Iden, Zay and Shriv steal two TIE fighters and join a squadron in formation around the capital ship. When the Retribution asks why they haven't remained on Vardos as ordered, they open fire on the other TIEs and engage them in a dogfight. Dio's scan picks up a weak spot on a heat sink near the ship's aft engines, which Iden destroys allowing them to fly inside its superstructure. As they fly inside, Retribution jumps into hyperspace, causing their ships to crash. Iden and Zay locate a computer terminal, which Dio slices to reveal details of Project Resurrection: the abduction of thousands of children to train as Stormtroopers, the construction of hundreds of capital ships in the Unknown Regions, and the plans for a First Order Dreadnaught. After Dio has downloaded the plans, Iden resolves to rip the ship out of hyperspace. She sends Shriv to find them a means of escape, then she and Zay plant ion detonators on the Retribution's hyperdrive generators.
As Iden places the last charge on the backup generator, Hask appears and holds Zay at gunpoint. Iden drops her weapon, and as Hask shoots at her, Zay knocks him off balance. Hask throws Zay off the platform, but she is caught by Iden. Zay hands her mother a blaster, and she shoots Hask who falls to his death. Iden and Zay detonate the charges, destroying the hyperdrive and forcing the Retribution to drop out of lightspeed within view of Starkiller Base. Iden collapses and Zay realizes she has been critically wounded. She promises to get help, but Iden is resigned to her fate, telling her daughter as she dies that they fight so that others may live, and that if they die, it had better be for the same reason. As Zay looks sadly out into space, Starkiller Base explodes, creating a new star.
Zay, Dio and Shriv arrive at the base on D'Qar in a commandeered Special Forces TIE Fighter, where they are nearly shot down by a Resistance patrol. After Shriv confirms their identity, Zay is contacted by General Organa, who tells them the First Order is on its way to D'Qar, and assigns them an urgent mission to seek help and reinforcements from their allies in the Outer Rim. Zay and Shriv accept the mission, and jump to lightspeed.