Unidentified cape

The title of this article is conjectural. Although this article is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.

A red cape was one of several artifacts held as battle trophies by the Slinani at the Migration Shrine Red Mist. Although the cape itself was worth little as an artifact, Minister Pitina Voor of the Galactic Empire's Coalition for Progress discreetly hired the archaeologist Chelli Lona Aphra to acquire the cape in order to manipulate her into stealing the Farkiller weapon as part of the former's plot to assassinate Emperor Palpatine. Aphra, as Voor predicted, foiled the Rebel Alliance's own plans to also use the weapon to assassinate Palpatine, and Voor revealed her plot to the archaeologist. Aphra utilized a slicing kit she had hidden within the cape to hijack a cam droid, exposing Voor's plot to the galaxy.

Description

A garment that could act as a cape^[1] or cloak,^[2] the artifact was made of a red fabric material.^[1] According to Minister Pitina Voor, the cape had no value,^[3] although the rogue archaeologist Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra suspected that it was culturally valuable.^[1]

History

A red herring

By the time of the Galactic Empire, the cape was one of many items obtained by the Slinani religious warrior clan; the archaeologist Doctor Aphra suspected the artifact had been lost by an old civilization in a war. The Slinani kept the artifact among their battle trophies in Red Mist, a roaming Migration Shrine in the Outer Rim, with the cape held hovering above a pedestal in a gravity trap.^[1] In around 2 ABY,^[4] Minister Pitina Voor of the Empire's Coalition for Progress propaganda division utilized the cape as part of her plot to assassinate Emperor Palpatine.^[5] Although the cape itself was worthless,^[3] Voor anonymously hired Aphra to steal the artifact for a large reward^[1] so that the latter would discover the Farkiller,^[5] an ancient sniper rifle made from lightsaber technology, which was also stored within the temple.^[1] Voor's plot involved utilizing the Farkiller in the Emperor's assassination, and by allowing Aphra to seemingly find the rifle on her own, the archaeologist would play into the minister's plans and steal it for herself.^[5]

Aphra and her young ward Vulaada Klam infiltrated Red Mist, where the archaeologist hijacked one of the guardian droids defending the temple. The pair used the droid to escort them safely through the Migration Shrine's traps, reaching the location of the cape. Although Klam suggested disrupting the trap to retrieve the cape, Aphra simply ordered the droid to fetch it for her. The droid collected the cape and was destroyed by the trap, and Aphra took the artifact from it as an alarm went off. The two made their escape, with Klam carrying the cape over her shoulder. However, Aphra and Klam stumbled across the Farkiller,^[1] and, as Voor had hoped,^[5] the archaeologist wished to steal the weapon. Despite being fired upon by many droids, Aphra managed to obtain the Farkiller, and the pair escaped with both artifacts aboard Aphra's starship, the Ark Angel II.^[1]

True value revealed

Aphra and Klam returned to the astronomical object Unox, but the Rebel Alliance,^[1] who Voor had allowed to learn of the archaeologist's theft of the Farkiller as part of her plot,^[5] dispatched forces to capture her.^[1] The Rebellion took the pair to Trading Post Sh'ung-tesk, where they informed Aphra of a plan to use the rifle in the creation of a superweapon to kill the Emperor^[6]—a hoax intended to manipulate the archaeologist as part of their own plot to assassinate Palpatine.^[5] The pair departed without the rifle,^[6] taking the cape with them to the former house of Aphra and her mother on the Outer Rim planet Arbiflux. On Arbiflux, Aphra hoped to lie low until she could contact the cape's buyer, but Voor did not answer.^[2]

During the night, the two were awoken by the arrival of several bounty hunters, sent after Aphra by Voor. As Aphra prepared to make a stand against the hunters, Klam, wearing the cape, identified one as a Wookiee that the archaeologist recognized as her former associate Krrsantan. Aphra decided to run, but Krrsantan, whom Aphra owed a debt, attacked the other mercenaries and rescued her and Klam from approaching Imperial forces. Krrsantan revealed that he had been hired by Voor, who the pair recognized as their buyer, realizing that the job to retrieve the cape had been illegitimate. With Klam still wearing the cape that no longer had any worth, the pair traveled to the Rebellion's Indigo Squadron, where Aphra hoped to steal the Farkiller back.^[2]

Nobody searches the Wookiee

The rebels allowed Aphra to escape with the Farkiller,^[2] into which they had installed a trap in the hope that the weapon would be presented to Palpatine upon the archaeologist's foiling of their "plot."^[5] Aphra and her associates, with Klam wearing the cape, traveled to an Imperial communication relay on Usk Minor, where the archaeologist broadcasted a message that revealed the supposed rebel superweapon plot to the entirety of the Empire. Voor arrived to collect Aphra and her associates, bringing them to the Coalition for Progress headquarters on Centax 3, a moon of^[3] the planet^[7] Coruscant. The three were dressed formally for a broadcast in which Voor "thanked" Aphra for saving the Emperor, with Krrsantan wearing the cape; unknown to the Imperial minister, Aphra had smuggled the Wookiee's bowcaster^[3] and a slicing kit into the garment.^[5]

After Voor's recording concluded and Voor asked what Aphra truly wanted in return, the archaeologist's requests included compensation for stealing the cape so that she could pay off Krrsantan. Voor was hesitant, and Krrsantan brought his bowcaster out of the cape as Aphra's associates threatened to destroy the Farkiller. The minister agreed to pay Krrsantan, telling Aphra that she could do what she wished with the worthless cape. Krrsantan departed, and Aphra took the cape, which she carried over her arm as Voor elaborated on her plot to kill the Emperor,^[3] unaware that the garment concealed a slicing kit that the archaeologist used to hijack a cam droid and publicly broadcast the minister's plot. After Voor had disclosed her plot, Aphra revealed her hijacking of the camera, showing the slicing kit she had hidden in the cape. Aphra dropped the cape to the ground as Voor was apprehended and executed by the Sith Lord Darth Vader, who forcibly recruited the archaeologist into the Empire.^[5]

Behind the scenes

The cape first appeared in the thirty-second issue of the 2016 Star Wars: Doctor Aphra comic series, written by Simon Spurrier, illustrated by Wilton Santos and Caspar Wijngaard, and published by Marvel Comics^[1] on May 8, 2019.^[8]

Appearances

• Doctor Aphra (2016) 32 (First appearance)
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 33 (Appears in hologram)
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 34
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 35
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 36

Sources

• Star Wars: Timelines (Picture only)

Notes and references