- "I think we've got something, sir. The report is only a fragment from a probe droid in the Hoth system, but it's the best lead we've had."
"We have thousands of probe droids searching the galaxy. I want proof, not leads!" - ―Firmus Piett and Kendal Ozzel
The Qeimet system was a Juris sector star system lying on the Outer Rim Territories' Five Veils Route. It served as headquarters for the Galactic Republic's Sarin Oversector during the Clone Wars. At some point during the reign of the Galactic Empire, the system shared its name with the Imperial Qeimet fleet, which fought against the Rebel Alliance forces within the Hook Nebula. Qeimet was also the site where several scandocs were accidentally leaked to the media, causing the name of the Ubiqtorate, the governing body of the Imperial Intelligence, to become public knowledge.
In 3 ABY, the Imperial Death Squadron fleet was rendezvousing in the Qeimet system when Captain Firmus Piett of the Star Dreadnought Executor informed his superior, Admiral Kendal Ozzel, of the findings of an Imperial probe droid in the supposedly uninhabited Hoth system. Piett argued the probe's discovery indicated the presence of a hidden Rebel base, but Ozzel dismissed the captain's reports. The admiral's objections were overruled by the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader, however, who was confident they had found the Rebel base and promptly ordered for the fleet to travel to the Hoth system.
Description
The Qeimet system was located within the Juris sector of the Outer Rim Territories.[1] The system lay on the hyperlane known as the Five Veils Route, which connected it to the Trigalis and Vergesso systems.[2] Several celestial bodies of various colors were present within the system.[4]
History
The Qeimet system served as headquarters for Governor-General Kintaro of the Sarin Oversector.
The area of space surrounding the Qeimet system was explored between 1000 and 25 BBY.[2] When the first campaigns of the Clone Wars were waged between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems in 22 BBY, the Qeimet system served as headquarters for Governor-General Kintaro of the Sarin Oversector, a territory which the Fifteenth Army of the Republic Military was tasked with defending against the military forces of the Confederacy.[3]
Under the Empire
During the reign of the Galactic Empire, several scandocs authored by the Imperial Commission for the Preservation of the New Order were accidentally transmitted to a media beamcast located in the Qeimet system. The leaked scandocs mentioned the name of the Ubiqtorate, the governing body of the Imperial Intelligence, although the documents did not reveal the true role of the former within the latter, and the Intelligence therefore did not attempt to correct the error. As a result of the beamcast, the general public first learned of the Ubiqtorate, and in popular opinion the terms "Ubiqtorate" and "Imperial Intelligence" became synonymous. Also during the Imperial reign, the system was the namesake of the Imperial Qeimet fleet, which was based near the Hook Nebula and assigned with eliminating the forces of the Rebel Alliance within that sector.[5]
The Qeimet system was depicted on a map of the Imperial territorial oversector 15,[6] corresponding to the Republic's Sarin Oversector,[3] within Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide, an Imperial Military manual published nineteen years after the formation of the Empire.[6] Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, the Imperial Security Bureau mentioned the Qeimet beamcast incident in a report prepared by for the ISB Central Office, which in turn was added by Major Arhul Hextrophon, a historian with the Rebel Alliance, to a compilation of Imperial documents for the Alliance Supreme Commander Mon Mothma and other Alliance officers.[5]
Discovery of the Rebel base
- "That's it. The Rebels are there."
"My lord, there are so many uncharted settlements. It could be smugglers, it could be…"
"That is the system. And I'm sure Skywalker is with them. Set your course for the Hoth system." - ―Darth Vader, and Kendal Ozzel
The Death Squadron was present in the Qeimet system at the time of its discovery of the Rebel base on Hoth.
In 3 ABY,[7] the Death Squadron, an Imperial fleet consisting of six Star Destroyers,[2] a convoy of smaller starships as well as[8] TIE bombers[9] and numerous[9] TIE fighters,[10] rendezvoused[11] at the system,[12] waiting to receive any leads to the location of the hidden Rebel base.[4] As Imperial Admiral Kendal Ozzel and General Maximilian Veers were entering the[9] main control deck[10] on the bridge of the Executor,[9] the Dark Lord of the Sith[10] Darth Vader's[9] Executor-class Star Dreadnought serving as the flagship of the fleet,[13] Captain Firmus Piett,[9] having waited until Vader was on the bridge,[14] informed Ozzel of a fragmentary report transmitted by a probe droid, one of thousands dispatched by the Empire in order to locate the Rebel base, from the supposedly uninhabited Hoth system. Piett believed the probe's findings, which indicated life readings, signaled the presence of the hidden base, but Ozzel was dismissive of the possibility.[9]
Meanwhile, Vader, who had been observing the fleet's movements through the bridge's viewport, approached the two arguing officers. Taking a look at a viewscreen displaying the received visual transmission that showed a power generator[9] and Rebel snowspeeders[10] on the planet Hoth, Vader was convinced by the sight of the Rebel craft[15] as well as insight provided by the Force[16] and immediately expressed his confidence that the Hoth system was indeed the site of the base. Overriding Ozzel's counter-arguments, Vader ordered for the Death Squadron to set course for the system.[9] The fleet then jumped along the Five Veils Route to the Farstine system, from where it continued its travel to Hoth.[2]
Inhabitants
The population of the Qeimet system around 25 ABY was between 10 billion to 100 billion.[2]
Behind the scenes
The Qeimet system was first mentioned in Imperial Sourcebook, a 1989 supplement written by Greg Gorden for West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game.[17] The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas placed the system within grid square P-17.[2]
The Essential Atlas retconned the Qeimet system (spelled as "Qeimat" on the map) as appearing in The Empire Strikes Back.
The Essential Atlas retroactively established the Qeimet system as the location from which the Death Squadron begins its travel toward the planet Hoth at the beginning of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back,[2] the 1980 second film of the Star Wars Original Trilogy.[9] In The Empire Strikes Back, the origin point of that journey corresponds to the deep-space location where Darth Vader learns of the location of the hidden Rebel base and orders his fleet to travel to Hoth—a scene in which the audience is first introduced both to Vader's flagship, the Executor, and the recurring musical theme, "The Imperial March."[9] The events of the scene first appeared in the 1980 simultaneous release of The Empire Strikes Back novelization and The Empire Strikes Back Storybook, written by Donald F. Glut and Shep Steneman, respectively.[10][15]
Imperial Sourcebook, in which the Qeimet system was first introduced before the retcon by The Essential Atlas
In Imperial Sourcebook, the system was introduced as "Qeimat system" alongside several mentions of the "Qeimet fleet."[17] Later sources repeated the "Qeimat" spelling for the system's name,[2][5][18] while the 1997 article "Special Military Unit Intelligence Update," published in Star Wars Adventure Journal 15, also referred to the Qeimet fleet as "Qeimat fleet."[19] In 2010, Jason Fry, co-author of The Essential Atlas, stated on the Jedi Council Forums on TheForce.net that "Qeimat" was considered a misspelled version of the system's name,[20] and in the Online Companion to The Essential Atlas the name was corrected to "Qeimet",[1] which has been the only spelling used in later sources referring to the system.[3][6]
The Empire Strikes Out
The 2012 animated short film LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out, non-canonical with respect to the Star Wars Legends continuity, depicts the Executor as being present within the Qeimet system along with a trio of other Star Destroyers and several TIE fighters. In the LEGO film, a deep space buoy that is also in the system supports a sign that reads, in High Galactic alphabet, "MERGE WITH OVERHEAD TRAFFIC." A wildly spinning TIE Advanced x1 starfighter is shown to bump into the sign on its out-of-control trajectory toward the Executor.[21]
In contrast to The Empire Strikes Back, The Empire Strikes Out depicts Ozzel, Piett, and Veers as already being present on the Star Dreadnought's bridge, with Vader entering shortly thereafter. The Dark Lord then converses with Ozzel about the Empire sending out probe droids to locate Luke Skywalker and other Rebels who have previously destroyed the Imperial Death Star superweapon. Ozzel reveals the droids have been programmed to hunt down "Skywalker," which causes them to hone in on Vader,[21] who was formerly known as Anakin Skywalker.[22] Piett attempts to use the situation to discredit Ozzel even further, which degenerates into a comedic brawl between the three officers and Vader.[21]
Appearances
- Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (Retcon)
- Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back junior novelization (Retcon)
- Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novelization (First appearance, simultaneous with The Empire Strikes Back Storybook) (Retcon)
- The Empire Strikes Back Storybook (First appearance, simultaneous with The Empire Strikes Back novelization) (Retcon)
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Cine-Manga (Retcon)
- Star Wars 39: The Empire Strikes Back: Beginning (Retcon)
Non-canon appearances
Sources
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3
Star Wars: The Essential Atlas Online Companion on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 The Essential Atlas
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 The Essential Guide to Warfare
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Star Wars 39: The Empire Strikes Back: Beginning
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Imperial Sourcebook, Second Edition
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Star Wars: Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide
- ↑ The New Essential Chronology dates the Imperial discovery of Echo Base to 3 ABY.
- ↑ The Empire Strikes Back Notebook
- ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back novelization
- ↑ Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back junior novelization
- ↑ The Essential Atlas designated the Qeimet system as the location from which the Death Squadron begins its travel toward the planet Hoth at the beginning of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back. In The Empire Strikes Back, the origin point of that journey corresponds to the deep-space location where Darth Vader learns of the location of the hidden Rebel base and orders his fleet to travel to Hoth.
- ↑ The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. I, p. 245 ("Executor")
- ↑ The Official Star Wars Fact File 89 (PIE4, Admiral Firmus Piett)
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 The Empire Strikes Back Storybook
- ↑ Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back radio drama
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Imperial Sourcebook
- ↑ The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. III, p. 54 ("Qeimat system")
- ↑
"Special Military Unit Intelligence Update" — Star Wars Adventure Journal 15
- ↑
The Essential Atlas and Galactic Cartography: Official Discussion on the Jedi Council Forums (Literature board; posted by jasonfry on October 10, 2010, 8:39pm; accessed February 19, 2017): "Qeimat looks like a misspelling. Will propose fix in next appendix." (backup link)
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
