Know Your Station #4: It's definitely time to wrap up this story. More people die, Elise doesn't have a clue, more people die. At this point, it seems completely unbelievable that the station's residents - including the staff - aren't in a total panic over the situation. Instead, the staff hosts a happy hour, and the resident who runs the station's servers is wandering the halls with an oversized sword she got from the "urchins" on her floor. I don't even know.
Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #32: Sacks delivers a surprisingly poignant issue here, though it involves spoiling the outcome of "Star Wars: Hidden Empire."
The crew is fleeing Inferno Squad when it flies past the zone where the Fermata Cage was apparently destroyed in "Star Wars: Hidden Empire" #5. Zuckuss uses his Findsman skills to navigate the ship through the Lost Souls Asteroid Field. However, he must enter a trance to do so and the Cage's destruction is creating interference, causing Zuckuss to lose himself in memories of his Findsman ritual.
It's here where the emotions spill from Zuckuss. His younger self is reluctant to enter the ritual, since either way it means he will have to leave his mother. She utters a series of clicks that she claims are an ancient ritual to instill courage, and Zuckuss asks for a last moment together. It's really one of the most poignant moments I've seen in comics.
Zuckuss is a runt but manages to "rid the valley of the terror of the charon," which is the monster that guards the t'karra flower that Findsman aspirants have to return to the clan. Unfortunately, in killing the monster and saving his fellow aspirants, Zuckuss drops the flower. The clan - including his mother - turns their backs on him. Zuckuss swears to find his own way.
Meanwhile, For-Elloem recalls the story and mimics the ritual's sound. Zuckuss awakens in time to navigate the team through the asteroid field, remarking to Valance that the secret is, "You just have to be always open to taking a different path." Unfortunately, though they successfully lost Inferno Squad, Iden Versio correctly guesses the crew will head to a nearby smuggler port for repairs.
Whereas the emotional punches of the last few issues haven't really landed with me, this one does. It'll be hard to forget - thanks to Prianto's wonderful color - Zuckuss cuddling with his mother at the issue's start only for her to turn her back on him at the end. It's a reminder how cruel this galaxy far, far away can be.
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