The lone Star Destroyer traveled silently across interstellar space with the precision of a massive dart. An Imperial-class warship, it measured 1,600 meters long from its aft ion engines to its sharp-tipped bow, and was equipped with enough firepower to reduce a civilization to ashes. Even without its sixty turbolaser batteries and equal number of ion cannons, the wedge-shaped starship looked like it was ready to cut through anything in its path. The ship’s name was the Avenger; its commanding officer was Captain Needa.

The Avenger arrived at its designated coordinates, then deployed its cargo of hyperdrive pods from a recessed launch bay. Each 3.4-meter-long pod was programmed to travel thousands of light-years on a one-way trip to a specific destination, never to return to the Avenger or any other Imperial ship.

Across the galaxy, other Star Destroyers carried out the same task, releasing hyperdrive pods into space. Soon, thousands of pods were racing off to almost as many worlds, including planets and moons that had yet to be conquered by the Empire. Each pod contained a probot, a probe droid engineered for long-range covert surveillance. Each probot had a single purpose: to find the Rebel Alliance’s new base.

The Avenger’s pods were targeted for three planetary systems: Allyuen, Tokmia, and Hoth. The Empire had little information regarding Allyuen and Tokmia, and only slightly more for Hoth, a blue-white sun that was orbited by six planets and a wide asteroid belt. According to an old navigational chart, Hoth’s inner five planets were lifeless; the outermost planet—also named Hoth—was covered entirely by snow and ice, and was orbited by three nameless moons. Because of the sixth planet’s thin atmosphere and close proximity to the asteroid field, it was also frequently battered by meteors.

Speeding through space, a pod arrived in orbit of the ice world. It automatically applied emergency braking thrusters, allowing Hoth’s gravity to pull it down through the thin atmosphere. The pod streaked downward until its journey ended on the planet’s surface, where it smashed through layers of snow and impacted along the upper slope of a high ravine.

As smoke billowed from the impact site and darkened the surrounding snow, the pod opened to reveal the probot’s armored form. Equipped with a repulsorlift and silenced thrusters, the probot had a wide, sensor-laden head that rested upon a cylindrical support body, under which dangled four manipulator arms and a high-torque grasping arm. Although the probot’s primary function was to gather and transmit data for the Empire, it was also equipped with a single defense blaster.

Activating its repulsorlift, the black probot rose up through the smoke and went immediately to work. It used its sensors to scan for Alliance transmissions and to survey the terrain, seeking signs of life and habitation. The probot hovered momentarily as it gathered and analyzed data, then moved on, gliding noiselessly through the chilled air…unknowingly coming closer and closer to the Rebel base.

Luke Skywalker, wearing an Alliance-issued insulated patrol suit, rode his two-legged snow lizard, a tauntaun, over a windswept ice slope on Hoth. A thin layer of snow had built up on Luke’s protective green-lensed goggles, so he momentarily released one gloved hand from the reins to swipe at the goggles and clear his vision.

Luke was looking for wild tauntauns, wampa ice monsters, and any other of Hoth’s few indigenous creatures. Sensors were being planted for the Alliance’s regional warning network, which would anticipate Imperial or alien intruders, and it was Luke’s job to make sure that no native beasts might accidentally damage them. But from what Luke could see, there wasn’t any sign of life amidst the frozen wastes, not even tracks. In every direction, all he saw was white.

Luke felt about as far as he could get from his homeworld, the desert planet Tatooine—not merely because of the great distance between the two planets or their dramatically different climates. So much had changed since he’d joined the Rebellion. He was no longer the boy who’d felt stuck on a moisture farm, who only dreamed of adventures on far-off worlds. He had become a warrior, a hero of the Rebel Alliance, and his adventures had exceeded his dreams.

Yet the price had been unfortunately high. Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru were dead. So was his childhood friend Biggs Darklighter, along with many other brave Rebel pilots who’d fought in the Battle of Yavin. Luke remembered them all, but tried not to think about them too much. It was more in his nature to think of the future than dwell on the past.

But he couldn’t stop thinking about Ben, the Jedi Knight, who had served so briefly as Luke’s mentor in the ways of the Force.

I still miss him, Luke thought. I wish I’d gotten to know him better on Tatooine, even though Uncle Owen would have tried to stop me. I could have learned so much.…

Luke knew he needed to focus on his assignment, so he pushed aside his thoughts and guided the tauntaun along a snow-covered ridge. He reined the gray-furred beast to a stop, and it exhaled through its lower pair of nostrils, steaming the air and fogging Luke’s goggles. Luke lifted the goggles over his cap’s visor, then squinted at the surrounding whiteness.

His keen eyes sighted a streak of light that plummeted from the sky and slammed into the top of a nearby slope, close enough that he could hear the impact. Luke removed his electrobinoculars from his utility belt and peered through the lenses to see a magnified image of smoke rising from the impact site. Just another meteorite on Hoth? Luke wasn’t sure.

He lowered the electrobinoculars and returned them to his belt, then brushed snow from the back of his left glove to reveal a comlink transmitter. As he activated the transmitter, his tauntaun shifted nervously beneath him.

“Echo Three to Echo Seven,” Luke said into the comlink. “Han, old buddy, do you read me?”

Luke listened to some brief static, then heard the familiar voice of his friend, Han Solo. “Loud and clear, kid. What’s up?”

Luke looked around, trying to catch sight of Han, who was also riding a tauntaun. Han’s assignment had been to plant the warning sensors.

Luke said, “Well, I finished my circle. I don’t pick up any life readings.”

“There isn’t enough life on this ice cube to fill a space cruiser,” Han commented over the comlink. Luke grinned, then caught a brief glimpse of Han’s mounted figure before he vanished into the snowy distance. As he departed, Han added, “The sensors are placed. I’m going back.”

“Right,” Luke said. “I’ll see you shortly. There’s a meteorite that hit the ground near here. I want to check it out. It won’t take long.”

Luke switched off his comlink, and his tauntaun snorted nervously. “Hey, steady, girl,” he said, reining back. “Hey, what’s the matter? You smell something?”

Suddenly, there was a monstrous howl. Luke turned quickly to face a massive wampa, its jaws flung open to display fiercely sharp teeth. A huge, clawed paw slammed into Luke, knocking him from his saddle. He was unconscious before he hit the snow.

Echo Base, the comm-unit designation for the Alliance’s command headquarters on Hoth, was a vast network of passages and caves concealed within a glacial mountain. Some of the underground chambers had formed naturally over thousands of years, but most had been carved from the ice in a matter of weeks, thanks to the Alliance Corps of Engineers and their industrial lasers. The base had quickly become home to several thousand Rebel soldiers, technicians, and pilots. It also served as the temporary accommodations for two lapsed mercenaries: Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon, and his first mate, Chewbacca the Wookiee.

Although Han and Chewbacca had worked steadily with the Alliance in the three years since the Battle of Yavin, neither had formally enlisted. This was one reason why Han, unlike Luke, wore a dark, fur-lined heavy-weather parka instead of an Alliance uniform. The other reason was that Han thought he looked better in his own clothes.

Returning from his assignment, Han rode his tauntaun up to the mouth of an enormous ice cave, the north entrance of Echo Base. He kept the tauntaun moving at a fast trot as they entered.

The cave had been transformed into a low-ceilinged hangar for starships. Dozens of Rebel soldiers were at work, some busily securing the base while others worked on vehicles. Han steered his tauntaun past a group of Rebel troopers who were unloading supplies, and brought the tauntaun to a stop next to a pair of waiting handlers. They grabbed the beast’s reins, and Han dismounted in one smooth motion. Landing on the snow-covered floor, he felt a stinging sensation in his legs, which—despite his insulated boots and leggings—were cold and stiff from riding. As he stepped away from his tauntaun, he pushed his parka’s hood back, removed his snow goggles, and kept moving to get the blood circulating in his legs.

Han walked deeper into the hangar. He passed teams of technicians who were adding repulsor-coil heaters to T-47 airspeeders to prevent the motors from freezing, effectively transforming the vehicles into what the Rebels had nicknamed “snowspeeders.” A battle-damaged X-wing was also under repair. Han had to be careful not to bump into any Rebels or trip over an astromech droid as he stepped over the power cables that snaked across the floor.

Han finally reached his own ship, the heavily modified Corellian transport. From the hangar floor, he looked up to see Chewbacca sitting atop the Falcon’s starboard mandible. Chewbacca, a tall, brown-furred Wookiee, was using one hand to shield his eyes with a pair of welding goggles—the goggles’ strap was too small to fit around the Wookiee’s broad head—while the other hand operated a fusioncutter. Sparks flew where the fusioncutter’s plasma beam met the Falcon’s hull.

“Chewie!” Han called out, but the Wookiee didn’t stop working. “Chewie!” he called again—to no avail. Either the surrounding noise was too much or the Wookiee was ignoring him. “Chewie!” he yelled a third time.

The Wookiee lowered the goggles and unleashed a series of harsh, irritated growls.

“All right, don’t lose your temper,” Han said. “I’ll come right back and give you a hand.”

Han changed out of his cold-weather gear, which reeked of the tauntaun’s oily fur, and put on fresh clothes, including a black, long-sleeved jacket that went well with his frame. After changing, he walked through a narrow-walled passage and stepped down into the Echo Base command center.

Laser-cut skylights in the low, icy ceiling provided natural illumination for the room. Han looked around and saw Rebel controllers and droids setting up electronic equipment and monitoring radar signals. Most of the comm-scan computer stations, flat-screen monitors, and even the chairs had been used on Yavin 4, but because of Hoth’s climate, the command center was more tightly packed to conserve heat. All the Rebels wore white insulated uniforms, gloves, and gray snowboots.

Han caught sight of Princess Leia Organa, who wore a heated vest over her white jumpsuit. She looked away from her console and spotted him immediately. He held her gaze for a second before he broke eye contact.

The commander of the Alliance ground and fleet forces in the Hoth star system, General Rieekan, glanced up from a console and said, “Solo?”

“No sign of life out there, General,” Han reported. “The sensors are in place. You’ll know if anything comes around.”

Rieekan, looking tired and older than his years, read the data displayed on the console as he asked, “Commander Skywalker reported in yet?”

“No,” Han said. “He’s checking out a meteorite that hit near him.”

“With all the meteorite activity in this system, it’s going to be difficult to spot approaching ships,” Rieekan said, his eyes still on the console.

“General, I’ve got to leave,” Han said. “I can’t stay here anymore.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Well, there’s a price on my head. If I don’t pay off Jabba the Hutt, I’m a dead man.” Han didn’t have to explain further. Everyone at Echo Station knew that Han had been a smuggler, and that one former client—a notorious Hutt crimelord on Tatooine—had placed a bounty on his head after he’d failed to reimburse the Hutt for a spice shipment he’d dumped to avoid Imperial arrest. The Alliance had given Han more than enough credits to repay Jabba, but the Rebels had also kept him very busy since the Battle of Yavin. Unfortunately, Hutts were not known for their patience.

“A death mark’s not an easy thing to live with,” Rieekan commented. Looking away from the console, he faced Han. “You’re a good fighter, Solo. I hate to lose you.” The two men shook hands.

“Thank you, General,” Han said. As he turned away from Rieekan, he caught the gaze of Princess Leia again. There was tension in her face, somehow made more severe by the way her hair was braided and tied across her head. Looking at her expression, Han had no trouble imagining she was concerned about him.

Han approached Leia and said, “Well, Your Highness. I guess this is it.”

“That’s right,” Leia replied, her voice cooler than the air.

Taken aback, Han said, “Well, don’t get all mushy on me. So long, Princess.” He turned away and walked straight for an adjoining laser-cut corridor.

“Han!” Leia shouted, following him into the hall.

Han stopped and turned to face her. “Yes, Your Highnessness?”

“I thought you had decided to stay,” Leia said, her voice betraying her disappointment in his decision.

“Well, the bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mantell changed my mind.”

“Han, we need you!”

Han gave her a quizzical look, and echoed, “We need?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, what about you need?”

“I need?” Leia said, apparently baffled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Fed up, Han shook his head. “You probably don’t.” He turned away and headed off through the corridor.

Walking fast to follow Han, Leia said, “And what precisely am I supposed to know?”

Without breaking his stride, Han kept his eyes forward and said, “Come on! You want me to stay because of the way you feel about me.”

“Yes,” Leia said from behind. “You’re a great help to us. You’re a natural leader—”

Han stopped and whirled on Leia. “No!” he said, jabbing a finger at her for emphasis. “That’s not it. Come on.” Leia gaped. Han grinned, then raised a thumb to gesture at his face and said, “Aahhh—uh-huh! Come on.”

Leia stared at him for a moment, then said, “You’re imagining things.”

“Am I?” Han said. “Then why are you following me? Afraid I was going to leave without giving you a good-bye kiss?”

Outraged, Leia spat out, “I’d just as soon kiss a Wookiee.”

“I can arrange that,” Han replied. As he turned and stormed off down the corridor, he added, “You could use a good kiss!”

Struck speechless, Leia stood there and watched him go. What could she say to him that she hadn’t said before? We’re at war with the Empire, she thought. There’s so much at stake for the Rebellion. I don’t have time for...for Han Solo’s nonsense!

Later at Echo Station, the golden droid C-3PO and his astromech counterpart, R2-D2, walked through a corridor that led to the main hangar. As they rounded a corner, R2-D2 emitted a flurry of accusatory beeps.

“Don’t try to blame me,” C-3PO replied testily. “I didn’t ask you to turn on the thermal heater. I merely commented that it was freezing in the princess’s chamber.”

R2-D2 rotated his domed head and responded with a defensive beep, prompting C-3PO to exclaim, “But it’s supposed to be freezing. How are we going to dry out all her clothes? I really don’t know.”

R2-D2 beeped in protest, which only made C-3PO more agitated. “Oh, switch off,” he said as they entered the hangar.

They approached the Millennium Falcon, where they found Han and Chewbacca working on the freighter’s central lifters. Han was back in his cold-weather gear, which was now soiled with grime and oil as well as smelling of tauntaun.

“Why did you take this apart now?” Han yelled at Chewbacca. “I’m trying to get us out of here, and you pull both of these—” Words failing him, he gestured at the lifters.

“Excuse me, sir,” C-3PO interrupted.

Han said to Chewbacca, “Put them back together right now.”

C-3PO tried again. “Might I have a word with you, please?”

“What do you want?” Han snapped, not bothering to hide his irritation.

“Well, it’s Princess Leia, sir. She’s been trying to get you on the communicator.”

“I turned it off,” Han said, staring down the droid. “I don’t want to talk to her.” The way Han said it, he made it clear that he wanted this conversation to end immediately.

“Oh,” said C-3PO. “Well, Princess Leia is wondering about Master Luke. He hasn’t come back yet. She doesn’t know where he is.”

“I don’t know where he is either,” Han fumed, angered that the droid wasn’t gone already.

“Nobody knows where he is,” C-3PO stated.

That got Han’s attention. “What do you mean, ‘nobody knows’?”

C-3PO stammered, “Well, uh, you see…”

“Deck officer!” Han called out, looking away from C-3PO to find the Rebel officer in charge of docking bay operations. “Deck officer!”

“Excuse me, sir,” C-3PO interjected. “Might I inqu—”

Han abruptly put his hand over C-3PO’s mouth as the deck officer ran to them. The deck officer looked at Han and said, “Yes, sir?”

“Do you know where Commander Skywalker is?”

“I haven’t seen him. It’s possible he came in through the south entrance.”

“‘It’s possible’?” Han repeated skeptically, and the deck officer realized how feeble his statement had sounded. Han continued, “Why don’t you go find out? It’s getting dark out there.”

“Yes, sir,” answered the deck officer, who ran off to find his assistant.

Han removed his hand from C-3PO’s mouth. The droid said, “Excuse me, sir. Might I inquire what’s going on?”

Concerned and not really listening, Han replied, “Why not?”

Han sauntered off, leaving Chewbacca and the droids behind. C-3PO shook his head and said, “Impossible man. Come along, Artoo, let’s find Princess Leia. Between ourselves, I think Master Luke is in considerable danger.”

Han made his way to the chamber where the tauntauns were stabled, near the base’s north entrance. Several exhausted Rebel scouts rested in the ice-walled chamber…but Luke wasn’t among them. Han was trying to think of where else Luke might be when the deck officer and his assistant hurried toward him.

“Sir,” said the deck officer. “Commander Skywalker hasn’t come in the south entrance. He might have forgotten to check in.”

“Not likely,” Han said. “Are the speeders ready?”

“Er, not yet,” said the deck officer. “We’re having some trouble adapting them to the cold.”

“Then we’ll have to go out on tauntauns,” Han said. Before anyone could protest, Han turned and headed for the snow lizards.

The deck officer was aghast. Tauntauns were indigenous, but they were hardly invulnerable to the cold, and what Han Solo was about to do was pure madness. Hoping to maintain some control of the situation, the deck officer called after Solo, “Sir, the temperature’s dropping too rapidly.”

“That’s right,” Han said without looking back. “And my friend’s out in it.”

As Han approached the tauntaun he’d ridden earlier, the assistant officer said, “I’ll cover sector twelve. Have comm control set to screen alpha.”

The deck officer watched Han climb onto the snow creature’s back and said, “Your tauntaun’ll freeze before you reach the first marker.”

“Then I’ll see you in hell!” Han replied. He dug his heels into the tauntaun’s side, and raced out of the cave into the bitter night.