Chapter 30: Lir Sey'les
Aboard the Caellus
On the return ride, Tarkin was the angriest Sey'les had ever seen. Sey'les was completely unconcerned with that. Even with the mission of vengeance aborted early, she had no idea how many Bothans they had killed.
Sey'les stared up at the ceiling in her quarters. While grateful that no one on her team had been killed in this misadventure, she could not stop thinking of the dozens of bodies of Clones and the wreckage of Republic vehicles left behind. Clones who would never have received a funeral either way.
Her door chimed.
"Ma'am, we need to talk," Oc'nel's voice came through.
Sey'les got up and opened her door. "What is it Ensign?"
"Kat mu zega panam luti." [We need to tell our people.]
[Tell them what?!] Sey'les snarled back in Bothese.
[The whole fleet is hiding in the asteroids. There must be a way for them to track the LAATs in case Tarkin tries this again—]
[—these ones are stealth,] Sey'les growled cautiously back in Bothese. [I don't want to tell our people how to kill us or our teams.]
[We saw how the Republic responded when my people gave them a show of force,] Oc'nel murmured quietly but again with an annoyingly proud grin. [I bet if we tell them how to track the LAATs, next time Tarkin tries this, they will send ships to intercept and Tarkin will turn around.]
Sey'les sighed. [One of the Engineers, Turner, said it was possible to get a rough location using radar stuff he called 'low-bandwidth,' I am not sure AHHHHH—] she yelped.
Buzz appeared out of nowhere along with three Clones she had never seen before. Buzz was wearing all of his armour except for his helmet. Two of the Clones were wearing mechanic uniforms, and the third was fully-clad in Coruscant Guard armour.
Buzz began beating Oc'nel on the legs with a pipe, then grabbed the Oc'nel's head hair, pulling him into the room.
Sey'les snarled and picked up her chair, throwing it into the humans in her doorway.
Buzz yelled in pain then tackled her. He snarled in Bothese "Ghįnshlųsą hąn phįnthų!" [Close the door!]
"Kiz Palkab!" [Yes Colonel,] one of the Clones said back.
The Clones began kicking and punching the Bothans. Sey'les and Oc'nel yelped in pain. If Sey'les were not so distracted, she would have been wondering why all of the Clones were speaking Bothese.
Her ears were ringing. Her head felt like it was going to split in half. Sey'les snarled angrily as the Clones handcuffed her hands behind her back. "KRIFF!" she snarled angrily in Basic. "LET GO OF MY HAIR!"
The Clones sat Sey'les and Oc'nel on her bed.
"Erz-gilsk wu zharn verzdrada at erz wu panan akomplis 'yek 'haut niresponda." [You are guilty of treason and are accomplices in the murder of first responders,]Buzz said solemnly. "Agshtana mu wu do zharn yeyek." [You have been sentenced to death.]
"What?" Oc'nel stammered in basic. "First responders?"
"WHAT?!" Sey'les snarled. "Sentenced—AHHHH!" she yelped as Buzz pulled out two transparent duraplast bags and pulled one over her head, then pulled one over Oc'nel's head.
The two Bothans screamed unable to breath. Sey'les tried biting her bag but it had no effect. Every breath felt less and less like air. Her fur stood up on end in a panic as her eyes began playing tricks on her. They are going to kill me! It now felt like she was sucking the duraplast into her snout.
"Really?! Are you kriffing serious?" Buzz yelled to someone in Basic. He extended a knife from his wrist armour, pulled the sack away from Sey'les's nose and cut a hole.
Sey'les gasped for breath, panting heavily.
Buzz repeated the same procedure for Oc'nel.
"What the kriff?" Sey'les croaked. She tried sticking her snout through the hole in the duraplast but it was not wide enough.
Oc'nel began gasping for breath, breathing heavily.
[What were you saying about the bandwidth of radars?] Ro'val growled in Bothese.
"Ro'val! Bakit erz woks ham?" [Ro'val! Why are you here?] Sey'les asked breathily.
[I am not here. I am a holo-presence,] Ro'val replied in Bothese. [Take the bags off of them Colonel!]
[Ro'val, I strongly disagree,] Buzz growled back.
[TAKE THE BAGS OFF THEM COLONEL!] Ro'val snarled.
Buzz walked back up to Sey'les and Oc'nel, removing the bags from their heads.
Sey'les breathed deeper and looked around her room. The four Clones stood around a small Holoprojector. Ro'val's holo-presence was standing in her room with folded arms.
[What the kriff is going on?] Oc'nel snarled in Bothese.
[A BOCI triumvirate had an emergency session. Amongst the judges was a judge from Botha'ahir and Bothawui, as must be the case for all death penalty—]
[—What?!] Oc'nel growled fearfully. [Death penalty?] he moaned in a downcast voice. His fur twirled unhappily.
[A triumvirate sentenced you both to death for treason and for murdering first responders. The First Secretary of the Combined Clans signed your sentence, as is required for death sentences.] A large projection of a form with Savyelk Trey'dra's signature replaced Ro'val's holo-presence briefly. Ro'val flashed back into view and continued growling in Bothese. [Our operatives then began carrying out your sentence.]
[We didn't even get any last words.] Sey'les croaked. [Just killed with a plastic bag?]
[Do you think you deserve better?] Ro'val asked with raised eyebrows.
[This is ridiculous,] Oc'nel growled nervously. His fur fell flat in fear. [We didn't have a choice. I wasn't happy with our orders—]
[—No choice?] Ro'val interrupted in Bothese. [No choice? Just following orders? Those were illegal orders Ensign. Those were crimes against peace, being involved in the abduction of a private citizen, murdering first responders, deploying a weapon of mass destruction against your own people. Neither of you utterly disgraceful Bothans did a damn thing. Bothans were dying and you just followed orders blindly, caring more about your careers than the lives of our people. The Bothan Way is one thing, but this is ridiculous! You betrayed us to aliens!]
[What could we have done?] Sey'les sobbed. [I was considering relieving Tarkin of command, but… he never pushed me hard enough to follow through.]
[Buzz warned Bothawui that Clan Amai was under attack hours beforehand,] Ro'val growled. [During the operation, when things were deteriorating and becoming unacceptably violent, Buzz told the Jedi what Tarkin had done and what he was planning.]
Sey'les hung her head despondently. All of this talk of Buzz however piqued her curiousity, then she gasped. "Buzz?!" Sey'les snarled in Basic. "I don't understand. Who the kriff are you? You are working for Ro'val?!"
"Who I am is none of your concern," Buzz growled sternly. "You are never to ask that question again."
"I am dead anyways. What does it matter?" Sey'les snarled angrily.
"I think your sentence may be commuted," Ro'val growled cautiously. "Maybe, we have to discuss this."
A hologram of a thin male Bothan with a moustache at the end of his snout appeared. [JUST KILL THEM ALREADY!] he snarled frantically.
[Very well sir,] Buzz growled and held out the bags again.
"Nokiz! No!" Sey'les stammered quaking in fear.
"STOP!" Ro'val yelled angirly. "The Marshalcy has no say here Kra'fon. You are not on the triumvirate, and our analysts have not evaluated Sey'les or Oc'nel's claims."
[This is ridiculous,] he snarled. [This Spynet nonsense is ridiculous. This Onel piece of shtak shot a cop in the throat. Both of them might have even killed—]
"—I am sorry sir," Oc'nel growled nervously. "I didn't kill her though."
"Maybe I should shoot you in the throat with a rubber slug!" Kra'fon yelled in Basic. "Her voice box is probably permanently damaged!"
"Yes sir, shoot me in the throat, I just… I am sorry, don't kill me," Oc'nel stammered. "I didn't mean to hit her in the throat."
"We warned her," Sey'les growled sadly. "We told her Tarkin was coming and she wouldn't surrender so I authorised Oc'nel to use non-lethal force on her—"
"—you did not tell us any of this Buzz!" Ro'val growled angrily. "You told us they only followed Tarkin's orders."
"Ma'am, these scumbags deserve to die. They may have taken actions to save some Bothans but they did not tell anyone outside of their—"
"—what other actions did they take?" Ro'val growled cautiously.
"When the police headquarters was under attack," Sey'les stammered. "Wulf, Oc'nel and I volunteered to storm it. We used non-lethal firepower and stunned several cops. The cops were being killed left and right by Tarkin."
"Is this true?!" Ro'val snarled.
"Yes, it is Director. I still agreed with the decision of the triumvirate, and still do," Buzz growled, backing away from Ro'val's holopresence slightly.
What a goon! He covers up the good things I did then puts a bag over my head! KRIFF. Sey'les scowled angrily, her fur standing on end. Witness and executioner!
Six more holograms appeared. Eight Bothan holograms now stared at Sey'les and Oc'nel, still seated on her bed.
[For the context of our ruling, I hope for the opinions of the experts,] a hologram of an old Bothan male holding a cane said.
A Bothan hologram wearing a lab coat spoke up. [As you all know, we were able to track all Republic vessels exposed to the debris with help from the first Botha'ahir nuclear blast. They are in the Gal'zan cluster and we have already informed General Grievous—]
"—Grievous!" Sey'les gasped.
The hologram continued, ignoring Sey'les's outburst. [We believe Sey'les's intel is actionable. We have modified our radar already and are getting the same hits. This means, we can also track any Republic vessels that were not exposed to the nuclear blasts.]
[Did you hear the rest of our discussion?] Ro'val asked the triumvirate.
[Yes, we did. Sey'les's actions are certainly mitigating factors as well. We certainly would not have sentenced them to death had we known,] the old Bothan with a cane glared at Buzz.
Buzz folded his arms and looked down on the hologram.
[For now, the sentence of death has been commuted. We will have to deliberate longer to decide on anything else.]
"When can we expect a verdict?" Ro'val asked.
"Maybe in a few hours," the hologram growled with a shrug in Basic, turning to the other two judges.
"Probably," the Botha'ahir judge said with a Spacer hand nod.
After the judges, the Marshal, and the scientists disappeared, it was just Ro'val, Buzz, and the four probably-not Clones.
"I still think you two are flaming garbage cans," Ro'val growled sternly. "But I don't think you deserve to die."
"Thank you," Oc'nel stammered.
"Thank you, ma'am," Sey'les croaked. "What do we do now?"
"Oh, you two? You stay right here in this room. The whole ship thinks you are both sleeping right now anyways. Take off their handcuffs Buzz and give them medical treatment! I am signing off for now. Do not kill them."
Buzz reluctantly took off Sey'les and Oc'nel's handcuffs.
[Who the kriff is Ro'val?!] Oc'nel snarled angrily in Bothese.
[She's…] Sey'les growled then stopped when Buzz clenched his teeth. [She's important. Very important.]
[And you just let me swear at her? I thought she was a psychiatrist who was a part time SpyNet hack! Sey'les—]
[—I am sorry,] Sey'les stammered. [I swore at her too—]
[—Yeah but you knew she was important. I don't usually get struck by lightning Sey'les. Now, I just got nearly executed,] Oc'nel sighed.
Buzz chuckled and shook his head, pacing around the room. The other probably-not Clones just stared at them.
Well, at least I am not going to get executed tonight, Sey'les sighed exasperatedly as Buzz handed her a cold pack.
"Can I get a towel to wipe off the kriffing blood on my snout?" Oc'nel growled angrily in Basic.
One of the Clones tossed one to him.
Sey'les held the cold pack gingerly to her snout.
Ten or twenty minutes of silence went by. Eventually, the door chimed. "Ma'am, this is Fojo, are you there? Do you know where Oc'nel is?
Buzz sighed. "Tell him you are here but busy."
Oc'nel staggered towards the comm terminal, wincing in pain. "I am here Fojo," he sighed. "But busy."
"Seriously, Oc'nel," Fojo sighed in exasperation. Captain, with all due respect, you and Oc'nel are disgusting," Fojo groaned disapprovingly. "We just got back from hell, saw your people die, and now you two are… I don't believe it."
Sey'les sighed herself. Great. Just great.
"Maybe you can talk to Wulf about it?" Oc'nel suggested into the comm, coughing slightly.
Oc'nel did not sound like he found Fojo's assumption funny at all. Neither did Sey'les. Perhaps it would have been funny if her own people had not tried to execute her—if her entire chain of command was not a lie and Buzz were not just a plant.
"Wulf?! Might as well talk to kriffing Buzz or another one of those psychopaths."
Sey'les snarled and stood up. Wulf is not a psychopath!
Buzz pulled Oc'nel's hand off the speak button. "Sit down Sey'les," he said sternly, pushing Oc'nel back towards her bed.
Sey'les and Oc'nel hung their heads sadly. Everything about this situation was awful. Their commanding officer had proven himself to be even eviler than Sey'les could possibly imagine, and now, she was stuck here knowing that her people had sold them all out to General Grievous—and she could hardly blame them! There was nothing about their actions that made the Republic safer. It certainly did not make Bothawui safer. Her Clan was going to have to pay to help Varnek rebuild and they had nothing to do with it.
Sey'les began feeling a renewed sense of dread. Is this it? I am just destined to be returned to my Clan when they are all going to be mad at me? This is so kriffed. This is awful. This—
"—Hey!" Sey'les stared at Oc'nel with a feral toothy grin. An exciting realisation suddenly interrupted her dread and sadness. Her fur danced excitedly. She stared into Oc'nel's heterochromatic eyes, exaggerating her proud feral grin.
Oc'nel scowled. "What is it ma'am?" he growled in Basic.
"It was intel I heard at the briefing, as a Captain, that convinced Ro'val to take the bags off our heads!" Sey'les exclaimed, her mood dramatically improved. "Intel which I remembered and passed on!" she said proudly.
Oc'nel blinked twice. "Yep. I suppose that is the case. What is your point?"
"I saved your life! There is one thing I learned from the Wookiees. You owe me a life debt now!" Sey'les snarled excitedly. "Your whole life! All of it!"
"Ha! That's funny," Oc'nel scoffed, completely unamused. "Ma'am, I am not a kriffing Wookiee. Even if I were a Wookiee, you got me in this position in the first place. I was going to join the Coruscant police with Divo, but instead I joined you and Tarkin thanks to your neurotic recruitment," Oc'nel snarled. "You know what? If Fojo and I hadn't told Tarkin that Passel Argente's hat was misinformation when I did, Tarkin probably would have found out and done something. I don't know what, but for all you know, I saved your life first, Captain."
Sey'les scowled. Damn it. He's right.
"You know what I don't get ma'am?" Oc'nel asked, turning to face Sey'les.
"What?" Sey'les growled, expecting Oc'nel to insult her, or even worse, to claim she owes him a life debt.
"Why didn't we think to tell the Jedi?" Oc'nel asked. "Why didn't any of the Bothans think to tell the Jedi? Why did Ro'val try to get us to help her get rid of Tarkin instead of telling the Jedi? Why are they now turning to General Grievous for help instead of the Jedi? Even Anakin helped us. ANAKIN!"
"Yeah it is stupid," Sey'les agreed. "I don't like the Jedi, but they are more trustworthy than Tarkin. We should just tell the Jedi everything. Fess up and come clean. All of the Bothan worlds should."
"You two are kriffing morons," Buzz muttered in Basic. "Can't believe you two can even figure out how to walk and breathe at the same time. Just listening to you idiots talk is embarrassing."
"I am sorry Colonel," Oc'nel growled in Basic. "Even you turned to Anakin for help, sir. I don't know why we are still going behind the Jedi's back when they helped us. Even the—"
"—Enough!"
"All hands, battle stations or crash stations," Admiral Yularen's voice came through the comm. "Somehow, the Separatists seem to have found us. We have six ships incoming and are preparing a defence."
Sey'les and Oc'nel's fur swirled guiltily.
"These cowards always know where and when to attack us," Anakin sighed angrily into the general comm.
Kriffing hell. Sey'les gasped suddenly, realising Grievous is attacking them. "What if… what if Grievous kills us all? I didn't realise we were working with the Separatists—"
"—we're not," Buzz said sternly. "We are doing what's best for our people. When Grievous comes, The Republic will retreat and leave our people alone. Tarkin won't get another opportunity to—"
[—Uh,] Oc'nel growled nervously in Bothese, now standing at Sey'les's window. [They are sending out hundreds of LAATs with AT-TEs. I wonder if they know we told Grievous. I think Tarkin might have convinced them to invade us now.]
[Get out of the way you moron,] Buzz snarled in Bothese, pulling Oc'nel back from the window. He gasped. [They are deploying AT-TEs… what the kriff are they doing?!]
[Those Separatist ships aren't a planetary invasion!] Sey'les stammered in Bothese. [The whole Separatist fleet is nothing but Munificent-class ships. Those things don't even hold tanks. This whole misadventure was just… UGH!] she looked away from the window and laid back on her bed.
[Well,] Buzz sighed. [It looks like Anakin's going to waste lots of lives. He's dropping them on the asteroids! When we finally have to jump to hyperspace, all of those Clones are going to be left behind! Incredible.]
"Kriff!" Sey'les yelped.
Oc'nel and Sey'les braced themselves in the corner of the room as shots from the Munificent-class cruisers impacted the shields.
Buzz and the probably-not Clones fell onto the wall near the door.
"We need to—"
The Venator visible from their window, the Gerrapon, took a turbolaser shot to the bridge. Both sections of the bridge exploded in a blaze and the ship delisted, drifting out of control.
Sey'les gasped. "Buzz! We are getting our people killed! Bothawui did this. This is so kriffed."
"Enough!" Buzz yelled. "This is Anakin's fault he—"
"—No this is your fault," Oc'nel snarled. "You told Grievous how to find the Republic fleet! I thought we were better than that. That Bothans well… that was not—"
"—Oc'nel, you stupid piece of—AHH!" Buzz yelled as a turbolaser shot cut through the deck immediately below them. "WHY AREN'T WE RETREATING?!" he screamed, as if anyone in the room knew.
[Colonel, we may need to take to the escape pods. Do we bring the prisoners?]
[Of course, we take them. Ro'val said they aren't getting executed anymore so now I have to kriffing keep them alive.]
[Can't we just say they died in an explosion?] one of the probably-not Clones suggested in Bothese. [We can put the bags over their heads again and just be done with it. This ship is going to be destroyed anyways.]
[No, Ro'val can see everything. My suit camera—]
[—Good to know that you are only not killing us because Ro'val is looking over your shoulder,] Sey'les interrupted. Her fur twirled unhappily.
The room shuddered as a turbolaser shot was stopped by the shield right outside the window.
[We should evacuate to Bothawui-4!] the probably-not Clone in Coruscant Guard armour growled in Bothese.
"Whoa…" Oc'nel growled. Two of the Separatist cruisers exploded.
"Zų ąghęrz yągh!? [What was that?!] Buzz snarled in a panicky Kothlis accent.
The remaining Munificent cruisers went down within forty seconds. The Bothans gasped as the final Munificent-class cruiser exploded. Debris was now flooding Bothawui's asteroid belt. It would, no doubt, pose a navigation hazard for years to come.
"All hands, we are standing down to a Code Yellow," Yularen's voice came through the comm. "All Separatist ships have been destroyed but the Gerrapon is delisting. All hands prepare for search, rescue, and recovery action."
All of the probably-not Clone's jaws were dropped wide-open like surprised Bothans. Sey'les's and Oc'nel's were too. This was the one possibility no one had expected—the three Republic ships had won against six Separatist ships.
After twenty minutes of searching, the Resolute had located Anakin Skywalker. More than 3,000 crewmembers from the Gerrapon were already aboard the Caellus, and more than 3,100 were aboard the Resolute. More than fifty on the Gerrapon's bridge were presumed dead and the remaining crew were still missing, along with Anakin's droid.
While most of the crew was busy with rescue action, the Bothans and probably-not Clones were otherwise occupied.
[Sey'les, Oc'nel,] Ro'val started dramatically in Bothese, [we are in quite a conundrum.]
[It's not our fault,] Sey'les growled nervously.
[Indeed,] Ro'val agreed. [At least, not the part where the Republic fleet is still in orbit of Bothawui, uninvited, and General Grievous is now angry at us. We have heard no more hints that Tarkin is preparing further action, so this leads me to say: the triumvirate found you not guilty of the previous charges. However, you are guilty of gross negligence—]
[—We weren't originally charged with that!] Oc'nel snarled. [You can't just retry us through the same triumvirate with new charges to find us guilty of something. We didn't even have legal counsel. That is not allowed—]
[—Oh, yes I can, whether or not it is allowed,] Ro'val growled.
[Thank you for not executing us Ro'val,] Sey'les stammered.
Ro'val glared at them both. [Since this is a lesser civil charge, sentencing will be up to your local governments after such time as you are rendered back to your home Clans.]
Oc'nel gasped then began stammering in Basic. "Rendered? But Ro'val, I don't want to have to move back to Botha'ahir! That's—" he winced as Ro'val's expression changed to an angry scowl. "I am sorry," he growled nervously. "Thank you for your lenience."
"I am sorry," Sey'les growled too, "and thank you." Thank you for not putting a bag over my head.
"You are not being rendered back to your home Clans yet, and depending on the circumstances, well I am not sure. They may never want you back." Ro'val growled cautiously. "For now, you are to continue working—"
"—Ma'am, I don't want Buzz, the Colonel, on my team whoever he is. He tried to kill me. I don't think I can handle working with someone who—"
"—I agree," Ro'val growled.
"You do?!" Sey'les stammered.
"Nokiz ko erz zharn didiyer." [I am not a monster,] Ro'val said consolingly, as if putting her psychiatrist mask back on.
Sey'les shuddered.
Oc'nel whispered something angrily under his breath.
[Colonel,] Ro'val asked do you still have the tracking tags and nanoprobes?]
"Yes?" Buzz asked, a confused expression crossed his face.
[Inject Sey'les and Oc'nel—]
"—What?!" Sey'les yelped. It was her turn to have a problem with Ro'val's lenience. "Nanoprobes? Tags?"
"Yes Sey'les, nanoprobes and tags," Rov'al explained in a calm tone. "The nanoprobes will explode—"
"—Explode!" Oc'nel yelled in alarm.
"WHAT?" Sey'les snarled.
Lir Sey'les, Itoll Oc'nel, you are being tagged." Ro'val spoke in a perfectly calm voice like she was telling the weather. "The tags will tell us where you are at all times, at least when you are in proximity to a HoloNet Transceiver. The nanoprobes will explode if you ever attempt to betray us or make contact with the Tarkins again. After you have transferred that is."
"KRIFF THAT!" Oc'nel snarled, starting to get up. "Just put me in an escape—OUCH! NO!" he yelped as two of the probably-not Clones tacked him. One of them jabbed a needle into his neck.
"Holy shtak. Be gentle with him!" Sey'les growled nervously. "Does it have to be in my neck?" she asked Ro'val in a pleading voice.
Buzz smirked. "Nope, could put it anywhere I like—"
"—Just stick it in her arm," Ro'val ordered. "Hold out your arm Sey'les!"
Sey'les winced in anticipation as Buzz stick a needle into a vein on her wrist. "Huh. That actually doesn't hurt that bad," she growled optimistically.
Oc'nel continued yelping in pain for a few seconds.
The probably-not Clones left, leaving Oc'nel and Sey'les with Ro'val's hologram.
"Sey'les, Oc'nel, I will be your handler for now. Your first—"
"—This is illegal," Oc'nel sighed despondently. "We aren't slaves. You can't put bombs in us. It is a violation of Galactic treaty and—"
"—That's enough!" Ro'val snarled. "I have a very busy day and I don't have time to just deal with you two disgraces all day long. I can't trust you to work on your own without oversight. You helped the Republic attack us. Unless you want to be rendered back right now on an escape pod, without the chance to redeem yourselves, then accept it."
"Ma'am, I never worked for you," Oc'nel growled cautiously. "Before you guys put a bag over my head, I had never committed an act of treason in my life. I don't recall volunteering to get nanoprobes—"
"—You don't get to decide," Ro'val snarled. "Was it not treasonous when you just went along with Tarkin's plan to attack Clan Amai? No, Ensign Itoll Oc'nel, I am not even asking you two to work for us. I am just making sure you are stationed in places where Bothans I trust can keep an eye on you. To make sure you two don't compromise Bothan security again. Consider yourselves reserve spies. Until such time as we need you, or we render you back to Bothan Space, you are working for the Republic."
"Oc'nel, stop arguing with Ro'val. That's an order," Sey'les sighed.
"Thank you, Captain," Ro'val replied. "Your first tasks are to put in for transfers. You are to break all contact with Wilhuff Tarkin or anyone in the Tarkin family. We will deal with him without you."
"Can Fojo and Wulf transfer too?" Sey'les growled worriedly.
"Certainly."
"Good," Sey'les said, grinning slightly. Huh. Not getting executed and getting away from Tarkin. Not bad.
"Ma'am?" Sey'les asked, "I have one more question."
"What is it?" Ro'val said wearily.
"What if the bombs go off on accident? If they are jolted or—"
"—That wouldn't happen. We have used these for over twenty years without a single accidental detonation," Ro'val replied consolingly.
Sey'les smiled in relief. Her nervously twirling fur fell down, relaxing.
Oc'nel glared at Sey'les incredulously, his fur swirling nervously, clearly not at all reassured.
"If that is all, I am signing off now," Ro'val growled as if ending a casual call that had gone on a bit too long. She paused, looking around the room for a moment, then her holo-presence disappeared.
"What the kriff are you smiling about?!" Oc'nel asked aghast. "I have a tracker in my kriffing neck! We have bombs in our bodies! They almost killed us. Now Ro'val is—"
"—What the kriff am I smiling about, Captain," Sey'les snarled.
"Fine, what are you smiling about, Captain?" Oc'nel growled irritated. "This whole chain of command is a farce. Ro'val—"
"—Ensign, when we come out of this, with no bags over our heads, I am still going to be Captain," Sey'les growled cautiously. "I am smiling because we get to transfer away from Tarkin and because it's our people. We can trust them not to blow us up as long as we behave."
Oc'nel scoffed, shaking his head. "You do realise our people just put bombs in us to ensure our loyalty, right? Our people are kriffing insane."