William Shakespeare's the Merry Rise of Skywalker
Page 7
Thou patient, for we shall deliver thee.
C-3PO
Whoe’er this Chewie may be, madness ’tis!
[The Bestoon Legacy flies inside
a hangar of the Steadfast.
Enter a few STORMTROOPERS around the Bestoon Legacy.
TROOPER 6
Credentials now present, and manifest.
[Rey, Poe, and Finn emerge,
shooting stormtroopers. The droids
follow hesitantly behind.
FINN
Feel ye our blaster fire, ye troubling knaves!
REY
[to droids:] You three, remain here with the ship.
C-3PO
—Forsooth!
I fear my fellowship to die with ye.
POE
Forever changing places are these ships—
Finn, whither shall we go?
FINN
—Fain would I know,
But no idea have I. Yet follow on!
[They run aside while the droids
wait with the ship.
Enter TWO STORMTROOPERS, pointing
blasters at REY, POE, and FINN.
TROOPER 7
Drop ye your weapons, naughty ruffians!
[Rey uses a Jedi mind trick on them.
REY
’Tis not a problem that we are herein.
TROOPER 7
’Tis not a problem that ye are herein.
TROOPER 8
Indeed, ’tis well!
REY
—You are reliev’d to see
Us on the ship.
TROOPER 7
—Hurrah that ye are here!
TROOPER 8
Most hearty welcome, gentles, to our ship.
POE
[aside, to Finn:] Is’t possible, with a most knowing eye,
She plies such tricks on us?
REY
—We hither came
To find a prisoner and his things, too,
And ye shall help us in our noble search.
TROOPER 7
Proceed in the direction ye did run
And ye shall find th’interrogation room.
[Exeunt stormtroopers.
FINN
They told us Chewie would be found this way—
Let us press forward, blasting cameras,
Until we locate Chewie finally.
[They come to a closed door and Finn
begins working on the panel to open it.
REY
[aside:] Again, the presence of another one
Doth call to me—the dagger is on board,
And I must thither if we would succeed.
[Rey starts walking away as
Finn opens the door.
FINN
Rey, swiftly come or we shall be undone.
REY
The dagger—it is here and we must have’t.
POE
Perhaps it may be that my mind is wrought
To fever pitch, yet wherefore do we so?
REY
A feeling tells me, Poe. I prithee, meet
Me once more in the hangar.
FINN
—Foh, canst not—
[Poe places a hand on Finn’s chest,
silencing him. Exit Rey.
POE
Be calm—I would not suffer, Finn, our thoughts
For any length of time to dwell upon
These latter speculations. Chewie is
Our goal and aim, so let us go anon.
They open another door. Enter CHEWBACCA in his cell, bound.
CHEWBAC.
Egh, auugh!1
POE
—Of course we came! The novelty
Of an adventure such as this we would
Not miss, and never would leave thee behind.
CHEWBAC.
Egh, egh.2
FINN
—Yea, Rey is with us, and shall find
The dagger ere we venture forth from here.
Enter ALLEGIANT GENERAL PRYDE and various
STORMTROOPERS aside, in the hangar.
PRYDE
Whose ship is this? Alert the legions stern—
Belike our enemies have hither come.
[Exit Allegiant General Pryde as the
stormtroopers begin searching the ship.
FINN
This way unto the ship, my friends. Make haste!
[The stormtroopers enter the corridor through
which Poe, Finn, and Chewbacca are running.
TROOPER 9
’Tis them!
[Finn shoots Trooper 9.
FINN
—Wrong way! Fie, they do swarm like bees!
POE
Nay, I could not have said this; it is an
Absurdity—there is no right way here!
[The blaster fight continues as Poe,
Finn, and Chewbacca run toward the hangar,
encountering stormtroopers. Poe shoots one
stormtrooper and slides a blaster to Chewbacca.
Now, Chewie, thou mayst make thine own defense.
Are we yet near the hangar?
FINN
—’Tis not far.
[Poe runs into an opening in the
corridor and is shot in the arm.
Alack, good Poe! My truest confidant
Shot down in combat fierce. Say, art thou well?
[Stormtroopers surround Poe,
Finn, and Chewbacca.
POE
Although at times my pessimism dark
Hath been imputed to me as a crime,
I can say truly: nay, all is not well.
TROOPER 10
Freeze, scum, and drop your weapons on the ground!
POE
The ship and all within it are imbued
With spirit, gentles. You are well met!
TROOPER 10
—Tut!
Enter GENERAL HUX and ALLEGIANT GENERAL PRYDE.
Allegiant General, th’Resistance rogues
We’ve apprehended, yet the scavenger
Is not with them.
PRYDE
—Pray, bear them from my sight
And terminate the scoundrels presently.
[Exit Allegiant General Pryde.
The stormtroopers take aim.
HUX
In troth, I’d gladly do the deed myself.
Give me thy blaster; I shall end their lives.
POE
[aside, to Finn:] I s’pose it is despair hath strung my nerves.
What was it thou had hop’d to say to Rey?
[Trooper 10 hands Hux his blaster.
FINN
Are all thy feelings still consum’d with this?
POE
Is this an inconvenient time for thee?
Is’t suddenly the case that thou dost fear
The consequences of discovery?
CHEWBAC.
Auugh!3
FINN
—Not the best time, nay, for goodness’ sake.
HUX
[aside:] The vast First Order searcheth for a spy.
Who shall it be who will reveal the foe?
If ye would ask, the answer comes: ’tis I.
Intelligence from our strong ranks doth fly,
And ev’rywhere around us tempers grow;
The vast First Order searcheth for a spy.
Who would be better thought of, by and by?
Who would be proud his spirit true to show?
If ye would ask, the
answer comes: ’tis I.
Strong Kylo Ren knows something is awry,
With deep mistrust his visage is aglow—
The vast First Order searcheth for a spy.
Who can discern what future times are nigh?
Who may envisage how events will go?
If ye would ask, the answer comes: ’tis I.
In future times, pray ask of Hux not why
His heart hath turn’d, for it may cause him woe.
[Hux shoots the stormtroopers.
[To Finn, Poe, and Chewbacca:] The vast First Order searcheth for a spy.
If ye would ask, the answer comes: ’tis I.
POE
The shock that these few words, thus utterèd,
Were so well calculated to convey!
FINN
E’en thee, our longtime foe?
HUX
—We’ve not much time.
POE
I’m not a little bit astonish’d to
Discover it—I knew ’twas so, in faith!
FINN
In faith, thou never didst, ne’er could have guess’d.
[Exeunt Poe Dameron, Finn,
Chewbacca, and General Hux.
Enter REY to KYLO REN’S chamber.
REY
A chamber full of light, and what is this?
Darth Vader’s crush’d and broken mask—a-ha!
’Tis not a random room, ’tis Kylo Ren’s!
Into his private chamber, I shall give
The full cause of my coming—take the knife
And Chewie’s belt, and then depart at once.
Yet, even as my hand the dagger grasps,
The images of its foul deeds arise—
I hear the screams, the cries, the sadness that
This wicked instrument hath causèd. Nay.
Enter KYLO REN aside, on Kijimi but communicating
with REY through the Force.
KYLO
Rey—wheresoe’er thou be, art hard to find.
REY
And thou most difficult to be rid of,
As though a parasite and I thy host.
KYLO
I push’d thee in the desert for one cause:
I needed to see thee, and needed thee
To see the untold truth of who thou art.
I know thy story, ev’ry detail worth.
Rey—
REY
—Thou dost lie.
KYLO
—Ne’er have I lied to thee.
Thy parents were nobody by design—
Such was their choice, which they did make to keep
Thee safe.
REY
—Do not presume to speak of them!
KYLO
Thou dost remember more than thou admitt’st.
I was inside thy head.
REY
—I want not this!
KYLO
Explore thy memories and thou shalt—
REY
—Nay!
[Rey attacks him with her
lightsaber and they duel.
KYLO
Remember them!
REY
[aside:] —Unbidden, lo, they come!
The face of my dear mother, sore afeard,
Embracing me, insisting I be brave.
My father, too, assuring me that I
Would safer be, remaining on Jakku.
His promise ere they left in Ochi’s ship,
My mournful cries as they departed thence.
KYLO
They sold thee to protect thee.
REY
—Stop thy mouth!
KYLO
I know what did befall them afterward.
[They continue dueling.
Tell me where thou art hiding. Thou know’st not
The story in its ev’ry twist and turn—
’Twas Palpatine who had thy parents ta’en.
He search’d for thee, yet they would not reveal
Thy whereabouts. Thus order’d he their deaths.
REY
[aside:] In my mind’s eye I see the tragic scene:
My mother telling Ochi that I was
Not on Jakku, and moments later he—
Pernicious criminal—my father slew!
[Rey and Kylo Ren duel more, and in the
process they knock over the pedestal where
Vader’s mask rests. Kylo Ren sees it.
KYLO
A-ha! My chamber, then, is where thou art.
[They duel.
Thou knowest why the Emperor hath e’er
Desir’d thy death.
REY
—Nay.
KYLO
—I shall thither fly
And tell thee in the flesh. ’Twill better be.
[Exit Kylo Ren. Rey runs toward the hangar.
Enter STORMTROOPERS, approaching the droids in the hangar.
TROOPER 11
Who are ye and what is your purpose here?
[To C-3PO:] What is thine operating number, droid?
C-3PO
Nokito wahnga wan.
TROOPER 11
—’Tis language none!
[Rey runs in, shooting the stormtroopers.
C-3PO
O! My first laser battle. What a life!
REY
Where are the others?
C-3PO
—They have not return’d.
Enter KYLO REN, flying into the hangar in his TIE whisper.
REY
I prithee, find them! Get thee gone at once!
[The droids run down the halls of the ship.
D-O Ahead, our friends!
C-3PO
—Indeed, I see them come!
Enter POE DAMERON, FINN, CHEWBACCA, and
GENERAL HUX, heading for a second hangar.
HUX
Th’impeders I’ve shut down, yet not for long—
Ye have mere seconds to escape the ship.
POE
I do not hesitate to say that I’m
Amaz’d, can scarcely credit mine own sense—
The Falcon! She is here, survivor strong!
[Exeunt Poe Dameron, Chewbacca, C-3PO,
BB-8, and D-O into the second hangar,
where the Millennium Falcon awaits.
HUX
[to Finn:] Wait, prithee. Blast me quickly in the arm.
FINN
Yet wherefore should I injure thee e’en thus?
HUX
An thou dost not, they’ll know ’twas I who help’d.
[Finn shoots Hux in the leg.
FINN
Why art thou proffering thine aid to us?
HUX
It matters not to me if ye do win—
I only hope that Kylo Ren will lose.
[Exit Finn to the hangar. Exit General
Hux separately. In the other hangar,
Rey approaches Kylo Ren.
Enter STORMTROOPERS, watching the standoff.
REY
The scene is set, the stage arrang’d for thee.
I charge thee, by thy reverence for truth,
Here to unfold—although thou didst intend
To keep in darkness what occasion now
Reveals before ’tis ripe—what thou dost know.
Say wherefore th’Emperor did hunt for me.
Why would he track and kill a child? Pray, tell!
KYLO
Foresaw he what thou wouldst, in time, become.
Thou hast not merely pow’r
—thou hast his pow’r.
Thou art his granddaughter, a Palpatine.
My mother was to Vader daughter born,
Thy father was the Emperor’s own son.
[Kylo Ren begins walking toward
Rey, who backs away from him,
approaching the edge of the hangar.
What Palpatine doth not yet understand
Is that we are a dyad in the Force—
We two are one. Together, we shall kill
Dread Palpatine and take the throne at last.
Thou know’st what thou must do, thou knowest well.
[Kylo Ren takes off his mask and
extends his hand to Rey.
REY
Forsooth. I shall do ev’rything I ought.
Enter POE DAMERON, FINN, CHEWBACCA, C-3PO, BB-8,
and D-O in the Millennium Falcon, flying next to the hangar. STORMTROOPERS begin firing on the Falcon.
POE
With a rapidity that will surprise,
I’ll blow the lot asunder—steady, hold!
[Poe pulls a lever, engaging the thrusters
and pushing the stormtroopers back.
Kylo Ren holds his ground. Finn stands
on the Falcon’s boarding ramp.
FINN
Rey, fly anon! Abscond while yet thou canst!
[Rey jumps to Finn, who grabs her
and helps her inside the Millennium
Falcon. Exeunt Rey, Poe Dameron, Finn,
Chewbacca, C-3PO, BB-8, and D-O.
KYLO
Though thou this confrontation wouldst delay,
The cat will mew, and dog will have his day.
[Exeunt Kylo Ren and stormtroopers.
SCENE 2.
On Kylo Ren’s command ship, the Steadfast.
Enter GENERAL HUX, ALLEGIANT GENERAL PRYDE,
and various OFFICERS and STORMTROOPERS.
HUX
Coordinated the incursion was,
Allegiant General. They did o’erpow’r
The guards and forcèd me to escort them
Directly to the ship.
PRYDE
—All now is clear.
[To Trooper 12:] Hail thou our Supreme Leader presently.
TROOPER 12
Yea, sir.
[Pryde takes Trooper 12’s blaster and
shoots Hux. General Hux dies.
PRYDE
—Inform him that the spy is found.
On vengeance shall misprision run aground.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 3.
On the Millennium Falcon and on Kef Bir.
Enter REY.
REY
If revelations were a currency,
A wealthy woman should I be indeed.
Misfortune, though, is mine inheritance.
The Emperor’s granddaughter, is it so?
Here is prosperity I wanted not.
Entangl’d now his story is with mine,
Knit are our threads of fate with strands of blood.