Star Wars: Legacy: Fight Another Day

In the year 137 ABY, weeks after Galactic Emperor Darth Krayt has ordered the extermination of the Mon Calamari species on their homeworld of Dac, a group of Mon Calamari are hiding in a makeshift settlement in the depths of the planet's oceans. They are discovered and attacked, however, by aquatic war machines of Krayt's Imperial Army: the Acklay-class mobile fortress Sea Lion and the shark underwater fighters of Shark Squadron. Members of the Mon Calamari Rangers resistance movement come to their rescue inside Krakana underwater fighters, and as a flurry of laser blasts fills the ocean, the Acklay Battle Fortress's Commander Sturves dispatches seatroopers into the melee. Their squadron is quickly disposed of by the lightsaber of Master Treis Sinde, an Imperial Knight of the Empire-in-exile who has been fighting on the side of the Rangers since becoming trapped on-world.

Dressed in undersea armor, Sinde storms the Sea Lions bridge, and massive damage is caused when defensive blaster bolts rupture a fuel tank. Sinde is forced to kill the fortress's chief mechanic, Bor Alsek—a former comrade of his during their mutual service to the Fel Empire, before the beginning of the Imperial Civil War—and he retreats back to the ocean as the crippled Sea Lion flees. The Rangers return to the dry land of their grotto base, where Sinde berates the Ranger Captain Tanquar for launching a premature attack, thereby preventing them from capturing a badly needed mobile fortress. Although Tanquar did so in order to prevent his people from dying, Sinde tells him to prioritize—they are not fighting for victory, but merely for time, so that other forces in the galaxy may rescue them from without. A plan is then hatched to ferry the recovered refugees to a safer location, and Tanquar and Sinde engage in a calmer conversation, reflecting upon the battle and discussing the question of obedience and loyalty.

Meanwhile, several kilometers away, an Aquatic Terrain Armored Transport watches over Imperial Extermination Camp 28 in the Soheras Trench. Onboard, the Sith Lord Darth Azard and the Sith scientist Vul Isen discuss how to best proceed with the genocide ordered by Darth Krayt, who is also the leader of their One Sith. Isen has adapted a massive Leviathan creature to undersea use, and the two Sith accordingly use the Force to touch the mind of the nearby sleeping Sea Leviathan and bend it to their will. The beast massacres the refugees in the camp, absorbing their life energies and sentience as it does so. Azard and Isen then decide to send the creature to the site of the earlier battle in order to draw out the Mon Calamari Rangers.

The Mon Calamari Rangers Shonmai and Adriphar are searching the Devil's Crevasse at the outer regions of their patrol zone. When they spot the Sea Leviathan, it absorbs Adriphar's life energy and sends Shonmai fleeing back to base. Azard and Isen let her go to draw out the Rangers and proceed to argue over which of them is a higher-ranked Sith in Krayt's Order. Back at the grotto, Treis Sinde is finally able to use a jerrybuilt comm unit to contact his Emperor, Roan Fel of the Empire-in-exile. Sinde protests Fel's order that he return to the fortress world of Bastion, but the Emperor is adamant that Sinde's duty is to him and not to the Mon Calamari. Tanquar overhears the conversation, but their ensuing argument is quickly broken up by Shonmai's return.

Tanquar orders an immediate counterattack in order to save the refugees whom they earlier released, and when Sinde declares the plan to be suicide, the captain asserts that it is not the Mon Calamari way to sacrifice the helpless for the greater good. Sinde proposes a compromise, and when the Rangers meet the Leviathan and the AT-AT swimmer near the Devil's Crevasse, his plan is carried out: the Rangers concentrate their fire on the swimmer while the nearby refugees are moved into the crevasse. Several devilsquid emerge from the crevasse; Sinde is riding one of them and taming them all with the Force. As they attack the Leviathan, Azard orders shark underwater fighters into the battle despite the loss of shielding around the hatch that doing so will entail. Azard is confident that the Mon Calamari value their own lives too much to directly assault the non-shielded but heavily defended area, but Shonmai sacrifices her life and rams the hatch, which sets off a chain reaction and destroys the entire swimmer.

The devilsquid drag the Leviathan into the crevasse, and Tanquar rescues a weakened Sinde from going down with them. On the bridge of the downed swimmer, Azard's shoulder is impaled by debris, but Isen saves him, and the two Sith swim to safety. At the Rangers' grotto, Sinde again speaks with Emperor Fel, who is unable to spare a shuttle to retrieve him. Sinde maintains that it is thus impossible to leave the planet, and Fel reluctantly accepts his stubbornness. Tanquar overhears the conversation and thanks Sinde, who tells him that the only thing won from the battle is the right to fight another day.

The comic book series Star Wars: Legacy was first published by Dark Horse Comics in June 2006. Series creators John Ostrander and Jan Duursema developed an extensive cast of characters prior to its launch, but as Legacy progressed, new characters were added to the mix. One such character was Treis Sinde, who first appeared in April 2008's Legacy (2006) 22. The issue saw him stranded on the planet Dac after Darth Krayt's declaration of genocide, and concluded with him joining forces with a Mon Calamari resistance movement. Ostrander developed Sinde's further adventures on Dac for Legacys thirty-second and thirty-third issues: Parts 1 and 2 of the series' ninth story arc, Fight Another Day.

Fight Another Day marks the first appearance of the Mon Calamari Rangers. Ostrander considered using the previously established Mon Calamari Knights, a group that first appeared in the fifth chapter of the 2003 Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon, but as Legacy already featured such similarly named groups as the Jedi Knights and Imperial Knights, he instead sought out permission to create the new "Mon Calamari Rangers" for the Legacy era. He hoped for the Rangers to be presented in the same tradition as the Knights despite visual differences between the two. Ostrander was eager to chronicle the Rangers' story under the sea, a setting not normally used in Star Wars comics that he felt offered its own demands and risks.

Omar Francia, the artist behind Fight Another Day, was also excited to work in an underwater environment. He created fully poseable 3D models of all of the arc's vehicles, including the Acklay Battle Fortress's interior, as well as models of the Sea Leviathan and the seatroopers' plasma rifle. This allowed him to place a model in a certain position, print the image, and then pencil it into the comic. His initial design for the Sea Leviathan was done before he knew about the existing Leviathans in Expanded Universe lore, and he later used those Leviathans to develop a more accurate final model. While designing the arc's Mon Calamari characters, Francia was determined to make their faces recognizable and expressive, and not at all like the limited Mon Calamari puppets used in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi—his goal was to show various kinds of faces that would decidedly not give the reader the impression that the Mon Calamari were an "animal species." He also provided the covers for both of Fight Another Days issues, which were done with a mixture of 3D models and traditional illustrations. Francia's work was praised by Ostrander, who admitted that he had thrown a lot at the artist, and Francia in turn called the story "beautifully written" and something on which he wished he could have worked for an entire year rather than a few months.

The story arc's second issue, Fight Another Day, Part 2, introduces new continuity to Legacy by establishing the identity of Roan Fel's grandfather, the first Emperor of the Fel Empire, as Jagged Fel, a star of several Star Wars novels. The first Emperor Fel's identity had been a secret since the 2006 release of Star Wars: Legacy (2006) 0, but Ostrander "felt it was necessary, appropriate, and it was time" to make the reveal. The issue's script was approved by Lucasfilm Ltd., who, according to Ostrander, would have removed the revelation if they had felt that it compromised the novels in which Jagged was still appearing.

In addition to Ostrander's script and Francia's penciling, inking, and cover art, Brad Anderson's colors and Michael Heisler's letters helped bring both issues of Fight Another Day to life. Mike Richardson was credited as the issues' Publisher, Freddye Lins as the Assistant Editor, Dave Marshall as the Associate Editor, Randy Stradley as the Editor, and Sean Cooke as the Designer. Dark Horse posted a three-page online preview for each issue in advance of its release, and the "Blaster" department of Star Wars Insider 107, released in January 2009, showcased Fight Another Day with a preview article that included quotes from both Ostrander and Francia. Dark Horse published Fight Another Day, Part 1 on January 28, 2009 and Fight Another Day, Part 2 on February 25 of the same year; both issues include a page that features Francia's concept art in lieu of a letters section. Fight Another Day was later published as a single, uninterrupted story in Star Wars: Legacy Volume 7: Storms, a trade paperback released on December 2, 2009, and in Star Wars: Legacy Book 2, a hardcover omnibus released on September 18, 2013. Digital editions of each issue were made available for purchase in 2012 on February 22 and March 21, respectively.

In naming Jagged Fel as the first Emperor of the Fel Empire, the second issue of Fight Another Day tied the Fel Empire's continuity into that of the Star Wars: Legacy of the Force novels. Although 2007's Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Special Edition did name Roan Fel as a descendant of Jagged's father, Baron Soontir Fel, and 2008's Legacy of the Force: Invincible—the final volume of Legacy of the Force—placed Jagged in charge of the Imperial Remnant, the Fel Empire's precursor, it was not until Fight Another Day, Part 2 that all of the dots were explicitly connected. The Essential Atlas, released later in 2009, went on to discuss how Jagged's leadership of the Remnant morphed into an Emperorship.

In Fight Another Day, Part 1, Vul Isen adapts a Leviathan creature to undersea use. A Leviathan first appeared in the 1998–1999 comic miniseries Jedi Academy: Leviathan. The Imperial seatroopers and AT-AT swimmer seen in Fight Another Day date back to the 1988 roleplaying game adventure Battle for the Golden Sun, while the Krakana underwater fighters share a name with the krakana, a creature native to Dac that first appeared in the 1994 novel Dark Apprentice.

25,806 issues of Fight Another Day, Part 1 were shipped to comic shops worldwide in January 2009, and 25,384 of Part 2 the following month. Each issue was Dark Horse's second-best-selling comic of the month, falling only behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Part 1 was the overall seventieth-best-selling comic in January, and Part 2 the seventy-first in February. Following their respective releases, both issues of Fight Another Day were received positively at the Jedi Council Forums, but reviews on the Dark Horse Message Boards were more mixed. A review of Part 1 from Chud.com that was re-posted on Dark Horse's official website called it "kick ass" and "a very good issue of a great series," positing that Legacys side stories were just as exciting as the series' main storyline. The reviewer felt that Sinde's chance encounter with Bor Alsek was slightly out of place but also praised the interesting discussion about duty that it spawned.

On TheForce.net, reviewer JF Boivin awarded both issues a 7.5/10, praising the change of pace from Legacys main storyline, the diversity of the alien species used, Francia's art and designs, Anderson's coloring, and the examination of loyalty. Boivin did, however, assert that Darth Azard was a rather one-dimensional villain. At the end of 2009, members of the Jedi Council Forums voted Fight Another Day the best Star Wars comic story arc of the year. As of October 21, 2013, the Storms trade paperback maintains an average rating of 4/5 stars on Amazon.com after eight customer reviews.

Sinde's presence on Dac is revisited as early as Legacys thirty-fifth issue, which sees Roan Fel dispatch the Imperial Knight Sigel Dare to Dac to retrieve her wayward comrade. Her mission is depicted in the forty-second issue, where she meets with Sinde and Tanquar on Dac's surface but is told by Sinde that he intends to remain on-world with the Rangers. An adamant Dare initiates a lightsaber duel, but the Jedi Master Asaak Dan—who has accompanied Dare on her mission—breaks up the fight and volunteers to take Sinde's place, an offer which Sinde accepts.

In Legacys forty-seventh issue, the Imperial Regent Darth Wyyrlok orders Isen to release his viral spores and poison all life on Dac; the resulting massacre leads to Isen and Azard serving as the primary antagonists of Legacys final story arc, Extremes. The undersea armor that Sinde sported in Fight Another Day is worn by numerous Imperial Knights in the tenth issue of Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman's comic series Star Wars: Legacy Volume 2, released in December 2013.

• Star Wars: Legacy Volume 7: Storms
• Star Wars: Legacy Book 2

• "Blaster" — Star Wars Insider 107