Star Wars (2020) #36
THE TRIAL RUN
After being hunted almost to extinction by the evil GALACTIC EMPIRE, the REBEL ALLIANCE finally has an opportunity to strike back!
GENERAL LEIA ORGANA, with the help of LUKE SKYWALKER, has discovered a key weakness in the Empire’s defenses that could allow for a single, desperate mission.
Success could rally the galaxy to the cause of the Alliance. Failure would mean disaster….
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Andrea Di Vito
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover artist: Stephen Segovia
Editor: Mark Paniccia
Publication date: July 5, 2023
As Return of the Jedi edges closer and closer, a solution to the destruction – or at least the severe battering – of the Empire needs to become apparent, and in issue 36 of Star Wars that confidence starts to become a lot clearer. We open aboard the Headquarters Frigate, AKA Home One where we find Admiral Ackbar, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian and a group of Rebels pay close attention to Princess Leia as she reveals the recent upheaval in the ranks of the Sith. How Vader and Palpatine are both off their game due to an anomaly in the Force that Luke has felt, and how they have an opportunity to strike at Imperial forces, inspiring further rebellious uprising across the galaxy. Given all that, Leia has a particular mission in mind, to strike at the statue of Palpatine himself in Monument Plaza on Coruscant, as deep into Imperial territory as it’s possible to go. She asks for volunteers, and as Ackbar brings up a holo of the weaknesses in the Coruscant security net even Lando asks if she’s kidding as we swing to the approach to Coruscant to see a hauler boarded by Imperials, the stench of the organic fertiliser they’re carrying enough to speed them through security and as they veer towards a farming platform we learn the pilot is a member of the rebellion, and his passengers are a cadre of A-Wings and the Millennium Falcon who swoop out of the sludge of fertiliser as the cargo bay doors open.
Unsurprisingly they’re swiftly spotted and Imperial weapons turn to bear down on them as they scramble and split, one of the A-Wings caught in the crossfire as TIE’s move in. Lando is certain they’re far from the Empire’s best and they outpace them, but as the statue comes into view we see heavy gun emplacements either side of the statue, opening fire and taking down not only one of the other A-Wings but hitting the third piloted by Nien Nunb and the Falcon along with a number of TIE Fighters. A classic trap, and as they dive into the city Chewie goes up top, opening the hatch to grab an ejecting Nien as the A-Wings damage become to great, smashing heads as Chewie grabs Nunb. The wookiee is concussed, and so Nien is forced to take the co-pilots seat as they dive deep into the lower levels of the city, hoping to shake their pursuers before heading to hyperspace from the other side of the planet.
Passing through gang territory and encountering monstrous creatures in the lowest levels of the city planet they finally make the jump to lightspeed, holo-cameras sharing everything to the HoloNet. Lando conveys the loss of the two A-Wing pilots and how the mission was a set-up, but Leia reminds him that the eyes of the galaxy are on them and as the Imperial commanders order the cameras to be sent away they realise they’ll soon have an angry Emperor to deal with. We end with the smolten mess of Palpatine’s statue and the conclusion of a kinetic, gung-ho mission issue that does a perfect job of giving the galaxy just a glimmer of hope (yes, THAT word) and explaining why the Sith are ever so slightly out of sorts. It’s the tiny crack of opportunity the Rebellion seized on in Return of the Jedi, and once again another example of why Charles Soule is the perfect writer to be monopolosing on these seemingly minor moments, weaving them as Jedi approaches.
