Echo Base

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Echo Base is a Rebel Alliance base in the Star Wars universe, established after the Alliance evacuation of Yavin IV. The base, which was featured in the opening sequence of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, is composed of a series of tunnels and caverns cut from the icy mountain side of the planet Hoth.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Echo Base was not designed with the means to repel an Imperial assault, but instead relied on its shield generator and its hidden location on a desolate planet in an unocupied system to protect it from the Empire. Because of this most of its equipment and machinery were able to be taken apart and evacuated at a moments notice, if the base was discovered.

When the Empire's probe droids found the base, the Rebels fought a holding action to give the transports enough time to evacuate. They used the base's (misnamed) planetary defense shield to prevent an Imperial orbital bombardmant, and then used small landspeeders modified for the cold climate of Hoth, called Snowspeeders, and a small contingent of soldiers, to slow the advance of the Empire's AT-AT walkers. This holding action allowed the Rebels time to use Echo Base's Planet Defender Ion Cannon to open holes in the Imperial blockade, allowing many transports and their X-Wing escorts to escape.

Echo Base suffered a series of attacks by the shaggy and carnivorous wampas soon after Commander Skywalker's encounter with one of the creatures. This is not shown in Empire Strikes Back, but was described in the accompanying novelization.

[edit] Expanded Universe

Echo Base is also featured in the Star-Wars-based video game, Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. In the game, the player's character, Jaden is sent on a mission to Echo Base in order to find out information about the Cult of Ragnos. The player ends up finding the Base occupied by the Imperial Remnant.

Dash Rendar lands his snowspeeder in Echo Base soon after the Battle of Hoth to escape on his ship, the Outrider, in the Shadows of the Empire video game. He fights snowtroopers, probots, an AT-ST and wampas on the way to his ship.

In the novel Darksaber, Luke returns to Hoth with his lover, Callista. They find that Echo Base is now occupied by wampa-pelt hunters who have found their prey too much to handle. Luke and Callista try to help them but instead see the entire group killed.