Chapter 5: Sey'les
Aboard the Judicator
The first thing Sey'les saw when she woke was Wulf's scarred, wrinkly, patchy-furred Ardennian face. She blinked twice. Okay, that was a dream. Why am I having so many dreams where my snout is forced closed… What? What! What is Wulf doing here?! WHAT IS THAT SMELL!
Sey'les began to panic and tensed up in dread. One of the only things she remembered before her dream was relaxing when Wulf put his arm around her shoulder. What did we do?!
Then she saw her blue sleeve. Realising she was wearing her Judicial dress shirt, she looked down. Both she and Wulf were wearing shirts and, far more importantly, pants. She exhaled a sigh of relief, smiled content with herself, then inhaled a deep breath of relief and almost vomited.
Holy kriff! What's that smell! A foul stench was coming from the front of her bed. She leaned over and looked down.
Her boots were at the front of her bed immediately under Wulf's head and pillow. Wulf had vomited Adumari beer into her boots.
"AAAHHHH!" she yelled in horror.
Wulf didn't wake up.
Sey'les glared at him angrily. You slept with me for some reason. We didn't kriff which is honestly half-good but very disappointing. Instead, you threw up into my boots! YOU THREW UP IN MY BOOTS! She felt like she was one second away from trying to squish him under her pillow.
Calm down. There is more to this story, Sey'les thought. She turned around and jumped after seeing two other people in her room.
She almost screamed in terror. The smell of Wulf's vomit was so strong that she did not smell two humans in her room.
Cas and Fenron were sleeping, both also wearing blue Judicial uniforms without boots. Three sets of boots were to their left near Sey'les's door, and a huge metal keg was next to Sey'les's desk. Thankfully, neither of them had vomited.
What are they doing here?! What… oh! Sey'les remembered drinking with the humans, getting them to listen to her, drink with her, and have fun. Archard was here too. Where is he? Sey'les wondered. I need to clean! I NEED TO CLEAN!
Jumping from her bed in a panic, Sey'les realised she was still tipsy. She looked at the chronometer:0657. Six fifty-seven in the morning and I am still tipsy. Great.
Sey'les pulled out her exercise uniform and started undressing from her Judicial formal uniform, not caring if the humans or Wulf wake up and see her.
None of them did.
Looking down at her feet, Sey'les figured her socks were still clean enough. She slipped on her running shoes and grabbed a rubbish bag. She gingerly grabbed the most vomit-free spots of her boots and dropped them in.
"Gross!"Sey'les whimpered as she felt some wetness. Walking quickly to her bathroom, she washed her furry hands. In the mirror, she saw her reflection. Her snout fur was still patchy but looked like the fur was growing back slightly; she still had a white spot in the middle of her nose.
Turning on the tap, she filled up the random glass inexplicably in her sink basin, and started slurping down water that tasted like it was mixed with Adumari beer. Oh… this is Wulf's cup. Whatever. She drank another glass of water; this one did not taste like beer.
On her way out of her quarters, Sey'les grabbed the plastic bag containing the boots in one arm, grabbed her beer-spattered dress uniform in the other, along with her dirty trench-coat. She hurried through the hallway towards her deck's laundry room, holding the bag as if it were about to explode.
A random crewman she met once at the memorial passed by and said, "Glad to see you are exercising Agent! Trying to show us all up I see."
"Thank you, sir," Sey'les replied with an insincere smile and continued hurrying to the laundry room. The Bothan was dumbfounded. How does that idiot think I am exercising when I am carrying clothes? It is too early for stupid.
The laundry room had two racks of clothes washers and two racks of clothes dryers. The second rack was far too tall for Sey'les to hope to reach, but that was what—
"—Greetings Agent Sey'les," NL-572, deck eleven's black and red, six-armed, COO-series laundry droid chimed in a female robotic voice. She turned her thin head and glanced at Sey'les in the doorway.
Standing at two meters tall, NL-572 towered over Sey'les. She looked down at Sey'les, boring a hole into her soul with a creepy single yellow eye.
NL-572 was the only non-combat droid in the entire Galaxy Sey'les was afraid of. While most COO-series droids had boring personalities, NL-572 was terrifyingly nosy and moved her six arms around like a giant spider as she explained things to Sey'les. The way NL-572 talked to the Bothan, it was like she thought she was a toddler. NL-572 was the only droid in the Galaxy Sey'les had ever decided to call 'ma'am.'
"Good morning m'am," Sey'les said nervously as she passed her laundry to NL-572's arms. "NL, I am a bit early for laundry this time."
"You are correct. Your designated laundry day is—"
"—I know. I am very sorry ma'am, but I am having a laundry emergency. There is—"
"—I am detecting regurgitation and alcohol. Agent Sey'les, why is there regurgitation in your boots? It is an unusual variety of contamination to find on the inside of footwear." NL-572 continued scanning the interior of Sey'les's boots curiously with an intense red laser coming from one of her upper arms.
"NL—" Sey'les started
"—Most unusual indeed. You see Agent Sey'les, normally humanoids wear shoes on their feet. When feet are protecting the interior of shoes, especially the furry feet of a Bothan, regurgitation tends to only impact the outside of shoes, landing instead on your legs and ankles. Most curious. Agent Sey'les, your furry Bothan ankles should have prevented this regurgitation from entering the boots. I have never encountered such a mystery in my thirty years of service aboard the Judicator." The droid stopped scanning and looked straight into Sey'les's nervous face again with her one giant yellow eye.
NL-572 would sit there and stare into Sey'les's face until the Heat Death of the Universe, waiting patiently for an explanation of her dirty laundry.
"Well ma'am, I happened to not be wearing my shoes when this happened," Sey'les growled nervously. She was instinctively trying to sound submissive to make it obvious that she was not challenging NL's authority, but also growling, and thus capable of protecting herself if she had to.
"That explains it!" NL-572 said excitedly as she turned off her laser and started separating the clothes with all six of her arms. "Regurgitation in the shoes! How exciting! Agent Sey'les, I am putting your trench-coat and dress uniform in machine seven and your boots in machine eight. I will then dry your boots in machine twenty-three, the special shoe dryer, and dry your trench-coat and dress uniform in machine twelve."
Sey'les gave a sigh of relief. "Thank you, ma'am. NL? Could I also borrow a floor cleaner?"
"A floor cleaner? Does this have to do with the regurgitation?"
"Uh, yes ma'am."
"Here you go," NL-572 said as she used one of her lower pinchers to hand a cleaning unit to Sey'les. "Return it soon please."
Sey'les left the room as quickly as possible.
When Sey'les was halfway to her quarters she heard NL-572 exclaim "Such strange and polite creatures these Bothans. Regurgitation in the shoes!"
Since she first met NL-572 seven months ago, many of her nightmares were plagued by the droid. She knew it was not rational—as a class 5 droid, NL-572 was programmed to never harm an organic. In a fight, the Bothan knew, intellectually, that she could blast NL-572 to smithereens from 50 meters away. She could probably snarl and rip NL-572 apart with her bare hands in an adrenaline-induced rage if she had to, but something about NL-572's creepy yellow eye, six arms, two legs, and red-black paint scheme gave her nightmares.
As Sey'les approached her quarters she swore under her breath. Kriff. For some reason, Master Stass Allie was knocking on Sey'les's door. Why don't they ever know? That knocking is so annoying.
"I know you are in there. I can sense three of you," Allie said sternly. "I am here to do a wellness check on Sey'les. Open the door and tell me where she is, or I will call—Oh hi Sey'les." Allie spun around as Sey'les approached before Sey'les could say a word.
"Exercising?"
"Uh, no ma'am," Sey'les said as she scratched her twirling neck fur nervously. "I needed to go to the laundry room." She walked up to Stass Allie.
This is not going to look good, Sey'les thought. How do I stall Master Allie and stop her from seeing Wulf, Fenron, and Cas hung over and sleeping in my room? How do I even explain this? I am holding a cleaning unit. Ugh KRIFF! I need to tell the truth.
"We drank last night, Master," Sey'les admitted suddenly, and began entering her code into the terminal.
"I gathered as much Agent," Allie replied.
As Sey'les's door opened, the smell of vomit emanated into the hallway.
Sey'les dry-heaved a little bit and Stass Allie gasped in shock.
"Oh dear," Stass Allie said. She entered the room and looked around angrily. "Sey'les, you are a team leader. This—"
"—I am sorry Master," Sey'les stammered. "Things got a little out of hand ma'am. I was planning on throwing a party before… Before my team died…" she paused sadly.
"Agent. You cannot use the tragedy on Antar 4 to excuse every irresponsible thing you do. I know you all suffered a great loss but… Gah!" Allie clearly had hit her limit. She levitated all three of the sleeping Judicials a few centimetres into the air, and then dropped them.
Fenron and Cas landed on Sey'les's hard floor and woke up sputtering. On impact, Wulf bounced on Sey'les's bed.
"Ugh… Master Jedi?" Wulf groaned.
"Agents, wake up!" Stas Allie said. "I am ordering all of you to do mandatory counselling for the next four weeks after we return to Coruscant; this will be available whether you leave the Judicial Forces or not and if you stay in the Judicial Forces or join the Navy, it is mandatory."
"Counselling?" Sey'les asked in even more surprise.
"Yes Agent, counselling. All of you are to report to my quarters on deck twelve at 0900 hours."
"Your quarters, Master?!" Cas gasped completely baffled.
"Yes, my quarters," Stass Allie said sternly, then walked away.
"Wha—what is going on Sey'les?" Wulf asked.
"You slept in my bed and vomited on my boots!" Sey'les snarled.
Fenron started laughing.
"Clean. It. Up," Sey'les snarled as she handed him her cleaning unit.
"Why was Master Allie here?" Cas asked.
"Apparently everyone on the ship thinks I am about to kill myself," Sey'les snapped. Her fur stood on end. "By proxy, you guys just started looking like you need counselling too."
"I am sure that's not what's really going on Sey'les. I did not think you were going to kill yourself. I was just worried about you," Cas said.
Sey'les sighed.
Wulf turned Sey'les's bed magnets off, then pulled the bed across the floor with a slight strain. Crouched down, he ran the cleaning unit over the spot he had vomited on.
Fenron ran his hand over a spot on his neck, wincing. "Remind me to never sleep up against a wall again."
Cas sighed. "Kriff," she muttered as her datapad started chiming, answering it.
"Vera, honey, I've been trying to reach you all night. You said you would call me after the memorial. I know you are all sad about what happened, it's all over the news, but I am worried about you," a male voice Sey'les had never heard said.
"Sorry Wyatt, is anything wrong with Travis?"
"No, Travis is doing all right, but I've been worried and—have you been drinking?!" Wyatt asked in alarm.
"Yeah, Fenron—"
"You've been drinking with Fenron? What—"
"—let me finish," Cas interrupted calmly, "Fenron, Archard and I were drinking with Sey'les—"
"Sey'les? You drank with that crazy Wookiee?"
"Wookiee?" Sey'les asked with a scowl.
Wulf roared with croaky dehydrated morning laughter, almost doubling over while holding the cleaning unit.
"That is Sey'les," Cas sighed. "She is right here honey," she said as she angled her camera to Sey'les.
Sey'les looked back at the screen. It is way too early for this.
"That doesn't look like a Wookiee! I didn't know any Wookiees could speak basic!" Wyatt yelled in alarm.
"I'm not a Wookiee," Sey'les said sternly.
"I said she was 'like a crazy Wookiee,' not that she actually was a Wookiee," Cas said nervously.
"Like a Wookiee?" Sey'les snarled.
"Uh hello there Sey'les," Wyatt, a plump human male wearing a black sweater said nervously. It was raining on the cityscape of Coruscant behind him. "It is nice to finally meet you."
"Hello, Wyatt. No, I am not a Wookiee for your informa—"
"—Sey'les, please," Cas pleaded, "I am sorry for comparing you to a Wookiee. Can I just talk to my husband?"
Sey'les sighed. "Sure," she croaked.
"In Sey'les's defense Cas," Wyatt said with a chuckle, "she does not look like a Wookiee at all. I have never seen a black, grey, and white Wookiee, and she has a snout."
"I know," Cas replied. "She is just…" Cas winced looking at Sey'les nervously. "She acts really crazy. Come on! You do Sey'les! You are a team leader and I just woke up drunk on your floor for crying out loud. There is a poster on the wall of you. You have a poster, a damn poster, of yourself on the wall! I like you, I really do, but you act really crazy and do crazy things."
"Drunk on Sey'les's floor?" Wyatt asked with renewed alarm.
"I am sorry," Sey'les sighed.
"It is kind of weird to have a poster of yourself Sey'les," Wulf commented with a smirk.
It is way too early for this. "I am going to take a shower and dry off once you guys excuse yourselves from my room," Sey'les said, folding her arms.
"Sorry Sey'les," Fenron and said as he walked out.
"Sorry for vomiting on your boots again," Wulf said and handed Sey'les the cleaning unit.
"I will see you all in counselling I suppose," Sey'les sighed.
"Counselling?" Wyatt asked again in his alarmed voice.
"It's a long story Wyatt, but we have counselling at 0900 with the Jedi Master who rescued us," Cas said into her terminal, then turned to face the Bothan. "See you later Sey'les."
After her doors closed, Sey'les disrobed and hopped into her shower.
o.o.o.o.o
Now having dressed in her blue Judicial working uniform, breakfast was fairly uneventful. The Nuna bacon smell and smell of other burned meats made Sey'les shudder a little bit, but she did not feel queasy. There is no way I am ever eating that again.
Hrelduussk was seated at a large eight-chaired table with Shosseth and their kids. Hrelduussk waved to Sey'les with a fairly neutral expression on his face.
Sey'les scowled for a moment then waved back. It is too early to deal with Trandoshans, she thought as she approached the buffet. Sey'les picked some mixed fruit with her tongs, Ghoba rice, Anoat oats, and poured Bith bean milk onto the Anoat oats and Ghoba rice. Finishing that, she poured herself a cup of caf and added some Bith bean milk to it.
Hrelduussk was motioning for her to come over more insistently.
Approaching Hrelduussk's table, Sey'les took a seat. "Hi everyone," she said with an attempt at a smile.
"Hey Sey'les," Yasska, Drenk and Krisss said excitedly.
"How are you doing?" Shosseth asked.
"Better," Sey'les said truthfully. "How about all of you?"
"I am glad you helped us get off the planet before that mess happened," Hrelduussk hissed.
You could say thank you, Sey'les thought again with annoyance."Did you… Did you guys lose any friends on Antar 4?" Sey'les asked in a sad voice.
"I am sure I did," Hrelduussk hissed casually.
Sey'les blinked in shock and began wondering, again, whether or not Hrelduussk could feel empathy. He really does not care.
"I contacted some of my friends and the parents of Yasska, Krisss and Drenk's friends, they all seemed to have made it," Shosseth said.
Archard entered the mess hall. "Is it all right if Archard sits here?" Sey'les asked.
"Sure," Shosseth replied.
Hrelduussk scowled angrily.
"Hey Archard!" Sey'les said.
"Hey Sey'les, I'll be over in a second," Archard said as he walked to the buffet.
Sey'les had to consciously force herself to keep a straight face and not open her snout in shock at their table manners. The Trandoshans would bite into some tough piece of burnt meat or fruit and nearly swallow it whole, sticking their heads up to the roof.
Archard took a seat at the table and introduced himself.
While everyone was introducing themselves, Sey'les thought of Cas's husband worrying about her this morning and pulled out her datapad. My family…
Navigating to the 'AgkapatidNet/АгкапатидНэт' FamilyNet icon, she clicked on it. She had received 143 messages in the last three days, a few in Basic, most in Bothese. A few were from her mother and five siblings, but most were from her cousins. Apparently, the casualty list had been leaked so her relatives knew she was alive but were worried about her and wondering when she was coming back.
Sey'les decided to just drop a general announcement on the page. She started typing whatever came to mind at first, but then began divulging information more strategically:
АгкапатидНэт
Ђікойу усўу пар корм агкатраў. Жия ко. Жия ко, крађ фула ко корн траў ат анго. Аг-зика мо па Ўолф. Эрз па Ўолф па Арденск 'друз мо, панaн аг-тађоя ко усўу. Пода ко ђана, крађ і оўа до корн Асoнт.
["Thank you for the sympathy. I am alive, but I feel sad and angry. Wulf saved me. Wulf is my Ardennian friend whom I previously told you about. I can call, but when I return to Coruscant."]
Mentioning Wulf was strategic. She had actually never mentioned Wulf before, but wanted to make her family feel guilty about having forgotten him. As Sey'les thought more about Wulf, she realised she had feelings for him. Dropping his name to her family and Clan, as someone who had saved her, would potentially make a future relationship less awkward. Of course, Sey'les was nowhere near accepting Wulf as a partner, nor telling him, and she had no idea what the Ardennian would say.
Sey'les thought of telling them more specifics but thought better of it. It would probably only worry them more to hear about she contracted a serious infection and got burns all over her body. Despite her strategic disclosure of details, she was completely oblivious as to how vague and puzzling her message might sound to her relatives, most of whom probably had only ever seen humans on the HoloNet, and most of whom had probably never seen an Ardennian on any sort of media.
The Trandoshan brats were making annoying noises. Krisss started playing with her patchy mane-like head-hair. Sey'les ignored it and continued typing.
There was something more on Sey'les's mind that she had been mulling over and wanted to ask another Bothan about. However, most of Sey'les's family, who resided in a rural polar region, repaired infrastructure or mined graphite in the summer and sustained themselves through ice fishing in the winter. She was the only one who had ever done a career that was particularly… martial.
She had been deployed on many peacekeeping missions in the Mid Rim but had never dealt with this type of warfare. The more she pondered it, the more it disgusted her. Even if the Gotal Assembly successfully terrorised enough people and Antar 4 joined the Separatists, they had done so much damage to their own planet that it couldn't possibly be worth winning.
The Gotal Assembly terrorists were not even sacrificing themselves to save others. Sey'les did not understand how beings could do these actions that did not benefit themselves, did not benefit their loved ones, unless they were perhaps suicidal. Self-benefit was the foundation of the Bothan Way.
Sey'les realised her face was in an angry scowl and straightened it. Her thoughts shifted to Wulf again. Seriously, is all it took for me to have feelings for him that stupid pick up line? 'I like the way Bothans smell?'
No, I probably had feelings before but didn't notice or want to pursue them. Besides, he is my subordinate. I don't want to do anything yet. Probably not until this—
"—Sey'les?" Wulf asked.
Sey'les jumped. "Sorry I was thinking. Wha—? When did you get here?"
Archard and Wulf started laughing.
I didn't even realise I could smell him, yet I was thinking about him. Weird.
"I sat down ten seconds ago," Wulf said before stuffing a whole hard boiled Garto egg into his mouth and crunching it, shell included.
Archard looked like he was disturbed by this.
"Wulf, we're not starving out in the field. You don't need to eat like that," Sey'les said sternly.
"Sorry," Wulf mumbled. The egg smell became much stronger as he talked. "I didn't mean to offend."
"You will probably want to brush your teeth again before counselling," Sey'les mumbled.
"Counselling?" Archard asked.
"Oh yeah, you missed it!" Wulf said. "Master Allie came by to do a wellness check on Sey'les and found us all, well, sleeping in her room with beer stains on our uniforms." Wulf sounded proud.
Archard gasped.
Sey'les looked around the room to make sure Stass Allie was not nearby. "I suspect Master Allie is going to try some group therapy mumbo jumbo or something. I am not—"
"—Sey'les," Hrelduussk interrupted. "We were jussst talking about you and—"
"—you were?!" Sey'les growled.
"No, not in a bad way," Shosseth hissed consolingly.
"We were wondering if you wanted to drop all of this kr—" Hrelduussk looked at his kids and stopped himself from swearing.
Shosseth was flashing her sharp teeth and looked like she might literally bite Hrelduussk's head.
"—Stuff," he added nervously. "Drop this ssstuff, stop being used as a pawn in some political game and move with us to Trandosha. The kids all like you, I like you, Shosseth likes you…"
Archard looked shocked but also amused.
Wulf dropped his fork onto his plate and looked tense. His four hands folded into fists and he was clearly getting into fight mode—preparing to potentially fight off some Trandoshans to stop a Bothan abduction.
Sey'les blinked twice. Her fur fell flat against her body and her snout dropped open in shock. What the kriff?! "Thanks for the offer, but I think I am going to pass on that one. I am sorry, but at this stage in my life, I am not willing to just drop everything." And I would only consider it if Trandosha was the very last place in the Galaxy with water and air. And sure? In that case, I'd move in with you and your brats Hrelduussk because I'd be worried every other lizard on the planet thought of me as a sssnack.
"All right, well, we are sssorry to hear that," Shosseth said sadly.
"I am sorry. I am not refusing because of you, Hrelduussk, or your kids," Sey'les said. "I am still willing to help you get to Trandosha if the Republic doesn't come through," she added. "I'll even try visit you guys there one day, I promise. It might be hard for you to leave though with the Wookiee Blockade and all. I would really suggest… Coruscant. It's All Species Week soon and there will be some Trandoshan stuff for sure."
"We want to go back to Trandosha," Hrelduussk said sternly.
"All right, I know, you told Byno Doubton that too," Sey'les sighed.
Archard collected himself, and started in a cautious diplomatic tone, "I think what Sey'les wants to say is—"
"—I get it," Hrelduussk hissed angrily. "We are going up to the lounge, see you later."
"See you," Shosseth and the kids added, before standing.
"See you," Sey'les said in a somewhat sad and guilty tone.
After Hrelduussk and Shosseth left the doorway Wulf started, "What the kriff was—"
"—SHHHH" Sey'les hissed sharply. Her ears perked up, listening in until the Trandoshans' footsteps were no longer in hearing range. "Okay, now we can talk. What was that?"
"Holy shassa that was weird!" Wulf yelled putting two of his arms up to his head and pulling on his fur in amazement.
"I suspect Hrelduussk was hitting on you," Archard said in a hushed tone.
"WHAT?! Right in front of Shosseth?" Sey'les whisper-yelled, her eyes went wide.
"Well, I should say, I think Shosseth and Hrelduussk were hitting on you. Trandoshans are polygamous," Archard explained matter of factly.
"EEEWW!" Sey'les snarled. "That's so kriffing weird."
"Well, the Galaxy is a big diverse place," Archard said in a neutral tone before taking a bite of Anoat oats.
Wulf started bursting out laughing. "Those lizards probably think of you as a small furry heat pad!"
"Shhhh!" Sey'les whispered "keep your voice down!"
"Sorry Sey'les," Wulf said between hysterical laughs.
"You know? You might be right Wulf. Trandosha is further from their sun than Kashyyyk is. The polar parts of Trandosha even get snow," Archard added, clearly deep in thought.
"Ugh," Sey'les sighed. "I still don't get why they thought I would say yes. I don't think I gave any indication of wanting to become a part of their… Family? Brood?"
"Maybe it's something we can talk about in therapy," Wulf snickered.
Sey'les ignored Wulf's comment. "Let's check on Hashtivar. We still have an hour before we have to visit Stass Allie."
"Can I come too?" Archard asked.
"Sure."
o.o.o.o.o
"Hashtivar is paralysed from the chest down," the medical droid said in a grave robotic voice to the crowd assembled around Hashtivar's bed. The rest of the grey and white sickbay room was empty.
"Calm down doc. They all knew that was going to happen," Hashtivar said cynically from his bed, drinking a glass of water. "All of them except for that human medic, that is. You don't recover from having a piece of your spine burn away."
Hashtivar was lying on his back in a specialised bed with a hole for his shell. The Bacta had healed his facial burns but it was heavily scarred.
"Otherwise, Hashtivar, how have you been?" Sey'les asked.
"Honestly, hit and miss. If I lie on my stomach, which is more comfortable, the bad fluids don't drain out of my shell. Lying on my back though makes mucus build up in my lungs if I lay still for too long and—" Hashtivar interrupted himself, grabbing a remote, "—I have to adjust my bed up and down. The pain killers are definitely making my burns tolerable though. What have you two been up to since they brought you out of the Bacta, and, the human? What are you doing here…?
"Archard," he answered. "We've met. I was there too that night and I thought I would come and see how you are doing. I know we don't really know each other but, well, it seemed like the right thing to do."
"Well, thanks for caring I suppose," Hashtivar said bluntly.
"To answer your question," Wulf piped up with an awkward chuckle, "we had a memorial yesterday, then Sey'les dragged a whole keg of Adumari beer up to her room and—"
—Hashtivar started laughing so loudly that Wulf could not continue.
"We drank," Sey'les growled in a testy tone once Hashtivar had stopped laughing. "Also, the humans drank with us."
"And, we all observed that Adumari beer smells like Bothans," Wulf added roaring with laughter.
"Yeah, and there's more embarrassing stuff you did next Wulf," Sey'les snarled. "Why don't you tell them about the part where you slept in my bed?"
Hashtivar gasped.
Archard started roaring with laughter.
"Not... Not like that," Wulf stammered nervously scratching his neck, clearly wanting to avoid talking about the next part where he vomited.
"Doesn't…" Hashtivar paused awkwardly, "doesn't sleeping together require both of you to agree Sey'les?"
Sey'les realised the medical droid was staring at them and turned to face him. "Don't you have some empty beds to straighten?"
"No Agent. Unless someone else becomes ill or injured, that is. Hashtivar is my only patient and I am caught up in my work. Sey'les, Wulf, if you continue exciting my patient too much though, I am going to have to ask you leave."
"I am sorry," Sey'les sighed.
"Okay, calmly explain then," Archard said after controlling his laughs. "I missed this part!"
"Wulf," Sey'les took a deep breath and forced her voice to be neutral and calm. "After agreeing that I smelled like Adumari beer, Wulf slept with me—but with pants on, so as he said—not like that, but then he vomited into my boots."
Wulf winced awkwardly.
Hashtivar started laughing hard again. After a few seconds he coughed up phlegm and started coughing hard.
"Sorry Hashtivar," Sey'les winced.
"Well," Hashtivar gasped. "It sounds like you, including the humans, have all managed to have a crazy time. I'll admit, the human part surprises me."
"Sey'les, Wulf," the medical droid said sternly suddenly re-entering the conversation. "I told you both not to consume alcohol for the first week of your recovery. It dehydrates you. Your bodies are still recovering from second degree burns. Your kidneys might even still be processing the medications you were given when you were in Bacta. Not only did you disobey my orders, but Wulf became so inebriated that he vomited."
Sey'les sighed "I am sorry doc, I—"
"—If I hear of either of you drinking alcohol again, I am going to confine you both to sickbay and keep you under medical observation."
At first the thought terrified Sey'les, but then she realised she was only going to be on the ship for another day before returning to Coruscant. "All right doc."
After no one said anything for a few seconds, Wulf added, "and we are going to Counselling. Master Allie did a wellness check on Sey'les and found us all hung over in her room."
Hashtivar chuckled a little bit. "She didn't even ask me to go to counselling!"
"Can you even leave sickbay?" Archard asked curiously.
"No," Hashtivar admitted. "Good point."
o.o.o.o.o
The four Agents were seated on comfortable chairs arranged in a circle, with Stass Allie at the head of the circle. The Jedi's room was one of the Judicator's larger suites designed for dignitaries.
"Now, I want the focus of this to be more on how what happened on Antar 4 is affecting you all, as opposed to reliving it, but we can talk about what happened to. If you are not comfortable talking about this, you don't have to." Master Allie paused and looked around the room at everyone. "However, hopefully what you tell me today can help your counsellor once we get back to Coruscant. I want you to know and be certain that you are not alone in being affected by this. You were all there. Consuming alcohol won't actually help—"
"—Respectfully, Master, we weren't drinking because we were sad," Sey'les interjected.
"We weren't?" Cas asked in an unironic question.
"No, don't you remember my explanation?" Sey'les growled cautiously.
Fenron began laughing a little bit.
"Agent Fenron," Allie said sternly, "we aren't going to laugh at each other or tease anyone in this session."
"Sorry ma'am," he replied quickly.
"We were celebrating ma'am," Sey'les sighed.
"Celebrating?!" Allie asked in alarmed voice.
"Well, I planned it all before the mission. Originally, I was going to throw a party for Team Muun in my quarters as I always do—"
"—Always?" Allie asked interrogatively.
"Yes, always Master. This isn't the Jedi Temple. It's not forbidden for Judicials to have fun," Sey'les growled, batting her ears in annoyance. "Anyways, after I took command of Team Aurek, I felt like the humans were a part of my team, so then I planned on inviting them, but, when I got to my quarters, they were worried about me because I left the memorial early."
"And why did you leave the memorial early?" Allie asked, changing the topic more to she wanted to pursue.
"Well," Sey'les gulped and held her snout tight for a second. She closed her eyes and added finally, "Savit's voice."
"So, you were reminded very strongly of the event, of someone you cared about who died, and had a reaction?" Allie asked.
"Yes," Sey'les sighed looking down at the floor.
"This is completely normal and perfectly okay, Sey'les. Even Jedi experience this. Has anyone else experienced things like this since that night?"
"I felt like it was difficult to breathe when I heard Savit's voice," Fenron admitted in a mumble. "I had to tune it out and focus on other things, or else, I felt like I might, break down."
"It sounds stupid. Whenever I open my Bacta creams, I feel afraid that I am missing something. I panic and go back to my quarters looking for things," Cas croaked. "Last night I managed to drink myself to sleep but the night prior I wound up staying up all night researching alien anatomy."
"That doesn't sound stupid. Why do you think that might be?" Allie asked curiously.
"I feel like I should have been able to help Sey'les, Wulf, and Hashtivar better than I did," Cas said.
"You helped us just fine! We survived," Wulf exclaimed.
"Yeah Cas," Sey'les interjected. "There are thousands of sentient species. You aren't a medical droid,"
"And, this is also normal," Allie interjected. "Going back over the event after being reminded of it and thinking of things you should have known or could have done differently." She paused for a moment, then turned. "Wulf, have you been experiencing any of these things?"
"I haven't been getting any… Flashbacks or reminders so much," Wulf sighed. "Regret," Wulf admitted in a soft voice. "I explained this to Sey'les, but I feel... It's all kriffed up. I feel like shassa for not hoisting Sey'les and Hashtivar higher—That I did not throw a smoke bomb into the lasers sooner, that I didn't think on my feet fast enough."
Sey'les winced for a moment expecting Master Stass Allie to become upset with Wulf's swearing. She didn't. Phew.
"It is good that you thought of it at all," Allie said consolingly. "From what I heard, the lasers were not what was attacking you directly Wulf. You were probably much more focused on the plasma beams. The fact you thought of it at all is why you, Sey'les, and Hashtivar are alive."
"Cas?" Allie asked suddenly.
"Yes?"
"You said you were experiencing difficulty sleeping. This is also to be expected. Have any of the rest of you been experiencing difficulty sleeping?"
"No," Wulf said with an Ardennian shrug.
"I find it more difficult than usual," Fenron said. "I keep feeling like I am constantly being watched. With the exception of last night, when I slept in a room with Cas, Wulf, and Sey'les, I have had to turn…" Fenron paused as if afraid to admit the rest. "Turn the lights on at night."
Sey'les smirked on one side of her snout. Hmmm… Our party last night seems to have been great for everyone. Cas slept easily, Fenron slept easily. I think I am better at this stuff than—
"—Sey'les? Sey'les are you with us?" Allie asked.
Sey'les blinked and shook her face. "Sorry Master."
"Have you had any similar problems sleeping?" Allie asked.
Sey'les sighed. Her fur swirled slowly with guilt. She actually felt guilty about nothaving difficulty sleeping. "Well, to be honest, I feel bad about this, but no. I haven't had any difficulty sleeping."
"That's okay Sey'les," Allie said consolingly, adding notes to her datapad. "Bothans might also experience trauma differently from humans. The same could be true of Ardennians. There is not a lot of literature out there on this I have access to. Sey'les, have you had any irregular things going on with your sleep? Dreams?"
"Oh yeah!" Sey'les exclaimed with wide eyes. "I almost forgot. The last two nights I had weird nightmares. I figured, the theme in common with them is my snout getting pinched or not being able to move. Also smell. My smell is much more vivid in these dreams than normally, and I feel much more… emotional? Much more emotional about the smells."
"More vivid smells than normally as in real life normally?" Allie asked, adding more notes.
"No, I mean…" Sey'les looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Smells are more vivid in these dreams than they normally are in dreams. Especially burning smells. I have been avoiding cooked meat entirely. The first day, well this is real life again Master, but the first day I woke from Bacta I couldn't even be in the same room as cooked meat." She gulped, then continued, stammering breathlessly, "when Weequi and Nor were… when they died, they smelled like Nuna Bacon."
"I could see why that would be very difficult for you. I admit though, that I have never had a similar reaction to smell," Allie responded. "Does it make you feel nauseous?"
"Sometimes," Sey'les said.
"I would suggest talking to the medical droid about that, and your counsellor once we get to Coruscant," Allie paused then asked "Back to the topic of sleep, when you have these dreams you said you were not able to move. Did you feel like you were awake and paralysed during these occurrences?"
Sey'les thought about it for a second, then answered, "No Master, only not able to move in my dreams. The one I had last night was very strange. I haven't spoken Bothese or been to Bothawui in years, but I dreamed I was there. I smelled and saw Bothans I have never smelled before and saw—well it was very weird, and I don't want to take up time for everyone else to talk."
"It is fine Sey'les," Allie said. "We still have forty minutes."
Wulf groaned.
Allie sighed, "Wulf, your attitude is—"
"—Well as I was saying, ma'am," Sey'les strategically interrupted to take the focus from Wulf. "I was back in Bothan space. I seemed to be wearing a Bothan Marine uniform, but I have never been a Bothan marine—or at least, my sleeves were brown, tan, and red-orange so I think I was wearing one," she paused looking up at the ceiling. "Most of the Bothans smelled like they were one of the Bothawui-4 Clans, but I didn't recognise anyone. There was a general who seemed to be a member of the Clan Alya wearing a blue Marshalcy uniform—"
"—Marshalcy?" Allie interrupted curiously.
"It's like… a hybrid-military police branch that has jurisdiction over all of the Bothan planets. Kind of like us Judicials actually," Sey'les explained. "Anyways, what happened next is the nightmare part. Six beings entered the room. One was well…" she winced awkwardly, fur swirling nervously, "Master Suldor, one was a Chagrian—"
"You had a nightmare about Suldor?!" Allie exclaimed.
"Well, he was a part of it," Sey'les sighed. "The other three beings who entered were humans wearing uniforms. There was another guy who… Well I could smell he was human, but he was dressed in a scary face mask. Suldor pinched my snout, like he did before, but harder, and the scary—"
"Before? Suldor pinched your snout?" Allie gasped.
Sey'les gulped. Ahhhh kriff. Here come the insubordination—
"—HE WHAT?!" Wulf yelled.
Cas gasped.
"Well, me and—someone else," Sey'les croaked, not wanting to bring Hrelduussk into this mess, "we teased, well, another someone else, and Suldor pinched our snouts with the force."
"Sey'les, this is serious," Allie sighed. "I would have made this session one on one for confidentiality if I knew this was going to happen."
Sey'les looked around the room nervously.
"I think he and Master Tursk also might have mind-tricked most of you guys," Fenron mumbled.
"What?!" Allie asked in a near yell.
Cas gasped again.
Sey'les opened her snout in surprise. Well, this is new.
"When Sey'les…" Fenron winced looking at Sey'les.
Oh kriff! It's about me again! Sey'les's fell flat and pressed into her in fear.
Fenron continued nervously. "When Sey'les interrupted Master Suldor and Master Tursk's briefing and the crowd became restless, Master Suldor and Master Tursk waved their hands and instructed everyone to focus. It didn't affect me but well…" He scratched the back of his neck, "afterwards everyone was very focused. Later, a very strange thing happened. It seemed like everyone was staring too hard so Suldor told all of 'the mammals,' to use his words, to blink."
"HOLY SHASSA!" Wulf yelled. "I've been often thinking about being a mammal for days!"
Cas sat back in her chair and sighed. "I saw that too! So that's what happened? Rigel did seem really weird and so did most of the Antarians! Wow! I mean, I thought that might have been what happened, but I wasn't sure."
Sey'les put her hands on her head and started tugging her fur in frustration. "Master, honestly I did not know about most of this. I am sorry I was insubordinate—"
"—That may be Sey'les, but Suldor should have just reprimanded you. The fact you were insubordinate does not him Suldor an excuse to assault you. To assault any of you."
Sey'les exhaled through her nose in frustration. Things were going fine until she had to tell everyone about Suldor. Now everyone looked so distressed, even Master Allie.
"I am sorry Master. I did not want to upset everyone," Sey'les sighed.
"Sey'les. I am not mad at you, but you should have told someone before this. The same goes to you Fenron," Allie said sternly.
"I am sorry ma'am," Fenron sighed. "It seemed messed up at the time, but not like a huge issue."
"Yeah, Master Allie, I don't really feel 'assaulted' to be honest," Sey'les said firmly.
"That may be, but the fact remains…" Allie paused, "I am sorry I have distressed you all. I will tell the Jedi Council of this, but I won't mention any of your names unless you want me to. That would be unethical. We should have had this confidential in the first place."
Fenron and Sey'les both let off sighs of relief.
Cas's face was still in complete surprise since Fenron's revelation.
Wulf looked like he had an unpleasant taste in his mouth.
Sey'les still wanted to talk about her dream. "Regarding my dream—"
"—Agent, I am pretty sure your dreams have something to do with Suldor hurting you. I wouldn't read too much into them if I were you. I do sense… Something about you Sey'les but well, I don't want to go into that either."
Sense what?! Sey'les thought with alarm. "Master, if you think something's wrong with me, couldn't you like… Do some force thing? I also feel like my dream was something more than a dream. Is there a way you could perform a mind-probe or something?"
"A mind-probe?!" Allie asked in alarm. "Did Master Suldor also mind-probe you Sey'les?"
"No ma'am," Sey'les answered. "Once when I was leading Team Muun under Master Vos, he performed one on a human smuggler we had captured."
"Good," Allie sighed in relief. "Sey'les, I am not trained in performing mind-probes. If you were human or near-human, maybe a Jedi would be willing to. If I were a Bothan, maybe. A mind-probe is very invasive. Your brain and mind are, no doubt, very different from a human or near-human brain like mine. Performing a mind-probe on you would be, frankly, extremely dangerous and irresponsible. I think your dream was just a dream Sey'les."