Hoth asteroid field



"Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1!" "Never tell me the odds."

- C-3PO and Han Solo

The Hoth asteroid field was located in the outermost orbit of the Hoth system. Strong meteor activity from the asteroid field constantly bombarded Hoth, the system's sixth planet.

Description
The asteroid belt was an especially wide swath of countless free-ranging planetary bodies confined to a set orbit. Located at the outermost edge of the Hoth system, within the Anoat Sector of the Greater Javin region of the Outer Rim Territories, the Hoth asteroid field was the resulting effect of a collision eons prior to the Galactic Civil War between what were once the system's two farthest outlying planets. Large and rocky in composition, the planets were fractured into scattered chunks of debris that were strewn throughout the system and eventually were pulled into erratic orbits around Hoth, the system's star.

Throughout its existence the belt's rocky chunks continued to constantly collide with one another, grinding each other down to smaller asteroids. As the asteroids collided and increased in number, the belt's composition grew in range from microscopic dust particles, to tiny pebbles, large boulders, and asteroids that rivaled small moons in size and were massive enough to contain scant atmospheres. The chaotic nature of the asteroid field created an environment impossible for charting. The largest asteroids, continually tugging at each other, destroyed any possibility of maintaining a rigid orbit. As such, the Hoth system's planets were the frequent recipients of meteorite collisions. In particular, Hoth, an icy planet occupying the system's sixth orbit, was constantly bombarded by asteroids that had broken away from the field.

The field's asteroids were rich in ore mineral composition, the lasting deposits of the two planetary cores. At least one asteroid was rumored to be comprised entirely of plantinum. A rare growth found among many of the asteroids were crystal ferns, strange transparent silicon-based crystals produced as an effect of some rocks' exposure to heavy radiation and cold vacuum. The crystals grew in delicate, web-like tangles extending several meters from its base on the surface of an asteroid. The crystals propagated from one asteroid to another, broken in shards that were carried to other rocks by orbital forces.

Several of the larger asteroids were inhabited by giant wormlike creatures known as exorgoths, or colloquially called "space slugs." Years prior to the Galactic Civil War, the space pirate Clabburn installed the space slugs as guardians within the hollow shaft entrances of asteroids that led to his secret hives of operation. In the absence of gravity, these space slugs grew to enormous proportions, some reaching lengths of 900 meters. The slugs were able to survive within the thinly veiled atmospheres of the larger asteroids, subsiding for many years by breaking down the rock of the asteroid itself. Long tendrils extended from the rear portion of the creatures that reached into the asteroids to extract nutrients. In turn, winged, parasitic creatures known as mynocks inhabited these giant space slugs. They assumed sanctuary within their hosts and leached off the soft inner membranes of the slugs' interiors and the thermal energy they radiated as heat.

History
The belt was rumored to be hiding an asteroid of pure platinum, which was supposedly sighted by a prospector called Kerane, who left the system to verify its purity only to discover that he could no longer find the asteroid. It became known as "Kerane's Folly".



Battle of Hoth
"What are you doing? You're not actually going into an asteroid field?" "They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they?"

- Leia Organa and Han Solo.

Following the Rebellion's defeat at the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY, Han Solo piloted his ship, the Millennium Falcon, into the asteroid field in a desperate attempt to escape the Imperial Navy. He was followed closely by the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer Avenger and a flight of TIE fighters. Through masterful flying and near-suicidal maneuvering, Solo was able to elude the pursuit of four TIEs, eventually piloting his ship into a cavern of a gigantic asteroid the size of a small moon where he hoped to hide long enough to repair the Falcon's malfunctioning hyperdrive.

Almost simultaneously, the smuggler Dash Rendar was similarly chased into the asteroid belt by a pursuing Star Destroyer and its complement of TIE fighters after evacuating Echo Base. Unlike Solo, his ship, the Outrider, a sleek YT-2400 light freighter, was not in disrepair. With his copilot droid LE-BO2D9 at the controls, Rendar manned the freighter's heavy laser cannons. The Star Destroyer, fearful of potential asteroid collisions, stayed at the fringe of the belt while a considerable force of TIE fighters and TIE bombers launched to intercept the fleeing ship. Rendar was able to hold off several squadrons of TIEs until the Outrider was far enough away from the asteroids to safely make the jump into hyperspace.

"Our ships have sighted the Millennium Falcon, Lord, but it has entered an asteroid field, and we cannot risk--" "--Asteroids do not concern me, Admiral. I want that ship, not excuses."

- Admiral Firmus Piett and Darth Vader



Despite the threat of asteroid collisions, Darth Vader nevertheless ordered Death Squadron, his fleet of Star Destroyers, into the onslaught of asteroids in fevered pursuit of the Millennium Falcon. It was his belief that Luke Skywalker was aboard the fugitive ship with the rest of his friends. The Star Destroyer Avenger boldly led the chase into the asteroid field despite the inevitable damage it would sustain.

The Millennium Falcon spent several days hiding within the massive asteroid while Han Solo, Leia Organa, Chewbacca and C-3PO worked to repair the ship's faulty hyperdrive. Solo cleverly shut down the ship's primary systems in order to avoid detection by probing Imperial sensors. It was while cooped up within the close confines of Solo's ship for several days that the longstanding romantic tensions between Solo and Organa first began to blossom. The Princess finally warmed to Solo's roguish charms as they shared their first kiss.

"Considering the amount of damage we've sustained, they must have been destroyed." "No, Captain. They're alive. I want every ship available to sweep the asteroid field until they are found."

- Captain Lorth Needa and Darth Vader

Meanwhile, the bulk of Death Squadron, including the 19 kilometer long Executor-class Star Dreadnought Executor, plunged into the hail of asteroids amid of flurry of damaging collisions to each of the pursuing capital ships. The squadron suffered many personnel casualties as a result of these collisions. The Avenger, at the forefront of the fleet, cleared a path through the asteroids for the remaining Star Destroyers to follow, while flights of TIE bombers littered the massive asteroid hiding the Millennium Falcon with explosives, hoping to chase the ship out.

However, it was not the might of the Imperial Navy that eventually flushed the Falcon out. The group soon discovered that mynocks living inside of the cavern had attached themselves to the ship's power cables, leeching the ship of its energy. It was while clearing the ship of the parasites that Solo and Chewbacca unwittingly discovered the true nature of their hiding spot. Stray blaster bolts into the walls of the cave had strangely caused the grotto to shake violently. It was not a simple cave that Solo had hidden his ship in, but the nesting area a giant exogorth. Solo was able to pilot his ship out of the closing jaws of the massive space slug with only seconds to spare.

Immediately after reentering the asteroids and exposing itself, the Millennium Falcon was detected by the nearby Avenger and the chase continued. Luckily for the fleeing Rebels, they had come out of the asteroid field, traversing its length against all odds. Free of obstruction, Solo once again tried to enage his hyperdrive with repairs believed completed, only to find, much to the dismay of everyone aboard, it was still inoperable. The Avenger was the only ship attached to Death Squadron that managed to stay with the Falcon through the entirety of the asteroid field, earning it a reputation for persistence among the Imperial Navy.

Also searching for Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon in the asteroid field were the bounty hunters Boba Fett and Dengar, hired by Vader to find the ship. Dengar correctly guessed that Solo was hiding in the asteroid field with sensors powered down, and began a meticulous search for his quarry. Unfortunately for Dengar, Fett had thought one step ahead of him. He knew where Solo had hid his ship after coming out of the asteroid field—attached to the back of the Avenger's communications tower—and knew that Dengar would soon learn the same. Dengar's ship was disabled by a bomb previously planted by Fett, and could only watch helplessly from his ship within the asteroids as Fett's Slave I tracked the Falcon as it limped out of the system.

Post-Civil War
It was the Hoth asteroids that Durga Besadii Tai chose to mine while constructing his Darksaber weapon. New Republic forces discovered the plot, however, and the Darksaber was eventually crushed by two colliding planetoids.

Behind the scenes


According to Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays, which includes the original script for The Empire Strikes Back, Hoth and its system's asteroid belt were located in a region of space known as the Granita Cluster.

A map of the galaxy from the PC game Star Wars: Battlefront II portrays Polis Massa as being close to Hoth. However, the Hoth Asteroid Field would likely collide into Polis Massa, though this has so far not been addressed in any canonical source.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Poison Moon
 * The Last One Standing: The Tale of Boba Fett
 * Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88
 * Payback: The Tale of Dengar
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back radio drama''
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novelization
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Shadows of the Empire video game
 * Star Wars 41: The Empire Strikes Back: Imperial Pursuit
 * Of Possible Futures: The Tale of Zuckuss and 4-LOM
 * Star Wars 42: The Empire Strikes Back: To Be a Jedi
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Darksaber
 * Specter of the Past
 * Vector Prime

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga