The Rebel Base on Yavin 4 is under attack by the Empire. The battle continues on. The Rebels drive them off each day but at a high price. In the command center, they are frustrated because they have no idea where the fighters are coming from. Nothing shows up on the radar. Some of the pilots are angry because they think they are being accused of lying. The commander tries to calm everyone. Luke and Leia go to the planet Centares to buy a ship. They reach an agreement and get a ship. The droids load it up. They ask Jorman Thoad for information. He tells them of a Tagge mining explorer in the Gordian Reach. It’s in the Yavin system. It includes Yavin, Krylon, Torque and more. They’ve hit a big spice strike. The Empire has blockaded the sector, as a result. The pair are relieved to be in a different ship. They hope to safely get back to the base. Luke hopes that in a different ship Darth Vader will not be able to follow them. Han’s is not with them, but Luke is worried about him. Luke wonders about Leia’s feelings for Han. C3PO lets them know R2 has detected the Tagge ship. It’s about to warp into Yavin. Luke is not concerned about a spice sniffer. But Leia informs him that the alliance checked the system for spice before picking the system. There was no spice. They wanted to avoid spice hunters. Leia thinks the Empire might be afraid. Luke is not so sure. Leia thinks the blockade is to hide their defeat and the loss of the Death Star. She wants to follow the mining explorer through warp to figure out what their game is. Leia asks for R2 to hook into the system to do it. On the mining ship, the eldest Tagge spars with another. He has cybervision glasses to see. Darth Vader blinded him. So he practices and practices with a light saber so one day he can meet Darth Vader and beat him. The Captain has noticed the small ship following. He realizes they did this to break the blockade. He wants them stopped. The ship drops mines to deal with the small ship. Luke spots the minefield. He wants shields engaged. They take a hit and the shields start to fail. Leia points out these are heavy duty mines. No ship this size can take more than a hit or two. Leia also realizes they are magnetically charged, so they will be attracted to the ships metal. Luke instructs R2 to disengage and transfer all control to him. R2 starts putting out fires. Leia points out the mines are getting closer. Luke manages to get past them and they converge on each other to explode. Leia gives Luke a celebratory kiss. C3PO tells them that the damage is under control but their systems are having trouble. They have gotten too close to Yavin and all its gases. Luke also sees the Tagge ship orbiting by choice. Leia tells him to get behind a smaller moon so they aren’t spotted. The two decide to put on space suits and take a closer look. They walk around the moon they landed on until they can see the ship. On the ship, pilots are nearly ready to launch. The senior Tagge is happy to make Darth Vader look bad. This ship is actually manufacturing TIE fighters. One laments that the gases, while they make it hard for the Alliance to detect them, also make it hard to watch the fight. Luke and Leia see the TIE fighters launch from the Tagge ship. Suddenly, a storm kicks up. It clears in the eye and the ships go through that. The two get back in the ship as quickly as possible. Rebel recon would not think twice about that ship unless they saw TIE fighters unloading from it. C3PO alerts them that there is a TIE fighter patrol. Leia heads to the guns. They take a hit and it takes out an engine and their communications.
Categories: Star Wars Comic Books
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