William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back (17 page)

O Luke, pray fly! ’Tis but a trap! A trap!

Flee now, dear friend, ere thou art captur’d too.

But what is this? ’Tis Leia in distress!

Yet here, beset by blasts, I’ll not prevail.

[Exit Luke Skywalker under fire, with R2-D2 behind him. Exit Boba Fett.

Auugh!

—Aye, well done, my aide! Pray, put them in

The tower most secure, and be ye quiet!

. . .

[Exeunt Lobot with battalion and Imperial guards.

[
aside:
] O, will he play the hero now? A fig!

[
To Lando:
] What is in thy imagination, man?

We shall depart at once.

[He releases the bands from Chewbacca’s hands.

[
aside:
]          —I knew ’twas thus,

A regular misunderstanding.

[Chewbacca begins to choke Lando.

    —Auugh!

[
choking:
] I had no choice!

—What is this foolishness?

Pray, trust him!

—Aye, we understand, thou knave,

Thou didst have neither choice nor will to act.

Thou brute! Imperi’l officers act by

Their Lord’s command and blind obedience,

The bounty hunter is well paid for his

Nefari’us actions, e’en Darth Vader and

The Emperor are fully driven by

Their power, aye! But shalt thou say thou hadst

No choice? What lily-liver’d weak excuse

Is this? At least assume thy stature as

A man, and here confess thy shameful deeds!

We’ll give thee opportunity to ’fess

Thy wrongs before thou diest at Chewie’s hand.

[
choking:
] I did but try to help.

—We do not need

Thy help, thou whoreson, senseless villain!

[
choking:
]          —Han!

What didst thou say?

—It sounded like a “Han!”

[
choking:
] There may yet be a chance we can save Han.

The bounty hunter’s ship, the platform east.

Pray, Chewie, let him go.

[Chewbacca releases Lando. He and Princess Leia begin to walk away, followed by Lando.

—My ferventest

Apologies for this, good Sir. See, he

Is but a Wookiee, ignorant and plain.

Now put him in the cargo hold. Who now

hath been victorious, Solo? Who is the winner

clear? And as the victor, so go the spoils. Jabba’s

bounty and his great pleasure shall I enjoy when

I arrive with thee on Tatooine. I shall become a

courtier in the palace of the Hutts ere this is

through. Boba Fett triumphant!

[Exeunt Boba Fett and guards.

[
aside:
] I have been separated from my master.

Yet happy circumstance, for here I see

The others, and may now rejoin them.

[
To C-3PO:
] Squeak!

O R2, R2, say, where hast thou been?

It does me well to see thee, little droid.

Yet prithee, haste thee, for we all now strive

To save our captain from the clutches of

The bounty hunter!

—Meep, beep, whistle, squeak!

At least thou art still in one piece—observe

My sad fragmented fate!

[They arrive at the east platform to see Boba Fett’s ship flying away.

[
aside:
]          —O flown, alack!

My Han—his body flown and fled. Now break

My heart, and weep mine eyes. A princess I

May be, but first and foremost human with

Emotions that betray my higher sense.

O gracious Han, forgive that I did come

To love thee late, and only then to lose thee.

I’ll find thee in the stars, my Han—I’ll search

The galaxy until I find thee.

—O!

[
To Chewbacca:
] Pray, Chewie, look, they come behind thee!

—Egh!

The soldiers are dispatch’d; now let us go.

A princess doth command thee, Lando: make

Thy choice once and for all whom thou shalt serve.

Wilt thou remain the Empire’s stooge, or shalt

Thou go with us to serve rebellion’s cause?

Good lady, this demand is fairly made.

Forgive me of the things I’ve done, I pray,

And I shall fly with thee and serve thee true.

But first, let me a final action take

To serve the Bespinites I love so well—

One moment for the greater good. [
Into comlink:
] Hear ye,

’Tis Lando of Calrissian who speaks.

The Empire doth control the city now—

I do advise ye all: evacuate

At once, before more troops arrive within.

[Lando tries to open a door and fails.

[
To Princess Leia:
] This door shall lead us to the
Falcon,
but

The codes have chang’d. I know not how!

—R2,

Thou canst o’erride the door’s security.

Pray, R2, speed thee!

[R2-D2 tries to plug into the computer and gets shocked.

—Beep, meep, whistle, beep!

O blame me not, I am interpreter,

And know not power socket from computer!

[More stormtroopers enter and begin to shoot at Chewbacca, Princess Leia, and Lando.

Now under siege again! O, let us hence

Away unto the
Falcon
. Droid, canst thou

Release these doors that we may pass and fly?

If ever droid were worthy, R2 is.

Go to it, R2, make our good escape!

Beep, meep, beep, beep, squeak, whistle, beep, meep, meep!

We do not care about the hyperdrive—

The great
Millenn’um Falcon
is repair’d!

[
aside:
] Fie! This computer tells me all’s not well,

But how shall I convey this ’midst these blasts?

The doorway first; the hyperdrive shall wait.

[
To C-3PO:
] Beep, meep!

—Pray, ope’ the door, thou stupid lump!

[The door opens.

O, R2, never did I doubt thee, thou

Art wonderful!

[Exeunt R2-D2, Lando, and Chewbacca with C-3PO, into the
Millennium Falcon.

—I know that I should fly,

And yet for Han’s sake would I stay and slay

Each enemy that cometh from within.

Love unfulfill’d turns quickly into spite,

And vengefulness doth fill the empty place

Within my heart. O die a thousand times,

Ye basest beasts who fed upon my love.

O brutes, ye think not of the lives ye take—

You are but senseless minions who fulfill

The sordid whims of your Imperi’l lords.

Belike ’tis not your fault, for you are by

A merciless, vile Emperor controll’d.

Yet I shall strike at ye till you do fall

For ev’ry pain that you have giv’n to me:

The loss of Alderaan, of my great friends,

And now the loss of my belovèd one.

O die, ye mindless men of Empire cruel!

I shall upon the Empire be reveng’d

Until my gallant Han hath been aveng’d.

[Exit Princess Leia.

Where am I now, and where are all my friends?

Some wrong turn have I ta’en, and now am lost

Within a cavern, dark and fill’d with mist.

R2 is left behind; I am alone.

What evil lurks within this passage bleak?

What fate shall I discover in this place?

What pow’r hath brought me here—is it the Force?

If not, what messenger of darkness vile

Hath giv’n me up unto this realm of fear?

The cold I feel is as on Dagobah,

When in the cave my darkest self I fac’d.

The thoughts I thought therein do now return,

The questions that did rise and give me pause:

O, what is life, and what our purpose here?

Are living creatures made for pain and strife,

Do we but walk our days upon the ground

To perish without memory or fame?

If so, what shall we seek whilst we yet live?

Is brave adventure worthy of our time,

Or should we seek the principle of pleasure?

Are family and children noble aims,

Or is the Force itself our holy goal?

Is life a quest or is it but a farce—

A splendid journey or a fool’s crusade?

Such questions plague my soul, and make me doubt.

They draw my mind toward the darkest thoughts

That e’er I’ve known since I became a man.

And here, away from Dagobah, I have

No firm assurance of my safety, nor

The comfort of my master being here.

Thus shall I face my fortune by myself,

Without my mentors great to give me help.

The thought doth bring me trepidation, for

I have relie’d upon their counsel wise.

Be with me here in spirit, if not form,

Good Obi-Wan and Yoda—masters true.

O life, O Fate! I would I knew my place,

My time, my end, my destiny complete—

But I cannot see why or how life is.

Because the past is not a perfect guide,

And since the future still remains unknown:

My fate shall I meet in the present tense.

[A sound is heard.

But soft, I hear slow footsteps drawing near.

The Force is with thee now, young Skywalker,

In troth—but thou art not a Jedi yet.

[
aside:
] ’Tis Vader, and ’tis Fate. Let it begin.

[They duel.