Doctor Aphra (2016) 23

Doctor Aphra 23 is the twenty-third issue of the comic book series Star Wars: Doctor Aphra. The comic was written by Simon Spurrier, illustrated by Kev Walker, and published by Marvel Comics on August 22, 2018. The issue contains the story "The Catastrophe Con Part IV," in which Accresker Jail is decommissioned and sent on a collision course with a rebel planet.
==Publisher's summary==
GOOD NEWS: THE IMPERIALS HAVE ABANDONED ACCRESKER JAIL. BAD NEWS: FIRST THEY SHOT IT AT A REBEL PLANET. For unscrupulous inmate DOCTOR APHRA, accompanied by former flame SANA STARROS and current flame INSPECTOR TOLVAN…(NB: Awkward.)…chances to escape are dwindling fast. Good thing Aphra's not distracted by an expensive relic, right? Oh, dear.
==Plot summary==
===The rescue plan===
0-0-0 ("Triple Zero") and BT-1 have hijacked a touring ship, jettisoning its Bith passengers into deep space. The two droids intercept a holographic conversarion between the bounty hunter Tam Posla and Chelli Lona Aphra. Dr Aphra convinces Posla to rescue her from Accresker Jail by claiming she has captured the rogue surgeon Dr Cornelius Evazan. Triple Zero and BT-1 take a hyperspace jump to Accresker Jail.
Lopset Yas akss if Posla will come and rescue them. Due to their desperate situation, Aphra thinks that Posla will be one of the few people willing to visit a biohazardous prison on a collision course with a rebel world. Lopset says that Posla must hate Dr Evazan before changing back to his "alien" face at Aphra's urging.
===Chaos and doom===
Sana Starros notices that multiple escape pods are leaving the prison tug, which is an Arquitens-class command cruiser. Aphra says this makes sense since Acreisker Jail is held together by a tractor field generator, meaning that they can't cut the ship loose without the asteroid breaking apart. Magna Tolvan realizes that the Galactic Empire is abandoning the prisoners aboard the prison space station. The four watch as the command cruiser detaches and rams into the space station.
After the Imperials abandone Accresker Jail and its inmates, the other prisoners begin rioting. Tolvan laments that this is the time that the inmates should be helping each other while Aphra mocks the idea of people relying on each other. Aphra begins go tell Starros and Tolvan about her rescue plan but Tolvan distrusts Aphra due to her history of blackmailing people. Aphra beguns to defend herself but the other prisoners decide that she is to blame for the recent trouble.
A reptilian prisoner attempts to kill Aphra and her allies but is crushed to death by debris from the wrecked tug cruiser dislodged by the ghostly Jedi inhabiting the prison station. As the ghostly Jedi attacks the rioting prisoners, Aphra reminds Lopset that it is a sentient telekinetic fungus. The group realize that the fallen Jedi ghost is tethered to his starship. After some disccusion, Aphra and her companions decide to head inside the wrecked tug cruiser.
===Exploring the tug cruiser===
To enter the wrecked starship, the four use a cannon to blast a hole through its hull. Aphra attempts to get Tolvan to broker peace with her estranged friend Starros. Tolvan refuses since Aphra exploited, betrayed and broke Starros. Reaching the interrogation room, the group discover an escape pod near the starboard side of the tug cruiser but Aphra realizes that the Imperials have sealed the bulkhead before scuttling the ship. Starros adds that they can't use the heavy cannon to blast their way through and that the escape pod is too weak to clear the jail's gravity field.
Examining the ship's holoprojector, Tolvan discovers that the Imperials have set the tug cruiser and Accresker Jail on a collision course with the planet Tiferep Major, a pro-rebel world with two billion people. 67 percent of the population are rebel sympathizers. While the four react to the impending heavy civilian casualty rate, Aphra proposes slicing the tractor envelop generator so that they can free the escape pod. By controlling the generator, Aphra reasons they can unlock the bulkheads.
Horrified at the impending loss of life cost by the impending collision, Tolvan uses her comlink to contact Imperial sector control in an attempt to convince them to abort the planetside strike on Tiferep Major. Since Tolvan is using her command ID "Green-3-8-indigo," the Imperials think she is an impostor impersonating the real Tolvan and terminate the conversation, dismissing her as a rebel. Tolvan loses her temper and kicks some equipment.
Starros reminds Aphra that General Hera Syndulla is still mad at her for putting a bow on her head, which is highly offensive to Twi'leks. Aphra counters that Syndulla needs to pay up her fees for the intelligence that she supplied the Rebellion. Aphra is unwilling to release the information. While Stattos is concerned about the deaths of innocents on Tiferep Major, Aphra is ambivalent to their fate. Aphra attempts to apologize for hurting Starros, who is still unable to forgive her. While she vows to complete her mission with "requisite violence," Starros accepts that Aphra was not born awful.
Tolvan sends a secure message to an unidentified recipient. Meanwhile, Aphra succeeds in slicing into the trscking generator and reduces the gravity field by half. Though Aphra is able to open a bulkhead to the launch deck, Starros points out that her actions have killed a hundred convicts. When Lopset asks if Posla will come, Aphra says it never hurts to have a backup plan. When Tolvan asks what happened, Aphra explains that she rearranged some junk from deep inside the asteroid and penetrated the hull. Tolvan points out that she has moved the Jedi ship.
===Sentient fungi===
Aphra, Starris, Tolvan and Lopset are confronted by the Gundravian hookspores, which have possessed the corpse of the fallen Jedi. With its host's body rotting, the sentient hookspores attempt to possess the bodies of the four companions. Deeming them unworthy for various reasons, the hookspores vow to deal with them in the end. While the others recover from the effects of the sentient spores, Aphra explains that the spores were mutated by a Force-active Kyber crystal, which imprinted them with their late Jedi host's hero complex.
As Aphra attempts to recover the kyber crystals for herself, Starros realizes that Aphra is greedy for treasure. After Aphra denies there is a lightsaber aboard, Starros accuses her of risking their lives for stealing museum junk. Aphra claims that the loot is better for an armory. While Starros points iut the danger of recovering the crystals from the hookspore-possessed corpse, Aphra spots Posla's starship approaching.
===Vader's conspiracy===
Elsewhere, an Imperial officer receives Tolvan's audio message about a conspiracy by Darth Vader to usurp the Emperor and replace him with a Force-sensitive rebel. However, Vader is listening and kills the officer.
==Media==
===Editions===
*UPC 759606086290; August 22, 2018; Marvel Comics
**02311; Cover A; Ashley Witter
**02321; Cover B; Rod Reis
===Cover gallery===
File:DoctorAphra-23.jpg|Cover A
File:Doctor_Aphra_23_Textless.jpg|Cover A, unlettered
File:DoctorAphra-23-B.jpg|Cover B
==Appearances==
==Collections==
*Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Vol. 4 — The Catastrophe Con
*Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Omnibus Vol. 1
==Notes and references==
==External links==
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