Episode III Script

STAR WARS
Episode III

THE ENEMY UNMASKED

By George Lucas and Jonathan Hales

(yeah right - by taibunsuu)

September 19, 2002

LUCASFILM LTD.


A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away?

A vast sea of stars serves as the backdrop for the main title. War drums echo through the heavens as a rollup slowly crawls into infinity:

The Clone Wars are coming to an end. With vast military powers granted to the Supreme Chancellor, assisted by the powerful Jedi Order, the Republic has nearly secured a victory over the Seperatists, lead by the nefarious Count Dooku of Serreno.

The war has depleted the Jedi ranks. There is a sense of foreboding among the survivors, but the future remains clouded and uncertain, though two Jedi, Knight Anakin Skywalker and Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, see hope in the coming victory. Meanwhile, the enemy resorts to ever-more desperate measures as their time comes to an end?

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A Trade Federation battleship sits at far distance in the black void. A squadron of TIE fighters roars by, lead by an advanced TIE with quadruple triangular solar panels. It?s the ship of Anakin Skywalker ? an advanced prototype so powerful it can only be piloted by the most skilled.

INT. SKYWALKER?S TIE

Anakin is dressed in the black flightsuit, his head bare save a microphone interface. His hair is short-clipped, and he is deadly serious, though somewhat tired, as he heads into battle.

ANAKIN: Shadow Squadron, enemy battleship, twelve o?clock low. Attack!

He noses his ship down, and the battleship fills the windscreen as his engine readouts redline and his engine roar. His HUD tracks incoming droid fighters.

INT. TIE COCKPIT

A black-clad pilot adjusts his controls and dives in.

PILOT: Hey Colonel Skywalker, what?s the plan?

INT. ANAKIN?S SHIP

ANAKIN: Let?s make a pass to test their defenses, then I?ll know what to do.

EXT. SHADOW SQUADRON

Anakin?s ship pulls away from the other TIEs. Its afterburners glow blue exhaust as he takes point. The sky around Anakin?s advanced TIE explodes with laser fire and flack bursts.

INT. TRADE FEDERATION SHIP BRIDGE

On the Bridge stands NEWT GUNRAY, Trade Federation Viceroy. He watches the incoming fighters through the large windows.

BRIDGE CAPTAIN: Viceroy, we?re under attack from Republic Fighters!
GUNRAY: We can defend against a few fighters. This is a battleship.

On the bridge captain?s armrest console is an image of Anakin?s distinctive TIE. He hits a button and the image is projected by the main hologram.

BRIDGE CAPTAIN: It?s Skywalker?s Shadow Squadron!

GUNRAY: What? The Jedi? Here? Not again!

Anakin?s ship comes straight at the bridge, gunfire erupting from its cannons. The lasers smash into the deflector shield immediately outside the bridge, filling the bridge with flashes of red explosions. GUNRAY ducks for cover.

EXT. TRADE FEDERATION SHIP BRIDGE

Anakin?s ship, flying upside down to the battleship, drills the bridge shields with gunfire. He noses down at the last second, going up and coming impossible close to slamming into the upper curve of the shield wrapping over the bridge.

INT. BATTLESHIP BRIDGE

The onslaught over, GUNRAY is picking himself up when he looks to see the whole of Shadow Squadron, in a perfect V formation, blast the bridge as they race by.

INT. ANAKIN?S SHIP

The battleship grows distant behind him as his fighters clear the bridge.

SKYWALKER: Lure the droid fighters away from the battleship. If they try to retreat, use your heat seekers to take ?em out.

INT. TIE FIGHTER

PILOT: Yes sir.

EXT. SPACE

The fighters reach a point in space, and then split up, each turning on a different vector. Shadow and red lasers slash at each other as they confront the pursuing squadrons of droid ships, blasting the robots out of the sky. It?s a veritable slaughter, though a couple TIEs take hits. Soon, the sky is cleared of active droids. All that remains is sizzling, crippled droid ships, and pieces of debris. Some retreat