alliance base
Derra IV ← 2 ABY–3 ABY Golrath Station →