Though the Empire suffered a crippling defeat at the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi, the Imperial forces continued fighting against the rebels for another year, until their decisive loss at the Battle of Jakku. In that year, the rebels re-organized into the New Republic, but they faced tumultuous days.
The Battle of Jakku comic has recently been beginning to tell more of that story, written by Alex Segura, and in one of the most recent issues there was an attempted strike right at the heart of this fledgling New Republic. Imperial governor Ubrik Adelhard hired bounty hunters to track down the Jedi Luke Skywalker, and the Trandoshan hunter Kranor found him on Chandrila – the capital of the brand new Republic.
Kranor attacked Luke while he was with Leia Organa and Mon Mothma, which obviously wasn’t the most well-thought-out plan. Luke fended off Kranor for a bit but, when in trouble, Leia came to his aid by use of her blaster. Kranor then turned on Mothma, landing a blow before he escaped.
Though this one event isn’t overly dramatic, it does help us to see how the New Republic leadership lived under a constant threat (not long after this, Mothma would barely survive a far more serious assassination attempt). But most of all, I think it’s a lot of fun to see Luke and Leia working together in action like this. It’s something we haven’t gotten to see much of at all in the post-ROTJ world, and I’m glad that it seems like that is beginning to change. While we haven’t yet seen more of Leia training with Luke in the ways of the Force, this was a nice moment to see them in action.
Of course, one of the big issues with comics like this is that writers are far too hesitant to let go of any characters, so Kranor lives and was just able to escape, almost as if nothing happened. That’s the one downside, as if Luke and Leia defeat him and then he just flees, that gets a bit old. But I’m willing to overlook that, since the art for this fight was gorgeous and the thrill of seeing the siblings fighting together was worth it.
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