Star Wars (2015) 2

THE UNIVERSE'S GREATEST TALE OF ADVENTURE CONTINUES ONWARD!

• The Rebel forces persist in their attack upon Cymoon 1!
• Luke Skywalker finds himself trapped by Darth Vader!
• Han, Leia, and their comrades are caught in a trap! [1]

Instead of heeding the counsel of Obi-Wan Kenobi to flee from Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker chooses to confront the Sith Lord head-on. Vader scoffs at Luke's Jedi training, observing that Luke's handling of a lightsaber is reminiscent of an "untrained child." Nevertheless, Vader seems intrigued by the young rebel's identity.

Luke, filled with rage, holds Vader accountable for the death of his father; however, Vader doesn't recognize him, stating that he has slain too many fathers to recall them all. Luke then launches an attack on Vader, but his limited training is no match for the Sith Lord's skills. Vader effortlessly deflects Luke's strikes, knocks the young Jedi to the ground, and uses the Force to snatch Luke's lightsaber from his grasp.

Rather than ending Luke's life, Vader maintains his curiosity regarding Luke's identity and who dispatched him to Cymoon 1. Fueled by anger, Luke reveals that he was present at the Death Star when Vader killed Obi-Wan. Vader then ridicules Obi-Wan as a subpar Jedi Master, citing Luke's poor lightsaber skills as evidence. Vader demands that Luke disclose his knowledge of the Rebellion's strategies, the purpose of his mission to Cymoon 1, and the identity of the pilot who destroyed the Death Star.

Despite Vader's threat of immediate execution, Luke refuses to divulge any further information to the Sith Lord. Aware of the futility of his efforts, Vader prepares to carry out the execution. However, just as he is about to deliver the fatal blow, he realizes for the first time that he is holding his old weapon from his time as a Jedi.

Vader, taken aback and bewildered by this discovery, momentarily hesitates in delivering the killing blow. This brief distraction provides Han Solo, who is piloting the rogue AT-AT walker, with an opportunity to intervene. The AT-AT crashes into the room where Luke and Vader were facing off, causing both of them to be thrown apart.

Han informs Luke via the intercom that he is attempting to clear a path through the facility and that Luke should join the rescued prisoners in following the AT-AT out of the facility. Meanwhile, Princess Leia Organa criticizes Han's clumsy piloting of the AT-AT, to which Han attributes the poor handling to the vehicle's flawed design. Leia angrily points out that he nearly trampled a Twi'lek prisoner and should instead focus on trying to step on the surprised Vader. However, Han retorts that he is struggling enough to navigate the facility without trying to step on people. The two continue to bicker while attempting to pilot the AT-AT.

Vader quickly recovers and orders the stormtroopers to eliminate all the prisoners and rebels. Amidst the chaos, Luke seeks guidance from Obi-Wan on how to defeat Vader and prevent further prisoner deaths. However, he realizes this is in vain as he watches Vader effortlessly slaughter the prisoners with both his and Luke's lightsabers. Luke silently asks himself, "What have I done?"

Meanwhile, inside the AT-AT, Leia continues to berate Han, noting that the walker's cannons are still inactive. Han confidently assures her that R2-D2 is working on it. However, even R2-D2 seems to be struggling to activate the cannons, prompting Leia to hope and plead over the intercom for C-3PO to arrive in the Millennium Falcon as soon as possible.

However, C-3PO is nowhere near being able to rescue his crew, as he observes that the local species have arrived and begun scavenging the Falcon for its parts. Leia demands that Threepio find a way to reach the facility as quickly as possible.

A reluctant Threepio complies, grabbing a cloak to disguise himself from the scavengers and a small blaster pistol. He exits the Falcon and politely asks the scavengers to cease their activities before attempting to intimidate them into believing he is "seriously armed."

However, the ploy fails miserably when Threepio clumsily drops the blaster and his cloak falls off. Threepio immediately surrenders. When the scavengers attempt to communicate with him, Threepio is unable to understand their language despite his exceptional language skills. The scavengers then decide to blast him.

Meanwhile, Luke is trying to gather the few remaining prisoners, but his efforts are in vain as Vader and the stormtroopers continue to easily find and kill the prisoners. Luke begins to lose hope, silently telling Obi-Wan that he is not his father and that he is just a simple farm boy.

However, he suddenly notices a group of parked 74-Z speeder bikes. Recalling his speeder bike skills, he rushes over and jumps onto a bike, charging towards Vader and the stormtroopers at full speed. With cannons blazing, Luke eliminates the stormtroopers surrounding Vader.

As Luke speeds away, Vader is visibly impressed by Luke's flying skills, causing him to further contemplate the boy's identity and Obi-Wan's interest in him. However, he doesn't have much time to ponder as Han finally focuses on using the AT-AT to step on Vader.

As Han raises the AT-AT's front right leg to crush Vader, he is bewildered when the leg refuses to come back down to earth. Leia realizes that Vader is using the Force to hold the leg in the air. Han tries to argue that what Vader is doing is impossible, but Vader's Force powers are undeniable.

However, at that moment, Artoo finally manages to get the blaster cannons working, and Han desperately fires them at Vader. Vader is struck by the blaster cannons, sending him flying and forcing him to release his hold on the AT-AT. The walker, now free, finally smashes its way out of the facility.

Leia, overjoyed by Artoo's work, remarks that she could kiss him, which elicits a jealous reaction from Han. He then angrily tries to communicate with Threepio. However, Threepio is being rounded up in pieces by the scavengers and tells himself that he is going to shut down for a while.

Amidst the chaos, Vader loses his grip on his old lightsaber, which Luke quickly retrieves. Han announces over the intercom that Vader has been destroyed, but Luke, who is on his way to regroup with the AT-AT, is skeptical that Vader was defeated so easily.

However, Vader was fortunate to survive the incident with the AT-AT. He was buried under the rubble of the collapsed hangar facility, and his helmet was blown off his head by the blast. He struggles to free himself and desperately tries to find and put on his helmet. However, he is unable to do so without a single stormtrooper witnessing the face of the horribly scarred Sith Lord. Vader, not wanting any witnesses to his true appearance, quickly kills the lone stormtrooper by twisting and snapping his neck.

He quickly regains his composure and is contacted over the intercom by Overseer Aggadeen, who reports that the core has gone into meltdown and pleads for evacuation of the facility. However, Vader coldly denies the request, stating that death would await Aggadeen anyway if he was unable to regain control of the reactor. He orders the remaining stormtroopers to regroup and hunt down the rebels, instructing them to eliminate all the rebels except for the young rebel he had previously encountered.