Good morning,
The focus of this article is the one hundred and second issue of Marvel's first Star Wars series. The cover, which was drawn by Sam De La Rosa and Kerry Gammill (who penciled the flashback story in issue #70), showed Luke Skywalker and Kiro in front of a starship, with several Chiaki in the water in the background. The tale was titled "School Spirit!" The issue had a cover date of December 1985.
The story began on the planet Iskalon. Lando Calrissian's ship, the Cobra, was about to land. He and Luke were aboard, and the two talked about how much the peaceful world had been changed by the Empire. Luke felt that he owed it to the natives to inform them about Kiro. who was assumed dead after battling with a Nagai soldier on the planet Kinooine.
Meanwhile, Nagai forces were scouring one of the landing areas and noted the arrival of a ship they didn't know. They didn't know its origin, but they were more concerned about the Iskalonians who now lay dead at their feet. They fought bravely, but were no match for the seasoned invaders. The natives were more resistant to them than they'd hoped, but the Nagai still had plans to enslave the surviving populace. Only a lone shadowy figure seemed to stand between them and their goals of conquest.
Several meters under the water, Mone and his followers paid attention to what was going on above ground. They heard the incoming ship and wondered if it was friend or foe. As they ascended, Mone smiled upon seeing his old friends again. Luke and Lando greeted Mone and his followers warmly, and they talked about the Iskalonians who had been slain by the Nagai.
Luke informed Mone of Kiro's fate on Kinooine. Mone rebuffed Skywalker's assertion that Kiro had perished, noting that they had seen him. Their hero had returned when his world needed him the most.
Meanwhile, elsewhere on the water world, Nagai were trying to gather more information about the new ship. One of the commanders dispatched several soldiers and Imperial Stormtroopers to investigate. The forces were going to be armed with some of the new weapons that they wanted to try out.
It didn't take very long for them to reach the heroes. Luke, Lando, and Mone fought valiantly, but they were eventually overcome by the sonic blasters employed by the Nagai. A stormtrooper adapted to the watery conditions shot a net over them just before Kiro arrived on the scene. He fled before Luke and Lando could fully recover, but there was no doubt that Kiro was indeed alive and well.
The Alliance heroes knew they had to go after the Nagai after noticing Mone's disappearance. They talked about the collective nature of the Iskalonians and how Kiro went against those patterns of thinking and behavior. They then went to their ship to break out their underwater gear before diving down toward the Nagai tower.
Luke and Lando used the Jedi's lightsabers to slice away at the tower's base. The native Chiaki offered no resistance, probably because their appetites were already sated from the recent violence on that planet. Kiro returned to protect his friends from the Nagai warriors who had crept up behind them. He then went to free Mone and the rest of the captured Iskalonians. Luke left soon thereafter, leaving Lando alone to deal with the tower.
Skywalker arrived inside the building just to see Kiro take a laser blast to his torso. He once again assumed the worst and rushed to free Mone and his companions before the tower collapsed underwater. This ended the Nagai threat for the moment.
Afterward, Luke sat alone for some time, thinking that he'd lost Kiro for good. However, his friend resurfaced, explaining that he'd moved away before being hit. He was glad to see his friends, but asked Luke not to let Dani know his fate. He loved her too much to reveal the truth, which was that he felt duty-bound to remain on his homeworld to help his people.
Kiro swam away moments later. Luke promised that he and Lando would keep Kiro's secret safe. Mone and his followers thought that Kiro's words and actions were what being a hero was all about. Luke had been mourning what he believed to be a dear friend's loss, but he now felt better knowing that Kiro had chosen his fate.
This issue provided some closure for Kiro, Mone, and the planet Iskalon. It would be the last time that any of them were featured in this series. I felt sort of sad knowing that Luke couldn't tell Dani the truth, but she would eventually move on. I bought this issue because of Sal Buscema's artwork, and grew to appreciate the story inside. Oddly enough, it made me think about Dani's crewmates Chihdo and Rik Duel, who were pretty much forgotten until a brief revival a few years back.
That's it for this article. Later today, I'll cover the one hundred and third issue of this series. Leia and the Zeltron teens get stuck on another planet. There, they encounter a wounded Nagai and get their first glimpse of another new threat. Until then, have a great day and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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