SYNOPSIS
On board the Death Star, Grand Moff Tarkin presents Leia with a choice: tell him the location of the secret Rebel base, or watch her home planet of Alderaan be destroyed. Feeling dejected, Leia reveals Dantooine as the planet containing the Rebel base. Tarkin is pleased and continues with his demonstration none-the-less. The Death Star superlaser decimates the princesses homeworld.

Onboard the Millennium Falcon, Obi-Wan feels a disturbance in the Force. It was a feeling of death. Han lets everyone know they can stop worrying about the Imperials chasing them, and becomes miffed when everyone ignores him.

Artoo and Chewbacca are playing a game of holo-chess. Chewie is upset by a move made by the diminutive droid, and Han warns the duo not to upset him, as Wookiees have been known to rip people's arms out of their sockets. Threepio suggests that Artoo let the Wookiee win.

Luke is undergoing some lightsabre training with a remote. When Ben puts a blast shield over his eyes, he must learn to let the Force flow through him in order to block the stinging sensors emitted by the remote ball. Luke is able to deflect some shots and admits he could almost see the remote in his mind. Han scoffs at the possibility that a mystical energy field can control anyone's actions.

The ship emerges from hyperspace in an asteroid storm in the spot where Alderaan should be. Han tracks a one man TIE fighter back to an apparently small moon. As they get closer, however, they realize it's actually a very large space station. Before they can turn around, they become caught in a tractor beam and pulled into a docking bay.

An Imperial officer reports the remains of a Rebel base on Dantooine. Tarkin becomes upset and orders Leia to be terminated immediately. Vader says that she may still be of use, and informs Tarkin they have just captured the same freighter that blasted out of Mos Eisley. A stormtrooper tells Vader the ship is empty, but he demands it searched.

The scanning party is quickly replaced by Luke and Han and they infiltrate the control room and plug Artoo into the computer. They discover where the tractor beam holding the ship is located. Ben goes alone to dismantle the device. Just after he leaves, Artoo discovers that Princess Leia is also aboard. Luke and Han decide to rescue her and use Chewbacca as a prisoner to walk into the detention block.

They play on the ruse that Chewie is a prisoner being transferred from cell block TX-138. While the detention officer confirms this, Chewie 'breaks free' and Luke and Han, still in the stormtrooper armor, begin shooting the other guards, cameras, and sensor equipment. As Han tries to hold off reinforcements, Luke heads for cell 2187 and blasts it open, revealing Princess Leia. He tells her that Ben and her droids are with him, but their escape route is cut off by more stormtroopers. Leia blames Han who becomes sarcastic and defensive, insisting she might like her cell better. Han and Chewie begin firing the weapons at the oncoming troopers while Luke tries to raise Threepio over the comlink in time.