by Cavan Scott
The control deck shook as TIE fighter fire lashed the AT-AT.
“You sure about that?”
BB-8 squealed as the door slid up and stormtroopers barged in, blasters raised. “The controls are isolated,” the troop commander told them. “Drop your weapons and surrender.”
Finn and Poe unclipped their blasters and threw them to the floor. Their mission was at an end.
THE END
CAN YOU GO BACK AND MAKE BETTER DECISIONS?
“HEY!” FINN CALLED, still breathless from the climb. The aliens didn’t look up, so he tried again as he jogged closer. “What are you doing?”
Karkan looked up, his violet eyes going wide. The alien jabbered something, and all three Tevellans dashed to the roof’s edge.
“No, wait!” Finn cried out as, in perfect unison, the Tevellans threw themselves from the top of the tank. He ran forward to see them gliding to the ground like bat-squirrels, thin membranes stretched between their arms and torsos.
“Handy,” he muttered, making the mistake of looking down. A wave of vertigo swept over him, and he staggered away from the edge. Why had they run? It made no sense. Then he remembered the long white coat he was wearing. The Tevellans had assumed he was First Order. No wonder they didn’t trust him. He’d climbed all that way for nothing.
He straightened up, spotting something beside the open hatch. It was a small vial containing a clear liquid. Slipping the bottle into his pocket, he glanced into the tank. His aching legs could do with some of that bacta, especially since he had to get down again.
HOW DOES HE GET BACK DOWN TO THE GROUND?
CLIMB DOWN USING THE FRAME—TURN TO PAGE 72.
USE THE HOVER PLATFORM—GO TO PAGE 82.
NOT WANTING ANYONE to hear him call out, Finn crept over to the Tevellans and reached out to tap Karkan on his boney back. Startled, the alien grabbed Finn’s arm and threw the rebel over his shoulder. Finn fell through the open hatch, landing with a splash in the bacta.
Karkan had slammed the hatch shut before Finn could swim back up to the surface. Holding his breath, he tried to push open the lid, but it was locked tight. Trying not to panic, Finn banged on the side of the tank, telling himself that someone would hear him. They just had to.
THE END
CAN YOU GO BACK AND MAKE BETTER DECISIONS?
THERE WAS A BANG on the cell wall. Wincing with pain, Finn pushed himself up from the bunk.
“Hello?”
A muffled but familiar voice came through the wall. “Finn?”
“Poe!” His friend was in the next cell.
“Great prison break, pal,” Poe said through the metal partition. “Any idea how we can get out of this one?”
Finn sank back onto the bed. Not yet…but he was sure he would think of something…soon.
THE END
CAN YOU GO BACK AND MAKE BETTER DECISIONS?
POE MADE A SHOW of shaking his head in disappointment.
“I’m so sorry, Major Varak,” he said, glaring at Finn. “I had no idea that this…renegade was working against us. Have no fear that his punishment will be swift, not to mention severe.” He turned to the stormtroopers. “Escort the prisoner to my shuttle. I will deliver him to Supreme Leader Ren personally.”
Varak raised a hand before they could react. “That won’t be necessary. We have holding cells on board the command walker.”
Poe glanced toward the AT-AT standing immobile at the center of the plant. “You wish to interrogate him yourself?”
“Naturally. This is my plant. I will decide the punishment. Besides, you would be alone with the traitor. Here we have the protection of my stormtroopers.”
“I have my droid,” Poe argued, glancing down at BB-8, who was trying his best to look intimidating.
“We can question him together,” Varak concluded. “For all we know, the traitor might be part of the Resistance. This could be exactly what we need to crush them.”
He signaled for the stormtroopers to take Finn away. Finn tensed, ready to make a break for it, but Poe caught his eye, shaking his head almost imperceptibly.
Did he have a plan?
“This way, traitor,” the first stormtrooper said, shoving Finn between tanks three and four. He limped on, mentally running through the best ways to take down both troopers, injured ankle or not.
It was useless.
Suddenly, one of the troopers with Finn hit the ground! His patrol mate slumped on top of him seconds later.
Karkan emerged from the shadows, clutching the toolbox he had used to clobber the first stormtrooper. The other had been knocked senseless by the stronger of the male Tevellans, who stood behind the leader.
On the ground, the stormtroopers moaned, starting to come to.
DOES FINN ESCAPE OR HELP SUBDUE THE TROOPERS?
HELP SUBDUE THE TROOPERS—GO TO PAGE 87.
ESCAPE—TURN TO PAGE 80.
FINN WASN’T GOING TO WAIT around to be battered by a toolbox. He ran before the Tevellans could go for the troopers’ blasters, darting between the storage tanks.
He heard one of them yell after him but knew he and Poe had to get off the planet, whether he had the bacta or not. Weaving in and out of the tanks, he raced for the walker, hoping he could get Poe’s attention.
He never had a chance. Buzzing like a swarm of thunder-wasps, Varak’s seeker droid swooped from the sky and blocked Finn’s path. Finn ducked to avoid running headfirst into the seeker but couldn’t dodge the stinging electro-shock prod that jabbed into his neck.
He went down hard, waking in a cell on board the command walker. Varak was standing in front of him, as smug as ever even as Finn launched at him in rage, stopped short by the restraints clamped around his wrists and ankles.
“Where’s Poe?” he croaked, his throat dry from the droid’s shock prod.
Varak didn’t even flinch at the sound of Poe’s real name. “And we finally have the truth,” he said. “We knew you’d slip up eventually.”
Finn frowned. “You knew we were from the Resistance?”
The major chuckled. “Of course we did.”
“Then why play along?”
Varak cocked his head as if speaking to a child. “Because we needed you to lead us to the traitors…the real traitors.”
Finn’s heart sank as he realized Varak meant Karkan and the others. “You were using us to root them out.”
Varak faked a round of applause. “You have served the First Order well, Eff-Enn-Two-One-Eight-Seven. Very well indeed.”
THE END
CAN YOU GO BACK AND MAKE BETTER DECISIONS?
THERE WAS NO WAY he was going to risk clambering back down the outside of the tank. If the frame didn’t give way, his arms definitely would. He hurried to the hover platform and started his descent, the repulsors whining. Why were they so loud? Someone would hear them in a min—
“What are you doing up there?”
Too late. A stormtrooper patrol had spotted him, their blasters already sweeping up. Finn dove from the platform, aiming to drop into a roll before they could open fire. The jump didn’t exactly go as planned. His ankle turned underneath him as he landed, sending him sprawling across the duracrete as the stormtroopers approached, rifles trained on him. His white coat had flapped open, revealing the blaster hidden underneath. He just hoped the vial hadn’t been smashed when he fell.
There was no point fighting as he was forced to limp to the station commander. Varak had finished the tour and was leading Poe back from a fascinating examination of the bacta pipes.
“We found this man sneaking around tank seven,” the first stormtrooper said, the second showing the blaster they had confiscated.
With a nod, Varak dispatched his seeker droid, who flew immediately to the top of the tank to transmit holos to the major’s datapad.
Varak turned the screen around so everyone could see an image of the open hatch. Finn groaned inwardly, wishing he’d shut the hatch before leaping onto the platform. Just another mistake
to add to an ever-growing list.
“And how do you explain this?”
“Yes, nurse,” Poe said, playing along to save face. “What do you think you were doing?”
Finn couldn’t admit he’d followed Karkan and the others up there, not unless he wanted to betray them to the First Order.
“I…er…I wanted to take a closer look at the bacta. For Supreme Leader Ren.”
Varak’s eyes narrowed. “And what about your commanding officer’s medicine? Did you expect to find it up there, as well?”
Finn shook his head, fists clenched in frustration. Had he blown the mission?
The seeker droid buzzed back down to scan Finn from head to toe. It issued a series of bleeps, and Varak read the translation on his pad.
“It appears you have something in your pocket. Show me.”
Sighing, Finn produced the vial, which was fortunately still in one piece. Varak snatched it from his grasp, holding it up.
“What is this?” he demanded, shaking the container.
“I don’t know,” Finn answered honestly.
“Liar,” Varak snapped. “You were obviously trying to sabotage our bacta.”
“Your bacta?” Finn couldn’t help reacting to the man’s arrogance. “It’s the Tevellans’ bacta. You can’t just take whatever you want.”
Varak grinned, displaying a row of stained teeth. “Actually, we can.” Pulling a comlink from his tunic, he barked an order at his subordinates. “Have tank seven checked for contaminants. We have a traitor in our midst.”
WHAT DOES POE DO?
ATTACK VARAK—GO TO PAGE 70.
PLAY ALONG—TURN TO PAGE 78.
THERE WAS NO WAY he was going to risk his neck clambering up that thing.
“What goes up must take a hover platform back down,” Finn said to himself, waiting.
But he was out of time.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Finn turned to see a patrol of stormtroopers walking toward him.
“I…I got lost,” he lied, trying not to flinch as he spotted Karkan and the others starting their descent. Unfortunately, one of the stormtroopers followed his gaze.
“Get down from there!” the trooper barked, raising his blaster. Finn tried to stop him but was pushed back. He could only watch as Karkan and the other Tevellans tried to escape only to be stunned by the stormtroopers.
Finn groaned. Karkan and the others would never trust them now.
THE END
CAN YOU GO BACK AND MAKE BETTER DECISIONS?
THE TEVELLAN with the eye patch went for one of the stormtroopers’ blasters, but Finn was quicker. He scooped up the rifle, switching modes with practiced ease, and stunned both troopers. From a distance, their armor would have protected them from the blasts, but so close they’d be sleeping off the stun beams for quite some time.
“We need to get out of here,” he said, looking around. “Someone might have heard the shots.” But when he turned back to Karkan, the Tevellan had leveled the other blaster at him. A glance at the weapon’s controls told Finn that it was still set to kill.
“Where’s the vial?” Karkan hissed. “We know you found it.”
“I did,” Finn admitted, “but Varak took it.”
The Tevellan uttered a curse in his own language before glancing around at the sound of running boots.
Finn could have used the distraction to disarm him, but he needed the plant worker on his side.
“We were sent by General Organa.”
Karkan’s fur-covered brow creased. “Of the Resistance?”
Finn nodded. “We need to talk.”
The Tevellan exchanged looks with his nervous accomplices before lowering his blaster. “Come with us.”
Still gripping the rifle, Karkan led Finn through the plant, taking a route the troopers would never be able to follow. Finn hobbled as fast as he could but knew he was slowing them down.
“In here,” the female said, ushering Finn into a work hut. Inside was a small control room, with screens showing various camera feeds around the facility.
“We can’t stay long,” Karkan said, thrusting the blaster into the female’s hands before rushing to a locker in the wall. He opened the door, retrieving something Finn couldn’t see.
“What are you doing?”
“Sit down,” the Tevellan with the eye patch said, indicating a chair by the main computer bank.
Finn narrowed his eyes.
The female sighed. “Do you want Karkan to fix your ankle or not?”
The elderly Tevellan turned to reveal a roll of bacta-infused bandages in his hand. Finn relented, carefully placing the rifle he had snatched on the computer desk before sitting.
“I’m Tarina,” the female told him as Karkan wrapped the gauze around Finn’s sprain, “and this lug is Menon.”
“I thought there would be more of you,” the thick-set Tevellan said.
“Unfortunately, there’s not many of us at all,” Finn admitted. “Which is why we need your bacta.”
“And you think we’re in a position to hand it over?” Menon grunted.
Karkan raised a hand to calm his bad-tempered friend. “Finn came a long way to help us, even if he did lose our vial.”
Menon huffed. “Help himself, you mean. The Resistance doesn’t care about us.”
“That’s not true,” Finn insisted. “And besides, why couldn’t you take back the plant yourself. There aren’t that many stormtroopers.”
“More than enough to hold our young,” Tarina said bitterly.
“What?”
Karkan placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. “Major Varak has our children under armed guard in one of the warehouses. If we refuse to work…”
His voice trailed off, but his meaning was obvious.
“The vial contains a special formula that Tarina developed,” he added, smiling sadly at the female.
“What does it do?”
“It corrupts bacta,” Tarina told him, her tail flicking proudly. “Rendering it useless.”
“We were going to contaminate the bacta supplies to buy time,” Menon said.
“But we need that bacta,” Finn said.
“And we need our children,” Karkan snapped, anger flashing across his tired face. His shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. It’s…it’s not been easy.”
“It never is when the First Order is involved,” Finn said, standing to test his ankle. The bacta had already started to work, reducing both the swelling and the pain. “But we can help you.”
“You?” Menon scoffed. “Two humans and a droid?”
“Let him speak,” Tarina told the large Tevellan. The trouble was that Finn didn’t really know what to suggest, but he knew that Poe could help him come up with a plan.
“We need to get a message to my friend. We’ll work out how to free your children, I promise.”
Karkan bustled past Finn, his long fingers dancing over the surveillance controls. “Then let’s see where he is.”
He flicked through the camera feeds, but Poe was nowhere to be seen. Finn leaned over the console, searching the screens until he spotted him.
“There he is!”
Poe and Varak were arguing in the shadow of the command walker. Even without sound, it was clear that their voices were raised.
“He needs our help,” Finn said, snatching up the blaster rifle and darting outside before anyone could stop him.
Finn was right. Poe did need help. He had been led to the command walker by Varak but knew that getting into the AT-AT was a bad idea. Reports had come in that Finn had gone missing and the stormtroopers accompanying him had been attacked by an unknown force. Varak had placed the entire plant on alert. Their cover was minutes from being blown, but Poe wanted to know what was in that vial. As they hurried toward the walker’s legs, Poe faked a trip, falling into the commander and slipping his hand into the man’s tunic pocket to retrieve the glass tube. Varak’s hand closed around his wrist. The officer twisted, turn
ing Poe’s arm back on itself. The major was stronger than he looked.
Poe pulled himself free, rubbing his sore arm. “What do you think you’re doing, Varak?”
“I could ask the same, Captain Dameron!”
The use of Poe’s real name rattled him, but he tried not to show it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I am a medical envoy from Central Command.”
“No,” Varak snapped, pointing a boney finger at Poe. “You’re the fugitive who destroyed the Fulminatrix and a key member of Leia Organa’s rebellious inner circle.” He snapped his finger, and the seeker droid projected surveillance footage of Poe and Finn hiding beneath the Rover.
“You knew who we were all along?” Poe asked, staring at the image.
“Did you really think you could fool the First Order?” the major crowed. “We’ve been playing along to see what you and your turncoat friend would do.”
“Yeah?” Poe said. “Then it’s about time I showed you!”
WHAT DOES POE DO?
TRY TO ESCAPE—HEAD TO PAGE 114.
MAKE SURE BB-8 GETS AWAY—GO TO PAGE 93.
POE PULLED BACK HIS ARM and punched the major in his pompous jaw. Varak hit the ground, but Poe didn’t try to run. Instead he dropped his shoulder and rammed into the nearest stormtrooper, yelling for BB-8 to move.
“Go on, buddy. Go find Finn!”
Beeping wildly, the astromech spun around and disappeared among the bacta tanks, leaving Poe to be subdued by the remaining troopers.
“Get that droid!” Varak screamed, and his seeker droid buzzed after the fleeing BB unit.
BB-8 swerved and weaved through the tanks, but the seeker wasn’t giving up, its red lens burning with programmed hatred. Laser blasters snapped out of the probe droid’s casing to send a stream of energy bolts after the rolling astromech.
BB-8 changed direction, wheeling toward a group of buildings as the seeker’s blasters chewed up the ground behind him. In his panic, the little unit made a mistake, rushing between the buildings to find himself in a dead end, his path blocked by a solid wall. He turned on his axis to see the seeker at the mouth of the passageway, its blasters glowing hot. BB-8 responded by deploying all his tools at once, from multiple welding arms to a fire extinguisher.
