by George Lucas
THREEPIO Now be careful, Artoo.
Artoo immediately reaches up and taps the computer with his
stubby claw hand, causing one of the holographic creatures to
walk to the new square. A sudden frown crosses Chewbacca's
face and he begins yelling gibberish at the tiny robot.
Threepio intercedes on behalf of his small companion and
begins to argue with the huge Wookiee.
THREEPIO He made a fair move. Screaming about it won't help you.
HAN (interrupting) Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Wookiee.
THREEPIO But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid.
HAN That's 'cause droids don't pull people's arms out of their socket
when they lose. Wookiees are known to do that.
THREEPIO I see your point, sir. I suggest a new strategy, Artoo. Let
the Wookiee win.
Luke stands in the middle of the small hold area; he seems
frozen in place. A humming lightsaber is held high over his
head. Ben watches him from the corner, studying his movements.
Han watches with a bit of smugness.
BEN Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him.
LUKE You mean it controls your actions?
BEN Partially. But it also obeys your commands.
Suspended at eye level, about ten feet in front of Luke, a
"seeker", a chrome baseball-like robot covered with antennae,
hovers slowly in a wide arc. The ball floats to one side of
the youth then the other. Suddenly it makes a lightning-swift
lunge and stops within a few feet of Luke's face. Luke doesn't
move and the ball backs off. It slowly moves behind the boy,
then makes another quick lunge, this time emitting a blood red
laser beam as it attacks. It hits Luke in the leg causing him
to tumble over. Han lets loose with a burst of laughter.
HAN Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good
blaster at your side, kid.
LUKE You don't believe in the Force, do you?
HAN Kid, I've flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I've
seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me
believe there's one all-powerful force controlling everything. There's
no mystical energy field that controls my destiny.
Ben smiles quietly
HAN It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.
BEN I suggest you try it again, Luke.
Ben places a large helmet on Luke's head which covers his
eyes.
BEN This time, let go your conscious self and act on instinct.
LUKE (laughing) With the blast shield down, I can't even see. How am
I supposed to fight?
BEN Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them.
Han skeptically shakes his head as Ben throws the seeker
into the air. The ball shoots straight up in the air, then
drops like a rock. Luke swings the lightsaber around blindly
missing the seeker, which fires off a laserbolt which hits
Luke square on the seat of the pants. He lets out a painful
yell and attempts to hit the seeker.
BEN Stretch out with your feelings.
Luke stands in one place, seemingly frozen. The seeker
makes a dive at Luke and, incredibly, he managed to deflect
the bolt. The ball ceases fire and moves back to its original
position.
BEN You see, you can do it.
HAN I call it luck.
BEN In my experience, there's no such thing as luck.
HAN Look, going good against remotes is one thing. Going good against
the living? That's something else.
Solo notices a small light flashing on the far side of the
control panel.
HAN Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan.
Han and Chewbacca head back to the cockpit.
LUKE You know, I did feel something. I could almost see the remote.
BEN That's good. You have taken your first step into a larger world.
INTERIOR DEATH STAR -- CONFERENCE ROOM.
Imperial Officer Cass stands before Governor Tarkin and the
evil Dark Lord Darth Vader.
TARKIN Yes.
OFFICER CASS Our scout ships have reached Dantooine. They found the
remains of a Rebel base, but they estimate that it has been deserted
for some time. They are now conducting an extensive search of the
surrounding systems.
TARKIN She lied! She lied to us!
VADER I told you she would never consciously betray the Rebellion.
TARKIN Terminate her...immediately!
EXTERIOR HYPERSPACE.
The pirateship is just coming out of hyperspace; a strange
surreal light show surrounds the ship.
INTERIOR MILLENNIUM FALCON -- COCKPIT.
HAN Stand by, Chewie, here we go. Cut in the sublight engines.
Han pulls back on a control lever. Outside the cockpit
window stars begin streaking past, seem to decrease in speed,
then stop. Suddenly the starship begins to shudder and
violently shake about. Asteroids begin to race toward them,
battering the sides of the ship.
HAN What the...? Aw, we've come out of hyperspace into a meteor
shower. Some kind of asteroid collision. It's not on any of the
charts.
The Wookiee flips off several controls and seems very cool
in the emergency. Luke makes his way into the bouncing
cockpit.
LUKE What's going on?
HAN Our position is correct, except...no, Alderaan!
LUKE What do you mean? Where is it?
HAN Thats what I'm trying to tell you, kid. It ain't there. It's been
totally blown away.
LUKE What? How?
Ben moves into the cockpit behind Luke as the ship begins
to settle down.
BEN Destroyed...by the Empire!
HAN The entire starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet. It'd take
a thousand ships with more fire power than I've...
A signal starts flashing on the control panel and a muffled
alarm starts humming.
HAN There's another ship coming in.
LUKE Maybe they know what happened.
BEN It's an Imperial fighter.
Chewbacca barks his concern. A huge explosion bursts
outside the cockpit window, shaking the ship violently. A
tiny, finned Imperial TIE fighter races past the cockpit
window.
LUKE It followed us!
BEN No. It's a short range fighter.
HAN There aren't any bases around here. Where did it come from?
EXTERIOR SPACE.
The fighter races past the Corellian pirateship.
INTERIOR MILLENNIUM FALCON -- COCKPIT.
LUKE It sure is leaving in a big hurry. If they identify us, we're in
big trouble.
HAN Not if I can help it. Chewie...jam it's transmissions.
BEN It'd be as well to let it go. It's too far out of range.
HAN Not for long...
EXTERIOR SPACE.
The pirateship zooms over the c amera and away into the
vastness of space after the Imperial TIE fighter.
INTERIOR MILLENNIUM FALCON -- COCKPIT.
The tension mounts as the pirateship gains on the tiny fighter.
In the distance, one of the stars becomes brighter until it is
obvious that the TIE ship is heading for it. Ben stands behind
Chewbacca.
BEN A fighter that size couldn't get this deep into space on its own.
LUKE It must have gotten lost, been part of a convoy or something.
HAN Well, he ain't going to be around long enough to tell anyone
about us.
EXTERIOR SPACE.
The TIE fighter is losing ground to the larger pirateship as
they race toward camera and disappear over head.
INTERIOR MILLENNIUM FALCON -- COCKPIT.
The distant star can be distinguished as a small moon or
planet.
LUKE Look at him. He's headed for that small moon.
HAN I think I can get him before he gets there...he's almost in
range.
The small moon begins to take on the appearance of a
monstrous spherical battle station.
BEN That's no moon! It's a space station.
HAN It's too big to be a space station.
LUKE I have a very bad feeling about this.
BEN Yeah, I think your right. Full reverse! Chewie, lock in the
auxiliary power.
The pirateship shudders and the TIE fighter accelerates
away toward the gargantuan battle station.
LUKE Why are we still moving towards it?
HAN We're caught in a tractor beam! It's pulling us in!
LUKE But there's gotta be something you can do!
HAN There's nothin' I can do about it, kid. I'm in full power. I'm
going to have to shut down. But they're not going to get me without a
fight!
Ben Kenobi puts a hand on his shoulder.
BEN You can't win. But there are alternatives to fighting.
INTERIOR MILLENNIUM FALCON -- DEATH STAR.
As the battered pirate starship is towed closer to the awesome
metal moon, the immense size of the massive battle station
becomes staggering. Running along the equator of the gigantic
sphere is a mile-high band of huge docking ports into which
the helpless pirateship is dragged.
EXTERIOR DEATH STAR -- HUGE PORT DOORS.
The helpless Millennium Falcon is pulled past a docking port
control room and huge laser turret cannons.
VOICE OVER DEATH STAR INTERCOM Clear Bay twenty-three-seven. We are
opening the magnetic field.
INTERIOR DEATH STAR -- DOCKING BAY 2037.
The pirateship is pulled in through port doors of the Death
Star, coming to rest in a huge hangar. Thirty stormtroopers
stand at attention in a central assembly area.
OFFICER To you stations!
OFFICER (to another officer) Come with me.
INTERIOR DEATH STAR -- HALLWAY.
Stormtroopers run to their posts.
INTERIOR DEATH STAR -- HANGAR 2037.
A line of stormtroopers march toward the pirateship in
readiness to board it, while other troopers stand with weapons
ready to fire.
OFFICER Close all outboard shields! Close all outboard shields!
INTERIOR DEATH STAR -- CONFERENCE ROOM.
Tarkin pushes a button and responds to the intercom buzz.
TARKIN Yes.
VOICE (over intercom) We've captured a freighter entering the remains
of the Alderaan system. It's markings match those of a ship that
blasted its way out of Mos Eisley.
VADER They must be trying to return the stolen plans to the princess.
She may yet be of some use to us.
INTERIOR DEATH STAR -- DOCKING BAY 2037.
Vader and a commander approach the troops as an Officer and
several heavily armed troops exit the spacecraft.
VOICE (over intercom) Unlock one-five-seven and nine. Release
charges.
OFFICER (to Vader) There's no one on board, sir. According to the
log, the crew abandoned ship right after takeoff. It must be a decoy,
sir. Several of the escape pods have been jettisoned.
VADER Did you find any droids?
OFFICER No, sir. If there were any on board, they must also have
jettisoned.
VADER Send a scanning crew on board. I want every part of this ship
checked.
OFFICER Yes, sir.
VADER I sense something...a presence I haven't felt since...
Vader turns quickly and exits the hangar.
OFFICER Get me a scanning crew in here on the double. I want every
part of this ship checked!
INTERIOR MILLENNIUM FALCON -- HALLWAY.
A trooper runs through the hallway heading for the exit. In a
few moments all is quiet. The muffled sounds of a distant
officer giving orders finally fade. Two floor panels suddenly
pop up revealing Han Solo and Luke. Ben Kenobi sticks his head
out of a third locker.
LUKE Boy, it's lucky you had these compartments.
HAN I use them for smuggling. I never thought I'd be smuggling myself
in them. This is ridiculous. Even if I could take off, I'd never get
past the tractor beam.
BEN Leave that to me!
HAN Damn fool. I knew that you were going to say that!
BEN Who's the more foolish...the fool or the fool who follows him?
Han shakes his head, muttering to himself. Chewbacca
agrees.
INTERIOR DEATH STAR -- MAIN FORWARD BAY.
The crewmen carry a heavy box on board the ship, past the two
stormtroopers guarding either side of the ramp.
TROOPER The ship's all yours. If the scanners pick up anything,
report it immediately. All right, let's go.
The crewmen enter the pirateship and a loud crashing sound
is followed by a voice calling to the guard below.
HAN'S VOICE Hey down there, could you give us a hand with this?
The stormtroopers enter the ship and a quick round of
gunfire is heard.
INTERIOR DEATH STAR -- FORWARD BAY -- COMMAND OFFICE.
In a very small command office near the entrance to the
pirateship, a Gantry Officer looks out his window and notices
the guards are missing. He speaks into the comlink.
GANTRY OFFICER TX-four-one-two. Why aren't you at your post?
TX-four-one-two, do you copy?
A stormtrooper comes down the ramp of the pirateship and
waves to the gantry officer, pointing to his ear indicating
his comlink is not working. The gantry officer shakes his head
in disgust and heads for the door, giving his aide an annoyed
look.
GANTRY OFFICER Take over. We've got a bad transmitter. I'll see what
I can do.
As the officer approaches the door, it slides open
revealing the towering Chewbacca. The gantry officer, in a
momentary state of shock, stumbles backward. With a bone-
chilling howl, the giant Wookiee flattens the officer with one
blow. The aide immediately reaches for his pistol, but is
blasted by Han, dressed as an Imperial stormtrooper. Ben and
the robots enter the room quickly followed by Luke, also
dressed as a stormtrooper. Luke quickly removes his helmet.
LUKE You know, between his howling and your blasting everything in
sight, it's a wonder the whole station doesn't know we're here.
HAN Bring them on! I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking
around.
THREEPIO We found the computer outlet, sir.
Ben feeds some information into the computer and a map of
the city appears on the monitor. He begins to inspect it
carefully. Threepio and Artoo look over the control panel.
Artoo finds something that makes him whistle wildly.
BEN Plug in.
He should be able to interpret the entire Imperial
computer network.
Artoo punches his claw arm into the computer socket and the
vast Imperial brain network comes to life, feeding information
to the little robot. After a few moments, he beeps something.
THREEPIO He says he's found the main computer to power the tractor
beam that's holding the ship here. He'll try to make the precise
location appear on the monitor.
The computer monitor flashes readouts.
THREEPIO The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor in seven
