I kept feeling back to the destruction by the Death Star of the entire planet. The emotions that were put forth from Aric to the populace were heartfelt. Holding the aliens close to him made a lot of sense to me - and poignant. Of course, I wondered why he didn't save one or two, but it felt okay to me. I also like how the story is really unfolding. The first held the problem - and this one showed the destruction in action. It had the feel of an apocalypse. This was a massive problem that Aric really couldn't solve through his dedication. It made the throwing down of the hammer at the end cool. Great issue.