The unknown soldier.

The reach

Natalie's pov

The new launch bay was almost done.  I was painting the lines for the ships and Sabine was making the place colorful. Zeb and Chopper were working on the lights as Hera was fixing up the old ships. The x-wings were the second generation, maybe even the first but they still would do their job. Maybe they would be better, and their signal wouldn't show up on the scanners since they are back from the republic days. 

Soon I joined to help Hera and we worked in silence until she stopped and looked at me. "If this war comes together head-on, we have a friend, Rex, an old Clone Trooper who has helped us numerous times. He has some friends, too, that could help as well.  There are only six of them but they will be of use to your cause." The woman smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile back.

"If they can, we would need to have them on our side," I said as I continued to work on the engine. Six more able bodies mean we can take on six more bucket heads and that's what we needed. The lights turned on and the base was illuminated in light. We stepped back to see our work. There was one clear distinct tarmac pad, but where the planes were was hidden. They had little bunkers in the trees around the pad so at a moment's notice they could be wheeled on. 

The base itself underground was all fixed and ready to go. The miniature underground city was stocked with supplies such as food, water, clothes, blasters, and medical kits. This would be the perfect place to hide. I thought back to my brother's visit last night. Why would he reach out? Guilt? Fear? Was it not too late to turn him and his life around? 

We made our way back to the base itself, letting Leia know that everything was ready at a moment's notice. As I got back to my room, I was tackled by Dianna and Poe. They threw themselves at me with a huge hug. I embraced them back. Dianna had become like a daughter to me and Poe. 

"What do you want to do Natalie?" She asked me with pleading eyes. Squatting so I was at her eye level I smiled at her eagerness. 

"Well, Dianna what would you like to do?" She sat and pondered for a minute before smiling. 

"Can we have tea with the others again? But this time can I set everything up?" Poe and I looked at each other while he shrugged.  

"I have absolutely no problem with that!" He said while picking her up and twirling her around. She squealed in excitement as I laughed, sitting on the bed. I was very tired all of a sudden. My whole body hurt, especially my lower back and chest. Deciding to lay down was my best option at this point, which I did and eventually fell asleep. 

I was awoken by a light shake. Dianna's bright gold eyes were looking into mine. "Are you ok?" She whispered to me and I smiled as she crawled to curl into me as I propped myself up on my elbows. 

"Yes, I was just tired that's all." She looked at me questioningly before shaking her head mumbling something along the lines of, she doesn't know.  

She got up, holding my larger hand in both of hers. "Come on, everything is ready!" I complied, following her. On the way, we picked up Beaumont, Poe, Snapp, Rose, and Finn. Even Leia opted to go. We all followed Dianna and I chuckled a little to myself. She had become like a little sister to everyone here, and a daughter to me and Poe, although she did have her own family, we still felt that motherly and fatherly love towards her. 

But all I could imagine at that moment was what her first boyfriend would see, or her first ex sees when all of us are walking towards him to make sure he treats her right. I could see Finn and Poe being the worst of the bunch. 

We all walked to that familiar flower field where Dianna had done her own decorations. We all got a little uneasy as it was so similar to when we went on our last mission. Shaking off the nerves I noticed four more people had joined us. Sabine, Hera, Zeb, and Ezra all joined, wanting to take part in the fun.