by Ian Doescher
SIO
This bleating must be stopp’d—outrageous ’tis!
Yet after trials four within the court
Supreme, Nute Gunray still doth wield his staff
As viceroy of the Federation. Fie!
I fear the Senate is too far afield,
All powerless this crisis to resolve.
JAMILLIA
We must, as lambs, look to the larger herd
And keep faith that our brave Republic shall
Know how to guide this situation right.
The day when we are shorn of our belief
In strong democracy, upon that day
It shall be lost to us eternally.
PADMÉ
In all mine orisons I pray that day
May never come, your noble Majesty.
JAMILLIA
Meanwhile your welfare here is paramount.
SIO
Good Master Jedi, what can you suggest
The senator’s defense to guarantee?
PADMÉ
He is no Jedi yet, but Padawan.
Methought—
ANAKIN
—A Padawan, but I may speak.
PADMÉ
Yet out of turn, remem’bring not thy place.
Methought nearby the lakes I could reside,
By country veil’d in isolation full.
There shall I be most safe—
ANAKIN
—Thy pardon, ma’am,
Yet I am charg’d with thy security.
PADMÉ
This is mine home, I know it better still—
We have come here so I may hide within.
It would be wise if thou’dst advantage take
Of all the knowledge I may bring to bear.
ANAKIN
Apologies, my lady, I misspoke.
JAMILLIA
Well then, ’tis settl’d—go upon thy way,
May Fate wind cords of safety ’round you both.
[Exeunt all but Anakin.
ANAKIN
Now have I lost my lady’s heart? Nay, nay,
E’en though I press too hard, it is not so.
Vainglorious, O Anakin, art thou,
E’er with a childlike temper, quick to rev,
Resulting in my lady’s cutting glance.
Get hence, O boyish pride, else she shall snub
Our ev’ry hope for love’s most warm embrace.
Ne’er show the petulance she just did see,
Ne’er flash the anger that doth boil within,
Arrest the beast and bring the man to bear,
Give her the love you bore your mother, Shmi.
If this may be, our hearts shall sing in sync,
Voic’d with such beauty as to make heav’n talk—
Eternal blessings in my lover’s ear.
Yet rush thou not impulsively thereto!
O, Anakin, be ever in control:
Unveil to her a gentle, caring soul,
Until she knows that you may trusted be—
Pace thou the course of love as it doth need.
[Exit.
SCENE 3.
On the planet Coruscant, in the Jedi temple.
Enter YODA, OBI-WAN KENOBI, and several PADAWAN YOUNGLINGS.
YODA
Reach out, sense the Force,
Yea: around ye always ’tis,
Use feelings ye must.
Pray younglings, attend!
A visitor hither comes:
Master Obi-Wan.
PADAWANS
Good morrow to you, Master Obi-Wan.
OBI-WAN
Receive my greeting back, ye younglings small:
O’er ev’ry challenge may you swiftly rise,
And I do wish you all a merry day.
Now pray, forgive my brief disturbance, Master.
YODA
’Tis no disturbance,
But occasion for learning.
What help may I be?
OBI-WAN
I seek a planet, which a trusted friend
Hath told me of. His words I think not false,
Yet no such system shows on th’archive’s maps.
YODA
Mmm, a planet whole
Master Obi-Wan hath lost.
Such embarrassment!
[To a youngling:] Liam, I prithee,
Draw the shades that we may see
The map diagram.
Now, your minds clear ye,
And together shall we find
This wayward planet.
[The lights dim as a map of the galaxy is projected before them.
OBI-WAN
It should be here, by his coordinates,
Yet as you plainly see, naught there is found.
Still, gravity doth work its constant pull
Upon the stars throughout the area,
All focus’d on this empty-seeming place.
YODA
Gravity’s shadow—
Yet no star and no planets
Are there to cast it.
Disappear’d they have,
Or so, at least, it seemeth.
How may’t be, younglings?
PADAWAN 1
Good Master Yoda, is it possible
That someone clear’d the archive’s memory?
YODA
Ha, ha! Forsooth, ’tis!
The minds of children amaze—
The Padawan has’t.
Once th’impossible
Hath been eliminated,
What remains is truth.
Fly hence, Obi-Wan,
Unto gravity’s center:
Your planet awaits.
Although unlikely,
The data you seek eras’d
Must be, warrant I.
OBI-WAN
Yet who might have the power to remove
This information from the archives, sir?
Methought such mischief was impossible.
YODA
This puzzle is most
Dangerous and disturbing.
Verily, ’tis true:
Only Jedi could
Remove such information,
Delete any files.
Yet who and wherefore,
This harder to answer is.
I’ll meditate on’t.
OBI-WAN
My thanks, good Master. I shall fly to see
What lies within, pull’d there by gravity.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 4.
On the planet Naboo, at the lake retreat.
Enter ANAKIN SKYWALKER and PADMÉ.
ANAKIN
This place is passing beautiful, beyond
What I had e’er imagin’d possible.
PADMÉ
I hither came when I was yet a child,
And would unto that island thither swim,
My fellow students and my friends withal.
’Twas there, within the water’s cool embrace,
I felt at home, unburthen’d by my cares.
Upon the sand we all would haply lie,
And let the sun take ev’ry drop from us.
There, with my good companions, as we lay
And nam’d the singing birds by our own whims,
I was at peace—vast peace beyond compare.
ANAKIN
For me the sand hath never been a balm—
On Tatooine we are encumber’d by
Too much of its most coarse and unkind touch.
It is an ever-present irritant,
Not like the peaceful sands of thy Naboo.
Here all is soft, like cheeks upon a babe,
And smooth as sculpted alabaster too.
[He touches her arm. They kiss.
PADMÉ
Nay, it must not be so. I prithee, go—
Forget this most impulsive incident.
ANAKIN
The fault is mine: thy pardon, pray, bestow.
In twain mine overeager heart is rent.
[Exit Ana
kin.
PADMÉ
Shall these fair shores of my sweet home Naboo
Become the setting for a tale of love?
This Anakin doth fully dote on me,
And mayhap hath since he was but a boy.
I know not how to meet his earnest love:
The Jedi’s fond attention doth confuse
The purpose of my senatorial will.
His eyes, which burrow deep within my soul,
Do shake the congress of my prudent wits
And thus disturb my nature politic.
His smile, which doth bring light past all degree,
Doth govern o’er my senses when it shines.
His spirit—vulnerable, sweet, and kind—
Doth stand before me like a man condemn’d
As though ’twere I who could his pardon grant.
In these perplexing moments doth mine heart
Quite nearly my shrewd reason overthrow,
Until I would unto a court of law
Present myself, and there with strength declare
That all my being hath election made
And nam’d him master of mine humble state.
But soft, this cannot be. I may not so
Forget myself as to be movèd by
The sweet campaigning of a lover’s kiss.
There is a season for the heart’s desires,
Which is but out of season presently.
This moment of the Senate’s urgent need
Doth hold no place for sighs of fickle love.
I am resolv’d to play the senator,
Fastidious unto th’Republic’s cause.
Though Anakin writes me a lover’s role,
Henceforth I must perform a wiser part
And let the head take office o’er the heart.
[Exit.
SCENE 5.
Tipoca City on the planet Kamino.
Enter RUMOR.
RUMOR
Unwittingly the lovers miss the mark,
Naïve whilst Rumor whispers in their ears.
Veil’d by confusion that doth lead to dark,
E’en such a one as Anakin hath fears.
Indeed, his heart is temper’d by cruel fire:
Love may come forth, but shall by him be spoil’d.
Eventu’lly, as Rumor doth conspire,
Deep in mistrust their love shall be embroil’d.
In this doth Rumor ply her merry wiles:
Suspicion in their minds e’er I foment.
Kenobi, meanwhile, searcheth on for miles,
Aye, to my puckish will shall he be bent.
Misunderstanding what it is he seeks,
In truth he shall find more than he expects.
Now hurriedly he to Kamino sneaks,
Oblivious to Rumor’s web complex.
[Exit Rumor.
Enter OBI-WAN KENOBI with the droid R4-P17.
OBI-WAN
Unto the hidden system I have come;
As Master Yoda guess’d, it doth exist.
A ship, a droid, and the coordinates
Reveal a planet that hath tried to hide.
The secret system is not empty, nay,
And gravity hath told a story true:
Mysterious Kamino doth appear.
Pray let us go, R4, and learn its tale.
My scan reveals a settlement below,
We shall make landing there, whate’er befall.
This driving rain brings tiding of some ill—
What doth this fury of the skies portend?
[The ship lands on the planet’s surface.
R4-P17
Bleep, zing?
OBI-WAN
—I pray, remain here with the ship.
[Exit R4-P17 as Obi-Wan enters the cloning facility.
Enter TAUN WE.
TAUN WE
Good Master Jedi, salutations, sir.
Our high prime minister sends his regards.
OBI-WAN
I am expected? [Aside:] ’Tis impossible!
TAUN WE
Indeed, ’tis well to meet you in our home,
Since we so long have been in touch with you.
OBI-WAN
Such wondrous mysteries I find herein!
TAUN WE
Give us but time, and you shall have yet more.
Come now, and I shall show you on your way.
They approach another chamber. Enter LAMA SU.
Our high prime minister, e’en Lama Su.
OBI-WAN
My greetings—for this welcome I give thanks.
TAUN WE
[to Lama Su:] I hope from now you shall more
better know…
OBI-WAN
My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi, sir.
LAMA SU
I trust your visit here is worth its length.
So we may then proceed with business:
All is on schedule, as it hath been plann’d.
Two hundred thousand we may give you now;
A million further we may proffer soon.
OBI-WAN
’Tis well. You make a suitable report.
LAMA SU
Our thanks deliver we in multitudes.
Let Master Sifo-Dyas be at peace:
All things run to completion in their time.
OBI-WAN
[aside:] A name far past. [To Lama Su:] Say,
Sifo-Dyas, sir?
LAMA SU
A leader of the Jedi Council, aye?
OBI-WAN
With spirit grave I must make this report:
The Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas hath
Been dead for lo this decade gone and past.
LAMA SU
More sorry I, for he would be most proud—
The army we have built for him’s immense.
OBI-WAN
An army? Did he say whom it was for?
LAMA SU
To strengthen the Republic noble’s cause.
OBI-WAN
Pray, may I see this army for myself?
’Tis wherefore I have to Kamino come.
TAUN WE
’Tis our delight, pray, let us thither go.
[Obi-Wan, Lama Su, and Taun We begin touring the clone facility.
LAMA SU
This vast clone army we have built may be
The best that we have e’er created yet.
The clones themselves can think creatively,
Thus are they unto droids superior,
Their combat training is our greatest strength.
The group you see below is five years old,
Though you shall see they older do appear—
’Tis growth acceleration makes it so.
To speed their growth is indispensable;
Thus clones may be mature in far less time
Than if we were to wait a lifetime full:
’Tis done in half the time with this technique.
The clones are utterly obedient:
They take the orders giv’n sans questioning.
Their genes have through our toil been modified
To take away the independence from
The host, the subject, the original:
The bounty hunter known as Jango Fett.
To keep him safe, he liveth here, with us.
The only thing he did of us demand—
That is, apart from his most ample pay—
’Twas to receive a clone that he could keep:
True and unalter’d, not made pliable,
The replicate exact of his own genes,
Touch’d not by an accelerated growth:
This clone he raiseth as a cherish’d son.
OBI-WAN
I should delight to meet this Jango Fett.
May such a meeting be arrang’d?
TAUN WE
’Tis our delight, pray, let us thither go.
[She leads him to Jango Fett’s chamber.
Enter JANGO FETT and BOBA FETT.
OB
I-WAN
Are you the bounty hunter Jango Fett?
I am a Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Your clones are most remarkable, sirrah.
Methinks you must be very proud, indeed.
JANGO
Pride is a misstep on which one may easily slip. For
my part, I am but a humble man who seeks to wend
his way through the galaxy—I’ve no pride thereof.
OBI-WAN
Hath your e’er-wending way led you as far
Into th’interior as Coruscant?
JANGO
E’en once, mayhap twice.
OBI-WAN
’Twas once and twice and mayhap recently?
JANGO
Recently is possible—would that I could remember.
OBI-WAN
For certain, then, you must familiar be
With Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, aye?
JANGO
[to Boba:] Ka Boba, rood eht so-heeck. [To Obi-Wan:]
O, Master who?
[Boba shuts a door, hiding Jango’s bounty hunter uniform.
OBI-WAN
The name is Sifo-Dyas. Was’t not he
Who for this cloning task employ’d you here?
JANGO
Ne’er have I heard tell of the man.
OBI-WAN
But are you sure he is not known to you?
JANGO
Dear sir, mine employment came from one who was
Tyranus call’d. E’en on a moon of Bogden did he
make arrangement for to hire me.
OBI-WAN
Your words do run from strange to stranger, yea.
JANGO
Your questions at an end, now I shall ask:
Do you approve of this strong army?
OBI-WAN
I shall delight to see what they can do.