Star Wars 65: Golrath Never Forgets

"You'd blush like a nova if I called you what I wanted to, mister!"

- Leia Organa

Star Wars 65: Golrath Never Forgets is the sixty-fifth issue in the Marvel Star Wars series of comics.

Plot summary
Luke Skywalker is placed on trial for the negligent death of Lieutenant Shira Brie. A small judges panel, presided over by Princess Leia, General Rieekan and General Veertag examine the evidence of the past several days and conclude that Skywalker is innocent of all charges. He is reinstated into the fleet at the rank of commander once again.

Later, a pilot named Gemmer complains about the photoreceptive imagery from a souvenir piece of rock from the old Golrath base keeping him awake at night. Captain Thorben has Gemmer turn the piece over to the Rebel leaders who quickly examine it. They discover that the natural mineral deposits found on the volcanic world record light images of their surroundings and project them as holograms once the mineral cools. They know that the Imperials have recently taken control of Golrath, and are scared that this geological peculiarity might yield the location of their current base at Arbra. Leia decides to personally lead an expedition to Golrath to eradicate any trace elements that might aid the Galactic Empire in their search for the fleet.

Golrath Station is currently presided over by the recently demoted Lieutenant Mils Giel. He soon learns about the bedrock's astounding properties when two stormtroopers report seeing images of a Rebel training exercise. Giel immediately sends a communiqué to Darth Vader and orders a squad of TIE fighters to defend the base should the Rebels return.

Two flight groups of X-wing and BTL Y-wing starfighters converge on Golrath. They engage with a squadron of Imperial TIE fighters and a vicious battle takes place. Princess Leia maneuvers her Y-wing through the morass of fighters and dives down into the clouds above Golrath. She flies down towards the old base using a parabelt rocket harness.

Leia sneaks into the factory compound and heads directly towards the reactor core. Her intent is to overload the core causing the base to explode. Giel finds her and opens fire, causing Leia to seek cover behind some packing crates. Giel seals off all of the exits and primes the overload switches himself. As valuable a prize as this base may be to the Empire, the chance of killing the leader of the Rebel Alliance is of even greater value – even at the cost of his own life. Leia manages to distract Giel by activating her rocket harness and finds a way to escape from the reactor room. He chases her outside, but is unable to stop her. She radios Lando Calrissian in a Y-wing who meets her at a rendezvous point.

Giel is enraged at his failure. Out of spite, he fires off a shot from his blaster at a passing X-wing fighter before boarding his own Imperial troop transport. Giel evacuates the base just before it explodes. As luck would have it, the ship he fired upon belongs to Luke Skywalker and the small blaster shot causes enough damage to Luke's engines that he is unable to regroup with the fleet. As the rest of the ships enter hyperspace, Luke is left behind with a fresh squad of TIE fighters bearing down on him.

Behind the scenes
The Rebel Alliance abandoned Golrath station in Star Wars 50: The Crimson Forever.

Lt. Shira Brie was allegedly killed by Luke Skywalker in Star Wars 61: Screams in the Void.

Lt. Mils Giel was demoted in rank in Star Wars 63: The Mind Spider.

Lando Calrissian only makes a behind-the-scenes appearance in this issue.

In this issue, the Imperial troop transport pilot is dressed in the uniform of an Imperial gunner. In the Marvel Comics stories, it was common to find various noncom personnel dressed in such a fashion, regardless of job function.

Collections

 * Classic Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... Volume 4: Screams in the Void
 * Omnibus: A Long Time Ago... Volume 3