HAN
—The transfer circuits do not work
’Tis not my fault!
LEIA
—No lightspeed once again?
HAN
’Tis not my fault. In troth, ’tis not my fault!
C-3PO
The rear deflector shield is compromis’d,
And if we do sustain another hit
Upon the ship’s back quarter, ’tis our end.
HAN
[aside:] ’Tis madness, this maneuver I’ll attempt.
But desp’rate times for desp’rate measures call.
[To Chewbacca:] Turn thou this ship around.
CHEWBAC.
—Egh?
HAN
—Turn it ’round!
I shall put all our pow’r to shields in front.
LEIA
Thou wilt attack a Star Destroyer?
C-3PO
—Sir!
The odds of our success in a direct
Attack upon a Star Destroyer—
LEIA
—Tut!
[Exeunt, flying toward the Star Destroyer.
Enter CAPTAIN NEEDA, TRACKING OFFICER, and COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER.
NEEDA
They move into attack position—shields!
But now, where are they gone? Pray, track them straight.
TRACK.
The ship’s no longer shown in any scopes.
NEEDA
That is impossible. No ship that small
Hath any ways or means to cloak itself.
Nay, they cannot, as magic, disappear.
COMM.
Good Captain Needa, our Lord Vader doth
Demand an update of our keen pursuit.
NEEDA
[aside:] O dreaded moment. This shall mean my death.
Farewell now, for my life’s gone with the ship.
[To Communications Officer:] Prepare a shuttle for me. I’ll accept
The full responsibility for their
Escape, and shall apologize unto
Lord Vader. Keep thy watch most vigilant.
COMM.
Aye, Captain Needa.
[Exit Tracking and Communications officers.
Enter DARTH VADER, as Captain Needa makes his way toward him.
NEEDA
—On thy mercy great
I throw myself and all my hopes, dear lord.
The great Millenn’um Falcon now is fled.
It hath evaded even our vast fleet.
Take my apology—
VADER
—The ship is lost?
And thus thy life—dead for a ducat, dead!
[Darth Vader chokes Captain Needa with the Force, killing him.
The necks of fools deserve a crushing Force.
Let this serve as thy dying lesson, Needa.
With that last breath thy recompense is done
And all apologies accepted.
Enter ADMIRAL PIETT.
PIETT
—Lord,
Our scan of the surrounding area
Is now complete, but has, alas, found naught.
Lord, if the swift Millenn’um Falcon hath
Made good the jump to lightspeed, it may be
Beyond the far end of the galaxy.
VADER
Alert thou every Imperi’l post,
And calculate the ship’s most likely course
From its trajectory as it did flee.
PIETT
Aye, Lord, I’ll warrant we shall find them soon.
[Exit Admiral Piett.
VADER
O ancestors, pray save me from these fools
Who with their instruments and scanners could
Not find a bantha in a womp rat’s hole.
But calm thyself now, Vader, be at ease.
This momentary failure may yet prove
Most beneficial, and I’ll warrant that
The time shall not go dully by us, for
It shall be us’d to finalize my plans
And think upon the moment when I shall
Both meet and then defeat the Skywalker
Who dares to call the Empire enemy.
So let these rebels go for now, my soul,
And ponder how to make their downfall whole.
[Exit.
Scene 7.
The Dagobah system.
Enter YODA, R2-D2, and LUKE SKYWALKER, who practices lifting things with the Force.
YODA
Use the Force, Luke, yes.
Now, lift thou the stone. Feel it.
The Force within flows.
[R2-D2 begins to beep as Luke’s ship sinks.
Nay, listen thou not
To the droid and all his beeps.
Do thou concentrate!
[Everything that was lifted falls.
R2-D2
Nee, nee, beep, meep, beep, squeak, squeak, whistle, squeak!
LUKE
Fie! We shall never extricate the ship.
YODA
So certain are you?
Always with you, my pupil,
It cannot be done.
What have we done here—
Hear’st thou nothing that I say?
Dost thou attend, Luke?
If depend upon
The Force thou shalt, anything
Possible shall be.
LUKE
But Master, moving stones with the great Force
I do admit may be achiev’d. But this,
This ship—to lift its hulk, its mass, its size—
’Tis different, aye, wholly different!
YODA
Nay! No different.
Only within thy mind, Luke,
Different it is.
Thou must unlearn all
Those things that thou hast learnèd.
Dost thou understand?
LUKE
In troth, I understand, and I shall try.
YODA
Nay, nay! Try thou not.
But do thou or do thou not,
For there is no “try.”
LUKE
[aside:] I shall stretch out my mind, and shall attempt,
But this is madness—lifting e’en a ship?
The greatest Jedi still cannot achieve
That which is patently impossible.
Methinks no Force can move this ship, and thus
I certain am I never shall do this.
[Luke tries to lift the ship with the Force, but the ship sinks lower.
R2-D2
Beep, hoo.
LUKE
—Nay, I cannot. ’Tis much too big.
YODA
Nay, size matters not.
Look thou at me, I prithee.
Judge me by my size?
And where you should not.
For my ally ’tis the Force.
A pow’rful ally.
Life doth create it.
Its energy surrounds us,
Binds us together.
Luminous beings
We are, not this crude matter.
You must feel the Force.
All around thee, here—
Between thou and me, tree, rock:
Ev’rywhere it is.
E’en between the land
And your ever-sinking ship,
The Force is there, too.