Model CEC Class-1

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"Once you jump out of range, stay there until you get my signal to rendezvous."

―Rey to Chewbacca, while setting up the Model CEC Class-1 escape pod^[4]

The Model CEC Class-1 was a model of escape pod made by the Corellian Engineering Corporation. The modified YT-1300 light freighter known as the Millennium Falcon was equipped with five Model CEC Class-1s as part of its standard factory-issued equipment. Each pod was built for a single passenger and carried consumables, emergency supplies, and a portable shelter. It was also equipped with a primitive navigation computer, a one-way comlink transceiver, and an emergency beacon.

One of the Model CEC Class-1's escape pods in the Millennium Falcon had its egress hatch inscribed with Clynese text that read "PROPERTY OF HAN SOLO, PLEASE RETURN."

Description[]

The Class-1 was a model of small escape pod manufactured by the Corellian Engineering Corporation for use on board its YT-1300 light freighters, which carried five as part of their standard configuration.^[1] To allow the passenger to escape a potentially damaged craft, the pods were carried in a storage bay on the underside of the ship next to the freight elevator. They could be rotated by use of an indexing conveyor to allow the passengers to board them; the freight elevator arms would then turn the pods towards the escape chute to allow them to launch from one of the two available escape ports.^[2]

They had space for a single passenger lying down inside^[3] but were too small to fit species larger than a human. The interior bedding was padded to prevent injuries and was equipped with specialized life sensors^[2] which scanned the passenger's life signs—should a passenger lose consciousness, the pod's systems would become automated,^[5] activating a distress beacon and navigating towards the nearest destination viable for their rescue. To assist the passenger in surviving whatever conditions they encountered in their destination, the pods carried a number of emergency supplies in a cargo compartment in the front, including rations, water, a survival shelter, a breath mask, glowrods, and a portable comm unit. In addition to a navigation computer, they were also equipped with a number of course-correction thrusters, atmospheric control vanes to slow the craft's descent towards a planet, and basic shields to deflect space debris. Each pod was lined with soft-landing repulsorlifts to ensure a smooth landing and a sensor band to track the nearest starships or space stations that could provide help and rescue.^[2]

History[]

In 10 BBY, smuggler Han Solo piloted Lando Calrissian's YT-1300 freighter Millennium Falcon on a dangerous mission, during which he was forced to eject the craft's custom-added escape shuttle to distract a summa-verminoth inside the Maw Cluster.^[6] As a result, the ship was left with only its five CEC Class-1 pods per its standard configuration. In 0 BBY while piloting Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and their two droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO, to Alderaan, Solo and his passengers found themselves snared by the Imperial space station Death Star's tractor beam. Solo took Kenobi's advice and jettisoned the remaining escape pods to convince Imperial personnel that they had abandoned the ship.^[2]

During the Empire's attack on the Rebel-controlled Mako-Ta Space Docks, Solo utilized one of the Falcon's Class-1 pods to evacuate C-3PO from the ship, as it was actively being hunted by Darth Vader. Solo needed to inform Rebel command of a way to bypass their Mon Calamari Star Cruisers' hangar bay doors, which had been previously sealed, preventing their starfighters from launching. In order to evacuate the droid without Vader noticing, Solo flew the ship inside one of the cruisers' exploding debris and managed to evade Vader just long enough to launch the pod towards the nearest Star Cruiser.^[7]

Decades later, during the Battle of Oetchi in 34 ABY, Rey Skywalker infiltrated Supreme Leader Snoke's flagship, the Supremacy, in an attempt to bring Kylo Ren back towards the light side of the Force. Solo's former first mate and current captain of the ship, Chewbacca, performed a hyperspace jump close to the flagship, ejected the Model CEC-Class-1 pod Rey was in, and jumped out. The escape pod used to board the Supremacy was escorted by five First Order TIE fighters, and Rey was held prisoner and interrogated by Snoke.^[4]

Behind the scenes[]

During the making of Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, director and writer Rian Johnson wanted to ensure viewers knew the Model CEC Class-1 pod originated from the Millenium Falcon. Design supervisor James Clyne was tasked with the creation of a new language that would be inscribed onto an escape pod that read, "PROPERTY OF HAN SOLO, PLEASE RETURN."^[2] Johnson emphasized his desire for the language to emulate calligraphy as opposed to a font style. Aboard a flight, Clyne studied existing languages from Thailand and the Middle East, settling on three variations to propose for use. Johnson wrote back in a email encoded in the language that applauded Clyne's "beautiful!!" work, a statement which reportedly made Clyne's day. The language is considered Clynese in the Star Wars galaxy, although there was initial discussion on defining it as Corellian.^[8]

The Model-CEC Class-1 was specifically designed to be reminiscent of a coffin, borrowing inspiration from C.S Lewis's Perelandra, in which the main character travels across space to Venus in a coffin.^[8]