Star Wars 87 : Still Active After All These Years Star Wars 87 : Still Active After All These Years is the eighty - seventh issue in the " Marvel Star Wars " series of comics . Publisher ' s summary . " Beginning another cosmic adventure that goes beyond " " " ! " What could keep Luke Skywalker from being reunited with the Rik Duel gang ? How about a still active imperial Doomsday weapon ? We just had to call this story " Still Active After All These Years ! " Guest - starring Kiro , the Water - Breather . " " Time is running out ! The imperial doomsday machine is about to cause armageddon — galaxy - wide ! It ' s up to Luke and his band of con men to save the cosmos ! And Danny " [ sic ] " the Zeltron and Kiro are in this one , too ! " Countdown ! " is written by Jo Duffy , penciled by Ron Frenz " [ sic ] " , and inked by Tom Palmer ! " Plot summary . After on the planet Iskalon , Luke Skywalker , Plif , Dani , Chihdo , Rik Duel , and Kiro make their way to the next planet on Luke ' s list , the Core World of Shawken . Luke is interested in meeting with the planetary leaders to invite them to attend a planetary council concerned with the establishment of a new government . As Luke lands his X - wing and Rik lands the " Moonshadow " , Skywalker warns the group that they are there as official representatives of the Alliance and that they should be on their best behavior . Although Rik and his band agree to act appropriately , Luke detects their insincerity , but before he can speak with them further , they are greeted by Shawken ' s welcoming committee , led by Santor . Luke questions the planetary representative , curious as to why there is almost no sign of the Empire on the world , especially since it was purported to be one of the Empire ' s strongest sites . Santor explains that word of the Alliance ' s victory at the Battle of Endor had reached the world , and that the Imperials , having heard rumors that the Rebellion was headed to Shawken , had immediately evacuated . Santor invites the delegation back to his home , but Rik and his gang are less enthused about further diplomatic talk . Wishing to accommodate his guests , Santor tells Rik and his gang that they are welcome to explore the nearby catacombs , the site of recent excavation by the Empire . Rik agrees , and the two groups split up . At Santor ' s home , Luke explains that the Alliance is willing to offer medical , military , or other aid to the world , since the Empire has so abruptly abandoned them . Santor is impressed with how much the Alliance has achieved in such a short amount of time , and he questions the group about their origins . After Plif and Kiro explain the situations on their homeworlds , Luke mentions that Rik , Dani , and Chihdo pirates and swindlers , and are probably scheming to steal artifacts from Shawken ' s ruins . Kiro , appalled by Rik ' s dishonorable intentions , storms out of Santor ' s house , promising to stop Rik and his gang from doing any such thing . Santor and Luke , somewhat taken aback by Kiro ' s immediate desire to confront Rik , continue their discussion . Luke is still looking for a diplomat from the world to return with him to attend the Alliance ' s planetary council . Santor ' s aides , Margan and a woman , claim that Santor is the obvious choice , and that he will be a great benefit to the planetary meeting . Meanwhile , Rik , Dani , and Chihdo are exploring the catacombs , pondering how they might be able to remove some of the ruins to their ship , as it would fetch a high price from any art collector . Just as Chihdo suggests shooting at the ruins in an effort to free some of the artifacts , they are confronted by Kiro , who is shocked by their plans to destroy some of the ruins . Chihdo , irritated by Kiro ' s honorable nature , fires his blaster at the Iskalonian . Kiro , appalled by the behavior , grabs Chihdo and slams him against the walls of the catacombs . However , the Rodian ' s body pushes a hidden lever in the wall . The lever triggers a reaction which slams shut all the doors to the room that they are in , sealing them in darkness . As the group puzzles over what to do , a loud ticking begins , leading Rik to exclaim that a bomb has been activated , slowly counting down until its explosion . Back in Santor ' s home , a Shawkenese guard rushes in , telling Santor about the event in the catacombs . Santor is frightened by the occurrence , as he has heard tales of his ancestors , who created terrible weapons . He believes that it is possible Rik and his gang may have activated one of these destructive weapons . Luke , Santor , Margan , and the guard rush to the catacombs , but they are greeted by the weapon ' s defense system . Luke is able to destroy the defense system ' s blaster cannon , but the destroyed blaster reveals to Santor what weapon they are dealing with . One of Shawken ' s ancient scientists was a nihilist , who believed that the galaxy had gone wrong , and that it was better to simply destroy the universe and hope that something better would result from a fresh start . As a result , he had built a weapon designed to create a new artificial Big Bang . Theoretically , the weapon would send Shawken ' s fiery core through space at sublight speeds until it hit another planet , setting off a similar reaction that would build upon itself until the entire universe was destroyed . With galactic implications at stake , the group rushes to Rik and his group ' s location . Plif is able to deactivate the doors by " eating " the energy around them , causing them to release . Luke finds a trap door in the center of the room , and alongside Kiro , the two head off to deactivate the device . The trap door leads them to a vast underground body of water . Before the two can explore the water , Kiro asks Luke to help him remove his rebreather suit , as it will only hinder him while they are in the water . As Luke helps Kiro remove his armor , he gives his lightsaber to the Iskalonian . With the lightsaber in hand , Kiro tells Luke that he is going alone into the water , since there might be further traps , and Luke , an airbreather , would surely be killed in such an occurrence . Luke reluctantly agrees , and Kiro dives into the water . Swimming through the water , Kiro goes through an underground tunnel into a dark chamber . Turning on Luke ' s lightsaber to provide himself with some light , Kiro finds that he has reached a dead end . Confused , and not sure what he is looking for , Kiro suddenly feels the Force at work , guiding him . Behind him , the device has finally started to activate , as the giant face of the weapon begins to glow brightly . At the last second , Kiro swings the lightsaber into the weapon , deactivating it . A large explosion results , creating a massive tidal waves that forces Kiro out of the water , badly injured . Luke grabs the Iskalonian and returns to the room containing the rest of the group . Not sure whether Kiro is alive or dead , Luke lays Kiro in the center of the room . Plif rushes over to the body , and is able to detect the presence of mental processes within Kiro . Plif claims that there is still hope that the Iskalonian will be saved . Luke promises that Kiro will stay alive — everyone owes Kiro that much . Behind the scenes . This issue continues Luke ' s diplomatic mission from " " and takes place concurrently with the previous issue , " " , in which Mon Mothma describes his quest . Luke returns to Endor in a later issue , " " . The story in this issue was originally intended to appear in , then was pushed to when the publication of " " in delayed the next five issues one month . The penciller then changed to Tom Palmer instead of Ron Frenz , as was originally listed in " " , further delaying the issue until it finally appeared here . Marvel originally intended this issue to feature " " , which appears in the .