Free The Force Awakens (Star Wars) by Alan Dean Foster

ignored it—just as he had set aside reason when he had rushed into the village in a futile attempt to save the life of Lor San Tekka.
    Of course, he reminded himself, that hadn’t turned out so well, either. But he was being nothing if not truthful. He had sworn an oath to the Resistance, and he had no intentionof breaking it now. No matter how bad the odds. He took a deep breath. Although it meant breaking protocol, Finn deserved to know.
    “My droid’s got a map that leads to Luke Skywalker.”
    It took Finn a moment—a long moment—for the full impact of the pilot’s declaration to hit home. “You gotta be
kidding
me! Skywalk— I never should have rescued you!”
    Even as he spoke, a burst from thedestroyer intercepted Poe’s latest evasive effort. Sparks flew within the cockpit, followed by an eruption of acrid smoke and fumes. The fighter’s engines flared wildly, sending it out of control. And since it was headed straight toward the surface of Jakku, that was where it continued to race—out of control.
    Finn quit looking for something to shoot at because his instrumentation had gonecompletely dead. Coughing, fighting for breath, he yelled in the pilot’s direction. “All weapons systems are down! My controls are neutralized! You?”
    There was no reply, save for the now continuous shrilling of the fighter’s alarms. Finn waved at the increasingly dense smoke as he strained forward toward his new friend—and drew back in horror.
    Poe was not moving. His eyes were shut. Bloodstreamed down his face.
    “No—noooo!
Poe!
”
    No response came from the unconscious pilot. Eying him in the closed, smoky confines of the cockpit, his own eyes filling with tears in response to the increasingly bad air, Finn couldn’t even tell if theother man was still alive. The blackness of space was gone now, completely blotted out by the increasingly proximate surface of Jakku. Even ifhe could somehow take Poe’s place, Finn knew he could not safely set down an undamaged fighter, much less one in this condition.
    He did, however, figure out the location of his seat’s eject control. Equipped with a manual override in the event of total electronics failure, it was clearly marked. Gripping the handle, he wrenched on it as hard as he could. Neither the extra muscle nor additionaladrenaline was necessary. The handle moved smoothly and without resistance. A moment later, he felt his body being ripped away from the TIE fighter. The universe spun wildly around him, and for a brief moment his sight was filled with alternating visions of yellow planet, black space, and white clouds.
    Then he passed out.
    —
    On the
Finalizer
command deck, General Hux had moved awayfrom Mitaka’s station. Wandering from console to console, he proceeded to question a succession of technicians and fire-control officers. The anxiety that had been building in him but which he had managed to keep restrained was greatly lightened when one tech looked up at him to report.
    “They’ve been hit.”
    Hux’s expression did not change, but inside he felt considerable relief. He studiedthe tech’s console, his gaze flicking rapidly from one readout to the next. The details coming in appeared conclusive, but in this matter there was no room for mere ninety-nine percent certainty; no room for analytical equivocation.
    “Destroyed?”
    The tech’s response as he studied his instruments confirmed the general’s circumspection. “Disabled only, it would appear.”
    Hux leaned closer.“He could be trying to throw us off.”
    “If so,” the tech reported, “he’s going to grave extremes. Sensors show pieces of the fighter are becoming detached and flying off. Suchactions could not be carried out by the operator of the fighter itself and must be the result of the craft having suffered serious damage.” He paused a moment, added, “I hew to my original opinion, sir. No one would chooseto voluntarily engage in a descent such as the one the fighter is