of redemption’s touch.
So let it be, my noble comrades all:
Fight now for the Rebellion, fight for all
Who dwell within our galaxy, and fight
Most ardently, indeed, for your own souls.
Thus shall we raise those who by Empire’s might
Have died, and forth from their celestial graves
Shall they ascend and with a rebel’s voice
Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war!
WEDGE
Well spoken! I fly in for rebels’ gain!
NIEN
N’tiya tih.
LANDO
—We fly with thee, good Wedge:
Inside the station, t’ward the centermost.
TIE fighters follow us adroitly in—
Mark well how they do come behind anon.
We must outrun them e’en as we approach
The place where we shall strike the Death Star’s core.
WEDGE
Form up, good lads, and stay alert. We could
Within this tiny shaft lose space with haste.
LANDO
This passage is a narrow path indeed.
If we can but maneuver cunningly,
We shall escape the Death Star with our lives
And, what is more, our hop’d-for victory.
I prithee, pilots all, attend my words:
Lock all thy weapons to the largest source
Of power, which should be the generator.
[An Imperial pilot strikes Rebel Pilot #1.
PILOT 1
Alas, friends, I am hit, and go to die!
[Rebel Pilot 1 dies.
LANDO
I would not even one more pilot lose
Who under my command doth fly herein.
Pay heed, all: separate by diff’rent paths
And fly toward the surface. See if you
Can draw a few TIE fighters thither, too.
This is the surest hope for our success
Against the Death Star and its minions.
PILOT 2
—Aye,
Thou speakest well, Gold Leader. We’ll obey.
[The rebels inside the Death Star separate. Some exit, pursued by Imperial troops, leaving only Lando, Nien Nunb, and Wedge Antilles inside the shaft.
NIEN
Ah!
[The
Millennium Falcon
scrapes the wall of the Death Star shaft.
LANDO
—Pardon, Han, I did say not a scratch,
But did, in this tense moment, break that vow.
Yet thou and I both know it could be worse—
Our
Falcon
hath known scrapes in times now past.
Still, that last brush was far too close; so shall
I try to take more care with borrow’d wings.
ACKBAR
Our fighters must be given yet more time.
This victory is here, within our reach.
Thus, concentrate thy pow’r unto the main,
And give the Empire much o’er which to fret.
Within a fiery blaze of weaponry
Let us the Super Star Destroyer wrap.
[The rebels outside the Death Star fire on the Super Star Destroyer. Admiral Piett and the Imperial controller are shaken.
CONTROL.
Alas, Sir, our deflector shield is lost!
PIETT
Intensify the forward batteries.
Let nothing break the bounds. Intensify,
As well, the forward firing power.
CONTROL.
—Nay!
Too late it is. We die, Sir—O, we die!
[The Super Star Destroyer runs into the Death Star, and Admiral Piett and the Imperial controller are killed.
Enter
L UKE S KYWALKER
and
D ARTH V ADER
on
balcony, inside the Death Star.
VADER
O Luke, I prithee: render thy support
And help me take this mask off.
LUKE
—If I do,
Dear father, thou shalt surely meet thy death.
VADER
Aye. Naught shall stop that now, my son. Just once
Let me look on thee with mine own eyes, Luke—
These eyes that miss’d your mewling newborn face,
These eyes that did not see your budding youth,
These eyes that were not there to see you grow,
These eyes that saw thee not when thou wert train’d.
I prithee, let these eyes see thee at last.
’Twill be a fitting prelude to my death.
LUKE
My father, thou dost break my heart in twain.
Behold, for thou shalt see thy son, indeed.
[Luke Skywalker removes Darth Vader’s mask to reveal Anakin Skywalker.
ANAKIN
My misting eyes are nothing like my son’s—
Thou art so beautiful to me. How strong
Thy features, with thy mother’s gentle face.
A man thou art, and ev’ry part my son.
I never have been prouder, all my life.
These final moments are pure gift. Now go,
And take thy leave ere this place is destroy’d.
LUKE
But nay, thou
So let it be, my noble comrades all:
Fight now for the Rebellion, fight for all
Who dwell within our galaxy, and fight
Most ardently, indeed, for your own souls.
Thus shall we raise those who by Empire’s might
Have died, and forth from their celestial graves
Shall they ascend and with a rebel’s voice
Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war!
WEDGE
Well spoken! I fly in for rebels’ gain!
NIEN
N’tiya tih.
LANDO
—We fly with thee, good Wedge:
Inside the station, t’ward the centermost.
TIE fighters follow us adroitly in—
Mark well how they do come behind anon.
We must outrun them e’en as we approach
The place where we shall strike the Death Star’s core.
WEDGE
Form up, good lads, and stay alert. We could
Within this tiny shaft lose space with haste.
LANDO
This passage is a narrow path indeed.
If we can but maneuver cunningly,
We shall escape the Death Star with our lives
And, what is more, our hop’d-for victory.
I prithee, pilots all, attend my words:
Lock all thy weapons to the largest source
Of power, which should be the generator.
[An Imperial pilot strikes Rebel Pilot #1.
PILOT 1
Alas, friends, I am hit, and go to die!
[Rebel Pilot 1 dies.
LANDO
I would not even one more pilot lose
Who under my command doth fly herein.
Pay heed, all: separate by diff’rent paths
And fly toward the surface. See if you
Can draw a few TIE fighters thither, too.
This is the surest hope for our success
Against the Death Star and its minions.
PILOT 2
—Aye,
Thou speakest well, Gold Leader. We’ll obey.
[The rebels inside the Death Star separate. Some exit, pursued by Imperial troops, leaving only Lando, Nien Nunb, and Wedge Antilles inside the shaft.
NIEN
Ah!
[The
Millennium Falcon
scrapes the wall of the Death Star shaft.
LANDO
—Pardon, Han, I did say not a scratch,
But did, in this tense moment, break that vow.
Yet thou and I both know it could be worse—
Our
Falcon
hath known scrapes in times now past.
Still, that last brush was far too close; so shall
I try to take more care with borrow’d wings.
ACKBAR
Our fighters must be given yet more time.
This victory is here, within our reach.
Thus, concentrate thy pow’r unto the main,
And give the Empire much o’er which to fret.
Within a fiery blaze of weaponry
Let us the Super Star Destroyer wrap.
[The rebels outside the Death Star fire on the Super Star Destroyer. Admiral Piett and the Imperial controller are shaken.
CONTROL.
Alas, Sir, our deflector shield is lost!
PIETT
Intensify the forward batteries.
Let nothing break the bounds. Intensify,
As well, the forward firing power.
CONTROL.
—Nay!
Too late it is. We die, Sir—O, we die!
[The Super Star Destroyer runs into the Death Star, and Admiral Piett and the Imperial controller are killed.
Enter
L UKE S KYWALKER
and
D ARTH V ADER
on
balcony, inside the Death Star.
VADER
O Luke, I prithee: render thy support
And help me take this mask off.
LUKE
—If I do,
Dear father, thou shalt surely meet thy death.
VADER
Aye. Naught shall stop that now, my son. Just once
Let me look on thee with mine own eyes, Luke—
These eyes that miss’d your mewling newborn face,
These eyes that did not see your budding youth,
These eyes that were not there to see you grow,
These eyes that saw thee not when thou wert train’d.
I prithee, let these eyes see thee at last.
’Twill be a fitting prelude to my death.
LUKE
My father, thou dost break my heart in twain.
Behold, for thou shalt see thy son, indeed.
[Luke Skywalker removes Darth Vader’s mask to reveal Anakin Skywalker.
ANAKIN
My misting eyes are nothing like my son’s—
Thou art so beautiful to me. How strong
Thy features, with thy mother’s gentle face.
A man thou art, and ev’ry part my son.
I never have been prouder, all my life.
These final moments are pure gift. Now go,
And take thy leave ere this place is destroy’d.
LUKE
But nay, thou
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