Doctor Aphra (2020) 3

Doctor Aphra 3 is the third issue of the canon comic book series Star Wars: Doctor Aphra. It was written by Alyssa Wong, penciled by Marika Cresta, colored by Rachelle Rosenberg, and published by Marvel Comics on August 26, 2020. The issue features the story "Fortune and Fate Part 3: Turnabout," in which Doctor Aphra and her crew are confronted by the forces of Ronen Tagge.
==Publisher's summary==
THE TRIALS OF VAALE! Separated from her crew, DOCTOR APHRA finds herself in peril at the hands of RONEN TAGGE'S mercenaries! Could there be a traitor in their midst? And can Aphra outwit them before the curse of the city swallows her and her new team whole?
==Plot summary==
As Eustacia Okka returns to consciousness, with a cut on her head. Just Lucky explains that they fell after the floor collapsed to her and Krrsantan uses bacta spray on her cut. Lucky hears the voices of the rest arguing above them.Doctor Aphra (2020) 3
Tagge's mercenaries demand that Detta Yao and Chelli Lona Aphra open the door to the Workshop of the Architects of Vaale so they can get the Rings of Vaale. Yao tells them it's not that simple as they don't know how to open it themselves without Okka, while Aphra mutters a tearful apology to Okka. Kiehart warns Yao that she's being mouthy considering her position, to which Yao responds that being a grad student on a deadline, she's already suffered more than Kieheart can imagine. Kieheart punches her hand threateningly, but Tucker tells her to back off as they still need them. Aphra says that this is a good call, since the others are gone, and tells them to call their boss. She says she will give him the Rings of Vaale, since the Tagges pay more.
Ronen Tagge is throwing a party in Ronen Tagge's Private Penthouse. He tells one of the guests that the Dragens are not present because Kin Dragen said something rude about his aunt, so he "had their manners corrected". The guest comments that he truly is his aunt's favorite. Ronen is told about Aphra's decision and is delighted.
Lucky says that Aphra's actions are cold even for her. Okka wonders why she was ever involved with Aphra, and Lucky and Krrsantan console her that everyone makes mistakes. Okka resolves to beat Aphra to the Rings of Vaale, and noting that the skeletons were interred in the walls, theorizes that there is an entrance, and an exit. Lucky expresses a sensation that he's being watched, and is also skeptical of the way Tagge caught up to them. He states that they must have had a spy that was feeding Tagge information, letting him send a message to TA-418 and track them down. Okka assumes it's Aphra due to her past betrayals, but Lucky is still unsure. Okka leads them to some stairs.
Aphra asks for the mercenaries' names, but changes her mind, saying she wouldn't remember them anyway. Aphra orders them to search the walls for the key, while being wary of traps like the one that had just killed one of them. Kiehart objects to Aphra ordering them about but is overrided by Tucker, while Venters flirts with Yao. Another of the mercenaries triggers a trap that kills him. Detta tells Venters that she's worried about "the curse". As he begins to become more and more nervous, she tells him that the whole city is cursed, speculates that the people who became the skeletons died terrible deaths, and asks him if he sees the door moving as well. Tucker admonishes Venters, saying they're not there to socialize, then triggers a trap. Giant hands burst out of the ground. One has Kieheart in its grasp, and one has another of the mercenaries. Yao kicks Venters into the hole.
Lucky hears a sound, saying it sounds like screaming. Okka questions if it's similar to the high-pitched sound he heard earlier, but Lucky says it's different but he hears that one as well. He says he can feel it in his bones. As Okka speculates that it might be a security device that not everyone can hear, some hands reach out to her. Lucky pulls her out of the way of several dead bodies while Krrsantan shoots one with his bowcaster. The bodies disappear, and they wonder what happened.
In new crypts, Okka admires the artisanship of the place. Lucky says the sound has gotten worse. Okka hypothesizes that it is because they should be directly below the workshop. Before Lucky can protest, Krrsantan alerts her to a door, with a marking she says she's seen before. As they open the door, she says that this could be it.
===Finding the ring===
Aphra narrowly avoids a hand slamming into the ground where she was. As Tucker is being dragged by a hand into the hole, he curses that he shouldn't have trusted Aphra. Aphra wonders why people keep telling her that. After Tucker is dragged into the hole, Yao jumps free and she and Aphra run into the next room, where she they find the Workshop of the Architects of Vaale, where the Rings of Vaale were created. Meanwhile, Okka has found the Architects' Mausoleum, the Rings' final resting place. She approaches a statue of a kneeling person. Seeing the Ring of Fortune in a case in its hand, she remarks that her work has been validated. They prepare to leave.
Aphra and Yao look at an empty glass case. Yao protests that the Ring of Immortality has to be there, but Aphra tells her that sometimes texts are wrong. When Yao objects to Aphra calling her "kid", Aphra calls her out on her facade of being sweet and innocent and her plan to backstab them and take the rings for herself. Yao asks why she thinks that, and Aphra replies that it's what she herself would have done at that age. Yao retorts that Aphra doesn't know anything about her, so Aphra makes a series of parallels between them: how they both believed their university underestimated them and wanted to prove them wrong, so they planned ambitious projects. Yao tells her it's projection, but Aphra tells Yao that she knew Yao was going to betray them ever since Yao didn't object to Okka getting full credit.
They both reach for their blasters but are interupted by Okka, Lucky and Krrsantan, who tell them they found the Ring of Fortune. Yao pulls her blaster on Okka and tells her to open the case for the Ring of Fortune, threatening that she'll kill Okka if any of the others move. Okka opens the case, but it's empty. Yao threatens to shoot Okka, but Lucky tells her to wait, pulling out the Ring of Fortune. Yao tells him to give it to her, but he drops it on the ground, distracting her and allowing Aphra to shoot her. Aphra compliments Lucky on his thinking and asks for the ring, but Lucky refuses. Tagge's mercenaries enter the room, and he echoes Aphra's earlier sentiment that no one pays like the Tagges.
==Media==
===Editions===
*UPC 759606097241; August 26, 2020; Marvel Comics; First printing
**00311; Cover A; Valentina Remenar
**00321; Cover B; Mahmud Asrar & Matthew Wilson
===Cover gallery===
File:DoctorAphra2020-3.jpg|Cover A
File:DoctorAphra2020-3Cover.jpg|Cover A (not final)
File:DoctorAphra2020-3-Asrar.jpg|Cover B
File:DoctorAphra20203CoverB.jpg|Cover B (not final)
==Appearances==
==Collections==
*Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Vol. 1 — Fortune and Fate
*Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Omnibus Vol. 2
==Sources==
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==Notes and references==
==External links==
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