FN-2187 entered the Finalizer's detention block, heading for the torture room. A single stormtrooper stood guard at the door and lifted his head as 2187 approached.

"Ren wants the prisoner."

The guard nodded and opened the room, revealing the unconscious sky pilot. Poe roused as his restraints were unlocked and he looked to the two stormtroopers with tired confusion.

2187 led the shackled Poe through the corridors of the detention block at gunpoint. Unexpectedly, the stormtrooper ordered Poe into an empty cell. The sky pilot agreed, not having any other option.

FN-2187 turned Poe around to face him. "If you do exactly as I say, I can get you out of here alive."

Poe curled his face up in bewilderment. "...What?"

2187 removed his helmet. Nervous sweat poured down his face. "This is a rescue. I'm helping you escape. Can you fly a TIE fighter?"

Poe blinked a few times. "Are you with the Resistance?"

"What? No, no, no. I'm breaking you out. Can you fly a TIE fighter?"

"I can fly anything." Poe's face contorted as several thoughts competed for attention. "Why? Why are you helping me?"

2187's expression turned serious. "Because it's the right thing to do."

"You need a pilot."

"I need a pilot."

Poe smirked and nodded. "We're gonna do this."

FN-2187 smiled back hopefully. "Yeah."

TIE fighters were the First Order's answer to the New Republic's crosswing. Named after the batlike half animal, half mechanical mounts used by the Empire, these black and red flying machines were quite similar to their New Republic rivals, save for their hexagonal fuselage and three parallel wings. Another major difference was that instead of having a spot for a nautical automaton, TIE fighters had a tail gunner's seat.

Row after row of TIE fighter filled the main flight hangar of the Finalizer. The stormtrooper led the sky pilot through the busy hangar, occasionally drawing a curious glance from the other First Order personnel. 2187's black gambeson had grown soaked with his sweat.

"Okay," FN-2187 whispered. "Stay calm. Stay calm."

Poe turned his head to whisper to his acting captor. "I am calm."

"I'm talking to myself."

As they neared the front of a line of TIE fighters, a patrol walked by. 2187 stopped Poe to let them pass before the two of them made the final unimpeded dash to the front fighter.

Poe removed his unlocked shackles and jumped into the pilot's seat while 2187 climbed into the gunner's seat. The sky pilot removed his leather jacket and wrapped his hands around the TIE fighter's control sticks. "I've always wanted to fly one of these things. Can you shoot?"

2187 removed his helmet. "A carbine, I can."

Poe lit the engine's pilot light. "Okay, same principle. The handle on the right cocks the gun and advances the chain. Since that's a Moze gun, you only need to cock it once unless it misfires. The ring on the top and the little ball on the stick at the muzzle are your sights. Trigger is the thumb paddle above the grip handle."

The Moze was technically not the gun, but a modification to the widely used Treeby gun. A hole was bored into the bottom of the gun barrel and a swing arm was fitted that used the pressure from firing to advance the chain and recock the gun. This marvellous mechanism, while awkward, allowed a Treeby to fire continuously with a single press of the trigger.

FN-2187 touched each aspect Poe described in turn. "This is very complicated."

Poe disengaged the propeller brake and the TIE fighter lurched under its own power. It rolled forward, gaining speed until it violently jerked to a halt when the still connected fuel hose ran out of slack. The propeller hummed louder and louder as the Stirling engine came up to temperature.

"I can fix this," Poe stated with an edge of worry.

The hangar's flight control tower immediately took note of the attempted escape. "We have an unsanctioned departure from bay two."

The flight control officer glared at the TIE fighter. "Alert General Hux. And stop that fighter."

Stormtroopers sprang into action, loading their carbines and rushing towards the snared TIE. 2187 charged his Moze gun and aimed it at the encroaching soldiers. An explosive projectile punched through two troopers before detonating against a third. Their comrades ran to cover behind the other rows of TIE fighters to try to fight back.

The canvas and wood of the fighters did nothing to stop each subsequent shot 2187 sent. Explosive shells ignited fuel and set off ammunition, turning parts of the hangar into infernos. Limbs, bodies, and ruined flying machines littered the hangar while further explosions drowned out the roar of flames and the barking of orders.

Poe turned the control sticks left and right in an attempt to use the motion to dislodge the fuel hose. The TIE's wood and rubber wheels screeched across the hangar floor in protest, but the hose's brass threads started to give.

FN-2187 continued to fire and a chance ricochet sent one of the shells into the wide window of the control tower. Shrapnel and shards of glass embedded into the flight control crew.

Poe heard a ping from underneath the fuselage. "I think I got it."

Sure enough, a second later there came a second ping and the TIE fighter lurched forward again, free of any restraint. It flew out of the hangar, dipping for a moment before gaining altitude.

Poe leaned the sticks to start a turn. "This thing's more responsive than I thought!" With the turn completed, he pointed the TIE's nose towards the deck of the Finalizer. "We gotta take out as many of these antiair guns as we can or we're not gonna get very far."

2187 nodded. "All right," he said in between his rapid breaths. All around, fuzed shells burst, leaving clouds of smoke.

"I'm going to get us into position. Up ahead are two guns. Hit the one to your left after we pass over."

"Got it."

Poe opened fire with his fixed Moze gun, destroying the first of the gun emplacements flawlessly. "You should have a clean shot. Light it up!"

2187 lined up the sights and pressed the thumb trigger. Three rounds tore towards the antiair gun, with the second one directly hitting the ammunition box. A ball of fire and smoke engulfed the gun and the mangled bodies of the gun crew flew across the deck.

"Yeah," FN-2187 yelled victoriously. "Did you see that?!"

Poe smiled as wide as he could. "I saw it!" He serpentined to avoid small arms fire from the deck. "Hey, what's your name?"

"FN-2187."

"F... What?"

"That's the only name they ever gave me."

"Well, I ain't using it. F-N, huh? Finn. I'm going to call you Finn. Is that all right?"

"Finn... Yeah! Finn, I like that!"

"I'm Poe. Poe Dameron."

"Good to meet you, Poe."

"Good to meet you too, Finn."

A vein on General Hux's temple throbbed as he looked out the Finalizer's bridge window, watching the rogue TIE fighter flying away. "Why are they still in the air?"

"Sir, they've taken out our forward antiair batteries," answered one of the bridge crew.

"Use the seeker cannons!"

"Yes, sir. Activating now."

The throbbing in Hux's temple sped up upon Kylo Ren entering the bridge. Ren made a beeline for the General. "Is it the Resistance sky pilot?"

"Yes. And he had help... from one of our own. We're checking the registers to identify which stormtrooper it was."

Kylo's gaze went to the TIE in the distance. "The one from the village... FN-2187..."

"Sir, seeker cannons loaded and ready," stated the bridge crewmember.

Hux narrowed his eyes. "Fire."

From a turret near the bow, two cannons fired a pair of special projectiles tipped with pink crystals. Tails of blue flames streaked from the rears of these shells and their trajectories curved to follow the TIE fighter.

Poe swore. "Incoming! My right, your left! Do you see?"

"I see!" Finn opened fire towards the shells while Poe serpentined. Round after round flew past the shells until one managed to hit. The seeker shell exploded in a bright blue flash.

"Nice shot!"

Finn was so preoccupied with trying to hit the other shell that it took him some time to note their heading. "Wait, where are we going?"

"We're going back to Jakku. That's where."

Panic gripped Finn. "No, no, no! We can't go back to Jakku! We need to get away from here!"

"I gotta get my automaton before the First Order does."

"What?! An automaton?!"

"That's right. He's a micronaut, white and orange. One of a kind."

"I don't care what color he is! No automaton can be that important!"

"This one is, pal!"

"We've got to get as far away from the First Order as we can. We go back to Jakku, we die!"

Poe gnashed his teeth. "That automaton has a map that leads straight to Luke Skywalker."

Finn gripped his head. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

He was about to ask if Poe seriously believed that myth, but the seeker shell finally caught up to them. It exploded next to the TIE fighter, the blast knocking both Poe and Finn unconscious and shredding large sections of the wings and fuselage. Fuel oil flowed freely from the punctured tank.

"FN-2187 reported to my division, was evaluated, and sent to reconditioning," Captain Phasma explained to General Hux.

The red haired general skimread Finn's record. Nothing like this had ever happened since his father had instituted the new stormtrooper program. Raising them from stolen children was supposed to prevent any traitorous behavior. "No prior signs of nonconformity?"

"This was his first offense."

One of the bridge officers called out General Hux's name. "They've been hit, sir!"

"Destroyed?"

"Disabled but still airborne. They were heading back to Jakku. Based on current calculations, the fighter is projected to crash in the Goazon badlands."

"They were going back for the automaton," Hux surmised. "Send a squad to find the wreckage."

Finn regained consciousness with a violent start. All he could see was blue and for a fraction of a second, he wondered if the seeker shell had made him blind. He quickly realized that the blue was just the sky above and he was flat on his back.

He rolled over and climbed to his feet, looking around in each direction. As far as the eye could see, save for the wreckage of the TIE fighter's tail a short distance away, there was nothing but rolling dunes of sand.

Finn squinted and saw a faint column of smoke from over one of the dunes. He ran towards it and upon cresting the hill saw the burning wood and canvas of the TIE fighter.

Finn yelled Poe's name as he ran towards the wreck. The smoke obscured any attempt to see into the cockpit and stung his eyes, but Finn reached his hand in to rescue his friend. His fingers closed around something fabric.

"Poe! I've got you!"

He pulled and retrieved only Poe's leather sky pilot jacket. Finn started to try to reach in again when he noticed the flames spreading to the front Moze's ammo box.

Finn scrambled away from the wreckage and was knocked down by the resulting explosion. He stood shakily, saved by his armor, but was unconcerned about his own wellbeing. Nothing was left of the TIE fighter but smouldering remains and the burning splinters raining down around him.

Finn looked at the jacket in his hand. It was all that remained of his friend.

Finn followed the sun as it started its daily journey towards the horizon, slowly shedding his armor a piece at a time in an attempt to stave off the scorching heat. He had no idea where in Jakku he was, nor did he have any of the equipment he would need to survive in such a hostile environment, but even this was better than staying with the First Order. Once he was down to nothing more than his boots and black gambeson, Finn shaded himself with Poe's jacket.

The sun dipped low enough for Finn to need to adjust his hold on the jacket. His legs ached and he hadn't even seen so much as a bug or bird. Occasional breezes whispered past, depositing sand grains on his skin and clothing, but mercifully cooling him.

Finn crested a dune as the sun sank just low enough to be called late afternoon. Everything burned, from his knuckles exposed to the sun, to his arms holding up the jacket, to his legs, eyes, lungs, and throat. All that was forgotten the moment he saw what lay beyond the dune on which he stood. He cracked a faint smile of relief as he saw not just the blue of the sea, but what appeared to be a settlement sitting on the coast.

Kylo Ren and Armitage Hux strode down the length of the Finalizer's bridge, the General carrying himself with his arms folded behind his ramrod straight back while the dark warrior hunched forward and let his arms and clenched fists swing as he walked.

"Supreme Leader Snoke was explicit," said Hux. "Capture the automaton if we can, but destroy it if we must."

"How capable are your soldiers, General?"

"I won't have you question my methods."

"They're obviously skilled at committing high treason. Perhaps the Supreme Leader should consider using an army of homunculi instead."

Hux moved in front of Ren with a fire in his eye. "My men are exceptionally trained. Indoctrinated and trained from birth."

Kylo leaned in towards the General's face. "Then they should have no problem retrieving the automaton. Unharmed."

Hux glared at the dark warrior, unintimidated. "Careful, Ren, that your personal interests do not interfere with orders from Snoke."

Kylo Ren leaned even closer, almost close enough for his helmet's faceplate to touch Hux's nose. When he spoke, it was as a growl. "I. Want. That. Map. For your sake, I suggest you get it." He stormed away, leaving an annoyed General Hux standing in the middle of the bridge by himself.

General Leia read the newest message for a third time, still hardly able to believe the words and the tintypes in her hands. She looked up to the comms officer with a grim expression. "When was this message sent?"

"Five days ago, General."

Leia sighed through clenched teeth. "Thank you." She hurried over to Admiral Ackbar, who at the time was speaking with his aide. "You'll have to forgive my interruption, Admiral."

Ackbar immediately noticed the serious look on Leia's face and took the papers and tintypes she offered. He read the papers twice to make sure he hadn't made a mistake the first time and scanned his eyes over the tintypes. "This changes everything. We need to contact the Republic."

"I agree. I'll send Korrie to Hosnia immediately."

Korr Sella was a younger woman who was a naval commander for the Resistance and Leia's personal envoy to the New Republic. She answered her summons quickly and smiled as she walked up to Leia, but her smile vanished upon seeing the expressions of both her and Ackbar. "Yes, General?"

"I need you to take these to the Senate right away." Leia handed the papers and tin plates to Korr. "Tell them action must be immediately taken against the First Order."

Korr's eyes bulged as she looked at what was in her hands. "I... With all respect, even with this, will the Republic listen?"

"Not all the senators think I'm insane." Leia shrugged. "Or maybe they do. I don't care. This is about more than just me and them. They can't keep ignoring the First Order anymore, and they shouldn't have let things get this far."

Korr looked back at the images on the tin. "I'll do everything I can to convince them. They have to listen."

Leia put her hand on Korr's shoulder. "Start with the Chancellor, if you're able. I have full confidence in you, Korrie. I know you'll do everything you can."