Energy drill

An energy drill was a mining tool that fired plasma bolts to disintegrate a target area in a process known as energy mining. The use of an energy drill caused excess charges to be launched skyward. Any vehicle not specially insulated that passed through the area suffered catastrophic damage and equipment failure. Because of the fallout and byproducts of energy drilling, it was forbidden by Imperial law on any planet with a native population. The Empire was known to violate this law in secret, as they did on Mimban during the Galactic Civil War.

In 2 ABY Princess Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, and R2-D2 crashed on Mimban when their starfighters malfunctioned due to the fallout from an Imperial energy drill.

Text and facts from the “Energy drill” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.