by Ian Doescher
[Luke finds a torch and approaches the uneti tree.
I shall not wait for Jedi’s end, but bring it—
Shall be the cause whereby the Jedi cease,
No more to plague the galaxy with failure,
With ignorance o’er what the future holds,
And arrogance o’er what the time doth need.
Come, flames, and put an end to Jedi folly!
Enter GHOST OF YODA.
Good Master Yoda—visitation rare!
YODA Young Luke Skywalker.
Not hast thou, peradventure,
Expected me here.
LUKE I shall end all of this—the tree, the texts,
The Jedi. Burn the very center, with
Its ancient wisdom, tomes, and mystery.
Its pyre shall light the start of some new age.
Yet, even on the moment fails my strength—
I cannot burn it. Nay, it means too much.
[Lightning strikes the tree, which bursts into flames.
Alas, the tree alight, not by my hand,
And Master Yoda giggling all the while.
I shall protect the texts—save them from ruin!
Yet even as I try, another blast
Doth rock me back upon the stony ground.
’Tis far too late—the sacred texts are gone.
YODA Earnest Skywalker,
Miss’d thee have I, by my troth.
E’er wert thou solemn.
LUKE Thou helpest it to burn. Thus, it is time,
The Jedi Order old to meet its end.
YODA Forsooth, time it is—
For thou, Luke, to look beyond
A pile of books old.
LUKE The sacred Jedi texts, not merely books!
YODA Read them hast thou, then?
Neither page turners they were,
Nor hit folios.
Wisdom held they, true,
The library, though, contain’d
Naught which Rey hath not.
O, good Skywalker,
Still looking to th’horizon,
Not at what’s here now.
LUKE I was unwise and weak, a Jedi fool.
YODA Thou lost Ben Solo;
That much unchangeable is.
Lose Rey we must not.
LUKE I cannot be the thing she needs me to.
YODA Heed’st my words thou’st not.
Pass on what thou hast learnèd—
Not in part, but full.
Strength, mastery, yes.
Yet also weakness, follow,
Failure also, yea.
Failure most of all.
The most immense, profoundest
Teacher failure is.
We are what they grow
Beyond: ’tis the burden true
Of masters—us, too.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 4.
Aboard the Libertine, the Finalizer, and the Raddus.
Enter ROSE TICO, FINN, BB-8, and DJ aboard the Libertine above, on balcony.
FINN Four parsecs still remain. This ship doth move.
ROSE I hope ’tis fast enow to be in time.
[To DJ:] Thou canst the codes break, once we do arrive?
DJ Since thou hast introduc’d the matter, yea—
I can do that, which ye would have me do.
Yet ere ’tis done, we must discuss the price.
ROSE Once thou hast plied thy trade, the good Resistance
Shall give to thee whatever ’tis thou will’st.
DJ What in the meantime, for deposit’s sake?
FINN Art thou in jest? For naught do we possess.
DJ Is that, which thou dost wear, of Haysian smelt?
’Tis something.
FINN —Nay, for we have giv’n our word:
Thou shalt have funds. This should be pledge enow.
DJ Good gentles, I would gladly help ye more,
Yet sans some trifle, nay not none of doing.
[Rose hands DJ her medallion.
ROSE Do it, and we shall speak no more of this.
DJ Now can I help ye in good faith, my friends.
[Exit Rose. DJ begins looking around the ship.
FINN Fie, render her the pendant back again.
Thou knowest not how fix’d on it she is.
Say wherefore dost thou search through thine own ship?
O, rascal, I do fathom ’tis not thine.
BB-8 Zooz bloo, blay roohblik blee flew blis bloxflit
Blav blooflir roilzoon bleezoom flli reejflit!
DJ He says I stole the ship.
FINN —Fine did I hear.
DJ ’Tis false, for we did steal it, he and I.
FINN This can be said, at least: thou stealest from
Most wicked people, enemies of good.
DJ To call these good or bad is rhetoric.
Shall we discover who once own’d this ship,
Ere we did take it into our possession?
[DJ searches the ship’s databanks.
Its owner was a dealer in war goods—
Who sold his armaments unto the bad,
Yea, and the good, by thy taxonomy.
Finn, let me teach thee of the galaxy:
’Tis all a massive and complex machine.
Live free, don’t join, is my philosophy.
[Finn, BB-8, and DJ continue flying silently.
Enter CAPTAIN PEAVEY and GENERAL HUX aboard the Finalizer, aside.
PEAVEY More empty, slow Resistance ships we slay—
The one we did destroy most recently
Was last of their support ships, verily.
We draw still closer to their final cruiser.
HUX Pray, how much longer hath its fuel reserves?
PEAVEY Our calculation says ’tis critical.
[Exeunt Hux and Peavey.
Enter VICE ADMIRAL AMILYN HOLDO, COMMANDER D’ACY, and RESISTANCE SOLDIERS on the bridge of the Raddus.
Enter POE DAMERON on the bridge.
POE I ask by name for the usurping tyrant:
Is Adm’ral Holdo here, upon the bridge?
D’ACY The admiral hath bann’d thee from the bridge;
I bid thee, let us not play some foul scene.
POE Nay, let us, ’tis a scene shall serve me well:
I’d take the stage, to Holdo cross, and see
Some evidence of her sagacity.
Vice Adm’ral Holdo, hark! I’d speak with thee.
HOLDO The flyboy, from his hive, hath hither come,
Prepar’d to sting the queen and take her honey.
POE Thou nothing—neither word nor hint—hast told
Of what our fate, in Holdo’s grasp, shall hold.
Thou wouldst have died a thousand deaths before
Acknowledge thine own inability
To understand both aught and ev’rything
Throughout the universe that e’er was taught.
I bid thee, Adm’ral, give us aught of hope.
HOLDO When I serv’d under Leia, oft she’d say:
“Hope’s glow is like the sun: if thou dost only
Believe it doth exist when thou canst see’t—”
POE “Thou never shalt get through the night.” I know’t—
A strange, unlikely saying to be sure.
HOLDO Indeed.
POE —Yet matters turn from bad to worse—
What is this treachery upon these screens?
’Tis long since I first trod the passageways
Of this ill-fated ship, and now the rays
Of all our troubl’d destinies, methinks,
Are gath’ring to a
focus speedily.
Incomprehensible officials, ye!
The screens show you are fueling up the transports!
Each one? Abandon ship is, thus, the plan?
Thou, Holdo, brought us to this moment bleak.
O feeble coward! Those few transport ships
Unarmèd are, unshielded, unprotected.
Should we this cruiser leave, our end is nigh,
Our fate is seal’d, our destiny is fix’d—
We stand no chance of seeing our tomorrow.
Fie, coward was too soft a word for thee—
A better word is traitor, by my troth.
HOLDO Guards, come, and take this man from off my bridge.
[Exeunt Holdo, D’Acy, and all Resistance soldiers save Poe.
POE [into communicator:] Finn, hear me: Holdo’s purposes would place
The crew aboard the shuttles, to forsake
The ship. A fearful idea suddenly
Doth drive the blood in torrents on my heart,
So that for some brief time I had relaps’d
Into insensibility. I fear
That thou and Rose shall not return in time.
I prithee tell me diff’rent: where are ye?
FINN We make our way toward the fleet anon—
So near we are, and shall arrive forthwith.
POE Servility of imitation hath
Seduc’d our admiral to error, Finn.
Have ye the master codebreaker attain’d?
FINN “The” is a word too delicate for now—
Try “a”—a master codebreaker we found.
We shall the tracker disengage, my friend,
But buy us time, and we’ll fulfill thy need.
POE [aside:] Here is, no doubt, inaccuracy and
Misunderstanding both. [To Finn:] ’Tis well. Come soon.
The time hath come to tell the admiral.
[Exit Poe.
DJ We’re coming to the vast First Order fleet.
Yet if we caution show, we’ll not be seen.
I’m cloaking our approach, thus to remain
Free from the snooping senses of their scopes.
We cut a small incision in their shield,
Like sly physician plying surgery,
And slip betwixt with cunning trickery.
Now we are through—codebreaker breaks the codes.
[Exeunt Rose, Finn, BB-8, and DJ from balcony.
Enter VICE ADMIRAL AMILYN HOLDO talking with POE DAMERON on the Raddus.
Enter with them COMMANDER D’ACY, RESISTANCE SOLDIERS, LIEUTENANT CONNIX, and RESISTANCE PILOTS.
HOLDO A worker from our maintenance division,
A stormtrooper, a droid, a codebreaker—
They walk into a what and why and where?
Is this the start of some unwitty jest?
POE They do attempt to save us and our ship.
The greatest chance we have doth lie with them,
If we would make escape before we’re slain.
The situation of our humble party is
Lamentable, indeed—in th’heart of space
Unknown, and at a loss what route to take,
Full ignorant of distance to our place
Of destination, with no being near
Who may give counsel, help, or succor to us.
Thou must give Finn and Rose what time thou canst.
HOLDO Thou bettest the survival of th’Resistance
On bad odds, putting ev’ryone at risk?
There is no time for foolish nonsense, Poe.
[To D’Acy:] I prithee, swiftly load the transport pods.
We must get clear of this o’erpower’d cruiser.
POE I’m not surprisèd to perceive that thou
Hadst long made up thy mind upon a point
Which hath occasion’d much discussion ’mongst
My friends and me. Methought thou thus wouldst say.
[Poe, Connix, and pilots raise their blasters and aim them at Holdo, D’Acy, and soldiers.
Vice Adm’ral Holdo, hereby I relieve
Thee of command of this, our final ship.
I do so thinking only of survival:
Survival for our crew, our ship, and our
Resistance, too.
HOLDO —I hope thou knowest well
The consequences of thine actions here.
POE Indeed I do. This shall remember’d be—
’Tis well we spoke in time. We shall get into
A place of safety, soon as possible.
I shall away unto the bridge at once.
If they do move, feel free to stun them all.
[Exeunt Holdo, D’Acy, and soldiers guarded by pilots. Exeunt Poe and Connix severally.
Enter ROSE TICO, FINN, BB-8, and DJ aboard the Finalizer.
ROSE Aye, now we’re on the Finalizer, more
Fools we. When we were home, then were we in
A better place: but travelers must be
Content. What now?
FINN —First, BB-8, to screen thee.
Now, put this box atop thy droidly frame,
And feign thou art a mouselike droid that fixes.
BB-8 Blox flliblis flew zoon fllireej roilzoom roil!
Enter the wicked droid BB-9E aside, scanning the others.
BB-9E Relflo, favblirel rel blabli benzay!
[Exit BB-9E.
FINN We almost have arriv’d, be not afeard.
Here stands the door whereof I told ye both,
Forthwith we’ll see the tracker just behind.
DJ This is my moment, then, and I shall to’t.
[DJ short-circuits the door panel using Rose’s medallion and then returns it to her.
The Haysian silver steel smelt: best conductor.
Thou gav’st it me, and I to thee return.
Thou art most welcome for thy silent thanks.
ROSE A plan to make return unto the fleet
Should be our next endeavor, think’st thou not?
FINN I know where we may find the nearest pods,
With which a fast escape we soon can make.
ROSE Of course thou dost. [Aside:] Knows he the means by which
He may make his escape at ev’ry turn?
Was ever hero quite so slippery?
Enter POE DAMERON and LIEUTENANT CONNIX above, on balcony, on the bridge of the Raddus, speaking to the others via a communicator. Throughout the following scene, action occurs above and below.
POE Sweet BB-8, I bid thee give me news
That shall, immediately, like the murmur
Of water, fall most gently on my ear.
BB-8 Blis zoomzood blayflib bliprooq blooblox blee!
FINN Poe, we have almost finish’d with our task.
Now make the cruiser fit for lightspeed’s jump!
POE My friend, our evil destiny pursues us
As if in exultation. Ready we
Shall be. Unto thy noble task forthwith.
Enter C-3PO and several RESISTANCE SOLDIERS on balcony.
Clear ye the bridge, and take the officers
Unto the hangar, there with Adm’ral Holdo.
[Exeunt all people on balcony except Poe, Connix, and C-3PO.
C-3PO Commander—or, er, Captain Dameron,
Vice Adm’ral Holdo lately search’d for thee.
POE Indeed, we spoke. That motley drama, O—
Be sure it shall not be forgot, good droid.
C-3PO Sir, thou art here, upon the bridge, and press
The buttons of the ship as though thou wert
In charge. I almost am afraid to ask—
POE Good instinct, Threepio, or misery
I shall shut down the lights throughout the ship,
To focus all our power for lightspeed.
Yet what is this that doth transpire below?
I see upon the screens that Holdo and
Her group of willing coconspirators
Attack the pilots we did leave behind
To guard them where they stood. [To Connix:] Seal thou the doors!
ROSE Our time is nearly past.
FINN [to DJ:] —How fares it, man?
DJ The thing is almost done, one second more.
[C-3PO begins to leave the balcony.
POE C-3PO, where goest thou? Thy talents
Are of no common order and thy pow’rs
Of mind gigantic are—I’ll need thee here.
C-3PO It would be quite against my programming
To join the party of a mutiny.
It is a point of protocol correct:
Should I engage with mutiny hereon,
The bounty on my head could be enormous.
[The door to the bridge begins to spark and flame.
Alack, what danger new comes hereupon?
POE Finn, there are circumstances, which, when coupl’d
With late events, give an unworldly and
Portentous character unto this instant—
Dost hear? We are prepar’d to make the jump!
FINN [to DJ:] ’Tis now or never, newfound ally.
DJ —Now.
[The door to the tracker opens.
FINN Now, Rose, unto the task for which thou cam’st.
Enter several FIRST ORDER TROOPERS, led by BB-9E.
BB-9E Fosbotflo zop, fer flefob flerelfos!
TROOPER 1 Ye there, put up thy hands, and drop thy weapons,
Else we shall make a forfeit of your lives!
Get down—must I repeat? Down, or be dead.
BB-9E Blifob fleblabot botfah flefle, zif
Blarel fos flefob fobbluben blibot.
Enter CAPTAIN PHASMA.
PHASMA FN-2187, welcome back:
Prepare thy mettle for thy final scene.
[Exeunt Rose, Finn, and DJ guarded by Phasma, BB-9E, and troopers.
POE Have I gone mad? In my gray visions I
Obtainèd glimpses of eternity.
Yet they were false, disproven in a trice:
They made it not, and we are nearly breach’d!
The door to the bridge bursts open.
Enter GENERAL LEIA ORGANA on balcony.
O Leia, thou hast come. Bring aid to me!
[She stuns him with her blaster.
