Chapter 40: Lir Sey'les
MGX-93776
The first night Sey'les ran out of medicine, the dreams came back with a vengeance. Before bed Sey'les was desperately licking the bottom of her prescription bottle with her long tongue, next thing she knew, she woke up in the morning with images of destruction burned in her mind. Her gut was tight. She had a splitting headache.
Kriff. Sey'les blinked in horror as she started around her quarters. Her chair was on its side, her drawers were open, clothes were on the floor. Vaguely, she remembered doing that: reaching to the contents of her room, sending her clothes around the room as she saw a… hyperspace planet? A planet go into hyperspace? Our planet? No. Too crazy.
"Ugh," Sey'les groaned, reaching over and grabbing her glass of water. As she savoured the water with thirsty gulps, she tried recalling the first time this happened. The day after Jan-Ca Suldor used the Force on me, she thought with a scowl.
"Captain Sey'les," Prococia's voice came through her wall comm. "Captain Sey'les? I sense you are awake."
You sense I am awake, Sey'les scowled angrily. Nosy kriff-headed Caamasi piece of— "Yes General?" Sey'les tried asking politely, but it came out as a thirsty dry-voiced croak.
"Captain, report to my office as soon as you are dressed."
o-o-o
Sey'les took a step outside her barracks building and was hit by a gust of cold morning breeze. Shtak that's cold. Hurrying quickly back down the hall, she unlocked her door and grabbed her trench-coat. What the kriff could that Caamasi want at 0413 in the kriffing morning?
Buttoning her green trench-coat up over her uniform, Sey'les also slipped on a green beanie. She locked her door, then hurried back down the hallway.
Stepping down from the bottom step, Sey'les nearly slipped on black ice. She swore under her breath as she grabbed the bannister. Kriff. I haven't had to deal with ice since Bothawui… No actually since Antar. Antar… With a snarl, Sey'les killed that line of thought and walked carefully down the row of barracks towards Prococia's office.
The sun had not yet risen but the base was illuminated by numerous floodlights and streetlights. Just beyond Prococia's mobile command office was a checkpoint at the entrance to Joint-Base Golshten-Myyydril. A dozen Clones manned the position, two of them chattering wearily as they reached the end of their nightshift.
"Good morning ma'am!" one of them yelled, saluting in the distance.
"Good morning," Sey'les yawned, lazily returning the salute as she turned towards Prococia's office. She knocked twice on the cold metal door, each bang hurting her furry hand much more than it would in warm weather. I should be used to this. This weather is nothing. I grew up in metres of snow. This is—
"—Come in," Prococia said gruffly. "It's unlocked."
Sey'les turned the cold doorknob, stepped inside, and stood at attention caging her eyes forward. She lifted her arm in a Republic salute. "Good morning sir. Captain Lir Sey'les reporting, as…" as ordered? As requested? As asked? As requested. "As requested?" Sey'les growled in a question.
Prococia returned her salute then muttered, "at ease."
When Sey'les made eye contact with him he looked… exhausted. Why is he so tired?
"—Sey'les. Captain Sey'les," Prococia said, drumming his fingers on the desk, his normal Jedi calm and bearing completely absent. "I think I should be clear about something. You and Wulf."
Sey'les's fur fell flat. Her pupils dilated in fear. Holy shtak. HOLY SHTAK.
"Oh yes Sey'les. I have known for quite some time," Prococia muttered sternly. It sounded very much like he had seen, or perhaps perceived, something he could not unsee. "I have decided to treat it as a fact about the universe. A piece of… well just something that is happening. Other than your laundry fiasco—"
—Sey'les groaned. Her fur too flat to do anything.
"—Other than your laundry fiasco, it hasn't well… done anything so I have chosen to ignore it," Prococia said more serenely. "Let the Force sort things out, as it were, without getting involved with your business."
"Th—thank you sir," Sey'les stammered nervously, not sure what else to say.
"Captain? I must ask one thing of you however."
"Anything sir," Sey'les sighed in relief. Wait! Anything? Why did I say anything?
"—Could you and Wulf please keep it down? I found it very difficult to meditate or sleep last night, and I sleep in a different building. It seemed like you were throwing furniture. I don't understand what you could have been up to... I—I don't want to think about it!"
Sey'les gasped in shock. What?! If he knows, why doesn't he know that I was alone? How does he… Wulf and I… "Wulf and I haven't…" Haven't kriffed? Haven't done it? Screwed? Been active? Shared quarters? Shared quarters. "Sir, Wulf had nothing to do with that. Wulf and I have not shared quarters in… uh… five days," she growled awkwardly.
"Then what in the Force was that racket Captain?" Prococia yelled angrily. The room seemed to darken. "WHO WAS WITH YOU?! You know what, you are a Captain in the Galactic Republic. You set an example for all of the troops. This is completely out of control. I have just about had it—"
"—General," Sey'les yelped. "It was just me. Sir, I have been having some medical issues. I ran low on some meds. I need to see the doctor."
Prococia blinked in genuine surprise. He raised one eyebrow quizzically, as if suspicious about Sey'les's excuse.
o-o-o
So creepy. As the shock and surprise of the Caamasi's reprimand wore off, the creepiness of it all made her fur twitch. Sey'les did not expect much privacy in the Navy, even as a senior officer, however, the fact he was clearly in her head disturbed her deeply.
Wait a second… Let the Force sort things out… The orbital bombardment! He was going to let us die! Sey'les's gasped as she sat in the waiting room of the new field hospital. Her fur fell flat.
Hey, wait another second. He did tell us to get off the mountaintop before it happened. If he wanted me to die, he would have ordered us to stay there when it happened. Let the Force deal with me. Her fur relaxed and began swirling nervously. He didn't let the Force deal with me. Shtak. I really gotta watch my back.
She heard a crunching noise and felt a sharp pain on the palm of her hand. Looking down, she groaned. The plastic prescription bottle was crunched into sharp splinters, some of which had pierced the palm of her hand.
Pulling a tissue from her cargo pocket, she started dabbing the blood. Get a hold of yourself.
o-o-o
Forty minutes later, the morning formation klaxon went off. Sey'les's fur swirled guiltily. I am missing physical training for this. She imagined Wulf or Dub leading training, Team Muun slipping and falling on the black ice. All of the skids, the injuries, the bruises. I need to get up. I need to—
"—Captain Sey'les?" a human wearing a white coat with a Lieutenant Commander rank asked, opening the door to the waiting room. "I am ready to see you."
"I am sorry sir," Sey'les growled nervously. "I accidentally squeezed my bottle and it… broke. You can read the prescription label though."
"I am Lieutenant Commander Herron and… huh," he muttered, grabbing the smashed bloody plastic as he turned to his office. "Let's see your hand."
Sey'les sat down in the patient chair and stretched out her hand. "Sir, I'd like to hurry. I am missing my team's training session and it is the first one we've done since deploying here with… the fires, and—"
"—Well, your hand looks just a bit scratched. It seems that Vasa Ro'val prescribed you… antipsychotics?"
"Yes sir," Sey'les said simply. "I ran out last night, forgot to refill, and…" used my mind to throw things around my room, making such a ruckus that Prococia Olgar'kla could not sleep.
"Huh. Thought disorder…" Herron muttered. "Not something we usually prescribe medicine for, especially over dreams," Herron muttered, scrolling through Sey'les's records on his terminal. "You are aware that these have memory side effects, right?"
"Yes sir."
"All right. Well, I think… I don't think you need these."
Don't think I need them… But Ro'val…
"On the other hand, you can't just stop taking these without phasing them out. You will get severe withdrawals, potential psychosis symptoms… Sey'les, I am going to lower your dosage to half for three weeks and see how you go."
"Thank you, sir," Sey'les said firmly.
"If you start feeling headaches, shakes, confusion, come back to me."
o-o-o
The sun now hung low in the horizon shining across the burnt-out savannahs. Fortunately, there had been no civilian casualties resulting from the Actimoonium fires. However, the Republic had yet to drop prefabricated housing for the civilians. Refugee tents were now positioned a hundred meters from the perimeter of Joint-Base Golshten-Myyydril.
Sey'les took it all in as she stepped out of the hospital. Another day, another… I don't even know what to call it. Her ears perked up. Lots of footsteps. She turned to the left and saw Prococia and Ekos at the lead, jogging in black tracksuits with Republic insignias. Behind them, jogged Archard and the entire company, Clones and Direct Action Operatives alike. None of them looked like they had slipped on the ice.
How did I not know today was a Company Run? Sey'les scowled, her fur twirling unhappily.
"Hey Captain!" Itoll yipped as he jogged by.
"Everything all right?" Wulf yelled, turning his head back towards her as he jogged.
"Yeah!" Sey'les yelled. "I'll tell you about it later."
Across the highway median, a few Wookiees began emerging from their barracks, no doubt waking from the noise of the Republic forces.
o-o-o
"He what?!" Wulf whispered angrily, leaning closer to Sey'les.
Sey'les glared down the breakfast table. All of Team Muun was minding their own business, all of them except for Itoll.
His ears were perked up and he was eagerly looking down the table at her and Wulf. He locked eyes with Sey'les, gasped, then looked down at his plate.
What a kriffing stinker. "Yes," Sey'les whispered. "The General has been spying on us. Using the Force or something. My shtak…" she showed Wulf her hand.
"What happened?"
"Withdrawals," Sey'les sighed. "The kriffing shtak Ro'val gave me. Had a really hectic night." She took a sip of caf. The shtak I don't actually need.
"Hopefully we'll be transferred out of Prococia's command once this operation ends," Wulf muttered, looking around the cafeteria.
And then what? Sey'les wondered. I can continue kriffing a subordinate without someone getting in my business? Do I really want that? What am I doing with my life? The last two questions had been ringing in Sey'les's mind ever since Wulf betrayed her trust. He's like Archumagh or Woshyrryagh. A complete stinker. Just dumber.
Maybe I'm being too hard on him. He is just twenty-three. WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?
"Ma'am are you okay?" Dubs asked.
Sey'les blinked, her fur standing on end in fury. "Oh yes, sorry Trooper," she growled to Dubs, "I am fine."
"You kind of snarled a little," Wulf muttered in a timid voice.
o-o-o
Sey'les, Itoll, Oryon's, Skipper, and the twenty Clone Officers of the 152nd Company, twenty of the 48th Company, and the eighty Clone Officers of the 134th Battalion, now sat in rows of chairs before Padawan Commander Ekos and Jedi General Prococia Olgar'kla in a massive briefing hall. The room swam with anticipation. The Republic Fleet had finally gained superiority over this hemisphere and action was going to start again.
Sey'les wondered where Archard and the rest of the 132nd Company were. Where are any of the other heads of the Companies? Why was I told to take Itoll? He's not a Captain or Commander?
"You are all here because the Wookiees are clearly incapable of running this city, yet." Prococia said gravely.
Sey'les sighed. At least staying here is safer than on the mountain… or is it? Her fur swirled nervously as she eyed Prococia.
"While the rest of the 12th Army advances on the northern continent, you, the heads of roughly 1,000 Republic troops, will aid the Wookiees in maintaining the peace, secure this base, especially the hospital which we will likely continue to need. At least for a few weeks."
Sey'les blinked incredulously. But Itoll… Itoll… She glared at Itoll, stared at the Lieutenant rank on his chest. Her datapad buzzed.
"You now have your assignments and your teams. Most of you have the same teams you led down onto this planet," Prococia said serenely. He looked through the crowd and met Sey'les's gaze.
She gasped seeing her datapad:
12 FORWARD COMMAND TO CAPTIAN LIR SEY'LES. SCRAMBLE LINE ENCRYPTED. TEAM MUUN STRUCTURE: Captain Lir Sey'les, Lieutenant Razal Wulf, Lieutenant DZ-9775, Sergeant UF-9087, Corporal UF-9002, Trooper CT-7007.
SANITATION DUTY. RELIEVE TEAM KILO-7 AND COMMANDEER RCV-1 AND RCV-2. ACCESS CODE: 114U-89T-KLX.
Sanitation duty! I am a medal of honour recipient! Sey'les's fur stood on end. She looked over to Itoll who had somehow avoided this.
Itoll's fur swirled nervously.
"What is your assignment?" Sey'les snarled.
"Uh… Supervision of the POWs," he growled nervously, looking Sey'les in the eye. "I got Fojo and some Clone numbers I've never heard of. You ma'am? Wow you look mad."
"Sanitation Duty!" Sey'les whisper-yelled, fur still standing on end. "What the kriff is an RCV?!"
