Finn was stationed on the platform with four of the soldiers when Leia contacted him. The wind and mist from the waves battered the Resistance contingent so they had to hold down their helmets with one hand. They were all counting the minutes until they could leave this wretched planet, Finn more than all of them.

After her order, Finn switched over the HoloNet transceiver. He commanded the flight officer and soldiers in temporary housing to return to the shuttle. Upon arrival, Finn had set up an alternating watch on the platform and had ordered four of their soldiers to rest in the landing sector housing while the remaining soldiers kept the first watch. Now he needed them back.

"Set up a perimeter and look to the sky. A squadron of TIEs and a First Order shuttle are coming," he shouted over the wind.

The howling of the TIE fighters could be heard above the wind and grew louder as they approached. Although soldiers could not see them, they readied their weapons quickly and aptly, the unnatural sound causing them to look to the sky. The clouded strata rested so lowly in the sky that when the eight TIE fighters descended through the clouds, they appeared directly above Finn's crew. The TIEs stormed the platform, hitting the shuttle hard with laser cannon fire. One of its upright wings broke in half and collapsed onto the body of the ship. Then the shuttle raising up to one side upon being hit again, tilted a moment to a forty-five-degree angle and back as the fuselage burst.

The four soldiers were lucky enough to escape the blast just in time and gathered around the landing bay door. The Upsilon-class command shuttle approached.

"There goes our escape, Sir," a soldier yelled, the wind and TIE engines almost drowning his voice.

"Let me worry about an escape. That's a command shuttle. Whoever comes off that ship cannot reach the general!" Finn clamored back. The remaining soldiers arrived through the door.

"Mara and Kochack," Finn quickly addressed two of the arriving soldiers. "Take the pilots and find a new landing bay. They can do nothing here. Radio me when you have one secured."

"Yes, sir," they replied and ran off with the flight officer and pilot.

The shuttle settled on the platform, the engines disturbing the wet platform and Resistance ship debris; its black durasteel form temporarily hidden in the fog it created. The squad readied themselves for the battle, checking their weapons and spreading out into position.

The shuttle door opened, and five armored persons descended the ramp: a cloaked man with an electrostaff; another cloaked woman with a heavy precision blaster strapped to her back; a lean, armored woman with a short staff-like weapon; a brute of a man with electro-knuckles; and a man with a hooded helmet and an impressive side arm.

The Resistance squad began firing, the red blasts streaking through the foggy mist, illuminating it into an unnatural glow; but the shots met instantly glowing red beams. Three of the five adversaries having revealed red lightsabers and began deflecting blasts. The cloaked man and the brute deflected with their staff and knuckles. Not a shot obtained its target. They advanced. If that was not bad enough, Phasma with four stormtroopers exited behind them, undeterred, confident, and completely safe; followed by Kylo Ren.

Phasma was Finn's old captain before he defected. Her stormtroopers began firing from behind the bristling wall of lightsabers, protected from any fire. A soldier next to Finn took a blaster round to the chest and collapsed, gasping out a final breath.

Finn, exasperation on his face shouted above the blaster fire, "We're no match for them here! Get to the landing corridor!"

….

Leia whipped her arm up, a blaster in her right hand, and caught the mask with her left. She saw what had happened to her guards outside the door as she could see their limp bodies in the dispersing pink smoke. "You must think I'm crazy if you think I'll believe you're here to rescue me," she addressed the intruder.

"Listen, there isn't much time," Sabine snapped. "The Kaminoans have sold you out. The First Order arrived here days ago and has already made a deal with them. This all was a setup. They are already here!"

Zeb, wearing a mask, looked in the door. "We don't have time for this. We've got to go! Either she comes, or I carry her."

A laser blast zipped past the doorway.

"Oh, great, it looks like one of the Kylo Ren's men!" Zeb yelled and wildly fired a few blasts in retaliation.

"What!" Leia dropped her arm and threw on the mask, running into the smoke. Looking around the corner was another man dressed in green Mandalorian armor, darkly visible at the end of the hall. "Seems to be the fashion around here!"

He discharged another round. The wall reflected the blast inches from her head, sparks burning her cheek. Without thinking, she fired back a series of quick shots, used to following her instincts. A flash of red light danced at the end of the hall, glowing in the pink mist; the figure made a shadow behind it. It was a familiar dance, the dance of a lightsaber. Whoever that man was he was trained in the way of the Force: the dark side.

Leia looked at Sabine, "OK! Where are we going?"

"Follow me!" Sabine answered.

Zeb ran backward down the pristine hallway, trying to slow the assailant with rifle blasts, but none hit their targets. Either he missed, or they were deflected. Unfortunately, the Mandalorian was gaining. They ran through multiple rooms designated for the living quarters: lounging rooms, bath and spa rooms. Every room they ran through, attendants stood with surprise then ducked down as blaster fire filled the room.

"We've got to close one of these doors and lock it, or this is going to be a short mission!" Zeb shouted.

"I've got a better idea," Sabine countered. She grabbed two hand-held explosives from her belt. "You remember which path up ahead leads to our ship?"

"Yeah," Zeb answered, still firing desperately; losing hope in his ability to hit a target.

"Cause it's going to get pretty foggy."

They entered into another large common room full of Kaminoans and clones. It appeared to be a dining hall of some sort with at least a dozen corridors feeding into it. Sabine tossed the two explosives above her, and they attached to the ceiling. Grabbing two more, she quickly tossed them behind her on the smooth walls. Then she dropped two more on the floor. The two explosives on the roof exploded, causing a pink and yellow smoke from each explosive to fall from the roof. Each of the following erupted in blue, pink, green, and purple smoke. Soon, the whole room was thick with a purplish gray smoke. People began collapsing all throughout the room.

"Your smoke bombs won't stop him with that helmet," Zeb shouted out.

"Yeah, but we can blind him," Sabine said having pride in her plan.

The pursuer's red light saber was dimly visible as he entered the room. Sabine grabbed Leia's arm and pulled her to a corridor to the right. Zeb quit shooting and followed. They could hear the frustrated curses of the Mandalorian-clad knight behind them.

"That'll give us some time," Sabine said and smiled under her helmet.

Leia's transceiver alerted. It was Finn. "General Organa, do not go back to Platform 3309. It's been taken. Kylo Ren and his men are here. We are finding another platform for Captain Burke to pick us up."

"Don't worry about me. You get your men out of here. I'll manage my own escape," she said.

….

Finn and his men ran to the corridor. Another soldier screamed out with a deadly shrill as he was shot in the back and fell like a sack to the ground.

Kylo Ren looked to Phasma. "Follow them."

"Yes, sir," she responded and took her troopers to follow.

Kylo Ren then raised his communicator. "Jax, where is General Organa?"

"I'm afraid she has some help we hadn't planned for. She was accompanied by a Mandalorian and a Lasat-an ugly one too," the man who had been chasing after Leia responded.

"Don't give me excuses. You were left behind to avoid this! Do you know where she is?"

"Uh, give me a moment. I'm tapping into Kamino security right now and will find them

any . . . ah, here it is, they are heading for platform 2189."

"Good, stop them from leaving. We are coming now." Kylo Ren put away the communicator and coldly turned to his knights. "Lura, follow Phasma and cleanup if you need to."

The cloaked woman with the heavy blaster ran off to chase Phasma's squad.

"The rest of you are all coming with me." Kylo Ren ordered.

….

Finn was down to four soldiers and himself. They were now running through a gently curving corridor with blaster fire at their heels. Every fifty yards there was another landing platform, but no sign of Mara, Kochack, or the pilots. Another blaster round ripped past him hitting one of the soldiers in the head. Now it was down to him and three others.

"We need some breathing room!" he yelled as he fired at one of the door controls they approached. Hitting his target precisely, the blast door slid down.

"Hurry," he called to the soldiers. The first one ran through, the second ducked his head, the third bent over. Finn, a few steps behind, leapt and rolled under as the door sealed behind him.

"That won't stop them, but gives us time."

They continued down the corridor and after a few more platforms until Finn found the soldiers with the flight officer and pilot. The platform was empty except for a few maintenance ports to either side.

Finn ordered the flight officer to contact Captain Burke and arrange for a pickup.

"Cover that corridor," he commanded.

The five soldiers, two pilots, and Finn took cover at each maintenance port and aimed at the exit. They huffed and caught their breath in the brief moment. It was not long, however, before the contingent came to the door and used its side walls as cover. An initial volley of shots was fired from both sides; largely ineffective by both parties.

Lura stepped out into the open, raised her rifle, and fired two shots, aiming at targets forty yards away. One hit Mara's hand that was just outside of the port, destroying her hand and the blaster it held. She screamed out and clenched her arm to her chest. The other struck a firing soldier in the forehead, piercing his helmet and dropping him. Both were with Finn. The flight officer and pilot, also with Finn, slunk down, grasping their pistols but fearing to use them.

Lura changed the settings on her rifle, while Phasma and the stormtroopers laid down cover. Kochack and the other two soldiers fiercely returned fire. Lura looked down the barrel of her precision rifle, a calm sense of purpose taking her, she took a controlled breath, and with unblinking eyes aimed at the far maintenance port. She pulled the trigger with the effort of an uncaring executioner. The rifle kicked back into her faceplate, but she was unphased. It appeared that she missed, hitting only the port itself, but a well-hidden Resistance soldier fell over dead. She had shot him through the barrier.

Phasma then stepped out, as the troopers fanned to each side. Finn leveled his aim on Lura. Firing a blaster was the one thing he had confidence in, being the top of his class as a sharpshooter. If nothing else, he could hit a target, but it was not to be today; he caught a blast in his shoulder from Phasma's rifle. He dropped his gun in pain and watched as Lura gunned down the remaining two soldiers behind the opposite port. Finn, Mara, and the pilots were all that was left. All firing stopped.

"It's over! Drop your weapons and come out!" Phasma called in a triumphant boast.

Finn stepped slowly with his arms half raised. Mara and the pilot's followed. Six weapons focused on them.

"Down on your knees!" Phasma shouted, the mist dripping off her silver armor. The four fell down to their knees, with hands on their heads.

"So, Traitor FN-2187," she ridiculed.

Finn mumbled something under his breath through gritted his teeth.

"What was that, FN-2187?"

He spoke in a steady voice, "My name is Finn."

"Say that louder!" she shouted.

"My name is Finn!"

Phasma raised her blaster and shot the flight officer in the chest. He crumpled to the wet floor. "That is not how you address your superior officer. My name is Finn, what?"

"My name is Finn, Captain!"

Her voice calmed. "That's better, FN-2187."

She drew closer to him, "How does it feel to be giving orders?"

Finn remained silent. Phasma shot the other pilot dead.

"Give me an answer, traitor! How does it feel to be giving orders?"

He looked at all the dead men and women under his command. "It does not feel good, Captain!" He shouted, drips of sweat, mist, and tears falling from his face.

"I bet it doesn't. You had such potential, but you know that. It's obvious now: you were bred to take orders and trained to do just that. So tell me, how did we end up here? Where did you get this idea that you could be something else, other than the First Order?"

"I will not kill the innocent, Captain!" He shouted, anger dripping from him.

Though she was wearing a helmet, Finn could tell that she half-smiled at his answer. "Ah, but don't you see? You have killed your entire squad. You have tried to be something you are not meant to be, and their deaths are your fault." She raised her blaster and aimed it at Mara's head.

"Don't," Finn implored. Mara's eyes were wide and frightened.

"Don't, what!" she barked.

"Don't kill her, Captain."

"Again with the giving orders." She fired her weapon and Mara fell back lifeless. "You really don't know what you are, do you?"

She turned to the stormtroopers with her, "You are no longer needed here. Go back and secure the shuttle." They turned and left. Lura remained beside her silent.

"Do you know what you are, FN-2187?" she said in a low voice. She had waited till the troopers were well gone.

With no one left to protect but his own life, Finn had more confidence in his answers. Only his life was in jeopardy now. "I am a Resistance fighter, and my name is Finn!"

"No, that is not what you are. That is not your training, your breeding. You are all alike; expendable; you exist for one thing."

She raised the muzzle of her gun to his head and said, "You're cannon fodder."