? ~PROJECT SAC-1~ ??

Chapter 11 - The First Day ?

Talla was right in thinking she'd be unable to meet Hunter's gaze in embarrassment, and by the looks of it he was experiencing the same unease, so she just focused on the momentous occasion. "Let's get out of here, I'm tired of this place." She declared, a bright smile matching her equally gleaming eyes.

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It felt... weird being back at the Havoc Marauder II.

This ship, in the short time she'd been on it, held only bad memories for Talla. Walking through the interior after everything she'd already gone through since her deployment not that long ago, it was definitely hard to suppress what had transpired in the brief time her squadron hated her. The feelings of anger, frustration, hopelessness, and fear that tore her apart. The arguments, the total disdain for her existence, and the consequences for the mistakes she had made.

With the help of the crutch, Talla shuffled into her quarters, and the figurative cloud over her head became more pronounced, casting so much more doom and gloom over her overall psyche when reminded how she had not even allowed herself to unpack, all her worldly possessions still in their crates, neatly stacked in the front corner of the room.

The Talla - or rather, SAC-1 - before the accident was a clone soldier with no hope it seemed. And a small, insecure part of her still feared rejection despite her proven worthiness, for she still had so much to learn.

Amongst her scan of the empty, impersonalized space something on her bed that hadn't been there before caught her eye.

With a burning curiosity she hobbled over, leaned on her crutch to be able to take it in her hands. The strange item was a rolled-up tube of paper, and its contents revealed itself to be a large white, painted portrait of the symbol for Clone Force 99.

She had no idea who had given this to her or why, until Wrecker shambled into her room and asked timidly. "Ya like it?" Her confusion was now directed at him. "It's a poster." He bashfully shed light on about the object, rubbing the back of his neck apprehensively, "It's one I had back on Kamino, but I thought maybe you could hang it up in your room... thought it'd help ya settle in better."

Because of the bad memories that had come back full force, SAC-1 was briefly astonished that he did something so nice for her, her mentality reverting back to a week ago.

Then Talla recalled how Wrecker treated during her hospital days and even before the mission with nary a cross word. She felt a surge of happiness, and beamed up at him appreciatively. "I love it!" His bashfulness was completely forgotten, and he grinned from ear to ear, mentally giving himself a high-five. She regarded this thing called a poster with a touched expression. No one had ever bestowed a gift upon her! "This will definitely help me settle in." She agreed, and held it out for him. "Will you help me hang it up?" She instructed him to hang it over her bed, and while she didn't appreciate the dirty boot prints on her comforter since he hadn't bothered to take them off, Talla still admired the art with shining eyes once he finished, feeling a wave of warmth explode in her chest.

SAC-1... TALLA was a part of this tight-knit squad, and he wanted to make sure she knew that.

"This poster has inspired me; I need to get more stuff for my room!" She tapped her chin thoughtfully, "Perhaps another poster but of a droid, so I can practice my shooting and knife skills over there, and a new mirror obviously for over there; maybe a bedside table...?"

Wrecker was practically jumping up and down, and couldn't contain his excitement of going out to buy stuff, was ecstatic at her getting excited about going out to buy stuff. "Maybe we can convince Hunter to hit the market district!"