Finn
Before he was Finn, FN-2187 was a storm trooper in the First Order. During the training simulations he would exemplify leadership, loyalty and intelligence while carrying out attacks against Republic Forces. Under the watchful eye of Captain Phasma, who had high hopes for FN-2187, he showed compassion for his fellow soldiers, especially FN-2003, nicknamed "Slip," who always seemed to be falling behind. Unfortunately, in the eyes of Captain Phasma, one should let the weakest link perish on their own and the only loyalty that should be shown is to the First Order, not a fellow soldier. FN-2187 tried to believe that, but he could not. He even thought of losing intentionally to Slip in hand-to-hand combat exercises after the trooper had become injured. After speaking once again with FN-2187, Captain Phasma reassigned him to a different mission than his initial one: the attack on the Jakku village.
Rey
Rey's chapter underscores her life as a scavenger on Jakku, but we also find out more about Rey herself. We learn that she is a mechanical wiz. She built the speeder we see in the film from scavenged parts, also constructed her own flight simulator and became an excellent pilot as we would soon learn. Rucka also includes one very important detail about Rey: her combat skills. Rey is feared by others due to her skills with her staff, but she prefers not to fight, although she will if she has to. This would explain why she can handle a lightsaber. Now, the basis of this chapter revolves around a find that Rey makes while out scavenging. She comes across a small light freighter that she insists on fixing and intends to sell to Unkar Plutt for rations. While tending to the freighter, two other scavengers, Devi and Strunk, offer their help in exchange for a share of the rations once the sale has been made. At first, Rey is reluctant to agree because she fears they would sell it as their own, but later decides that she can use their help. After they fix the freighter, the last thing to do is sell it to Unkar Plutt. As she is about to make the deal, Rey hears the engine and sees the freighter disappear into the sky. Almost indifferent to what has occurred, Rey travels back to her home, as usual, and awaits the return of her parents.
Poe Dameron
For those who have read Shattered Empire, we know that Poe's parents were a part of the Rebellion and saw the defeat of the Empire and the destruction of the second Death Star. As a child, Poe's mother would take him up in her A-Wing and from then on, Poe developed a love for flying. When it came to discussing the war, she never said much. Unfortunately, she passed away when Poe was only eight years old. Poe would then become the best pilot in the Republic Navy after learning to fly his mothers A-Wing. His story begins with his team on patrol, basically policing Republic space. After saying that these patrols never lead to anything, his team gets a distress call from another ship and find themselves in the presence of the First Order. Upon their return, and after losing one of their own, Poe forcefully states that the First Order is a dangerous entity and must be taken seriously, but those in charge prefer to not engage and that infuriates Poe. But, that doesn't stop him for long. On his second patrol, Poe returns to the supposed location of the captured ship and runs into the First Order once again, but is able to escape. As one would assume, those in charge soon found out what had transpired. Although he thought the worst, Poe was soon in the presence of General Leia Organa. She comments on Poe's most recent attempt to find out more about the captured ship and says that the Resistance could use more pilots like him. Leia doesn't believe that the Republic is taking the threat posed by the First Order seriously and decided that something should be done. Almost without hesitation, Poe agrees to join the Resistance. He is then sent on a mission along with his team. Leia believes that there is a senator who has been giving information to the First Order. It is their job to capture the vessel and obtain the information that is kept in its memory. The main challenge is that they have a small window to conduct this operation, and should they fail, the Resistance must deny all involvement. Thankfully, they succeeded. Now, upon gaining the information from that vessel, another piece of a puzzle that Leia has been trying to solve for some time has been found: the whereabouts of her brother, Luke Skywalker and the Resistance must find him first. Poe is then sent to Jakku to the home of Lor San Tekka who has vital information about the last Jedi.
Greg Rucka does a fantastic job detailing the lives of our heroes in the short time leading up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. We know more about these characters and their motivations. This novel also makes the viewing of the new film that much more enjoyable with hear new bits of information. I would highly recommend this book for the fans who want to know as much as possible about the new characters and the state of the universe.
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