The Star Wars Page #7

Suddenly there is a huge, bright atomic flash on the horizon. A few moments

later, a thunderous shaking, followed by high winds, tumbles the older farmer

from his perch. A second flash on the opposite horizon brings another jolting

earthquake, and the younger farmer collapses, terror frozen on his face.

26. READYROOM - SPACEPORT OUTPOST - AQUILAE

Chaos. Red scramble lights are flashing. Alert horns and attack buzzers

create an unbelievable cacophony. Air warriors, with the distinctive circle

and cross medallion on their white space suits, scramble out of the low,

concrete readyroom, grabbing helmets and spacepacks as they race out of the

door.

27. ATTACK RUNWAY - SPACEPORT OUTPOST - AQUILAE

Twelve pilots and navigators dash in unison to a line of waiting two-man

starships of the destroyer class. Ground crews scurry back and forth, loading

last-minute armament, and unlocking power couplings. Pilot Leader, a rugged,

handsome boy of twenty, gives his ground crew a signal that his is okay. He

has a winning smile and a distinctive scar along the side of his face. His

crew chief pats him on the back.

CHIEF:

Knock them all the way back to Alderaan.

The canopy is closed and the powerful starship moves onto the runway. Other

crewmen say good-bye to their pilots, some grin, some kidding - all with a

great deal of hidden emotion. The din of two dozen retrorockets cuts through

the uproar, and six silver spacecraft leave the runway, and disappear into the

morning cloud cover.

28. WAR ROOM - UNDERGROUND FORTRESS - AQUILAE

The general stands before a giant display of the Aquilaean solar system.

Montross signals the general.

MONTROSS:

They're away, Sir. Six from Gordon. All other spaceports were hit. The king

hasn't arrived yet.

GENERAL:

Keep checking. Put those fighters' intercom over the P.A.

The general sits at one of the intercom panels, and puts on a headphone. A

row of monitors is before him. He turns to Montross.

GENERAL:

Where are they?

29. SPACE - AQUILAE IN ECLIPSE

The eerie, reddish-yellow planet of Aquilae slowly drifts into view from total

eclipse. A small, bright speck, orbiting the planet, sparkles in the light of

the twin suns. The six deadly Aquilaean starships settle ominously into the

foreground, moving swiftly toward the orbiting speck. As the sleek starships

move closer, the orbiting speck is revealed to be a gargantuan space fortress.

The moon-sized satellite fortress dwarfs the approaching fighters. Every few

moments, explosions create blinding flash on the planet's surface, as the

fortress bombards the planet with a fusillade of laser bolts.

30. AQUILAEAN STARSHIP - INTERIOR

Pilot Leader, in the first ship, signals to his navigator who sits in a small,

isolated glass bubble to the rear of the craft. General Skywalker is seen on

one of many monitors. A view of the space fortress is on another. The rest

are filled with various computer readouts and displays. One of the other

starships reports to Pilot Leader.

DEVIL SIX (intercom)

Look at the size of that thing! Hey, Bowman, I hope you remembered to bring

your pop gun, 'cause I think we caught us a big one this time....

PILOT LEADER:

Cut off, Devil Six....Stand by.

GENERAL (monitor)

It looks like they're still using the basic quad-tristation configuration.

Use a "ranger defense." Concentrate on breath ports and lock areas.

PILOT LEADER:

Affirmative base...Copy and transmit....Devil Two, check your rotation plates.

DEVIL TWO:

Roger, Boss. We're getting a threshold disturbance on gyro-three.

GENERAL (monitor)

Switch over, Five, cover it! ...Devil pack, generate a spread six

formation...May the force of others protect you.

PILOT:

Settle in...Devil pack, stand by. Mark five...break off. Here we go. God

save us all.

31. SPACE - AQUILAEAN STARSHIP

Fuel pods are jettisoned. The half-dozen fighters break off into a powerline

attack on the huge fortress. Multiple laserbolts streak from the starships,

creating small explosions on the complex surface of the fort.

32. INTERIOR MAIN CORRIDOR - IMPERIAL SPACE FORTRESS

The chaos of battle echoes through the vast corridors of the fortress. Walls

buckle and cave in, sucking debris and personnel into the vacuum of outer

space. Alarm sirens scream as soldiers scramble to large turbo-powered laser

gun emplacements. Sergeants yell orders through the smoke and confusion. Men

and robots of various shapes and sizes run to their battle stations.

33. WAR ROOM - UNDERGROUND FORTRESS - AQUILAE

The monitors with pictures from the starships suddenly go blank. Technicians

check channels as others in the war room silently listen to the action over

the intercom. The general remains calm, but concerned.

PILOT LEADER (intercom)

Tighten it up... Devil Two, tighten it up. Watch those towers....

DEVIL TWO (CHEWIE)

Heavy fire, Boss. Twenty-three degrees.

PILOT LEADER:

I see it. Pull in... we're picking up some interference.

DEVIL SIX:

Wow, I've never seen such fire power.

PILOT LEADER:

Pull in, Devil Two...Pull in! Chewie???!!

DEVIL TWO (CHEWIE)

I'm all right, Boss. I've got a target.

DEVIL SIX:

There is too much action, Chewie. Get out!

PILOT LEADER:

Break off, Chewie....Acknowledge. Devil Six, can you see Devil Two?

DEVIL SIX:

I've lost him. There's a very heavy fire zone on this side. My radar's

jammed.

DEVIL FIVE:

He's gone....no, wait. There he is...Fin damage, but he's all right.

A sigh of relief sweeps across the war room. The monitors flash on, then off

again.

DEVIL FOUR (intercom)

Watch your back, Boss! Watch your back!!

34. AQUILAEAN STARSHIP

The speedy little fighters dart back and forth across the soft underbelly of

the fortress, leaving a trail of destruction behind them.

PILOT LEADER:

Converge on south axis point, point three nine four. It appears accessible.

I'm going to map the surface. Devil Four, cover me!

Pilot Leader and Devil Four dive in unison through a forest of radar domes,

antennae, and gun towers. Devil Four fires into the protrusions as the two

starships criss-cross the surface of the fortress. Suddenly, a dense barrage

of laserfire erupts from a tower, catching Devil Four broadside. The

spacecraft bursts into a million flaming pieces. Pilot Leader reacts to the

loss of his wing man, but continues on his mission.

35. SUB-HALLWAY - IMPERIAL SPACE FORTRESS

Constant explosions rock the interior of the fortress. Civilians, including

women and children, scurry for safety in the panic-ridden hallways. Two

construction robots, Artwo Detwo (R2D2) and See Threepio (C3P0), are blown,

slipping and sliding across the hallway floor into some freight canisters.

Both robots are rather old and battered. Artwo is a short, (three feet) claw-

armed tri-pod. His face is a mass of computer lights, surrounding a radar

eye. Threepio is a tall, gleaming android of human proportions. He is thin,

with a totally metallic surface of an Art Deco design. The robots attempt to

get out from under the canisters, but rushing gas from a broken pipe keeps

knocking them over.

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