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Gundravian hookspores were a type of extremely infectious, damage-resistant fungus. An infestation of hookspores that had merged with a Jedi and gained Force abilities was present on the wreckage-prison Accresker Jail, causing its decommission. The hookspores were later destroyed by Darth Vader after they attempted to fight him. The energy from the hookspores remained, and possessed the dead body of Tam Posla.

History[]

Becoming sentient[]

A swarm of gundravian hookspores possessed a living Jedi, and for several years both the Jedi and the hookspores coexisted in the same body. Eventually, the Jedi died in a Penumbra-1 shattersprite,^[2] the wreckage of which ended up as part of the wreckage-prison Accresker Jail, where the hookspores merged with the Jedi's corpse and gained a form of sentience. In the prison, the hookspores were able to appear as a Force spirit and use the Force on objects.^[1] Stuck on the jail, the hookspores killed several of the imprisoned convicts in the name of justice, having been psychically imprinted with the personality of the Jedi.^[2]

Discovery[]

The hookspores were discovered by Chelli Aphra and Lopset Yas during an escape attempt in the middle of an attack on a pirate station, after the Force spirit led Aphra to the wreckage of the Jedi's ship. Yas recognized the fungus, and he and Aphra both frantically shot at it with their blasters. The hookspores retreated, revealing the Jedi's corpse, along with their lightsaber, but Aphra and Yas were forced to return to the prison before they could investigate further. Aphra was later interrogated using a Bor, and revealed the existence of the hookspores.^[1]

Once the Accresker command was made aware of the infection, they evacuated the prison of all its staff and decommissioned it, sending it on a collision trajectory^[1] with the planet Tiferep Major. As the convicts aboard the prison began to riot and fight each other, the Force spirit of the hookspores rampaged, killing several prisoners. After breaking into the Arquitens-class command cruiser that pulled the wreckage-prison, Aphra lowered the gravity of Accresker Jail, bringing the hookspore-infected wreckage closer to her. The Force-infested hookspores briefly possessed Aphra, Yas, Sana Starros and Magna Tolvan in search of a heroic individual to infect, but rejected all four of them, preventing them from entering the wreckage. Aphra attempted to break the fungus, wanting to retrieve the Jedi's lightsaber, but was unable to.^[2]

Reawakened[]

As Accresker Jail continued to descend toward Tiferep Major, Tam Posla, who Aphra had tricked into rescuing her, arrived at the prison. The hookspores sensed his presence, and began to search for him so they could use him as its new host. While Tam Posla was speaking with Aphra, the hookspores approached him from behind. Tolvan activated a coolant grille nearby, which froze the hookspores in place before they could reach Posla. The frozen hookspores were unable to move or possess Posla, who then left the prison. Shortly before Accresker Jail collided with Tiferep Major, it was stopped by a tractor beam due to the arrival of Darth Vader. The sudden deceleration caused the hookspores to crash into the machinery that had frozen them, breaking them out of the ice.^[3]

Defeated[]

Slowly thawing, the hookspores began to spread out of the chunk of ice. Darth Vader, who had captured Magna Tolvan on his search for Aphra, sensed the existence of the hookspores, leaving his shuttle to investigate. The hookspores similarly sensed the Dark Lord of the Sith, spreading their way through the prison to find him and destroy the dark side presence. Breaking through the walls of Accresker Jail, the hookspores confronted Vader on the exterior of the prison, swirling toward him and engulfing him. Vader pushed the swarm of hookspores away from him with the Force, hitting them against a wall. As the hookspores rushed toward him once again, Vader reached out and crushed them using the Force, destroying the hookspores. Accresker Jail was later released from the tractor beam, crashing into Tiferep Major, vaporizing what remained of the hookspores.^[4]

A new body[]

While the physical form of the hookspores had been destroyed, the Force energy within them had survived, floating in the wreckage of Accresker Jail. It made its way to the body of Posla,^[6] who had been killed by the assassin droid 0-0-0.^[4] The energy possessed Posla's body, bringing him back to life.^[6]

Revived, Posla rebuilt BT-1, who had been destroyed in Accresker Jail by Darth Vader. Posla continued to hunt down Aphra, using BT-1 to track 0-0-0's transponder signature to Milvayne. He shot at Gurtyl, the qaberworm that Aphra and Triple-Zero were riding on, knocking them both aside in the resulting explosion. He used the Force to pull Aphra's blaster out of her hands, and ordered BT-1 to kill them.^[5]

Behind the scenes[]

The gundravian hookspores first appeared in the 2018 canon comic Doctor Aphra (2016) 22, written by Simon Spurrier and illustrated by Kev Walker.^[1]

Appearances[]

• Doctor Aphra (2016) 22 (First appearance)
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 23
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 24
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 25
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 26 (Indirect mention only)
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 27
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 28
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 29
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 31
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 32 (Indirectly mentioned only; in opening crawl)
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 38 (Indirect mention only)

Sources[]

• Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition (Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars: Timelines
• Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy

Notes and references[]