"Okay, okay, stay calm. Stay calm..." FN-2187 said, quietly as he guided Poe through the hangar and towards the TIE fighters. To make them seem as unsuspecting as possible, FN-2187 was pretending to escort Poe somewhere with one arm restraining him and the other arm holding his blaster that was pointed at Poe's back.

"I am calm." Poe stated.

"I was talking to myself." FN-2187 confirmed which earned him a concerned but understanding look from Poe. He'd be scared too if he were in his shoes. They could both see the TIEs lined up on large racks that went upwards diagonally along the side of the hangar.

"Not yet..." FN-2187 warned. No matter how badly they both wanted to run to the fighters, they couldn't draw attention to themselves too early. FN-2187 knew that the moment they departed, the First Order would be alerted to their escape, which is why they had to be careful.

"Okay, go!" FN-2187 said, directing Poe to the ladder leading up to the TIEs. They chose the first TIE in the row, opening the hatch and climbing inside. Luckily, these ships were designed to have two seats, the pilot's seat facing the front and the gunner's seat facing the back of the ship. For obvious reasons, FN-2187 took the seat in the back.

"Always wanted to fly one of these things!" Poe said, excitedly as he pressed buttons and flipped tiny switches, readying the starfighter for takeoff.

"Can you shoot?" Poe asked FN-2187. "Blasters only." He answered. Poe continued to talk as he kept prepping the ship for takeoff.

"Okay, good. Same principle. Use the toggle on the left to switch between missiles, cannons, and mag-pulses, use the sight on the right to aim... triggers to fire." Poe instructed. He would've taken his time more, but they were in a hurry, so he hoped the trooper had good ears.

"This is very complicated..." FN-2187 said, looking at all the controls.

"You'll get the hang of it! If they're on our tail by the time we leave, you'll have to!" Poe reassured, although FN-2187 was a little discouraged by that last part. Suddenly, the ship roared to life and in no time at all, they were taking off.

There was just one problem... the fueling cable was still attached to the left wing and was preventing them from taking off. "Oh sh... I can fix this! I can fix this!" Poe exclaimed, pressing more buttons. "Kinda mucks up our whole plan of leaving unnoticed!" He continued. FN-2187 noticed the troopers in the hangar setting up turrets to destroy the fighter they were in. "Poe! PO-"

"I see 'em! I see 'em! Keep them off our tail, would you?! Learn to use those controls!" Poe instructed. FN-2187 took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He remembered Poe's instructions thankfully, so he pressed the triggers, opening fire on the troopers. The laser blasts were huge and wiped out the stormtroopers easily. When the fighter happened to hover in front of the hangar control tower, he opened fire on that as well. For good measure, he also destroyed any other TIE fighters that were in the hangar. These were my friends... am I really okay with this? FN-2187 asked himself. No! He made the choice to leave when they had the chance and they didn't. He's in too deep now. So, it's either them or him.

"Yes!" Poe shouted as FN-2187 heard the cable snap loose. FN-2187 had to brace himself for the sudden acceleration out of the hangar. In just a couple seconds, they were already gaining distance from the destroyer.

"WOAH! This thing really moves!" Poe said, surprised.

The TIE made a sharp turn and went under the Finalizer to be greeted by turrets shooting at them on sight.

"Alright, so we need to destroy as many of those turrets as we can, or we won't get very far! You think you can do that?" Poe asked. FN-2187 hesitated but responded "Yeah... yeah, alright!"

"Good. I'm gonna get us in position, so stay sharp!" Poe ordered, moving the fighter into position. FN-2187 couldn't help but admire Poe's piloting skills. He had only been flying a TIE fighter for under a minute and is already a pro. The lasers flying past them put his head back in the game. Now is not the time!

"Alright, you see that? Up ahead?!" Poe asked, referring to the turbolasers. "I got us dead center! It's a clean shot!"

FN-2187 looked at the targeting computer, unsure of himself at first, but seemed only 50% confident in his aim. "Yeah... yeah, I got it." He hoped he wasn't jinxing it. Focus... just stay focused...

After flipping some switches, he was ready to fire. The green lasers shot out and flew directly at the cannons. It was a direct hit and the turbolasers were destroyed in a matter of moments. The two men cheered in excitement.

"Did you see that?! DID YOU SEE THAT?!" FN-2187 said, enthusiastically. "I saw it!" Poe laughed.

They flew through the empty space at the front of the Finalizer, dodging turbolaser blasts and TIEs that were now joining the battle. As they flew, Poe couldn't help but find now a good time to ask the stormtrooper a question he didn't get to ask earlier.

"Hey, so what's your name?"

"FN-2187!" He answered with complete and total honesty. "F... what?!" Poe tried to remember the name... who was he kidding? That's not even a name!

"That's the only name they ever gave me!" FN-2187 responded. Poe was bewildered by the fact that the First Order wouldn't even give their troopers proper names. This guy had to be taken in at such a young age... a whole childhood, a whole life... spent with people like that... Poe thought to himself. If they wouldn't name their recruits, then Poe would have to take on that job for them.

"Well, I ain't using it!" Poe started thinking of a name for this guy. It had to be something to be fond of, a name that he would get attached to. Then, it clicked.

"FN, huh? Finn! I'm gonna call you Finn! Is that alright?"

The trooper took a moment to consider it. It was a unique name. To him, it sounded fitting. It sounded... it just sounded right. "Finn... yeah, I like that! I like that!" Finn declared.

"I'm Poe! Poe Dameron!" He introduced himself. "Good to meet you, Poe!" Finn said. "Good to meet you too, Finn!" Poe responded as they continued to dodge the enemy fire being directed at them.

***

Hux paced back and forth on the bridge anxiously. A trooper? One of our own? Letting a prisoner escape? This is... this is unacceptable! Impossible! The gall!

"Sir! They've taken out all our turbolasers!" A deck officer reported. "Use the ventral cannons!" Hux commanded. "Yes sir! Bringing them online!" The officer said.

"General Hux." The last voice Hux wanted to hear at this moment said. He looked to his right as Kylo Ren stormed into the room. "The rogue fighter... is it the Republic pilot?" He inquired.

"Yes... and he had help... from one of our own." Hux said with a layer of disgust in his voice. Kylo Ren turned away in thought as Hux continued. "Right now, we're checking the registers to see which trooper it was."

Kylo Ren searched through his memories, using the Force to give him the answers he needs. Then, he remembered... he remembered confusion, anxiety... fear... then, he saw his answer.

"The one from the village... FN-2187." Kylo Ren concluded. Hux looked at him in confusion, but quickly pushed it aside after remembering the nature of Kylo Ren's abilities. Any lead was good at this point, even if it came from a mystic.

"I need FN-2187's full file now!" Hux ordered, loudly.

"Sir! Ventral cannons are hot!" An officer reported.

"Fire." Hux ordered.

END OF CHAPTER 6