Usually I put way too much in the author notes. So this time I'm going to make this the longest author's notes in the story and slowly reveal my intentions as chapters go on in small five sentence max verses. Now you're probably going to expect Master Chief or the Arbiter to show up well I made the decision to go with an OC centric cast for the UNSC/Terrans because they're the protagonist and I like OC protagonists and this is set in an AU and using OCs allows me to explore it deeper. Also in this AU Halo 4 never happened. I love halo 4 but I made a decision based on the story I wanted to tell. So the only lore through Halo 3 is canon in Halo in this AU. Furthermore in this AU the events of Halo happened in a part of the galaxy previously undiscovered by the wider star wars galaxy until after the human covenant war. I'll develop that part of history more later. You'll also notice 2563 isn't a year in recorded history in halo lore yet. I choose that for two reasons one to have an era in which I had creative freedom and two for fellow history enjoyer's a very specific historical event happened in November 1963 that triggered a whirlwind of turmoil that still confuses everyone it impacted to this day. I won't say what it was if you know it you can kind of predict what's going to happen in the story. If you don't, don't worry about it, it'll be more fun if you just don't have an absolute clue what's going to happen ( ;

UEG Consulate, Coruscant, October 9th 2563

"Alright, now start from the beginning just one more time," Agent Colton Martel told his latest source of intelligence. His warm green eyes complemented the pleasant smile that formed on his mouth. He leaned forward and his shoulders were down in a more relaxed and casual manner. Yet the ONI agent kept his hands folded over his boldly crafted wooden desk, the matter was rather serious despite his overall casual mannerism, but he'd been involved in the murky world of intelligence for a long time, heard a lot of things, and he'd done a lot of things. He preferred to keep a cool and relaxed attitude. Made it easier to find the truth in any given scenario and he'd found it much easier to get information out of people.

"I've told you twice already," Mereel, a republic Null ARC who sat on the other side of the desk grunted, the annoyance flared in his voice. The clone had an aggressive frown crease on his lips. His attitude had changed over the course of the questioning. He'd at first been well mannered and even charismatic. But now he was becoming frustrated and impatient.

Colton had reviewed the files ONI had on Null ARC troopers. Super soldiers, deemed highly unstable by their Kaminoan cloners. If ONI had run the program the Nulls would have by all means been deemed a success and more Nulls would have been made. Kaminoans thought too clinical to the point where it wasn't practical. The six that had been saved proved to be highly skilled at black operations and intelligence missions. So skilled this ver Null ARC had managed to uncover a conspiracy that by all means was so simple and yet so complex Colton wasn't sure whether he was more horrified it would have worked or more intrigued. Mereel had to be stressed,scared, and deeply angered, all these were things one ought to feel after being betrayed by their own government.

And now he sat in the clandestine office of an agency aligned to a nation he'd never been to. On paper the UEG consulate was merely a diplomatic building. In actuality ONI had been used as bases for para military operations. This one was headed by one Major Colton Martel whose original purpose was merely to train indigenous para military forces and coordinate unconventional operations against the CIS. However what Mereel was telling him seemed far more interesting then his usual activities.

Colton understood the man's anger and even sympathized with it. However Agent Martel needed to be certain this was not some CIS trick some machination of their absolutely brilliant counter Intelligence program to get him to do something extreme. The UNSC and the CIS had after been engaged in shadow games for awhile now. CIS intel armed and trained insurrectionist, ONI caused military coups on former CIS worlds, both sides assassinate one another's agents. And both sides threatened 'real' war against each other on a monthly were growing both sides were reluctant to start a fight wanting some way to win with out actually fighting. That was after all the supreme art of war. Anyone who'd read Sun Tzu knew that. And for all Colton really knew this whole little 'the Chancellor is controlling both sides' thing may have been designed to get the UNSC to start manipulating the Republic too as a part of the intelligence games between the CIS and UNSC. So he needed to be sure. He needed Mereel to repeat every little word of what he experienced again and again to see if he was even inconsistent once.

"Mereel," Colton said in a very friendly manner, "I understand you're an ARC trooper, Null class. Fought battles all across the galaxy for the Republic, been behind enemy lines plenty of times. Killed battle droids with your bare hands, and probably plenty of people too. Only to apparently find out all it was all apart of some Stratagem cooked up by a megalomaniac in which every one was just tool. You must be absolutely crushed. After all, you probably know countless guys who died in this conflict. But understand my perspective for a moment, I'm an agent of a relatively new government compared to your five thousand year old republic. We survived a genocidal war against aliens. Then found out a bigger galaxy existed around us. One in which two sides are going at it like cats and dogs. We've barely had enough time to analyze your peoples complex and long history. And I've been given the job of determining whether or not there's a threat to my people, the Terrans. Whether or not people are going to try and exterminate us again. You can imagine we're not very trusting of alien organizations and that we like to be rather thorough when analyzing alien events."

Colton Martel leaned closer and made sure to give off the right smile that said I'm thoroughly intrigued, keep talking. He folded his hands in front of him. He was actually quite interested. "So please," Colton said slowly, "If you would just one more time." Usually if you were simply nice, decent people would be willing to work with you. Too many ONI personnel resorted to manipulation and violence too fast. When being pleasant often got the right answer faster.

Mereel stared at him. He still seemed frustrated on the outside but non the less nodded his head. Seemingly understanding Colton's perspective.

"Fine," Mereel said, "It's like I said it all started when Sergeant Skirata asked us to look into the death of a reg ARC trooper, Fives."

"Reg ARC?" Colton asked, raising an eyebrow finding the terminology interesting. Admittedly it was a pointless interruption.

"Regular, there's three types of ARC troopers. Regs come from the rank and file as opposed to Alphas and us Nulls," Mereel explained and then seemed to move on with his eyes, "Me and Jiang, another Null, run an autopsy. We find a considerable amount of drugs in his system. Which led us to the obvious conclusion it was all a set up. Which then meant it was also a cover up."

Colton took a second to sip the coffee he'd had brewed for him. It was deep and it was dark the beans came all the way from Colombia in South America on earth. Mereel eyed it the smell most likely drawing his attention, "Would you like a cup? It's no problem at all." Colton motioned to the coffee machine he kept in his office right behind him on a shelf.

"No," He replied after thinking about it, "I'd like to just move on," He said, "So we dove into the exact details of what happened to Fives. Decrypted a whole classified document on the case. About a malfunctioning inhibitor chip resulting in the death of a Jedi general. Then numerous reports on Kamino about Fives doing his own investigation and receiving constant harassment from the Kaminoans."

Colton nodded at the details tracking so far, "So I go to Kamino to do the same thing. Disguised myself as a security trooper and sliced into the system and went digging around. Found out the inhibitor chips were made specifically for order 66. Obviously that only raised more questions," Mereel replied, "That I still don't have the answers to. I must have screwed up somewhere in the slicing and triggered an alarm of some kind, security troopers moved in and attempted to detain me, a fire fight broke out I was forced to kill two of them before fleeing. I get back to Coruscant, enter my apartment and find a twi'lek body. Next thing I know the police and Coruscant guard are searching for me in connection with a murder I didn't commit. So I'm on the run, and go to the underground to hide out. Sergeant Skirata tells me to wait at a bar then a speeder pulls up and four people get out and enter tell me to come with them saying they're Kal's friends. I don't believe them till he calls and tells me I can trust them and then I'm here."

Colton nodded, having traced the events back and remembering the next part clearly. Sergeant Kal Skirata was a contact he'd established about a year ago. Paid him in exchange for intelligence on what GAR special forces got up to. At the time it was mainly for Colton to keep track of how the war was going and keep his superiors informed if the Republic would lose or not. But now he'd stumbled on to something far more interesting assuming it was all true. Good old Kal may have provided good intel in the past but Colton trusted him about as far as he could throw him and that wasn't very far, beskar'gam was heavy, and the man certainly had his own agenda. In truth Colton never trusted non terrans and barely trusted most Terrans.

Colton nodded, running all versions of each story through his mind again and last was the least detailed filled with vague generalizations. The first time was intricate and vivid. Mereel was getting exhausted but the spirit was there. And In truth they'd been monitoring this case since getting word a clone killed a jedi, it poked the Agent's curiosity. Mereel told three versions of the same story just worded differently every time. A liar may have changed details. A good liar may have rehearsed too well. However a strong liar could make it his truth long enough to sell it. Yet Colton was a strong liar himself and as he stared into the clone's eyes and examined every little facial expression, he couldn't see a hint of intended deception.

"Ok here's what I've gathered, the chips are dangerous, meaning the Chancellor and the Kaminoans are also dangerous." Colton began explaining, "What isn't apparent is their exact purpose. However what I find interesting is the Separatists kidnapped Tup, why would they care? Unless they're all connected."

"I came to the same conclusion, But what purpose?" Mereel questioned, "It doesn't make a lick of sense why build a whole clone army and a whole droid army to instigate a galactic scale war and then have a device to destroy those you're using to lead the war effort."

"Well Mereel here's how I see it, you know who's not really suffering in this war?"

"Who?"

"People who make blasters, people who make war ships, people who make tanks, people who make droids, people who make bombs, and people who make clones and I don't mean to offend you in any way but…."

"I see your point, the war brings wealth to people who sell war goods."

"And those people, including the ones that make droids, sit on your senate. Thus the war also grants them a considerable amount of power as well as wealth. Imagine if the war itself never happened the people behind those industries would not be as rich or as powerful as they have become."

"And the Chancellor?"

"Has benefited more than anyone else. His word is law. He wants ten thousand clones. He gets ten thousand clones. He says we're invading say Tatooine you'll invade Tatooine. He says the position of Chancellor should be for life and well-"

"He ends up as Chancellor for life and has a kill switch for the only people in the entire galaxy with enough power and influence of their own to stop him. I see it now, we're all tools."

As depressing as the realization was true it made sense based on the facts that had been presented. And Colton found it too clever to not be true. And yet because of one glitch in the system, a clone prematurely killing a jedi, the whole plot had fallen into the hands of someone who had the power to ruin it. Colton would have chuckled if Mereel weren't right in front of him.

"So what happens from here?"

"You will remain here in the Consulate. You're a black ops vet. I trust you won't reveal your position."

"That's it, are you going to do anything?I thought you people survived a genocidal war and have legions of genetically enhanced super soldiers."

"And yet you're speaking to an intelligence agent. And I'm going to handle this exactly how my job specifies it. Which involves investigation, as you said we're still missing a lot of information to actually bridge everything together. We have reason to suspect and good reason at that. Yet that's not enough to make a smart move."

Mereel left the office a few minutes later, agitated. And Colton understood his agitation; the man probably hoped immediate action would be taken. The UNSC had gained a rather brilliant reputation for being extraordinarily skilled at war fighting,manipulation, and aggression. Maybe he thought this whole prospect would cause an immediate intervention. And yet Colton had just lied to the man who had given him priceless intelligence. It was enough to make smart moves and he planned to set things into motion.

The office door swished open. On the other side stood a dark skinned man with green eyes wearing a sharp ONI uniform. He entered the room holding a tablet going through various files. Then looked up and nodded. "I wasn't able to detect even a hint of attempted deception in the man. None of his mannerism or tone betrayed a single thing." He spoke.

"Now Salomon," Colton began, "As much as I respect your ability to read people. Show me what the computer says."

Salomon Dao did not look offended, he simply nodded. Then slid the tablet over to Colton who peaked at it. Indeed non of his vitals betrayed anything either. The man had said what he believed to be truth. Dao sat back and waited for further questions. The man always sat up straight as spear and in general had a high degree of discipline. He was an ex police officer rather good at detective work,interrogation, and counter terrorism. ONI scooped him up for those abilities.

"Alright Salomon what did your investigation find?" Colton asked as he leaned back in his office chair the system's star's light touching his face as he did so.

"My investigation," Salomon began in his deep toned voice, "Found that its highly likely Fives death was an assassination. For there was motive and ability. I wasn't able to set up an infiltration mission into Kamino, however I looked into Five's exact demise and managed to exhume the body. Indeed he was drugged," He began, "At first I believed the motive to be a defect in the kaminoans on product one they wanted covered up. But as I considered the fact the last person Fives had contact with before being chased by shock troopers was the Chancellor, my curiosity went in a new direction." He froze, "I had our hackers tap into Republic classified files. I found it very interesting how the Chancellor was so quick to place the whole incident involving the chips as classified. Since surely if there's a defect in his army he would want to be routed out."

"So you believe Mereel's every word."

"I confirmed his every word. I began to wonder what it was about these chips that everyone wants to keep so quiet about. The Chancellor in the now classified report stated they're to ensure obedience with contingency orders. These contingency orders serve as checks on power to ensure the jedi,the chancellor, the very GAR can not abuse its power otherwise the clones will kill them with out hesitation."

Salomon stopped there allowing that to sink in. He sat there and waited for his superior's response. Colton found it a ridiculous notion. It was rather extreme. A political system that designed a killswitch for everyone and everything in it. Especially when separation of powers was a rather simple solution. He took another sip of coffee as he gathered his thoughts on it.

"Ya know, last time I read about extreme methods being used to check people's power was ancient Rome and they're republic became a veiled monarchy."

"You mean empire."

"No I mean veiled monarchy it was already an empire they were occupying-"

"Sir, now is not the time to get distracted about history."

"Right, right, sorry, please continue."

"I managed to acquire a chip from one of the clone agents we recruited," Salomon began, "Had our team crack into it. And they found it only has sixty six registered."

Colton leaned forward raising an eyebrow his overall suspicions were correct. He'd always found the war funny. Specifically, the idea that the man who was the clone genetic template was on both sides and they built a clone army ten years before a galactic war was even thought to be a possibility. No one had that much for sight.

"So you believe Fives was assassinated and Mereel was framed for murder so the Chancellor could cover up some conspiracy he's engineered to wipe out the Jedi order while also playing puppet master for two sides of a galactic conflict."

"He has unchecked power as it is. The Jedi removed no one could stand against him if he were to simply not step down after the war ends."

"Defacto dictator for life," Colton summarized the ex police officer's findings.

"Yes that seems to be the point of the stratagem," He said, moving on from it simply being highly likely. He clearly believed it was happening, "Cause a conflict, ensure the side you like more wins and ride the popularity from saving your society to absolute power."

"Yes but it's quite complex. The preparation alone would take untold resources."

"Palpatine was a very wealthy man before he was chancellor and politically influential."

Colton said nothing as he thought about it harder. Despite the fact he was being presented with facts that all pointed to one conclusion something was missing. It was set up before all this. It all made sense and yet didn't. But it didn't matter one way or another, that's what was happening. Palpatine was engineering a war from two ends and the clone army's real purpose was to solidify his will and power once the war ended.

"What do you intend to do with this information?"

The door opened again. This time a stern woman wearing tactical gear entered. She had a pair of sharp brown eyes on her otherwise expressionless tan face.

"Elmira," He said and motioned for her to sit in the chair next to Salomon.

She did with out a word. Elmira was as hard as they came. She grew up in post-human covenant war Kazakhstan, Earth. Central Asia had been hit hard during the whole covenant invasion with the majority of the surviving population fleeing to mountains and hiding out till it ended. Elmira was an only child then,however she grew up with the after effects. Criminals gangs emerged and became influential they murdered people including her parents. Elmira had actually watched it happen. They had a little butcher shop. Her father refused to pay the local crime lord protection money and an enforcer came down and shot him point blank with a magnum. Red blood and brains hit Elmira. Her mother screamed and the hit man shot her up just for being quote "annoying". From there she was put in an orphanage until adopted by some upper class family on Mars. Joined the marines when she was sixteen and had a burning hatred of aliens blaming them for her ills. Then became an ODST before ONI picked her up.

"Sergeant major, how's my senior NCO doing this fine day?" Colton asked and offered her coffee from the pot near his desk.

She nodded and Colton got her a cup, "What's on the Agenda?" She asked, "And who do you need me to kill now."

"Straight to business as usual," Colton said, "Alright the Chancellor's actually playing puppet master the whole damn war. Both sides are just tools for him to use to become a galactic dictator."

"So what now?" Elmira asked and then leaned forward, "Do we kill the Chancellor?"

"Don't be rash," Colton said, catching her by surprise, "If we storm the Chancellor's office, weapons drawn, and gun him down where he stands. It'll look pretty bad with out evidence, so Salomon did you have all the evidence compiled."

"All of it," He confirmed and turned to Elmira, "The inhibitor chips I told you about over lunch on Monday. They're really a kill switch for the Jedi it turns out."

"So we release the evidence and then we kill him." Elmira said her mind clearly focused on a particular end regardless of the path it took to get there.

"No," Colton said and shot her a look that said think harder, he was almost disappointed, "You can't just kill a democratically elected official." Yeah that sounds real rich coming from an ONI officer.

"You just discovered that the Chancellor has a kill switch for the entire Jedi order. Why would we not kill him first."

Colton didn't say it out loud but he wasn't entirely sure whether preventing a massive purge of the Jedi was really in the UNSC's best interests. But then again that would take away the last check on the Chancellor's power. He would be a de facto dictator and a manipulative Dictator as a neighbor, especially one ruling over thousands of planets, that was a terrifying prospect. The classic what if someone shot Hitler during the first world war question streamed into his mind. And yet an ONI officer had to be careful with how many moves he made with out asking. While he believed it was better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission he also liked his job and life for that matter.

"Now bear with me," Colton said calmly, "If you could go back in time and kill Hitler ignoring the grandfather paradox of course would you?"

"You wouldn't."

"I mean for fun sure," Colton said, "But what would it change, would it destroy the whole Nazi movement deeply embedded in Germany?"

"No but-"

"Would you end German militarism,anti antisemitism, and the desire to get revenge against France."

"No."

"Exactly you kill Hitler another Hitler takes his place and maybe a Hitler that understands it's not strategically smart to pick a fight with Russia before bending Britain. Imagine History with a smarter Hitler. He might have focused on a single war. Gained success and the built the perfect base for that fucked up little empire of his to grow further and…"

"Sir, you're rambling on about history again," Salomon said.

"Right,right, my bad," Colton replied, "My point is if we kill Palpatine someone else might simply see all he's gotta do to kill the Jedi is order the clones to do it for him and then we have the same problem anyways. Don't just take out a ruler with out a plan to replace him first that's my point here."

"Very well, I see your point. What should we do then."

"Are you familiar with the literary arts?" Asked Colton, "Or ever watch a film or read a book."

"I've got no time for indulgences."

"You've got no time for fun? Come on now, don't be the cliche hard ass soldier who eats and shits warfare all day long. I know Spartan twos who like films" Colton replied and got perhaps the coldest look he'd ever seen on the woman's face, "Moving on, Palpatine is a master storyteller. He's writing the story of warmongering wizards ravaging the galaxy in an incompetent war against a corporatist alliance of aliens. Then a strong and noble leader will save the Galaxy, a very good story if you ask me."

"So do you plan to write a new story?"

"Yes," Colton said with a bright smile, "I plan to tell the story of how a corrupt politician planned to destroy the republic. How he was caught and how he was brought down by the valiant soldiers of the Republic. Arrested and then executed thus their society's freedom is defended and preserved by its warriors."

Elmira nodded long and then smiled once she got Colton's true meaning. Salomon raised an eyebrow upon realization as well.

"Major, why didn't you simply say you wanted to organize a military coup?"

"Because, it's not simply a military coup, it's a military coup the people need to see as legitimate. Meaning they need to see the Chancellor as illegitimate. As I said the narrative is everything here," He said a bit frustrated he needed to outline his meaning, "A coup is necessary against someone with as much political power and influence as Palpatine. But in a Republic where people believe in individual liberties and Democracy simply pulling a coup could go very bad."

"I would prefer if we moved on to the part where I'm given a job instead of a lecture." Elmira said after rolling her eyes. She didn't really care for a bunch of complex politics. She preferred simple and highly efficient solutions. Kick down the door, put two through the guys skull and call it a day.

"Fine, your little outfit of paramilitary operatives we like using for black operations, assemble it, and have it ready to deploy. I need harder evidence against Palpatine and I got a strong feeling there's only going to be one way to get it, Salomon you and I are going to make connections. Now it's important to keep the amount of people involved to a bare minimum. We don't need the master manipulator growing suspicious."

"Yes, sir." Both replied in near unison.

Emira then left the room. Salomon stayed and folded his arms. Colton considered just who they were going to have to contact. He nodded.

"Salomon, call my absolute favorite contact, General Kota. Tell him everything. He's got an army loyal to him and the mistrust of the Senate, he should be fairly easy to convince."

"Sure thing, is there anything else you wish me to do."

"Everyone else I wish to approach is currently planet side. I'll arrange those meetings for myself. I also want you to review the history of the current war and see if anything else strikes you as odd, use those police officer instincts of yours."

Salomon nodded, "I'll see what I find. But boss one more thing."

"O and what would that be."

"Aren't you forgetting to ask the Director of ONI if it's ok to organize and stage a military coup d'etat over the biggest governing body in the galaxy?"

Colton raised an eyebrow he'd gotten so good at this idea he'd forgotten to call headquarters first for permission and of course funds. They could say no. Course ONI had him and other agents scattered throughout Republic territory establishing contacts,collecting intelligence, and setting up little schemes of their own. Mostly against the CIS who had for awhile with their whole ideology of separatism appealing to insurrectionist been perceived as the central they were also instructed to keep tabs on the Galactic Republic safe to say ONI wasn't exactly overly found of the entity. Colton presenting a reasonable enough plot to insert a government that would defend their interest with greater certainly, well that's what they would call-