Revenge of the Sith: Illustrated Screenplay: Star Wars: Episode III (5 page)

ARTOO turns and zaps one of the SUPER BATTLE DROIDS who then kicks ARTOO over.

S
UPER
B
ATTLE
D
ROID:
Don’t move, dummy. Ouch! Zap this.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Do you have a plan B?

62 (43) INT. BRIDGE—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

OBI-WAN, ANAKIN, PALPATINE, and ARTOO are captured by GENERAL GRIEVOUS. They stand before the ALIEN DROID GENERAL.

G
ENERAL
G
RIEVOUS:
Oh yes. General Kenobi, the Negotiator. We’ve been waiting for you. That wasn’t much of a rescue.

A BATTLE DROID walks to GENERAL GRIEVOUS and hands him the JEDI’S lightsabers.

O
BI-
W
AN:
That depends upon your point of view. Hah!

G
ENERAL
G
RIEVOUS:
And Anakin Skywalker . . . I was expecting someone with your reputation to be a little older.

A
NAKIN:
General Grievous . . . Supreme Commander of the Droid Armies. You’re shorter than I expected.

G
ENERAL
G
RIEVOUS:
Ahhhh, Jedi scum . . .

O
BI-
W
AN:
Anakin, try not to upset him. We have a job to do.

G
ENERAL
G
RIEVOUS:
Your lightsabers will make a fine addition to my collection.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Not this time. And this time you won’t escape.

A
NAKIN:
Artoo.

ARTOO creates a distraction by extending all his arms, shooting out electrical pulses, and bouncing around.

OBI-WAN, hands restrained with electrobonds, spins around, reaches out and, using the Force, yanks his lightsaber out of the General’s hand, ignites it, and cuts his bonds. He continues to spin around and cuts Anakin free.

G
ENERAL
G
RIEVOUS:
Crush them! Make them suffer!

ANAKIN uses the Force to yank his lightsaber out of the General’s hand.

The DROIDS that surround them begin to FIRE. OBI-WAN and ANAKIN jump into the line of fire. The bridge degenerates into chaos.

OBI-WAN and ANAKIN are locked in a pitched battle between electro staffs and laser swords with GENERAL GRIEVOUS’s TWO BODYGUARDS.

CHANCELLOR PALPATINE is taken away by two BATTLE DROIDS.

GENERAL GRIEVOUS walks around the bridge directing the BATTLE DROIDS.

G
ENERAL
G
RIEVOUS:
Stay and watch your stations.

OBI-WAN fights one of General Grievous’s BODYGUARDS. The BODYGUARD carries an electrified staff about five feet long. When the laser sword hits it, electrical bolts fly everywhere and surround the laser sword. OBI-WAN is unable to cut the staff. The Jedi gets whacked pretty good a couple of times and is knocked halfway across the bridge.

OBI-WAN pulls himself together and attacks again, cutting off the DROID BODYGUARD’s head. The DROID BODYGUARD keeps attacking. ANAKIN struggles to defend himself against the other manic DROID BODYGUARD. He cuts the DROID BODYGUARD in half.

TWO BATTLE DROIDS try to take the CHANCELLOR away. ANAKIN follows them down the hallway and cuts them down, rescuing the Chancellor.

OBI-WAN finishes off the headless BODYGUARD. It crumbles to the floor in pieces.

ALARMS SOUND as the giant spacecraft begins to list and fall out of orbit. A PILOT yells at GENERAL GRIEVOUS.

P
ILOT:
Sir, we are falling out of orbit. All aft control cells are dead.

G
ENERAL
G
RIEVOUS:
Stay on course . . . Don’t bother with them. Keep the ship in orbit.

OBI-WAN and ANAKIN destroy the remaining DROIDS. GENERAL GRIEVOUS retrieves one of the BODYGUARD’s staffs and faces OBI-WAN. ANAKIN leaps over a console and lands behind GENERAL GRIEVOUS.

G
ENERAL
G
RIEVOUS:
You lose, General Kenobi.

One of the PILOTS stands next to the General.

P
ILOT:
The ship is breaking up!

G
ENERAL
G
RIEVOUS:
We’ve run out of time.

OBI-WAN tries to get at GENERAL GRIEVOUS. ANAKIN runs at the General from the opposing side. GENERAL GRIEVOUS turns and throws his electrified staff at the window. It breaks, causing chaos as everything that is not nailed down is sucked into space.

GENERAL GRIEVOUS is the first one sucked out into space. He fires a cable from his arm that attaches to the ship. He swings in and lands firmly on the side of the ship.

OBI-WAN, ANAKIN, and PALPATINE hold on for dear life. A blast shield closes around where the window used to be.

63 INT. BRIDGE—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

OBI-WAN continues to fight the BATTLE DROIDS. The DROIDS have backed him into a corner. OBI-WAN hides behind a control panel as the DROIDS blast away at him. He jumps up and over the DROIDS, cutting most of them down before he lands. He destroys the DROIDS and joins ANAKIN.

ANAKIN and OBI-WAN cut through the rest of the DROIDS as if they were made of butter. PALPATINE stands in shock as he watches the carnage. Droid parts are flying everywhere. OBI-WAN and ANAKIN stand back to back and cut down the last of the DROIDS just as there is a huge shudder, followed by more alarms. SPARKS begin to fly outside the windows.

P
ALPATINE:
The hull is burning up!

64 EXT. HULL—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER—SPACE

GENERAL GRIEVOUS detaches his cable and crawls along the exterior hull of the Federation Cruiser, using his magnetized hands and feet. He reaches a row of escape pods and enters an airlock.

65 INT. POD BAY—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER—SPACE

GENERAL GRIEVOUS enters the escape pod bay through the hatch. The Droid General goes to a control panel and opens an escape pod.

G
ENERAL
G
RIEVOUS:
Time to abandon ship.

GENERAL GRIEVOUS pulls a row of switches, and one by one the escape pods are jettisoned.

66 INT. ESCAPE POD—SPACE

He gets in one, the hatch closes, and the escape pod blasts away from the damaged Cruiser.

67 (47) INT. BRIDGE—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

OBI-WAN and ANAKIN go over to the navigator’s chair.

A
NAKIN:
All the escape pods have been launched.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Grievous. Can you fly a cruiser like this?

A
NAKIN:
You mean, do I know how to land what’s left of this thing?

ANAKIN sits in the pilot’s chair and sees on a screen the back half of the ship break away. There is a great jolt, and the ship tilts forward.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Well?

A
NAKIN:
Under the circumstances, I’d say the ability to pilot this thing is irrelevant. Strap yourselves in.

OBI-WAN and PALPATINE strap themselves into chairs. ANAKIN struggles with the controls of the ship. The ship starts to glow, and pieces break off. ARTOO moves in on Palpatine’s controls and assists in flying the cruiser.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Steady . . . Attitude . . . eighteen degrees.

ARTOO beeps.

A
NAKIN:
Pressure rising. We’ve got to slow this wreck down. Open all hatches, extend all flaps, and drag fins.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Temp steady. Hatches open, flaps extended, drag fins . . .

A large part of the ship breaks away.

A
NAKIN:
We lost something.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Not to worry, we’re still flying half the ship.

A
NAKIN:
Now we’re really picking up speed . . . I’m going to shift a few degrees and see if I can slow us down.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Careful . . . we’re heating up—twelve thousand . . . thirteen thousand . . .

A
NAKIN:
What’s our speed?

O
BI-
W
AN:
Eight plus sixty-forty. Eight plus sixty-twenty. Eight plus sixty. Temp ten thousand, nine thousand . . . we’re in the atmosphere . . .

ANAKIN points to one of the controls. ARTOO beeps madly.

A
NAKIN:
Grab that . . . Keep us level.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Steady. Steady.

A
NAKIN:
Easy, Artoo. Hang on, this may get a little rough. We lost our heat shields.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Five thousand. Three thousand . . . two thousand. Fireships on the left and the right.

F
IRESHIP
P
ILOT:
We’ll take you in.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Copy that. Landing strip’s straight ahead.

A
NAKIN:
We’re coming in too hot.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Easy—easy.

The ship leaves a contrail as it streaks across the Coruscant skyline. PALPATINE and OBI-WAN hold on for dear life as the ship shakes and rattles toward an industrial landing platform.

68 EXT. CORUSCANT—INDUSTRIAL LANDING PLATFORM—AFTERNOON

A large landing platform in the industrial part of the city is surrounded by Emergency Fire Speeders. The smoking ship approaches as five Fireships spray it with foam. The ship finally makes a rather hard landing.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Another happy landing.

69 (48/49) EXT. CORUSCANT—SENATE OFFICE BUILDING—LANDING PLATFORM—LATE AFTERNOON

The small Jedi Shuttle carrying PALPATINE and the JEDI arrives at the landing platform. There are a DOZEN SENATORS, including BAIL ORGANA, JAR JAR BINKS, and C-3PO, waiting for them. PALPATINE, R2-D2, and ANAKIN get out. OBI-WAN and MACE stay in the doorway of the Jedi Shuttle.

A
NAKIN:
(to Obi-Wan
) Are you coming, Master?

O
BI-
W
AN:
Oh no, I’m not brave enough for politics. I have to report to the Council. Besides, someone needs to be the poster boy.

A
NAKIN:
Hold on, this whole operation was your idea. You planned it. You led the rescue operation. You have to be the one to take the bows this time.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Sorry, old friend. Let us not forget that you rescued me from the Buzz Droids. And you killed Count Dooku. And you rescued the Chancellor, carrying me unconscious on your back, and you managed to land that bucket of bolts safely . . .

A
NAKIN:
All because of your training, Master. You deserve all those speeches of your greatness.

O
BI-
W
AN:
. . . the endless speeches . . . Anakin, let’s be fair. Today, you are the hero and you deserve your glorious day with the politicians.

A
NAKIN:
All right. But you owe me . . . and not for saving your skin for the tenth time . . .

O
BI-
W
AN:
Ninth time . . . that business on Cato Nemoidia doesn’t count. I’ll see you at the briefing.

ANAKIN smiles and walks away from OBI-WAN.

The CHANCELLOR and his entourage approach MACE.