Episode Six

During the climactic scene from the movie Return of the Jedi, the Rebel Alliance made one last push toward the Death Star, the most powerful, oppressive weapon in the galaxy.

The first group of rebels began by destroying the deflector shield on the forest planet Endor, to expose the vulnerabilities of the massive space station that it had been protecting. A second group led the frontal assault toward the Death Star, using small ships assembled from a dozen oppressed planets. A third group, led by Admiral Ackbar, a squidlike creature, engaged the Empire’s Star Destroyers to divert their attention away from the small rebel ships.

Luke Skywalker, having chosen not to kill the injured Darth Vader when he had the chance, was attacked by Emperor Palpatine. Palpatine then gave Luke a choice of either joining the Dark Side or dying for his beliefs. Luke chose to die for his beliefs. Darth Vader at first watched in confusion as Palpatine inflicted repeated lightning bolts of pain upon Luke. But ultimately, Darth Vader decided that saving a life is more important than controlling the universe. With the last of his strength, Darth Vader overpowered the Emperor and cast him into the bowels of his own terrible machine.

During this great battle came a poignant moment. The smallest of the rebel ships, an A-Wing fighter, careened toward the massive superstructure of one of the biggest ships in the Empire’s fleet, a Super Stardestroyer. The A-Wing crashed through and destroyed the Super Stardestroyer’s command tower, causing a chain reaction that inevitably led to the Empire’s flagship crashing into the surface of the Death Star. Moments later, the Death Star’s own power reactor imploded and collapsed from its own weight and power.

Watching the little A-Wing take on the Empire and overcome a seemingly undefeatable enemy, Admiral Ackbar, feeling that the long struggle was finally over, sighed and leaned back in his chair, quietly relieved.

Tonight, I felt like Admiral Ackbar.