What happened in the galaxy far, far away after the Death Star was destroyed and the Rebel Alliance victory on Endor?
Now the fan-favorite writer is revealing the characters in his new limited series along with a first look inside the first chapter on StarWars.com.
When you’re young and you see Jedi,” series Rucka tells StarWars.com, “you can look at the happy ending and go, ‘Hey, it’s over!’ But you get older and you start to think about it, and you realize, no it’s not. It’s not over at all.” That’s the basis of Shattered Empire, which follows new characters Kes and main protagonist Shara Bey — husband and wife Rebels — as the struggle for freedom continues.
“Shara flies, Kes is a ground-pounder, and a very experienced one,” says Rucka. “So, they have spent more time apart than together, and they’re in the Outer Rim world where the Imperial presence is felt, and they’re hoping that they can bring an end to this. But they’re both very tired veterans, and they come out of [the Battle of] Endor with the elation that we see in [Return of the Jedi]. ‘We’ve won. It’s over.’ — only to discover that, no it’s not. The Empire was huge.” Despite the fireworks, despite the funeral pyre of Darth Vader, despite the joy on Endor, the Empire is far from broken.
“The Empire still has resources. The Empire still has an enormous fleet,” Rucka says. “They may be in disarray post the Battle of Endor, but to think that in that vacuum people aren’t stepping up [is shortsighted].
“All these people are not about to go, ‘Oh, well, I guess we were on the wrong side. It’s over, then.’ [Laughs] There’s a Moff out there who’s like, ‘Right. I’m emptying the bank accounts, I’m changing my name, and I’m going to Aruba.’ You know there is. But for every Moff who does that, there are five who say, ‘Like hell am I leaving this post. We’ve got stormtroopers for a reason. You get out there and you shoot every last one of these upstart insurgents, these terrorists, and you make clear to them that the rule of law still stands.’ So it does get ugly.”
Star Wars: Journey to The Force Awakens: Shattered Empire arrives in September.
By Editor