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The High Republic: The Hunted: Chapter 5: Death on Shingcu Station

What is it ? : Keeve questions why Lourna has done this, as explosions shake the station from the detonators that Lourna planted. But Lourna thought that Keeve would be happy as it's likely to send Baron Boolan spiralling down to his doom with the station. But Keeve still wants to rescue the rest of her team, and now they have limited time.
Meanwhile, Boolans assistants have brought him Tey and Sskeer as prisoners, expecting him to be pleased to be brought Jedi for experimenting on. But he is not happy as Tey is old, and Sskeer only has a marginal access to the force. But he is amused at using Tey's gauntlet to torture the two with lightning.
However Sskeer escapes from his binding, with the help of Keeve who arrives. One of the assistants expects Keeve to be scared as she turns on the Jedi, but Keeve smiles as Tey's droid Skoot electroshocks the woman rendering her unconscious.
Sskeer takes Tey's gauntlet from Boolan and uses it to shock the Nihil, but Keeve urges him to not give in to anger, but he is annoyed at Keeve constantly telling him what to do. Boolan whispers to Sskeer that he can help him regain control, so Sskeer leaves with Boolan.
Ceret and Terec end up fighting another of Boolans assistants along with a Nameless which is still fighting even though Boolan has removed it's head. However the two Kotabi are saved when one of Lourna's explosives goes off killing the monster. And when he awakens afterwards Ceret cannot sense Terec, and discovers a large crater where his brother once stood.
Boolan flees aboard a ship, and Lourna chases after it in a Jedi Vector Starfighter, but crashes into it and communication with her is lost.
The team gathers aboard the Ataraxia and they detect the beacon that Lourna planted on the missing girl transmitting, so they pursue Boolans Stormship into hyperspace as Keeve realises they've lost Lourna and Terec, and Sskeer has left them to be with Boolan. . . .

High Points : If it was all true, this would be an excellent issue, there's risk and the heroes pay a price for the limited victory they win. This price would make the story exciting, making it clear that there is risk and danger. But . . .

Low Points : I'll donate one of my kidneys to a donor if it doesn't turn out that Lourna and Terec are both fine, I'm that sure that this is another fake out. The comic has done it so often by this point, that no one is ever in any danger, and the fact that they pretend they are is becoming boring.
I also won't be surprised if it turns out that Sskeers behaviour is just him pretending to follow Boolan to get close to him, rather than him actually considering Boolans offer to help him. I'm pretty sure of that one, but not sure enough to offer up a fairly major organ.

So what do you really think ? : While the action is done fairly well, and a bunch of the dialogue is well written, the story itself just feels like it's dragging on. There's no risk or excitement, the heroes are going to retrieve Sskeer and the child, and no one is going to have been hurt. In fact I doubt there will be any character development at all. In a series which started off with an interesting premise of Jedi operating behind the Stormwall, with the Nihil having seized a notable section of the galaxy, the entire conclusion of this story will be, they've rescued Sskeer. A character which had a perfect death and character arc in the first series, so really didn't need brought back.

Final Words : So only one more issue of this comic series to go, before it goes on another break, before coming back in a year or so, and this one has been a massive disappointment so far. Keeve who was an interesting character to begin with, has now just become any other Jedi, and while they've set up an interesting premise for the story background, they seem set to not allow the characters to alter it, so where some tension could be gained by wondering how the characters will save the galaxy, it seems set that these heroes are not up to the job, and the Nihil will be dealt with by someone else.

Score : 8/10

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