105 Bridge Entrance Roof — Ext. 105
Everyone but BB8 exits The Eagle, with Poe in front.
POE Ahh, they weren't supposed to have gotten this far!
DESPERATE SOLDIER Sorry, Captain Dameron! The Empire flooded the ground area. They took the control room too. It has taken us everything to hold the top floors.
POE Excellent men, you've kept this mission alive!
More soldiers gather, looking up to Poe for hope.
POE We have bled enough today. We have bled enough on this planet, in this battle, on these pathetic retreats. Now, you all here today will change that! You have this position. You have two Jedi. You have a Shield Guardian!
Poe raises Remahn's hand to cheers.
POE (continued) And you have me.
Louder cheers.
POE (continued) We're going right back in there and spending these Imps RIGHT DOWN THE WELL!
The soldiers ready their arms. Rey turns to Finn.
REY We get fewer cheers then Poe now?
FINN Well, it's natural. They think Poe knows what he's doing.
REY He'd have become a great politician if he didn't need the female vote.
POE Sorry, Rey, but women love me. I just choose to get close to ones without radiation.
Poe gestures to Rey. She jokes back:
REY I do like to keep pests off me.
Poe takes the loss and gets serious to share the information he received.
POE Then this the wrong place to be. Imperial soldiers are packed inside. I only have twenty-three men to mount a charge. We can take the control room, but we cannot hold it while there are three corridors the Empire will counter from; I can't spread them out more than one.
FINN I'll take the point position and hold the furthest corridor alone. If they know it's me, they will send most of the troops my way to capture the Traitor.
POE Don't even pretend about "capture," Finn. They want to kill you.
FINN They always try.
POE Well... that's what we got. But it still leaves one left.
REY I can cover that one.
Both men look at Rey with concern.
POE Rey. That's not an option. You can barely predict their shots, and their firepower will burn through that armor fast.
REY I can collapse the walls in, block their shots.
POE You destroy those walls and everything else around them. We need this bridge to function. If it goes, we die.
REY I'll control it.
Rey vainly tries to feign confidence. Poe knows how much this means to her, but he fears letting his emotions take hold will cost everything.
FINN Poe, she's gotten us this far. Every time we need Rey, in a critical situation, for an impossible task, she has grown beyond her ability to meet it. I trust her on this.
Poe still has high reservations but has been overruled.
POE Urghhh, then I do too, as long as you have that with you.
Poe points to the minigun from earlier now carried by two soldiers. Rey looks Poe in the eyes.
REY I won't let you down.
Poe smiles.
.
106 Bridge Control Room — Int. 106
Inside the Bridge control room is a large window that shows a skyline with the MDS Krannek. Alien technology covers the walls and stalls. The Imperial troopers are organizing an assault to finish off the remaining Republic survivors. They are not expecting a suicide charge.
Then Finn breaks through the door, shots of justice give support from behind him. Finn deflects blasts and uses his scrambler to knock out several snipers.
The stormtroopers flee from the surprise attack. The Republic soldiers follow them down the main hallway and mount a defensive line there. Poe stays behind with the Remahn as the latter starts working the alien terminal. Rey (with her metal rose mask back on and two soldiers dropping off the minigun) stops short of opening her chosen door, fearing the trial behind it.
FINN SHIKA!
Rey turns to see Finn by his hallway door. He looks her in the eyes with a daring smile and nods. He opens his door as enemy fire flashes in front of him. A resolved Rey opens her door and begins the fight.
Poe darts his attention from Remahn to the MDS Krannek. Remahn is punching buttons with determination.
POE They spent too much time here.
REMAHN What do you mean?
POE They can only keep their Death Star this far out for so long before ours could invade one of the Main Imperial planets. Every second they spend here, they risk everything.
REMAHN I'll need the time to mold this unprecedented piece of pride.
.
107 Finn's Corridor — Int. 107
The corridors of Nize Wespha are long and wide, with plenty of piping and alien technology around the walls. Well-lit. The unconscious bodies of Imperial Stormtroopers have piled into mounds, some moving slightly. Despite low odds, these conditioned Imperial men desire glory, and troopers continue advancing fire at Finn. Finn has a repetitive motion for handling his former fellows:
He deflects their shots with his lightsaber. Then a precise Force-motion takes off a part of their EG-8 rifles (the same piece he tampered with in The Hidden Danger). Now that the foe is unarmed, Finn deftly fires his scrambler from his free hand, ending the conflict with minimal violence. Finn has done this often and can get fancy with it. With the corridor being a straightforward hallway, Finn has little concern for any danger. Until:
Two grenades are thrown. The first is close to Finn, he instantly kicks it far behind him. The second is caught on one of the piles of sleeping soldiers.
FINN Oh no.
Finn lunges for the grenade. He grabs it and closes his eyes right as the other explodes. Finn can only make small but precise Force actions. It is taking all his focus to hold off the internal timer of the explosive.
As new stormtroopers start advancing, Finn can no longer predict the shots and is driven into cover. A torrent of red hot lasers is only centimeters from a blinded Finn.
FINN Common think, think, think.
The stormtroopers advance. Finn turns off his lightsaber and puts both hands on the grenade. He mutters to himself, calms his breathing. The stormtroopers only two steps away. Finn lets both hands go of the grenade. Nothing happens.
FINN YES!
Finn chucks the diffused grenade at the center of the troopers; they scatter! Finn flicks his blade, unholsters his scrambler, and starts disarming and quieting the whole group in one torrential frenzy. Finn takes an earned deep breath. He enjoys the quiet, only to hear the noise of incoming conflict. As Finn readies his stance, a new figure rounds the corner:
Luke Skywalker with lightsaber in hand!
FINN Master Luke!
LUKE SKYWALKER Hey kid! I see you're still getting distracted.
FINN Hmm?
Luke makes a slow hand gesture as we hear a blaster shot ring out. Finn grimaces and slowly turns around to see an EG-8 rifle shot frozen in place right behind his head. A single trooper hiding under a pile of his downed comrades took the shot. Luke makes a second hand motion, and the laser flies into the trooper, killing him.
LUKE SKYWALKER The rest are still alive, I see.
FINN Yes.
LUKE Despite your friends, allies, and teachers not taking the same chance?
Finn avoids eye contact, preferring to ignore his own dissonance.
FINN It's my path. Rey! We sent her alone to the middle corridor. We have to hurry.
LUKE The Republic soldiers are close behind me. If you're here, I trust you found Guardian Sizenceez?
FINN Of course.
.
108 Rey's Corridor — Int. 108
Rey's corridor has blaster marks and smoldering machinery everywhere. She is using her power to run the minigun from a distance. When more soldiers come from another side, she throws her entire body weight to turn the gun, but too slow —the blaster fire destroys the weapon. Rey panics: While trying to throw the machine, she shreds it and volleys a wide spread of molten scraps. The motion's kinetic energy continues beyond the turret, rips through the walls and tens of important pipes inside before hitting the stormtroopers. Warning lights come on as gas starts escaping from the holes Rey has made. Rey cannot see through the clouded hall.
Blaster fire never stops, Rey triggers her lightsaber and tries to back into cover. She blocks two shots but when trying to block a third it hits her hand. She collapses into cover, the lightsaber falling to the other side of the hallway. Rey deeply breathes looking at her hand, the armored glove bubbling and smocking from the heat. The gas is blocking her vision, as shots endlessly stab through it.
Rey needs her sword. She reaches out her other hand. A brief line of electricity from her middle finger to the lightsaber appears, starting to burn the tool. Rey retracts her hand. The bottom of the saber is glowing bright orange. The shots continue.
REY Common, Rey, they need you, you can't fail here, not like this!
Rey closes her eyes and tries again, right as the saber twitches and begins to slide over. Rey lifts her head to witness this improvement in herself —only to vault a blinding bolt of raw power instead. The stream erupting recklessly out of Rey annihilates the lightsaber, searing all it touches. Panicked, she tries to aim it at the enemy's side (though they have already fled). Rey keeps failing to contain the overflow.
Finn and Luke rush from behind her.
FINN Rey!
Rey keeps her head still, fearing she would divert the stream at any new focus.
REY Stop! I can't control it!
Luke holds Rey's shoulder.
LUKE Yes, you can, child.
Luke reaches his other hand to Rey's as it unleashes the unending fury. He grabs it, his hand unaffected.
LUKE It's a part of you, miss Dagr. From your thoughts, to your hands, to the outside. Shut your thoughts...
Rey breathes and does so.
LUKE (continued) Now shut your hands...
Rey slowly does so. The stream begins to quiet.
LUKE (continued) And shut the power.
At last, the current stops. Rey is out of sorts, Luke and Finn helping her up.
LUKE Take her back. I'll handle it from here.
Finn nods and turns to help Rey.
REY Finn, I'm so sorry...
FINN Don't be Rey. You're alive and you held them off. You did great.
Rey shakes her head, feeling shame and worry that she has damaged a critical piece of Nize Wespha Bridge.
.
109 Bridge Control Room — Int. 109
Poe and Remahn have not changed their roles. Poe is now pacing back and forth, looking up at the MDS Krannek.
POE C'mon, c'mon, fly off.
REMAHN Still know what they're thinking?
POE They're paranoid. They think we can still turn this around. Honestly, I'm flattered.
REMAHN We may not anymore. The facility's damaged, our window of time has shrunk. I can activate the intersecting bridge now.
POE Don't. Make no mistake: if we gain the advantage, the Empire will brand all their troopers here with "shame" and fry them with us. Won't even give them an honorary burial.
REMAHN I've never heard that.
POE Finn's told me pieces.
REMAHN The great Traitor has only told the Republic "pieces?"
POE He's a Jedi. The only Republic connection he has is me. And I stopped asking him questions about it. Only ever got depressing answers.
Finn and Rey enter.
FINN Poe's how's the bridge coming?
POE Oh, we're ready to party, just waiting for dad to leave—
Poe turns away from the window to see Rey.
POE (continued) We got medkits in the back. Rest her right there.
Poe rushes to grab a kit, Finn walks her to a chair, and Rey sets herself down. She takes off her half-melted glove, the back of her exposed hand burned.
REY Is there any damage on the bridge, Remahn?
FINN Rey, don't focus on that now.
Poe returns with the medkit. He grabs Rey's arm, getting ready to treat the wound.
POE This is going to hurt.
Rey trusts the mask to hide her grimace as Poe lathers a chemical on the burn.
REMAHN Coolant valves on the fifth chamber. Heat has already risen above 2000K. As a bridge, this would be unacceptable, but as a spear —it will be sharp enough to stab through... for now.
FINN How long?
REMAHN A few minutes. Miss Dagr. It's heresy, but if I tell you the secrets of this bridge, is it possible for your powers to use it?
Rey freezes up. This is her mistake to solve. But can she?
REY I...
POE Wait! Wait! There it is look!
Poe frantically points at the MDS Krannek dimming the eight red tips of its cannon. Then, it stretches out into hyperspace.
POE Remahn!
REMAHN (praying) As a Shield Gaudian to all Bezdize and her people, I Remahn Sizenceez offer my soul made solid for peace and protection.
Remahn turns a key, changing the entire room's lighting.
.
110 Nize Wespha Bridge — Ext. 110
Uncountable numbers of Imperial Stormtroopers, walking tanks, supply cars, encampments, TIE-I.N.s flying to and from, and transports in the further back. All packed into the kilometer-wide space, the supply line doting into the distant horizon. They rest suspended on the transparent blue shields. And then:
The Nize Wespha entrance lights up, the exterior of the entire bridge instantly inflates and vaporizes, scattering the water underneath. The inside of the bridge lies untouched, the whole army's firm footing pulled from under them, and they fall into the ocean. Explosions from crafts that collide with each other or those that hit the water's surface. Most collapse and sink.
Instantly the battle is decided. Imperial solders at the front of the entrance continue to fight. Some jump off the Nize Wespha entrance to join their brothers.
.
111 Bridge Control Room — Int. 111
Our heroes revel in victory! The Cluster soldiers cheer and shout! Remahn stays quiet, observing the damage done to the facility on his monitors.
POE YES!
REY Thank the stars...
FINN We did it.
REMAHN Every chamber shell has shattered. It is not wise to celebrate here.
POE No worries, we got a ride out! Men! Get on board. We're getting outta here!
Cheers follow as the soldiers go back up the roof to The Eagle. Finn finishes wrapping Rey's hand.
.
112 Bridge Entrance Roof — Ext. 112
The soldiers crowd the roof while waiting for Rey to open and start The Eagle. As Finn, Poe, and Rey get to the top, they see smoke from the next island over. Along with a new pan-oceanic bridge. The laughter they were sharing at this concluded adventure stops.
POE That's impossible.
WORRIED REPUBLIC SOLDIER No communications from our persons' sir!
REY I'll start The Eagle.
Rey heads off for the named ship.
POE Yeah, we can hear all about it while we leave.
REMAHN That's Sech Meltize's bridge. The entrance on the other side was destroyed before I was captured.
FINN That only leaves more questions.
They all board The Eagle with the soldiers.
.
113 Eagle — Cockpit 113
Poe sits in the pilot's seat while the others get settled. Poe takes The Eagle out as Finn searches for information. He searches and searches through hologram snippets until he sees the fated message.
FINN Kylo Ren...
POE That guy?
Finn reads through the text of the transmission.
FINN He mounted a stealth attack through the mines, turned on the bridge from inside the island...
Poe sinks into his seat.
POE The Krannek was waiting on him.
FINN I don't know how he could have managed it.
POE Ah, whatever. You guys took him out before without the training. This fight's still over. It delays our celebration by a day, that's all.
FINN We have a visual of him after he opened the bridge:
Kylo Ren stands wearing the same mask and black robes but now with two new pieces of regalia. He looks out at a Republic camera recording him, tilts his head, and points to his ear. Then he turns, ordering a mortar to be fired into an empty part of the sea.
Finn and Rey stare at each other, feeling the grip of their deal with Kylo for the first time. Poe continues to talk as the shot fades to a busy Republic base at night.
.
114 Sen Temahtuhully Base — Int. 114
The messy makeshift base has clean banners of the Republic Cluster of Planets. Boisterous chatter fills the mess hall. Finn and Rey have empty food trays, neither looking at each other. They have held a long silence, nothing else is on their mind, but it is nothing they can say here —Poe blasts in.
POE Haha, finished without me? C'mon, you know the boys and me gotta relationship. I gotta celebrate with 'em some! Nice to give some moral in good faith too. Only one more day.
Poe is confused by the continued silence.
POE (continued) My food has gotten as cold as both of you now.
Finn needs to justify this atmosphere. He uses his secondary concern.
FINN Drowning is a terrible way to go.
Poe raises his eyebrows and backs up some.
POE You guys felt that or something? Training has come along. Neither of you brought this up before.
REY Poe... is there anything you wouldn't do to win this war?
Finn knows where this is going. Poe is frustrated.
POE Hey, if I could wash away every imp like this, I would.
REY Even a member of the Imperial Family?
POE Ohh-ho-ho-hoo yeah. That's HOW this war ends. I would love to take them out personally.
REY Even a pregnant member of the Imperial Family?
Poe freezes, all cheer leaves him.
POE ...
FINN This has gone too far; we don't need to address this—
POE If it would end the war.
Silence.
Rey gets up, leaving her tray.
REY I'll be in The Eagle.
Rey exits.
POE This a Jedi thing...?
FINN No, no,. I'll tell you in the morning, Poe. I should go too.
POE ...alright.
Finn takes his and Rey's trays with him. Poe feels a loneliness heretofore unknown.
REMAHN Jedi still have their pride outside your Republic, eh?
Poe turns to see the familiar frog-man, now dressed in a proper Shield Guardian garb. It looks silly to see him eating from the drab tray.
POE They get moody without their meditation.
Poe sits next to the man. He starts to eat.
REMAHN Not much different from where we left.
POE Haha, I'll give you that! The food here is enough to make a guy admit defeat—
REMAHN Not what I refer to.
POE ...then I don't...
REMAHN We'll be under your Republic now, yes? My planet's new wardens?
POE Us or the Empire. You made this choice.
REMAHN Yes. I made the same as my planet. Perhaps the decision we should have made a long time ago. To join the Republic.
POE ...I'd agree to that.
REMAHN Listen, Poe. You weren't around when the Empire had the galaxy. Had this planet. The slavery. The exploitation. The death. The darkest time in our history.
POE I know something about that.
REMAHN You don't. And you don't know the relief of Skywalker's victory. That was... everything. After so much, we had our planet back. We had those still alive. We could enjoy peace. Rebuild. Then you and your ilk wanted to go back to that war. For a Galactic Empire shrunk to planets. We moved on.
POE The Empire didn't. We knew that —you knew that. You, and every planet that rejected the call to reunion, let the Empire make this weapon. Now your "darkest time" isn't over —its intermission is. We could have ended this together.
REMAHN Perhaps you're right.
POE Well, uh,.. yeah.
REMAHN And now we will be punished for our past decision for peace?
POE Hmm?
REMAHN I only wanted to hear the average Cluster opinion. How you would vote in your democracy. We cowards are the cause of this in your mind. Any demand a righteous toll in the name of our union.
POE No...
REMAHN Yes. The other newly allied planets have become your factories. For soldiers, weapons, food.
POE That will end after the war.
REMAHN We won't last the war, Poe. We are trapped imprisoned in a sinking cage by chaining ourselves to your external bureaucracy. You will give priority to your Cluster's base planets. The Empire can come back when it's safe and destroy us instantly. We will drown in this cage, but not before you take everything. Poe... You're a good man. I'll believe what you say. Will there be total conscription, like the Empire has? Will my grandsons be sent away into war?
Poe falls silent again.
REMAHN I see. I hope for our victory against the Galactic Empire.
Remahn moves away despite having food still. Poe is alone again. Alienated even from his lingering loyalty.
.
115 Eagle — Int. 115
Night has fallen. Rey quietly opens the door to the boys' room. Poe is deep asleep. Finn and Rey lock eyes, get up slowly, and leave The Eagle. Poe stirs to the sound of the door closing. No Finn or Rey. He gets out to find them.
116 Sen Temahtuhully Docks — Ext. 116
We follow Finn and Rey along with Poe. Finn and Rey take a small watercraft and leave without tipping anyone off. Poe takes one too, a distance behind.
117 Sech Meltzier Ocean — Ext. 117
Poe stops his boat. A TIE-I.N. is hovering over the surface. Seeing Finn and Rey continue toward it compounds his deep concern. Poe takes out binoculars to see the meeting. The TIE-I.N. opens to show Kylo Ren. Finn is saying something to Rey before a long hug. Rey gets up as Kylo extends a hand to help her into the craft. Rey disappears inside. Kylo and Finn stare at each other for a time. Kylo turns away, his ship leaves.
Finn stays in place, watching until the ship is gone. He sits back down and begins returning to the base. Once close enough, he and Finn lock eyes.
Finn looks caught, Poe looks enraged.
.
118 Eagle — Int. 118
They return wordlessly. Finn is calm and prepared. Poe waits for the door to close, keeping everything bottled until absolute privacy. BB8 will awaken and bounce his head back and forth, terrified at Finn and Poe's exchange.
POE You're traitors!
FINN Poe—
POE All this time, you've been both been the spies!
FINN It's the opposite.
POE Shut! Up! Everything you have done, we did, you used to help the Empire! After everything you told me, everything they have taken from you, and you still chose them!
FINN Rey wanted to say goodbye to you.
POE Urghhh! Fine, explain what is going on.
FINN We didn't defeat Kylo. He humiliated us back then.
POE ...then?
FINN He didn't want to kill us. He wanted Rey. She's a lost daughter of the Imperial Family: House Galencia. The same house Kylo is from.
Poe is connecting many dots. Especially about statements made earlier at dinner. He is staggered but still has residual fumes from anger.
POE Woah, woah, back up, but...
FINN He gave us this ship and you and Vilpus' lives, in a trade that one day she would be returned to him... and her house. Whenever he chose to take her.
POE And you just let the most powerful Force user in the galaxy rejoin the greatest evil?
FINN Of course not.
POE Mmm?
Finn shoots Poe the smile he learned from his friend.
FINN Did you really think I didn't make a plan?
.
.
.