The desert skiffs were little more of a floating platform, extraordinarily durable and excellent for transportation, ideal for the harsh climates, but not really made for fleeing the First Order and its highly trained troops. Like floating ships complete with sails and adorned with the festivals colourful ribbons and flags. There were two, Poe and Finn were already mounting one with C-3PO, Chewie was clambering on the other followed by a rolling BB8, familiarising himself with the controls. Chewie had been on a sand skiff before a long time ago now, on Tattooine, and he'd never driven it. That particular adventure had required no piloting skills. He'd been bound, Han had been blind, and they'd spent the majority of their time horizontal rather than vertical. The craft had been dangling precariously over a pit of needle-sharp teeth, in which the Sarlacc awaited. Jabba the Hut's bounty hunters all the while attempting to topple them by shooting at them and the engines. Chewie had been clinging desperately to the railings, holding his best friend by his ankle while they attempted to save Lando from a fate worse than death. Chewie recollected these memories affectionately but he didn't recall from that brief time he'd spent on the barge if it was capable of moving at any speed other than a leisurely drift.

Chewie looked up from the mechanics of the desert skiff to watch Han's son and Rey exit the cave. He observed Ben Solo replace his gloves and with a look to Rey and some words, Chewie couldn't hear, Ben left. Chewie watched Ben walk through the sand until Rey boarded the vessel and stood at his side. He watched her check the controls as he had, like Ben, the girl was a natural pilot. He yipped at her, a series of questions, and statements. She sighed.

"I'm sorry, Chewie. I know how you feel, and I felt the same," she turned to look at him, "but we can trust him."

Chewie wanted to believe her, believe that the boy he'd known, the boy he loved was back, but he'd been alive a long time, seen the deceptions and evils those on the dark side would stoop to. He'd believe her when it was all over when the proof was in front of him. He'd believe and forgive when Ben Solo returned with them to the Resistance and remained with what was left of his family; home to Leia where Ben Solo had always belonged.

A laser shot narrowly missing his head brought a rather abrupt end to their conversation along with Chewie's melancholy thoughts as well as any familiarisation with the controls they'd been hoping to gain. The best way to learn something quickly he'd found was always via dire and life-threatening circumstances; one could accomplish the impossible and insane when choices and time were limited.

"Punch it!" Rey shouted as she blocked further bolts with her saber.

Poe and Finn shot past them with C-3PO clinging on complaining.

"Oh, dear, this is not part of my standard operations. Why does this always happen to me?"

"Chewie, do you have any blasters, I need to fire back?" Rey shouted as they took off with a jolt.

Chewie yowled at Rey; as she blocked the troopers fire while he attempted to catch up to Finn and Poe, and fumbled with his weapons cash. Behind them jet troopers and a few troopers on speeder bikes were in hot pursuit, thankfully it was just a few scouts. They would need to get rid of them before they could return to the Falcon. The jet troopers rocket packs allowed significant versatility, speeding in all directions; they were both manoeuvrable and fast. With only their armour and no transport of any kind, they were extremely vulnerable to fire.

"Oh, they fly now!" C-3P0 exclaimed.

"They fly now?" Finn turned sarcastically to Poe.

Poe turned to look at a jet trooper zipping up behind them and confirmed just as sarcastically "Yeah, they fly now."

On their skiff, Chewie yowled a confirmation that yes troopers in jet packs were indeed another woefully real invention as he handed Rey a spare blaster and she started to fire at the jet troopers.

Chewie yipped again as he tossed a grenade to her, and she thrust it in the direction of one of the pursuing speeder bikes advancing on them to the side. The ground around the speeder bike erupted like a volcano of sand and dirt. An upright fountain that impacted with the speeder and it disappeared.

"One down. I like these; you got any more?" Rey shouted as she again began to blast at the jet troopers zipping above and just behind them.

On the other skiff, Poe was pushing the barge to its limits. Ducked low behind the controls, he was speeding the skiff forward. The skiffs controls were similar to those of the sand speeder Naka the Blarina, Poe's rescuer, from Jakku had owned. The barge, however, with its mast sails and decorative ribbons was far more pleasing to the eye. The craft was sturdy and had only two controls one for speed and one for turning, and was far more straightforward to operate than his X-wing or a tie fighter. However, ingenuity was going to be the only way to get out of this situation the jet troopers and speeders pursuing them had the advantage of agility. The jet troopers also had the benefit of height; they could fly in any direction, not restricted to merely hovering a specific distance above the ground.

Behind Poe, Finn was in charge of defending them from fire as they soared across the sand, their speed causing waves of sand to kick up around them.

"Did I mention I hate sand!" Finn shouted at him as he fired at the jet troopers speeding about them.

"Just focus on shooting them will you!" Poe retorted.

"I wasn't made for high-speed chases," 3P0 complained as he felt sand grains infiltrating his joints, the droid could feel them already ceasing his ease of movement with their abrasive particles. For a protocol droid, he'd seen far too much sand, far too many fights, been involved in too many activities that were not part of his programming. To add insult to injury 3P0s former owner, master Benjamin wanted to add more to his programming to decipher that metallic triangular object and it didn't sound like a language anyone should read. Still, at least master Benjamin wanted him to do something that was part of his purpose- translation and communication. That was of course if they got off this planet in one piece.

"3P0 stop complaining and give me a hand," Finn said, handing the golden droid a weapon.

If a droid could pull, an appalled expression 3P0 was pulling one. It was inconceivable to the droid what was being asked; organic humans, familiar with his programming and functions, were asking him to partake in the shooting and violence!

"It is against my primary directive to cause harm to any living creature," the droid managed to state matter of factly, that would put an end to the organic Finn's absurdly unreasonable request.

"Ok. Don't hit the troopers, just hit their transports or their jet packs so we can get back to the Falcon safely," Finn petitioned sarcastically.

A voluminous vertical cloud of sand erupted behind them as Chewie and Rey sped up alongside them, smattering them all in a rain of grit and dust. Finn raised his eyebrows at the protocol droid, and 3P0 unhappily accepted the weapon. The golden droid was finding it exceedingly difficult to balance on the skiff as it raced forward. The barge turned erratically, and sand blew at them, so he held onto the mast with one robotic hand for balance. Turning to the speeder on their right C-3P0 surveyed the speeder through superior optical lenses. He zoomed in on specific components to ascertain what should be hit to render the bike inoperable but also cause the least amount of harm to its driver. 3P0 couldn't override the primary function regardless of his owner's beliefs that these particular organics were their enemy. Finn was correct; however, destroying machinery was entirely possible. From C-3P0's limited mechanical understanding of speeder bikes, they were highly manoeuvrable, agile, but unstable. Shooting the steering vane should have the desired effect of immobilising the craft. C-3P0 aimed, which even with his exceptional robotic sight was not straightforward under the current conditions, and let out a bolt from the blaster. He found his mark and the vanes shattered off the front of the speeder in a cloud of black smoke. It didn't impact the momentum of the pursuing speeder, but as Commander Dameron swerved to the left to avoid an upcoming rock formation, the speeder was unable to follow. C-3P0 watched as the trooper, unable to steer his bike, had to make a quick decision before leaping from the speeder to the sand. The bike crashed into the rock face in a mass of metallic parts and smoke.

"Good job, 3P0!" Finn shouted as he continued to shoot at the troopers. The droid aiming at the machinery had given Finn an idea as he began seeking not the troopers but the jet propulsion packs on their backs instead. The jet trooper in question had been causing Finn some trouble for some time. As the stormtrooper sped in front of them, Finn tried to calm himself consider what it was he wanted to achieve, focused on the pack on the troopers back and took aim. His blaster shot found its mark, hitting the jetpack on the back of the trooper and immediately igniting the fuel inside in an explosion of fire and flame. Finn took a brief moment to look back to where Rey and Chewie were behind them. Initially, Chewie had been driving, but Finn could now see Rey had taken over. She was steering in a far more aggressive and volatile manner while simultaneously blasting at the desert jump troopers, while Chewie utilised his bowcaster and grenades. Only two jet troopers left and one speeder bike and with Rey and Chewie slightly behind them they were taking the brunt of the fire. BB8 ignited a canister sending a cloud of yellow into the sky momentarily blinding their pursuers with colourful paint.

"Whoo!" Finn hollered, "Poe, slow down, get behind the troopers," Finn shouted.

"Hold on!" Poe shouted immediately stopping the vessel with a deliberately sharp break causing 3P0 to fly onto the floor. Even though Finn was the one who'd suggested the manoeuver and was holding on, he lost his balance as his body attempted to continue to propel forward. Almost as suddenly as they' stopped they restarted and 3P0 who'd failed to get to his feet now careered to the back of the barge complaining loudly.

"Commander Dameron, stop stop!" the droid wailed as he was dashed about on the skiff.

Rey, Chewie and the three remaining troopers were now ahead of them. Poe was steering in such a way as to ram the remaining speeder. Finn was again focusing on the jet packs. In front of them, Chewie blasted angrily howling at the remaining jump troopers pursuing them. A narrow canyon was coming up, and Rey headed straight for it, friend and foe alike following her lead. As they entered the canyon with its tight twists and turns, Chewie threw a grenade at the canyon wall just ahead of one of the jet trooper. Chunks of sandstone fell upon the trooper, pushing him off-balance until the soldier plummeted into the wall in an explosion of light. Poe had to steer erratically to avoid the chunks of falling rock from destroying what was left of their skiff. It also allowed him to press in on the speeder bike; the driver had managed to get himself caught low on the right side between the two enemy barges. Poe pressed the advantage, the edge of their craft snagging the back of the bike. The force caused the bike to move upwards, but it could only go into the back end of Rey's skiff. The trooper on the speeder bike was skilful, doing an excellent job at controlling the situation but knowing it was only a matter of time before he was crushed. The trooper attempted a bold manoeuvre steering straight up; his bike took a beating as he did so as the canyon was even narrower above. As he sought to drive away from the rock walls and the skiffs, his bike started to spin wildly out of control, until he spun out over the top of the crevice. An explosive sound later confirmed that the jet bike and its doomed rider were no more. Just one jet trooper left.

"Chewie, take over the controls!" Rey shouted as she brandished her lightsaber again.

Finn and Poe watched as she stood for a moment surveying the jet trooper calmly deflecting his shots.

"Poe, what is she doing?" Finn asked, he had an idea, but surely she wasn't that crazy.

Rey ran towards the end of her skiff, lept into the air somersaulting as she did so. As she flipped over the trooper, she struck his jet pack with her lightsaber, then landed on the front of the other barge. Finn and Poe stood staring at her their mouths open in utter amazement as the trooper spun out of control into the canyon wall and fell to a crumpled state upon the sandy floor.

Free of any further scouts the team headed back to the Falcon.