Hoth asteroid field The Hoth asteroid field , also known as the Anoat Asteroid Belt , was an extensive , wildly erratic asteroid belt occupying the farthest orbit of the Hoth system in the Outer Rim Territories . Forged as the resulting effect of a collision between two rocky planets eons prior to the Galactic Civil War , the belt was a favored sanctuary for smugglers and pirates alike hoping to elude legal authority . The field was rich in untapped mineral resources such as metal ore , a magnet for mining prospectors hoping to make a fortune . The chaotic nature of the asteroid field sent a constant bombardment of meteorites to the surface of Hoth , the system ' s sixth planet . Following the Battle of Hoth in 3 ABY , Han Solo braved the perils of the asteroid field in the " Millennium Falcon " as part of a desperate ploy to escape the Imperial Navy , successfully navigating its expanse against all odds . Later , in 12 ABY , the Hutts used the belt as the construction site of the Darksaber Project , a planet - destroying superweapon designed to dominate the galaxy . A New Republic attack force under the command of General Wedge Antilles pursued the weapon through the field , and it was ultimately destroyed after being crushed between two planetoids . Description . The Hoth asteroid field , also referred to as the Anoat Asteroid Belt , was an especially wide swath of countless free - ranging planetesimals confined to a set orbit . Located at the outermost edge of the Hoth system — the far end terminating in the Anoat 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 millions of years 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 . Scientists and surveyors also speculated that the asteroid field may have formed after the crumbling of one of the ice planet Hoth ' s own moons , or even that the two planets ' collision caused the moons to crumble , supplementing the rock storm . Due to the Hoth system ' s remote isolation , the asteroid field remained largely uncharted . Throughout the belt ' s existence , rocky chunks continued to constantly collide with one another , grinding each other down to smaller asteroids . During the belt ' s early years , the collisions were catastrophic , creating vast craters in the many large asteroids . The collisions became less frequent and less powerful by comparison as the field matured , and the asteroids entered relatively stable orbits . 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 all but impossible for charting . Additionally , the random maelstrom and constant collisions proved a great hazard for hyperspace travel through the region and a certain deathtrap for pilots hoping to successfully traverse the field . The largest asteroids , continually tugging at each other , destroyed any possibility of maintaining a rigid orbit . The Hoth system ' s planets were the frequent recipients of meteorite collisions from asteroids that had broken away from the field as a result . In particular , a steady stream of meteorites constantly bombarded the planet Hoth , occupying the system ' s sixth orbit . The field ' s asteroids were rich in mineral composition , the lasting deposits of the two planetary cores . Indeed , the asteroids were composed of a vast array of different minerals and metal ores , including nickel and iron — one asteroid was even rumored to be comprised entirely of platinum . The high metal concentration of the asteroids had a tendency to cause sensor distortions for passing starships . A rare growth found among many of the asteroids were crystal fern s , 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 their base on the surface of an asteroid and propagated from one asteroid to another , broken in shards that were carried to other rocks by orbital forces . The asteroid field ' s very high mineral content and presence of some organic material , including frozen water , meant that some extraordinary creatures occupied the asteroid field . Many of the larger asteroids were inhabited by giant wormlike creatures known as exogorths , colloquially called " space slugs . " Prior to the fall of the Galactic Republic , the space pirate Clabburn the Elder 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 . Indeed , while other exogorth specimens existed throughout the galaxy , those found among the Hoth asteroids were the largest . The slugs were able to survive within the thin atmospheres of the larger asteroids , subsisting 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 . By the early years of the Galactic Civil War , thousands of space slugs populated the asteroid field . In turn , winged , parasitic creatures known as mynocks inhabited these giant space slugs . Silicon - based lifeforms able to survive in vacuum , mynocks typically assumed sanctuary within their hosts and leached off the soft inner membranes of the slugs ' interiors and the thermal energy they radiated as heat . Large numbers of mynock packs lived in the field , attaching themselves to the outer hull of the occasional passing starship to drain the vessel ' s concentrated energy . History . Miners and pirates . The asteroid belt was an opulent source of untapped wealth for the galaxy at large . The mineral deposits laying in store within the asteroids themselves promised instant reward to anyone who was able to extract them . For many years prior to the fall of the Galactic Republic , Hoth ' s asteroid belt was a powerful attractant to several such prospectors — independent , or otherwise — hoping to strike it rich . The belt ' s hazardous and erratic pitfalls were not enough to deter these entrepreneurs from accepting the gambit of potential death for wealth . Nevertheless , by 12 ABY , the field ' s resources still remained largely untapped despite previous efforts . A popularly persistent legend existed of one particular asteroid that was rumored to be nothing less than a mass of nearly pure platinum . The chunk of ore became anecdotally known as Kerane ' s Folly because the prospector Kerane , having supposedly discovered the asteroid , extracted a sample and exited the asteroid field in order to confirm that it was indeed the precious metal he sought . When he returned to the field , he found he could not relocate his treasure . Kerane spent the rest of his life searching the Hoth asteroid field , but was never able to recover the asteroid . This story had spurred other prospectors into searching for the platinum asteroid for years without success . For centuries the field also proved to be a favorite hiding place for many smugglers and pirates . Rumors abounded about pirate treasure that lay hidden deep within the field . The larger asteroids with minimal atmospheres served as strongholds for many hostile criminals , where they discovered they were relatively safe from any lawful hand of judgment . Governmental organizations alike , from the Republic and the Galactic Empire , to independent planetary police forces , had lost elusive prey into the confines of the wild asteroid assortment . They each determined that , after numerous enforcement ships were lost in pursuit , once a refugee managed to reach the asteroid belt , continuing the chase was an exercise in futility . Reports of smugglers raiding a small mining station in the asteroid field came to the attention of the Jedi Council sometime prior to the Battle of Naboo in 32 BBY . The responsibility fell to Jedi Master Qui - Gon Jinn to assemble a team of Jedi to patrol the area for suspicious smugglers . One large asteroid in particular was known among pirate groups as the " Poison Moon , " because of its surface appearance . Three years prior to the onset of the Clone Wars , the Republic " Consular " - class cruiser " Radiant IX " was sucked into the gravity well of the asteroid after a group of mynocks leeched power from the exterior of the ship . The Jedi Knight Obi - Wan Kenobi and his Padawan learner , Anakin Skywalker , arrived at the crash site responding to a distress beacon . They discovered the " Radiant IX " had been carrying a group of Jedi en route back to Coruscant , where they hoped to deliver the captive Dark Jedi Alysun Celz to the Jedi Council . Kenobi and Skywalker were able to rescue the lone Jedi survivor , Et Rex , and detain Celz . Sometime prior to the fall of the Republic , the Mugaari pirate Icanis Tsur and a crew of thirty manning his ship , the " 80 - Vag " , were killed when the craft was destroyed within the field . The ship ' s wreckage was pilfered by Squib teams and rogue scavengers as it floated among the asteroids . However , many of these foragers were similarly destroyed in the process , adding to the very debris they were hoping to retrieve . The asteroid field was also known notoriously as the haven of operations for the pirate Clabburn the Elder , an uncompassionate Mugaari , during the last decades of the Republic . Striking from the safety of the field , Clabburn and his forces would stalk the most populated hyperlane s running through the area , typically attacking wealthy tourists in luxury liners en route to the nearby resort of Bespin ' s Cloud City . Bounty hunters , police forces , and vengeful family members of the besieged attempted to hunt Clabburn , but were unable to locate his base within the field . The pirate took precaution to constantly relocate from one planetoid to another , always covering his tracks and booby - trapping his previously used facilities . Clabburn acquired and installed giant exogorths at the entrances of his discarded bases to devour anyone brave enough to track him . At some point following the Battle of Yavin , another Mugaari pirate , Clabburn the Younger , the son of the elder Clabburn , attempted to fashion his own pirating career after that of his father . He similarly created a secret base within the field , drilled deep into the nickel - iron core of one of the larger asteroids , known as Airtight Base for its impregnable security . Also like his father before him , the younger Clabburn used some of the field ' s exogorths , which had multiplied to thousands in number by this time , as a security measure . He planted them in caves flanking Airtight Base , training them to attack a threatening ship by way of ultrasonic signal . Sometime after Clabburn the Elder introduced the slugs to the field , the Krish game hunter Gamgalon responded to an ad placed on the HoloNet calling for a healthy space slug , declaring that he had discovered a 900 - meter - long specimen in the Hoth asteroid field and that he believed he could deliver it in a couple weeks ' time . However , he noted the difficulty in capturing the slug , explaining that he would require a special towing ship and heavy extraction machinery , a substantial amount of sedative to incapacitate the slug , and would potentially demand more than the originally advertised 100 , 000 - credit bounty , depending on the difficulty of securing the creature from its Hoth asteroid field home . Rebel activity and Battle of Hoth . After the retreat from their Massassi Station base on Yavin 4 , the Alliance to Restore the Republic ' s High Command established the secret Echo Base on the planet Hoth . The planet ' s remote nature , as well as the perpetual bombardment of meteorites from the system ' s nearby asteroid field , proved to be a perfect natural camouflage from the probing eye of the Empire . Nevertheless , the system ' s constant meteor activity proved a hindrance to any attempts to track would - be approaching ships . In response , Captain Wyron Serper , one of Echo Base ' s scanners , was tasked with monitoring the Hoth system ' s meteor activity to determine what was an asteroid and what could be an Imperial scout ship . In 2 ABY , as Echo Base neared completion , a group of Rebels were assigned to deliver a supply shipment — including construction equipment , weapons , droids , and other items — to the Rebel facility on Hoth . Upon arriving in the Hoth system , the Rebel courier s found themselves somewhat off course and had to traverse a section of the Hoth asteroid field before landing on the ice planet . When an Imperial - launched Arakyd Viper probe droid crashed into Hoth ' s icy terrain in 3 ABY , the Rebels failed to detect it as a threat . Luke Skywalker , unfazed by yet another meteorite impact , reasoned it could have been a man - made instrument . The " meteorite " that Han Solo reported to the base ' s command center would be the impetus for the subsequent Battle of Hoth after the Empire ' s discovery of Echo Base . During the battle , many fleeing Rebel ships were able to use the asteroids to their advantage to evade the Imperial blockade of the planet . Following the Rebels ' staggering defeat during the ground portion of the battle , Solo and the Wookiee Chewbacca escaped from Hoth aboard the " Millennium Falcon " with Princess Leia Organa and the protocol droid C - 3PO in tow , followed closely by Darth Vader ' s pursuing Death Squadron , his personal fleet of Star Destroyers . Much to the chagrin of Solo and his passengers , the " Falcon " malfunctioning hyperdrive failed to engage , trapping them in the system . While Solo feverishly worked on the ship ' s interior systems in an attempt to effect their escape from the Imperial Navy , Organa inadvertently piloted the " Falcon " into the system ' s asteroid field . Stuck — quite literally — between a rock and a hard place , Solo had little alternative but to plunge his ship further into the asteroids . Through masterful flying and near - suicidal maneuvering , he escaped from a flight of TIE / LN starfighter s , led by Arnod , whose pilots were unable to avoid crashing into the asteroid maelstrom . Solo eventually piloted his ship into a cavernous opening of one of the biggest asteroids , where he hoped to hide long enough to complete repairs on his hyperdrive . Almost simultaneously , the mercenary Dash Rendar , who had also escaped from Hoth after delivering a shipment of supplies to Echo Base , was similarly chased into the asteroid field by an " Imperial II " - class Star Destroyer and a large contingent of its starfighter complement . Unlike Solo , Rendar ' s ship , the " Outrider " , a sleek YT - 2400 light freighter , was not in disrepair . Rendar manned his freighter ' s heavy laser cannons while his copilot droid , LE - BO2D9 , bypassed the Star Destroyer , which remained at the fringe of the belt , and took them into the field . Rendar was able to hold off several squadrons of TIE Fighters and TIE / sa bombers long enough until the " Outrider " was far enough away from the asteroids to safely make the jump into hyperspace . One of Echo Base ' s thirty GR - 75 medium transports that attempted to escape through the Imperial blockade of the planet , the " Treasure Trove " , was crippled and lost within the asteroid belt during the battle . The transport managed to dock along the edge of a crater on a large asteroid the size of a capital ship . Rebel General Carlist Rieekan noticed the transport missing when it failed to regroup with the Alliance Fleet at the Rebels ' predetermined rendezvous point beyond the Galactic Rim , where it was meant to deliver a valuable shipment of blaster gas . He dispatched a team of special agents aboard the " Out Runner " , a YL - 2200 light freighter , who located the " Treasure Trove " in the field , only to find its crew dead . Once the Rebel agents returned to the " Out Runner " , they were beset upon by the Rodian bounty hunter Chreeto the Defiant and his crew , operating as Imperial retainers . Hoping to capture the Rebels , Chreeto pursued the " Out Runner " through the asteroid field in his YT - 1300 light freighter , the " Prowling Wolf " . The Rebels , however , successfully escaped the bounty hunters . Search for the " Millennium Falcon " . Despite the threat of damaging asteroid collisions , the " Imperial II " - class Star Destroyer " Avenger " boldly led Death Squadron ' s chase of the " Millennium Falcon " into the field . Once the " Millennium Falcon " disappeared from sight , however , the " Avenger " slowed its pursuit near the edge of the belt . Vader nevertheless ordered his fleet of Star Destroyers into the asteroid onslaught . He believed that Luke Skywalker had escaped Hoth aboard the " Millennium Falcon " with the rest of his companions . All of Vader ' s Star Destroyers , including the 19 - kilometer - long Super Star Destroyer " Executor " , Vader ' s own flagship , were diverted into the asteroid field amid a flurry of damaging collisions and incidental casualties suffered aboard several of the Star Destroyers . Captain Lorth Needa , commander of the " Avenger " at the forefront of the fleet , reasoned with Vader that the " Millennium Falcon " must have been destroyed , but Vader knew better . The " Avenger " continued to charge forward , clearing a path through the asteroids for the remainder of the fleet to follow , while flights of TIE bombers littered the biggest asteroids with explosives , hoping to chase out their quarry . The fleet ' s starfighters suffered a number of casualties and other mishaps during the search through the asteroid field . The Imperial pilot Captain Jonus narrowly escaped death after encountering a space slug , while the TIE bomber Scimitar 2 was struck and disabled by an asteroid . The TIE Fighter Scythe 3 had its laser cannons upgraded in order to destroy smaller asteroids . The " Millennium Falcon " spent several days hiding within the massive asteroid while Solo and his passengers worked to repair the ship ' s faulty hyperdrive . Solo cleverly shut down the ship ' s primary systems in order to avoid detection by the probing Imperial ships the group could hear overhead trying to chase them out . It was while cooped up within the close confines of the " Millennium Falcon " 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 one of their first kisses within the deep innards of the asteroid . However , it was not the might of the Imperial Navy that eventually flushed the " Millennium Falcon " out of its hiding place . 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 . While clearing the ship of the parasites , Solo and Chewbacca unwittingly discovered the true nature of their hiding spot . Stray blaster bolts fired 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 of 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 , but at the expense of knowing they would once again be engaged by the Imperial fleet . The existence of an enormous space slug within the asteroid field had been written off as spacer legend until Solo ' s run - in with the creature . However , some continued to disbelieve the story , based on Solo ' s reputation for exaggeration . Immediately after reentering the asteroids and exposing itself , the " Millennium Falcon " was once again detected by two TIE scout ships , which broke orbit and returned back to alert the main Imperial fleet . Soon , the " Avenger " reengaged the " Millennium Falcon " and the chase continued . Fortunately for the Rebels , however , they had exited the confines of the asteroid field after traversing its expanse . Free of obstruction , Solo once again tried to engage 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 the warship a reputation for persistence among the Imperial Navy . Needa had sent his Star Destroyer headfirst into the asteroids as Vader had commanded , sustaining substantial damage in the process . It was all his gunnery crews could do to try and keep up with the endless task of trying to shoot down the rocky debris in the Star Destroyer ' s path . So , when Solo suddenly and unexpectedly banked the " Millennium Falcon " on an attack course straight for the pursuing " Avenger " , Needa and his crew were ill - prepared and lost the Rebel ship for good . Solo had cleverly attached the " Millennium Falcon " to the backside of the " Avenger " bridge command tower , where the Imperial Navy neglected to look . Solo knew that , per standard Imperial procedure , large warships such as the " Avenger " customarily jettisoned their garbage allotment before entering hyperspace . When the Imperial fleet had finally decided that their prey had indeed escaped into hyperspace and had themselves exited the area , Solo simply allowed his ship to tumble away undetected with the rest of the " Avenger " refuse . Even before the Battle of Hoth began , the Empire had announced a reward for any bounty hunters who helped chase the Rebels fleeing from the system . Once it became clear to Vader that the ineptitude of his own fleet would likely never bring him those he sought , he sent out his own call for an elite group of hunters to capture the crew of the " Millennium Falcon " hiding within the asteroid field . Six bounty hunters , highlighted by the notorious Boba Fett , were instructed to rendezvous with Vader ' s " Executor " just outside the field , where they were briefed on the details of their mission . Just as Vader ' s briefing was finished , the " Avenger " failure to capture the " Millennium Falcon " was reported throughout the fleet . The hunter Dengar surmised correctly — albeit too late — that Solo had hidden his ship within the asteroids , taking advantage of the fact that the high metal concentration of the field would distort sensor readings and help mask his location . His own hours - long search within the field came to an abrupt end when one of his own strategically - placed sensor beacons , powerful enough to counteract the metal - induced distortions , detected a badly damaged " Millennium Falcon " limping away from the system at sublight speed . Before Dengar could close in on his prey , however , a taunting transmission from the rival Fett activated a preemptively planted bomb within Dengar ' s ship , destroying the engines and neutralizing the craft . Dengar could only watch helplessly from the asteroids as Fett tracked Solo ' s departure away from the field . Darksaber Project . By 12 ABY , the Hutt criminal empire had created the Orko SkyMine Asteroid Processing Corporation under the direction of the Hutt overlord Durga Besadii Tai to mine the untapped resources of Hoth ' s asteroids . In reality , the corporation was nothing but a sham commercial enterprise designed to mask the copious amounts of funds being diverted into the Hutts ' true goal : the construction of a superweapon powerful enough to rule the entire galaxy . Nicknamed the Darksaber Project by its chief engineer , Bevel Lemelisk , the weapon would be constructed within the heart of the asteroid field itself , created from the asteroids ' metal ore . The remote location of the Hoth system and the field ' s limitless resources made the Hoth asteroid belt the perfect construction site . Early construction phases consisted of extracting the precious metal from the asteroids using two massive Automated Mineral Exploiter s , named Alpha and Beta , respectively . The processing units were little more than cargo containers equipped with turbolasers to reduce an asteroid to small debris before a forward mouth would swallow the rubble , spit out the useless slag , and retain the valuable ore . Each exploiter was designed to lock onto the heaviest concentration of metal in its general vicinity and commence with processing . The two machines each met their demise when they unexpectedly detected each other as sources of incredibly pure metal and ground one another down to scrap — a disappointing but ultimately minor setback for the Hutt operation . Fearful of Durga ' s retribution for his faulty designs , Lemelisk declared the two Mineral Exploiters prototypes and promised to correct the programming error in the second batch : Exploiters Gamma and Delta . The new mineral smelters , altered to ignore one another as a potential metal resource , proceeded with greater efficiency than their predecessors . Before long , the Darksaber weapon itself began to take shape among the asteroids : a long cylindrical shaft housing a planet - destroying superlaser derived from the original plans to the first Death Star battlestation . Seeing that his creation would resemble a lightsaber hilt with extended blade when fired , Lemelisk derisively coined the project Darksaber , much to the amusement of Durga . The Hutt had tasked the project ' s labor to multitudes of multi - armed , mind - linked creatures known as the Taurill , who were fitted with vacuum suits enabling them to manually build the weapon from the gravitation - void of space . Construction was delayed several times due to the easily distracted nature of the Taurill . Governed by an Overmind , in which each member of the hive was linked mentally , the attention of the Taurill was occasionally diverted by a nearby passing asteroid or a smuggling ship that had entered the area . When the Taurill returned to their labor , they would continue construction on a different portion of the Darksaber superstructure , destroying previously created cohesiveness . Following an unsuccessful journey to the planet Hoth to help the Jedi Knight Callista Ming regain her control of the Force , Luke Skywalker and Ming entered the asteroid field in a barely functioning space yacht , damaged on the ice planet by the native wampa ice creatures . With life support systems failing on the ship , Skywalker was able to telepathically communicate with his sister , Leia Organa Solo , across the vastness of space to call for help . Guided by Organa Solo ' s Force connection with her brother , she and Han Solo tracked down the location of the damaged yacht in the asteroid field and rescued the two stranded Jedi . However , they were unaware that the Hutt superweapon that the New Republic had recently become privy to was being constructed right under their noses . The Darksaber project was discovered almost immediately thereafter by a search - and - destroy mission led by New Republic General Crix Madine . Madine and two other commandos entered the field in RZ - 1 A - wing interceptors , although one of the pilots , Korenn , was killed by a colliding asteroid , and infiltrated the construction site in self - propelled vac - suits . Despite the capture and death of both Madine and his fellow agent , Trandia , a distress signal transmitted by Madine through the HoloNet directly to the New Republic Defense Fleet prompted a response by a task force led by General Wedge Antilles . Antilles ' fleet surged through the field , suffering considerable damage as they approached the Darksaber , which had fled into the most chaotic part of the belt on Durga ' s orders . Pummeled by a salvo of laser fire from the pursuing New Republic warships , the Hutt superweapon was ultimately obliterated between two massively sandwiching asteroids , killing Durga and creating yet more scattered debris among the field . Behind the scenes . Creating the asteroid field . The Hoth asteroid field first appeared simultaneously in Donald F . Glut ' s of and " The Empire Strikes Back Storybook " , adapted by Shep Steneman , both released on April 12 , 1980 , just prior to the film ' s May theatrical release . The idea of entering an asteroid field to escape the enemy first appeared in the of , in which General Skywalker enters the Norton Asteroid Belt to elude Imperial forces . While the chase through the asteroid belt is included in every version of " The Empire Strikes Back " screenplay , some versions place the sequence after the " Millennium Falcon " reaches the Rebels ' rendezvous point , where the ship is met by a massive Imperial fleet . Designers at Industrial Light & Magic used at least twenty - five different visual elements to create the chase through the Hoth asteroid field . Among these were an " asteroid box " that was composed of dozens of small rocks suspended from rotating wires in an effort to convey the impression of a massive asteroid field . Closer asteroids were represented by pieces of polystyrene coated in plaster and at least one potato . All of these elements were shot separately against a and composited with an . Animatics of the chase created by ILM ' s animation department allowed editors to more easily coordinate the timing and pacing of the scene . Inconsistencies . The West End Games " The Movie Trilogy Sourcebook " , published in 1993 , refers to the asteroid field as the " Anoat Asteroid Belt , " terminology not repeated in any other " Star Wars " canon ical source . According to " " , which includes the original script for " The Empire Strikes Back " , Hoth and its system ' s asteroid belt are located in a region of space known as the Granita Clusta . However , this material , which was ultimately cut from the final version of the film , should not be considered canonical . Several " Star Wars " sources depict C - 3PO as providing Han Solo with different odds for navigating an asteroid field : the novelization of " The Empire Strikes Back " and the film ' s " Marvel Star Wars " comic adaptation , " " , include odds of 2 , 467 to 1 ; the plot synopsis of places the odds at 365 , 000 to one ; the radio adaptation of " The Empire Strikes Back " lists odds of 725 to 1 ; while the radio drama ' s script , originally published in " " , puts the odds at 720 to 1 . The short story " " , which details Dengar ' s search of Han Solo and the " Millennium Falcon " through the asteroid field , describes nearly a half - hour passing between the time the Imperial fleet enters hyperspace and the " Millennium Falcon " , having hidden itself in the Star Destroyer " Avenger " jettisoned garbage dump , begins to limp out of the system , while Dengar is ultimately left incapacitated within the asteroid field . This time is seemingly inconsistent with the film " The Empire Strikes Back " , which depicts the " Millennium Falcon " as beginning its departure from the region immediately after the departure of the Imperial fleet . Video games . The non - canonical PC games " " and " " recreate the " Millennium Falcon " flight through the asteroid field , adding unique game mechanics not seen in the film . Nintendo GameCube ' s " " offers the Hoth asteroid field as a bonus level that closely resembles the film ' s storyline , in which the player must also recreate the " Falcon " chase through the field before completing the level by attaching the ship to the backside of a Star Destroyer ' s bridge tower . In " " for Game Boy Advance , the player enters hyperspace at the conclusion of the game ' s asteroid field level , a clear contradiction of established canon .