Gimer Stick.
EXTERIOR: SPACE -- VADER'S STAR DESTROYER
Vader's Imperial Star Destroyer moves through space,
guarded by its convoy of TIE fighters.
INTERIOR: VADER'S STAR DESTROYER -- BRIDGE -- CONTROL DECK
Vader stands in the back control area of his ship's bridge
with a motley group of men and creatures. Admiral Piett and
two controllers stand at the front of the bridge and watch the
group with scorn.
PIETT: Bounty hunters. We don't need that scum.
FIRST CONTROLLER: Yes, sir.
PIETT: Those Rebels won't escape us.
A second controller interrupts.
SECOND CONTROLLER: Sir, we have a priority signal from the Star
Destroyer Avenger.
PIETT: Right.
The group standing before Vader is a bizarre array of
galactic fortune hunters: There is Bossk, a slimy, tentacled
monster with two huge, bloodshot eyes in a soft baggy face;
Zuckuss and Dengar, two battle-scarred, mangy human types;
IG-88, a battered, tarnished chrome war droid; and Boba Fett,
a man in a weapon-covered armored space suit.
VADER: ...there will be a substantial reward for the one who finds
the Millennium Falcon. You are free to use any methods necessary, but
I want them alive. No disintegrations.
BOBA FETT: As you wish.
At that moment, Admiral Piett approaches Vader in a rush of
excitement.
PIETT: Lord Vader! My lord, we have them.
EXTERIOR: IMPERIAL STAR DESTROYER, AVENGER -- ASTEROID BELT
The Millennium Falcon speeds through deep space, closely
followed by a firing Imperial Star Destroyer. A large asteroid
about the same size as the Falcon tumbles rapidly toward the
starship. The tiny Falcon banks to avoid the giant asteroid as
smaller rocks pelt its surface. Then the small craft roars
under the asteroid which explodes harmlessly on the hull of
the vast Star Destroyer.
INTERIOR: MILLENNIUM FALCON -- COCKPIT
The ship shudders as flak explodes near the cockpit window.
Threepio checks a tracking scope an the side control panel
while Leia watches tensely out the window.
THREEPIO: Oh, thank goodness we're coming out of the asteroid field.
Chewie barks excitedly as the rain of asteroids begins to
subside. A bolt from the Star Destroyer sets up a fiery
explosion on the back side of the Falcon, causing it to lurch
to one side.
EXTERIOR: MILLENNIUM FALCON -- STAR DESTROYER, AVENGER -- ASTEROID
FIELD
The Falcon is hit hard by another bolt from the Star
Destroyer which creates a huge explosion near the cockpit of
the smaller ship. The Falcon tilts steeply, then rights
itself.
INTERIOR: MILLENNIUM FALCON -- COCKPIT
Han corrects the angle of his ship.
HAN: Let's get out of here. Ready for light-speed? One...two...three!
Han pulls back on the hyperspace throttle and -- nothing
happens. Flak bursts continue to rock the ship.
HAN: (frantic) It's not fair!
Chewie is very angry and starts to growl and bark at his
friend and captain. Again, Han desperately pulls back on the
throttle.
HAN: The transfer circuits are working. It's not my fault!
Chewie puts his head in his hands, whining.
LEIA: (almost expecting it) No light-speed?
HAN: It's not my fault.
THREEPIO: Sir, we just lost the main rear deflector shield. One more
direct hit on the back quarter and we're done for.
Han pauses for a moment, makes a decision, and pulls back
on a lever.
HAN: Turn her around.
Chewie barks in puzzlement.
HAN: I said turn her around! I'm going to put all power in the front
shield.
LEIA: You're going to attack them?!
THREEPIO: Sir, the odds of surviving a direct assault on an Imperial
Star Destroyer...
LEIA: Shut up!
EXTERIOR: SPACE -- MILLENNIUM FALCON -- ASTEROID FIELD
The Falcon banks, makes a steep, twisting turn. In the
next moment it is racing toward the Star Destroyer, looking
very small against the massive surface of the Imperial ship.
As it moves across the surface of the Star Destroyer, the
Falcon bobs and weaves to avoid the numerous flak bursts.
INTERIOR: STAR DESTROYER, AVENGER -- BRIDGE
The tiny Falcon heads directly for the Avenger's bridge.
The Imperials stationed there are stunned to see the small
spaceship racing low across the hull, headed directly at the
huge windows of the bridge area. Alarms go off everywhere. The
Destroyer's commander, Captain Needa, can scarcely believe his
eyes.
NEEDA: They're moving to attack position. Shields up!
Needa and his men duck as the Falcon nears the bridge
window. At the last minute, the Falcon veers off and out of
sight. All is quiet.
NEEDA: Track them,. They may come around for another pass.
TRACKING OFFICER: Captain Needa, the ship no longer appears on our
scopes.
NEEDA: They can't have disappeared. No ship that small has a cloaking
device.
TRACKING OFFICER: Well, there's no trace of them, sir.
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER: Captain, Lord Vader demands an update on the
pursuit.
NEEDA: (drawing a breath) Get a shuttle ready. I shall assume full
responsibility for losing them, and apologize to Lord Vader.
Meanwhile, continue to scan the area.
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER: Yes, Captain Needa.
EXTERIOR: DAGOBAH -- BOG -- DAY
Luke's face is upside-down and showing enormous strain. He
stands on his hands, with Yoda perched on his feet. Opposite
Luke and Yoda are two rocks the size of bowling balls. Luke
stares at the rocks and concentrates. One of the rocks lifts
from the ground and floats up to rest on the other.
YODA: Use the Force. Yes...
Yoda taps Luke's leg. Quickly, Luke lifts one hand from the
ground. His body wavers, but he maintains his balance. Artoo,
standing nearby, is whistling and beeping frantically.
YODA: Now...the stone. Feel it.
Luke concentrates on trying to lift the top rock. It rises
a few feet, shaking under the strain. But, distracted by
Artoo's frantic beeping, Luke loses his balance and finally
collapses. Yoda jumps clear.
YODA: Concentrate!
Annoyed at the disturbance, Luke looks over at Artoo, who
is rocking urgently back and forth in front of him.
Artoo waddles closer to Luke, chirping wildly, then scoots
over the edge of the swamp. Catching on, Luke rushes to the
water's edge. The X-wing fighter has sunk, and only the tip of
its nose shows above the lake's surface.
LUKE: Oh, no. We'll never get it out now.
Yoda stamps his foot in irritation.
YODA: So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you
nothing that I say?
Luke looks uncertainly out at the ship.
LUKE: Master, moving stones around is one thing. This is totally
different.
YODA: No! No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn
what you have learned.
LUKE: (focusing, quietly) All right, I'll give it a try.
YODA: No! Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.
Luke closes his eyes and concentrates on thinking the ship
out.
Slowly, the X-wing's nose begins to rise above the water.
It hovers for a moment and then slides back, disappearing once
again.
LUKE: (panting heavily) I can't. It's too big.
YODA: Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hm?
Mmmm.
Luke shakes his head.
YODA: And well you should not. For my ally in the Force. And a
powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. It's energy
surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we...(Yoda pinches
Luke's shoulder)...not this crude matter. (a sweeping gesture) You must
feel the Force around you. (gesturing) Here, between you...me...the
tree...the rock...everywhere! Yes, even between this land and that
ship!
LUKE: (discouraged) You want the impossible.
Quietly Yoda turns toward the X-wing fighter. With his eyes
closed and his head bowed, he raises his arm and points at the
ship.
Soon, the fighter rises above the water and moves forward
as Artoo beeps in terror and scoots away.
The entire X-wing moves majestically, surely, toward the
shore. Yoda stands on a tree root and guides the fighter
carefully down toward the beach.
Luke stares in astonishment as the fighter settles down
onto the shore. He walks toward Yoda.
LUKE: I don't...I don't believe it.
YODA: That is why you fail.
Luke shakes his head, bewildered.
EXTERIOR: SPACE -- IMPERIAL FLEET
The fleet around Vader's Star Destroyer now includes
Needa's Star Destroyer, the Avenger.
INTERIOR: VADER'S STAR DESTROYER -- BRIDGE
VADER: Apology accepted, Captain Needa.
Clutching desperately at his throat, Captain Needa slumps
down, then falls over on his back, at the feet of Darth Vader.
Two stormtroopers pick up the lifeless body and carry it
quickly away as Admiral Piett and two of his captains hurry up
to the Dark Lord.
PIETT: Lord Vader, our ships have completed their scan of the area and
found nothing. If the Millennium Falcon went into light-speed, it'll
be on the other side of the galaxy by now.
VADER: Alert all commands. Calculate every possible destination along
their last know trajectory.
PIETT: Yes, my lord. We'll find them.
VADER: Don't fail me again, Admiral.
Vader exits as the admiral turns to an aide, a little more
uneasy than when he arrived.
PIETT: Alert all commands. Deploy the fleet.
EXTERIOR: SPACE -- IMPERIAL FLEET
Vader's ship moves away, flanked by its fleet of smaller
ships. the Avenger glides off into space in the opposite
direction. No one on that ship or on Vader's is aware that,
clinging to the side of the Avenger, is the pirateship, the
Millennium Falcon.
INTERIOR: MILLENNIUM FALCON -- COCKPIT
THREEPIO: Captain Solo, this time you have gone too far. (Chewie
growls) No, I will not be quiet, Chewbacca. Why doesn't anyone listen
to me?
HAN: (to Chewie) The fleet is beginning to break up. Go back and stand
by the manual release for the landing claw.
Chewie barks, struggles from his seat, and climbs out of
the cabin.
THREEPIO: I really don't see how thats going to help. Surrender is a
perfectly acceptable alternative in extreme circumstances. The Empire
may be gracious enough...
Leia reaches over and shuts off Threepio, mid-sentence.
HAN: Thank you.
LEIA: What did you have in mind for your next move?
HAN: Well, if they follow standard Imperial procedure, they'll dump
their garbage before they go to light-speed, then we just float away.
LEIA: With the rest of the garbage. Then what?
HAN: Then we've got to find a safe port somewhere around here. Got any
ideas?
LEIA: No. Where are we?
HAN: The Anoat system.
LEIA: Anoat system. There's not much there.
HAN: No. Well, wait. This is interesting. Lando.
He points to a computer mapscreen on the control panel.
Leia slips out of her chair and moves next to the handsome
pilot. Small light points representing several systems flash
by on the computer screen.
LEIA: Lando system?
HAN: Lando's not a system, he's a man. Lando Calrissian. He's a card
player, gambler, scoundrel. You'd like him.
LEIA: Thanks.
HAN: Bespin. It's pretty far, but I think we can make it.
LEIA: (reading from the computer) A mining colony?
HAN: Yeah, a Tibanna gas mine. Lando conned somebody out of it. We go
back a long way, Lando and me.
LEIA: Can you trust him?
HAN: No. But he has no love for the Empire, I can tell you that.
Chewie barks over the intercom. Han quickly changes his
readouts and stretches to look out the cockpit window.
HAN: (into intercom) Here we go, Chewie. Stand by. Detach!
Han leans back in his chair and gives Leia an invisible
smile. She thinks for a moment, shakes her head; a grin creeps
across her face and she gives him a quick kiss.
LEIA: You do have your moments. Not many, but you have them.
EXTERIOR: SPACE -- IMPERIAL STAR DESTROYER
As the Avenger Star Destroyer moves slowly into space, the
hatch on its underbelly opens, sending a trail of junk behind
it. Hidden among the refuse, the Falcon tumbles away. In the
next moment, the Avenger roars off into hyperspace. The
Falcon's engines are ignited, and it races off into the
distance. Amidst the slowly drifting junk, Boba Fett's ship
appears and moves after the Falcon.
EXTERIOR: DAGOBAH -- BOG -- CLEARING -- DAY
In the clearing behind Yoda's house, Luke again stands
upside-down, but his face shows less strain and more
concentration than before. Yoda sits on the ground below the
young warrior. On the other side of the clearing, two
equipment cases slowly rise into the air. Nearby Artoo
watches, humming to himself, when suddenly he, too, rises into
the air. His little legs kick desperately and his head turns
frantically, looking for help.
YODA: Concentrate...feel the Force flow. Yes. Good. Calm, yes. Through
the Force, things you will see. Other places. The future...the past.
Old friends long gone.
Luke suddenly becomes distressed.
LUKE: Han! Leia!
The two packing boxes and Artoo fall to the ground with a
crash, then Luke himself tumbles over.
YODA: (shaking his head) Hmm. Control, control. You must learn control.
LUKE: I saw...I saw a city in the clouds.
YODA: Mmm. Friends you have there.
LUKE: They were in pain.
YODA: It is the future you see.
LUKE: Future? Will they die?
Yoda closes his eyes and lowers his head.
YODA: Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.
LUKE: I've got to go to them.
YODA: Decide you must how to serve them best. If you leave now, help
them you could. But you would destroy all for which they have fought
and suffered.
Luke is stopped cold by Yoda's words. Gloom shrouds him as
he nods his head sadly.
EXTERIOR: BESPIN SYSTEM -- MILLENNIUM FALCON -- DAWN
The powerful pirate starship blasts through space as it
