[21 BBY]

[Executive Security Solutions City-ship/Capital-class Warship Stormcrow {II}, Republic 14th Sector Army, In Orbit Eriadu, Sesewenna Sector]

The private meeting room was deep within the bowels of the ship, in a heavily armoured compartment just like the bridge was; none of that exposed bridge nonsense with my ship thank you very much. It was also as secure as I could make it, if a bit sparse for the moment, as I had spent some of my free time putting up wards to go with the faraday cage-like manual lockout function on transmissions. Hard-line out and in, and right now the only equipment was the mobile bar I'd dragged in, the singular mobile holo-projector of our money-woman Hanna, and the comfortable table and chair setup.

Something that led to a little fiddling with equipment as we organised our secret conspiracy meeting, as we didn't have the usual subordinates to do the legwork. I merely filled up a glass with a blended soda and energy drink as Jacques set up the machine on the table, moving back to sit down on my chair and take a sip as Hanna sat gracefully into the chair beside me. Our Chandrillan seemed to be both happy and unhappy at what they'd discovered so far, and right now was smiling happily as she sipped at a glass of expensive wine she'd brought in from somewhere. She was a bit of show off like that I'd found since we'd started working together.

"Glad to be away from your little skiing holiday Hanna?"

Hanna gave me an amused look "Oh, it was rather pleasant Daron dearest, good accommodation, fine dining if a bit pedestrian fare, and good company, so I would rate it a three out of five"

I gave a snort "Of course you would"

"Yes, I would..." she replied with faint good cheer "...and I do see someone failing to thank someone else for their hard work in organise adequate decor for this fine warship?"

"I'm pretty sure I did, thank you that is, several times in fact"

She grinned at me "Oh, not enough my dear General! I've never had a Republic General before, and it would be a way to thank me"

I rolled my eyes, then gave her a bemused glare "Oh bugger off Hanna, can't have everything your own way now can you"

Hanna chuckled "I can always try, it has worked so far..."

"If you two could focus on the business at hand..." Jacques stated sitting into the seat just across from me, pressing down and activating the holo-projector while moving to hand out the data-slates from the secure case he and Hanna brought with them "...such as the apparent conspiracy that could get us all killed, and why we're all meeting today"

"Well, that and the logistics of things too of course, but yeah, your right Jacques...how do we stand on that front?" I agreed taking another sip of the beverage. Sure I had...advanced knowledge of a sort, or at least I thought I did, but it was vital to work things through properly so I was sure and, more importantly, had some sort of support for the days that may come. The old pirate, smuggler, and numerous other illegal things in the past I suspected nodded as I took the proffered data-pad into hand like the others.

"What we've got on those chips for starters is a highly encrypted set of one hundred and fifty contingency orders for the Clone Troopers of Grand Army of the Republic. Orders that if activated will essentially override the free will, such as they have, of the Clones and essentially force them to carry out whatever the order given orders them to do...it's a very extensive and comprehensive list"

Hanna nodded tapping likely expensive manicured fingernails off the table for emphasis "Yes, something to kill off everyone and anyone within the Republic's command structure from ourselves and planetary defence commanders deemed in rebellion, all the way up to the Jedi themselves, Senators and even the Chancellor himself. Now, I will say there are, in theory, a series of prompts and authorisations on these orders...but since nobody knows about them in the Senate, or Generals in the GAR...or the Clones themselves...there's something very dangerous about all this. It's when we start looking at it in the context of what else we know, well...that's when things become worrisome as expected"

Braika frowned in her seat "Yeah...there's a kill order here for both Chancellor and the Jedi...which makes things a little more confusing honestly. Why put secret kill orders for yourself and yer magical minions into the slave brains of your secret clone army now?"

"Something that crossed mine and Hanna's minds as well, back on that iceball..." Jacques replied "...of course if only they know about it...well, then they don't have to worry about it now do they?"

"Or..." Hanna continued for him "...more likely, we are looking at a number of conspirators amongst the Senate and Jedi Order. This seems more likely when we consider the genetic makeup of the clones themselves..."

She brought up an image of a Clone Trooper, then another beside it, and then finally one a mercenary by the name of Jango Fett "...meet Mister Jango Fett, Mandalorian, Mercenary, and currently in the employ of Count Dooku for several years by all accounts, and more importantly, financial records. Not only that...but the timeline on the clones doesn't make sense, such as their age and training regime"

I nodded "Because the Clone Army was created before the troubles with the Separatists had even gotten started, yes, that was always a nagging concern of mine as well if we're talking about not making sense"

Hanna nodded bringing up another image, this time of a Mandalorian woman named Vhonte Terhvo, a trainer for the Clone Army according to a few of our recent recruits "...and now look who has returned home after years away, and very, very, wealthy for it by all accounts. So we have a Clone Army that started being created before the current crisis kicked off, based on the genetic template of a known Confederate allied mercenary, and with mind control chips in their heads that nobody, officially at least, appears to know about"

"Kamino has to know, or at the very least the upper echelons of their government and clone facilities because..." Jurdan shrugged, gesturing at the images with his glass of whiskey "...as our clones here are under official orders to receive treatment at their medical facilities unless the situation urgently demands otherwise. So, THEY have to know about our long list of Contingency Orders built into the mind control chips they've installed in their clones heads, now don't they?"

"Yes, which leads us further into the confusing and dangerous hole of who exactly benefits from this rather elaborate setup to provide the Republic with an army apparently ready at just the right time to move against the Separatist cause...even though the threat never existed at the time it was created..." Jacques stated looking into his drink for answers perhaps "...with a mercenary in the employ of Count Dooku at the time, and with unknown sources of funding"

I nodded at the older man "You have an opinion Jacques, you might as well tell us?"

The half-human half-solemite chuckled almost to himself, then sighed looking around the table "I'm inclined towards Count Dooku and allies within the Jedi Order, unknown to the Jedi Council possibly, around him being the one behind creating such a force as this"

Shesagora frowned "He built an army to oppose himself? That seems...self-defeating don't it?"

Jacques shrugged, alcohol swirling in the glass tumbler as he carefully waved it about "Perhaps, perhaps...but I think that maybe the point of the operation. The Clone Army is everywhere at the important levels now, and getting around more and more important people...people who these Contingency Orders cover for elimination should the need arise. What I see is a long running conspiracy, meant to overthrow the Republic led by one being and his minions..."

'Yes, there we go..." I thought as he e thumped his hand off the table...

"Jedi Grandmaster Yoda"

...I blinked "Wait...Master Yoda?"

Jacques continued to hold up his drink glass hand, motioning at the images as the other hand rested on the table for balance, or support, maybe "Who is most likely to know about such matters in the Jedi Order with others knowing? Grandmaster Yoda! Who trained Count Dooku and allowed him escape before? Grandmaster Yoda! Who has mind control powers and regularly meets with the Chancellor to ensure he is not mind-controlled? Grandmaster Yoda! How very convenient I say!"

I blinked again, glancing to my side for support "Hanna?"

She nodded "I tend to agree with Jacques, not entirely, but it would fit the narrative we are seeing here. Someone very high up in the Republic knew about this Army, and Grandmaster Yoda has consistently seemed the least surprised, and even turned up with the Clone Army when members of the Jedi Council clearly DID NOT KNOW about it when they recruited us just prior to Geonosis. Or they wouldn't have given into our terms as rapidly as they did. So...our fear would be that the tiny Jedi has big ambitions, even you agree he is an arch conservative and this would be a way to purge the Republic of its more corrupt elements"

'Oh Gods...this has derailed. Badly' I thought to myself nodding a little, mind thinking on what to do next, as the others seemed to agree to some degree with the statements "Okay...that's still too little beyond guesses and circumstantial evidence. Still not going to do us much good with the Clone Legions amongst our ranks..."

"Aye, not like we can prove it. Nor march in an arrest one of the pillars of the Republic, one who may or may not control the Chancellor, even if we could..." Jurdan back me up with a groan, rubbing at his forehead "...as there's Legions of the Clones here too after all. Even those who aren't have been broken up as Officers amongst the ranks of our troopers and ORSF ones recruited in the Eriadu sectors. Tell us that can be dealt with?"

"Yes, the method for removing the chips is actually somewhat easy with medical droids and moderately advanced medical scanning equipment..." Hanna stated calmly gesturing at the clone avatars "... painless, no scars beyond scanner noticeable, and can be done fairly quickly. The problem is, well, getting it done in numbers without our conspirators noticing, or finding reliable support within the GAR upper levels to do such a large scale operation..."

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