BEN: Stretch out with your feelings.

Luke stands in one place, seemingly frozen. The seeker makes a dive at Luke and, incredibly, he managed to deflect the bolt. The ball ceases fire and moves back to its original position.

BEN: You see, you can do it.

HAN: I call it luck.

BEN: In my experience, there's no such thing as luck.

HAN: Look, going good against remotes is one thing. Going good against the living? That's something else.

Solo notices a small light flashing on the far side of the control panel.

HAN: Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan.

Han and Chewbacca head back to the cockpit.

LUKE: You know, I did feel something. I could almost see the remote.

BEN: That's good. You have taken your first step into a larger world.

DEATH STAR - CONFERENCE ROOM: Imperial Officer Cass stands before Governor Tarkin and the evil Dark Lord Darth Vader.

TARKIN: Yes.

OFFICER CASS: Our scout ships have reached Dantooine. They found the remains of a Rebel base, but they estimate that it has been deserted for some time. They are now conducting an extensive search of the surrounding systems.

TARKIN: She lied! She lied to us!

VADER: I told you she would never consciously betray the Rebellion.

TARKIN: Terminate her...immediately!

HYPERSPACE: The pirate ship is just coming out of hyperspace; a strange surreal light show surrounds the ship.

MILLENNIUM FALCON - COCKPIT.

HAN: Stand by, Chewie, here we go. Cut in the sublight engines.

Han pulls back on a control lever. Outside the cockpit window stars begin streaking past, seem to decrease in speed, then stop. Suddenly the starship begins to shudder and violently shake about. Asteroids begin to race toward them, battering the sides of the ship.

HAN: What the...? Aw, we've come out of hyperspace into a meteor shower. Some kind of asteroid collision. It's not on any of the charts.

The Wookiee flips off several controls and seems very cool in the emergency. Luke makes his way into the bouncing cockpit.

LUKE: What's going on?

HAN: Our position is correct, except...no, Alderaan!

LUKE: What do you mean? Where is it?

HAN: Thats what I'm trying to tell you, kid. It ain't there. It's been totally blown away.

LUKE: What? How?

BEN: Destroyed...by the Empire!

HAN: The entire starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet. It'd take a thousand ships with more fire power than I've...

A signal starts flashing on the control panel and a muffled alarm starts humming.

HAN: There's another ship coming in.

LUKE: Maybe they know what happened.

BEN: It's an Imperial fighter.

An explosion bursts outside the cockpit window, shaking the ship violently. A tiny, finned Imperial TIE fighter races past the cockpit window.

LUKE: It followed us!

BEN: No. It's a short range fighter.

HAN: There aren't any bases around here. Where did it come from?

The fighter races past the Corellian pirateship.

LUKE: It sure is leaving in a big hurry. If they identify us, we're in big trouble.

HAN: Not if I can help it. Chewie...jam it's transmissions.

BEN: It'd be as well to let it go. It's too far out of range.

HAN: Not for long...

The pirate ship zooms over the camera and away into the vastness of space after the Imperial TIE fighter. The tension mounts as the pirateship gains on the tiny fighter. In the distance, one of the stars becomes brighter until it is obvious that the TIE ship is heading for it. Ben stands behind Chewbacca.

BEN: A fighter that size couldn't get this deep into space on its own.

LUKE: It must have gotten lost, been part of a convoy or something.

HAN: Well, he ain't going to be around long enough to tell anyone about us.

The TIE fighter is losing ground to the larger pirateship as they race toward camera and disappear over head. The distant star can be distinguished as a small moon or planet.

LUKE: Look at him. He's headed for that small moon.

HAN: I think I can get him before he gets there...he's almost in range.

The small moon begins to take on the appearance of a monstrous spherical battle station.

BEN: That's no moon! It's a space station.

HAN: It's too big to be a space station.

LUKE: I have a very bad feeling about this.

BEN: Turn the ship around.

HAN: Yeah, I think you're right. Full reverse! Chewie, lock in the auxiliary power.

The pirateship shudders and the TIE fighter accelerates away toward the gargantuan battle station.

LUKE: Why are we still moving towards it?

HAN: We're caught in a tractor beam! It's pulling us in!

LUKE: But there's gotta be something you can do!

HAN: There's nothin' I can do about it, kid. I'm in full power. I'm going to have to shut down. But they're not going to get me without a fight!

BEN: You can't win. But there are alternatives to fighting.

As the battered pirate starship is towed closer to the awesome metal moon, the immense size of the massive battle station becomes staggering. Running along the equator of the gigantic sphere is a mile-high band of huge docking ports into which the helpless pirateship is dragged.

DEATH STAR - HUGE PORT DOORS: The helpless Millennium Falcon is pulled past a docking port control room and huge laser turret cannons.

VOICE OVER DEATH STAR INTERCOM: Clear Bay twenty-three-seven. We are opening the magnetic field.

DEATH STAR -- DOCKING BAY 2037: The pirate ship is pulled in through port doors of the Death Star, coming to rest in a huge hangar. Thirty stormtroopers stand at attention in a central assembly area.

OFFICER: To your stations!