Opening the Lid

Two weeks later

It had been two weeks since the ceremony on Coruscant and the 206th Star Corps were deployed to a mass of Republic ships orbiting around Teth. The 206th would participate along with the 501st in the assault on the Separatist strongholds that dotted the planet's surface.

In the hanger on one of the Republic cruisers, the clone troopers and their Jedi Generals prepared to board gunships that would take them down to the surface below.

"Well Smokes it appears that we will have to climb a bit to get to our first objective." Captain Rex of the 501st Legion said, nervous about the prospect of climbing while under fire.

"Damn, I thought we could at least get some jetpacks or better yet why don't they put us down on top of the cliff rather than at its base." Smokes said, letting his sarcasm be known to virtually everyone around him.

"Hey where's Regulan? Isn't he coming with us today?" Questioned Rex, looking at Smokes to supply an answer.

"No not today. He was called off of what he said was official Republic business. He's on his way to Corellia, left about 4 days ago." Smokes said quietly, appearing down at the thought of his friend leaving him before a battle.

Suddenly a new voice piped up amongst the clones. "Ah well, don't get so down Commander. I'm sure Drues will be fine, considering he is called the "Nightstalker." A member of the 501st told the commander, giving him a smile to reassure his superior.

It took a moment for Smokes to realize the identity of the clone trooper he was looking at. He remembered that he was one of the newer arrivals in the 501st, going by the name of Fives. "Thanks Fives; I'm sure your right. I'm just worried about his safety is all; this is really the first time he's been away since we met. But nevertheless I will lead my regiment to victory today." Smokes replied, giving a proud smile, however underneath that façade he was wondering what "business" had grabbed the attention of the "Misfits." Once Drues comes back, I intend to at least get some answers. Smokes vowed as he stepped onboard the gunship and placed his helmet upon his head. However first he had a battle to win.

Hundreds of light years away, a small shuttle was just making its way out of hyperspace, coming to a point just above the blue planet of Corellia. The "Misfits" were meeting on the home planet of their lead agent, Waylon Kafinka. They were coming here under extreme secrecy, nobody in Republic Intelligence even knew the four were in this sector of the galaxy, for they'd hid their tracks well.

The " Misfits" had come to this pale blue dot to discuss and organize their treasonous intelligence gathering operation aimed directly at the Supreme Chancellor, codenamed Lid Opener. They desperately needed to gather evidence of the man they had all had suspicions about, the man who possessed ultimate power in the galaxy.

On the way to Corellia, Drues even reviewed footage of the Chancellor during public speaking events to get a glimpse of his body language, and correlate it to behavior. Drues saw that the Chancellor was a man under constant anxiety, and based on his facial expressions had a lot of anger with a hint of fear. This man was not a steadfast leader, but a man suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and the delusions it creates. This was a man who in his position could potentially be ticking time bomb for galactic disaster.

The shuttle set down in one of the landing bays in the capital city with a soft thud. The ramp doors hissing open before hitting the hanger floor. As Regulan exited the craft he spotted someone very familiar.

"Sirandes? What is the Force are you doing meeting me here?" Drues asked in a raised voice, making his displeasure known, as the figure moved to his side. "Do you want to get us either captured or killed? People would pay good money for the head of an intelligence officer." He whispered quietly, amazed that his fellow agent would risk their lives in such a trivial manner.

"Relax Regluan, I'm only here to accompany you and to ensure we're not being tracked." Mahan Sirandes said in a mellow voice, completely calm at the situation he was in. "Banquee and Kafinka are already at the meeting point; we were just waiting for you." Sirandes said as both he and Drues exited the landing bay and hailed a cab.

Once inside the cab both men had their eyes glued to the windows, looking for any signs of someone tracking them as their cab travelled down the street.

Upon arriving at their designated meeting point, Drues could only stare in shock at the building they had stopped in front of. "Are you serious? We are going to have an extremely important not to mention top secret meeting occur at Kafinka's apartment?" Drues asked, dumbstuck at such an idea.

"Relax; this place is covered in monitors. If someone attempts to spy on us we can intercept the signal, track them down, and… terminate the problem." Sirandes said, as he began walking to the door of the building, with Regulan running after him to catch up.

Inside the apartment Agents Kafinka and Morti Banquee were discussing their latest activities when the front door chimed.

"Well it's probably Mahan and Drues." Banquee said as he walked towards the door and promptly opened it. Both Regulan and Sirandes walked in and plopped themselves down at the dining room table.

"Okay so now that we are all here, we can finally open the lid." Kafinka said, smiling at himself for the irony in the statement.

"Alright so let's start off with how we plan on spying on the most secure man in the galaxy?" Asked Banquee, his resolve crumbling at the thought of the trouble it would take to talk to the Chancellor nevertheless spy on him.

"Well first things first we need to infiltrate all of his residences and modes of transport. I suggest we split up to one avoid all of us being caught, and two to cover more ground." Kafinka said, formulating plans in his head.

"Well what do we know of the Chancellor so far, definitively I mean." Asked Sirandes, briefly looking at the other three agents.

"Well nothing really. He doesn't talk about his past and all of his records seem to have disappeared, even Republic Intel has nothing on him." Said Drues, his eyes betraying his growing suspicions.

"Nothing?! That's impossible! How do we have nothing on a man that leads the Republic?" Shouted Banquee, amazed and slightly scared at the thought of having no previous intelligence to go on.

"I don't know how that happened but I do know why peoples past are erased. It's either because someone screwed up logging the info in, or that person doesn't want their past being known." Kafinka said, looking towards Regulan to see if he had anything to add.

"I'll second that, looking at the tapes of his speeches it does appear that he does have something to hide, and that something is eating away at him." Regulan said, blankly staring at a wall deep in thought.

"What do you mean eating away Drues?" Questioned Banquee, fearing the answer he knew was to come.

"Eating away at him mentally I mean. His body language shows signs of extreme anxiety. He constantly scans the crowds as if looking for something that may threaten him, something that isn't there. That leads me to believe that he has a form of schizophrenia accompanied with delusional paranoia. In other words he hears and sees things that don't really exist, and believes he is constantly under threat." Drues said, releasing a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"So what you're saying is that we have a mentally unstable as the most powerful man in the galaxy… great… just damn great." Sirandes said, letting the sarcasm roll off of him in waves.

"Being mentally unstable isn't all; I've heard rumors from a Separatist mole that Palpy may be dealing with the Seps under the table." Banquee said, seeing everyone around him go rigid in shock.

"What!?" All three replied at once. Sirandes was the first to recover and hastily replied. "So you're saying the Chancellor is having deals with the Seps even when they're the enemy?"

"Yes I believe so, and once more the Jedi now believe that there is a Sith Lord in the Senate." Banquee added, again shock traveling through the others agents forums.

Kafinka still shocked spoke first. "Wow that is indeed a lot of speculation but enough to go on to warrant this op in my eyes." Agent Kafinka said his voice rising as his confidence rose. And he began to bark orders at the others. "So we must move at once. I will be heading the Coruscant to tap Palpy's office and residence. Sirandes you will head with me to infiltrate his transports, put as many trackers and taps as you need. Afterwards we head to the Jedi Temple and have a chat with them. Banquee, head to Ryloth and infiltrate the Seperatist communications storage facility there, I want Palpy's communications found. Regulan you will be heading to Geonosis, there is still a very large Separatist presence there despite the recent battle, and Count Dooku is among them. If what the Banquee said is true I want you to look into the Jedi's suspicions about a Sith Lord in the Senate. Hack Dooku's comms, it is natural that a Sith would be in contact with another Sith. Good luck all, and as the Jedi say, may the Force be with us."

And with that all of the agents left the apartment, headed to the spaceport, and blasted off in different directions, with one goal in mind.

To pick apart the façade of the Chancellor, and expose to true being beneath. They had opened the lid, now they needed to spoon out the contents.