Doctor Aphra 26 is the twenty-sixth issue of the comic book series Star Wars: Doctor Aphra. The comic was written by Simon Spurrier, illustrated by Emilio Laiso, and released on November 14, 2018 by Marvel Comics. It contains the story "Worst Among Equals Part I," in which Doctor Aphra and the assassin droid Triple-Zero are forced to survive the law enforcement of the planet Milvayne.
Publisher's summary
DOCTOR APHRA — WORST AMONG EQUALS! On the run from the law in an alien city, DOCTOR APHRA can't stray more than a few paces from her companion without both of them blowing up. Time to cooperate, right? Except, unfortunately, her companion is Triple-Zero, a sadistic murderdroid who's more interested in her death than playing nice. A brand-new misadventure for the galaxy's foremost amoral archaeologist starts here!
Opening crawl
| WORST AMONG EQUALS Part I |
|---|
Plot summary
Fugitives on Milvayne
Upon arriving at Milvayne in the late Tam Posla's stolen starship, Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra and 0-0-0 ("Triple Zero") deal with a customs agent who asks for their identity. Aphra attempts to bribe the customs agent. When that doesn't work, Triple Zero electrocutes the customs agent and kills him. After the pair pass through customs gate, Aphra remarks that she has a bad feeling about it. Triple Zero quips that she is too kind. As he paces forward, Aphra warns him to stay close due to the bombs implanted in them, the psychopathic Triple Zero agrees out of mutual interest in survival. Aphra intends to seek out Posla's personal cyberneticist, believing he could remove the bombs embedded in them. The duo soon attract the attention of local law enforcement authorities riding speeder bikes.
As the two fugitives flee, Doctor Cornelius Evazan delivers a running commentary on the misadventures of the duo, describing it as a "study of the reciprocal longevity of variance dreadfulness" or "how long before the dumb monsters kill each other?" Evazan and Ponda Baba eagerly watch the misadventures of Aphra and Triple Zero through the eyes of the "murder-droid". He is working on building a prosthetic arm for the Aqualish criminal. Evazan explains to the reader that Aphra is holding a decrypt key for some data that Triple Zero desperately wants. Evazan introduces the homicidal astromech droid BT-1 and Tam Posla, whose body has been reanimated by a Force-sensitive fungus.
While Aphra intends to jump start a speeder, her proximity bomb begins activating. She calls out to Triple Zero and finds him killing a motorist and stealing their vehicle. Triple Zero chides Aphra that she should have stayed close. Aphra counters that she nearly blew them up and they could have taken another speeder without having to kill anyone. Triple Zero replies that he liked the vehicle's red stripes.
Their crimes attract the attention of police and the two take shelter at front of the vehicle. When Aphra tells Triple Zero that he cannot murder his way out of every problem, Triple Zero calls out her hypocrisy. With police speeders closing in on them, Triple Zero convinces Aphra to give him the ship's security fob. Aphra reluctantly complies and Triple Xero remotely activates the ship's self-destructive system, distracting the police. When Aphra reacts with shock, Triple Zero says they are free to move along unmolested.
An alliance of convenience
At a HoloNet cafe, Aphra and Triple Zero access the local HoloNet in order to find directions to Posla's cyberneticist. When Aphra criticizes Zero's decision to destroy their starship, Triple Zero rationalizes doing anything to make others do things, describing it as an "enlightened attitude." When Aphra asks if Zero does not care about causing pain or death, the assassin droid asks her to considers whether it is better to inflict "terrible things" upon strangers or one's loved ones. When Zero asks about Magna Tolvan, Aphra reflects on her decision to use the mairan Bor Ifriem to purge her memories.
Watching from afar, Evazan explains to Baba that Aphra had loved but betrayed Tolvan with a complete cerebral expurgation. Aphra tells Triple Zero to mind his own business but the assassin droid retorts that Aphra has spent ten minutes searching for news about Tolvan instead of Posla's cyberneticist. Unable to find any record of Tolvan, Aphra tells Zero that she knows that he cares for BT-1. Triple Zero says he solely grieves for BT-1 because the astromech droid was carrying his stolen memories. BT-1's presumed destruction makes him despise Aphra more. Triple Zero also deduces that Evazan is enjoying watching their suffering and vows vengeance upon the rogue surgeon. When Aphra asks Triple Zero to let her negotiate with Posla's cyberneticist, Triple Zero counters that he is a protocol droid who is "civilized."
Seeking the cyberneticist
Triple Zero and Aphra find Poslas' cyberneticist, a mustached human man named Doctor Rajam Nuss. Aphra tells the cyberneticist that she wants to hire him to remove a pair of explosives from their persons. Aphra says she would have disarmed the bombs herself had it not been her lack of expertise in organics. Triple Zero adds that he does not trust Aphra to operate on him. Before Zero can threaten Nuss, Aphra offers to pay him a bag of credits. Nuss invites them into his clinic.
When Baba expresses concern that Nuss will remove the bombs, Evazan reassures the Aqualish that the "two-bit amateur" won't be able to extricate his detonators. Inside the operating theatre, Nuss reassures his patients that they can trust him, explaining that the rig was designed by the famed cyberneticist Professor Prexo. As Nuss orders the laboratory's automated systems to activate, Aphra apologizes to Triple Zero for encrypting his memories, explaining that she was mad, frightened and needed all the insurance she could get. She regrets that BT-1 ha perished.
Triple Zero responds that there was a time that he once looked up to her as his master. However, he is unable to forgive her for stealing his memories. While he intends to murder her once the explosives have been removed, Triple Zero offers Aphra a five-minute head start. When Aphra responds that droids are normally programmed to help people and that cooperation is better than betrayal, Triple Zero responds that he is not a normal droid. Shortly layer, one of the operating arms injects Aphra with a sedative, causing her to enter into unconsciousness. Another arm deactivates Zero for the duration of the operations.
The double cross
An hour later, Doctor Nuss awakes his patients, claiming that he has removed and destroyed their implanted bombs. When he requests payment, Triple Zero offers to handle payment and gives Aphra a five-minute head start to flee. While passing a scanner, she discovers that Nuss had lied about removing the bombs, which are still inside their bodies. Knowing that Evazan and Baba are watching through his eyes, Triple Zero asks Nuss to broadcast the signal being sent from his eyes. Nuss protests that he lacks Prexo's expertise and insists that the droid pay up and leave.
Zero chides the cyberneticist for his rudeness. Aphra warns Triple Zero that Nuss failed to remove the bombs and instead triggered a countdown mechanism that will cause their bombs to explode in ten minutes. Aphra tries to tell Triple Zero to keep Nuss alive since they need his heat signature and voice to activate the laboratory. However, she discovers that Triple Zero has murdered Nuss.
Media
Editions
- UPC 759606086290; November 14, 2018; Marvel Comics[1]
- 02611; Cover A; Ashley Witter
- 02621; Cover B; Rod Reis
Cover gallery
Collected in
Appearances
| Characters | Organisms | Droid models | Events | Locations |
| Organizations and titles | Sentient species | Vehicles and vessels | Weapons and technology | Miscellanea |
Characters
|
Organisms
|
Droid models
Events
|
Locations
|
Organizations and titles
|
|
Sentient species
Vehicles and vessels
|
Weapons and technology
|
Miscellanea
|
|
Sources
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2016) #26 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)
- ↑ Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of issues 9 to 31 of the Star Wars: Doctor Aphra comic-book series to around 1 ABY. Therefore Doctor Aphra 26 must take place around 1 ABY.
External links
