Amidala's Bedroom - Obi-Wan and Anakin burst into the room. Artoo sounds an alarm and shines a light on the bed. the Kouhuns are inches from Padmé's face. Their mouths are open, and wicked stinger tongues flick out. The Kouhuns stand on their hind legs and hiss as Padmé wakes up. Anakin throws himself in front of her, whacking in half the deadly creatures with his lightsaber. Obi-Wan sees the Droid outside the window and races straight at it, crashing through the blinds as he goes through the window.
Obi-Wan flies through the glass window and flings himself at the Probe Droid, grabbing onto the deadly machine before it can flee. The Probe Droid sinks under the weight of Obi-Wan but manages to stay afloat and fly away, with the Jedi hanging on for dear life, a hundred stories above the city. Anakin and Padmé stare at the sight of Obi-Wan being carried off by the Droid. Anakin turns to her. She pulls her nightdress around her shoulders.
Anakin: Stay here!
Captain Typho, with two guards and Dorme, enter the room as Anakin dashes out.
Anakin charges through the building and runs to a line of parked speeders. He vaults into an open one and takes off, gunning it fast toward the lines of speeder traffic high above.
Cityscape - The Probe Droid with Obi-Wan hanging on, dart in and out of the speeder traffic. The Droid bumps against a wall, hoping to knock the Jedi loose. It takes the Jedi wildly between buildings and finally skims across a rooftop as Obi-Wan is forced to lift his legs, tenaciously hanging onto the Droid. The Droid heads for a dirty, beat-up speeder hidden in an alcove of a building about twenty stories up.
When the pilot of the speeder, Wesell, sees the Droid approach with Obi-Wan hanging on, she pulls a long rifle out of the speeder and fires at the Jedi. The Droid suffers a direct hit and blows up. Obi-Wan falls fifty stories, until a speeder drops down just below him, and he manages to land into the speeder cockpit.
Obi-Wan: What took you so long?
Anakin: Oh, you know, Master, I couldn't find a speeder I really liked, with an open cockpit... and with the right speed capabilities.
Obi-Wan: If you'd spend as much time working on your saber skills as you do on your wit, young Padawan, you would rival Master Yoda as a swordsman.
Anakin: I thought I already did.
Obi-Wan: Only in your mind, my very young apprentice.
As this conversation is going on, Anakin deftly moves in and out of the oncoming traffic, across lanes, between buildings, and miraculously through a construction site.
Anakin: Sorry, I forgot you don't like flying, Master.
Obi-Wan: I don't mind flying... but what you're doing is suicide!
They barely miss a commuter train. Zam Wessel and the Jedi race through a line of cross-traffic made up of giant trucks. The speeders bank sideways as they slide around right-angle turns between buildings. Zam races into a tram tunnel. Anakin zooms into the tunnel after Zam. They see a tram coming at them. They brake, turn around, and race out, barely ahead of the charging commuter transport. Zam turns into oncoming traffic, deliberately trying to throw the Jedi off.
Oncoming speeders swerve, trying to avoid Zam and the Jedi. The bounty hunter skims over the rooftops. Anakin goes through his gears, zooming around traffic. They race at high speed across a wide, flat surface of the city planet. A large spacecraft almost collides with them as it attempts to land. They chase the bounty hunter through a power refinery. Huge electrical bolts shoot between the buildings as the speeders pass.
Obi-Wan (sarcastically): Oh, that was good.
Zam goes up and down, through cross-traffic. There is a near miss as a speeder almost hits them. Zam turns down and left between two buildings. Anakin pulls up and to the right.
Obi-Wan: Where are you going?! He went the other way.
Anakin: Master, if we keep this chase going, that creep’s gonna end up deep fried. Personally, I’d very much like to find out who he is and who he’s working for. . . This is a shortcut... I think.
Anakin turns up a side street, zooming up several small passageways, then stops, hovering about fifty stories up.
Obi-Wan: Well, you lost him.
Anakin: I’m deeply sorry, Master.
Anakin looks around front and back. He spots something. He watches something below approach.
Anakin: Excuse me for a moment.
Anakin jumps out of the speeder. Obi-Wan looks down and sees Zam’s speeder about five stories below them cruising past. Anakin miraculously lands on top of the Bounty Hunter’s speeder. The speeder wobbles under the impact. Zam looks up and realizes what has happened. Zam takes off, and Anakin slides to the back strut and almost slips off, but manages to hang on. Anakin works his way back to the speeder’s cockpit, just as Zam stops suddenly, and Anakin flies forward to the left front fork.
Zam shoots at him with a laser pistol. There is a blast near Anakin's hand. Anakin slides to the right fork of the speeder, where Zam can’t reach him. He scrambles to the top, holding onto an air scoop. Obi-Wan has jumped into the driver’s seat of his speeder and is deftly gaining on the rogue speeder. The two speeders dive through oncoming traffic and then through cross traffic.
Finally, Anakin is able to get hold of his lightsaber and starts to cut his way through the roof of the speeder. Zam takes out her laser pistol and starts firing at the helpless Jedi, knocking the sword out of his hand. Obi-Wan races under the speeder and catches the Jedi weapon in the passenger’s seat. Anakin sticks his hand into the cockpit and, using the Force, pulls the gun out of Zam’s hand. She grabs the Jedi’s hand, and they struggle for the weapon.
It goes off, blowing a hole in the floor of the speeder. The speeder careens wildly out of control. Zam struggles to pull the speeder out of it’s nose dive. Obi-Wan gets slowed down by traffic and loses sight of the Bounty Hunter’s speeder. Just as the dragster is about to nose dive into the ground, Zam pulls it out, and it slides hard on the pavement in a shower of sparks. Anakin goes flying into the street.
Entertainment Street - Zam exits the crashed speeder and runs. Anakin picks himself up off the pavement and runs down the very crowded street. It's the seedy underbelly of the city. Broken sidewalks, garish lights reflected on the filthy puddles. It's pretty crowded with various alien low-lifes, panhandling droids, and the occasional group of upperclass slummers. Anakin barges into several of them as he chases after the fleeing Zam.
He loses the Bounty Hunter in the crowd, them sees him again. The young Jedi is having a very difficult time getting through the crowd. Ahead, Zam turns in through a door and disappears. A nightclub sighs is flashing over the door. Anakin is just about to follow Zam when there is a sudden swirl of litter from downthrusters. People start moving out of the way, and the open speeder lands in the street beside him. Obi-Wan gets out and walks over, holding out Anakin's lightsaber.
Obi-Wan: Anakin!
Anakin: She went into that club, Master.
Obi-Wan: Patience.
Obi-Wan hands Anakin the lightsaber.
Obi-Wan: Here. Next time try not to lose it.
Anakin: Sorry, Master.
Obi-Wan: This weapon is your life!
Nightclub - Obi-Wan and Anakin enter the nightclub bar, and everyone stares at them
Obi-Wan: Why do I think you are going to be the death of me?!
Anakin: Don't say that Master... You're the closest thing I have to a father.
Obi-Wan: Then why don't you listen to me?!
Anakin: I'll do better, I promise.
Obi-Wan: Do you see him him?
Anakin: I think he's a she.
Obi-Wan: Then be extra careful... Check it out.
Anakin: Where are you going, Master?
Obi-Wan: To get a drink.
Obi-Wan heads for the bar. Anakin moves into the room, where alien faces look back at him with hostility, suspicion, and invitation as he moves among the tables. Obi-Wan arrives at the bar. He signals the Bar man. Somewhere in the room a hand moves to a pistol in its holster and unsnaps the safety catch. At the bar, a glass is placed in from of Obi-Wan. A drink is poured. He lifts the glass.
Elan Sleazebaggano: Wanna buy some death sticks?
Obi-Wan looks at him. He moves his fingers slightly.
Obi-Wan: You don't want to sell me death sticks.
Elan echo Obi-Wans comment. Obi-Wan moves his fingers.
Obi-Wan: You want to go home and rethink your life.
Elan: I want to go home and rethink my life.
He leaves. Obi-Wan lifts the drink and tosses it back. A gun is drawn from its holster and held down out of sight. The Bounty Hunter starts to move toward the bar. Anakin checks out alien faces. Obi-Wan signals for another drink. The gun moves toward his unsuspecting back. The drink is poured. Obi-Wan reaches for it. The gun is raised to aim directly at his back, and suddenly Obi-Wan turns fast. His lightsaber flashes. There is a shrill scream and Zam's arm hits the floor. The gun drops from its twitching fingers. Blood spreads. The room is silent. Aliens rise menacingly from their seats, and Anakin is suddenly at Obi-Wan's side, his lightsaber glowing.
Anakin: Jedi business. Go back to your drinks.
Obi-Wan and Anakin carry Zam into the alley just outside the nightclub and lower her to the ground. Obi-Wan attends to her wounded shoulder. She stares up hatefully at Anakin. She winces in pain. Anakin demands the name of the person who hired her.
Zam: It was a Bounty Hunter called . . .
There is a sudden FTZZZ sound. Zam twitches. She blinks in surprise and dies. There is a WEOOSH from above. Obi-Wan and Anakin look up yo see an armored rocket-man taking off from a roof high above. Obi-Wan looks down at Zam. He touches her neck and pulls out a small, wicked-looking toxic dart.
Jedi Temple - Obi-Wan and Anakin are standing before the Jedi Council. Yoda and Windu instruct Obi-Wan to track down the bounty hunter and who is he working for.
Obi-Wan: What about Senator Amidala? She will still need protecting.
Yoda: Handle that your Padawan will.
Mace: Anakin, escort the senator back to her home planet of Naboo. She'll be safer there. And don't use registered transport. Travel as refugees.
Anakin: As the leader of the opposition, it will be very difficult to get Senator Amidala to leave the capital.
Yoda: Until caught this killer is, our judgment she must respect.
Mace: Anakin, go the the senate and ask Chancellor Palpatine to speak with her about this matter.
|
