Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Dagobah was one of the purest planets in the galaxy, alive with the Force thanks to its abundant life. One cave in the planet’s swamps roiled with the dark side. During the Clone Wars, the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn led Yoda to this cave, where Yoda had a vision of Darth Sidious’s triumph over the Jedi. Years later, Luke Skywalker faced his own test in the cave, fighting a saber duel with a spectral Darth Vader whose helmet concealed Luke’s own face.

Suspended high among the pastel clouds of Bespin is a floating metropolis of sophisticated beauty and political freedom. Cloud City exists not only as a mining colony, extracting valuable Tibanna gas from the depths of the giant planet, but also as a sanctuary for those trying to escape the turmoil gripping the galaxy. Though profitable, Cloud City is small enough not to be noticed by larger authorities such as the Mining Guild. It prospered under the capable stewardship of Baron-Administrator Lando Calrissian. Calrissian, assisted by his aide Lobot, contended with self-sufficiency issues and labor difficulties throughout his brief term.

Home to Yoda during his final years, Dagobah was a swamp-covered planet strong with the Force -- a forgotten world where the wizened Jedi Master could escape the notice of Imperial forces. Characterized by its bog-like conditions and fetid wetlands, the murky and humid quagmire was undeveloped, with no signs of technology. Though it lacked civilization, the planet was teeming with life -- from its dense, jungle undergrowth to its diverse animal population. Home to a number of fairly common reptilian and amphibious creatures, Dagobah also boasted an indigenous population of much more massive -- and mysterious -- lifeforms. Surrounded by creatures generating the living Force, Yoda learned to connect with the deeper cosmic Force and waited for one who might bring about the return of the Jedi Order.

Hoth is the sixth planet in the remote system of the same name, and was the site of the Rebel Alliance's Echo Base. It is a world of snow and ice, surrounded by numerous moons, and home to deadly creatures like the wampa.

Secluded from galactic turmoil by its location in a little-visited sector of space, Bespin is an astrophysical rarity. An immense gas giant surrounded by a number of moons, the planet contains a band of habitable atmosphere among its endless clouds. In this stratum of life, enterprising prospectors have established floating mining complexes devoted to extracting valuable gasses from deep within the planet. The most well known of these ventures is the opulent Cloud City, formerly under the administration of Lando Calrissian. During the tail end of the Galactic Civil War, the Empire garrisoned Bespin and took over Cloud City, though the outpost and the planet enjoyed freedom after the defeat of the Emperor at the Battle of Endor.

After Darth Sidious defeated the Jedi, Yoda retreated to the remote swamp planet of Dagobah. While in exile, he dwelled in a simple hut he built among the roots of a massive gnarltree. There, among the insects and beasts of the swamp, the great Jedi Master delved into the mysteries of the Force and waited for a new hope of renewal for the Jedi Order.

After the Battle of Yavin, the rebels fled from the Imperial starfleet, seeking a new main base of operations. They settled on the frozen Outer Rim world of Hoth, where they enlarged caverns to form Echo Base, defended by a powerful ion cannon and squads of airspeeders converted to operate in frigid conditions. Unfortunately, the base was barely established when an Imperial probe droid discovered it. General Rieekan ordered an immediate evacuation, but before Echo Base could be abandoned an Imperial task force arrived, landing AT-AT walkers and ground troops. Though key personnel escaped, the Battle of Hoth was a costly defeat for the Alliance.

Asteroid fields, consisting of asteroid clusters of varying size, can be found throughout the galaxy, including the Hoth system. Due to their unpredictability, asteroid fields are near impossible to navigate in a starship. However, certain creatures have been known to live on or inside the rocks themselves, and bases like Fort Anaxes have been built on larger masses.

These versatile rebel cruisers were often used to escort rebel convoys, protecting ships from Imperial patrols with an array of powerful turbolasers and tractor beams. After his confrontation with Darth Vader on Cloud City, Luke Skywalker recovered from his injuries aboard a Nebulon-B medical frigate. These escort ships were part of the rebel armada that assaulted the second Death Star at Endor.

After pledging himself to the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, Anakin Skywalker took the name Darth Vader but continued to use the blue-bladed lightsaber he’d fought with during the Clone Wars. He lost this weapon on Mustafar and constructed a replacement with the crimson blade favored by the Sith. Vader used his Sith lightsaber rarely but to deadly effect, as enemies of the Empire discovered.

The Z-6 Jetpack was the preferred jetpack of Mandalorian commandos across the galaxy, from the more organized sects like Death Watch to the outliers on the fringe, like Jango Fett and Boba Fett. They were fast and nimble and could maintain sustained flight as well as short bursts for tactical advantages in combat. The jetpacks could be equipped with a top-loaded rocket firing missile that could turn the tide in many a conflict. Their significant disadvantage was their vulnerability to external impact damage. One sharp blow with a stick could conceivably ignite the jetpack, causing all manner of unwanted performance that could lead to significant bodily harm or even death.

Hyperdrives allow starships to travel faster than the speed of light, crossing space through the alternate dimension of hyperspace. Large objects in normal space cast “mass shadows” in hyperspace, so hyperspace jumps must be precisely calculated to avoid collisions.

Anakin Skywalker carried this blue-bladed Jedi weapon throughout the Clone Wars. After dueling his former apprentice on Mustafar, Obi-Wan Kenobi took Anakin’s lightsaber and kept it on Tatooine for nearly two decades. He gave it to Luke Skywalker, who lost it when Darth Vader struck off his son’s hand in Cloud City. The lightsaber then became part of Maz Kanata’s collection of Jedi curios, where it called to the scavenger Rey. She wielded it in defeating Kylo Ren, then brought it to Ahch-To and offered it back to Luke. When he refused it, Rey carried the ancient weapon herself. The lightsaber sheared apart when Rey and Kylo struggled for possession of it aboard the Supremacy, but Rey reforged it as she continued her Jedi training.

Bacta tanks were large vessels filled with a liquid healing agent and used to treat seriously injured patients. To promote healing, patients were completely submerged and used breathing masks while recuperating. Clone troopers were treated in bacta at facilities such as the Kaliida Shoals Medical Center. After he was injured by a wampa, Luke Skywalker recovered in a bacta tank at Hoth’s Echo Base. And after claiming the throne of Jabba the Hutt, Boba Fett recuperated in a bacta pod.

The Empire uses flights of its specialized double-hulled TIE bombers to drop vast quantities of munitions on rebellious planets and targets in space, delivering devastating attacks with frightening accuracy.

Thermal detonators are grenade-like weapons that pack tremendous explosive power into a small sphere, and are used by bounty hunters and military forces such as the Empire’s stormtroopers. Cad Bane used thermal detonators during his assault on the Senate Building; a generation later, Princess Leia threatened Jabba the Hutt with a thermal detonator while disguised as the Ubese hunter Boushh.

A powerful pursuit craft made famous by Jango Fett in the days of the Republic, this ship was inherited by Boba Fett for his career as a bounty hunter. The aged but effective ship is loaded with hidden defensive and offensive weaponry and equipment, and has a reputation earned from decades of successfully capturing fugitives.

The Force choke is another tool employed by Sith to intimidate and even kill their opponents. Sith usually visualize the ability with a claw-like or crushing hand gesture, and strangle a victim through the power of the dark side. The result is an often painful, slow death.

Larger, more powerful blasters, often used by Stormtroopers, clones, or bountry hunters. Other forms included sniper blaster rifles.

The standard ranged weapon of both military personnel and civilians in the galaxy, the blaster pistol fires cohesive bursts of light-based energy called bolts. Appearing in a variety of shapes and sizes and sometimes augmented for other functions, including acension guns that fire grappling hooks, blaster pistols deliver a wide range of damage capability. Many blaster pistols have stun settings that incapacitate a target, rather than inflicting physical damage. While blasters do deliver a searing concussive blast, they can be foiled by magnetic seals and deflector shields.