The unknown soldier.

Pain

Natalie's POV

Based on the vacant but warm spot on the bed next to me, I could only assume I woke up just after Poe left. The aching hole in my chest burned through me. Something was going to go wrong. I could feel it. Clutching the rings on my neck I took a deep breath before getting up.

Dressing simply I wore a pair of jeans and black boots along with a comfortable grey hoodie and leather jacket. My hair was done up in an informal bun on the back of my head. It was loose and strands were hanging out but I didn't care much. After freshening up I left our room and into the sunlight.

"Natalie, how you hanging on?" Rose asked me as we walked to the headquarters. "Just as bad as I thought I would. Something feels wrong about all this." Rose lent me a soft smile before putting her hand comfortingly on my shoulder. "Everything will be fine." She pointed at the rings on my neck.

"So, flyboy is more of loverboy now, huh." She teased and I scoffed, nudging her slightly with my elbow as we walked into the headquarters. The whole base was up at this point, and everyone was running around to their stations for the day. We needed Poe and Finn to get this information and fast. Popping on my earpiece I got the comms ready to go.

Turning on the glass panel in front of me, it lit up blue with the various ships in the sky as little dots. "Poe and Finn are in the air in three...two...one..." Their red dot popped up on the scanner and I turned on my comms to their ship. But as that happened, the system they entered was empty. No vessels, nothing. "Hey boys!" I mustered up all the cheeriness I could get.

"Just say it, Nat, you don't have a good feeling." I sighed. It's true there was no little spark of that hope we would come out of this with a scratch. "No. Rey even contacted me, asking if something was wrong because she could feel something. Please, guys, be careful. The system you are in is strangely quiet. I only hope that it's just a coincidence."

They stayed silent and I started calculating the Hyperspace jump on my end. They were just about at the right coordinates so I started the countdown. "Hyper Space jump in three, two, one." They shot through Hyperspeed to the lleenium system where the Finalizer was. The familiar fuzz from the other side of the comm cut out.

"W-what?" I mumbled to myself. That was weird. I clicked a few buttons and got the comms on the ship back online. "What happened?" I asked as they finally got through. "We don't know but the comm cut out. When do we exit Hyper-Space?" Poe asked. Oh shit, forgot about that. "Alright be ready in five..." I counted down to one and they made it to the lleenium system where they exited Hyperspace. Breathing a sigh of relief, I prepared myself for the first step which was the hardest one. Getting onto the Finalizer and past their extensive security system.

"Finn, Poe?" I asked the two. "What do you guys see?" There was silence before Finn spoke. "That's the problem, Nat..."

"There's nothing." Poe finished. My breath hitched and I glanced at Rose and Lea. There was no way. I looked back at the monitor and there was nothing there. "No...that's not right..." I mumbled it mostly to myself, my thoughts forming into words. "It was there a second ago..."

"Poe?" I heard Finn whisper. "Hold on." Poe had replied. Finn finally got sick of it and shouted at him. "POE!" He roared. "What!" Poe retorted. "What is so-" he stopped. Their voices cut in and out. "Nat you are going to have to use our personal links," Poe said through the comm on my hip. "Ok, I still have your radar going. Now, what do you see."

"The Finalizer." The...."WHAT?!" I shouted. "How?! there is nothing on my end." I rubbed my face and sighed. "Just, let me know when you get the boarding codes through." they agreed and the comm shut off. Leaning back I flexed my wrists in an attempt to get the anxiety out. There was a beep a little while later indicating the comm was turned on.