A New Hope Read Free Page A

the Academy next term. You’ll get your chance to get off this rock.
    LUKE Not likely! I had to cancel my application. There has been a lot of unrest among the Sandpeople since you left…they’ve even raided the outskirts of Anchorhead.
    BIGGS Your uncle could hold off a whole colony of Sandpeople with one blaster.
    LUKE I know, but he’s got enough vaporators going to make the place pay off. He needs me for just one more season. I can’t leave him now. BIGGS I feel for you, Luke, you’re going to have to learn what seems to be important or what really is important. What good is all your uncle’s work if it’s taken over by the Empire?…You know they’re starting to nationalize commerce in the central systems…it won’t be long before your uncle is merely a tenant, slaving for the greater glory of the Empire.
    LUKE It couldn’t happen here. You said it yourself. The Empire won’t bother with this rock.
    BIGGS Things always change.
    LUKE I wish I was going…Are you going to be around long? BIGGS No, I’m leaving in the morning…
    LUKE Then I guess I won’t see you.
    BIGGS Maybe someday…I’ll keep a lookout.
    LUKE Well, I’ll be at the Academy next season…after that who knows. I won’t be drafted into the Imperial Starfleet that’s for sure…Take care of yourself, you’ll always be the best friend I’ve got. BIGGS So long, Luke.
    Biggs turns away from his old friend and heads towards the power station.
    EXTERIOR TATOOINE —ROCK CANYON —SUNSET.
    The gargantuan rock formations are shrouded in a strange foreboding mist and the onimous sounds of unearthly creatures fill the air. Artoo moves cautiously through the creepy rock canyon, inadvertently making a loud clicking noise as he goes. He hears a distant, hard, metallic sound and stops for a moment. Convinced he is alone, he continues on his way. In the distance, a pepple tumbles down the steep canyon wall and a small dark figure darts into the shadows. A little further up the canyon a slight flicker of light reveals a pair of eyes in the dark recesses only a few feet from the narrow path.
    The unsuspecting robot waddles along the rugged trail until suddenly, out of nowhere, a powerful magnetic ray shoots out of the rocks and engulfs him in an eerie glow. He manages one short electronic squeak before he topples over onto his back. His bright computer lights flicker off, then on, then off again. Out of the rocks scurry three Jawas, no taller than Artoo. They holster strange and complex weapons as they cautiously approach the robot. They wear grubby cloaks and their faces are shrouded so only their glowing eyes can be seen. They hiss and make odd guttural sounds as they heave the heavy robot onto their shoulders and carry him off down the trail.
    EXTERIOR TATOOINE —ROCK CANYON —SANDCRAWLER —SUNSET. The eight Jawas carry Artoo out of the canyon to a huge tank-like vehicle the size of a four-story house. They weld a small disk on the side of Artoo and then put him under a large tube on the side of the vehicle and the little robot is sucked into the giant machine.
    The filthy little Jawas scurry like rats up small ladders and enter the main cabin of the behemoth transport. INTERIOR SANDCRAWLER —HOLD AREA.
    It is dim inside the hold area of the Sandcrawler. Artoo switches on a small floodlight on his forehead and stumbles around the scrap heap. The narrow beam swings across rusty metal rocket parts and an array of grotesquely twisted and maimed astrorobots. He lets out a pathetic electronic whimper and stumbles off toward what appears to be a door at the end of the chamber.
    INTERIOR SANDCRAWLER —PRISON AREA.
    Artoo enters a wide room with a four-foot ceiling. In the middle of the scrap heap sit a dozen or so robots of various shapes and sizes. Some are engaged in electronic conversation, while others simply mill about. A voice of recognition calls out from the gloom.
    THREEPIO Artoo-Detoo! It’s you! It’s you!
    A battered Threepio scrambles