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 Yo u'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.
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.
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 F orce 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
heads toward the soft pink planet of Bespin.
EXTERIOR BESPIN SURFACE -- MILLENNIUM FALCON
It is down on the gaseous planet. Huge billowing clouds
form a canyon as the ship banks around them, heading toward
the system's Cloud City.
Suddenly, two twin-pod cloud cars appear and move toward
the Falcon. The cloud cars draw up alongside the starship.
INTERIOR MILLENNIUM FALCON -- COCKPIT
One of the cloud cars opens fire on the Falcon, its flak
rocking the ship. Chewie barks his concern.
HAN (into transmitter) No, I don't have a landing permit. I'm trying
to reach Lando Calrissian.
More flak bursts outside the cockpit window and rattles the
ship's interior. Leia looks worried.
HAN (into transmitter) Whoa! Wait a minute! Let me explain.
INTERCOM VOICE You will not deviate from your present course.
THREEPIO Rather touchy, aren't they?
LEIA I thought you knew this person.
Chewie barks and growls at his boss.
HAN (to Chewie) Well, that was a long time ago. I'm sure he's
forgotten about that.
INTERCOM VOICE Permission granted to land on Platform
Three-two-seven.
HAN (into transmitter) Thank you.
Angry, Han snaps off the intercom. Chewie looks at him and
grunts. Han turns to the worried princess and her droid.
HAN There's nothing to worry about. We go way back, Lando and me.
Leia doesn't look convinced.
LEIA Who's worried?
EXTERIOR CLOUD CITY -- MILLENNIUM FALCON -- CLOUD CARS
The clouds part to reveal a full view of the city as it
bobs in and out of the cloud surface. The cloud cars and the
Falcon head for the gleaming white metropolis.
EXTERIOR CLOUD CITY -- LANDING PLATFORM -- MILLENNIUM FALCON
With the cloud cars still guarding it, the Falcon lands on
one of the Cloud City's platforms.
EXTERIOR LANDING PLATFORM -- DOOR OF MILLENNIUM FALCON
Han and Leia stand at the open door, armed. Behind them,
Chewie, also armed, surveys the scene warily.
&
nbsp; THREEPIO Oh. No one to meet us.
LEIA I don't like this.
HAN Well, what would you like?
THREEPIO Well, they did let us land.
HAN Look, don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. Trust me.
INTERIOR CLOUD CITY -- CORRIDOR -- DAY
Lando Calrissian, a suave, dashing black man in his
thirties, leads a group of aides and some Cloud City guard
rapidly toward the landing platform. The group, like the other
citizens of the city, is a motley collection of aliens,
droids, and humans of all descriptions. Lando has a grim