Today saw the release of the second issue in Dark Horse Comics’ Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures – Saber for Hire miniseries, and below are my brief recap and thoughts on this installment.
The High Republic Adventures – Saber for Hire #2 begins with a flashback to the planet Alaris Prime, back when Tylera Yorrick was still a Jedi Padawan. She and her Master Cibaba go through something akin to a Vulcan Mind-Meld, with Ty both reliving her own past and experiencing Cibaba’s past as well. Then writer Cavan Scott cuts back to the “present” of this story (set during Phase III of The High Republic), with Ty striving to track down a group of Force-sensitive children who have been abducted by the Nihil on the planet Temerance. But her Segredo assistant Drewen Qweebjillan is dissatisfied with his tasks on this assignment, and thinks that Ty and her ragtag crew should be in pursuit of loftier goals. So Ty goes off in search of the kids, while Drewen stays on the ship (which he really, really wants to name the Rancor Rider) and searches through local comm frequencies for another mission.
Ty manages to track the Nihil on Temerance to a settlement where the ruthless marauders have corralled the children, preparing to take them off-planet. There’s a sweet battle sequence between our antihero and a Nihil heavy, and then Ty is forced to board a Nihil ship as it takes off with the kids aboard. Meanwhile back on the would-be Rancor Rider, Drewen intercepts a transmission from a Nihil operative who is planning to kidnap Chancellor Lina Soh’s son Kitrep for ransom and their own promotion among the Nihil ranks. But he comms Ty and she says “no” to the mission, instead focusing on rescuing the children, who it turns out are at least somewhat capable of taking care of themselves thanks to their Force powers. One of them knocks out a Nihil via levitation and then passes out from the exertion of using the Force, so Ty carries her on her back, shoots the ship’s pilot droid, and comes to a loud-but-safe crash-landing on the ground.
Ty returns the kids to her parents, refusing any payment (to her own chagrin), and then returns to the site where her ship was parked only to find that Drewen and the protocol droid KL-03 have taken the Rancor Rider to the planet Abtin in an effort to rescue Kip Soh. So our cliffhanger ending this month leaves Ty stranded on Temerance with the astromech droid R0-VR and Drewen racing off in pursuit of more excitement and recognition. I thought this was a really fun issue overall with lots of action in-between some great character moments, and I’m especially enjoying the tumultuous relationship between Ty and Drewen, who isn’t turning out to be as loyal an apprentice as he had promised. Scott and artist Rachel Stott are still doing a great job delivering entertaining adventures for Ty Yorrick, and as always I’m looking forward to more.
Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures – Saber for Hire #2 is available now wherever comic books are sold.