Star Wars - Return of the Jedi

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Star Wars - Return of the Jedi Page 6

by James Kahn


  Leia and Chewbacca listen tensely as the sound of a high speed

  transmission begins.

  LEIA

  Now we find out if that code is worth the

  price we paid.

  HAN

  It'll work. It'll work.

  Chewie whines nervously. Luke stares at the Huge Super Star

  Destroyer that looms ever larger before them.

  LUKE

  Vader's on that ship.

  HAN

  Now don't get jittery, Luke. There are a lot

  of command ships. Keep your distance though,

  Chewie, but don't look like you're trying to

  keep your distance.

  Chewie barks a question.

  HAN

  I don't know. Fly casual.

  LUKE

  I'm endangering the mission. I shouldn't have

  come.

  HAN

  It's your imagination, kid. Come on. Let's

  keep a little optimism here.

  Chewie barks his worries as the Super Star Destroyer grows larger

  out the window.

  60 INT VADER'S STAR DESTROYER - BRIDGE 60

  Lord Vader stands, back to us, staring out a window at the Death

  Star. Now, some vibration felt only by him causes him to turn.

  After a moment of stillness, he walks down the row of controllers

  to where ADMIRAL PIETT is leaning over the tracking screen of the

  controller we've seen earlier. Piett straightens at Vader's

  approach.

  VADER

  Where is that shuttle going?

  PIETT (into comlink)

  Shuttle Tydirium, what is your cargo and

  destination?

  PILOT VOICE (HAN)(filtered)

  Parts and technical crew for the forest moon.

  The Bridge Commander looks to Vader for a reaction.

  VADER

  Do they have a code clearance?

  PIETT

  It's an older code, sir, but it checks out. I

  was about to clear them.

  Vader looks upward, as he senses Luke's presence.

  PIETT

  Shall I hold them?

  VADER

  No. Leave them to me. I will deal with them

  myself.

  PIETT (surprised)

  As you wish, my lord.

  (to controller) Carry on.

  Piett nods at controller, who switches on his comlink.

  61 INT STOLEN IMPERIAL SHUTTLE - COCKPIT 61

  The group waits tensely.

  HAN

  They're not goin' for it, Chewie.

  CONTROLLER (filtered)

  Shuttle Tydirium, deactivation of the shield

  will commence immediately. Follow your

  present course.

  Everyone breaths a sigh of relief. Everyone but Luke, who looks

  worried. Chewie barks.

  HAN

  Okay! I told you it was gonna work. No

  problem.

  62 EXT SPACE - STOLEN IMPERIAL SHUTTLE - ENDOR 62

  The stolen Imperial shuttle moves off toward the green Sanctuary

  Moon.

  63 EXT FOREST LANDING SITE - ENDOR 63

  The stolen Imperial shuttle sits in a clearing of the moon's

  dark, primeval forest, dwarfed by the ancient towering trees.

  On an adjacent hill, the helmeted Rebel contingent makes its way

  up a steep trail. Leia and Han are slightly ahead of Chewie and

  Luke. The troops of the strike-team squad follow, with Artoo and

  Threepio bringing up the rear. Artoo beeps.

  Up ahead, Chewie and Leia reach a crest in the hill and drop

  suddenly to the ground, signaling the rest of the group to stop.

  Han and Luke crawl up to take a look.

  THREEPIO

  Oh, I told you it was dangerous here.

  THEIR POV. Not far below them, two IMPERIAL SCOUTS are wandering

  through bushes in the valley below. Their two ROCKET BIKES are

  parked nearby.

  LEIA

  Shall we try and go around?

  HAN

  It'll take time. This whole party'll be for

  nothing if they see us.

  Leia motions for the squad to stay put, then she, Han, Luke and

  Chewie start quietly down.

  64 EXT FOREST CLEARING - CAMPSITE 64

  The four friends make their way to the edge of the clearing not

  far from the two Imperial scouts.

  HAN

  Chewie and I will take care of this. You stay

  here.

  LUKE

  Quietly, there might be more of them out

  there.

  HAN (grins)

  Hey... it's me.

  Han and Chewie turn and start through the bushes toward the

  scouts. Luke and Leia exchange smiles.

  Han sneaks up behind one of the scouts, steps on a twig and the

  scout whirls, knocking Han into a tree. The scout shouts for his

  companion.

  SCOUT 1

  Go for help! Go!

  The second scout jumps on his speeder bike and takes off, but

  Chewie gets off a shot on his crossbow laser weapon, causing the

  scout to crash into a tree. Han and Scout 1 are in a rousing

  fistfight.

  LUKE (sarcastic)

  Great. Come on.

  Luke starts for the scuffle, followed by Leia with her laser

  pistol drawn. As they run through the bushes, Leia stops and

  points to where two more scouts are sitting on their speeder

  bikes, with an unoccupied bike parked nearby.

  LEIA

  Over there! Two more of them!

  LUKE

  I see them. Wait, Leia!

  But Leia doesn't hear him and races for the remaining speeder

  bike. She starts it up and takes off as Luke jumps on the bike

  behind her.

  LUKE (pointing to the controls)

  Quick! Jam their comlink. Center switch!

  Luke and Leia speed into the dense foliage in hot pursuit, barely

  avoiding two huge trees.

  HAN

  Hey, wait! Ahhh!

  He flips the remaining scout to the ground.

  65 EXT FOREST - THE BIKE CHASE 65

  The two fleeing Imperial scouts have a good lead as Luke and Leia

  pursue through the giant trees at 200 miles an hour, the fire

  from their bike's laser cannon hitting harmlessly near the moving

  targets.

  LUKE

  Move closer!

  Leia guns it, closing the gap, as the two scouts recklessly veer

  through a narrow gap in the trees. One of the bikes SCRAPES a

  tree, slowing the scout.

  LUKE

  Get alongside that one!

  Leia pulls her speeder bike up so close to the scout's bike that

  their steering vanes SCRAPE noisily. Luke leaps from his bike to

  the back of the scout's, grabs the Imperial warrior around the

  neck, and flips him off the bike, into a thick tree trunk. Luke

  gains control of the bike and follows Leia, who has pulled ahead.

  They tear off after the remaining scout.

  LUKE

  Get him!

  The speeding chase passes TWO MORE IMPERIAL SCOUTS. These two

  swing into pursuit, chasing Luke and Leia, firing away with their

  laser cannon. The two Rebels look behind them just as Luke's bike

  takes a glancing hit.

  LUKE (indicating the one ahead)

  Keep on that o ne! I'll take these two!

  With Leia shooting ahead, Luke suddenly slams his steering vanes

  into the braking mode. Luke's bike is a blur to the two pursuing

  scouts as they zip by him on either
side. Luke slams his bike

  into forward and starts firing away, having switched places with

  his pursuers in a manner of seconds. Luke's aim is good and one

  scout's bike is blasted out of control. It explodes against a

  tree trunk.

  The scout's cohort takes one glance back at the flash and shifts

  into turbo drive, going even faster. Luke keeps on his tail.

  FAR AHEAD, Leia and the first scout are doing a highspeed slalom

  through the death-dealing trunks. Now Leia aims her bike skyward

  and rises out of sight.

  The scout turns in confusion, unable to see his pursuer.

  Suddenly, Leia dives down upon him from above, cannon blasting.

  The scout's bike takes a glancing hit.

  Leia moves in alongside him. The scout eyes her beside him,

  reaches down, and pulls out a handgun. Before Leia can react, the

  scout has blasted her bike, sending it out of control. Leia dives

  off as her bike explodes against a tree. The happy scout looks

  back at the explosion. But when he turns forward again, he is on

  a collision course with a giant fallen tree. He hits his brakes

  to no avail and disappears in a conflagration.

  ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST Luke and the last remaining scout

  continue their weaving chase through the trees. Now Luke moves up

  close. The scout responds by slamming his bike into Luke's. A

  fallen tree forms a bridge across their path. The scout zips

  under. Luke goes over the top and crashes his bike down on the

  scout's. Both riders look ahead - a wide trunk looms directly in

  Luke's path, but the scout's bike beside him makes it almost

  impossible for him to avoid it. Luke banks with all his might,

  leaning almost horizontal over the scout's bike, and is able to

  make it by, just clipping the tree. When he straightens, he and

  the scout discover that their two bikes have locked front vanes

  and are moving as one.

  Another big tree looms in Luke's path. He reacts instinctively

  and dives off his bike. The two bikes come apart a second before

  Luke's explodes against a tree. The scout sweeps out and circles

  back to find Luke.

  Luke rises from the undergrowth as the scout bears down on him

  and opens fire with his laser cannon. Luke ignites his laser

  sword and begins deflecting the bolts. The scout's bike keeps

  coming and it appears that in a second it will cut Luke in half.

  At the last instant, Luke steps aside and chops off the bike's

  control vanes with one mighty slash. The scout's bike begins to

  shudder, then, pitching and rolling, it rises up to slam directly

  into a tree in a giant ball of fire.

  66 EXT SCOUT CAMPSITE - FOREST 66

  Han, Chewie, and the droids, along with the rest of the squad,

  wait anxiously in the clearing. Artoo's radar screen sticks out

  of his domed head and revolves, scanning the forest. He beeps.

  THREEPIO

  Oh, General Solo, somebody's coming. Oh!

  Han, Chewie, and the rest of the squad raise their weapons.

  Luke steps out of the foliage to find the weapons trained on him.

  He's too tired to care. He plops himself down on a boulder and

  looks around.

  HAN

  Luke! Where's Leia?

  LUKE (concerned)

  What? She didn't come back?

  HAN

  I thought she was with you.

  LUKE

  We got separated.

  Luke and Han exchange a silent, grim look. Luke gets up wearily.

  LUKE

  Hey, we better go look for her.

  Han nods, and signals to a Rebel officer.

  HAN

  Take the squad ahead. We'll meet at the

  shield generator at 0300.

  LUKE

  Come on, Artoo. We'll need your scanners.

  Luke, Chewie, Han, and the droids move off in one direction as

  the squad proceeds in another.

  THREEPIO

  Don't worry, Master Luke. We know what to

  do.

  They move off into the woods.

  THREEPIO (to Artoo)

  And you said it was pretty here. Ugh!

  67 EXT FOREST CLEARING - LEIA'S CRASH SITE 67

  A strange little furry face with huge black eyes comes slowly

  into view. The creature is an EWOK, by the name of WICKET. He

  seems somewhat puzzled, and prods Leia with a spear. The princess

  groans; this frightens the stubby ball of fuzz and he prods her

  again. Leia sits up and stares at the three-foot-high Ewok. She

  tries to figure out where she is and what has happened. Her

  clothes are torn; she's bruised and disheveled.

  The Ewok jumps up and grabs a four-foot-long spear, which he

  holds in a defensive position. Leia watches him as he circles

  warily and begins poking her with the sharp point of the spear.

  LEIA

  Cut it out!

  She stands up, and the Ewok quickly backs away.

  LEIA

  I'm not gonna hurt you.

  Leia looks around at the dense forest, and at the charred remains

  of her speeder bike, then sits down, with a sigh, on a fallen

  log.

  LEIA

  Well, looks like I'm stuck here. Trouble is,

  I don't know where here is.

  She puts her head in her hands to rub away some of the soreness

  from her fall. She looks over at the watchful little Ewok and

  pats the log beside her.

  LEIA

  Well, maybe you can help me. Come on, sit

  down.

  Wicket holds his spear up warily and growls at her like a puppy.

  Leia pats the log again.

  LEIA

  I promise I won't hurt you. Now come here.

  More growls and squeaks from the little bear creature.

  LEIA

  All right. You want something to eat?

  She takes a scrap of food out of her pocket and offers it to him.

  Wicket takes a step backward, then cocks his head and moves

  cautiously toward Leia, chattering in his squeaky Ewok language.

  LEIA

  That's right. Come on. Hmmm?

  Sniffing the food curiously, the Ewok comes toward Leia and sits

  on the log beside her. She takes off her helmet, and the little

  creature jumps back, startled again. He runs along the log,

  pointing his spear at her and chattering a blue streak. Leia

  holds out the helmet to him.

  LEIA

  Look, it's a hat. It's not gonna hurt you.

  Look. You're a jittery little thing, aren't

  you?

  Reassured, Wicket lowers his spear and climbs back on the log,

  coming to investigate the helmet. Suddenly his ears perk up and

  he begins to sniff the air. He looks around warily, whispering

  some Ewokese warning to Leia.

  LEIA

  What is it?

  Suddenly a laser bolt comes out of the foliage and explodes on

  the log next to Leia. Leia and Wicket both roll backwards off the

  log, hiding behind it. Leia holds her own laser gun ready, while

  Wicket disappears underneath the log. Another shot, and still no

  sight of anyone in the forest. Then Leia senses something and

  turns to find a large IMPERIAL SCOUT standing over her with his

  weapon pointed at her head. He reaches out his hand for her

  weapon.

 
; SCOUT l

  Freeze! Come on, get up!

  She hands the weapon over, as a second scout emerges from the

  foliage in front of the log.

  SCOUT 1

  Go get your ride and take her back to base.

  SCOUT 2

  Yes, sir.

  The second scout starts toward his bike, as Wicket, crouched

  under the log, extends his spear and hits the first scout on the

  leg. The scout jumps and lets out an exclamation, and looks down

  at Wicket, puzzled. Leia grabs a branch and knocks him out. She

  dives for his laser pistol, and the second scout, now on his

  bike, takes off. Leia fires away and hits the escaping bike,

  causing it to crash into the first scout's bike, which flies end

  over end and explodes. The forest is quiet once more. Wicket

  pokes his fuzzy head up from behind the log and regards Leia with

  new respect. He mumbles his awe. Leia hurries over, looking

  around all the time, and motions the chubby little creature into

  the dense foliage.

  LEIA

  Come on, let's get outta here.

 

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