A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away...
It is a dark time for the Rebellion.
Although the Death Star has been destroyed,
Imperial troops have driven the Rebel forces from their hidden base
and pursued them across the galaxy.
Evading the dreaded Imperial Starfleet,
a group of freedom fighters led by Luke Skywalker
has established a new secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth.
The evil lord Darth Vader, obsessed with finding young Skywalker,
has dispatched thousands of remote probes into the far reaches of space...
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- SNOW PLAIN -- DAY
The dark probe robot moves past the smoldering ruins of
station three-eight and down a ridge toward the Rebel base. It
raises a large antenna from the top of its head and begins to
send out a piercing signal.
The probe droid has spotted Chewbacca who, not thirty feet
away, has popped his head over a snow bank. Instantly, the
probe robot swings around, its deadly ray ready to fire. But
before it can get a shot off, it is hit from behind by a laser
bolt, and explodes in a million pieces.
Han Solo replaces his blaster in its holster and peers
intently at the smoldering remains of the Imperial probe.
INTERIOR: HOTH -- REBEL BASE -- COMMAND CENTER
Leia and Rieekan listen to Han on the comlink.
HAN: (over comlink) Afraid there's not much left.
LEIA: (into comlink) What was it?
HAN: (over comlink) Droid of some kind. I didn't hit it that hard. It
must have had a self-destruct.
LEIA: (into comlink) An Imperial probe droid.
HAN: (over comlink) It's a good bet the Empire knows we're here.
RIEEKAN: We'd better start the evacuation.
EXTERIOR: SPACE -- IMPERIAL FLEET
Darth Vader's Star Destroyer, larger and more awesome than
the five Imperial Star Destroyers that surround it, sits in
the vastness of space. The six huge ships are surrounded by a
convoy of smaller spacecraft. TIE fighters dart to and fro.
INTERIOR: DARTH VADER'S STAR DESTROYER -- BRIDGE -- MAIN CONTROL DECK
Controllers working the vast complex of electronic controls
hear ominous approaching footsteps and look up from their
controls. The squat, evil-looking Admiral Ozzel and the young,
powerfully built General Veers, who have been conferring near
the front, also feel the approaching presence and turn toward
it. Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, enters like a chill wind.
As Vader moves across the wide bridge, Captain Piett hurries
up to Ozzel.
PIETT: Admiral.
OZZEL: Yes, Captain
PIETT: I think we've got something, sir. The report is only a fragment
from a probe droid in the Hoth system, but it's the best lead we've
had.
OZZEL: (irritated) We have thousands of probe droids searching the
galaxy. I want proof, not leads!
PIETT: The visuals indicate life readings.
OZZEL: It could mean anything. If we followed every lead...
PIETT: But, sir, the Hoth system is supposed to be devoid of human
forms.
Vader moves to a large screen showing an image of the Rebel
snow base. Rebel speeders can be seen approaching the base in
the distance.
VADER: You found something?
PIETT: Yes, my lord.
VADER: (studying the image on the console screen) That's it. The
Rebels are there.
OZZEL: My lord, there are so many uncharted settlements. It could be
smugglers, it could be...
VADER: That is the system. And I'm sure Skywalker is with them. Set
your course for the Hoth system. General Veers, prepare you men.
INTERIOR: HOTH -- REBEL BASE -- TRANSPORT BAY
A captain issues instructions to two of his men at the
entrance to the main transport bay. Several Rebel transports
behind them are being loaded by men carrying heavy boxes and
moving quickly, but not in panic.
REBEL CAPTAIN: Groups seven and ten will stay behind to fly the
speeders. As soon as each transport is loaded, evacuation control will
give clearance for immediate launch.
REBEL FIGHTER: Right, sir.
INTERIOR: REBEL BASE -- CONTROL ROOM.
Alarms sound throughout the hidden Rebel base. In the
control room, a controller urgently gestures for General
Rieekan to check a computer scan.
CONTROLLER: General, there's a fleet of Star Destroyers coming out of
hyperspace in sector four.
RIEEKAN: Reroute all power to the energy shield. We've got to hold
them till all transports are away. Prepare for ground assault.
Rieekan exits hurriedly.
INTERIOR: VADER'S STAR DESTROYER -- VADER'S CHAMBER -- MEDITATION CUBICLE
The dark cubicle is illuminated by a single shaft of light
which falls on the brooding Dark Lord as he sits on a raised
meditation cube. General Veers enters the room and approaches
the silent, unmoving Vader. Although seemingly very sure of
himself, Veers is still not bold enough to interrupt the
meditating lord. The younger general stands quietly at
attention until the evil presence speaks.
VADER: What is it, General?
VEERS: My lord, the fleet has moves out of light-speed. Com-Scan has
detected an energy field protecting an area around the sixth planet of
the Hoth system. The field is strong enough to deflect any
bombardment.
VADER: (angrily) The Rebels are alerted to our presence. Admiral Ozzel
came out of light-speed too close to the system.
VEERS: He felt surprise was wiser...
VADER: He is as clumsy as he is stupid. General, prepare your troops
for a surface attack.
VEERS: Yes, my lord.
Veers turns smartly and leaves as Vader activates a large
viewscreen showing the bridge of his mighty ship. Admiral
Ozzel appears on the viewscreen, standing slightly in front of
Captain Piett.
OZZEL: Lord Vader, the fleet has moved out of light-speed, and we're
preparing to...Aaagh!
VADER: You have failed me for the last time, Admiral. Captain Piett.
Piett steps forward, as the admiral moves away, slightly
confused, touching his throat as it begins to constrict
painfully.
PIETT: Yes, my lord.
VADER: Make ready to land out troops beyond the energy shield and
deploy the fleet so that nothing gets off that system. You are in
command now, Admiral Piett.
PIETT: Thank you, Lord Vader.
Piett's pleasure about his unexpected promotion is not an
unmixed emotion. He glances warily at the struggling Admiral
Ozzel who, with a final choke, stumbles and falls in a
lifeless heap before him.
INTERIOR: REBEL BASE -- MAIN HANGAR DECK
With a sense of urgency, Leia quickly briefs a group of
pilots gathered in the center of the hangar.
LEIA: All troop carriers will assemble at the north entrance. The
heavy transport ships will leave as soon as they're loaded. Only two
fighter escorts per ship. The energy shield can only be opened for a
short time, so you'll have to stay very close to your transports.
HOBBIE: Two fighters against a Star Destroyer?
LEIA: The ion cannon will fire several shots to make sure that any
enemy ships will be out of your flight path. When you've gotten past
the energy shield, proceed directly to the rendezvous point.
Understood?
PILOTS: (in unison) Right. Okay.
LEIA: Good luck.
DERLIN: Okay. Everyone to your stations. Let's go!
The pilots hurry away. Leia approaches YOU and a small group of other REBEL PLAYER CHARACTERS...
LEIA: Gentlemen, it is especially important you make it past the Imperial blockade. We need you to make it to the Rendezvous Point as soon as possible to get new Rebel bases up and running! The future of the Alliance is in your hands...EXTERIOR: HOTH -- ICE PLAIN
A thin horizon line cuts across the bleak landscape. Small
dot-size objects begin to appear on the horizon, moving in the
direction of the Rebel base.
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- ICE PLAIN -- SNOW TRENCH
A Rebel officer lifts a pair of electrobinoculars to his
eyes. Through the lens he sees a very close view of a giant
Imperial snow walker. He adjusts the view which then zooms
back to reveal three more of the ominous battle machines.
Small flashes of yellow fire billow from the guns of the
lumbering snow walkers.
The officer lowers his binoculars as the regular rhythmic
pounding begins to make the ground vibrate. The pounding grows
louder and is accompanied by a high-pitched, metallic
rattling. The officer speaks into his comlink.
TRENCH OFFICER: Echo Station Three-T-Eight.
INTERIOR: REBEL BASE -- CORRIDOR
Pilots and gunners race to their waiting snowspeeders. Ice
and snow begin falling from the walls of the corridor, shaken
by the pounding Imperial snow walker as they draw ever nearer.
TRENCH OFFICER: (over comlink) We have spotted Imperial walkers!
CONTROLLER: Imperial walkers on the north ridge.
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- ICE PLAIN -- SNOW TRENCH
The Rebel troops aim their weapons at the horizon as
explosions erupt all around them. They are nervous and their
grip on their weapons tightens from the cold and from fear.
Behind the troops a dozen snowspeeders race through the
sky.
INTERIOR: LUKE'S SNOWSPEEDER, ROUGE LEADER -- COCKPIT
LUKE: (into comlink) Echo station Five-Seven. We're on our way.
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- ICE PLAIN -- BATTLEFIELD
The fleet of snowspeeders races above the ice field at full
throttle. They accelerate away from the base and head toward
the distant walkers.
INTERIOR: LUKE'S SNOWSPEEDER, ROUGE LEADER -- COCKPIT
LUKE: (into comlink) All right, boys, keep tight now.
DACK: Luke, I have no approach vector. I'm not set.
LUKE: Steady, Dack. Attack pattern delta. Go now!
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- ICE PLAIN -- BATTLEFIELD
The cannons mounted on the walker head fire at the
speeders. Other walkers loom in the background. Two speeders
race away past two of the enormous walkers and bank to the
right.
INTERIOR: LUKE'S SNOWSPEEDER, ROUGE LEADER -- COCKPIT
LUKE: All right, I'm coming in.
He turns his speeder and heads directly at one of the
walkers, flying toward its towering legs. The horizon twists
as the speeder banks between the legs.
LUKE: (into comlink) Hobbie, you still with me?
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- ICE PLAIN -- BATTLEFIELD
Two speeders race directly at the head of a walker, then
split and fly past it.
Three other walkers march onward, firing all cannons.
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- ICE PLAIN -- SNOWTRENCH
Rebel troops fire on the approaching walkers, as the snow
and ice explode all around them.
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- ICE PLAIN -- BATTLEFIELD
A speeder banks through and away from the legs of a walker.
Two other speeders pass the first speeder from the opposite
direction. Other Rebel craft race just above the icy plain.
A giant walker head swivels and fires, striking a
snowspeeder and sending it crashing in a ball of flames.
INTERIOR: IMPERIAL SNOW WALKER -- COCKPIT
General Veers and two walker pilots keep a careful eye on
the racing Rebel snowspeeders as they maneuver their lumbering
war machine forward.
Luke's speeder banks in from the side of Veers's walker and
heads straight for its viewport, blasting away. An explosion
hits the walker window, but dissipates, doing no harm. The
speeder roars up and over the impregnable war machine.
INTERIOR: LUKE'S SNOWSPEEDER, ROUGE LEADER -- COCKPIT
Luke looks back at the walker as it grows smaller in the
distance.
LUKE: That armor's too strong for blasters.
On the horizon, another walker moves up past Luke's cockpit
window, twisting out of sight as Luke banks and starts another
run.
LUKE: (into comlink) Rouge Group, use your harpoons and tow cables. Go
for the legs. It might be our only chance of stopping them. (to Dack)
All right, stand by, Dack.
Dack is at the gunner's controls.
DACK: Luke, we've got a malfunction in fire control. I'll have to cut
in the auxiliary.
LUKE: Just hang on. Hang on, Dack. Get ready to fire that tow cable.
Barely keeping his seat in the tumbling ship, Dack struggles
to set up his harpoon gun.
Luke swings his speeder around and heads toward an oncoming
walker. Laser bolts and flak fill the air, creating a deadly
obstacle course for the tiny craft.
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- ICE PLAIN -- BATTLEFIELD
Rouge Leader and another snowspeeder fly in tight formation
toward the walker as explosions burst all around them.
INTERIOR: LUKE'S SNOWSPEEDER, ROUGE LEADER -- COCKPIT
After sustaining a heavy volley of fire, Luke turns around
to see if Dack is all right.
LUKE: Dack? Dack!
Dack is lost. Blood streams down his forehead, which
rests on his smoldering controls. Out the back window, an
Imperial walker recedes in the distance.
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- ICE PLAIN -- SNOW TRENCH AREA
Rebel troops fire the dishlike ray gun while explosions
erupt around them.
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- ICE PLAIN -- BATTLEFIELD
Two walkers lumber toward the Rebel base as a speeder
between them explodes in a ball of flames.
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- ICE PLAIN -- SNOW TRENCH
The dislike ray gun is hit by a laser bolt and instantly
explodes.
INTERIOR: IMPERIAL SNOW WALKER -- COCKPIT
Through the cockpit window, Veers and his pilot can see the
Rebel power generators in the distance.
A hologram of Darth Vader appears on a control panel
screen.
VEERS: Yes, Lord Vader. I've reached the main power generator. The
shield will be down in moments. You may start your landing.
INTERIOR: DARTH VADER'S STAR DESTROYER -- BRIDGE -- MAIN CONTROL DECK
Vader deactivates the HOLONET transmitter and gives the order to the main hangar bay to prepare his TIE INTERCEPTOR for launch. After conferring with ADMIRAL PIETT to give him command of the bridge, he approaches YOU and a group of IMPERIAL PLAYER CHARACTERS...
VADER: Lieutenants, I have ordered you to report to me because I have a special mission for you to undertake. The Emperor has foreseen the Rebel Alliance persevering through this battle, and as a contingency you will be dispatched to seek and destroy any remaining remnants. You will also oversee the construction of my Armada-class Super Star Destroyer on Dathomir. If you care to join me on the surface to finish the Rebels, you may do so, but at this instance you have your orders... and DO NOT FAIL ME...
Vader turns, and walks briskly away from the contingent of IMPERIAL PLAYER CHARACTERS, his cape flowing powerfully behind him, as he begins his journey towards the surface of HOTH.EXTERIOR: HOTH -- BATTLEFIELD
The fierce battle on the vast snow plains of Hoth rages on.
The Imperial walkers continue their slow, steady assault on
the Rebel base, firing lasers as they lumber ever onward. In
the snow trench, Rebel troops fire large bazookalike guns and
dishlike ray guns as explosions erupt around them. A gun tower
is hit by a laser bolt and instantly explodes. Another blast
destroys a ray gun.
INTERIOR: IMPERIAL SNOW WALKER -- COCKPIT
General Veers studies various readouts on his control
panel.
VEERS: All troops will debark for ground assault. Prepare to target
the main generator.
INTERIOR: REBEL BASE -- COMMAND CENTER
Apart from the distant thunder of laser blasts, the
corridor is strangely quiet and empty. Running footsteps echo
through the freezing hallway, then Han appears. Cracks have
appeared in some of the walls and some pipes have broken,
sending hot steam billowing into the underground hallways. Han
hurries into the command center. It is a shambles, but some
people are still at their posts. As he enters, a gigantic
cave-in almost obliterates the room. He finds Leia and
Threepio near one of the control boards.
HAN: You all right?
Leia nods. She is surprised to see him.
LEIA: Why are you still here?
HAN: I heard the command center had been hit.
LEIA: You got your clearance to leave.
HAN: Don't worry. I'll leave. First I'm going to get you to your ship.
THREEPIO: Your Highness, we must take this last transport. It's our
only hope.
LEIA: (to controller) Send all troops in sector twelve to the south
slope to protect the fighters.
A blast rocks the command center, throwing Threepio
backward into Han's arms.
ANNOUNCER: (over loudspeaker) Imperial troops have entered the base.
HAN: Come on...that's it.
LEIA: (to head controller) Give the evacuation code signal. And get to
your transports!
Leia looks exhausted. Han grabs her and starts to lead her
out.
As Han, Leia, and Threepio run out of the command center,
the code signal can be heard echoing off the corridor walls.
HEAD CONTROLLER: K-one-zero...all troops disengage.
THREEPIO: (to Han and Leia) Oh! Wait for me!
EXTERIOR: BATTLEFIELD -- SNOW TRENCH
Rebel troops retreat under the awesome Imperial onslaught.
OFFICER: Begin retreat!
SECOND OFFICER: Fall back!
Troops flee from the battle, the ground exploding around
them.
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- BATTLEFIELD
Three of the giant walkers, firing lasers, advance toward
the Rebel headquarters.
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- SNOW TRENCH
Continuing their retreat, the Rebels see the walkers
looming ever nearer.
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- BATTLEFIELD -- ICE PLAIN
On the battlefield, Luke watches as a walker foot rises and
moves over him. He looks up at the underbelly of the huge
walker, passing overhead.
Running beneath the monstrous machine, Luke fires his
harpoon gun at the walker's underside. A thin cable follows
the projectile from the gun. The magnetic head and cable
attach firmly to the metal hull.
Still running under the walker, Luke attaches the cable
drum to his belt buckle. Soon he is pulled up the cable and
hangs dangling underneath the walker.
The walker's giant feet continue to pound onward across the
frozen snow. Stray laser bolts whistle by Luke as he climbs up
the cable to the walker's hull, reaching a small hatch.
Hanging precariously, Luke cuts the solid metal hatch with his
laser sword.
He takes a landmine from around his neck and throws it
inside the Imperial machine. Quickly, Luke starts down the
cable and crashes onto the icy ground far below. He lies
unconscious as a giant rear leg passes by -- and just misses
him.
The giant walker stops in mid-step. A muffled explosion
comes from within -- and then the walker's mechanical insides
are spewed out every conceivable opening. The machine sits
dead in its tracks, smoking like a locomotive on stilts.
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- BATTLEFIELD
Veers's walker continues to advance toward the Rebel base.
The smoldering walker that Luke exploded stands smoking just
to the right of Veers's path.
INTERIOR: IMPERIAL SNOW WALKER - COCKPIT
Inside his walker, General Veers prepares to fire on the
Rebel power generators.
VEERS: Distance to power generators?
PILOT: One-seven, decimal two-eight.
Veers reaches for the electrorangefinder and lines up the
main generator.
VEERS: Target. Maximum fire power.
EXTERIOR: HOTH -- BATTLEFIELD
The Rebel troops continue their desperate retreat, pushed
back by the relentless Imperial assault..
