This is episode five, "The Millennium Falcon Pursuit," from The Empire Strikes Back radio drama series. Its initial broadcast occurred on March 14, 1983, via National Public Radio. This installment is an adaptation of events from Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, specifically the conclusion of the Battle of Hoth, the Rebels' departure from Echo base, and Darth Vader's persistent pursuit of the Millennium Falcon through the vastness of space.
General Veers gives the order for all Imperial walkers to focus their firepower on the power generators of Echo Base. He informs Darth Vader that the defensive shield will collapse very soon. Within the base's South Corridor, the generator's destruction causes a structural failure, preventing Princess Leia and See-Threepio from reaching their designated transport. Han Solo communicates to the transport, indicating that they will instead evacuate together aboard the Millennium Falcon. As they rush to board, Imperial Stormtroopers infiltrate the hangar bay. Chewbacca delivers unfortunate news: the repairs to the _Falcon'_s reactor are incomplete. Disregarding Threepio's warnings, they launch regardless, just as Vader himself enters the hangar. A squadron of TIE fighters gives chase to the departing vessel.
Simultaneously, Luke Skywalker arrives at the base, having made his way from his crash site on the Hoth battlefield. His fellow Rogue Flight members, Wedge and Tarrin, have been awaiting his arrival; they and Artoo-Detoo have prepared Luke's X-wing fighter for flight. Wedge informs Luke of the plan to rendezvous beyond the Galactic Rim.
In the depths of space, two Star Destroyers close in on the Millennium Falcon. Han skillfully maneuvers the ship between them, causing a collision. He attempts to engage the lightspeed drive—but it fails. Threepio had previously detected damage to the hyperdrive motivator, rendering a jump impossible. Leia and Threepio pilot the ship while Han and Chewbacca hurry to the rear to perform repairs. Piloting their fighters, Luke, Wedge, and Tarrin observe the same Star Destroyers, but they pose no immediate threat due to the distance. Luke instructs the other pilots to jump to lightspeed without him, as he intends to monitor the Imperial ships. Wedge expresses confusion but complies with the order. Once alone in space, Luke sets a new course for the Dagobah system.
Before Han and Chewie can repair the _Falcon'_s hyperdrive, the ship is bombarded by asteroids. Han makes the decision to fly directly into the asteroid field in an attempt to evade the pursuing TIE fighters. He executes several daring maneuvers, causing the TIEs to either crash or fall behind. Han lands in a cave on one of the asteroids to conceal the ship and complete the repairs. Aboard Vader's ship, Admiral Piett interrupts Vader during meditation without his helmet and mask. Vader is angered but listens to Piett's report that the Millennium Falcon has disappeared within the asteroid field. Vader commands Piett to locate the ship, reminding him of the fate that befell Admiral Ozzel.
Threepio has achieved some progress: through communication with the Falcon, despite the ship's impolite manner, he discovers that the power couplings require replacement. Chewbacca begins working on the repairs, leaving Han and Leia alone together. Han makes another attempt to flirt with Leia, this time with greater success. The two share a kiss, but Threepio interrupts, and soon after Leia reverts to calling Han a "simpleton." The three organics are forced to venture outside the ship upon discovering mynocks gnawing on the power cables. Han shoots one, causing the entire cave to rumble and shake. He realizes that they are not inside a cave at all, but rather the mouth of a massive space slug. He quickly ushers everyone back aboard and takes off just before the creature's mouth closes. Almost immediately, a new group of TIE fighters resumes the chase—and the hyperdrive remains inoperable.
Just before their departure from Hoth, Leia delivers the sarcastic line, "Well, let's see the famous Han Solo solution". This line is a reference to the title of the seventh episode of the first Star Wars radio drama, where Han's "solution" involved flying quickly and evading the Imperials.
"The Millennium Falcon Pursuit" incorporates two additional brief scenes into the events depicted in the film Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. Both scenes consist of conversations between Luke and his Rogue Flight comrades, Wedge and Tarrin. This episode marks the initial appearance of Tarrin Datch, who was later associated with an extra from the film. Certain Legends sources expanded upon his backstory and his role within the Rebellion.
The original script for the episode, which was later published as The Empire Strikes Back: The National Public Radio Dramatization, includes a combat sequence during Luke, Wedge, and Tarrin's blockade run. In this sequence, which was omitted from the final version of the episode, Tarrin pilots the last transport while Luke and Wedge provide escort in their fighters. When an Imperial Star Destroyer appears in their path, Luke and Wedge fly extremely close to the transport, causing the three ships to appear as a single blip on the destroyer's sensors. Subsequently, the fighters suddenly break away and bombard the destroyer with proton torpedoes, facilitating the transport's escape.
Although this sequence was cut from the radio episode, a remarkably similar series of events is recounted in the one-page story "Running the Gauntlet," which initially appeared in Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back (1989). In that story, Wedge and Hobbie pilot the fighters instead of Luke and Wedge. The 1996 second edition of the guidebook reconciles the accounts in its profile of Tarrin by establishing Tarrin as the pilot of the transport Thon's Orchard. This retroactively reinterprets the radio scene, placing Tarrin in a transport rather than a fighter and depicting their encounter with an Imperial Star Destroyer during the period between their departure from the planet and their separation from Luke.