Doctor Aphra #23 marks the twenty-third installment in the Star Wars: Doctor Aphra comic book series. Simon Spurrier penned the script for this issue, while Kev Walker provided the illustrations. Marvel Comics released it on August 22, 2018. The story arc "The Catastrophe Con Part IV" unfolds within its pages, depicting the decommissioning of Accresker Jail as it hurtles towards a collision with a rebel planet.
IMPERIALS HAVE ABANDONED ACCRESKER JAIL, WHICH IS GOOD. THE BAD NEWS: THEY AIMED IT AT A REBEL PLANET FIRST. Inmate DOCTOR APHRA, along with ex-lover SANA STARROS and current lover INSPECTOR TOLVAN…(Awkward!)…find their escape options rapidly diminishing. It's fortunate Aphra isn't preoccupied with a valuable artifact, correct? Oh, no.
0-0-0 (also known as "Triple Zero") and BT-1 commandeer a tourist vessel, ejecting the Bith passengers into the void. The two droids eavesdrop on a holographic exchange between bounty hunter Tam Posla and Chelli Lona Aphra. Dr. Aphra cajoles Posla into extracting her from Accresker Jail by falsely claiming to have captured the infamous Dr. Cornelius Evazan. Triple Zero and BT-1 then execute a hyperspace jump towards Accresker Jail.
Lopset Yas inquires whether Posla will be their savior. Aphra believes that Posla is among the few who would dare to visit a hazardous prison on a collision course with a rebel world, given their dire circumstances. Lopset questions if Posla harbors animosity towards Dr. Evazan before reverting to his "alien" appearance at Aphra's insistence.
Sana Starros observes that multiple escape pods are departing from the prison tug, identified as an Arquitens-class command cruiser. Aphra explains that Acreisker Jail is maintained by a tractor field generator, preventing them from severing the ship without causing the asteroid to disintegrate. Magna Tolvan deduces that the Galactic Empire is abandoning the prisoners on the prison space station. The quartet witnesses the command cruiser break away and collide with the space station.
With the Imperials' abandonment of Accresker Jail and its inhabitants, a widespread riot erupts among the prisoners. Tolvan expresses dismay that the inmates aren't cooperating, while Aphra ridicules the idea of mutual reliance. Aphra starts outlining her rescue strategy to Starros and Tolvan, but Tolvan remains skeptical of Aphra due to her history of blackmail. Aphra tries to defend her past actions, but the other prisoners decide to hold her responsible for the recent turmoil.
A reptilian inmate attempts to assassinate Aphra and her allies but is crushed by debris from the destroyed tug cruiser, dislodged by the ghostly Jedi residing within the prison station. As the ghostly Jedi attacks the rioting prisoners, Aphra reminds Lopset that it is a sentient telekinetic fungus. The group realizes that the fallen Jedi ghost is tethered to his starship. After some disccusion, Aphra and her companions decide to head inside the wrecked tug cruiser.
To gain entry into the wrecked starship, the group employs a cannon to breach its hull. Aphra attempts to mediate a reconciliation between Tolvan and her estranged friend Starros. Tolvan refuses, citing Aphra's exploitation, betrayal, and heartbreak inflicted upon Starros. Upon reaching the interrogation chamber, the group discovers an escape pod near the starboard side of the tug cruiser, but Aphra realizes that the Imperials have sealed the bulkhead before scuttling the ship. Starros adds that they can't use the heavy cannon to blast their way through and that the escape pod is too weak to clear the jail's gravity field.
Examining the ship's holoprojector, Tolvan uncovers that the Imperials have programmed the tug cruiser and Accresker Jail to collide with the planet Tiferep Major, a pro-rebel world inhabited by two billion people. 67 percent of the population are rebel sympathizers. While the four react to the impending heavy civilian casualty rate, Aphra suggests slicing the tractor envelop generator to release the escape pod. Aphra reasons that by controlling the generator, they can unlock the bulkheads.
Horrified by the impending loss of life resulting from the collision, Tolvan uses her comlink to contact Imperial sector control in an attempt to convince them to abort the planetside strike on Tiferep Major. Since Tolvan is using her command ID "Green-3-8-indigo," the Imperials think she is an impostor impersonating the real Tolvan and terminate the conversation, dismissing her as a rebel. Tolvan loses her temper and kicks some equipment.
Starros reminds Aphra that General Hera Syndulla remains displeased with her for adorning her head with a bow, considered deeply offensive to Twi'leks. Aphra retorts that Syndulla owes her payment for the intelligence provided to the Rebellion. Aphra is unwilling to release the information. While Stattos is concerned about the deaths of innocents on Tiferep Major, Aphra is ambivalent to their fate. Aphra attempts to apologize for hurting Starros, who is still unable to forgive her. While she vows to complete her mission with "requisite violence," Starros accepts that Aphra was not born awful.
Tolvan sends a secure message to an unidentified recipient. Meanwhile, Aphra succeeds in slicing into the trscking generator and reduces the gravity field by half. Though Aphra is able to open a bulkhead to the launch deck, Starros points out that her actions have killed a hundred convicts. When Lopset asks if Posla will come, Aphra says it never hurts to have a backup plan. When Tolvan asks what happened, Aphra explains that she rearranged some junk from deep inside the asteroid and penetrated the hull. Tolvan points out that she has moved the Jedi ship.
Aphra, Starris, Tolvan, and Lopset are confronted by the Gundravian hookspores, which have taken over the corpse of the fallen Jedi. With its host's body rotting, the sentient hookspores attempt to possess the bodies of the four companions. Deeming them unworthy for various reasons, the hookspores vow to deal with them in the end. While the others recover from the effects of the sentient spores, Aphra explains that the spores were mutated by a Force-active Kyber crystal, which imprinted them with their late Jedi host's hero complex.
As Aphra attempts to recover the kyber crystals for herself, Starros realizes that Aphra is greedy for treasure. After Aphra denies there is a lightsaber aboard, Starros accuses her of risking their lives for stealing museum junk. Aphra claims that the loot is better for an armory. While Starros points iut the danger of recovering the crystals from the hookspore-possessed corpse, Aphra spots Posla's starship approaching.
Elsewhere, an Imperial officer receives Tolvan's audio message about a conspiracy by Darth Vader to usurp the Emperor and replace him with a Force-sensitive rebel. However, Vader is listening and kills the officer.
- UPC 759606086290; August 22 , 2018 ; Marvel Comics [1] 02311; Cover A; Ashley Witter 02321; Cover B; Rod Reis