The Rebel rendezvous point was a location in space where the Alliance High Command and the Alliance Fleet would secretly consolidate before and after major space or ground engagements when a set planetary base was unavailable. Its location was generally unknown to the rest of the galaxy, and changed over time. Around the time of the Battle of Hoth, the location was a fixed point above the galactic plane, and before the Battle of Endor, the rendezvous was near Sullust.

HistoryEdit

Battle of HothEdit

During the period of 2 ABY to 3 ABY, during which the Rebellion's secret headquarters operated on the planet Hoth at Echo Base, much of the Rebellion's nerve center, including High Command, was stationed there. Following the Battle of Hoth, all Alliance personnel were forced to evacuate the planet in the face of Imperial assault. Per standard operating procedures, as devised by General Carlist Rieekan, survivors regrouped at the secret rendezvous point, a predetermined location outside the galaxy where the Empire could not track them. However, their rendezvous point was nearly exposed when an Imperial Strike Cruiser found them, so the fleet decided to detour in case the destroyed Strike Cruiser did indeed transmit the coordinates of the fleet to the Empire.

This point, code-named "Haven" by the Rebels,^[1] was located beyond the Galactic Rim, far above the galactic equatorial plane and far away from any stars. It was beyond the galaxy's gravity well, making it a perilous journey to reach, one that many of the Rebel ships escaping from Hoth may not have been able to make. It is likely that the Rebellion suffered additional losses in the attempt to reach this point.^[2]

During their hunt for the crew of the Millennium Falcon, the bounty hunters Zuckuss and 4-LOM believed Han Solo would attempt to reach the rendezvous point considering he carried vital Rebel personnel with him. Through intuitive meditation, Zuckuss determined that the rendezvous point was at the coordinates 2.2427 by 3.886 by 673.52 above the galactic plane, a journey of approximately two standard days from the Hoth system. In actuality, the rendezvous point was two degrees off of these coordinates.^[2]

There, High Command and a portion of the Rebel fleet, as well as many surviving personnel from Hoth, regrouped to continue their fight against the Empire. The bulk of the fleet, however, was ordered away from Hoth during the Rebels' time there, in accordance with a tactical doctrine devised by Gial Ackbar, Supreme Commander of the Alliance Fleet. High Command and the Rebel fleet were to be kept separate from each other in order to avoid being found and wiped out by the Imperial Navy in one fell swoop. It was determined that the Rebellion could withstand the loss of either High Command or its fleet, but not both.

Battle of EndorEdit

Shortly before the assault on the uncompleted second Death Star in orbit over the Sanctuary Moon of Endor, nearly the entire Rebel fleet met in orbit over the planet Sullust. There, they would join as one giant armada in an attempt to destroy the battlestation. This was perhaps the first time that High Command and the bulk of the fleet ever massed together, something that Mon Mothma specifically ordered never to happen.

Of the ships gathering near Sullust, most notable among them were the Mon Calamari Star Cruisers Home One, Independence, Liberty, and Defiance, as well as the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate Redemption.

AppearancesEdit

SourcesEdit

• Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back
• Star Wars Customizable Card Game – Hoth Limited (Card: The First Transport Is Away!)
• C-3PO: Tales of the Golden Droid

Notes and referencesEdit