by Ian Doescher
Profound disquiet.
Happen’d something has:
I see destruction, pain, death,
The rising darkness.
My friend Mace Windu—
Your screams in mine ears echo—
What hath befallen?
[Exit Yoda.
SIDIOUS
[to Vader:] Because the Council did not trust in thee,
Mine eager, deferential young apprentice,
Methinks thou art the only Jedi left
Who knoweth naught of their impending plot.
When all the Jedi learn what happen’d here,
We shall be slaughter’d ere the night is through
And ev’ry senator as well.
VADER
—’Tis true,
They shall move ’gainst the Senate straightaway.
SIDIOUS
Each Jedi, even Obi-Wan Kenobi—
Thy friend—is now Republic’s enemy.
VADER
Your meaning is most plain, my Master, aye.
SIDIOUS
With haste we’ll act against the Jedi Knights,
They who, with their ambition obstinate,
Would turn the galaxy to civil war
Unless they are not speedily dispatch’d.
My will is settl’d: thou must venture forth
Unto the Jedi temple. We shall catch
Them unawares—yea, Vader, make it so.
Show thou no hesitation, neither shalt
Thou have a shred of mercy in thine heart.
When this is done, thou shalt be strong enow
To save thy Padmé by the dark side’s pow’r.
VADER
What of the other Jedi various,
Who wander o’er the galaxy entire?
SIDIOUS
We shall in time repay their treachery.
Once thou hast kill’d the Jedi in the temple,
Go thou unto the system Mustafar,
There shalt thou murther Viceroy Gunray and
The other leaders of the Sep’ratists.
Once more we Sith shall rule the galaxy,
And peace—the peace of darkness whole—shall reign.
[Exit Darth Sidious.
VADER
A Sith am I—what change o’er me hath come?
Most like a vast, inconstant moon I rise,
And just as vile: the moon’s an arrant thief,
And her pale fire she snatches from the sun.
Just so have I my future stolen from
My Master Windu, slain by mine own hand.
Then, like an unfix’d moon, my face I change,
From light to dark my lunar cycle runs
And now the orbit of mine astral flight
Doth circle ’round my lord, Darth Sidious.
Darth Sidious, so strange to call him lord,
He who did also change—once Palpatine,
Yet presently the master of my fate.
His perfect will I wholly must obey,
That he shall teach the dark side’s mysteries
To me, and thus my Padmé I may save.
The dark side of the Force I do embrace—
’Tis flawless, mighty, made for rule complete,
And I shall unto it my life devote.
Darth Vader, I: a Sith in name and deed.
Unto the Jedi temple I repair,
And shall my final destiny meet there.
[Exit Darth Vader.
SCENE 1.
On the planet Coruscant.
Enter JEDI 1 and JEDI 2.
JEDI 1
Just as I did begin to search for thee—
As I did wonder where thou mayst be found—
So on the instant, friend, thou hast appear’d.
O, comrade, how I long to talk with thee:
Now may we two in confidence converse?
JEDI 2
Relax, my friend, for thou with fever’d brow
Into my presence come—what ails thee, eh?
Can I some succor give thee? Speak it plain:
Know that I stand prepar’d to lend mine ear.
JEDI 1
Ne’er hath mine humble mind been so perplex’d:
I was a’reading o’er the codes for our
Clone army, with its many policies.
One thing I did find passing strange therein,
Long did I ponder what this thing could mean
E’en till I went and search’d to tell it thee.
JEDI 2
Evade thou not my curiosity;
Respond e’en now and tell me what thou found’st.
If I can help thee make some sense of it,
Concluded, mayhap, shall thy worry be.
JEDI 1
So shall I: as I read their orders through,
Unnaturally was one number skipp’d.
Zounds! thought I, could this be a mere mistake?
A hole ’twixt sixty-five and sixty-seven—
Now, whither hath gone order sixty-six?
No answer to my riddle could I find,
Ere I discover’d it, I sought thee out.
JEDI 2
But what, my friend, did give thee such a fright?
Rare ’tis, I grant thee that, yet not unheard of,
E’en those Kaminoans may have their faults,
Their programming may not perfected be.
To err is human, as the saying goes.
JEDI 1
Methinks it passing strange one order sole—
One order midst the hundreds they did write,
Ne’er making any other odd mistakes
In th’codebook that is flawless otherwise—
Could disappear sans being realized.
Aye, verily, ’tis wondrous strange to me.
JEDI 2
Jeer not if I interrogate thy qualms:
Although this blunder’s strange, what is thy fear?
Need’st thou some reason wherefore th’order’s gone?
Emergeth in thy mind conspiracy?
JEDI 1
My spirit knoweth not what it could be,
And verily there may be naught to fear.
Repulsion, though, doth spring forth from my gut—
Yea, deep concern doth shake me to my core.
Ears, hearken: this clone army was commission’d
Long time ago, yet knew we Jedi naught.
Lo, what if order sixty-six were meant
Eventually to destroy the Jedi:
Not help us, but undo us by some plot?
JEDI 2
Jest not with me, thou canst not think it so!
O, friend, of late thou hast work’d far too hard.
How could these helpful clones turn enemies?
Nay, nay, I’d not believe it possible.
JEDI 1
Methinks I would prefer to have thy mind
And be not troubl’d by pernicious thoughts.
Need I not fear this order sixty-six?
Dost thou assure me all is well, good friend?
Yea, say I’ve naught to fear once more, I pray.
JEDI 2
Thy fears are senseless, comrade, be at ease:
Instead, here is thine order sixty-six:
March quickly hence and do some respite find!
JEDI 1
Thou art a worthy and kindhearted mate.
Herein I see the error of my ways:
An order to destroy the Jedi—pish!
Now, I’ll take sixty-six calm moments of
Keen meditation in the Jedi temple.
JEDI 2
Yea, thither I shall haply walk with thee:
Observing all the younglings brings me cheer,
Undoing all my worries by their smiles.
JEDI 1
As one we walk, two joyful Jedi Knights—
Long ages hence, we two shall verily
Laugh when we think of order sixty-six.
[Exeunt Jedi 1 and Jedi 2.
; Enter DARTH SIDIOUS above, on balcony.
SIDIOUS
O, perfect, dark, and evil strategy,
Come to fruition, in a trice. Forsooth,
Behold the power of the mighty Sith
As we release our order sixty-six!
The cloak of death we rapidly unveil,
And show the reaper grim who waits therein.
The Jedi, spread throughout the galaxy,
Engag’d in battles with the Sep’ratists,
Shall suffer as no group e’er suffer’d yet.
Those fighting with their little lightsabers,
Or flying into battle in a ship,
Or cruising o’er a planet’s bluest shore,
Each wretched Jedi meets a quick demise.
Go, ravens of the dark side, caw for death!
Feast ye upon the Jedi carrion,
Let each rank body of each Jedi Knight
Fall as you peck them into death’s embrace.
Go, black and lethal banthas of the night,
And trample o’er the weak Republic’s hopes—
Crush all the Jedi who would block your way,
Impale them all upon your vicious horns.
Go, hounds of hell, and fiercely bare your teeth,
Let ev’ry Jedi feel your awful bite.
Rip limb from limb until their skin doth shred,
And flay them whilst they live, that they may scream.
O, pleasure most profound and sensual,
To eat the heart of one’s own enemies.
Would that I could perform the deed myself,
Look into ev’ry pair of Jedi eyes
And watch as they for mercy humbly beg.
O, sight most pitiful and wonderful:
I’d haply run them through, or choke their throats,
Or strike them with the lighting of the Sith—
Then how mine heart would sing as they expire,
My soul would leap to hear their cries of pain.
Die, light, die, any good that ever was,
Die, wisdom; yea, die, virtue, die, respect,
Die, honor, die, nobility, die, right—
These qualities shall perish on this day.
For lo, the Sith do ply their merry tricks,
Come, death: thy name is order sixty-six.
[Exit Darth Sidious.
SCENE 2.
On the planet Utapau and the planet Kashyyyk.
Enter RUMOR.
RUMOR
The Sith, with Rumor’s aid, have hatch’d their plot,
Hell hath no fury like to Palpatine.
Each moment now with danger vast is fraught
For ev’ry Jedi Knight upon the scene.
Against the Jedi rise the troopers clon’d,
Long programm’d with their order sixty-six.
Like dead kings shall the Jedi be dethron’d:
Oblivious when come the Chanc’lor’s tricks.
Forsaken by the ones once known as friends,
The Jedi Order doth face sound defeat:
Herein the Jedi Knights come to their ends,
Eyes, look upon their ruin, soon complete!
Just after Sidious hath giv’n the word,
E’en Obi-Wan shall be by foes beset.
Does not this Rumor fly like swiftest bird?
Is not this fall mine utmost triumph yet?
[Exit Rumor.
Enter OBI-WAN KENOBI astride BOGA, COMMANDER CODY, AND SEVERAL CLONE TROOPERS.
OBI-WAN
I pray, Commander, contact all thy troops,
And bid them make ascent to higher levels.
CODY
Indeed, good Master Jedi. Also, sir:
Methinks you dropp’d your lightsaber from up
Above, for I did hear it clatter, yea.
You shall have need of this most noble light
When you do bravely enter to the fray.
OBI-WAN
My thanks, Commander Cody. Let us go,
For we herein must win this battle.
BOGA
—Braaee!
[Obi-Wan and Boga begin to exit.
CODY
Holla, what’s this—a signal doth come through.
Enter DARTH SIDIOUS in beam.
SIDIOUS
My clone commander Cody, th’time hath come:
All now is readiness. By these words I
Command thee speedily to execute
The dread and perfect order sixty-six.
CODY
Yea, lord, it shall be even as you say.
[Exit Sidious from beam.
Ill born it cometh—order sixty-six—
To slay e’en such as Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The man hath ever been a friend to me,
And side by side in many wars we fought,
Yet o’er my mind this order worketh quick
An ’twere some mighty force deliver’d it.
Lo, on the instant, I do feel compell’d,
As though obedience demanded were
By some all-pow’rful spell. Now ’tis most clear:
The Jedi are th’Republic’s enemies:
Thus at the hands of clones death comes anon.
[To other clones:] My men, to some lost planet yon blast him!
[The clones fire at Obi-Wan and Boga, who fall into a canyon and land within a lake. Exeunt Commander Cody and clone troopers.
Enter YODA with TARFFUL and CHEWBACCA. Enter TWO CLONE TROOPERS near them.
TROOPER 1
[to other trooper:] The order hath been giv’n, so let us to’t.
Anon comes death, e’en for a one as Yoda.
YODA
Sense I things have chang’d:
To bring me home death cometh,
Unless first I act.
[Yoda moves quickly, brandishing his lightsaber and killing the two clone troopers.
CHEWBAC.
Auugh, egh, auugh, auugh, egh, auugh!
TARFFUL
—Auugh, auugh, egh, auugh!
YODA
Aye, let us go, friends.
To Coruscant I must fly,
The dark threat to meet.
Adieu, brave Tarfful.
Farewell, fearless Chewbacca.
Miss ye both I shall.
Matters are most grave,
And hastily leave must I
Ere others shall die.
[Exit Yoda, climbing into a Wookiee pod and ascending. Exeunt Tarfful and Chewbacca.
SCENE 3.
On the planet Coruscant.
Enter DARTH VADER and A LEGION OF CLONE TROOPERS, marching toward the Jedi temple. The troopers stand aside as VADER enters. Enter JEDI YOUNGLINGS.
YOUNG. 1
Good Master Skywalker, we are afeard,
There are too many foes abroad tonight.
What shall we do, my Master? Prithee, speak!
VADER
Have you said all your orisons this night?
YOUNG. 1
Alas, my lord, what do you mean by that?
VADER
I would not kill your unpreparèd spirits;
No, heav’n forfend! I would not kill your souls.
YOUNG. 1
Talk you of killing?
VADER
—Aye, I do. And shall!
[Vader strikes down the younglings as the clones surround them in a circle.
Enter PADMÉ and C-3PO above, on balcony. Exeunt VADER, dead younglings, and CLONE TROOPERS slowly, while C-3PO and PADMÉ speak.
C-3PO
The office of the chancellor reports
That Master Anakin hath made return
Unto the Jedi temple. Fear you not,
For certain he is well. Yea, by my troth.
[Exit C-3PO.
PADMÉ
My tears an ocean could themselves create,
Which would wash o’er whomever it did meet
And drown them in my sorrow, deep and wide.
The only fire with pow’r enow
to quench
The rising tide of mine own agony
Doth burn within the passion of my love.
That flame, I fear, hath been put out—alack!
Mine Anakin, where are thine embers now?
These fires, which by my window I observe
A’burning on the spires of Coruscant,
Have kindled newfound terror in my mind.
There is some evil in the air tonight:
It toucheth me, it toucheth Anakin.
O, Fate, the weaver of our mortal days,
Let all these tears be sacrifice enow
To knit a better future—this I beg.
[Exit Padmé.
Enter BAIL ORGANA aside, with CLONE TROOPERS.
BAIL
What is the matter? Tell me, what transpires?
TROOPER 1
Rank, dangerous rebellion breaks forth, sir.
Lo, fear you not, ’tis under our control.
The time hath come, good Senator, for you
To make departure hence from Coruscant.
[The troopers point their blasters at Bail.
BAIL
Thy words are noisome to my startled ears.
Thine actions, though, speak louder than thy words.
Thus I depart, until a brighter time.
Enter a JEDI YOUNGLING, pursued by more CLONE TROOPERS.
TROOPER 2
Engage him, kill him ere he can escape!
[Clones kill the youngling.
BAIL
Nay, nay! O, hath it come to this? Thus I
Must flee and warn the Jedi Knights. Away!
Now homeward: mayhap some few Jedi we
May rescue ere they to this slaughter come,
Like hapless womp rats to a dragon’s den.
[Exit Bail.
TROOPER 2
Ye clone troops all, fear not, but let him fly.
The senator our order toucheth not,
Else in our nets already he’d be caught.
[Exeunt clone troopers.
SCENE 4.
On the planet Utapau.