The Darkness Within

1. No Fun Sunny

It had been a busy week for Petty Officer Third Class Solana Tursu. The ship she was serving on, the Requiem, had received a new Admiral. Admiral Rampart. There were already rumors about him as a world ender. She had to hand it to him since Rampart was smart and cunning, making sure he always ended up the winner in any situation. Sunny, as she was called by many, just kept to herself as much as she could. She had just received her promotion to Petty Officer Third Class and was serving as the Executive Secretary for Commander Felix Darand, commander of weapons and strategy for the ship. Sunny did have a small desire to keep rising in the ranks and maybe someday she would command her own small ship. Until then, she kept her head down and did her best at her job. The ship she was on was an escort to the much larger ships and transports. Her job entailed she make sure every fighter and bomber was well armed. She knew her way around weapons systems and kept up to date on any new weaponry that was developed. She had a keen eye for recognizing patterns and thinking outside of the box with defensive maneuvers.
Petty Officer Tursu was just finishing up her inventory for the evening when she received a comm: "Your presence is required at the docking bay."
Double checking her uniform with a tablet in hand, she made her way to the small docking bay where a shuttle had just landed. The ramp was lowered with mist billowing from the life support system as it was purged. Sunny took her place in line beside a few other officers welcoming the new arrivals. A few TK troopers dressed in black armor filed off while the last one who exited was head and shoulders taller than them. He was surrounded by the mist, his appearance intimidating and lethal. He took off his black helmet and scanned the group of people gathered, his gaze skimming over Sunny's form. He knew his fellow TK troopers respected him and feared him a little bit. He expected the natborns to be afraid of him and it brought him a sense of pride. Sunny swallowed nervously, as she heard whispers behind her that the tall one was a clone. Her heart skipped a beat but she caged her eyes forward paying attention to Commander Darand as he introduced the special forces Strike Team. With a louder voice, he called her forward. "Petty Officer Third Class Tursu, is my executive assistant, and will be your guide while you're aboard the The Requiem. She has almost as much authority as me, and will be able to see to all of your needs. Mission briefing will be tomorrow at 0800 hours. You all are dismissed."
Sunny nodded to the group of troopers and waited for everyone else to leave. "Troopers, I'll see you to your quarters and then the mess hall, if that is agreeable?"
The troopers nodded to her and she led the way down the hall to the turbo lift. They all crowded in, with Sunny standing on Wrecker's right side. She took notice that there was space left next to him on his left side, as the other men squished together a little more. As she glanced at him she saw the reason why. He had a cybernetic eye in his left eye socket. She had noticed his scars before but didn't realize he had also lost an eye in the damage. The men dropped some of their gear in their rooms, stripping off the top half of their armor as they loitered in the hall, waiting for Wrecker.
Sunny led the way down the hallways to the mess hall, poignantly aware all the men were walking behind her and had a full view of her feminine silhouette. Her uniform was tailored to perfection; no extra fabric to bunch or bulge, hugging her curves in all the right places. She wasn't a vain woman, but she did keep physically fit.
She heard low murmurs and then a chuckle from one of the men. She stopped in her tracks and confronted the men. "Did you have a question, Sergeant?
"No, Petty Officer Bunny," he said, smirking. One of his companions was choking on a laugh.
This wasn't the first time Sunny had heard a joke about her name and her size. Gritting her teeth, she clasped her hands behind her back, squeezing them until her knuckles cracked.
"Well, aren't you a clever one. Did you come up with that one all on your own? How amusing." Her face changed from a small smirk to a deadpan face. Turning on her heel she continued to the mess hall, despite the snickers and laughs behind her.
Wrecker had seen the whole exchange and was used to his men's behavior. Once he saw Sunny tense up, he wanted to see how she would handle the teasing. He was impressed with her self control, but he doubted it would last any more taunting. He also appreciated that she did not use her rank against his men. It would have been an accepted action for her to point out the discrepancy of their station, but she was treating them as equals. Wrecker took this piece of information and tucked it away for later.
The men grabbed their trays in the mess hall and Sunny grabbed a piece of fruit to take back to her room. She was about to leave when one of the six men came up to her with a small data pad, with Wrecker trailing behind.
"Good evening, can I help you, sir?" she said as she turned to him. She nervously eyed Wrecker behind him, not sure why he was there too. "We need a crate of thermal detonators, more ammo clips, and here; here is another list of equipment we'll need."
Officer Tursu took the small data pad and looked over it briefly, her eyebrows raising in disbelief. There were some specialty items on here she would not be able to get unless they were meeting up with a larger ship. She felt rather than saw, Wrecker's heated gaze on her. He was clearly listening to the conversation and had an opinion.
She cleared her throat and said, "I can get most of these items in a few days. I'll need to comm some other ships in the area to see if they have the items-
The larger clone stepped forward and tilted his face down at her. "You have two days," is all he said in a deep gravelly voice.
The other trooper nodded to her as he and Wrecker returned to the table. Wrecker held her gaze as he returned to his seat, leaving Sunny with a sinking feeling in her gut.