Revenge of the Sith: Illustrated Screenplay: Star Wars: Episode III (4 page)

ANAKIN regains his composure and attacks COUNT DOOKU as the Dark Lord continues his spin to meet him head on. Their fighting becomes even more intense.

ANAKIN attacks COUNT DOOKU with a new ferociousness.

39 (26) INT. GENERAL’S QUARTERS—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

Anakin and Dooku continue their fight. It is intense! Finally, in one last energized charge, ANAKIN cuts off COUNT DOOKU’s hands. The Jedi catches the lightsaber as it drops from the severed Sith Lord’s hand. COUNT DOOKU stumbles to the floor as ANAKIN puts the two lightsabers to his neck. PALPATINE is grinning as he watches COUNT DOOKU’s defeat.

P
ALPATINE:
Good, Anakin, good. I knew you could do it. Kill him. Kill him now!

A
NAKIN:
I shouldn’t . . .

P
ALPATINE:
Do it!!

ANAKIN cuts off COUNT DOOKU’s head. A huge EXPLOSION somewhere deep in the ship rattles everything.

A
NAKIN:
. . . I couldn’t stop myself.

P
ALPATINE:
You did well, Anakin. He was too dangerous to be kept alive.

ANAKIN drops COUNT DOOKU’s lightsaber, moving to PALPATINE.

A
NAKIN:
Yes, but he was an unarmed prisoner.

ANAKIN raises his hands toward PALPATINE, who is strapped in the Admiral’s Chair. The Chancellor’s restraints pop loose.

A
NAKIN:
(continuing
) I shouldn’t have done that, Chancellor. It’s not the Jedi way.

PALPATINE stands up, rubbing his wrists.

P
ALPATINE:
It is only natural. He cut off your arm, and you wanted revenge. It wasn’t the first time, Anakin. Remember what you told me about your mother and the Sand People. Now, we must leave before more security droids arrive.

The ship begins to list to one side. ANAKIN rushes over to OBI-WAN, lifts the control console from on top of him, and pulls him free. He kneels down and checks out his unconscious friend.

PALPATINE heads for the elevators.

P
ALPATINE:
(continuing
) Anakin, there is no time. We must get off the ship before it’s too late.

A
NAKIN:
He seems to be all right. No broken bones, breathing’s all right.

P
ALPATINE:
Leave him, or we’ll never make it.

A
NAKIN:
His fate will be the same as ours.

ANAKIN picks up OBI-WAN, slings him over his shoulder, and heads for the elevators.

40 INT. BRIDGE—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

G
ENERAL
G
RIEVOUS:
Prepare for attack.

P
ILOT:
All batteries fire! Fire!

41 INT. BATTLESTATIONS—REPUBLIC CRUISER

Clone gunners fire on the Trade Federation cruiser and take fire in return. Gun emplacements are destroyed. Clone troopers go flying.

42 INT. ELEVATOR LOBBY—GENERAL’S QUARTERS—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

ANAKIN carries OBI-WAN to the elevator doors and hits the button. PALPATINE joins him.

A
NAKIN:
The elevator’s not working.
(into his comlink
) Artoo . . .

ARTOO BEEPS a response to ANAKIN.

A
NAKIN:
(continuing
) . . . Activate Elevator 3224.

Suddenly the ship shifts to its side as the elevator doors open. PALPATINE is thrown to the ground. ANAKIN jumps to the door frame of the elevator. ANAKIN looks into the elevator shaft.

A
NAKIN:
(continuing
) Artoo . . . do you copy? Artoo, come in!

43 INT. BRIDGE—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

Windows are blown out, droids and equipment are sucked into space.

P
ILOT:
Reverse stabilizers.

44 INT. MAIN HANGAR—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

As the ship rolls, spacecraft and equipment CRASH from one side of the ship to the other.

Several objects break through the metal blast doors, causing objects to be sucked into space. ARTOO starts to slide toward one of the small holes.

45 INT. ELEVATOR LOBBY—GENERAL’S QUARTERS—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

As the elevator shaft rotates, it has become a long hallway. ANAKIN clings to the door frame with OBI-WAN on his shoulder, as the Chancellor struggles to join him.

46 INT. MAIN HANGAR—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

ARTOO continues to skid and slide toward open space. He swerves around boxes and wrecked fighters. One of the BATTLE DROIDS stumbles and is consumed by the electronic shield in a zap.

ARTOO BEEPS a reply as he dodges the laser blasts of the BATTLE DROIDS. One bolt hits very near him, and he SCREAMS in terror.

47 INT. BRIDGE—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

P
ILOT:
Magnetize! Magnetize!

48 INT. MAIN HANGAR—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

ARTOO is about to be overtaken by a starfighter sliding behind him. He falls into a heap of broken battle droid parts and the fighter bounces over him.

49 EXT. SPACE—CORUSCANT

The TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER heads straight down toward the planet.

50 INT. ELEVATOR LOBBY—GENERAL’S QUARTERS—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

ANAKIN jumps into the horizontal elevator shaft with OBI-WAN still on his shoulder.

A
NAKIN:
We can’t wait. Come on, we have to be fast.

PALPATINE climbs into the elevator shaft also. They start running. The ship begins to roll again, and the Jedi and the Chancellor are forced to jump from one side of the elevator to the other.

51 INT. BRIDGE—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

G
ENERAL
G
RIEVOUS:
Fire the emergency booster engines.

P
ILOT:
Leveling out, sir.

52 INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT ON SIDE—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

ANAKIN, still carrying OBI-WAN on his back, and PALPATINE run down the elevator shaft as it starts to move upright. ANAKIN cuts a control box on one of the doors, but before the doors can open, the ship moves to an angle, causing ANAKIN and PALPATINE to start sliding down the shaft. ANAKIN grabs some wires in the control box with one hand. PALPATINE grabs onto the Jedi’s leg.

As the ship rights itself, they are left hanging in the bottomless elevator shaft.

53 INT. ELEVATOR SHAFT, VERTICAL—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

ANAKIN, OBI-WAN, and PALPATINE hang precariously on the side of the bottomless elevator shaft. OBI-WAN regains consciousness and tries to look around.

A
NAKIN:
Easy. . . . We’re in a bit of a situation.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Did I miss something?

OBI-WAN looks down and sees PALPATINE and the bottomless pit.

They hear ARTOO BEEPING on Obi-Wan’s comlink. The ship begins to roll, causing the vertical shaft to move into a forty-five-degree angle. They hear the elevator brakes release and look up to see the elevator heading toward them.

A
NAKIN:
Hold on.

O
BI-
W
AN:
What is that?

OBI-WAN and ANAKIN look up to watch the elevator approach them at high speed, then OBI-WAN turns to ANAKIN.

O
BI-
W
AN:
(continuing
) Oops.

A
NAKIN:
Artoo, Artoo, shut down the elevator!

O
BI-
W
AN:
Too late! Jump!

They fall about three hundred feet before the tilt of the ship catches up with them, and they hit the side of the shaft and slide at great speed just ahead of the elevator. The shaft continues to rotate until it is completely horizontal.

ANAKIN and OBI-WAN take out and throw grappling hooks. The hooks catch and they continue to fall. All the doors in the elevator shaft open up, and the group swings through the open door into a hallway. The elevator roars by.

54 INT. ELEVATOR LOBBY—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

ANAKIN, OBI-WAN, and PALPATINE fly through the elevator door and land.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Let’s see if we can find something in the hangar bay that’s still flyable. Come on.

A
NAKIN:
Artoo, get down here. Artoo, do you copy?

55 INT. MAIN HANGAR—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

As the Federation Cruiser continues to rotate, ARTOO SQUEALS and pokes a periscope out of a pile of broken BATTLE DROID PARTS. He looks around then rockets up out of the debris.

56 INT. HALLWAY TO HANGAR BAY—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

OBI-WAN and ANAKIN lead PALPATINE down a hallway toward the hangar bay.

57 INT. DOORWAY TO HANGAR BAY—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

It is extremely windy as bits and pieces are continually sucked into space. The hangar bay doors are closed, but great stresses are being exerted as the ship twists, re-entering the atmosphere of Coruscant. They stop in a doorway leading into the hangar bay.

O
BI-
W
AN:
None of those ships will get us anywhere.

A
NAKIN:
I agree.

P
ALPATINE:
What are we going to do?

A
NAKIN:
I don’t know.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Don’t look at me, I don’t know.

ANAKIN and PALPATINE both look to OBI-WAN. He shrugs his shoulders. Anakin’s Fighter has been sucked out of the hangar bay and is totaled. Suddenly, the ship turns on its side.

A
NAKIN:
Here, Chancellor, lock this around your waist, and hold on.

O
BI-
W
AN:
We’ll head toward the bridge and see if we can find an escape pod.

ANAKIN hands PALPATINE the end of a cable that is attached to his utility belt. PALPATINE attaches it around his waist. ANAKIN and OBI-WAN throw their utility cables to some pipes in the ceiling and swing to a second set of pipes.

58 INT. MAIN HANGAR—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

OBI-WAN grabs onto the pipes that run along what was the ceiling and is now the wall. As he moves out into the hangar, TWO SUPER BATTLE DROIDS start firing at him. The Jedi ignites his lightsaber and deflects the bolts back at the DROIDS, blowing them up.

ANAKIN and PALPATINE follow OBI-WAN along the pipes running along the ceiling of the hangar. PALPATINE struggles against the escaping air of the pressurized hangar. PALPATINE loses his grip as a pipe breaks, causing a rush of steam, but ANAKIN manages to maintain his grasp on the pipe as the CHANCELLOR dangles on the other end of the utility cable. They are surrounded by SPARKS and EXPLOSIONS as the ship twists and tries to break apart. ANAKIN moves out of the steam and struggles to pull PALPATINE back to safety. ANAKIN is almost pulled loose in the buffeting winds.

The ceiling behind them buckles, causing pipes to break, creating geysers of steam. Some bits of pipe go hurling into the blast doors and out into space. They make it through a hangar doorway and close it behind them.

59 INT. HANGAR DOORWAY—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

OBI-WAN, ANAKIN, and PALPATINE are out of breath.

A
NAKIN/
O
BI-
W
AN:
Well, that was close.

They laugh.

60 INT. BRIDGE—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

B
ODYGUARD:
General, we found the Jedi. They’re in hallway 328.

G
ENERAL
G
RIEVOUS:
Activate ray shields.

61 (42) INT. HALLWAY—TRADE FEDERATION CRUISER

They run down the hallway. Suddenly, ray shields drop around them, putting them in an electronic box in the middle of the hallway.

A
NAKIN:
Ray shields!

OBI-WAN takes a deep breath to express his total disappointment.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Wait a minute, how’d this happen! We’re smarter than this.

A
NAKIN:
Apparently not, Master. This is the oldest trap in the book . . . Well . . . I was distracted.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Oh, so all of a sudden it’s my fault.

A
NAKIN:
You’re the Master, I’m just a hero.

O
BI-
W
AN:
I’m open to suggestions here.

P
ALPATINE:
Why don’t we let them take us to General Grievous. Perhaps with Count Dooku’s demise, we can negotiate our release.

The Jedi look at each other in disbelief.

A
NAKIN:
I say . . . patience.

O
BI-
W
AN:
Patience! That’s your plan, is it?

A
NAKIN:
Yes, Artoo will be along in a few moments and he’ll release the ray shields . . .

ARTOO comes skidding across the hallway and bashes into the opposite wall. He takes a moment to compose himself.

A
NAKIN:
(continuing
) See! No problem.

Suddenly several doorways open, revealing TWO DESTROYER DROIDS. SIXTEEN SUPER BATTLE DROIDS emerge from behind the DESTROYER DROIDS.