Star Wars: Heir to the Empire (Finale)

We are now at heir to the Empire No. 6, the exciting and action-packed conclusion to the series. Mara and Luke discuss how to emerge from the forest without eliciting Imperial suspicion. Luke gets his lightsaber back and hides it in R2-D2. Mara suggests using a forest plant that will temporarily bloat Luke's face and render him unrecognizable to the Imperials. As they emerge from the forest, the Imperials intercept them. Luke poses as a bounty hunter who has captured a disgruntled Carde employee. The Imperials decide to take both of them prisoner. Han Solo gets arrested as well, and the team are escorted to the Imperial center. Luke stages a diversion to quickly send a transmission to Carde's team through R2-D2. C-3PO receives Luke's message and transmits it to Lando, asking them to hold off on their attack until the Stormtroopers are under the arch. Lando and Carde's team have a disagreement, but the latter eventually agree. The team fire on the Stormtroopers as they enter the arch as agreed, but come under heavy fire. Carde's team turns on Lando. Han frees himself and Luke. Luke gets the lightsaber and uses it to dismantle the arch, sending it down on the entire remaining Imperial crew. Carde marvels at how one man, implying Jedi Master Luke, could have taken out the entire Imperial crew. He and his crew start an evacuation to leave the planet. Han, Lando and Luke leave the planet as well. Instead of heading back to Coruscant, they decide to take a break at Sluice Van and get the X-Wing fixed up there. Thrawn and the Imperials move into Sluice Van with the cloaking shield on. At the shipyards, Wedge Antilles notices an empty freighter moving in without any escort. Growing increasingly suspicious, he orders his squadron to be ready. The freighter decoy releases the Imperial forces to attack, and New Republic forces scramble to defend. The Millennium Falcon emerges out of hyperspace right in the midst of the battle. They realize they are facing not only TIE fighters, but also some cone-shaped objects. Luke realizes these could be mole miners stolen from Lando's operation. Luke confirms the Imperials are using the mole miners as he heads into battle. The Republic notices mole miners landing on ships, and realize the Imperials are using the miners to steal ships for their armada. They try to destroy the mole miners but have to engage with space troopers that are defending them. Thrawn asks the captain for a status report, and Pileon replies that they have 39 ships secure. Thrawn orders a withdrawal, seemingly satisfied with what he has. He is confident that there is nothing the rebels can do to stop the captured ships. The Republic realizes the Imperials are escaping with the ships. Han suddenly realizes the mole miners are operating on remote and asks Lando to start them all running. The mole miners start firing, causing damage to the ships they are attached to and preventing them from moving further. This move takes the Imperials by surprise. Thrawn, realizing he has been outmaneuvered, asks the Imperials to withdraw. He says this is a merely a slowdown, not a defeat, and with Mount Tantus secure, their victory is assured. With the Imperials retreating, the Republic has won for now, but it's not a fully happy one. They realize they have damaged their ships, but that it was better than the alternative where the Empire would have gotten them instead. Han answers a call from Leia, who is back on Coruscant. She tells him Admiral Ackbar has been arrested for treason. The team realizes counselor failure will push hard, and promise they won't let that happen. The Falcon heads back to Coruscant, and that's how Heir to the Empire comes to an exciting finish. Thank you for staying with us for all six parts of the Heir to the Empire comic. But we are just getting started with the Thrawn Trilogy, part of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. We hope you can join us again soon for our reviews of the remaining two installments of the Thrawn Trilogy, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command.