Assault on Tuanul
"We've got company."
―Poe Dameron[src]
Flametroopers destroy Tuanul
Flametroopers open fire on the village of Tuanul.
Approximately thirty years after the destruction of the second Death Star, Luke Skywalker, the last surviving Jedi, has disappeared. Both the First Order, a successor to the fallen Galactic Empire, and the Resistance, a military force backed by the New Republic and led by Luke's twin sister, General Leia Organa, scour the galaxy in an attempt to find him.
Resistance pilot Poe Dameron was sent on a secret mission to the village of Tuanul on the desert planet Jakku, to meet with village elder Lor San Tekka, who had obtained a star-chart to Luke Skywalker's location. During the meeting, First Order stormtroopers under the command of Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma attacked the village. Poe and his astromech droid BB-8 attempted to flee in their X-Wing Fighter, but a pair of stormtroopers disabled the engines. With no alternative, Poe gave the star-chart to BB-8 and ordered the astromech to flee. Poe remained behind to cover BB-8's escape.
After stormtrooper FN-2187 was deployed, his friend FN-2003 was hit with blaster fire by Poe. FN-2187 went to help his squadmate, but FN-2003's wound proved fatal, wiping his blood on FN-2187's helmet. This deeply affected the stormtrooper, and when ordered by Kylo Ren to kill the villagers, he refused to fire. When Poe tried to take a shot at Ren, the Knight casually caught the blaster bolt in mid-air with the Force. Poe was subsequently taken prisoner, while the rest of the villagers were slaughtered.
Escape from the Finalizer
"Do exactly as I say and I can get you out of here."
―Finn to Poe Dameron[src]
Finn and Poe Escape Finalizer
Finn and Poe Dameron walk through the halls of the Finalizer to escape.
Returning to the Finalizer, FN-2187 felt significant stress from the mission, and Phasma noticed his distress. She told him to submit his blaster to be checked, making sure he fired a shot. Knowing he would be re-evaluated and discovered for not firing on the villagers, and with his faith severely shaken in the First Order, he decided to desert. After failed attempts of torturing Poe for vital information about the star-chart of Luke Skywalker's location, Ren used his mind probe Force power to get the information from Poe in his head. Ren learned that the star-charts were located within BB-8, and informed General Hux about the revelation.
FN-2187 freed the captured Poe Dameron from his cell, and the two stole a Special Forces TIE fighter. FN-2187 manned the guns, killing several of his former comrades in the hanger, and then disabling the Finalizer's turbolasers. During the escape, Dameron asked the stormtrooper his name, to which he replied with his number. Not content with calling a man a number, Dameron named the trooper Finn, from the FN in his number. Finn liked the name, and went on to use it. Dameron also told him that the map vital to the Resistance was located within his astromech droid. The TIE was hit by a missile fired from the Finalizer, sending it spiraling towards the planet below.
Escape from Jakku
"I've had a pretty messed up day, alright?"
―Finn to Rey[src]
Finn and Rey Jakku Escape
Finn and Rey observe nearby Stormtroopers that are looking for BB-8.
Elsewhere on Jakku, BB-8 encountered a scavenger named Rey while struggling against being captured by a green-skinned humanoid scavenger named Teedo. She freed the droid and sent it on its way, but BB-8 was insistent on remaining with Rey.
Finn and Dameron ejected from the TIE shortly before it crashed, each landing separately some distance from the wreck. Making his way to the crash, he found Poe's jacket, but no other sign of the man, and the fighter sunk into the sand. Believing Dameron to be dead, he discarded his armor and eventually arrived at the nearest settlement for water.
When returning to a settlement to collect payment on scrap, two thugs hired by Unkar Plutt attempted to steal the droid, but Rey fended them off with her staff. BB-8, with Rey, then saw Finn and identified the jacket Finn was wearing as that of its owner, so Rey attacked Finn, believing him to be a thief. After Finn explained his intentions, as well as claiming to be another member of the Resistance, the First Order tracked Finn to the settlement, and launched an airstrike in attempt to search for BB-8 and the star-chart. Rey, Finn, and BB-8 managed to escape Jakku in the Millennium Falcon by flying it through the Graveyard of Giants while Finn fired on and destroyed the pursuing TIE fighters. With the TIE fighters destroyed, they escaped into space.
