The transformation of the Alliance to Restore the Republic from a scattered collection of
independent rebel cells to a united and centralized coalition was a necessary, but precarious
development.
With most of the Alliance’s leadership now stationed in one location, a single strike
at the right moment could potentially decapitate the entire Rebellion.
Secrecy was their greatest weapon and the location of the Alliance’s headquarters
was safeguarded above every other consideration.
In the aftermath of the destruction of the first Death Star and the evacuation of Yavin
4, rumors spread across the galaxy and even within the Alliance itself, that the new headquarters
was located on a distant asteroid, or even beneath the surface of some great ocean.
The truth was far less glamorous; a bleak and crowded settlement beneath the glaciers
of an arctic wasteland, known to those assigned there as Echo Base.
While the search for a new base of operations began almost immediately following the discovery
of the Rebel presence on Yavin 4, Imperial Intelligence networks thwarted the Alliance’s
efforts.
It took three years after the Battle of Yavin before was a suitable candidate selected - the
remote world of Hoth.
Located in the system of the same name, Hoth was a world covered entirely in tremendous
ice sheets which were barely capable of supporting life.
An asteroid belt continually pelted its surface but helped conceal Alliance starships and
confused Imperial sensors.
A network of natural caverns beneath the Clabburn Mountain Range provided an opportune site
for an underground headquarters.
These caverns were eventually expanded to suit the needs of the Rebellion and linked
together by a labyrinth of artificial corridors.
Upon completion, the newly designated “Echo Base” contained the necessary infrastructure
to support the Rebel Alliance indefinitely.
Several large hangers were situated across the base, housing multiple GR-75 transports
and several squadrons of starfighters.
These were not makeshift landing pads, but an almost fully equipped starport with an
enormous liquid fuel reserve, prep bays, maintenance levels, and an extensive cargo storage bay.
Hangers were protected from the elements by enormous blast doors, sealed shut each night
as temperatures dropped below -60 degrees.
Comprehensive medical facilities tended to soldiers wounded in various fronts across
the galaxy while the upper leadership of the Rebellion itself made use of a command and
control stationed deep in the heart of Echo Base.
To defend against orbital bombardment, Echo Base made use of a V-150 Ion Cannon and a
massive deflector shield.
The cannon’s spherical turret and accompanying shield generator were the largest structures
visible above the surface of Hoth, and the only clue to the true scale of the base that
lay beneath.
Other, smaller defenses included a network of trenches carved into the surrounding glacier
and dotted occasionally with various surface emplacements.
Several dedicated outposts and sentry points were attached to this network, housing reconnaissance
elements and communication stations.
While ingenious in its design, the facility was also intended to be evacuated at a moments
notice.
It was hastily constructed and faults in its electrical systems could leave sections of
the base without power or heat.
Additionally, not all the natural caverns beneath the Clabburn Range had been fully
surveyed and a species of native predator known as a Wampa would occasionally enter
Echo Base during the night.
Spacious quarters were granted only to the highest officers and most troops assigned
to Echo Base slept in enormous bunkers with several hundred others.
Rations were often scarce and Hoth’s extreme conditions put considerable strain on the
base’s garrison.
Every effort was made to conceal the location of Echo Base.
Starships en route were sent on a random path through hyperspace to thwart any pursuit while
information surrounding the facility was largely withheld.
Despite these precautions, only one month after Echo Base had become fully operational,
an Imperial Viper Probe Droid landed on the surface of Hoth and began transmitting images
of the exposed shield generator.
When Imperial forces arrived in orbit, Code K-One-Zero, the emergency protocol ordering
the immediate evacuation of the base, was put into effect.
Despite the heroic sacrifice of hundreds of Rebel soldiers, Imperial forces quickly overran
the defenses surrounding Echo Base and rapidly entered the facility itself.
The Alliance had achieved a miraculous escape in the short window available to them however,
and those captured were limited to low-level personnel.
In the months and years that followed, scavengers arrived on Hoth to pick apart what remained
of the facility and whatever equipment the victorious Imperials had left behind.
Few within the Rebellion would miss the frigid conditions of Echo Base, but there remained
a sense of pride in the idea that this single bastion of defiance held off the might of
the Galactic Empire for one brief, but critical moment.
In Atlas, the Templin Institute investigates the most storied places from across alternate
worlds.
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