Chapter 24: Itoll Oc'nel

Coruscant

Oc'nel walked confidently into the gym, heading for the indoor track. Sey'les had challenged Buzz, Scorch, Isaac and Dawn to a 400-meter dash.

Knowing that Sey'les was going to use her implants, Oc'nel decided to show up and do the same. While all cadets at the Bothan Martial Academy were implanted with a mark 1 adrenaline implant, Botha'ahir Marines were also implanted with a mark 3.

As Oc'nel entered, Sey'les, Buzz, Scorch, Isaac, Dawn, and Wulf stood on the other side the indoor track at the top of the gym stretching.

Oc'nel smirked when Sey'les lifted her snout sniffing the air as he drew nearer. Yep, I am here. Sey'les spun around and gasped. Then she sniffed the air furiously and gasped again. She scowled.

"Zon tona woks ham?" [What are you doing here?] Sey'les snarled.

Oc'nel laughed. "Sjų wįną khų." [I will win,] he snarled in his Botha'ahir accent.

Buzz sighed angrily at the two Bothans arguing. The other Clones looked flabbergasted.

"Uh," Wulf said, "I am feeling a little left out."

Sey'les scowled unintimidated. [You helped me with Ro'val,]she continued growling. [You are braver than I thought Oc'nel, but I warn you—]

[—You are going to kill yourself trying to beat these Clones ma'am,] Oc'nel growled cautiously in Bothese. [You can't use your adrenaline implants every time we train. When I win, I will show you that it is pointless. That you can still be a leader without being in first.]

Sey'les scowled. "YOU ARE PLAYING WITH FIRE!" she screamed in Basic.

Oc'nel winced awkwardly.

"Watch your back Ensign," she said bashing his shoulder with hers.

"Ma'am let's cut the drama and get this show on the road," Buzz suggested. "You were saying you could beat us ARC Troopers in a race?"

"Everyone! On the starting line!" Sey'les snarled furiously.

Oc'nel stood next to Sey'les. She snarled angrily at him in a toothy scowl. Oc'nel looked straight ahead, trying to focus on the track itself.

The four ARC Troopers lined up alongside the Bothans. They wore black exercise uniforms with giant white Republic insignias.

Wulf held out a datapad, keeping track of the running times with it. "On your mark," he said.

Oc'nel moved his tongue on the roof of his mouth in a Cherek shape. A familiar robotic voice began speaking to him in his head, telling him two implants were now activating. His pupils dilated. His fur stood on end.

"Get set!" Wulf yelled louder. "GO!"

Oc'nel began sprinting alongside Sey'les. The two cheating Bothans left the Arc Troopers in the dust. Their pupils dilated to the point where their irises could barely be seen.

A Clone voice yelled "WHOA!" In the distance. Oc'nel did not care. Everything seemed brighter. The surge of energy was pure exhilaration.

Sey'les snarled loudly behind him beginning to shriek in despair like a jackal.

Oc'nel did not dare turn back. All he could focus on was what was directly ahead. The wind rushed into his face. Even while breathing through his mouth, the Bothan could smell the thick sweaty aroma of the indoor track and the rubber smell of the surface.

He gave a feral grin once the Ardennian came into view. Wulf looked almost fearful, his eyes were wide.

The primitive part of Oc'nel's hindbrain told him prey! Oc'nel ignored it, shaking his head furiously and continued running, careful to run past Wulf and not into him.

"43.56 seconds! HOLY SHASSA OC'NEL!" the Ardennian screamed in astonishment. "46.41 seconds! Uh holy shassa too Sey'les!"

"49.6, 50.01, 50.56, 51.6, 53.0," Wulf yelled as the Clones finished.

Oc'nel hung his snout open as he walked along, gasping for breath. Sey'les did the same, moaning in despair.

Both of the Bothans began vomiting, hands on their knees, struggling to stay standing. Both began whimpering.

Wulf yelled more obscenities. "You broke the male record for the entire Navy Oc'nel! Maybe for the whole Republic! Sey'les, you broke the female record! You… HOLY SHASSA!"

The Clones looked astonished and stared at the Bothans with wide eyes—all except for Buzz. Buzz looked furious.

"Damn Bothans are fast," Isaac said in awe, taking a swig of water from his canteen.

"Only at short distances," Buzz said sternly. The huge Clone walked up to the two staggering Bothans, then folded his arms glaring at them angrily. "Agtshita woks par korm treyning nu? Kapan, Ensin?" [Did you just cheat in training? Captain, Ensign?]

Oc'nel was in shock. A Clone just spoke fluent Bothese. He couldn't react though because he vomited again.

Sey'les started mumbling incomprehensibly in a panic, her fur swirling nervously and standing on end fearfully, then vomited again.

"You speak Bothan sir?" Scorch asked.

"It's Bothese and yes."

"How sir?!" Dawn demanded. "You aren't a Clone linguist! I don't even think linguists are trained in Bothese."

"I had special training. Enough questions," Buzz said sternly, "I want to speak to these Bothans alone."

"Come on, let's have breakfast," Wulf said to the three Clones, beckoning them towards him. The four walked towards the exit.

Buzz began growling angrily in Bothese. His growls did not sound Bothan, but his intonation was perfect for a Kothlis Bothan. [You two immature idiots disappoint me. You are going to get yourselves kriffing killed just to show some Clones you can run fast. I expect this from a kriffing Clan Onel, but you Captain? What is your excuse? Cheating to beat young humans in their prime?]

Both of the Bothans' fur swirled nervously.

Sey'les stammered, gasping for breath, finally done vomiting. "Erz woks pan Bothask nizek!" [You speak Bothese!]

Oc'nel began quaking, feeling cold as the adrenaline wore off. His reaction was much more severe than Sey'les's; proportional to the huge surge of adrenaline that had been pumped into his body.

"Kįz," Buzz growled.

The more he talked, the more Oc'nel would have placed him as a Kothlis Bothan or a Bothan of another Colony World. That is, he would if he did not know Buzz were human. Oc'nel did not understand how this was possible.

[Do I need to take you to the infirmary Ensign?] Buzz growled sternly.

"Nųkhįz sįr." [No sir,] Oc'nel growled, finally able to speak. His body continued trembling, but not as badly as before. Please don't vomit again! Phew!

Sey'les growled cautiously, "ąghsųnųyą wųks bhą—" [Did you—]

[—Yes, I heard everything,] Buzz sighed. [Your total lack of military bearing ma'am. I heard about how you are both cheating. It's completely disgraceful. If you cheat at training again, if you insult each other, if you spread rumours about each other, I am going to report you both for dishonourable conduct. I don't care if you outrank me ma'am, this conduct is unacceptable and sets a bad example for everyone, especially the Clones. Ensign, you should know better too.]

"You're right," Sey'les sighed in Basic. "It won't happen again Buzz."

"Yeah sir, sorry about that," Oc'nel added. He took a mental note of the way Buzz repeatedly referred to 'the Clones' in the third person. That is really weird.

"Good," Buzz said in Basic.

Oc'nel gasped when he reached the Ranger Division two minutes early. On the large viewscreen was an image of the asteroid-ringed gas giant of Bothawui. Fojo, Sey'les, Wulf, and the Clones were already seated. He took a seat next to Sey'les.

[What's going on ma'am?] he whispered nervously in Bothese.

[I don't know but I don't like it,] Sey'les whispered back in Bothese. [Ro'val seemed worried about Tarkin engineering false intelligence.]

"You guys are speaking a lot of Bothese lately ma'am," Wulf said with a smile. "Maybe I should learn—"

"—not now Wulf," Sey'les whispered harshly. She turned back to Oc'nel and began whispering again in Bothese. [I think Tarkin is going to try something in Bothan space. He got shot in the back by Boola Carbine and seems to have taken it personally. I am worried he—]

"—Very good, we are all here," Tarkin said loudly, standing in front of the viewscreen. "We are going to have our first deployment. The second phase of our mission is top secret and you will be given more information after we are underway. As you might have guessed," he said nodding at the two Bothans, "we are deploying to Bothan space. For the first phase of our mission, led by General Anakin Skywalker—well don't you two seem glum!" Tarkin yelled at Sey'les and Oc'nel.

"Sorry Governor," Sey'les bellowed loudly.

"Sorry Governor," Oc'nel croaked.

"Is this going to be a problem?" Tarkin asked sharply. "You two are from this part of the Galaxy. We will be relying on your knowledge and familiarity with the customs, culture, tactics, everything. I will be relying on you."

"No, it's not a problem. I am just wondering, sir, why we are entering Bothan Space in the first place. All Bothan worlds are neutral," Sey'les answered.

"The Jedi believe that General Grievous is going to send a fleet of warships to invade Bothawui-4, your home Sey'les."

"Where does this intel come from, Governor?" Oc'nel asked pointedly.

"The sources are classified. You do not normally ask this many questions Ensign."

"Sorry Governor, I am just worried for—"

"—we are all worried," Tarkin interrupted in a tone that did not sound worried at all.

The operation would have sounded suspicious to Oc'nel even if Sey'les had not told him about Ro'val's fears. General Anakin Skywalker, the very same unpleasant Jedi he had met in Dex's Diner, was leading three Venator Class Star Destroyers to blockade the Both System.

Anakin Skywalker, Admiral Yularen, and the main taskforce were to be aboard the flagship, the Resolute.

Tarkin and his command were aboard the Caellus—along with Ranger Teams 1 and 2, and 400 Clones from the Coruscant Guard's 1st Diplomatic Services Corps. Their gear list was deeply suspicious. In addition to the expected gear for an operation, helmet, boots, armour vest, they were instructed to pack cold wet weather gear—their trench coats, snow gloves, snow boots, thermal underlayers, waterproof over-boots, and waterproof rubber leggings. If Oc'nel did not know any better, he would have suspected that Tarkin expected combat on the surface of a cold part of a Bothan moon.

Home in his apartment, Oc'nels fur swirled nervously as he packed all of his cold weather gear and uniforms into his rucksack. He felt extremely tense, repeatedly wondering to himself: Should I contact Ro'val? Should I talk to Sey'les?

Their Consular-class cruiser, the Allanteen, would be bound for the Caellus at 0500 so he set his chronometer to wake him at 0330. He lay in bed for a while, staring up at the ceiling feeling defeated. How could I waste so much time thinking about one-upping Sey'les and not see the walls closing in? Kriff I need to message Jazal.

"Hey Jazal, Tarkin's dragging us to Bothan space with him. Worried this is part of some ploy I don't understand. Anakin is involved somehow, I think, but I don't know. We are packing lots of combat gear and snow gear. Hope to hear from you soon."