Skip 52 was an asteroid in the Smuggler's Run. It was known for the constant swirling rock storms around it, making it difficult to land a ship there.
During the Galactic Civil War, the asteroid served as the location of a large shipment of ryll, which was stolen on its way to an Alliance medical facility. Both the Rebel Alliance and the Imperial Security Bureau dispatched its agents to look for the shipment. The ISB managed to obtain the location first, and a group of ISB agents, backed up by shadow stormtroopers, was dispatched to the asteroid, where they ambushed and killed the smugglers who had originally stole this shipment. Blackhole himself observed the operation though the hologram from his mechno-assembly. However, as the agents began to secure the ryll containers, the Alliance agents looking for the shipment had arrived. The ISB forces had already sustained casualties during their firefight with the smugglers, but nevertheless put up a terrific fight; with nowhere to retreat, they fought to their deaths. The battle turned up in Rebels' favor and the entire ISB force was eliminated. Blackhole's mechno-assembly was damaged in the firefight, but he managed to promise the Rebels his retribution, before his hologram faded. Believing themselves to be victorious, the main Alliance forces led by Wedge Antilles left the asteroid, while the remaining smugglers Han Solo and Lando Calrissian began to secure the shipment. However, in a few hours another group of ISB agents arrived, having acquired the location of ryll independently. The remaining Rebels and smugglers had no chance in the firefight, so they boarded the Millennium Falcon and escaped with a small number of ryll crates. Nevertheless, the main shipment ended up in the hands of the ISB.
- Star Wars Encyclopedia
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia