Handlers

Flavius had twenty four hours to figure out what he was going to do. Coruscant station had over fifty spies on contract divided among five Handlers. And that wasn't counting Skirata's established network, he was an off the books contractor. Windu wanted all of the Agents with in the entirety of the Republic handed over to him.

"Captain what will you do?" Theseus asked, "We can't hand over all of our Agents. They are critical to our operations."

Flavius didn't say anything. He didn't appreciate the Lieutenant stating the obvious. That was already on his mind. Without the network, Flavius wouldn't have been able to pull off half the schemes he did back when he was an AAG officer. And that Intel was still being put to good use.

"If we're going to fix this situation we need the Jedi council," Flavius said, "Theseus you were assigned to me as station XO because they wanted you to learn intelligence work. So I suggest you keep your thoughts to yourself and just watch me work."

"Of course, Captain," Theseus said.

Flavius frowned not liking the situation. He needed to talk with other expiernced intelligence officers. Pick their brains. Artemesia also was no good. She was special operations. You needed a hard tactical solution the First Sergeant was ideal. But this required true intelligence expertise to think his way out of.

"Alright Theseus here's what we're going to do. A lot of ONI agents don't like admitting they're stuck they won't ask for advice. And they're real fucking stupid. No, we're going to assemble the other Handlers based out of Coruscant. See what they think. They're all in very good at what they do. We'll meet in the boardroom. I want you to watch and take notes on how they do things."

Theseus looked at Flavius and nodded slowly. He was a naval Lieutenant equivalent of an army Captain. And his file said he had ample law enforcement experience. He'd been a Sergeant in the West African Republic police force. Then transferred over and became a CMA marshal ranked Major and was well on his way to commissioner before ONI plucked him. So now that he was back to the rank of a navy Lieutenant he always seemed annoyed even if he understood his inexperience in the world of intelligence was why he ranked low.

Before he could get up Flavius's office phone rang. He answered it place it to his ear. "Uh huh, ok. Well no keep on the line. I'll be right there." He hung up the office phone.

"Vice Admiral Grey just called. He wants to talk with me personally over the holonet. I gotta run down to command and control. Get the other handlers in the boardroom by the time I'm down."

"On it, sir."

Flavius walked down the halls and saw Skirata talking to Boss. They turned to meet the Agent's gaze. Flavius stopped actually wanting to avoid them.

"Flavius," Said Skirata, "How'd the meeting with the Jedi go?"

I'm selling you and your whole network out. Flavius thought to himself. He didn't say it immediately. Him and Skirata went back. He remembered when the Mandalorian job. Another mess made by ONI command. Flavius cleaned up that mess before it really developed into yet another rogue state. He'd met Skirata in the process. Then Skirata got him in contact with Fenn Shysa and from there the ball got rolling. The two men worked together against Pre Vizsla. And when they took him down. When Shysa over threw Death watch he remebered what Skirata told him something he still held dear. "The people you work for our snakes. You aren't you're different I'll watch your back if you watch mine."

"Kal," Flavius said, "You're compromised. Alpha rated you and Boss out to the Jedi."

Kal Skirata stood there for a moment he said nothing. Yet he didn't exactly look phased. Maybe he'd anticipated. This little scheme he worked out using ONI to assist awol clones was all about to come tumbling down.

"Osik," He spat, "That ungrateful little piece of osik. He ratted us out after we saved his life."

"You want my suggestion," Flavius said, "Run, I can get you out of here. Send you anywhere you want. Back to Mandalore, U.E.G. Space, you name it I……."

"What about my boys?"

"The Nulls can……."

"No, omega squad. Darman he's got a kid he doesn't know about it. And the other commando squads."

"Kal if you're detained and executed for treason you can't help them."

"Can't you talk them out of that."

"The relationships not there. Windu's stuck on Ryloth," Flavius said, "Run, Vau can carry the torch."

"Vau's motivated by his pay check. You know that."

Boss had been uncharacteristically silent. Walon Vau had recruited him into the network. He was the guys mentor. Surely he would've felt the need to defend the guy.

"I'm not going back to Delta squad." Boss said as a matter of fact thing.

Flavius said nothing. He felt bad for Boss. Vau recruited the guy saying it'd save the lives of commandos if he slipped a little information and get him a few credits. He'd convinced him there was zero risk. And the very guy who pulled him in wasn't in the room. Maybe he began to form a little resentment now that he wouldn't go back to his brothers whom had no clue there squad sergeant was a spy.

"The moment you jumped at Alpha sealed the deal," Flavius replied, "You go back you're going to be detained."

"Fierfek," Boss spat, "What am I going to do now? With out a war?"

Flavius didn't know what to tell the guy. He frowned. They went there seperate ways. Kal and Boss went off to figure things out.

Then Flavius rushed into Command and Control. A very specific room where analysts and comms operators were hard at work. Some were monitoring active operations. Others were analyzing the details data collected. Still others were generating reports that would end up on Flavius's desk. He could see the Senior analysts, a Commander named Edd Johnson, standing at a holo table that projected a map of the entire galaxy in the room.

Octavian Grey's image stood in holographic form near the holo table. The holonet was something that adapted to very recently. It was a brilliant piece of technology trust their signals officers worked night and day to keep encrypted. Grey only used it when he wanted a face to face which was rare. Meaning whatever he had to say was important.

"Captain," he said, "We need the room."

Flavius gave Edd a look. He preferred having his senior analyst in the room. The man saw things from directions Flavius simply didn't. But if the Director of section three said We need the room. You didn't keep anyone there.

"EVERYONE OUT!" Edd shouted, and the place cleared in a few seconds.

The room was shut. Physically, that left Flavius alone since Grey wasn't actually there. But on Earth, a few thousand light years away. And it was because of that they had to use holonet for instantaneous communication.

"Captain, you mentioned the difficulties organizing a coup against the Chancellor posed."

"Difficulties, I said it was next to impossible to get away with it successfully," Flavius corrected, "Coups don't work in properly federated systems. Too many moving parts."

"Are you sure about that, Captain?" Grey asked. "That you cannot use a coup e'eta to simply neutralize the Chancellor."

Flavius didn't show it but he had a bad feeling he was going to get a really stupid order. He kept a collected face land slowly shook his head. He was the king maker regime change was his claim to fame.

"That's not the part that makes it a bad idea. It's what happens after. Planetary governors who don't view the coup as legitimate have enough autonomy to rebel or even reverse it. There's no way we can eliminate all opposition in a single night. You can't pull off a perfect coup."

"But does it need to be perfect Captain," Octavian began slowly, "We need to keep the Republic in the war. We don't necessarily need to keep healthy."

That last line sent a shiver up Flavius' spine. Octavian viewed everyone as a tool to be used. He didn't care how many people died to accomplish an objective, only that it was accomplished. To him the Galactic Republic was just another tool, one he didn't have full control over and that was the problem. He would've pleaded by saying you could get trillions of people killed. But he knew Octavian Grey wouldn't care about that.

"It won't stay in the war if it falls into a civil conflict of some kind."

"Yes, which is why you will ensure the next regime has a monopoly on force. I have given it ample thought," Octavian began, "The increased militarization of the Galactic Republic has created a situation where the GAR has evolved into a political institution. They can make economic decisions and even enforce law. If you were to form a junta of GAR officers a rebellious world would be dealt with easily and quickly."

"Are those my orders then?" Flavius said, not liking it already. "Overthrow the Chancellor of the Galactic Republic in a military coup d'état."

"Yes."

"The Chancellor exerted great influence over the GAR."

"And so do the Jedi. Look Captain don't make me do your job for you. But I a trust you can ensure that the pro chancellor element of the GAR is liquidated."

One thing Flavius always hated was how ONI officers beat around the bush when it came to killing. They couldn't bring themselves to say the word. It was always "liquidated", "terminated", "extinguished", or some other form that you knew meant "I want you to kill people without using the word".

"Seems like commands settled in this operation," Flavius said, "Can I ask when it's gotta get done by."

"You have three hundred and sixty-five days."

"Fuck you want me to completely alter the Republic in a year?" Flavius said. "Is there any silver lining here?"

"Your mission is priority one. Your resources are unlimited. And other intelligence stations must grant you whatever requisitions you demand of them."

"So you've handed me mission impossible and you want to make me the most hated guy in the office. Grey I thought you liked me."

"I favor you. And upon success I reviewed your post service ambitions. If you succeed forget about being a small time security contractor. You could have the assets to set up your very own Security Firm. You determine the missions and you decide how they're accomplished. I imagine a guy like you could get that started with a small line of one million dollars."

Flavius raised an eyebrow, interested. He could indeed build a security firm with one million dollars and turn it into ten by the end of the year. The idea of having his very own organization got gears turning in his brain about the things he could do. No longer a tool of policymakers's agendas.

"And all you have to do is depose a leader we already know is corrupt. It's nothing you haven't done before. Good luck, Agent."

The communication cut leaving Flavius alone on command and control. He frowned knowing this little endeavor he'd just put on could get him and everyone operating out of Coruscant station killed. He knew being success that could still result in trillions of innocent people being killed. He could choose not to and get fired a few months before the end of his contract. But the gears were ticking in his head that maybe just maybe he could make it work.

Alpha wore plain, normal clone armor as he watched Mace Windu giving orders over the joint network to the whole GAR and the news. He stood firm and resolute.

"Citizens of the Republuc we are in crisis," Windu said, "Last night two powerful Jedi have gone rogue accompanied by two clone officers. They were running a criminal network with in the GAR. It is unfornate that I must admit two of our own whom I considered close associates have betrayed the order and the Republic. They are very dangerous do not approach them if you see them. Report it to the authorities and we will apprehend. In light of the crisis I have appointed Zet Argilan as head of a special taskforce to aphrenend and detain the rogue Jedi. That is all."

The press began to ask questions, but Windu didn't bother to answer them. Alpha nodded from behind his white helmet. So it had begun.

"CC-3254, attention!" Boomed a voice.

It was Clone commander Neyo of the 91st apart of Windu's sector army and pulled from the front. Neyo was in temporal command over the 7th Skycorp while a new commander marshal was being appointed. Alpha had a plan to basically sieze control over it. But he had to start as a lower ranking clone. He'd slipped the name and files into the data banks so he had a strong feeling no one would suspect anything.

"Sir." Alpha snapped.

Neyo paused and looked at him squinting beneath his helmet as he held his data pad. Alpha wondered if his former student recognized him. That could mess up the plan.

"Senior Commander, have we met?"

"I don't believe so." Alpha said and tone down his usual snark knowing Neyo would definitely pick up on it.

"You just seem fine, whatever the case may be. You are to take control over the 212th attack battalion. It's a special battalion, hence why it's getting a senior commander instead of just a Captain or Major. Are you familiar with your orders?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good," Neyo said, "I'm temporarily Commander Marshal of the 7th. Do a good job and I might suggest your name."

"Yes, sir." Alpha replied.

Neyo looked at him for another half second. Alpha remembered the guy always being quiet and reserved in training. More went on in his head than came out of his mouth. That's what he'd written about the guy. He was highly intelligent and extremely perceptive. He'd been an ARC trooper before entering the commander Marshal program. It stood to reason the guy might have actually just figured it out.

"Field orders will come in soon." Neyo then left.

Alpha was given officer quarters which included a bunk, a desk, and a foot locker. He was a senior commander and as such had phase two armor with 212 markings and a pauldron. Cody had been moved over as the new Delta Squad sergeabt. He had it tougher having to pretend to be a republic commando. And yet Aloha envied him.

His communicator began to chime.

"Hello."

"Alpha it's Windu I request your presents effective immediately. We're convening council members on the situation. I want you and Cody there to explain everything that happened."

"Don't think Neyo will find a senior commander meeting with the Jedi Council strange."

"Neyo follows any order he's given. That's what Stass Allie told me about him."

"And that's why he's the temp commander marshal over the 7th. It is temporary right?"

"Yes. I plan to give Neyo my assemenrs of candidates tommorow afternoon. If anything I can say having spoken with you. You're the best candidate. Neyo is only here for appearance. Nominating you immediately would look strange."

"Understood," Alpha said with a frown before the communication cut.

He left his quarters. He wondered just what Kenobi and Skywalker were getting up to in the moment. They actually had to be on the run and couldn't just blend in.

Alpha arrived in the council chambers. Every master was present, including those deployed who showed up as holograms. Cody stood behind him, dressed in Katarn-clad commando armor with yellow markings. Alpha then proceeded to run down every event of the last two days. He left nothing out. Concluding with his discovery of the ONI station.

"We've made demands for them to declassify their network to us. And in conclusion time is of the essence the Chancellor could make his move any day."

Alpha then walked away from the center as Windu stood up and assumed the room's attention. The man held respect and admiration from every master in the room for his bravery in battle and cool detachment. Achieving the Jedi ideal of mastery over one's emotions.

"We must tread carefully. If we attack the Chancellor in his seat power immediately we will incriminate ourselves and figures like Tarken can iniate the sequence. That said our top priority is first to disable the chips in enough clones to counter the order," Windu replied, "I would have you go to the sokdiers you trust most. Speak to them and convince them to have their chip removed. Then I will arrange a way for us to descreetly remove chips. The details on that will come later. Right now it is simply imperative you are aware of the issue and take precautions to protect yourselves. As for this UNSC matter, they have considerable networks that could prove useful even if dangerous. I do not intend to persecute any of their spies yet. We will work a long side them to aquire the connections and intelligence necessary to use the law to depose the Chancellor. Then we will dismantle the network. Are there any questions or concerns?"

"Just one," Master Unduli spoke up, "What is the UNSC's motive?"

The question took Alpha by surprised and based on how slow Windu was to reply he hadn't anticipated either. In truth Aloha wasn't sure and as such did not speak to that end.

"From the appearance, I believe it is chiefly power." Windu said, "They're meddling in affairs of the galaxy and their network here is to grant them more control."

"Is it so simple," Unduli asked, "I can't help but wonder if it's as a simply answer as that. Then why bother building spy networks. With their power they could have invaded and conquered all of Hutt space and the Republic would have done nothing to prevent them from doing so. And that would have gained them far more power then they're current activity."

Windu said nothing and showed no change in emotion. He simply nodded, considering his fellow master's view.

"Then what do you believe their motive is?"

"They appear to be quite methodical and strategic," Unduli said, "Instead of hard military intervention they have spent who knows how long covertly infiltrating the Galaxy. Slowly cultivating networks and then using means of intrigue to guide planets into alliances with them. Allowing them to manage themselves so long as there is no threat posed to their security or interests. This is very different from powers we have encountered in our own past, where we would use war and lose thousands of lives; they would first attempt covert means of subversion incurring fewer casualties on their own end. They seek to minimize loss. These are not aggressive imperialists with an endless ambition guided by an impulsive warlord. They are methodical, cold, and calculating. Concerned with preserving their security and way of life."

"Master Unduli how does that effect how we should react to them? If they are prioritizing the prosperity of theirs above the rest of the Galaxy does that not make them a threat."

"Just because they were never apart of the Galactic Republic does not make them a threat. They would move against the Republic if we posed a threat to their security. And given that the Chancellor is either out to expand his own power to unlimited hieghts and may be in league with the Separatists who have armed the U.E.G's enemies the Republic currently is a threat to their security. It does not have to remain that way. And if we wish to have a peaceful and stable Galaxy the path forward is cooperation with the U.E.G." Unduli paused, "Put yourself in their position. The Force ejected their whole civilization into an alien galaxy. They are surrounded by civilizations that predate there by a few thousand years. They are in a new domain of millions of planets inhabited by peoples they know nothing about. Can we really blame them for acting the way they have especially after attempted CIS manipulation of their internal affairs? If anything we should commend them for not uttilizing their vast arsenal of nuclear weapons against the CIS."

Windu said Luminara Unduli was among the wisest masters of the Jedi order. She sat comfortably with her former padawan now Jedi knight Barris Ophee at her side..Windu had full expectation that one day Barris would fill her masters spot. And as the man thought about her assessment was logical. The Terrans had valid reasons to spy on the Galactic Republic. And yet he still was not entirely convinced of trusting them.

"And yet," Alpha jumped in and got looks. The Jedi shocked that a clone would just interrupt with out asking permission, "That doesn't mean we should trust them. Our files on them are not complete. And they're subversive activities have involved things such as military coup de etas against planets not directly hostile to them. You may be right cooperating with them may be necessary for peace. The question is do they believe cooperation is in their best interest. We need to keep ourselves one step ahead of them."

The room became consumed by chatter among council members. Some agreed with Luminara, others with Windu. Yet others were uncertain what to make of the whole situation.

"Councilmen," Spoke up Master Secura she stood up In holographic form being deployed. Bly had mentioned to Alpha they were preparing an operation of Atoan, "We sit around and debate if we can trust the Terrans. We sit around and worry about the moves of the Chancellor and weather or not we can trust our own soldiers. But we need action. Why not bring a representative of the UNSC here in this chamber to tell us of their intentions and then we can decide wether this network of there's is more useless or threatening. And take real action in order to uphold the Republic."

Secura had seized command of the room in an instant. Everyone looked to her. She was the youngest master but she was a bold one. Bly told Alpha she was also sharp for a Jedi and exceptionally fit to command an army. And it showed that the woman wanted results, not words. Alpha respected that.

"And we'll have one of their agents here tomorrow. I have asked him to return to me with an answer about his spy network. I shall bring this Agent before the council to testify on behalf of his people and so we can begin to arrange effective cooperation between the Jedi council and the U.N.S.C."

The council agreed with Windu's decision. And one by one began to leave the room at the meeting's conclusion. The holograms disappeared as others stood up and left the room.

Alpha turned around to return to his battalion. Cody seized his arm to have a word with him. The two clones met in the hall as others passed by.

"Have you met the 212th yet?" Cody asked.

"Nope, you met Delta?"

"I have and there just thrilled to have a new sergeant." Cody said quite sarcastically.

"They don't know what happened to the boss?"

"I doubt there in the network. Otherwise Skirata would've tipped them off by now. By the way why'd you through them under the bus like that."

Alpha looked at Cody, baffled by the question. There was a network developing intelligence for a foreign government. They were soldiers; it was their solemn duty.

"He's a kriffing spy."

"They saved your life," Cody began. "They clearly put great trust in you because they sent you back here to establish contact between the Jedi and the U.N.S.C., and you betrayed them."

"What did you expect me to do, betray the Republic by lying?"

"We owe nothing to the Republic," Codycsaid, "They created us to be manipulated. This whole experience and you still think loyalty is something you give with out question. You should be loyal to only those who've earned it. That's what I've learned. And they saved your hide. You could've defended them better and tried to bridge an alliance instead of placing all of their lives in danger."

"I doubt..."

"Windu decides its treason; they will execute Kal Skirata and every clone in the network. Even if they wait to do it after we solve this Chancellor problem. Alpha I thought finding out all of these secrets would change you. But you're still a self righteous selfish piece of osik. You don't actually care about people we're all just tools for you, no better than the Chancellor."

Cody then stormed off, leaving Alpha 17 to himself. He froze, winded as he frowned bitterly beneath his helmet. Coming from his finest student, that one stung deep. Because Cody was rarely wrong when assessing the situation. He couldn't be angry about it; it was irrational to be angry at something that was true.

Five agents sat at a long black table in the boardroom of ONI Head Coruscant. It was a windowless room illuminated by white light. They were referred to as handlers or agent runners. Operatives who recruited, directed, and trained foreign agents for ONI. Flavius, as station Captain, sat at the head of the table dressed in his naval officers uniform. He was the only person in the room who was in uniform. He hadn't had time to change from what he'd been wearing in the field. He had Artemesia in the room as well, sitting to his right. She wasn't a handler; she worked in special operations and ran any tactical operations the Captain deemed necessary. Then Theseus was to the Captain's right, in order to observe and learn.

"Before I begin, is everyone up to speed?" Flavius asked, having sent out a full mission report to each operative that included their current mission. The new mission was why he had Artemesia in the room; it would require more than just handlers to execute.

"Just barely," Code-named Agent Cyrus said, "It was quite a lot to take in, Captain."

Cyrus was a career intelligence officer. Born in Yorkshire he'd graduated from the naval academy and worked in section 1 during the human covenant war. He'd risen through the ranks and proved his worth in establishing networks. His greatest feet had been to get a bunch of inssurectionists to operate for him believing the man was also an insurrectionist. He used them to both keep tabs on the covenant and on Insurrestionist cells. After the human covenant war ended he had all of them killed. Section three took the guy immedaitly. After the blip he was the natural choice to send out in a strange galaxy to collect intelligence. He'd excelled at that to having practically wrote the first book on the Galactic Republic and its functions. Cyrus loved his job and was ambitious he wanted to be Director. Something he never vocolized because it could easily get you into a bit of trouble if the boss knew you were gunning for his job. He'd expressed this to Flavius the only guy person he trusted.

"I mean really Flavius was there no way for you to simplify it done. Fifty pages ten minutes before a meeting."

"And that's just the tip of the spear," Flavius cut him off, "I saved alot of the more detailed stuff for a write upI've got Bob working on in analysis. But what you need to focus on right now is the mission. Forget about how we got here. Our assignment is to move the jedi into the supreme power over the republic. And we need to get that done in one year. Don't ask why just start figuring out how."

"What about our networks," Snarled codenamed Capone, "Says here the Windu wants to hand over all our assets. You can't possibly be considering something that fucking stupid."

Agent Capone was a man of about five feet with a blunt square face. He had a pair of hard brown eyes and a rather dark and a rather bold and slick demonour, unlike everyone else in the room he didn't have a military back around. He was a criminal a former Mafioso but that was off the record. Flavius knew it because he had access to the guys record, he also knew Capone's true role hete. He wasn't simply a handler. He ran a full covert operation as apart of a shadow war the UNSC was fighting against the Black Sun. Capone had set up a multi species criminal organization on Coruscant and used ONI assets to train and equip his street soldiers. They ran rackets, trafficked arms, sold narcotics, and conducted hits. All in a game to destroy the black sun. His motivations were simple he wanted to conduct criminal activity with out the risk of legal consequences. And under the auspice of ONI he could do so. He had himself a full retirement plan set up on some luxurious estate in the Caribbean for him and his wife and his children. Who didn't know what he did for living. When he was home he said it was galactic starship insurance and that it involved long trips to Coruscant. He didn't tell them what he really did. He was the true criminal of the group. And his operations would be entirely destroyed if declassified to the Jedi.

"Now now Capone," Cyrus began, "We have a job to do. The Jedi order is a more valuable asset then your messily street thugs."

"Go fuck yourself Reginald," Capone snapped using Cyrus's real name. "Those messily street thugs are what stops guys like the Zygerrians from turning your wife into a Jabba the Hutts new dancing girl."

Theseus flinched at the comment. Cyrus just frowned. Everyone else was used to these reactions from Capone. He said what he felt unrestrained. And he had reason to feel that way. ONI chose him for the job because unlike most criminals he had a line. That line was human trafficking. He refused to take part in it and while he was an underboss, it didn't occur on his planet. This made him the ideal Agent to fight the various criminal empires that threatened the U.E.G.

Flavius understood the guy's frustration. It took him years to build up his network, and now he was being asked to give it up for an operation that didn't have much to do with his work. Flavius would have been just as angry even if he kept his emotions tucked away.

"I'm merely saying we need to prioritize. This regime change takes precedence. The Jedi council is essential in our efforts."

"Okay, so you're going to give up your little network then?" Capone asked.

Cyrus said nothing. He too had cultivated invaluable assets of the course of years. It was from his and Capone's networks that they found hard evidence of Free Tah's corruption.

"That's what I thought," Capone said.

"Well we have to get them to cooperate with us some how." Cyrus snarled utterly frustrated, "I say we just give up a few assets and just lie about the rest."

"They'd grab em get em to squeal and then realized we lied," Capone said, "It's an all or nothing decision."

"What if," Agent Severus spoke up, "We murder Mace Windu."

Every one in the room turned their gaze towards Severus. He came from Section three, worked black operations and missed it. He'd been transferred out after seducing and sleeping with Director Grey's now ex wife. The guy assisted Capone in his endeavors and had agents in various corporations that had head quarters on Coruscant.

"Are you out of your mind?" Cyrus spoke. "He would kill a Spartan too."

"You miss understand I don't want to fight him. I want to murder him," Severus said, "We could poison his food."

"If you want to murder a guy, don't use poison," Capone said. "See, he could get medical attention and recover. The poison might not be dosed properly. He might taste it and spit it out. And that's if we're talking about a normal human. Factor in a Jedi's biology and there are too many variables at play. If you plan to murder someone, you better make sure they don't survive because you're fucked."

"Ok, Sniper to head from a distance."

"He would dodge or block the round," Cyrus said, "then go after the sniper."

"What about a bomb under a speeder?"

"Once again, too many variables. We can't predict with certainty the exact moment he will get in a speeder. We can't predict with exact certainty that he doesn't make the spontaneous decision to send someone to start it for him." Capone said.

"Remote detonator—it doesn't go off until we know he's inside."

"He would sense the trigger man's presence."

"Only if they're in the same room," Severus said. "You're telling me we can't rig some kind of system in which we could detonate it from command and control?"

"Okay, okay," Capone started, "Maybe our techs can come up with some weird system that allows us to detonate an explosive device from command and control. That's going to take a lot longer than twenty-four hours."

"So?" Severus says, "Windu decides not to work with us after we refuse to declassify our spies for him. Then boom! Maybe a month later he's dead. We pin it on Palpatine and maybe do a bit of work to set up a replacement for his empty seat on the council."

"Maybe, just maybe," Cyrus began, stroking his chin as he thought about it.

"It's not the worst idea I've ever heard," Capone replied.

Flavius was not going to approve the scheme. His mind was already made up about that. He hated the very idea of it.

"Are you all insane!" Said Agent code name Illyria.

Illyria sat at the far end of the table. She wore cameoflage military fatigues. Despite being a handler she didn't rely souly on human assets to gather intelligence. The round face blue eyed woman with a tight well disciplined bun of black hair over head was a former Special Reconnaissance Officer in the Air Force. Her job had been to go in before an invasion force. Insert behind enemy lines gather data and survilliance on enemy positions. Send back to command. Then prepare the battle zone for attack. That involved planting sensors to assist precision air strike, sabotaging enemy equipment, and even unconventional warfare. During an operation she would continue to call in air strikes from the enemy rear. She switched over to intelligence after seeing success durring the first conflict against Galactics, what they called people not from the Milky Way, section one taught her trade craft. She ignored it and made her self the agent. And to Illyria's credit she developed high quality intelligence. Illyria currently ran a network that circled around those who worked in industrial plants. Then Illyria here's scouted our military installations.

"You cannot seriously be suggesting that we murder Jedi Master and High General Mace Windu," Illyria's voice was steaming with utter contempt for the very notion, "I can't believe it needs to be said. But aside from the fact that you can't actually control how the Jedi order will react to that. It's fucking wrong. You can't seriously think we should start our cooperation with the Jedi order by murdering one of its most esteemed members?"

Everyone went silent. And so Flavius didn't need to say anything. Illyria had already killed the idea.

"She's right," Cyrus said with a frown, "They'd suspect it was us and look into it. Problem with lying is there's always a chance the person you're lying to figures it out. We shouldn't do it if we can avoid it."

"It was an idea," Severus replied.

"It was a stupid idea," Illyria reaffirmed, "God, I can't believe the three of you sat there actually plotting it out."

"Moving on," Cyrus said, "Severus hit on one very important point. Mace Windu isn't the only Jedi whose opinion matters. Now Flavius don't you have Jedi contacts."

"Three," Flavius said and he ran the whole GAR network, "One Jedi shadow who might be useful, one Jedi knight whom I actually had talk into the ear of her master and she sent me a message that the Jedi just held a meeting about us and she managed to keep the whole council from turning on us but still she's just a Knight, and then there's Rham Kota who would be really useful but the guys working a stay behind operation on the planet of Axion and I haven't been able to reach him. So don't get any ideas about me using one of them to replace Windu."

"I'm past that," Cyrus said, "I was never in agreement to begin with. I figured it would be amusing to entertain the idea. And I was right it was quite amusing. Now what you should actually do is influence the Jedi council. Have your contacts go around talk to people maybe even make deals to get a vote through to cooperate with the UNSC instead of embarking on a witch hunt for spies. Politics is the game we're playing, so just play the political game with the Jedi. I know you're an AAG officer and you lot are basically just Commandos but even unconventional warfare involves more sophisticated maneuvering surely you're not so inept that you can't just play a rather small game of diplomacy."

"To quote Capone," Flavius said, "Go fuck yourself Reginald." That got a few laughs, "I can very well use diplomacy to get things done. But again the most important card I got in that arsenal is Rham Kota. He's a Jedi master, war hero, and while yeah he's got those on council who don't like him. He's got just as many who love him. Yet they all respect him. He's who I need and he's runnin around Axion going full guerrilla mode on the place."

"Send some one to get him," Cyrus said, "If we knows what's happening he would drop what he's doing immediately and high tail back here."

"Who'd we send?" Asked Flavius, "It's behind enemies lines making it a very dangerous assignments. It's practically speaking an extraction out of enemy hot zone. Requiring the skills of well an." He stopped and slowly everyone looked over to Artemesia, "An ODST."

"I hate all of you," She said immediately, "You want me to run around a planet I've never heard of looking for some one I don't know while enemy soldiers are blasting at me from every single direction?"

"I mean, let's be real here. It could be a lot worse," said Cyrus, "We're not asking you to save Kota; just deliver a message. You don't actually have to get into a fight behind enemy lines."

"Hey I'd go with you," Illyria said, "However I have to run the networks here."

"Sure you would," Artemesia said, "Whatever, just get me a prowler with a reliable crew, an assault rifle with twenty mags, and a magnum, and I'll make the best of it."

"I can do you a bit better. We actually have a few coordinates of hide outs Kota established. Odds are you can at least find something there to pinpoint his location."

"Uh huh," Artemesia said, "Let's just skip to the part of the meeting where we talk about the actual coup—you know, the tactical plan you actually needed me in the room for."

"Right so there's two basic issues," Flavius said, "First the circumstances don't exist. And secondly getting control of Coruscant is going to a bitch and a half."

"To your first point we can create the circumstances," Severus said, "So a little economic chaos. Drive a wedge between the Chancellir and the people. We can make that happen."

"And to your second point," Artemesia said, "it's not as difficult as you'd think if you've got the right equipment. Park a few gunships and shuttles along these sky lanes and you can get control over all movement in the city. From there you can send troops to seize the five major media outlets on the planet. Of course we need the shuttle ports under control too. But once again if we've got at least three legions of clones that can happen. The real trick is making sure we round up all the HvTs in one swoop. We could strike when the senate is in session, which would place the Chancellor and his political loyalists in one place at one time. But then there's Intelligence HQ we'd have to hit simultaneously. Not to mention we would have to do it in broad daylight. And well I don't like operations in broad daylight if it can be helped."

"But Artemesia," Flavius caught himself, "If it's at night, very few targets will be in the senate chamber which we'll still need to seize to get immediate legitimacy. So then you have to add all the homes of every single planet-side political rival to the list and hit them all virtually at the same time. The amount of troops we would need to do that."

"Like I said," Artemesia said, "If you've got the right tools, solid intel, and sufficient personnel, it can be done."

"Well, fuck, we'd need God knows how many troops," Flavius said. "But our hands are tied; we'll have to make it happen."

"And the circumstances?" Cyrus asked.

"I got an idea," Severus said, and everyone looked at him uneasily. "We hire a bunch of mercenaries. And just set them loose on the midrim. They ravage and raid the whole region. That'll prevent critical goods from flowing back to the core. Because the separatists have scattered Republic forces all over the place they won't be able to respond before we cause one huge crisis."

"No," Flavius said immediately, "That involves way too much bloodshed. What if it's traced back to us?"

"Oh, if I'm running it. It won't be." Severus promised, "I don't leave loose ends."

"Still he's got a point," Capone said, "That's a lot of blood. Let's try something just a bit more subtle. Like price fixing. We pull enough buisnesses into my racket and smooze the right corporations and we can get everyone to Jack up their prices. Cost of living skyrockets over night, Chancellor looks really stupid. Pay some economists to make a bunch bullshit about poor economic management which is already happening and boom everyone wants the guy out of office. Put him on a situation where he can't win re-election see what he does."

"That's brilliant!" Cyrus shouted.

"It's also a huge risk," Illyria said, "Again if anyone ever decides to look deeper into it then this could come back to haunt us, why can't we just leak the truth."

"He'd smash the order 66 button immediately, and we wouldn't have time to de-chip the clones. There's a risk he plays it off as propaganda, and his dogmatic followers just refuse to believe empirical evidence."

"But still, there has to be some way we can do this that doesn't involve some form of manipulation that's bound to get investigated and brought to light at some inconvenient moment in the future." Illyria said.

"Can I suggest an idea?" Theseus said.

"Go for it, LT." Capone snorted; he didn't like the ex-cop too much.

"What if we simply accuse of him of a crime he actually committed and bring hard evidence to the judiciary forces who could write a warrant for his arrest so it doesn't matter if we have popular support or not. He's defied a constitutional law and we therefore would have the legal justification and legitimacy to remove him from power by any means."

"Course he wants to conduct an investigation." Capone snarled, "That'll take a long time and there's no guarantee people would buy it."

"I have a high-value asset in the judiciary forces," Cyrus spoke up, "If you bring valid evidence, he would certainly issue a warrant. It's not a horrible idea, and how long would it take you?"

"I'm capable of finding something that can be used in a year's time. I once solved a murder in a week."

"Did the murder try very hard yo cover his steps?" Capone asked, "Either way you're talking about who knows how deep a conspiracy."

"I say we try it," Flavius said, "He's a former police officer. Combine our assets with the Jedi's and we might be able to do it. In the mean time me and Cyrus can spread stuff around our networks to cast doubts on the chancellor's reign. Maybe even get anti Palpatine factions to start cooperating. Progressively chipping away at his reputation and then boom! Theseus finds some smoking gun and then we drop order 66 and we get him out of power with a coup. All the while building up the force necessary to actually pull it."

"This could take way longer than a year." Capone protested, "Grey said one year."

"I'm sure he'll see things differently in a year and I can get him to budge a little on the time line. And as Captain I've made my decision we're going with this plan."

Severus and Capone frowned aggressively. They liked getting things done fast and by any means necessary. Everyone else however may have debated ethics and all but preferred to find an effective method.

"Meetings dismissed, go to your networks and start the process."

This chapter was supposed to be longer. But life literally just happened I'm not sure I'll have time with in the week to get back to it. So I figured just post what I got and get the second half of the chapter hopefully in a week.