by Ian Doescher
REY
—Pray, let me go!
Unhand me, by my troth. [To BB-8:] Stay close, good droid!
Come by this route—I know where we must go.
TROOPER 1
[to Trooper 2:] Call in the air strike; they shall not escape!
REY
[to Finn:] They shoot at both of us, not merely thee.
FINN
They did find thee with me, thus art thou mark’d.
REY
My thanks for that. I askèd not for this.
FINN
’Twas not I who pursu’d thee with a staff!
Hath no one blasters in this awful place?
REY
Sweet BB-8, art thou in good repair?
BB-8
Blav flli zilfrooh flew bleezoom zzwa blavflir
Blayblis bloxrooh flit fllibloo blip blay blis!
FINN
The sound of ships a’flying through the air!
[Finn takes Rey’s hand again and pulls her away, running. BB-8 follows behind.
Enter TIE FIGHTERS of the First Order.
REY
Release my hand—I need not thy protection!
I swear, the next time thou dost take my hand,
Thou shalt receive a mighty fist instead.
[They run. The TIE fighters pursue them, firing and knocking down Rey and Finn. Finn is briefly unconscious.
What ho! Say, thou hast fallen. Wake, O wake!
FINN
[waking:] Confusion, lady. Tell me: art thou well?
REY
O, man of laughable intentions: ay.
This time, take thou my hand, and I shall lead.
[Rey lifts Finn to his feet and they run toward the shipyard.
FINN
Our feet cannot outrun their laser blasts!
REY
We’ll not have need, for we shall make escape
In that quad jumper.
FINN
—Where a pilot find?
REY
Search nowhere but before thine eyes: ’tis I!
FINN
Thou? Wondrous lady! What of that ship yon?
REY
Nay, ’tis but garbage fit for scrap, not flight.
[The TIE fighters shoot and destroy the quad jumper toward which Rey and Finn are running.
The garbage shall suffice. Pray, let us go!
[They run toward the other ship, which is the Millennium Falcon.
BB-8
Fligroil zoozblee flig zzwaflit blavblox blee
Blavzoon blikbloo blisflit flib zoomrooq blee!
REY
The gun position’s there, below the decks—
I prithee, hie thee there and make defense.
[Finn moves downstage to the gunner position.
FINN
[yelling:] Hast thou e’er flown this vessel vast and old?
REY
It hath known naught of flight these many years.
FINN
The guns are here, yet they shake to and fro.
I can do this, and shall—I will not fail.
[Rey turns on the controls in the cockpit.
REY
I can do this, and shall—I will not fail.
Controls engag’d, we fly into the air—
O’er sandy dunes we soar above Jakku.
Until this moment life hath simple been:
Led only by mine instinct to survive,
Depending on no person but myself.
Belike Fate hath for me some other plan—
E’en with th’Resistance shall my path be join’d,
Knit closely unto them as skin to bone?
I take delight, such future to envision,
Ne’er hath my days such keen adventure known.
Tut, tut, it shall not be, nor may not, nay—
Out there, beyond the stars, my destiny
Shall not be found, for here I’m bound to wait.
Keen is my heart to see my family,
Yet when shall they return? Until that day,
Whene’er some undertaking doth arise
As has, today, come knocking on my door,
Lo, though the venture calls unto my heart—
Knocks deep within my soul to answer it—
E’en then, I know it may not, shall not, be.
Restricted is my life unto Jakku,
So may I see my family again
Once they have made their certain homecoming.
Meanwhile, I shall this bulky ship direct
If in the doing I may keep us safe.
Link’d are this droid and this man unto me—
Deliv’rance or disaster, come apace!
Enter UNKAR PLUTT above, on balcony, witnessing the flight of the Millennium Falcon.
UNKAR
Yet what is this? That’s mine! ’Tis mine, forsooth!
If ye shall steal from me, you’ll know my steel!
[Exit Unkar.
FINN
[to Rey:] Stay low, and we may soon surpass our foes—
We shall confuse their tracking even thus.
REY
Small BB-8, I bid thee—hold thou tight!
I shall go ’round and lose these enemies.
BB-8
Flib flli flewzilf blox zzwaflig roilbluu roil!
FINN
These fighters do not miss the mark—we’re hit.
Not fatally, yet more I’d not endure.
REY
With what art thou engag’d below the deck?
Shalt thou fire back, or let us be destroy’d?
Pray, take the gun and deftly strike withal!
FINN
I shall, and soon. Yet are the shields at full?
REY
Without copilot ’tis most difficult,
Yet I shall make it so.
FINN
[aside:] —Try this foul gun—
’Tis hardly fit for operation, ha!
Now am I set—I fire to set us free!
[Finn fires at the TIE fighters.
Fie—we need cover quickly, else we die.
REY
We shall soon have some, if my ploy succeeds.
I’ll fly direct into the junkyards, there
To keep us safe by th’armor of the ships
That once did fall, so that we still may fly.
[Rey pilots the Millennium Falcon into the wreckage of the junkyards of Jakku. Finn shoots and destroys a TIE fighter.
FINN
A-ha, thou fiend! My shot hath hit the mark.
REY
Well done, O comrade brave! Repeat it now.
FINN
[aside:] My skill increaseth with my fervor, yea.
But what is this? My gun itself is struck,
And hath turn’d lame. O, fie, what shall I do?
[To Rey:] The cannon hath been stuck in forward aim—
It shall not move, thus thou must dodge our foes.
REY
I’ll bolder steps endeavor. Be prepar’d!
FINN
Prepar’d: so shall I be. And yet, for what?
[Rey pilots the Millennium Falcon inside a crashed ship.
Forbear! Shall we attempt this lunacy?
For certain thou art wild—but not insane!
REY
Yet they would be the madder to give chase.
Now out again, into the sunlit day,
Where I shall play a classic pilot’s ruse:
To disengage the thrusters all, an ’twere
The ship had broken down by some malfunction.
It shall appear that we are bound to fall,
As gravity doth work upon the ship
And we do plummet swiftly to the ground.
Then, in a trice, the thrusters reengage,
And we make our escape. So, let it be!
[Rey disengages the thrusters and lets the ship fall.
FINN
The final ship hath come within my sights:
I s
hoot! By fortune carried to new heights!
[Finn shoots and destroys the final TIE fighter. Exeunt.
SCENE 3.
Aboard the Finalizer.
Enter KYLO REN and LLIEUTENANT MITAKA on balcony.
MITAKA
With deep regret, I must inform you, sir:
We were unable to acquire the droid
Who was but recently upon Jakku.
It did escape our capture, fixèd fast
Upon a stolen ship, which dock’d nearby:
An old Corelli’n YT model freighter.
KYLO
Thou dost report the droid a freighter stole?
MITAKA
’Tis not precisely it; the droid had help.
No confirmation hath yet been receiv’d,
Yet we believe FN-2187
Did aid the droid as it did make escape.
[Kylo Ren brandishes his lightsaber, slashing the controls nearby.
KYLO
Incompetence beyond imagining!
O, fie, that I this madness must endure—
A fico for thine errant, bumbling face!
The great First Order bested is by droids,
Who ally ’gainst us with our own stormtroopers?
Is this the folly-fallen end to which
The galaxy doth run with lout-like haste?
Ay, out upon it! Tilly-vally! Tush!
Hast thou aught more to say, lieutenant?
MITAKA
—Yea,
Although I fear the message mightily:
The two were by a girl accompanied—
[Kylo Ren uses the Force to pull Mitaka toward him and grasps his neck.
KYLO
What girl? What is this nonsense here decreed?
[Exeunt.
SCENE 4.
Aboard the Millennium Falcon.
Enter REY and BB-8.
REY
We shall depart, e’en briefly, from Jakku:
So may the cruel First Order lose our trail.
BB-8
Zooz flitbluu flliblox blisflew zilfrooh flli
Bluuzoon flig fllizoom blisblay roohflit zood.
Enter FINN.
REY
Thou wert amazing—
FINN
—Thou fantastic art
At piloting, forsooth—
REY
—Thine aim was true.
FINN
O, take my humble thanks for thy kind words.
REY
Thou hast my gratitude for thine as well.
FINN
Where didst thou learn to fly with aptitude?
REY
I do not know—to speak the truth, the last
Endeavor was quite foolish. But thy shooting—
How well the final foe thou didst outdo!
FINN
Thy piloting did frame the perfect shot!
BB-8
Blox blayflib bloorooq bluuzooz zoonblip flig
Flir roilblix blooblic blavzood blee, flig flib
Blik bluublis flit blooflew reej roohblis zzwa
Zoonflit blavbloo zood zilfroil zoom blooblee?
REY
Sweet BB-8, all shall be well, for he
Is with the brave Resistance, as thou art.
He shall take thee unto thy home at last.
We both will, ay—I shall, at least, go thither.
[To Finn:] Though we, by fate, have been together thrown,
Still I know not thy name.
FINN
—I am call’d Finn,
And at thy service firmly do I stand.
I prithee, fair one, what is thy name?
REY
—Rey,
The Rey who thanks thee for a bold escape.
[A pipe in the Millennium Falcon bursts suddenly, sending smoke into the air.
Alack! Give me thy swift assistance, Finn.
FINN
What is’t? Shall our escape swift be withdrawn?
[Rey climbs into a maintenance bay to fix the ship.
REY
The motivator hath been damagèd.
Pray find a Harris wrench and give it me.
FINN
How awful is the damage? Canst thou fix’t?
REY
’Tis bad enow, if living is our wish.
FINN
Yet the First Order hunts for us e’en now—
We must this wretched system flee anon.
REY
Good BB-8 hath said th’Resistance base
Is hidden: knowledge thereof given on
A need-to-know foundation. Finn, if I
Am to transport you thither, I must know.
FINN
Is this the instrument that fits thy need?
[Finn throws the wrench to Rey, who disappears momentarily inside the bay. Finn beckons BB-8.
Thou must unveil the secret of thy base
And its location unto me, my friend.
BB-8
Zooz zoonblip blooflit flewblis zzwa bleeblay!
FINN
I speak not all thy flits and blips and blays!
Between we two, I am not from th’Resistance.
To flee from the First Order is my need:
Yet if thou shalt make known to us the base,
I swear I’ll bring thee thither. Ay, ’tis fair?
REY
[emerging:] A pilot’s driver next. Say, where’s thy base?
FINN
Fulfill thy mission: tell her, BB-8.
[BB-8 looks back and forth between Rey and Finn in confusion.
[Aside to BB-8:] O, droid, I bid thee, search and thou shalt find
Within my heart no rank, defiling trace.
BB-8
Zoom flliblox zoonflit flliflig roilblav blee
Bluublee blikzoon flit flliblay bluu roilzoom.
REY
A-ha, the system of Ileenium!
FINN
The system of Ileenium, forsooth.
Of course ’tis there, as I already knew.
We must fly thither fast as fast can fly.
[Finn hands Rey the pilot’s driver. He salutes BB-8, who salutes in return using his droidly implements.
REY
I’ll drop ye at Ponemah Terminal.
The bonding tape I do need next. ’Tis there.
FINN
Yet what of thee? Now, whither shalt thou go?
REY
I must with all due haste back to Jakku.
FINN
Wherefore must ev’ryone back to Jakku?
What benefits do others find thereon?
Though I would fain forget the horrid place,
All others would with fervent haste return!
REY
The bonding tape is not that one. See it?
[Finn searches but is unable to find it.
Nay, nay, that one. The one to which I point.
Nay, nay, nay, nay! If we patch not the ship,
The large propulsion tank shall overflow
And flood the ship with gas most poisonous!
[BB-8 points his head to the part Rey needs, which Finn picks up and hands to her.
FINN
Is’t found?
REY
—Indeed, with little thanks to thee.
FINN
Yet thou thyself art pilot, wondrous skill’d.
Thou canst fly anywhere. Thus: wherefore back?
Need’st thou thy family, or paramour,
A paramour most fine, with golden locks?
REY
The wherefore, verily, concerns thee not.
[The lights dim as a loud sound is heard.
The Millennium Falcon is pulled inside a larger ship.
FINN
That sound portends some wicked twist of fate.
REY
Methinks thou hast it right; this bodes some ill.
[They run to the cockpit.
Some other ship hath lock’d unto us tight—
All
our controls have been o’erridden quite.
FINN
I shall ascend, these new foes to behold.
[Finn climbs onto the controls, trying to see the other ship and stepping on Rey in the process.
REY
Yet as thou dost, step not upon my pate!
Canst see? What fight through yonder window breaks?
FINN
A ship o’ertakes us and consumes us full—
It is the vile First Order, I am certain.
REY
What shall we do? Perchance there’s aught will help.
FINN
Thou talk’dst a moment past of foulest gas,
Fuel’d by some poison, eh?
REY
—I fix’d it well.
FINN
Canst thou unfix it, so to save our lives?
[Rey, Finn, and BB-8 return to the maintenance bay and climb inside.
REY
Come, BB-8, into the cargo bay.
FINN
I’ll lift him down herein—alas, I fall—
By George, the droid hath greater heft than I!
REY
Think’st thou this on the stormtroopers shall work?
FINN
Indeed—their masks can filter any smoke,
But cannot filter toxins. They shall fall.
REY
[aside:] His knowledge of these troopers is immense—
Th’Resistance brave is educated in
The smallest details of their enemies.
They hide. Enter CHORUS.
