The Creature from the Trash Compactor

"The Creature from the Trash Compactor" is a story in the canon comic Tales from the Death Star. The story was written by Cavan Scott, illustrated by Vincenzo Riccardi, and published by Dark Horse Comics on October 17, 2023.

Plot summary

As the First Death Star undergoes construction over Geonosis, Imperial Commander Barkle escorts a group of prisoners to a hangar bay. There, the Imperials welcome the Thradian Jonram Dremel, an expert pest controller employed by the Empire. The quartet of criminals, consisting of the Espirion co-leader Saan, fellow co-leader Geratt, the Whiphid J'Rea, and the diminutive Mohsenian Kricad, are tasked by Barkle to assist Dremel in neutralizing a mysterious creature lurking in the service corridors of the massive space station. To ensure compliance, Barkle activates Saan's class-seven stun collar, which would shock any of them who would dare attempt escape or defiance, before giving the collar controls to Dremel.

In the depths of the station, Dremel stands armed with a blaster, while the four convicts are left with sticks. The group is slightly split, with Saan and Kricad on their own, still in contact via comms. Before long, Kricad is spooked by a flying insect landing on his shoulder. As tensions cool, however, J'Rea is swiftly slain by an unseen large creature. Soon thereafter, Saan and Kricad are ambushed by a frightening dianoga. Saan throws her stick at the attacker, and it clangs on the floor, missing. Even so, the dianoga slinks back into the darkness, revealing a much smaller dianoga hatchling's corpse.

The group discusses what little is known about dianoga. Geratt, having enough of the dangerous monsters, attempts to flee. Dremel quickly activates the man's stun collar, incapacitating him. Saan turns on Dremel to defend her partner, but the damage had already been done. Before he can rise to his feet, Geratt becomes surrounded by skittering bugs. Annoyed, he stands up, only to find an enormous hive-mind beetle, which quickly knocks him down once more to consume him.

The survivors are terrified by the unusual monster. Saan, hoping for revenge and freedom, seizes the moment to turn on Dremel, kicking him into the gaping maw of the beast, merely watching as the Thradian begs for help. Saan realizes that in order to escape she needs to find the collar remote. She approaches the swarm to find it, only for Kricad to reveal he already swiped it. The diminutive criminal activates Saan's collar, causing her to be engulfed by the vicious bugs. Kricad believed it was the way of the galaxy for the fittest or smartest to survive; no time to wait on others in times of danger.

Soon after he is able to remove his collar, Kricad too is confronted by the hungry beetle monster. Before he faces the same fate as the others, the dianoga attacks the creature, buying the Mohsenian time to escape the service corridors. He sneaks his way onto Dremel's ship and flees the Death Star and Geonosis system, knowing he would be long gone before the Empire deduced what had occurred. Unbeknownst to him, however, at least three of the murderous bugs made their way onto the ship.

Media

Collected in

• Tales from the Death Star

Appearances

Sources

• Cavan Scott on the Ghoulactic Horrors of Tales from the Death Star on StarWars.com (backup link)

Notes and references