Blood dripped down the pilot's forehead as he lifted his head to look at you. The doors slid shut and you glanced around the small room to make sure that it was empty. It was.

"Listen close, pilot," you said, stopping in front of him. "I am going to release you. In return, you and I are leaving together. Am I clear?"

"What?" he mumbled, eyebrows stitched together.

"This is a rescue," you clarified. You typed in your code, releasing the man from his restraints in the chair. "I need a pilot."

Slowly he moved, glaring at you as if he did not trust that you were really letting him go free. You raised your eyebrows and waved him forward, telling him to get up.

He did and as he fell forward off of the chair, he stumbled. You caught him by grabbing his arm. He stood in front of you and you pushed his wrists together and handcuffed them.

"No one can know I'm helping you, got it? If you blow this, we both die."

"Why are you helping me?" he asked.

You looked up at him. "Because something inside of me is telling me that this is the right thing to do."

The pilot stared at you, clearly still confused. He examined your face as you looked around the interrogation room, taking into consideration all you were risking, all you could take with you, and all that you had to leave behind.

"You seem confused," he said.

"Nervous is a better word." You patted your holster; your blaster was there. "I am about to betray my entire family."

"You haven't thought much on this  plan, have you?" he pressed.

"No, I have not," you said. "And you are starting to really annoy me, pilot." You bit your lip. "I feel like I am forgetting---"

Suddenly, the doors opened, and you stepped backwards and turned. One hand grabbed the pilot's elbow, the other touched your blaster, and in stepped a stormtrooper.

"FN-2187," you whispered, and it was like everything had fallen into place. You smiled. "Of course."

He stepped inside and pulled his helmet off. "I knew you would be here. I want to go, too."

The pilot looked from you to the stormtrooper, back to you. "What is happening right now?"

"A rescue mission," you said, beaming now. You looked at the pilot. "We're going to escape with you."

"This is the right thing to do," FN-2187 said. 

"Man, the First Order really has a hard time keeping their employees, huh?" the pilot muttered.

"We need a pilot," the stormtrooper said to you. 

"We have one," you said. "Right? You can fly a TIE-Fighter?" 

"I can fly anything," the pilot promised, grinning. "We're gonna do this."

"Yeah?" FN-2187 whispered. 

"Yeah, but we gotta do it now," you said. "Follow my lead."

FN-2187 put his helmet back on his head. He held the pilot by the arm. You walked in front of the two, leading them out of the interrogation room and towards the hangar.

In the midst of all of the people working, you felt the pressure on you. But you'd grown used to remaining calm under pressure. If anyone glanced at your face, at your blank eyes, they'd look away, not thinking a thing about it.

"Okay, stay calm, stay calm," the stormtrooper was whispering behind you. 

"I am calm," the pilot muttered, moving forward with every tap of the blaster against his back.

"I was talking to myself."

"This way," you said, not looking over your shoulder. You took a sharp turn to the left and the men followed suit behind you.

You slid into the TIE-Fighter first, and the stormtrooper and pilot slipped in after you. You stood in the cramped space and gestured for the pilot to take a seat. 

"No, that's okay," he said. "I'll stand. You take the seat."

"I appreciate you being a gentleman," you said, flipping switches. "But I am much smaller than you are, pilot, and I can handle standing up. Just promise me you won't wreck the ship, okay?"

"You have my word, ma'am," he said, flashing a grin. He sat down in the seat. "Can you shoot?"

"Blasters, I can," the stormtrooper said. He took the seat behind the pilot. 

"Well, same principle. Use the toggle on the left to switch between missiles, cannons, and mag pulse. Use the sight on the right to aim. Triggers to fire." 

"This is very complicated," he muttered.

"You can do it, soldier," you said to him, and he glanced up at you nervously as he gripped the toggle.

"Hang on," the pilot said to you, and you gripped his seat tight and squatted down slightly, fitting your hips in the space between the curved wall and the arm of the chair.

Expertly, the pilot began to push and pull on different parts of the ship. He grabbed the toggle used to turn the ship and yanked it, and as he punched a switch, the TIE-Fighter began to rise off of the wall. It teetered slightly, getting caught on its own cable.

"I can fix this!" the pilot shouted. The TIE-Fighter beeped loudly. 

"You'd better," you said. Stormtroopers were gathering around the ship and aiming their guns upward. They fired shots against you.

The stormtrooper fired a shot and you watched as a ball of flames engulfed a group of soldiers. He kept firing and you watched the hangar erupt in chaos. 

"I got it!" the pilot exclaimed, and all of a sudden you felt the ship surge upward and you watched as the base grew further and further away and the stars grew bigger --- and whirled by faster. "Whoa! This thing really moves."

He turned back around and you hugged the seat. 

"Alright, we gotta take as many of these canons out as we can, or we're not gonna get very far," he said to the stormtrooper. 

"All right." 

"I'm gonna get us in position," he said. "Just stay sharp!" 

You suddenly felt sick at the jostling, and you gasped as you pressed your side harder against the seat. The pilot looked over at you. "You'd better hold on tight, princess," he said. 

"I'm not a princess," you mumbled, because that's all you could think to say.

"Really?" he asked. "I saw you with that general and Kylo Ren."

"So?" 

"So, doesn't the First Order have princesses?" 

"No," you said. "I'm an officer, thank you very much."

"Well," he said, smiling. "You're not anymore."

He turned the ship hard and suddenly there wasn't anymore time for talking as you watched the cannons fire shots of green at you. The pilot managed to dodge each and every shot impressively. The stormtrooper behind you was panicking; his breaths were loud and continuous.

"Up ahead! Up ahead, you see it? I got us dead in the center. It's a clean shot." 

"Okay, got it," the stormtrooper said. He followed the pilots instructions and fired, and hit the canon head on. "Yeah!" 

"Yes!" the pilot cheered, and you grinned. 

"Did you see that? Did you see that?!" 

"I saw it," the pilot said. "Hey --- what's your name?"

"FN-2187."

"FN... what?" 

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

"Well, I ain't usin' it. FN, huh? Finn. I'm gonna call you Finn. Is that alright?"

"Finn. Yeah. Finn, I like that." 

"What about you, princess? You got a name?" he asked. 

"I do," you said, "but I think you'd do best by not calling me princess."

"I'll learn my lesson one of these days," the pilot said, and his smile was so charming that you found yourself staring for a second too long.

"My name is ___," you told him. 

"I'm Poe, Poe Dameron," he said. 

"It's nice to meet you, Poe," Finn said.  You could tell he was grateful to be free. You felt the same.

"It's nice to meet you guys, too!"

Back on the ship, Hux stared nervously out of the viewport, where he watched the stolen TIE-Fighter fire destroy their cannons.

"Sir, they've taken out our turbolasers." 

"Use the ventral cannons," Hux replied, walking back across the floor. 

"Yes, sir. Bringing them online." 

"General Hux, is it the Resistance pilot?" Kylo Ren asked. 

"Yes," he said. "And he had help from two of our own. We are checking to identify which two stormtroopers they were." 

Kylo Ren turned and face the viewport. He paused for a moment and then said, "It was only one stormtrooper." 

"I'm sorry?" Hux asked. 

"It was one stormtrooper. FN-2187. The one from the village. And it was Officer ___."

Hux's jaw loosened, and he sneered. "Impossible."

"You believe I am lying to you, General?" Kylo Ren hissed, approaching his face. 

"Sir, ventral cannon's hot." 

Hux stared at the blackness of Kylo Ren's mask, a feeling of dread deep inside of him. He had a pit in his stomach; he was suddenly crumbling; his feelings showing through the cold, hard exterior he kept on at all times. 

"Fire," Kylo Ren said, turning away from the General. "I want those three dead."