by Ian Doescher
But turncoat, traitor, and a vile betrayer.
Yet this shall never happen, as thou know’st:
Though thou unto the dark side mayst have turn’d,
’Tis deep within thy breast, the knowledge of
Thy mother’s changeless and abiding love.
I would deceive my friends ere thee forget,
I would endure the rack ere thee forget,
I would give up my life ere thee forget,
The galaxy would end ere thee forget.
O son, I bid thee let thy father speak,
His words fall tenderly upon thine ear,
Then listen with an open, willing heart,
Respond by spreading wide thy youthful arms,
And come again unto thy home with us.
Pray let it be, O soul within my son:
Feel thou our love, that three may soon be one.
[Exit.
* * *
*15 Editor’s translation: There were some thirty, even forty men,
And I was call’d to ward them off alone!
*16 Editor’s translation: I fac’d the battle with a Wookiee’s might—
Though I won this small scratch, they earn’d their deaths.
*17 Editor’s translation: I’d not play mine own horn, but yea, forsooth.
SCENE 2.
Inside Starkiller Base.
Enter REY, in an interrogation chair, and KYLO REN.
REY
Where am I?
KYLO
—Thou art welcome as my guest.
REY
Where are the others, all my comrades true?
What hast thou done with them? Are they herein?
KYLO
The comrades, ha! Thou meanest all the thieves,
The murtherers and traitors thou call’st friends?
Their treachery doth mock thy loyalty,
Their gross dishonor doth negate thy honor.
Thou shalt be wholly comforted to know
I have no knowledge of their whereabouts.
Yet let us speak of them no more. Instead,
’Tis thy mind that doth bring me interest:
Much like an open book, I look inside
And scan its contents like so many words.
Thy thoughts are clear: thou’d happ’ly see me dead.
REY
If ’tis the story thou dost read therein,
’Tis but the consequence of being hunted
By one who hides beneath a coward’s mask.
[Kylo Ren removes his mask.
KYLO
No craven I: I’ll show my letters all,
Thou shalt, belike, find them a novel treat,
A text too heavy for thine intellect.
Tell me all thou dost know about the droid.
REY
This tale I shall unfold in simple prose:
A BB unit color’d white and orange,
A drive made of selenium withal,
A thermal hyperscanning vindicator—
KYLO
Would that thy script were sharp as thy foul tongue.
Pray, let me tell thee of thy literature:
The droid doth hold a navigating chart—
We have a fragment—’twas recover’d from
The archives of the Empire virtuous—
Yet we require the piece that doth remain.
Thou somehow didst convince the errant droid
To show the map to thee, a scavenger—
Of lowly birth and even lower class.
Thou canst see, by this knowledge I’ve obtain’d,
That I’d become the author of thy fate.
I shall procure what I desire from thee
And thy weak mind, pathetic as it is.
[Kylo Ren uses the Force to extract thoughts from Rey’s mind.
I see the narrative that thou dost pen:
How sad thou art, in misery enwrapp’d—
Thou art alone, of leaving most afeard.
At night, thou art so desperate to sleep.
Within thy mind an ocean, and an isle
Plac’d in the ocean’s vast expanse—I see’t.
Han Solo: he is in thy mind as well.
To thee he seemeth like the father whom
Thou ne’er didst know. Hear thou my words most true:
The man, I’ll warrant, would but disappoint.
Thy chronicle is tragic in the height.
REY
Avaunt, thou knave! Get hence—close thou my book!
KYLO
Yet ’tis a tome whose end I long to see,
Although it is a simple one to scan:
I know thou hast laid eyes upon the chart.
’Tis in thy head, and thou shalt give it me.
Anon it shall be mine. Be not afraid,
I feel the strange connection ’twixt us, too.
[Aside:] Her mind is far more strong than I bethought,
A volume of some weight, I do confess.
REY
Naught shall I show thee.
KYLO
—This remains to see.
REY
[aside:] I sense wherein he entereth my mind—
Perchance I may his ruse turn back on him.
The man hath entered th’archive of my mind;
Mayhap I may assail his library.
[To Kylo Ren:] Yet even as thou read’st, thou shalt be read:
Thou art afraid thou ne’er shalt be as strong
As he thou dost admire: the Sith, Darth Vader.
Ha! Ope again, for I would fain read more!
[Exit Rey as Kylo Ren makes his way to the assembly room.
KYLO
Nay, nay, it cannot be. It must not be!
How did this wretched girl of simple stock
Refocus my direction of the Force?
Have I grown feeble, soft, or witless? Nay!
She turn’d the trick on me with seeming ease.
Perforce the lady is instinctively
Strong in the Force, though she may know it not.
This failure, still, is unacceptable,
An errant step along my path of dark.
I shall consult wise Supreme Leader Snoke,
Confessing my mistake and her resolve.
Enter SUPREME LEADER SNOKE and GENERAL HUX.
SNOKE
Already I sense wherefore thou hast come:
The scavenger resisted thee. But how?
HUX
[aside:] Alack, dissembling and unworthy wretch!
KYLO
Forgive me, she is gifted with the Force,
Far abler than she knoweth.
SNOKE
—And the droid?
HUX
’Twas Ren’s belief it had no further worth—
He thought the girl was ev’rything to us,
The be-all and the end-all. Consequently,
The droid, belike, is with our enemies.
’Tis possible the map is in their hands.
SNOKE
The weak Resistance must then be destroy’d
Ere they’ve the chance to contact Skywalker.
We have no time for patience, by my troth.
HUX
We know the setting of their hidden base—
Their vessel of reconnaissance we track’d
Unto the system of Ileenium.
SNOKE
’Tis well—thou, Hux, hath not fail’d me herein.
They shall be crush’d and finally destroy’d.
Prepare the weapon for our swift attack.
HUX
It shall be done at once, and with delight.
[Exit General Hux.
KYLO
My Supreme Leader, I can get the map—
The girl I may o’ercome if you’ll guide me.
SNOKE
If what thou say’st about the girl is true,
That she hath special powers in the Force,
Bring her to me, and we shall ope her m
ind.
[Exeunt.
Enter REY, in the interrogation chair. Enter a STORMTROOPER, aside.
REY
’Twas passing strange, what happen’d unto me:
I turn’d the villain’s trick upon himself.
Such pow’r I never knew I did possess—
Perchance ’twas but an accident of fortune
Or some impermanent coincidence.
Still, I am most intrigued by what hath pass’d:
Some miracle, or something else entire?
Is’t possible I have some pow’r unknown?
Bethink I on it, and it seems absurd;
Lo, I must foolish be to think it so.
Extends the Force to people such as I?
Is our vast galaxy so spacious that
Both rich and poor alike may know its pow’r?
Yet if the Force is as I once was told—
That which surrounds and binds us all as one—
How could it inaccessible remain,
E’en to a humble person as myself?
Forsooth, the Force hath room enow for all.
O, would that it were so—my hope fulfill’d!
Rey, then, could be far more than scavenger,
Could be a warrior or Jedi Knight!
Excitement doth o’erwhelm me at such thoughts.
Well may I put this notion to the test:
Aside there is a stormtrooper who doth
Stand vigilant ’gainst an attempt to flee.
Shall I here try to call upon the Force
To use a mind trick of which I’ve heard tell?
Yea, I shall try: what evil could befall?
Lo, stormtrooper, I bid thee hear my call:
E’en now you shall remove these strong restraints,
Depart the cell, and leave the door ajar.
TROOPER
Didst thou speak? And what was it thou didst say?
Now wherefore wouldst thou speak? I do not know.
E’en such a one as thee speak unto me?
Lo, thou art surely mad. Canst hear my words?
Revil’d and hated scum, thou art too bold.
Avaunt! If thou must speak, then make it plain:
Grant me to hear again the words thou spok’st!
REY
E’en now you shall release me from my bonds,
Depart the cell, and leave the door ajar.
TROOPER
I’ll tighten up thy bonds, make thee a specter.
REY
[aside:] Pray, clear thy thoughts now, Rey, and concentrate.
[To stormtrooper:] E’en now you shall release me from my bonds,
Depart the cell, and leave the door ajar.
TROOPER
E’en now I shall release thee from thy bonds,
Depart the cell, and leave the door ajar.
[The stormtrooper begins to leave.
REY
Indeed, thy weapon thou shalt also drop.
TROOPER
Indeed, my weapon I shall also drop.
[He drops his weapon and exits.
REY
I wonder at this strange ability:
Why should the Force be mine, thus to employ?
This power was not bidden, I did call
It not, did seek it not, did want it not.
Yet still it cometh: O, what mystery.
[Exit.
Enter KYLO REN.
KYLO
What’s this? How hath she vanish’d into air?
Where is the girl I left but moments past?
What vast incompetence or trickery—
Why do we utilize these stormtroopers?
O, loggerheaded, dismal-dreaming louts!
[Kylo Ren brandishes his lightsaber and begins to destroy the room.
Goatish idle-headed canker-blossoms!
Would that the one responsible for this—
Or, rather, irresponsible for this—
Were here to feel the full vent of mine anger!
I’d beat him until he were wholly senseless,
I’d hang him until he for mercy begg’d,
I’d show to him my hot lightsaber’s edge—
O, out upon them, may they all be slain!
Enter GENERAL HUX and various TECHNICIANS above, on balcony.
HUX
Begin the charging of the weapon, sirrah.
TECH
’Tis done: the weapon chargeth even now.
HUX
The pitiful Resistance ends today,
For we shall make our strike without delay.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 3.
At the Resistance base on D’Qar.
Enter CHORUS.
CHORUS
The cruel First Order doth begin its plan
To end th’Resistance in a flash of light.
Meanwhile, upon D’Qar, our heroes scan
For some advantage that may help their plight.
[Exit Chorus.
Enter GENERAL LEIA ORGANA, HAN SOLO, CHEWBACCA, FINN, POE DAMERON, ADMIRAL ACKBAR, ADMIRAL STATURA, MAJOR BRANCE, MAJOR EMATT, SNAP WEXLEY, C-3PO, and various RESISTANCE SOLDIERS.
POE
The scan from the reconnaissance report
That Snap hath here provided doth confirm
What Finn hath told us: this new base is like
Unto some vicious, strange, proud evening star,
More powerful than ever we have seen.
SNAP
If I have read the shrewd reports aright,
Methinks they have created, spitefully,
A hyper lightspeed weapon, which resides
Within the planet’s very nucleus.
BRANCE
’Tis then a laser cannon?
SNAP
—We’ve no names
By which to call a weapon of this size:
It passeth all the boundaries of speech,
The faculty of ev’ry language, e’en
The power of a poet’s way with words.
EMATT
An that thou dost not overstate, it is
Belike another Death Star, help us all.
[Poe projects a model of the Death Star next to a model of Starkiller Base, which is far larger.
POE
Ah, would that it were so, good major. Pray,
Behold the model, sir: Starkiller Base
Is of a magnitude beyond our fears.
In visions of the dark night I had ne’er
Imagin’d such an awful sight as this.
No Death Star, this; ’tis like a Death Star system.
HAN
So ’tis a bigger weapon. Is that all?
Place we such emphasis on size alone?
ACKBAR
How can so large a weapon power’d be?
It would require vast energy to sap.
FINN
It useth all the power of a star:
The weapon is full chargèd whilst the sun
Doth disappear. The thing is fiendish, sirs.
LEIA
Alas, our recent news reports the same:
The rank First Order charges it e’en now,
Our system next upon its list of death.
C-3PO
Sans our Republic’s fleet, I fear we’re doom’d.
HAN
How shall we then destroy the awful thing?
Doth history not give us present hope?
There ever is some way to make defeat
Of that which doth seem undefeatable!
O, brave Resistance fighters, be ye brave—
This day is call’d the feast of Odan-Urr.
They that outlive this day, and come safe home,
Will stand a-tiptoe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse them at the name of Odan-Urr.
They that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast their neighbors
And say, “Tomorrow’s the centenary.”
Then will the
y strip their sleeves and show their scars
And say, “These wounds I had on Odan’s day.”
Old folk forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But they’ll remember with advantages
What feats they did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in their mouth as household words—
Sweet General Leia and Adm’ral Ackbar,
Poe Dameron and Ematt, Finn and Snap—
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember’d.
This story shall each parent teach their child;
And Odan-Urr’s feast day shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the end of th’universe,
But we in it shall be remember’d, too—
We few, we happy few, we band of comrades;
For they today who shed their blood with me
Shall be my comrades; be they ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle their condition, yea.
So be ye not afeard, my friends, be strong—
’Twill be our finest victory to date,
This grand Starkiller shall be our kill yet!
LEIA
My Han! Brave man, would thou and I alone,
Without more help, could fight this present battle!
STATURA
Indeed—thy words inspire my thoughts again.
For that amount of pow’r to be contain’d,
The base must have a thermal oscillator!
[Finn points to a section of the projected model of Starkiller Base.
FINN
Forsooth, thou hast it right: it is therein.
In Precinct Forty-Seven, by my troth.
STATURA
Methinks if th’oscillator were destroy’d,
It may the core destabilize and, then—
If Fortune smiles upon our bold Resistance—
Undo the weapon fully.
EMATT
—E’en the planet.
POE
To seek for treasure in the jewel’d skies
