*WARNING: THE FORCE AWAKENS SPOILERS*
The control room of the Resistance never failed to take Nara's breath away. The large circular space was filled with humans, creatures, and droids as they tried win the war against the New Republic. It had been this way for a while now.
Nara exhaled slowly as she headed over to her post. In the back of the room she spotted General Leia. Her head was bowed low as she talked to her advisors. It was strange to see the princess in that role, but it suited her better than anyone. If anyone was going to make this work it was Leia.
"Oops," Nara exclaimed when she felt something bumping into her. She had been too transfixed with Leia's presence to notice she had walked into C3PO. "My apologies."
"Oh, good morning, Nara," the droid replied.
"How is R2?"
C3PO's head hung low. "He is still the same I fear. I doubt he will ever be the same."
A soft assuring smile appeared on Nara's lips. "Have faith, 3PO. He will come back, I promise."
The droid continued his way as she slipped on her metal chair behind her computer. There had not been much activity over night she noted after she booted it up. It provided her with a summary of everything she had missed. It was a moment she always dreaded. She didn't want to see what had happened while she had slept. She didn't want to see what he had done.
Her daily activities included keeping a close watch on any abnormalities in the systems. Any X-Wings that were entering airspace they shouldn't be in, disturbances in the atmosphere, anything that might point out to an attack by the New Republic.
Today was different. She had been assigned to check up on Poe Dameron. Whenever one of their pilots was out on a mission that was considered to be either dangerous, classified, or both, someone had to keep a close watch on them at all times. The information Poe would be receiving could threaten the existence of everyone.
At the beginning of the Resistance, Leia had personally asked Nara to join her at the headquarters, ensuring her she was in need of her talents. Nara herself had always doubted that was the truth. She figured Leia wanted to keep her close after what had happened when he turned over.
Nara turned her chair to another screen, monitoring Poe closely. She scanned the information about his vitals. His heartbeat was at a steady pace and his blood pressure seemed to be just right. Her eyes switched to the map which followed his every move. They were not going to loose the best pilot they had on a mission.
She leaned back in her chair, her eyes still closely following everything that was happening. Occasionally she looked past the screen towards all the other Resistance fightser. Leia liked to call them all fighters, even though the majority of them hadn't had any experience in combat. It made them all feel like they mattered. They all helped the cause in their own personal way.
Shaking her head she snapped out of her day dream. Her eyes found his vitals again and her heart skipped a beat when she saw what had happened. In the moment she had lost concentration his heart rate had gone up, a lot. Perspiration levels were increasing. Something was going on. Poe was the best pilot and the most calm fighter they had. Any changes in his vitals were abnormal.
His position hadn't changed. Nara focussed on a single dot standing still. Why wasn't he moving? What was going on?
And then suddenly it began to move, and fast. He wasn't far from his X-Wing, but whatever was happening, Nara had a feeling he needed to be fast.
"General Leia!" Nara yelled as she swiveled around in her chair, immediately turning back when she saw that the General had caught her attention.
"What is it?" Leia spoke as she hurried over. More started to follow and join her by her side.
"It's Poe," Nara replied. "Something is happening. His vitals changed and he is moving fast."
Leia nodded calmly. She ordered someone else to get up any live feed from Jakku on the big screen, but the feed turned out to be pitch black.
"Do you think it is him?" Nara asked carefully, not daring to look at Leia.
She felt her hand on her shoulder, gripping it in a soft and reassuring manner.
"I think so."
As the scene developed the entire control room turned its attention to figuring out whatever was happening. Nara's heart had sunk when she had heard Leia's words. This was her worst nightmare. This was everything she was dreading.
The control room was quiet as events unfolded. Even though they could not directly see what was happening it was not hard to imagine. Nara could only hope innocent lives would be spared, but if she was to believe anything about him that would not be the case.
"We lost the X-Wing," someone stated.
Nara looked down on her own screen and saw that indeed the X-Wing had been destroyed. The little dot indicating its position had disappeared and the statistics of it all read ERROR.
She bent down and ran her fingers through her hair before burying her face in her hands. This was not how she expected the day to go. While they were constantly fighting with the First Order, every attack seemed to get worse. More lives lost and every attack came closer to the New Republic winning this war.
Her mind wandered to her parents. Nara wondered if they would be proud of her sitting here, helping the cause, doing her best to ensure she was doing everything humanly possible. They had cared a great deal for the Resistance. Yet would they be disappointed with her? She trusted him. She fell in love with him. And then he had left her. Was she a fool not to see it coming?
Poe began to move again. The dot darted across the map on the screen. It was clear he was trying to escape and it became clear he was failing. His speed seemed to lower, as if he had been caught. Nara's suspicions were confirmed when she saw his dot came to a halt. Suddenly his vitals began to change, indicating he had been boarding a ship. He was aboard the Star Destroyer. Kylo Ren had him.
The control room became eerily silent. Even all the droids failed to make any noise. Nara turned her eyes to Leia, awaiting new orders. Poe was their best pilot, and he held important information. He would be tortured mentally and physically. The First Order needed whatever was engrained in his mind as desperately as the Resistance.
"We can do nothing but wait," Leia finally spoke after some hesitation.
"What about the droid?" Nara asked. Her eyes darted over her screen. BB-8, Poe's companion, was nowhere to be found.
"I cannot send pilots to retrieve an expendable droid."
Nara knew how fond Poe was of the little droid, yet at the same time she also knew Leia was right. Going back to Jakku would be a suicide mission. No doubt some Stormtroopers had been left behind to enforce the peace.
The Resistance tried to go to work as best as they could, but everyone's heart was heavy for Poe. He was loved and admired by all the fighters. No one wanted to see him suffer, especially not at the hands of Kylo Ren.
"Nara," Leia spoke, appearing behind her. Her eyes had never left Poe's dot, keeping a close track on his vitals. Any sign of torture would show up.
It took the general a second time before Nara heard her. She turned her head, raising her eyebrows lightly, almost scared of letting the screen get out of her sight.
"It's time to go."
Nara shook her head. "I'm just gonna stay here for a little while."
Leia tried to smile softly yet her eyes didn't lie. "Come on. You need to eat something."
"No, really. Someone's gotta keep track of Poe. I'll be happy to do it."
"You're always like this when he does something like this," Leia spoke.
"Like what?"
Leia took a step forward and placed her hand on the back of Nara's chair. She inhaled sharply.
"Like you feel responsible for his actions."
Nara lowered her gaze and let her shoulders drop. Leia was right. There was no point in denying it.
"What if I could have stopped him?" she spoke softly. "Nothing like this would have happened if I did."
Leia's hand moved from the chair to the back of her neck. "If it is anyone's fault, it is mine. I shouldn't have sent him away."
Nara's fingers found the hem of her shirt. "What do you think he'll do next?"
Leia shook her head. "I don't know. I truly don't know."
"Do you think if it comes down to it, he'll be able to kill his own family?"
"Yes," the general replied firmly. "We are not his family anymore, Nara. That man behind the mask is not the man you grew up with. It is not the same man you loved. Never forget that."
A/N: I had this idea ever since I came back from the film. I absolutely LOVED Kylo Ren as a character and I think it will be very interesting to explore him through the eyes of my OC. I didn't want to have this story told from his POV as I think it would be more interesting to also read about Leia, Poe, Han, etc.
For anyone wondering, where the hell is Kylo Ren?! He'll show up eventually, don't worry. This story is definitely about the relationship between him and my OC, but I wanted to keep the story the same as in the film. The plot will thus follow the plot of The Force Awakens until I get to the point where there is no more. It didn't make sense for him and Nara to be in the same place in the same chapter, considering the situation.
I hope you all liked Nara. She is my first OC in the Star Wars universe, so I hope she doesn't disappoint. I got a clear idea where I want this story to go and I hope you're all going to enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it. Please let me know your thoughts!