The Bespin Drift

The Bespin Drift is a hyperspace maneuver in which a ship is pitched out of alignment with its hyperspace vector in varying degrees. Initially the result of an extremely rare navigation oddity, it has since gained traction in popular culture and even been featured in several holofilms. The practice of this maneuver is considered to be extremely dangerous due to the intricacies of hyperspace travel and their effects on vessels, though some argue that it could provide numerous advantages when performed correctly.

Origin
The first recorded instance of this maneuver was documented on 14:2:12 GrS, though it is generally agreed that the actual event occurred a day prior. The Venator-class star destroyer Trueno was called from its patrol route along the southern Ison Corridor to oversee an arms shipment arriving to Gerrenthum from Eriadu. The ship's hyperdrive was engaged according to protocol and navigation was set to bypass the Bespin, Varonat and Indellian systems along the way. Shortly after entering hyperspace the ship began to slowly yaw to port, causing concern among the crew that the jump had not been prepared correctly. Fortunately this trend stopped before any serious concerns were raised regarding the integrity of the vessel, though the nose of the ship was now turned 12° left of its travel vector. The rest of the jump continued without incident and the Trueno completed its assignment on time.

Extensive diagnostics were performed on the ship's hyperdrive and navigational systems which found no user or programming error in the jump. The issue was reported to Kuat Drive Yards and a thorough investigation was launched. Eventually the conclusion was made that while in hyperspace the ship had run along the very edge of the lane, which put it very slightly in range of Bespin's gravitational pull. Typically a ship's navigational computer would perform an emergency exit from hyperspace in the presence of a gravity field, but there is a small margin of error put in place to avoid false positives. The final report stated that the ship had fallen within a narrow radius of Bespin's gravitational field, estimated at less than one kilometer, which fell within the computer's margin of error and caused the ship to list slightly out of alignment. Said the ship's captain, Taki Jiwar, "It was a dangerous chain of circumstances, but I cannot deny that it certainly felt very cool indeed."