Doctor Aphra 27 is the twenty-seventh issue of the comic book series Star Wars: Doctor Aphra. The comic was written by Simon Spurrier, illustrated by Emilio Laiso, and published on December 12, 2018 by Marvel Comics. The issue contains the story "Worst Among Equals Part II," in which Doctor Aphra and Triple-Zero fall into Milvayne's underworld, meeting the orphaned scavenger Vulaada Klam.
Publisher's summary
WORST AMONG EQUALS: PART TWO! Rogue archaeologist DOCTOR APHRA has ten hours to cross a hostile megacity before the bomb implanted in her throat blows up. No big deal, right? And even if there ARE, say, insane cops and bounty hunters on her tail—she's got a partner to help her! (Unfortunately that would be TRIPLE ZERO: the astonishingly unpleasant murder droid who yearns to see her dead)
Opening crawl
| WORST AMONG EQUALS Part II |
|---|
Plot summary
Raising the stakes
In space, the monster trappers Winloss and Nokk rendezvous with a starship that is apparently carrying Princess "Leia Organa" and a masked Rebel trooper. "Organa" hires them to hunt down and destroy the rogue assassin droid Triple Zero. The Trandoshan Nokk is suspicious of "Organa" and her "guard," who smell of exotic bioengineering and Aqualish beer respectively. After recognizing footage of Chelli Lona Aphra, the couple accept the job since they have scores to settle with Aphra for endangering their lives at the "Terror Temple". "Organa" orders the couple to kill Aphra.
After the trappers leave, "Organa" and the rebel trooper reveal themselves as Doctor Cornelius Evazan and Ponda Baba, with the former using a shape shifting pluripleq. Evazan hopes to raise the stakes. Using a mirror, Triple Zero issues threats of vengeance against his tormentors.
Fugitives on a law-abiding dystopia
Meanwhile on Milvayne, Aphra chides Triple Zero for wasting his time threatening mirrors and reminds him that they have only ten hours before they explode. Triple Zero corrects her by pointing out they have only nine hours and 37 minutes before the bombs explode. Aphra is upset with Triple Zero for murdering the cyberneticist Rajam Nuss, whose body they have dumped inside an oubliette. Aphra learns that Nuss's mentor Professor Prexo lives on Milvayne but he does not accept unsolicited calls.
From their rooftop platform, Triple Zero watches several Milvayne Authority police officers punishing criminals and defective droids by throwing them over the edge of a wall into the wasteland below. Watching the scenario, Triple Zero remarks that Milvayne society is built on "neighborly betrayal and fear." After arguing about whose fault it is, Aphra and Triple Zero agree to work together to survive on a hostile world.
Twelve minutes later, Aphra attempts to bribe a train driver to obtain passage on a passenger train for her and Triple Zero. After a mixture of bribes from Aphra and a veiled threat from Triple Zero, the female driver directs Aphra towards Coach Epsilon and Triple Zero to the droid wagon. Due to their proximity bombs, Aphra tries to bribe the driver into letting her bring her droid into Coach Epsilon. However, Triple Zero takes offense at being called luggage and threatens to harm the driver. In response, the driver alerts Informahub about a defective droid making threats in public.
Three airborne Milvayne Authority drones arrive and take Triple Zero away into the wasteland below. With her proximity bomb beginning to activate, Aphra attempts to get her money back from the corrupt train driver, who unsuccessfully tries to bribe Aphra into paying money for a "Penultimate-class" seat. When the driver refuses to refund Aphra, she steals her blaster and plunges into the wasteland below. Amidst a pile of rubbish suspended by a net, Aphra encounters Triple Zero and their proximity bombs begin deactivating.
Meeting the locals
Shortly later, Triple Zero is caught in the jaws of a giant Qaberworm named Gurtyl, who is the pet and companion of a human girl named Vulaada Klam. Klam intends to trade the droid for two quarts of water and a barrel of stew. Seeing Aphra, the girl intends to sell her to the cannibals. At gunpoint, Aphra forces Klam to order Gurtyl to release Triple Zero. The vengeful assassin droid attempts to exact revenge on Klam by threatening her with a needle. However, Aphra convinces him to spare her life, warning that killing Klam would anger her pet Qaberworm, with whom she has a deep bond.
The girl introduces herself as Vulaada Klam while Aphra and Triple Zero introduce themselves. While sharing a meal of scavstew, Aphra tries on Klam's paid of heatspex. Klam explains that the wastelands of Milvayne are home to millions of outcasts including immigrants, disease-carriers, the homeless and defectives. While Aphra attempts to befriend the girl, Triple Zero is aloof. He asks Klam if Gurtyl can carry them under the city within nine hours and 13 minutes, and promises not to murder her. When Klam asks what is in it for them, Aphra offers her a nearly empty bag of credits and suggests she can trade Triple Zero for stew. Aphra later tells Triple Zero it was a white lie meant to convince Klam to help them. Triple Zero asks if Aphra intends to betray him before saying that she never stays long enough to count the cost.
While traveling on the back of Gurtyl, Aphra asks Klam if she was born on Milvayne. Klam explains that her family were war refugees fleeing from a frontline planet that had seen fighting between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance. Her parents had hoped to find refuge for her family on Milvayne. However, a family in the next tent at the processing center did not like Gurtyl's smell and reported her father for a speeding offense and her mother for a visa stamp irregularity. The Milvayne Authority condemned Klam and her family to be thrown into a wasteland. While Klam survived the fall by hitting a net, her parents fell to their deaths.
Triple Zero speaks with Aphra, observing that Aphra is able to relate to the girl's status as a "born survivor." He warns Aphra not to trust Klam because she will betray her. Aphra dismisses Triple Zero's advice, saying that he does not know anything about her. Triple Zero counters that he knows that Aphra has a habit of betraying other people to save her own skin and blames BT-1's supposed death on her. When Aphra utters Tam Posla, Triple Zero responds that he was the one who backstabbed the bounty hunter.
Triple Zero quickly realizes that Aphra had spotted the undead Posla, who was clinging onto to a hovering blaster. The undead Posla opens fire on them. When Aphra expresses shock that Posla has returned, the Gundravian hookspores possessing him counter that justice and the Force are intertwined. Aphra explains to Triple Zero that she encountered a crashed Jedi starship and a swarm of space fungus who had possessed Posla due to his sense of focus and moral righteousness. A defiant Triple Zero prepares to face Posla in a showdown, boasting that he has not shared his control codes with anyone except BT-1. However, the reanimated Posla reveals that the Force has also reassembled BT-1 and orders the astromech droid to annihilate the fugitives.
Media
Editions
- UPC 759606086290; December 12, 2018; Marvel Comics[1]
- 02711; Cover A; Ashley Witter
- 02721; 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 |
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Organisms
Droid models
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Events
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Locations
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Organizations and titles
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Vehicles and vessels
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Weapons and technology
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Miscellanea
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Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2016) #27 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 27 must take place around 1 ABY.
External links
