by Ian Doescher
HAN
[aside:] —Ay, again she’s right.
[The Millennium Falcon bursts into hyperspace. Rathtar 3 flies off.
Enter BALA-TIK on balcony.
BALA-TIK
[into communicator:] Inform the dread
First Order that the droid they so desire
is in the clutches of Han Solo,
the smuggler and knave, aboard the Millennium Falcon.
HAN
We fly, bound for the galaxy’s safe border—
Mayhap this shall restore my life to order.
[Exeunt.
* * *
*1 Editor’s translation: O, thank the day, the great Millenn’um Falcon!
*2 Editor’s translation: Nay, nay—since when were pilots made so young?
*3 Editor’s translation: If I recall, ’twas I who did say so.
*4 Editor’s translation: Belike ’tis he, yet speak in softer tones:
In truth, my dear friend’s head is large enow.
*5 Editor’s translation: As thou dost say, ’twill be most surely done.
*6 Editor’s translation: Your rathtar is the emperor for diet:
We fat all creatures else to fat ourselves;
The crew did fat themselves for rathtars’ meals.
*7 Editor’s translation: A jest, forsooth! When hath thy tongue e’er solv’d
A problem sans creating seven more?
It ne’er hath work’d, in all our years together.
*8 Editor’s translation: Alack, the fire hath burn’d my Wookiee bones!
SCENE 5.
Inside Starkiller Base.
Enter SUPREME LEADER SNOKE, KYLO REN, and GENERAL HUX.
SNOKE
The droid shall soon unto the pitiful
Resistance be deliver’d. This, in turn,
Shall lead them thither, unto Skywalker:
He, last of all the Jedi. If he’s found,
A race of bold new Jedi may arise.
HUX
O, Supreme Leader, ’tis for me to bear
The grave responsibility—
SNOKE
—Tut, tut!
Our strategy, my general, must change.
HUX
The weapon is prepar’d and ready stands:
Methinks the time hath come to see it us’d.
We shall destroy the government that doth
Give its support unto the vile Resistance:
E’en the Republic. Sans their friends to bring
Protection, the Resistance shall be weak
And vulnerable, too. They shall be stopp’d
Ere they can reach Skywalker where he hides.
SNOKE
Get hence and guide the preparations now.
HUX
Indeed, my lord, with joy it shall be done.
[Exit Hux.
SNOKE
Hark! There hath been a swift awakening—
Canst feel it?
KYLO
—Yea.
SNOKE
—For thee there’s something more.
The droid we seek is on th’Millenn’um Falcon,
Withal thy father: e’en Han Solo, he.
KYLO
The man doth nothing mean—and less—to me.
SNOKE
E’en thou, the master of the Knights of Ren,
Hath ne’er such challenge fac’d as lies herein.
KYLO
Your training is sufficient unto me,
And, therefore, I shall not seducèd be.
SNOKE
Ahh, we shall see. Indeed, we two shall see.
[Exit Snoke.
KYLO
My father? O, a complication dire—
The father who did help to give me life,
The father who did raise me to know good,
The father who did nourish all my skills,
The father whom I did, at last, reject.
Reenters he unto my life e’en now?
Yet worse: the partner of mine enemies,
The keeper of that which I would obtain,
A barrier unto my long’d-for aim.
I am no longer kin to Solo, nay:
My family is here, within this base,
The good First Order and the Knights of Ren.
No other family do I desire—
Especially no smuggler, base and crude,
And ignorant of how to use the Force.
Although my feelings do betray me still,
I must be strong, remember my dark call,
And shun the folly pulling me toward him.
No son of Solo I, no longer Ben—
From now, I am entirely Kylo Ren.
[Exit.
SCENE 1.
Aboard the Millennium Falcon, on the planet Takodana, and inside Starkiller Base.
Enter HAN SOLO and REY, in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. Enter FINN with CHEWBACCA severally, mending the Wookiee’s shoulder.
HAN
Too many years of too infrequent use
Hath left the swift Millenn’um Falcon tir’d
And prone to small malfunction, disrepair.
Just now, a new electrical o’erload.
REY
Methinks I’ll solve the riddle in a trice.
HAN
The coolant leaketh, too.
REY
—If thou transfer’st
The pow’r auxiliary unto the—
HAN
The secondary tank! A-ha, I see.
[Aside:] Again, we think as two halves of a whole.
CHEWBAC.
Egh, auugh!*9
FINN
—If thou’dst not wiggle to and fro,
Belike I now could proffer thee some aid.
Forget thou not that I am here to help.
O, cannot someone tame this hairy fiend?
Enter BB-8.
BB-8
Flit flliblik blicrooq blooflir zoomblav blee!
CHEWBAC.
Auugh! Auugh!*10
BB-8
—Bluu zzwablox roil flib zzwa flewblis!
[Exit BB-8, in fear.
HAN
[to Finn:] If thou dost hurt Chewbacca, thou shalt know
The menace of Han Solo’s fearsome ire!
FINN
Hurt him? O, fine assessment of the scene!
He hath near kill’d me some six times thus far.
[Chewbacca grabs Finn by the throat and pulls him close.
’Tis fine, I have no quarrel with thee, sir!
HAN
If here the hyperdrive should overheat,
Methinks there shall be scatter’d bits and scraps
Of Solo strewn around the galaxy.
[Rey pulls a wire loose and the ship settles.
[Aside:] Amazing, her innate abilities!
[To Rey:] Say, how didst thou resolve our quandary?
REY
I bypass’d the compressor, by my troth.
HAN
A simple trick. [Aside:] Good as the best. [To BB-8:] Hence, ball!
[Han walks past BB-8 as he exits the cockpit, approaching Chewbacca and Finn.
REY
[aside:] I thought he might, this once, be satisfied—
How strange it is how I do wish to please him,
Yet in his presence I am like a child,
And he a hero of proportion grand.
CHEWBAC.
[to Han:] Egh, egh.*11
HAN
—Nay, speak not so. Thou didst thy best,
Which is, dear friend, all we can ask in life.
Pray, put thy spirit and thy bones at ease.
[To Finn:] Thou too, my lad, comportedst thyself well.
Thou hast my thanks.
FINN
—Forsooth, my welcome’s thine.
[Finn accidentally turns on a nearby holochess game. Chewbacca looks on happily. Rey joins them.
[Aside:] Behold, the rapture on the Wookiee’s face!
I�
�ll warrant ’tis a fav’rite game of his.
HAN
Ye two are fugitives, saith Bala-Tik?
REY
The cruel First Order longeth for the map.
Finn here is with the strong Resistance, though—
[Finn looks at Han guiltily.
Whilst I am but a petty scavenger.
HAN
Shall we see th’information they do seek,
Which this small droid doth somehow now possess?
BB-8
Flew zoombloo zzwablic blayflir flli?
REY
—Indeed.
[BB-8 projects the portion of the map he holds.
HAN
The map is incomplete, a piece is gone.
Since Luke did disappear have many search’d
To bring him back, but all to no avail.
REY
Yet wherefore did he leave initially?
HAN
He tried to train a class of Jedi, yea,
The next, new generation who would lead.
One boy, however, his apprentice, hath
Turn’d ’gainst Luke and destroy’d the plan entire.
Luke felt responsible and went away.
FINN
Know’st thou what follow’d? Whither he did go?
HAN
There was but room for rumors, with no root.
Full many tales and fables were conceiv’d.
Those who did know him best bethought he went
A’searching for the bygone Jedi temple.
REY
The Jedi, then, were real, as some do say.
HAN
Thus did I wonder once, when I was young,
Methought ’twas all but hurly-burly talk—
A power magical ’twixt light and dark—
And yet, though it but seemeth mad: ’tis true.
It is—in ev’ry particle, each bit,
The smallest word or whisper of the Force,
The briefest tale about the Jedi told,
Each story that expands our universe,
Each tiniest detail of reck’ning—true,
And more fool we who do believe it not.
[A sensor beeps.
BB-8 extinguishes the projection.
CHEWBAC.
Egh, auugh!*12
HAN
—Nay, Chewie, thou shouldst rest thyself.
[To Rey and Finn:] If you desire my help, then you shall ha’t.
We shall stop off and visit an old friend.
The droid she shall deliver to its place,
Whereby it may th’Resistance show the map.
We have at Takodana now arriv’d—
I’ll make arrangements for ye both thereon.
[They enter the cockpit as the ship emerges from lightspeed, headed for the surface of Takodana.
REY
My stars! Not in the galaxy entire
Would I have thought existed so much green.
HAN
[aside:] ’Tis she is green, and wholly innocent,
An ’twere a newborn babe were in my care.
[Chewbacca, Rey, and BB-8 disembark from the Falcon.
FINN
Lo, Solo, I know not what we shall find—
HAN
Didst thou, in youthful boldness, call me “Solo”?
FINN
Apologies, fair Han, or Master Solo,
Whatever appellation thou prefer’st.
Thou shouldst be fully cognizant of this:
Within th’Resistance I am known for bigness.
No small flywheel within the vast machine,
But fit for larger things: a warrior—
Forsooth, a status unimpeachable,
A reputation of most fine repute.
I have, therefore, a mark upon my life.
Shall there, herein, be found conspirators?
First Order cronies who would work me woe?
HAN
Attend me, Bigness, thou hast problems more:
The lady shall find out the truth of thee—
Their sex e’er have, and do, and always shall.
[Han hands Finn a blaster, disembarks, and joins Rey, who stands alone. He hands her a blaster as well.
This blaster thou mayst need in times to come.
REY
Methinks I have the wit to handle all.
HAN
Thus think I, too; ’tis why I make the gift.
I prithee, take it. [She does.] Tell me, canst thou aim?
Know’st thou its movements and what gives it fire?
REY
The trigger pull’d, the fire doth follow on.
HAN
A simpleton mayhap would so reply,
Yet ’tis not quite so simple as thou say’st.
Thou hast, still, much to learn. Hast thou a name?
REY
’Tis Rey.
HAN
—Rey, verily. I did bethink
Me to take on more crew: a second mate,
A person who may render good assistance,
Match step with step Chewbacca and myself,
And who appreciates the Falcon, too.
REY
Is’t possible thou offer’st me employment?
HAN
We would be less than kin, still less be kind.
It promiseth a journey hazardous,
Small wages, bitter times, long months of dark
Complete, a constant danger, thy return
Most doubtful, and no honor in success.
REY
Thou offer’st me employment!
HAN
—I bethought on’t:
No pledge was made: I cannot be forsworn.
REY
[aside:] O, how my soul doth long to take this leap,
To plunge into the deep whate’er befall,
Yet softly calls the voice of duty still
And keeps me sadly tether’d to the ground.
[To Han:] If thou wert offering, I’d honor’d be,
Yet cannot take the offer: I must home.
HAN
Jakku?
REY
—Already have I been too long.
HAN
Thy swift reply confoundeth all my wits.
[To Chewbacca:] Good Chewie, pray inspect the ship with care.
[To Rey:] Unfortunate it is; the Wookiee likes thee.
[They walk toward Maz Kanata’s castle.
FINN
Remind me, Solo, wherefore are we here?
HAN
To put your droid upon a ship that’s clean.
REY
Clean?
HAN
—Think’st thou ’twas by fortune’s hand that we
The Falcon with such ease did find? Nay, nay.
If we with our mere scanners found the ship,
Thou canst be sure the swift First Order cometh.
If ye would render BB-8 unto
The brave Resistance, Maz Kanata is
Your simplest, best—and mayhap only—hope.
FINN
Can she be trusted, eh? This friend of thine?
HAN
Be calm and tarry on, lad, for Maz o’er
The public house that thou wilt see hath been
Proprietor for lo these thousand years.
That said, this Maz doth not please ev’ryone:
’Tis best if you two let me speak. I pray,
Whate’er ye do, gape not.
REY
—At what?
HAN
—At aught.
They enter the castle. Enter MAZ KANATA and many aliens including BAZINE, GRUMMGAR, GA-97, CAPTAIN ITHANO, and QUIGGOLD, all seated severally. Enter CHORUS.
CHORUS
Now mark ye well, good viewers, what you see,
Such varied characters are on display!
For never hath there been such company
As there, in Maz’s castle, comes each day.
Strange crea
tures form to make a splendid scene—
There, to the side, some play a game of chance,
See bulky Grummgar and his girl Bazine:
This is the house of Maz—let your eyes dance!
[Exit Chorus.
MAZ
Han Solo!
[All in the castle fall silent and stare at Han.
HAN
[aside:] —This was not the hop’d-for entrance.
[To Maz:] Holla, Maz!
MAZ
—Where hast put my paramour?
HAN
Chewbacca worketh on the Falcon, Maz.
MAZ
I’ve ta’en a liking to that Wookiee, ay.
Thou must need something, else thou wouldst not come.
Belike thy need is desperate, as well,
So let us to it. Thither, sit with me.
[Bazine, Grummgar, and GA-97 notice BB-8 as he rolls by.
GA-97
[into communicator:] Transmit to the Resistance this report:
The droid for which they search hath hither come.
BAZINE
[into communicator:] Inform the dread First Order: their lost droid
Is here on Takodana. Come, at once!
All freeze. Enter KYLO REN on balcony, holding the mask of DARTH VADER.
KYLO
Forgive me, grandfather, again I feel’t,
The call to light, which Supreme Leader Snoke
Doth sense. Unfold, before my sight, once more
The power of the dark side of the Force.
Then naught shall stand athwart my fervent plans.
