Before the Awakening Before the Awakening is an anthology book by Greg Rucka focusing on the lives of Finn , Rey , and Poe Dameron prior to the events of . It was published by Disney – Lucasfilm Press on December 18 , 2015 . Intended for children ages eight to twelve , the book consists of 240 pages . Publisher ' s summary . " A companion piece to the " " character novels , " Star Wars : Before the Awakening " is an anthology book that focuses on the lives of Rey , Finn , and Poe before the events of " Star Wars : The Force Awakens " . " Plot summary . Finn . The novel begins with a First Order stormtrooper simulation training . Finn , Nines , Zeroes , and Slip are assaulting a Republic - held base . Finn is still known as FN - 2187 . Slip has been pinned down in cover and appears to be trapped . Zeroes and Nines urge Finn to focus on their objective , leaving Slip behind . Finn orders the two others , Nines and Zeroes , to split up , making them draw enemy fire and allowing Finn to save Slip , as well as giving him an opening to make it all the way to the Republic base and finish off the last Republic soldiers with a devastating grenade . Captain Phasma congratulates the squad on a job well done , before mentioning to Finn that he shouldn ' t help weaker cadets as it will only hurt the group . Finn starts having doubts and begins to feel separated from the group . Later on , the trainees fight with vibro - ax es and other melee weapons , some of which can even combat lightsabers . Slip is injured in the fighting , and when he goes up against Finn he is easily defeated . Finn doesn ' t hurt him , attempting rather to keep Slip safe from injury by someone else . Phasma again questions Finn ' s actions and orders him to stop . Zeroes , Nines , and Slip are excited to learn that their suspicions were correct : they will soon be deployed to a mining colony located in an asteroid field known as Pressy ' s Tumble . According to Phasma , Republic agents were causing dissent and chaos in the mining operation . In reality , the mining negotiators had called a strike to protest the harsh working conditions . Phasma however orders her stormtroopers to execute the negotiators . Finn doesn ' t pull the trigger , and watches while his fellow stormtroopers kill the protesters . After returning to their ship , Finn participates in extra training simulations instead of celebrating with the others , and begins to feel even more distant . Captain Phasma , preparing to welcome Kylo Ren onboard , decides to give Finn one last chance to prove himself on Jakku , giving him one last chance to become a real stormtrooper . Rey . At the beginning of Rey ' s story , she is scavenging from an old battle cruiser when a large storm forces her to retreat into the old walker where she lives . We find out Rey has mastered a flight simulator she found , learning all the scenarios on many different ships . The next morning , after selling parts for rations in Niima Outpost and watching a Hernon Class Light Freighter land , Rey rides far out into the desert on her speeder . She decides to climb the Spike , a keel line from an old star ship halfway buried in the middle of the desert . From the top of the Spike she manages to get a view of a crashed ship , which would be an incredibly valuable find to trade in to Unkar Plutt for more portions . Even though she is running out of daylight , Rey decides to go to the ship to investigate . She discoveres it is a 690 light freighter , also known as a Ghtroc 690 . Inside she finds food , and discovers that the reactor is still working . The ship is in good shape , but is still in need of a lot of repairs . Rey spends the night in her new ship since it is already dark . Rey proceeds work on the ship for a long time by herself . In Niima , she runs into Devi and Strunk who ask her what she is building . They say they noticed she had been taking a lot of wiring and other supplies without re - selling them , and that they suspected she had been building something . She says she hasn ' t been , but they tell her they might not be the only ones who had taken notice . Eventually , Devi and Strunk find her working on the ship . They offer to help her restore it . Rey doesn ' t want to , since it is hers , but she feels that she has no choice or else they would steal it or try to claim the finder ' s fee for themselves . To her surprise , they provide a huge amount of help . One night , when Rey is working late , a group of Teedo s try to steal her ship but Devi and Strunk ( who had been guarding the ship at nights ) stop them . Eventually , the group test flies the ship and determines that it is ready to sell . They fly the ship into Niima to sell it , and Rey triumphantly flies out on her Speeder to cheers from the other salvagers . When she tells Unkar she is here to sell her ship , Devi and Strunk fly the ship away , having always wanted to leave Jakku while Rey couldn ' t . Poe . Poe ' s chapter opens with a flashback of Dameron reflecting on his decision to become a Starfighter pilot in the New Republic . As a child growing up in a colony on the jungle moon of Yavin 4 , Poe had been raised on stories of his mother , Shara Bey , and father , Kes Dameron ' s , exploits during the Galactic Civil War . Years later , Poe is the Commander in Rapier Squadron , a four — member T - 85 X - wing squadron in the Republic Navy . His long - time companion is the astromech droid BB - 8 , who accompanies him on routine patrol flights . During a routine patrol in the Mirrin sector , Rapier Squadron responds to a distress call from the freighter " Yissira Zyde " near Suraz 4 . They quickly discover the freighter being boarded by First Order stormtroopers . Rapier Squadron is quickly attacked by eight TIE fighters . During the Suraz engagement , Lieutenant Muran is killed when his starfighter is shot down . Later , Poe reports the skirmish to his commander Major Lonno Deso at the Mirrin Prime Republic Base . While Poe advocates tracking down the freighter , Major Deso overrules him since he is unwilling to provoke hostilities between the New Republic and the First Order . Defying Major Deso ' s orders , Poe embarks on a solo mission to track down the " Yissira Zyde " with the secret approval of his fellow squadron pilots Lieutenant s Karé Kun and Iolo Arana . After studying the cargo freighter ' s inventory , Dameron reasons that the First Order was interested in the ship ' s high - capacity charging arrays , which could be converted into military turbolaser s . Poe managed to track the stolen freighter ' s coordinates to the remote OR - Kappa - 2722 system where he also discovers a sizeable First Order fleet . Poe manages to locate the freighter in one of the Star Destroyer s but is pursued by First Order TIE fighters . Following a brief dogfight , Poe manages to flee into hyperspace and return to the Mirrin system . However , he is promptly detained by New Republic shore police led by Major Caluan Ematt . Poe is summoned for a meeting with General Leia Organa , the leader of the Resistance , a splinter faction of the New Republic military that monitors the activities of the First Order . General Leia convinces Poe to join the Resistance since the New Republic military is unwilling to take the threat of the First Order seriously . Poe and his remaining Rapier Squadron mates join the Resistance and are transferred to the refitted MC80 star cruiser " Echo of Hope " . As a member of the Resistance , Poe is handpicked by General Leia for a covert mission called to steal Senator Erudo Ro - Kiintor ' s luxury yacht " Hevurion Grace " . General Leia suspects Senator Ro - Kiinto of secretly colluding with the First Order but lacks hard evidence . She wants to seize the ship ' s computer in order to get to the bottom of the matter . Since the Resistance cannot officially be involved , Poe and his comrades Iolo and Kare disguise themselves as members of the Irving Boys , a criminal group . To conceal their identities , they don bulky EVA suits and fly three vintage Z - 95 Headhunter s . Poe ' s plan involves intercepting the " Hevurion Grace " as the ship exits hyperspace in the Uvoss system . They have to commandeer the ship within eight minutes before a Republic patrol arrives . The operation proceeds according to plan and Poe manages to disable the yacht with two concussion missile s . Poe then boards the ship and forces Senator Ro - Kiintor and his crew to evacuate into the escape pod s at gunpoint . While restarting the hijacked ship ' s engines , Poe and his fellow pilots come under attack from a First Order fleet that has emerged out of hyperspace . The Resistance members quickly deduce that Senator Ro - Kiintor had contacted the First Order for help . Despite Poe ordering his comrades to jump into hyperspace , Iolo and Kare stay behind to fight off the First Order TIE fighters while Poe repairs the yacht ' s engines . Together , the Resistance fighters managed to destroy nine of the eighteen TIEs . However , they are soon trapped between the gas giant and two First Order Star Destroyer s and a Nebulon - K frigate . To avoid being sucked into the gas giant , Poe and his comrades decide to brave the First Order warships and then make a jump into hyperspace . Following a risky maneuver , the three pilots managed to flee into hyperspace with the " Hevurion Grace " . Back at the " Echo of Hope " , General Leia congratulates Poe and his squadron mates for their bravery and success in capturing the " Hevurion Grace " . The operation confirms Senator Ro - Kiintor ' s treason and dealings with the First Order . Leia fears that there are more traitors in the New Republic government like him and that the threat of the First Order is growing . While examining the ship ' s computers , C - 3PO discovers a piece of a puzzle that is relevant to something involving Leia ' s ongoing quest to find her brother Luke Skywalker . She sends Poe on a mission to find Lor San Tekka , a man who can help them find Luke .