Chapter 23: Itoll Oc'skar

Coruscant

If ever there was a thing that could make Itoll more uncomfortable than being the smallest being in prison, it was being unable to use the Force when everyone else in prison could.

"Just keep your… Actually, I don't know what advice I was about to give," Sey'les said evenly. Her fur twitched as she sniffed the air.

Itoll looked around the common area. It looked comfortable enough, with a few Demesne tables, sofas, surrounded by smaller separate rooms with meditation pads. There was however, a notable lack of windows. Around the perimeter of the common room, stood six Jedi Temple guards.

While Itoll and Sey'les wore orange jumpsuits, all of the other detainees wore Jedi robes. Some looked heavily medicated. This is mental institute too, Itoll reasoned.

"The detainees will keep moving," their faceless masked Temple Guard grunted stiffly.

Reluctantly, Itoll and Sey'les obeyed, walking around the comfortable-looking room towards a darker hallway. Along the left wall of the hall were open cells, each with a set of bars.

After walking past five or six cells, the Temple Guard stopped. "Lir Sey'les?"

"Uh yes?" Sey'les growled nervously.

"This is your cell. Put these on," he ordered, shoving a bundle of clothes into her chest.

Itoll's ears perked up as he walked past Sey'les's cell. He had not noticed that their guard was carrying bundles of—Wait, is he really going to—

"Itoll Oc'skar?"

"Yes sir," Itoll answered professionally.

"This is your cell. Put these on."

Itoll let off an oof, staggering backwards as a bundle of monk robes were roughly shoved into his chest. He quickly scampered into his cell, trying to figure out how to put these dusty smelling robes on.

"You are in the minimum security lockup," the Jedi guard informed them, then began chanting memorised lines into the air as Itoll and Sey'les dressed themselves. "Detainees in minimum security lockup may use the common areas from 0800 to 2000. The detainee will refrain from using spice or carrying any contraband items. The detainee will vacate their cell between 0830 and 0900 for the first meal. The detainee will attend all mandatory counselling, and obey all lawful instructions from Temple Guards. The detainee will refrain from engaging in confrontation. Any violation of these conditions will be punished."

This… This doesn't feel right, Itoll thought, feeling extremely airy under his smock. He looked down at the bare tan and black fur of his legs.

"Itoll Oc'skar," the Temple Guard said impatiently. "You will wear trousers."

"Oh!" Itoll gasped, fur swirling with embarrassment as he grabbed the pair of tan pants that had gotten lost in the mix of his Jedi prisoner attire. "Huh…"

o.o.o.o.o

Shortly after getting dressed, Sey'les told Itoll they should meet the counsellor. Stass Allie. Itoll had no idea how Sey'les knew where this Stass Allie was, but Sey'les guided them across the common area, up the steps, past some meditation rooms, past the dining hall, and up to a set of closed bronze-coloured doors.

"Don't worry," Sey'les reassured, standing outside of the door to the counsellor's office. "Stass Allie is very nice."

Itoll scowled, recalling the beings Sey'les has described as 'very nice' in the last year. The list included Woshyrryagh, Wulf, and oddly, herself. A mental image formed of some burly male, likely willing to scratch Sey'les's back for indiscreet favours and almost certainly a bully of sorts.

Stass sounds a bit like a human name, Itoll scowled, an image of a much more attractive, younger, and muscular version of Rael Averross forming in his mind.

"What's the matter Itoll?" Sey'les growled cautiously.

Standing in front of the door, Itoll blocked Sey'les's entry. "What's the matter?" he yelped, then lowered his voice, whispering angrily in a hushed scandalised tone. "I don't get how this helps things Sey'les. No matter how corruptible this Stass Allie is, no matter what we do for him, there is no way he can get us out of this. I mean… what? Does this Allie guy go both ways, or are you getting us both out of here with your snout alone? We're locked in the Jedi Temple on charges of SEDITION! That's a capital offense! Get real Sey'les!" He had not intended to, but by the end of his scandalised rant, Itoll was yelling in a shocked whisper, whimpering furiously in anguished whiny undertones.

"Ahem," a human-sounding female voice said from behind Itoll.

"Master Allie," Sey'les sighed. "Um… Meet Itoll Oc'skar."

Itoll turned around, fur swirling with embarrassment. He gazed upon a being who was different in literally every possible way from what he had imagined. Stass Allie was not male, but female. She was also not human, but a tanned skin near-human. Instead of a head covered in voluminous messy—but sexy—hair, Stass Allie was bald and bony-headed with snake-like white tendrils dangling from her head. Rather than a charming and welcoming smile, she wore a look of utter disbelief.

Holy shtak I sound like a total man-schutta. "I… Haha," he growled nervously. "I was joking."

"Nice to meet you too," Stass Allie said, nodding politely and behaving as if Itoll had greeted her. "It is nice to see you again Sey'less, and I am glad you came to see me. I was about to summon you both here to clear up some issues but, since you're here… Well, come in," she said with a bow, stepping out of the way.

In their well-worn brown prisoner robes, Sey'les and Itoll walked into her office, each taking a seat on the meditation pads.

Itoll's fur still swirled with pure unhappy embarrassment. He sighed, reaching his hands behind him to try and balance on the bulging pad.

"Sit up straight," Allie instructed, sitting up straight on her cushion. "It is easier to… There…"

"Thank you Master Jedi," Itoll croaked, sitting up straighter.

"Now… About consciousness transfer," Stass Allie said, looking the Bothans in the eye. "Did Jazal instruct you to say what you said about that?"

"No," Sey'les and Itoll blurted out together.

"Buzz could speak Bothese," Sey'les said matter-of-factly.
"Master Urth Neb can speak Bothese too. This does not make him a Bothan in a human body, does it?"

"No," Sey'les stammered, "no it—"

"—It's not just that," Itoll interrupted. "Buzz gave us spy net objectives. Once, after placing plastic bags over our heads, he patched us into the Spynet."

"Yeah," Sey'les agreed firmly. "He did ma'am. Put bags over heads. They told us we had been sentenced to death for attacking our people…"

o.o.o.o.o

Jazal

"This is… This is inadmissible as evidence," Mace Windu's holopresence said firmly.

Jazal gasped angrily as she felt the features of Mace Windu's face on her Shadowsync datapad. She now stood in the High Council Chambers. Mace Windu, Shaak Ti, and Plo-Koon were attending as blue holopresences. The rest of the High Council were present in person.

"Calm yourself Jazal," Plo-Koon said in a distant echo, muffled through his transpirator. "We are not accusing you of lying. The fact of the matter is, you need more evidence before we believe Bothans have engaged in essence transfer."

Yoda hmm'd to himself, pondering something.

"They have both told Stass Allie precisely what I said was the case. Itoll Oc'skar and Lir Sey'les have agreed to testify to it, under oath—"

"—Double agents are notoriously unreliable!" Mace Windu interrupted.

"Master Windu is correct Jazal," Obi-Wan cautioned. "Use your senses, these Bothans are desperate. They will say literally anything to get out of trouble."

I have used my senses. Besides Stass Allie, none of you have even spoken with them.

"In agreement, we are," Yoda croaked, waving his tiny three-fingered hand. "But look into this more we shall."

Jazal frowned, almost certain that would not be the case. Not with the war going on.

"But summon you here to discuss more of your theories, we did not," Yoda added after a pause.
"Greatly disturbing, the Tarkin matter is."

"You stated in your report," Shaak Ti noted, stooping to read something off her terminal, "that Tarkin shot Brent Fojo and a wounded Clone?"

"Yes, I sensed it. There were multiple witnesses—"

"—Itoll Oc'skar and Lir Sey'les," Mace Windu muttered impatiently, massaging his temple as he interrupted. "Again—"

"—Brent Fojo did not kill himself!" Jazal yelled, raising her voice when she did not mean to. "Apologies, Master."

"It's not just the matter of Brent Fojo and friendly fire," Obi-Wan added, "the Admiral ordered the execution of thousands of civilians… The evidence is substantial."

"Agree, I do," Yoda said evenly. "Most disturbing."

"And while this was unfolding, Jazal, you were out of communication?" Mace Windu asked in a leading tone.

"I attempted to regain communication," Jazal said stiffly. "At the same time though, my position was tenuous. We had boarded a Separatist ship, and I had numerous prisoners to secure."

"You couldn't have known," Mace Windu agreed, "but next time… Next time we must be more watchful."

"An idea have you?" Yoda asked.

Mace Windu paused for a moment, clenching his jaw. "I do. Tarkin is going back into the front, as a Captain. His relationship with the Chancellor makes him de facto above the law. Tarkin needs to be watched and, at the first sign of treachery, terminated. I say we assign a Jedi to whatever ship Tarkin is put in command of."

"To a dark place, this line of thought may bring us," Yoda cautioned.

"We must do something," Ki-Adi-Mundi cautioned, stroking his silvery beard. "The Navy is in open revolt. If we don't put a Jedi on Tarkin, I fear one of his men may take matters into his own hands."

"I vill do it," Even Piell spat in his thick Lannik accent. "None of you vill do it? Vell then, I vill vatch over Tarkin. I have sat around here on Coruscant—doing nothing—for long enough. I have dealt with maniacs like him before."

Sensing several of the High Council members tense up, clearly offended by Master Piell's tone, Jazal nearly laughed. Instead, she took a deep breath and exhaled. Yoda flashed her a weary glance. This is all just so kriffed up. We have no control over Tarkin and can do nothing about him. Yet, he is who we are focusing on.