Chapter 19: Itoll Oc'skar

Aboard the Liberator, in Hyperspace

"You know Lir Sey'les already broke. Told us everything about Fen's poisoning."

"Jazal," Itoll growled, fur swirling with suspicion. Today, he sat across from Jazal in the interrogation room, wearing an orange jumpsuit. "If Sey'les told you anything, she's making it up. Sey'les doesn't know shtak about—"

"—And she told me all about your role too!" Jazal huffed.

"My role in what?" Itoll asked, ears perked up. He genuinely had no idea what Sey'les could be going on about. "Why would Sey'les say those things? Jazal, I have no idea how Buzz committed suicide. I don't know who he was… I really have no idea."

The Miraluka let out an anguished sob. "You're telling the truth. What the hell!"

"Yeah," Itoll nodded, looking at her eyeless face. "Master Jedi, I don't know why Sey'les would say those—"

"—I made it up," Jazal moaned. "To get you to talk. I am sorry."

"Oh," Itoll grunted, fur twitching in annoyance. So Sey'les didn't tell Jazal I was in on Buzz's suicide... "So you just lied to me? Tried to do this bad cop routine, but really badly, is that it? Have you ever interrogated someone for real or are you just… I really am trying to cooperate here."

"Itoll," Jazal sighed, "I am sorry. I just don't know how much I can trust you."

"Funny," Itoll said mirthlessly. "I have been thinking the same thing ever since Prococia Olgar'kla told Sey'les that how obsessed he was with her. A deathbed confession right before—"

"—I am not obsessed with you. I—"

"—That's not what I remember you saying," Itoll interrupted, moving to stand up and leave. He forgot about being handcuffed to the table, and groaned angrily as his chains rattled, pulling him back down.

"DON'T MOVE!" a Clone in the doorway yelled, brandishing a blaster rifle.

"Fudge," Jazal spoke the Clone, "leave us."

"General, I strongly—"

"LEAVE US!"

Itoll plopped back into the chair with an exhale as the Clone left. He felt angry, but took a deep breath. "Now that you know I am not lying," he growled as calmly as he could, "could I speak with Sey'les?"
"I'll move you to an adjacent cell," Jazal sighed. "You really should have listened to me. None of this would have happened had you just stayed on Coruscant a year ago."

"Yeah," Itoll agreed evenly. "I could have been a Jedi's little house husband. Jazal, I had feelings for you for a long time but… This has always just been kriffed. Our relationship, it shouldn't have gone past… Past Alpheridies. We just have too much of a power imbalance. You can literally manipulate my mind, invade my brain, I just… And you ended up in the detention bloc over this yourself."

"I agree," Jazal said, to Itoll's surprise. "But, now that I know you had nothing to do with Buzz… Let's go back to the topic of consciousness transfer. What happened to you after the Battle of Bothawui?"

o.o.o.o.o

Sey'les's fur relaxed as she laid eyes on Itoll. He sat in the mess hall under armed guard, in front of a window beyond which the swirls of hyperspace were visible.

"Uh, this isn't standard prisoner procedure," Sey'les noted looking at the Clones.

"Take a seat," Itoll growled optimistically, fur dancing with excitement.

Sey'les looked at the tray of food in front of Itoll with wide eyes.

"Oh, you can ask the Clones to get you something," Itoll mumbled, chewing a spoonful of preserved Jogan fruit. "Tarkin certainly would be jealous. The perks of cooperating."

"Could I please have some uh… Jogan fruit, mashed orange tuber, and a scone?"

One of the Clones grunted indifferently, then walked from the table without saying a word.

"Itoll, what's going on?" Sey'les growled nervously.

"Jazal let me have lunch in the dining hall and said I could see you," Itoll explained with toothy smile, "after I told her everything I know about the consciousness transfer. Oh, and Buzz."

Sey'les scowled, fur swirling nervously.

"What's the matter?" Itoll asked worriedly. I thought we were cooperating.

"Did you ask for a plea deal? Immunity?" Sey'les asked, folding her arms. "Or just a social lunch?"

"A—A plea deal!" Itoll gasped. The thought had not even occurred to him. He believed the Republic would choose to be lenient because he cooperated. He felt no need to get it on flimsiplast. "Shtak! You think we need one? Do you—"

"—Here's your food," the Clone grunted, dropping a metal tray in front of Sey'les, splattering her slightly with Jogan juices. "Enjoy."

"Thank you," Sey'les growled politely, digging in with a spoon. Then she scowled once again at Itoll. "Yes. When you were in legal shtak with Fojo, remember those deals you signed?"

Fojo… Itoll's fur twirled unhappily. Maybe if Fojo were alive I would have thought of that… Maybe… "Shtak," he gasped again. His fur fell flat. "I don't have a deal!"

"Nope," Sey'les mumbled, chewing on fruit. "No you don't. Maybe I can get you one, as payback for the lunch."

"But it was self-defense," Itoll growled firmly, more to reassure himself than anything else. "And I didn't leak sensitive information to the Spynet. I just… I just followed Buzz's vague instructions."

"Best to get a deal," Sey'les mumbled, teeth clanging on the metal of her spoon.

Itoll took a cautious bite of food, then another. It was odd. He had felt like they had so much to talk about, and was bursting to talk with someone. Yet, now that he was with Sey'les, they actually didn't. They both knew parts of what had happened, roughly to the same degree. They were both extremely distressed at having lost friends and colleagues, not only losing them, but losing them to senseless friendly fire. Even worse, both Sey'les and Itoll had to take the lives of GAR personnel. But they were both there. There was nothing new to talk about.

Or… Is it that I don't want to talk with dozens of eyes staring at me, Itoll wondered, looking around the room. He locked eyes with a Clone trooper at another table who just stared back.

"All right," one of the Clones spoke into his wrist-comm. "Yes General, Sey'les has finished her food. She is ready to talk."

Sey'les grabbed the scone from her tray, quickly popping it into her snout and chewing as she stood. "I'll try to get you mhhamm mmmhhh," she mumbled, then chugged a glass of water.

Itoll sighed. He could not really understand her with food in her snout, but knew what she meant. "Good luck."

"Don't worry," she growled reassuringly. "I am really awesome at this sort of thing. I've gotten myself out of so much trouble in the past."

Itoll scowled, realising he agreed somewhat with Jazal. You really did play a huge role in getting me involved with this mess. In getting Fojo killed. I only ever met anyone in the Spynet because you took me to meet Vasa Ro'val… Then, you didn't tell me she was the Director of Coruscant Operations.

o.o.o.o.o

Lir Sey'les

To Sey'les's surprise, Jazal had begun the interrogation session by telling her a story about some Jedi Master named Ras Andromias. Apparently, this Ras Andromias had first tipped Jazal off to the possibility Bothans were engaged in essence transfer.

While on a mission to Krant, Jazal had sensed that Ras Andromias no longer had a human mind—that the familiar parts Jazal was acquainted with were akin to a palimpsest on an already written-on piece of parchment. Andromias was overwritten. After telling her that story, Jazal's motivations suddenly became clear.

"All right, Sey'les, I've explained my bit. You explain yours."

"No," Sey'les shrugged, her bindings jingling gently.

"Sey'les, I told you everything I know. This way, we can combine what we know. I won't ask you again. What—"

"—You can't order me to incriminate myself, General," Sey'les growled cautiously, ashy fur swirling with nervousness.

"No, I can't," Jazal admitted, eyebrows furrowing on her eyeless face. "However, the more you cooperate, the easier it will be to convince the ROCI to go easy on you."

Sey'les scowled. She could sense Jazal attempting to reach out to her, the thread-shaped invisible force energies—invisible but not un-sensed, stopped a few inches in front of her snout.

An eerie echo of Jazal's voice entered her mind, although the Miraluka's mouth was closed. Calm down Sey'les. Relax.

"No I won't calm down," Sey'les grunted defiantly.

"I care about both of you," Jazal said firmly. "I know most of what you did was in self-defense, and I promise I won't let them treat you unfairly. Just allow me to do my job."

"No." Sey'les shifted her stance, sitting up straighter. "If you really loved Itoll… If you really cared about us, you would get these assurances for us in writing. For Wulf too. Jazal, the system is broken. If it worked, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Very well," Jazal said stiffly. "We will discuss this more at the Temple then."

"The Temple?" Sey'les croaked nervously. The Temple… We are going directly into Jedi custody. This could be messy. The practices and procedures of that monastic order were both mysterious and arcane.

"Yes, the Temple. Part of your activities involve sedition against the Jedi Order, Sey'les."

"Sedition… Against the Jedi Order?" Sey'les gasped, fur falling flat. She had thought she and Itoll had only been detained over the Spynet's activities related to Tarkin and the friendly-fire incident.

"You have been recorded, over the comm, admitting to leaking information on individual Jedi to the Bothan Spynet."

And the Wookiees… Sey'les thought, snout hanging open. But at least I didn't admit to that over the comms… Or did I? She wracked her brain, trying to remember exactly what she had told Wulf. She remembered Wulf getting angry about the Wookiees at one point but not exactly anything explicit.

"Sey'les?" Jazal asked. "Is everything all right?"

Feeling tight and panicky, Sey'les cleared her throat. Shtak this is bad... This is so bad! "Yes," she lied in an unconvincing whimper.