Chapter Text
Hello once again, my friends. It is so good to see you. There is still so much of my tale to tell, and I hope you are as eager to hear it as I am to tell it.
It has been three years since the Battle of Yavin, but dark days have fallen on the Rebellion. Although the Death Star was destroyed, Imperial troops have driven Rebel forces from their hidden base and pursued them across the world.
Evading the dreaded Imperial Navy, a group of freedom fighters led by Luke Skywalker has established a new secret base in the remote frozen lands of Hoth.
The evil Sith Lord Darth Vader, obsessed with finding young Skywalker, has dispatched thousands of probe automata into the farthest reaches of the world.
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In the middle of the cold stormy World Sea in the southern reaches of the Outer Rim, a lone Star Destroyer emerged from a Hyperion gate. Like many other Star Destroyers across the world, its crew was tasked with the simple mission to head to particular spots and launch probe automata to scour nearby lands for any trace of the Rebellion.
Rockets loaded with these probes flew from the deck of the Star Destroyer in a massive fan. A lightning bolt lit up the smoke as they vanished into the snow and rain. Most of these exceptionally long ranged magically guided rockets and their automaton cargos would end up in uninhabited lands, failing to find anything of use to the Empire.
One of them, however, flew far and towards the brilliant white snow of Hoth. The rocket screamed over the rolling drifts and frozen peaks until it finally exhausted its fuel and crashed into the side of a mountain.
From the smoking crater left behind rose a slate grey automaton shaped like a jellyfish. All around the bell were black glass eyes of varying sizes and instead of stinging tentacles, many-jointed mechanical arms dangled, clicking and flexing.
The probe automaton floated over the rim of the crater and headed down the mountain, scanning in every direction with its many eyes.
Not far away, a tauntaun and rider moved across the windswept wastes. Wisps of powder snow swirled around them, with some of the flakes adding to the ones already collected on them. The rider pulled the reins to bring the tauntaun to a halt.
"Easy, girl," said Luke through the muffler covering his mouth. He pulled it down just enough to expose his lips and pulled out his canteen from its warming pouch.
As he lowered his canteen he noticed the aftermath of an avalanche and a black plume of smoke. Luke pulled out a pair of leather wrapped binoculars and focused them on what appeared to be a small crater. He frowned, unsure of what to make of it.
Luke tapped the comm crystal on his wrist. "Echo Three to Echo Seven. Can you hear me, Han?"
"Loud and clear, kid. What's up?"
"I finished my circle. Didn't pick up any life signatures."
"There ain't enough life in this ice box to fill a tall ship. Anyway, I just got those fallen perimeter posts back up, so I'm heading back."
"All right, I'll see you shortly. There was some kind of impact nearby and I want to check it out before I come back. It shouldn't take long."
As the communication ended, Luke's tauntaun suddenly began to bray and thrash. Luke pulled hard on the reins, trying to get it back under control. "Steady girl, steady. What's the matter? You smell someth-"
A wide paw covered in thick white fur and tipped with black claws knocked the tauntaun over, grazing Luke's face. He fell free and struck his head against a stone. The last things Luke saw as his vision faded were his blood dripping onto the snow and those black claws ripping out his tauntaun's throat.
After the creature had finished slaghtering the tauntaun, it dragged the carcass and Luke's unconscious body through the snow, leaving a furrow stained with crimson.
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Echo Base was a shining example of Rebel ingenuity and adaptability. Located on the western fork of the Serpent's Tongue Glacier, it had been carved into the wall of ice that overlooked the World Sea. A long maze of tunnels snaked through the glacier, connecting to living quarters, armories, mess halls, and roosts. The side facing the sea had a harbor hidden in a natural ice cave, while the side facing inland had a large entry ramp that sloped down into the glacier and was equipped with thick iron doors to keep out the cold night wind.
Han Solo rode down the entrance ramp and through the massive doorway. None of the snowbats nor their riders in the cavernous entry chamber took much notice though. Patrols were constantly coming and going these days. Once Han reached the tauntaun stable to one side of the chamber, he dismounted and handed the reins off to the stable master.
Han brushed the accumulated snow off of himself and pulled back his fur hood before heading through the arcwing roost and into one of Echo Base's tunnels.
Over the years, the Millennium Falcon had been used in a great deal of work for the Rebellion, earning Han and Chewbacca a modest fortune. Han had invested this back into his ship by plating the hull in scrap steel and purchasing a secondhand coal powered engine to improve her already impressive speed. Chewbacca was hard at work installing the propeller screws when Han entered the makeshift harbor.
"Chewie," Han yelled out. "Chewie?"
No response came from the Wookiee, who was still some ways off and concentrating on lining up the screw with the shaft.
Han walked to the edge of the drydock that berthed the Falcon, careful not to slip on the ice. "Chewie!"
Chewbacca jumped, startled by Han and almost dropped the screw. He yelled an untranslatable Shyriiwook swear and chastised Han for scaring him like he did.
Han put out his hands placatively. "All right, all right! Don't lose your temper. I'll come right back and give you a hand."
Chewbacca shook his head as Han walked away and he hefted the screw again.
Han entered Echo Base's looking glass and scrying table lined command center. Princess Leia saw him enter the room but quickly turned away, pretending to not have seen him. Han didn't even notice her and walked to the far end of the room where General Carlist Rieekan hunched over a table reading reports.
The General looked up. "Solo?"
"No signs of life out there, General. Got those perimeter posts back up, though. You'll know if anything does come around."
Leia turned her head just enough to watch Han out of the corner of her eye.
General Rieekan picked up his teacup and took a sip. He frowned at its lack of warmth and put the cup back down. "Commander Skywalker report in yet?"
"No, he's checking out some kind of impact site."
"Impact? Hm. Unusual, but that's to be expected this close to the Edge. Between the storms and strange occurrences, it's difficult to tell when ships are approaching too."
Han sighed. "General, once the Falcon's done, I've got to leave. I can't stay any longer."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"There's a price on my head. If I don't pay off Jabba the Hutt, I'm a dead man."
Rieekan nodded. "A death mark's not an easy thing to live with..." He looked him in the eye. "You're a good fighter, Solo. I hate to lose you."
"Thank you, General."
Han turned and finally saw Leia, who pretended to only just notice him. He walked over to her. "Well, your Highness, guess this is it."
"That's right," Leia replied without emotion.
Han frowned. "Well, now don't get all mushy on me. So long, Princess." He stormed away in a huff.
Leia hissed at herself and rushed out the door after him. She called out after him, Han's name echoing up the icy tunnel.
Han sighed and stopped. He turned and looked at Leia with an expression of irritation and impatience. "Yes, your Highness-ness?"
"I thought you had decided to stay."
"Well, the bounty hunter we ran into in Ord Mantell changed my mind."
"Han, we need you!"
"'We need?'" Han gave a smug smile.
"Yes."
"What about 'you need?'"
"'I need?'" Leia pouted slightly. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Han tutted. "No. You probably don't." He turned and continued walking down the tunnel.
Leia followed. "And what precisely am I supposed to know?"
"Come on! You want me to stay because of the way you feel about me."
"Yes! You're a great help to us. You're a natural leader."
Han stopped and put his finger in Leia's face. "No! That's not it! Come on!"
A messenger squeezed between them. "Excuse me."
After the messenger was gone, Han could see the slight blush on Leia's face. "Aha!"
"Y-you're imagining things."
"Am I? Then why are you following me? Afraid I was going to leave without giving you a goodbye kiss?"
Leia's mouth contorted as she tried to pick an emotion. She settled on disgust. "I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee!"
"I can arrange that!" Han stormed off again. "You could use a good kiss!"
Leia watched him go and gave a frustrated sigh.
Some time later, the automata See Threepio and Artu-Deetu moved down one of the tunnels of the living quarters, bickering as usual.
"Don't try to blame me," said the gold diplomatic automaton. "I didn't ask you to light a fire in the Princess' bedchamber. I merely commented that it was freezing in there."
The nautical automaton warbled and beeped a retort.
"We're in a glacier! It's supposed to be freezing! How are we going to dry out her clothes?"
Artu beeped a dry suggestion about starting another fire.
"Oh, switch off!"
As they entered by the tunnel that led to the ice harbor, they heard Han's yelling echo from within.
"Why are you taking it apart again?! I'm trying to get us out of here, and you take out both of the-"
"Excuse me, sir," Threepio interrupted.
"Put them back together," Han yelled at Chewbacca. He then turned to Threepio. "What?"
"It's Princess Leia, sir. She's been trying to reach you on your comm crystal."
"I turned it off. I don't want to talk to her."
"Princess Leia has been wondering about Master Luke. He hasn't come back. She doesn't know where he is."
"Well, I don't know where he is."
"Nobody knows where he is."
Han blinked. "What do you mean 'nobody knows?'"
"Well, uh, you see-"
Han switched his comm crystal back on. "Deck officer? Deck officer!"
"Excuse me, sir, might I-" began Threepio before Han clamped his hand over the automaton's metal mouth.
Han's comm crystal crackled for a moment, then the deck officer's voice came through. "What is it, Captain Solo?"
"Do you know where Commander Skywalker is?"
"I haven't seen him. It's possible he came in through the east entrance."
"It's possible? Why don't you go find out? It's getting dark out there."
"Yes, sir."
Han moved his hand away from Threepio's mouth to end the communication. The gold automaton piped up at once. "Excuse me, sir. Might I inquire what's going on?"
"Why not?" Han walked away.
"Impossible man... Come along, Artu. Let's find Princess Leia."
Artu chirped and followed Threepio back out the tunnel.
"Between you and me, I believe Master Luke is in considerable danger."
Tauntauns were one of the few creatures native to Hoth. They were tall bipedal mammals covered in dense white fur with a pair of curled horns on their heads. Typically, tauntauns lived in packs of between two and three dozen in the many caves of Hoth, sheltering themselves during the night and storms. For a brief period of history, they were hunted for their pungent waterproofing oil glands for the purposes of perfume making.
Han went back to the tauntaun stable to see if he could find out anything about Luke. The deck officer that he had spoken to before jogged up to him. "Sir, Commander Skywalker hasn't come through the east entrance either. He might have forgotten to check in."
Han's annoyance turned to worry. "Can we send out snowbats?"
"Not tonight. There's a storm coming in from the sea."
"Then we'll have to go out on tauntauns. Mount up."
"Sir, the temperature's dropping too rapidly."
"That's right, and my friend's out in it." Han mounted a tauntaun and strapped himself into the saddle.
"Your tauntaun will freeze before you reach the perimeter!"
"Then I'll see you in Hell. Hyah!" Han popped the reins and rode out the main entrance.
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Luke groaned in pain as his consciousness slowly returned. The first thing he noticed about his surroundings was that they seemed to be upside down. A moment later, he realized that it was actually he who was upside down.
Luke was hanging from the ceiling in an ice cave. Bones of many tauntauns lay in piles around him and he noticed blood on the ground below him. Luke thought back to the last thing that he could remember and realized that the blood was likely his. He grimaced and felt the gashes on his face reopen.
Suddenly Luke became aware of disquieting sounds. From the deepest part of the cave came the slurping and crunching of something large eating raw meat. Luke turned his head and upper body as much as he could and his heart sank when he saw what had captured him.
He was in the den of a wampa, one the towering apex predators of Hoth. These white pelted brutes dwarfed even Wookiees and their hunger had cost the Rebels more than a few soldiers and tauntauns in the early days of Echo Base. One of the most disastrous encounters with them had happened during construction of the tunnels when Rebel engineers had punched through into a large den of them. It had taken sealing off that section with an iron door to save the base.
Luke looked up at his feet and found that they were lashed to a cluster of stalactites by what he thought were the straps of his tauntaun's saddle. He doubled himself over and reached up, trying to undo the straps. Between the pain and weakness from blood loss, it wasn't long before he straightened back out again, having not made any headway into undoing his restraints.
Luke grimaced as he swung back and forth, feeling the blood rush back to his head like a hammer blow. When he reopened his eyes something in the corner of his vision caught his attention.
The silver hilt of his Lightblade was sticking out of a pile of snow just out of his reach, having likely come off his belt when the wampa strung him up. Luke extended his hand and concentrated. The hilt didn't move. He tried with his other hand with the same result.
Luke took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He closed his eyes and reached out again. The hilt twitched.
The wampa, finished with its meal, stood and saw that its prey was awake. It growled, unsure of what was going on, but it couldn't take the chance of losing another meal. The hulking creature lumbered towards Luke.
Luke could sense the hilt moving, working itself free from the snow pile. Just a little bit more...
The wampa roared in alarm as it saw something fly into its prey's hand. It was alarmed further when the object then emitted a blue glowing blade.
Luke doubled himself over again and cut the straps that held him. He rolled clumsily on landing but came to his feet in time to see the wampa rear back for a strike. Luke brought his blade up and swung at the wampa's attacking arm. The beast roared as the sword cut through its arm and pawed at the stump left behind. Luke scrambled for the entrance of the cave, retracting his Lightblade and replacing it on his belt.
The wampa's roars followed him out of the cave as he emerged into a storm. Fortunately though, the wampa itself did not pursue. Luke tripped and tumbled down a snow drift, caking his face in the freezing powder. He crawled as quickly as he could, desperate to put as much distance between himself and the wampa as possible. Luke tried to stand, but his legs gave out beneath him and he fell face first into the snow.
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Han rode across the snowy wastes as the biting wind whipped around him. Despite his layers of clothing, the cold exploited any gap it could find, burning his skin. The blizzard that had only been a threat when he ride out of Echo Base was now a very dangerous reality and Luke was somewhere in the middle of it.
He brushed the snow off of his smoked glass goggles and pulled out his binoculars. It wasn't much of an improvement, but he wanted anything that could improve his chances.
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Artu sat at the top of Echo Base's entrance ramp with his active scrying apparatus searching for any signs of Luke. Unlike his passive scryer, the active one was very accurate but required him to stand still during use. The long arctic twilight was drawing to a close now, and the winds would only get worse. Time was running out and Artu knew it.
Threepio came up the ramp and placed a hand on Artu's domed head. "You really must come along now, Artu. There's really nothing more we can do. I don't want your dynamo core to freeze over."
Artu beeped and chirped.
"Don't say things like that! Of course we'll see him again!" Threepio started walking back down the ramp but stopped and turned. "And he'll be quite all right, you'll see!" He continued on his way, muttering to himself. "Stupid little thing... He'll be quite all right..." Despite his words, he was just as worried as his counterpart.
Artu twisted his head left and right to dislodge the built-up snow and set back to his scrying.
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Luke fell onto his back, panting heavily. Walking through snow even in peak condition was tiring, and he was far from that at the moment. He had long since lost feeling in his extremities, but at least his bleeding had stopped. Had he been in his right mind, though, he would have been more concerned that he was no longer shivering.
After two failures, he was finally able to stand again. Luke tried to shield his eyes from the driving snow with both of his hands, but another fall made him realize that he should only use one and keep the other to catch himself.
Luke managed to take five more stumbling strides before he collapsed onto his left side, unsure if he could stand again.
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Han hadn't seen anything since leaving the base, but he had a gut feeling that told him he was on the right track. His tauntaun, however, was doing quite poorly. Han whispered to it to hold out just long enough to find Luke.
He noticed a faint tinge of red in the snow nearby. Han climbed down from his saddle and waded towards it. Based on the amount of snow buildup, it looked to be fairly recent.
Han remounted his tauntaun and rode on, praying to an entity he wasn't sure existed that he wasn't too late.
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Echo Base's deck officer stared out the main entrance at the wall of white falling from the sky. He let out a deep breath and watched the resulting steam cloud swirl. The sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention and he turned.
A soldier stopped and saluted. "Sir, all the patrols have reported in. Still no-" He saw Princess Leia standing nearby and lowered his voice. "Still no contact from Skywalker or Solo."
Even though she couldn't hear the soldier's words over the sound of the wind outside, Leia knew what he was saying.
Threepio came through the giant door with a dusting of snow on his shoulders and head. Artu followed with far more snow on him. The gold automaton walked over to the Princess, who bore an expectant expression. "Mistress Leia, Artu says he has been quite unable to detect anything, although he does admit that his own range is far too short to abandon all hope."
"Your Highness," said the deck officer as he approached. "There's nothing more we can do tonight. We have to close the doors."
Leia's face fell and she meekly nodded.
Chewbacca emerged from one of the tunnels, hoping for any news on his friends. When he saw Leia's expression, his heart sank. He leaned his head against one of the iron beams that supported the ceiling and started to softly whine.
Artu beeped sadly as he watched the Rebels take up positions at the door winches.
Threepio turned his head towards Princess Leia. "Artu says that the odds of survival are 725 to 1 against..."
Leia stared out at the snow as the iron doors slid towards each other. The clanking of the winches and the grinding of the closing doors echoed through the chamber. When they sealed with an almighty clang, Chewbacca let out a mournful roar.
"Actually," began Threepio, hoping to reassure Princess Leia, "Artu has been known to make mistakes... from time to time..."
Leia walked away without looking at him.
Threepio's shoulders sagged and he shook his head. "Oh, dear..."
Artu blipped to his counterpart.
"Don't worry about Master Luke. I'm sure he'll be all right. He's quite clever, you know. For a human being."
Chewbacca rested his head back against the support beam again and quietly sobbed.
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Luke's vision swam as he lay partially buried in the snow. He wasn't even sure if he was still alive.
An image of two babies appeared in his mind. One was surrounded by sand while the other was on snowy mountains. Luke knew the first one to be himself, but the identity of the other, while familiar, escaped him.
"Luke," called a faint voice.
Luke groaned and lifted his head as much as he could muster.
"Luke," said the voice again.
Luke squinted. There seemed to be someone standing in front of him, but they were pale and translucent. What's more, the person looked like... "Ben?"
A whirlwind of emotions tore through Luke's clouded mind. Obi-Wan was dead - he had seen him die with his own eyes. Luke asked himself if he had died on the snow. Was Obi-Wan his shepherd to the afterlife? Was this just a hallucination?
In truth, Obi-Wan was appearing to Luke as a Spirit of the Force, which can only manifest near the convergence of leylines. The higher the number of lines converging, the more the spirits can interact with the living world. Manifestations range from only being visible to those close to death to being nearly opaque with only a blue tint to reveal their otherworldly nature. It is said that the leyline nexus at the world's center can even give spirits the ability to physically interact with the world around them.
"Luke... You will go to the land of Dagobah."
"D... Dagobah?" Luke asked weakly.
"There you will learn from Yoda, the Jedi Master who gave me my first lessons."
Luke reached out a shaky hand. "Ben!"
Obi-Wan smiled and faded away. Beyond where he had been standing, a tauntaun and rider emerged from the driving snow. Luke let out a single, halfhearted "ha" and collapsed.
Han jumped down from the tauntaun. "Luke! Luke, hang in there!" He waded through the deep snow and rolled his friend over. "Come on! Don't do this, Luke!"
Luke didn't move.
"Give me a sign here, kid!" Han uncovered his ear and put it to Luke's face. He heard Luke breathing, but it was weak.
A thud from nearby startled Han. He looked up to find that his tauntaun had finally given out. It lay on its side, lifeless. Han stared at it, then back to Luke.
Han dragged Luke over to the tauntaun. He wasn't sure if his idea would work, but it was the only option he had. Luke muttered something on the edge of hearing, syllables that made no sense to Han.
Han pulled Luke's Lightblade from his belt. He had seen Luke use it several times before. As far as he knew, all he needed to do was press the rune on the side.
A blue blade shot forth and a strange sensation ran up Han's spine. He had no time to dwell on it, though. Han sliced open the tauntaun's belly, making an opening just large enough to fit Luke. "Hang on, kid..."
"Dagobah... Yoda..."
Han frowned. There were those syllables again.
Han began to move Luke, unintentionally moving his own face close to where he had opened the tauntaun. "Whew! This may smell bad, kid..."
"Yoda..."
"...but it'll keep you warm. At least until I get the shelter up."
Luke continued muttering as Han fit him inside the tauntaun's body cavity. After he was done, Han uncovered his mouth to try to regain his breath. "I thought they smelled bad on the outside..."
Han crawled around to the other side of the tauntaun and began unlashing the collapsible shelter from the saddle.