THE CALCULUS OF LOSS! The price of freedom is examined, as the Rebel Alliance comes to understand the true scope of the threat against it. Threepio enters into aggressive negotiations, and Luke Skywalker embarks upon a desperate mission that will test his growing Jedi skills to the limit.
The scene in which Luke Skywalker meets Melton's family was inspired by the time Charles Soule met Mark Hamill, the actor who plays Skywalker, at New York Comic Con with a few of his friends and their kids. Soule added that like Skywalker in the issue, Hamill immediately bent down and greeted the kids, and noted their faces looked like those of Reen and Zelly in the issue.
The issue depicts Luke Skywalker informing rebel leaders Mon Mothma, Gial Ackbar, and Hera Syndulla about the Galactic Empire's construction of another Death Star. This contradicts Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, where the opening crawl establishes that Skywalker did not know of the construction.
- Star Wars Vol. 5: The Path to Victory