An uneasy alliance between Princess Leia and Lady Qi'ra forms in the preview for this week's Star Wars #22 from writer Charles Soule, artist Ramon Roasanas, and Marvel Comics. Qi'ra reemerged during the War of the Bounty Hunters event as the new leader of the Crimson Dawn, taking over control of the organization from Darth Maul. She stole Han Solo's carbonite-frozen body and attempted to auction it off. Crimson Dawn is a criminal syndicate interested in filling its coffers via unscrupulous means. However, Qi'ra's stated ultimate goal is to use the chaos Crimson Dawn creates among the galaxy's underworld to destabilize the Galactic Empire's control and ultimately bring down Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader.
While Leia is skeptical of Qi'ra's intentions, she can't deny that they do seem to share a common enemy. And, in this era between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the Rebel Alliance needs all the help it can get, even if it comes from a group as shady as Crimson Dawn.
You can see the meeting between the two leaders in the preview pages below. Star Wars #22 goes on sale on April 13th. Solicitation text follows.
Star Wars #22
DEC211153
(W) Charles Soule (A) Ramon Rosanas (CA) Carlo Pagulayan
THE DAWN ALLIANCE – PART 1 OF 3 "The Last Division"
The time has come for THE REBEL ALLIANCE fleet to bring its final lost division home… but to do it, LEIA ORGANA, MON MOTHMA and the other Alliance leaders will need to rely on intelligence provided by the notoriously untrustworthy criminal organization CRIMSON DAWN. Meanwhile, Starlight Squadron and a group of rogue PATHFINDERS led by KES DAMERON head out on an unauthorized rescue mission to save one of their own…!
