Star Wars (1977) 65

Golrath Never Forgets

Star Wars 65: Golrath Never Forgets is the sixty-fifth issue in theMarvel Star Wars series of comics.

Plot summary[]

Luke Skywalker is placed on trial for the negligent death ofCaptainShira Brie. A small judges panel, presided over byPrincessLeia,GeneralRieekan and GeneralDuron Veertag examine the evidence of the past several days and conclude that Skywalker is innocent of all charges. He is reinstated into the fleet at the rank ofcommander once again.

Later, apilot namedGemmer complains about the photoreceptive imagery from a souvenir piece of rock from the oldGolrath base keeping him awake at night. CaptainThorben has Gemmer turn the piece over to the Rebel leaders who quickly examine it. They discover that the natural mineral deposits found on the volcanic world record light images of their surroundings and project them as holograms once the mineral cools. They know that theImperials have recently taken control of Golrath, and are scared that this geological peculiarity might yield the location of their current base atArbra. Leia decides to personally lead an expedition to Golrath to eradicate any trace elements that might aid theGalactic Empire in their search for the fleet.

Golrath Station is currently presided over by the recently demoted LieutenantMils Giel. He soon learns about the bedrock's astounding properties when twostormtroopers report seeing images of a Rebel training exercise. Giel immediately sends a communiqué toDarth Vader and orders a squad ofTIE fighters to defend the base should theRebels return.

Two flight groups ofX-wing andBTL Y-wing starfighters converge on Golrath. They engage with a squadron of Imperial TIE fighters and a vicious battle takes place. Princess Leia maneuvers her Y-wing through the morass of fighters and dives down into the clouds above Golrath. She flies down towards the old base using aparabelt rocket harness.

Leia sneaks into the factory compound and heads directly towards the reactor core. Her intent is to overload the core causing the base to explode. Giel finds her and opens fire, causing Leia to seek cover behind some packing crates. Giel seals off all of the exits and primes the overload switches himself. As valuable a prize as this base may be to the Empire, the chance of killing the leader of the Rebel Alliance is of even greater value – even at the cost of his own life. Leia manages to distract Giel by activating her rocket harness and finds a way to escape from the reactor room. He chases her outside, but is unable to stop her. She radiosLando Calrissian in a Y-wing who meets her at a rendezvous point.

Giel is enraged at his failure. Out of spite, he fires off a shot from his blaster at a passing X-wing fighter before boarding his ownImperial troop transport. Giel evacuates the base just before it explodes. As luck would have it, the ship he fired upon belongs to Luke Skywalker and the small blaster shot causes enough damage to Luke's engines that he is unable to regroup with the fleet. As the rest of the ships enterhyperspace, Luke is left behind with a fresh squad of TIE fighters bearing down on him.

Appearances[]

Behind the scenes[]

TheRebel Alliance abandonedGolrath station inStar Wars (1977) 50.

Capt.Shira Brie was allegedly killed by Luke Skywalker inStar Wars (1977) 61.

Lt.Mils Giel was demoted in rank inStar Wars (1977) 63.

In this issue, theImperial troop transportpilot is dressed in the uniform of anImperial gunner. In theMarvel Comics stories, it was common to find various non-commissioned personnel dressed in such a fashion, regardless of job function.

Collections[]

Explore all of Wookieepedia'simages for this article subject.

• Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... Volume 4: Screams in the Void
• Star Wars Omnibus: A Long Time Ago.... Volume 3
• Star Wars: The Original Marvel Years Omnibus Vol. 2
• Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Original Marvel Years Vol. 4

Notes and references[]