Penned by Archie Goodwin and brought to life by the illustrations of Al Williamson, "The Power Gem" is a comic strip. Originally, it was distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate from July to October of 1982, and later, it saw a republication within the webstrips area of StarWars.com's Hyperspace section.
The rebels, stationed at the Yavin 4 base, are in search of a vulnerability in Darth Vader's new flagship, The Executor. Princess Leia recalls tales from her childhood, where her father mentioned a Power gem. This gem, according to legend, was a tool utilized by the space pirates of Iridium, capable of disabling the shields of any starship. Leia then requests Han Solo to undertake a mission to locate this gem. Solo initially declines, but after Leia threatens to dispatch Luke in his stead, he consents to the task. Junkfort station becomes the initial destination for Han and Chewie. Upon arriving at the station, they receive information indicating that the gem resides on the planet Antipose. Upon their arrival at Antipose, they discover that acquiring the gem necessitates paying a substantial fee for the privilege of competing for it, which includes eliminating all other contenders. Han and Chewie inform Raskar, the overseer of the operation, that they lack the necessary funds to participate in the competition. Raskar consents to allow them to compete without payment, under the stipulation that if they are defeated, he will claim the bounty placed on Han's head. Han agrees, but only if Chewie fights in his place. Han instructs Chewie to engage the largest competitor as a diversionary tactic. While the attention of everyone is focused on Chewie's fight against the creature, Han infiltrates Raskar's villa with the intention of stealing the gem. Inside the villa, Han is confronted by a duelist droid, but he cleverly leads it into a destruct beam, thus clearing his path through the doorway guarded by the beams. Upon Raskar's arrival at the villa, Han reveals his knowledge that the Power gem's energy is diminishing and threatens to disclose this information to all the contestants. Consequently, Raskar concedes and allows him to depart with the gem.