Read Online The Force Awakens (Star Wars) by Alan Dean Foster - Free Book Online
Authors: Alan Dean Foster
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instrumentation. In a very short period of time, his mood had swung from fatalistic to exalting. Not only was he alive, not only was he free—he had a ship! Andwhat a ship: a Special Forces TIE fighter. He was certain of one thing as he maneuvered around the immense destroyer: Nobody was going to make him a prisoner of the First Order ever again.
“This thing really moves.” He shook his head in admiration. Fine engineering knew no politics. “I’m not going to waste this chance: I owe some people in that ship a little payback. We’ll take out as manyweapons systems as we can.”
The trooper had expected to run as far and as fast as the TIE fighter would take them. “Shouldn’t we go for lightspeed as soon as we can?”
A tight, humorless grin crossed Poe’s face. “Someone on that ship called me the best pilot in the Resistance. I wouldn’t want to disappoint him. Don’t you worry. I’ll get us in position. Just stay sharp and follow my lead.”He paused only briefly. “How about this? Every time you see the destroyer, you shoot at it.”
Still unhappy with the direction their escape had taken, FN-2187 relaxed ever so slightly. “I can do that.”
It wasn’t a ship, Poe told himself as he gleefully manipulated the manual instrumentation. It was a part of him, an extension of his own body. As fire began to lance out toward them fromthe immense starship, he whirled and spun the TIE fighter, utilizing predictors aswell as his own skills to avoid the blasts. Taking them underneath the mother ship, he danced back and through gaps and openings, executing maneuvers beyond the abilities of all but the best pilots. Several skirted the edge of believability. Poe didn’t care. He was free and he was flying.
Behind him, the renegadetrooper unleashed blast after blast, triggering explosions in a frenzy of random damage that could only panic and confuse those on the vast vessel above them. A brace of cannons loomed ahead—but the trooper seemed content to fire indiscriminately at their surroundings. That needed to change, Poe knew, or they would never get the chance to jump to lightspeed.
“Dammit, a target is coming toyou. My right, your left. You see it?”
Targeting controls brought the major weapons emplacement into bold view on one of the trooper’s screens. “Hold on. I see it.” He readied himself, then unleashed fire at the precise moment when aptitude interlocked with instrumentation.
The whole gun emplacement erupted in a rapidly shrinking fireball. Debris spun around them as Poe took them throughthe devastation, the fighter’s shields warding off whatever he could not directly avoid.
Unable to restrain himself, the trooper let out a yell that echoed around the cockpit. “
Yes
!
Did you see that?”
Poe whipped the TIE fighter around to the side of the
Finalizer
. “Told ya you could do it! What’s your name?”
“FN-2187.”
“FN-whaa?”
“That’s the only name they ever gave me.”
The longing in the trooper’s voice was all too human. That, and something more. Something that had driven him, among his hundreds, his thousands of colleagues, to step outside the comfort zone of training and regimentation, something that had ignited some exceptional spark of individualism within him. Poe knew that spark was present in the man behind him, and he now made it his task to seethat it did not fade away. But where to start?
“If that’s the name they gave you, then I ain’t using it. ‘FN,’ huh? I’m calling you Finn. That all right with you?”
Behind him, the trooper considered. A delighted smile spread slowly across his face. “Yeah, ‘Finn.’ I like that! But now you’re one up on me.”
“Sorry?”
“I don’t know your name. If you tell me it’s RS-736 or somethinglike that, I’m going to be seriously confused.”
The pilot had to laugh. “I’m Poe. Poe Dameron.”
“Good to meet you, Poe!”
“Good to meet you, Finn!” Settling on a line of attack, he
“This thing really moves.” He shook his head in admiration. Fine engineering knew no politics. “I’m not going to waste this chance: I owe some people in that ship a little payback. We’ll take out as manyweapons systems as we can.”
The trooper had expected to run as far and as fast as the TIE fighter would take them. “Shouldn’t we go for lightspeed as soon as we can?”
A tight, humorless grin crossed Poe’s face. “Someone on that ship called me the best pilot in the Resistance. I wouldn’t want to disappoint him. Don’t you worry. I’ll get us in position. Just stay sharp and follow my lead.”He paused only briefly. “How about this? Every time you see the destroyer, you shoot at it.”
Still unhappy with the direction their escape had taken, FN-2187 relaxed ever so slightly. “I can do that.”
It wasn’t a ship, Poe told himself as he gleefully manipulated the manual instrumentation. It was a part of him, an extension of his own body. As fire began to lance out toward them fromthe immense starship, he whirled and spun the TIE fighter, utilizing predictors aswell as his own skills to avoid the blasts. Taking them underneath the mother ship, he danced back and through gaps and openings, executing maneuvers beyond the abilities of all but the best pilots. Several skirted the edge of believability. Poe didn’t care. He was free and he was flying.
Behind him, the renegadetrooper unleashed blast after blast, triggering explosions in a frenzy of random damage that could only panic and confuse those on the vast vessel above them. A brace of cannons loomed ahead—but the trooper seemed content to fire indiscriminately at their surroundings. That needed to change, Poe knew, or they would never get the chance to jump to lightspeed.
“Dammit, a target is coming toyou. My right, your left. You see it?”
Targeting controls brought the major weapons emplacement into bold view on one of the trooper’s screens. “Hold on. I see it.” He readied himself, then unleashed fire at the precise moment when aptitude interlocked with instrumentation.
The whole gun emplacement erupted in a rapidly shrinking fireball. Debris spun around them as Poe took them throughthe devastation, the fighter’s shields warding off whatever he could not directly avoid.
Unable to restrain himself, the trooper let out a yell that echoed around the cockpit. “
Yes
!
Did you see that?”
Poe whipped the TIE fighter around to the side of the
Finalizer
. “Told ya you could do it! What’s your name?”
“FN-2187.”
“FN-whaa?”
“That’s the only name they ever gave me.”
The longing in the trooper’s voice was all too human. That, and something more. Something that had driven him, among his hundreds, his thousands of colleagues, to step outside the comfort zone of training and regimentation, something that had ignited some exceptional spark of individualism within him. Poe knew that spark was present in the man behind him, and he now made it his task to seethat it did not fade away. But where to start?
“If that’s the name they gave you, then I ain’t using it. ‘FN,’ huh? I’m calling you Finn. That all right with you?”
Behind him, the trooper considered. A delighted smile spread slowly across his face. “Yeah, ‘Finn.’ I like that! But now you’re one up on me.”
“Sorry?”
“I don’t know your name. If you tell me it’s RS-736 or somethinglike that, I’m going to be seriously confused.”
The pilot had to laugh. “I’m Poe. Poe Dameron.”
“Good to meet you, Poe!”
“Good to meet you, Finn!” Settling on a line of attack, he
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