21 BBY, Month 8

Rylann sat, watching the blue strings of light flash around them. Her knees were to her chest, feet propped against the dashboard as the ship thrummed in hyperspace. Besides a few creaks from the hull, the ship was quiet, letting Rylann focus on her thoughts.

She was heading towards a new beginning. Hopefully a beginning to an end. More than anything, she wanted to end this war and focus on making sure that she could stop rapid aging. Maybe it was selfish, but after seeing the pain Zeta went through, she didn't want Crosshair or the other clones to go through that—and she wanted to live her life with Crosshair as long as possible. So, yeah, maybe it was a little bit selfish, but she wouldn't deny it.

His fingers brushed against her shoulder, diverting her attention from the window. She glanced over at Crosshair, who sat in the seat beside her, his dark eyes meeting hers. "Mesh'la," he said, running his hand down her arm. "Are you alright?"

She nodded, gulping back the fears of the clones' short lifespan. "I'll be fine." She looked down, clenching her jaw. "I just wish the war was over."

"Don't we all?" he said, pushing his lip out in thought. His eyes flickered over to her again. "Are you having doubts about marrying me?"

Rylann's brows shot up, heat rushing to her face. "Of course not!" She picked at a fraying string on the sleeve of her robes. "I just want you to live as long as I do."

Crosshair's brows furrowed as he looked down at the dashboard. "We will find a way."

It was Rylann's turn to place a hand on his shoulder. "We will."

He placed his own palm over her hand, the callouses scratching against her skin roughly. He brought her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles. "I love you," he said, tilting his head as he blinked. "Am I going to take your last name?"

"Crosshair Tetra?" Rylann guffawed. "No thanks." She scrunched her lips, eyes narrowing. "Is there anything you'd want to have a last name as?"

Crosshair shrugged. "I don't know. I always wanted a Mandalorian last name. Just not Fett."

"Have you or your brothers ever talked about it?"

"A little, but mostly when we were cadets." Crosshair shrugged, brushing his thumb over her knuckles. "A few last names we talked about are Kryze, but it was a joke in relation to the Duchess, so that will not happen now that we have met her." He patted her hand, setting it down which made her chuckle.

"That wouldn't fly well," Rylann said. Especially with Kenobi if he ever found out. Rylann paused. And Shaak Ti would hate it, and she actually would be at the wedding and be a central part to her life. "Yeah, let's choose something else."

"There's also Ge'Tal which is red, Kyr'bes for skull, Kovid for head, and Dush for bad."

Rylann leaned forward, elbow resting on the arm of the chair. "Which would you like?"

"Kyr'bes," Crosshair said almost immediately, his eyes meeting hers.

"Was that one skull?"

Crosshair nodded, stroking his chin in thought. "All of us liked it besides Tech."

"Hey, he got over it with the uniform, so maybe he'd do it for a last name, too," Rylann offered with a smile.

"Rylann Kyr'bes?" Crosshair asked, stretching with his arms in the air.

"Crosshair Kyr'bes?" she retorted, poking at his exposed ribs from stretching.

He scowled, shuffling to his feet. He leaned over the armrest of her chair to place a kiss on her nose. "Regardless of a last name, I don't care as long as you're my wife."

Rylann smirked, looking over his sharp features. "Even if it's 'Rylann CT-9904'?"

He chuckled, leaning in to kiss her on the lips. "Maybe not, but I might get over it."

She leaned into his kiss before pulling away. "Maybe go talk to your brothers first before we make final decisions to send to Anakin and his clergyman."

Crosshair nodded, starting to walk away but hesitated. He looked back, gulping. "Delta told me I'd ruin you."

Rylann's jaw dropped as empathy raced into her gut. She wanted to hug Cross then and there. "Why?"

"Because I've caused you to ruin your chances. Ruin your future and the future of the Jedi."

Rylann braced herself on the arms of the chair, limping her way over to him. "He knows nothing." She hobbled over into his arms, wrapping hers around his torso as she smushed her face into his chest. "You've never ruined me and never will. You add beauty and laughter and stability into my life. That doesn't ruin me." She looked up at him, getting lost in his reddening eyes. "Shaak Ti also talked to you. What did she say?"

A smile flickered on his lips. "She just told me to make sure you find time to rest in all the work you do. And to always reach out if we needed anything."

"Just being with you is enough rest."

"Rylann..."

"Fine," she grumbled, spitting out a piece of hair that got stuck in her lips. "I will try to listen to you when you tell me."

"Now, let me go discuss last names with my brothers," he said, planting a kiss on her forehead before slowly removing himself from her embrace to leave the cockpit.

When the door slid closed behind him, Rylann let out a contented sigh. In less than twenty-four hours, she would be wed to Crosshair and be able to continue her special forces in her own HQ, away from the prying eyes of the Kaminoans or the Republic. Soon, she'd have peace. Her visions offered that, right? She remembered feeling peace when in all the visions. An image of a sniper rifle flashed through her mind. She furrowed her brows. Even though she remembered the anxiety that came from the vision of the rifle, even then she didn't feel dread. Crosshair had saved her before, and so he'd do it again. And Rylann knew Shaak Ti saw her legacy. If Shaak Ti knew more, then she never would've been okay with the relationship.

Pushing aside the matter of visions, Rylann set herself to filling out as much paperwork as she could regarding the marriage license and building leases for the headquarters. She glanced over at the paper of her birth certificate, the names of her parents catching her eye. Jorkinn and Ryalle Tetra. She didn't know much about their location besides being on the planet of Genetia in the Reesipee county. Maybe...

She didn't finish that thought. Other things took higher priority than her parents at the moment. If she could wait nineteen years to see them again, she could wait longer. Even if she hadn't seen them since she was two, she really doubted they'd remember her after no doubt moving on.

Shaking the feelings of grief from within her, Rylann once again set her focus to the papers before her, but slowly found herself drifting off into sleep.

【 ⌖ 】

Tech readjusted his goggles, scanning over the datapad search results. Legally acquiring a last name didn't seem much harder than legally changing his first name. Just expensive. Maybe he could spend some of his lottery money to pitch in. He won the money to treat his brothers and his expensive projects, but this seemed like a worthy expenditure.

With a few clicks of a button, he set up the meeting with the correct people on the Genetian moon they intended to settle on. Yamet, was it called? Tech found it interesting to be very similar to the Mando'a word for home, 'yaim.' He wondered if there was a correlation or connection with the etymology of the word.

But before he could go to any meetings the next day, they would be moving all of their items into the "homestead" of sorts that they had leased under the Republic. Headquarters as Rylann called it. Morut Base is what Tech wanted to call it. Morut meant 'haven.' That felt like it would be a fitting term for this place they would call home until the war ended.

According to the time on his datapad, they would be arriving at Yamet shortly. He'd have to wake his brothers, but he decided that he'd let the turbulence do that for him. He'd rather not get accidentally punched by Wrecker again.

Making his way into the cockpit with his nose in his tablet, he noted that he was no longer alone. Looking up, he spotted a Rylann who was fast asleep. A small smile played on Tech's lips as he looked at his soon-to-be sister. He never would have imagined it would come to this when he had first met her. He had made educated guesses maybe a couple of months into their friendship since he noted Crosshair's strange behavior towards her. Combining those observations and Hunter's reactions to them, Tech was able to put it together before Rylann's surprise party over a year ago.

He spotted the cloth dashboard cover in the corner, quickly grabbing it to lay over Rylann's sleeping form. He didn't think it was better than an actual blanket by any means, but he really didn't want to deal with angry, selfish, blanket-hogging brothers. Tech had already given his to Wrecker to use for the night.

Rylann sniffed but didn't awake at the sudden additional weight of a blanket. Tech let out a sigh of relief, recalling Crosshair's intense conversation on making sure his girl got enough sleep. She had been slacking in that department for a long while. Even though Tech was able to function well with minimal sleep, he knew scientifically females needed more sleep, as well as Rylann had a lot more responsibilities than he did.

As Tech pulled the shuttle from hyperspace, he sat down in the other chair, mindlessly going through the tasks to land the ship on the nearing moon. He let the hum of the ship, the slight snores from Rylann, and the utterances of his mind keep him company as the long landing process started. He eventually heard Hunter shuffling about in the other room, no doubt about to hit his routine shower in the fresher. Soon, Crosshair would be up to check on Rylann as well as brew the first pot of caf for Hunter, Tech, and himself. Wrecker needed a whole second pot to himself and Rylann preferred tea.

Tech sighed contentedly, happy with the routine of his family, but a strange feeling dug into his stomach which he could only guess was sadness. Sadness that it would change a little bit. Yes, they'd still go on missions together, and yes, they'd still all be on the same property, but Rylann and Crosshair would be starting a whole different routine with each other. Finding a new homeostasis.

And Tech ached for that. As much as he enjoyed routine, doing it alone, or with oblivious brothers wasn't really what he wanted forever. He would like a compatible partner to approach life with. Problem-solving with a person he didn't know like he knew his brothers. He knew everything about his brothers from their top fifty likes and dislikes to when brushing their teeth what the average number of toothbrush strokes they use per visit. He wanted to expand his knowledge with someone else. Maybe one day.

Soon enough both Hunter and Crosshair joined him in the cockpit, though silent like every morning. Right on schedule, Crosshair slid the mug of caf across Tech's beloved dashboard, the dark contents sloshing aggressively against the sides. Tech caught it, immediately blowing it off before sipping.

The ship was soon cleared to enter the moon's atmosphere and he made his way to the private air strip of Morut Base. After a few minutes of high-speed flying, Tech slowed at the approaching base. It was an abandoned factory and warehouse property with a few trailer shuttles to accommodate the workers from before. But, since it had been out of business for years, it was collecting dust and vines, so the price was fairly reasonable. And it was big enough for the coming and going of all the special forces teams if needed. And storage. And a house for the newlyweds. It was perfect.

"Hmm?" came Rylann's voice beside him as she stirred. Rylann rubbed her eyes, causing her makeshift blanket to fall down. She yawned, smiling at him. "Hello, Tech."

"Did you sleep well?" Tech asked, eyes flickering back to the window to properly land.

"Very." She ran her hands through her hair. "Oh, is that it?" She stood up slightly to get a better glimpse of the base.

"Yes, that is Morut Base."

"Huh?" Rylann asked, raising a brow.

"Haven," Crosshair interjected, placing a hand on her shoulder from behind her chair.

"That's what it means," Hunter said, his morning voice making his voice 2.4 times lower.

Tech glanced over at Rylann to see her reaction. She was smiling. Good. "I am not even complaining that I didn't get to name it." She smiled, looking over her shoulder at Crosshair. "I'm too happy, I guess."

Tech's heart panged again, but he brushed it aside as anxiety.