William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back (12 page)

I know now thou dost ask th’impossible.

[Luke sits aside, as Yoda lifts his hands.

[
aside:
] Be mindful, young one,

And watch what inner strength great

May come from small size.

[Yoda moves the ship out of the swamp using the Force.

The ship! It cometh out—thou hast done it!

I ne’er imagin’d it was possible.

With eyes I see, but mind does not believe.

Thus is your error.

Against the Force you do rail;

That is why you fail.

[Exeunt.

With such deep wit Han hath the Empire trick’d

That now the Falcon hides within its fleet!

With skill he doth the Empire’s moves predict,

And bravely plans to make his move discreet.

[Exit.

I tell thee, Captain Solo, thou hast gone

Beyond all measure with this reckless move.

Thou hast put all aboard in danger grave,

And yet thou seem’st to have but little care.

Auugh!

—Nay, I’ll not be silent! Wherefore am

I never listen’d to?

—The fleet doth break

Itself up into pieces. [
To Chewbacca:
] Go thee now,

Chewbacca; stand aside the manual

Release to liberate the landing claw.

Egh.

[Exit Chewbacca.

—Truly, I see not how that shall help.

Surrender is, in circumstances such

As these, a fair alternative. Perhaps

The Empire may yet reasonable be.

[Leia turns off C-3PO.

Great thanks I give thee for the gift of peace.

Brave soul, what dost thou think thou next shalt do?

Before these ships do from the fleet release,

They should their garbage dump ere they pursue

A jump to lightspeed. Then we’ll float away.

Thy ship with all the garbage, eh? Well said.

And what then?

—We shall haply find our way

Unto a port where safety makes its bed.

Pray, dost thou know of any port like such?

Mayhap I might, if I knew where we were.

Anoat system, but doth that help much?

O, the Anoat system? I aver:

’Tis bleak.

—But hark! An interesting name

My ship’s computer showeth: Lando!

—Han?

What Lando system?

—“System,” you exclaim?

He is not system: Lando is a man.

As Lando of Calrissian he’s known.

The man doth deal in cards, in gambling and

In scoundreling—thou wouldst his type condone.

[
aside:
] He jests with me as one in love’s command!

He is in Bespin—rather far, but we

May make it there.

[
reading from screen:
]—A colony? A mine?

Tibanna gas mine—I would wager he

Hath ta’en the mine that someone did call “mine.”

This Lando hath a hist’ry long with me.

But dost thou trust him?

—Nay, thou’rt right. But I

Believe we have no need of fear, for he

No love doth harbor for the Empire, aye.

[The ship shakes.

[
Into comlink:
] Prepare now, Chewie, ’tis the time. Detach!

[The
Millennium Falcon
detaches from the Star Destroyer.

Thou hast these moments that are unsurpass’d—

Aye, when thou hast them, they are without match.

Not numerous are they, but aye: thou hast.

[Leia kisses Han and exits with C-3PO.

’Tis said that sometimes those who knew us in

Our youth did know us best. From them we have

No secrets and cannot pretend to be

Another thing than what we are. They keep

Our living honest, for they know who we

Have been. And such a man is Lando. He

And I have known each other many years,

So he doth know me from my smuggling past,

The days when I did gamble, cheat, and fight—

And often in that order, too. He knew

Me ere I was with the Rebellion join’d,

And knoweth what Han Solo once hath been.

Thus is he prim’d uniquely to give aid

Unto a friend who now hath found a cause:

A cause to join, a cause e’en to defend.

O Lando, all our hopes are pinn’d on thee.

What shall it be, old friend? I here take all

I have—my ship, my mates, my one true love—

And stake it all on thee and on our past.

How shalt thou answer, O Calrissian?

Will this, my wager, prove a foolish bet?

How shall the deck unfold, the players end?

And is the dealing in my favor stack’d?

The playing of the game is yet to be,

But Lando: I do seek to win with thee.

[Exit.

A smuggler’s ways are e’er unchanging and

predictable. Thou hast let the
Millennium Falcon

go out with the refuse, Solo, but I refuse to let

thee play a jade’s trick and go thy merry way.

Thy course shall I pursue, and e’en best, for my

ship is swift of flight unlike thy tir’d and agèd

Falcon
. To the last I’ll grapple with thee, and

in the heart of Bespin make thee cold with fright.

The Fett doth promise it, and it shall be.

[Exit Boba Fett.

Now, concentrate, Luke.

Feel the Force, how it doth flow.

Be calm, at peace, yes.

When you use the Force,

The Force, in your soul, begins

New paths to open.

Through the Force, your mind

Shall see future things, things past.

Friends nearer and yon.

Alas, my mind doth see—’tis Leia, Han!

[Everything drops as Luke’s concentration breaks.

Nay, be in control!

Thou must, beyond all else, Luke,

Have control entire.

O vision most horrendous and most drear.

A city in the clouds most beautiful,

Beneath a golden sun—as though ’twere heav’n.

But hidden just beneath its luster doth

A harsh and painful nightmare lurk. I saw,

Beneath a sky of orange hues array’d,

Dear Leia weeping at some cruel, dark thing—

She will not be consol’d from her great loss.

And Han, his screams do echo in mine ears,

Such cries of suffering I ne’er have heard.

What signs are these, what ghosts of future hurt?

What doth the Force attempt to show to me?

O tell me, Master, tell me plain, I pray:

Shall Han and Leia die, is that their fate?

A future sight, this.

Hard to see is the future—

’Tis e’er in motion.

I understand ’tis hard for thee to see,

But harder yet the vision echoes in

My head, and reaches deep within my soul.

If thou canst not give reassurance they

Are safe, and shall be safe, ’tis I who must

Ensure the same. I will not idly stand

By whilst they suffer many agonies.

My mind is settl’d: I must thither go.

Decide thou must, how

Thou shalt truly serve them best.

Mayhap you may help.

But also shalt thou

Sacrifice all for which they

Shall fight and suffer.

But Master, tell me what then I should do?

Wouldst thou allow thy friends to suffer thus?

Wouldst thou accept the future’s “hard to see”?

Wouldst thou ignore the screams within thy brain?

[
aside:
] The boy doth not hear—

His friends’ fates I cannot see,

But his looketh bleak.

Convince him I must,

Else he shall suffer greatly

And lost is our hope.

[
To Luke:
] Go not, I prithee.

The training must thou complete.

To my words listen!

The vision shall not, will not, leave my head.

E’en now I witness Leia in her torment,

And Han, alone, as if upon some isle.

E’en brave Chewbacca cries for what is lost—

These signs can only equal tragedy.

They are my friends, and I must fly with haste.

Or else, I’ll warrant, all of them may die.