Cal Alder was a human male who held the rank of lieutenant within the High Command of the Alliance to Restore the Republic during the Galactic Civil War. Following the Yavin 4 evacuation, he took part in discussions aimed at identifying a suitable location for a new rebel headquarters. Subsequently, he was stationed at Echo Base on the planet Hoth, where he conducted patrols to maintain the base's security.
After the disappearance of rebels Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, Alder informed Major Bren Derlin that they remained missing even after the final patrols had returned. Derlin then consulted with Princess Leia Organa before instructing Alder to close the shield doors of Echo Base for the night. Later, during the Battle of Hoth, Alder played a role in coordinating the defense of Echo Base's perimeter, and he survived the conflict.
Cal Alder, a human male hailing from the Outer Rim planet Kal'Shebbol, served within the High Command of the Alliance to Restore the Republic during their struggle against the Galactic Empire in the Galactic Civil War. Given the Alliance's limited resources, his responsibility was to discover methods of adapting the native ecosystems of new planets to meet the Alliance's needs. As a specialist in ground missions, he participated in conversations to decide on the planet for the Alliance's new headquarters after the evacuation of their previous base on the moon Yavin 4. These discussions ultimately led to the establishment of Echo Base on the icy planet Hoth, where Alder was stationed as a Deck Lieutenant. Alder's exceptional service record led his commanding officer, Major Bren Derlin, to entrust him with the responsibility of carrying out various patrols around the base to ensure its security.
In 3 ABY, rebel Commander Luke Skywalker went missing while deploying sensors near the base. His friend Han Solo embarked on a search for the commander, but he too failed to return by nightfall. After the day's last rebel patrol returned to base, Alder approached Derlin in one of Echo Base's hangars to deliver his report. He began to explain that there was still no news from Skywalker or Solo, but the major raised a hand to silence him, gesturing toward Princess Leia Organa, who was nearby, listening to Alder's report, and was also a close friend of the missing pair.
Swallowing hard and carefully selecting his words, Alder concluded his report in a hushed tone. Subsequently, he and Derlin approached Organa, and the major strongly advised closing the base's shield doors, as there was nothing more that could be done to locate her friends during the night. Organa concurred, and Derlin instructed Alder to have the doors closed, which he did. Solo and Skywalker were found alive the following morning.
Following the discovery and destruction of an Imperial Viper probe droid near Echo Base, the Alliance initiated preparations for evacuation. However, before they could escape, an Imperial fleet arrived above Hoth and deployed ground forces to assault the base. Alder participated in the subsequent Battle of Hoth, where he coordinated the defense of the base's perimeter. He ultimately survived the battle, which concluded with the Alliance successfully escaping, despite suffering a significant defeat.
Alder possessed light skin and bluish eyes. He was a skilled scout who frequently found himself among the first to familiarize himself with the alien environments of frontier worlds. He took responsibility for closing Echo Base's gates because he believed that the intense cold of the night, along with the potential for wampa attacks, represented a security risk to the entire base that he was unwilling to accept, even for officers as highly ranked as Solo and Skywalker.
While stationed at Echo Base, Alder wore rebel snow gear, which included a brown sleeveless jacket over a white uniform, as well as white command gauntlets and a white insulated watch cap equipped with a com set, a brown face wrap, white cap warmers, and anti-glare goggles. He carried a datapad when reporting to Derlin.
Jack McKenzie played the role of Cal Alder in the 1980 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. Alder's scene was filmed on the Star Wars Stage at Elstree Studios between May 22 and May 29, 1979. Immediately before filming, director Irvin Kershner provided McKenzie with his line and asked him to adopt an American accent instead of his native English accent, explaining that "all the English guys are the bad guys and all the Americans are the good guys."
McKenzie recited the line several times for Kershner, who instructed the actor to soften the emphasis on the second sentence to create a conspiratorial tone, conveying that Leia Organa was being spared the distress of hearing that her friends were still missing. The scene required several takes to perfect, and during one take, McKenzie mistakenly believed he had heard "cut" after exiting the shot and re-entered whistling. Kershner jokingly remarked that the embarrassed McKenzie would never find work again, but he ultimately forgave him.
The character was credited as "Deck Lieutenant" in the film. In the new Star Wars canon, the character's name was first revealed in the mobile card game Star Wars: Force Collection, which was initially launched in 2013. Although Force Collection was launched before the Star Wars canon reset of 2014, Lucasfilm Story Group member Leland Chee confirmed that the game was consistently updated to align with canon. The 2018 reference book Star Wars: Geektionary: The Galaxy from A - Z incorrectly states that Alder ordered Derlin to close the shield doors, rather than the other way around.
Within the Star Wars Legends continuity, Alder made an appearance shortly before the release of The Empire Strikes Back in the novelization of the film, authored by Donald F. Glut. The name Cal Alder originated on a card released in the 1996 Hoth Limited expansion set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game.