Yoda and Mace were quietly meditating when the door suddenly opened and Qui-Gon entered the meditation room. Yoda smiled but did not open his eyes as he said, "Master Qui-Gon. How may we be of help?"
"Pardon the intrusion, but I felt it was urgent that I inform you of what I've discovered," Qui-Gon answered.
"What is it?" Mace asked, clearly more frustrated than Yoda at Qui-Gon's interruption.
"It would appear that someone has erased an entire system of planets from the Jedi records," Qui-Gon said.
"Erased, you say?" Yoda opened his eyes.
"Are you sure?" Mace pushed.
"Yes," Qui-Gon nodded. "My contact informed me that the Mandalorian's dart originated from the planet Kamino. I searched the archives for a starchart of the region, but there was no record of the entire system."
"Perhaps your contact lied to you and there is no such place," Mace said. "If Kamino did exist, we would know about it."
"Master Nu said something to the same effect," Qui-Gon replied. "However, there is an unaccounted for center of gravity in our maps exactly where the system ought to be."
"Hm, gravity's silhouette remains, but the star and all the planets, disappeared they have," Yoda smirked. "I think right, you are, Qui-Gon. Someone must have deleted those files."
"That's impossible," Mace shook his head. "Only a Jedi could have deleted them."
"Yes," Yoda nodded. "Discover who did this, we must. Meditate on this, I will."
"Very good, Master," Qui-Gon bowed. "I will go to where Kamino ought to be and see if there are answers there."
Yoda gave a nod in response as Qui-Gon turned and left the room. Once he was gone, Yoda turned to Mace. "Troubled, you are," Yoda observed.
"I did not put Qui-Gon in charge of this investigation to give him more reason to question the Jedi," Mace replied.
"Question the Jedi, he does not," Yoda said. "The incorruptibility of the Jedi, that he questions."
"That's what I am worried about," Mace nodded. "If Skywalker is the Chosen One, we don't need Qui-Gon coming to the conclusion that the Jedi are corrupt. He might turn Skywalker against us."
"If corruption there is among the Jedi, rooted out the corruption must be," Yoda countered. "If the Chosen One Skywalker is, an effective tool in rooting out the corruption he will be."
"If there is corruption, do you really trust either of them to tell the difference between the Order and the corruption within it? We've known all along that the boy is dangerous, and the longer we continue to let Qui-Gon teach him, the more dangerous he becomes."
"Question the Code, Qui-Gon may. Nevertheless, a faithful Jedi, he is. Trust him, I do."
"I hope you're right. For all of our sake."
With that, Mace returned to his meditations, and Yoda followed suit.
Meanwhile, Qui-Gon made his way to the Jedi Temple's docking bay, boarded a Jedi starfighter, and took off. Once he was clear of Coruscant's atmosphere, he attached the starfighter to a hyperdrive docking ring that was waiting for him in orbit, set a course for what he hoped was Kamino, and activated the hyperdrive. The stars turned to streaks of light as the starfighter entered lightspeed. With nothing to do for awhile, Qui-Gon sat back in his seat and began meditating.
Qui-Gon greatly enjoyed meditating. He loved how connected to the Force he felt when he meditated. He could sense the universe's cycles of life and death, of order and chaos, and of tranquility and commotion. He could sense the light and the dark within the galaxy. In the center of all of this was balance. On Ahch-To he'd been able to find that center more easily, so strong with the Force was that place. Out here in space, however, it was much harder to get to. The noise of the universe was more difficult to pierce through.
To help him find the center, Qui-Gon thought of Obi-Wan and Anakin. Both of them had grown into great men and equally great Jedi under his care. He could not be more proud of both of them. There was no doubt in his mind that they would surpass him one day. In certain ways they already had. Obi-Wan was perceptive and full of wisdom. He bore heartache that only he and Qui-Gon knew about, but he bore it without letting it crush him. Perhaps that was the reason he had an easier time than Qui-Gon or Anakin had of reconciling the current state of the Jedi with the discoveries they had made about the early Jedi teachings. Anakin on the other hand was one of the best Force wielders Qui-Gon had ever encountered. His connection to the Force and natural understanding of how to utilize it was incredibly strong. If the Sith were returning as Qui-Gon had feared for the past ten years since his encounter with the dark warrior on Naboo, Anakin would be a powerful ally in the coming conflict.
Qui-Gon smiled as he focused on Obi-Wan and Anakin. With some effort he found the center. He leaned his head back as he basked in the balance he felt there. It was such a calming place to be that it felt like no time at all had passed when his starfighter dropped out of hyperspace. Qui-Gon opened his eyes and was not the slightest bit surprised to behold an aquatic planet. He had found Kamino.
Qui-Gon flipped the switch to detach his starfighter from the docking ring and flew toward the planet. As he entered the atmosphere, he started scanning the planet for lifeforms. The scanners picked up much aquatic life swimming through the planet's storm-ridden ocean, but he for the moment dismissed these. They were not the lifeforms he was looking for.
Finally, the scanners picked up a cluster of lifeforms above the ocean's surface. It was as good a place as any to begin seeking out where the Mandalorian's dart came from, so he changed his heading and made his way toward the lifeforms. He soon came upon a facility that had been built right in the middle of the ocean. It consisted of several massive cylindrical buildings joined together by walkways and landing platforms. He couldn't discern what exactly the facility was designed for, but it was clear that it was built for producing something.
He landed his starfighter on an empty landing platform and shut down the engines. He looked up at the downpour of rain that was falling upon his ship. There was no way he was making it all the way from where he landed to the nearest entrance into the facility without getting thoroughly drenched. He took a breath and opened the cockpit's canopy. A wall of water struck him before he even got a chance to stand up from his seat. He hurried out of the starfighter and shut the canopy in hopes of minimizing the amount of water that made its way into the cockpit. This done, he clutched his cloak around himself and walked briskly toward the door, which readily opened for him as he approached it.
He stepped inside and found himself in a long corridor. Everything was so clean and white that the corridor seemed rather bright compared to the gloomy weather outside. As he loosened his grip on his cloak, a being unlike any he had ever seen approached him. She had a long neck, silver skin, and big, black eyes. She was dressed in muted robes and moved gracefully. "Greetings, Master Jedi!" she said in a rather soothing voice. "We've been expecting you."
Qui-Gon naturally found this greeting rather surprising. Since Kamino wasn't to be found in the Jedi archives, it made little sense that someone would have warned these people of his arrival. The only way they could know he was coming would be if the Mandalorian's dart had been meant to lure him here, in which case this was probably a trap. Since there were no clear threats to himself as of yet, however, Qui-Gon decided the best course of action would be to play along. "Good," he replied with a confident nod. "Shall we get on with it then?"
"Of course," she said as she tilted her head forward. "This way please."
Without any further explanation, she turned around and walked back the way she came. Wanting to keep up appearances, Qui-Gon wasted no time in following her. As they walked through the facility, Qui-Gon contemplated asking after the Mandalorian, but soon dismissed the idea. It would be best to find out why he was expected to be here before revealing his true reason for being here.
She led him into a large meeting room where they encountered another being like her, except that this one was a male. He stood up from his seat to meet them. "May I present Lama Su, Prime Minister of Kamino," she gestured toward him. "And this is Jedi Master…"
"Qui-Gon Jinn," Qui-Gon introduced himself.
"It's so good to see you, Master Jedi," Lama Su replied. "Please, take a seat."
As if on command, a seat was lowered from the ceiling and came to a stop beside the seat Lama Su had been sitting in. As Lama Su and Qui-Gon took their seats, Lama Su said, "I'm sure you will be most pleased with our progress."
"Yes, I should very much like to hear about your progress," Qui-Gon replied.
"You will be delighted to hear that we are on schedule," Lama Su said. "200,000 units are ready with a million more well on their way."
"Good," Qui-Gon smiled. "May I inspect the units that are complete?"
"Of course you can. You must be anxious to see if our clones will meet your expectations," Lama Su replied and then turned to the one who had met Qui-Gon in the corridor. "Taun We, would you lead the way?"
"Of course," she nodded and led them out of the room.
They did not have to walk far before they entered a walkway that overlooked a large laboratory. "This is where we grow the clones," Lama Su explained. "Normally a fully grown clone would take a lifetime to grow, but we have applied growth acceleration and behavioral modifications to these clones so that we can grow them in half the time. You should have a steady stream of troops for your army."
"And you train them all here as well?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Of course. Come," Lama Su replied.
He and Taun We led Qui-Gon to another walkway that overlooked a room where a group of child aged clones were working on computers. "We take great pride in our combat education and training programs," Lama Su said. "Each clone has been genetically designed to be the perfect soldier. We then specialize their training to bring out a variety of different skills in each clone so that each company is fully prepared for any combat scenario."
The group made their way to another walkway that overlooked a mess hall filled with fully grown clones. Qui-Gon got a good look at many of their faces, but could not recognize who the original host was. "Remind me, Prime Minister, who was the original host?" Qui-Gon asked.
"A bounty hunter called Jango Fett," Lama Su replied.
"And where is he now?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Oh, we keep him here," Lama Su answered.
"I would like to speak with him if I can," Qui-Gon said.
"I would be happy to arrange that for you," Taun We interjected.
"Good," Qui-Gon nodded.
At this point they reached a balcony overlooking a large hangar bay. The bay was filled with ships, tanks, and fully armored clone troopers. "Magnificent, aren't they?" Lama Su asked.
"Yes, very impressive," Qui-Gon agreed.
"I trust you will be giving a positive report to Master Sifo-Dyas when you return then?" Lama Su inquired.
Qui-Gon was surprised to hear that name since Sifo-Dyas had been killed ten years ago. It had happened shortly after Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Anakin set out on their quest to find Ahch-To. Yoda had reached out to inform Qui-Gon since he and Sifo-Dyas had been friends for many years. There was no time to think about that now though. Qui-Gon swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat and replied, "No. Unfortunately Master Sifo-Dyas has been killed. I'm here to carry on this business in his stead."
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that," Lama Su said, a little taken aback. "I'm sure he would have been proud of the army we built for him."
"If your clones perform as well as you say, I believe the same," Qui-Gon said.
"Oh they will," Lama Su nodded. "Rest assured, Master Jedi, the Republic will be safe with this army protecting it."
So that seemed to confirm it. Sifo-Dyas had commissioned the making of a clone army for the Republic. But on who's authority? The Senate had yet to approve the creation of an army, and to Qui-Gon's knowledge the Jedi Council hadn't ordered one without the Senate's approval. That did not necessarily mean that they hadn't, however. After all, if the Council had ordered this army without the Senate's knowledge, that would be privileged information. But why would the Council make such an order and leave everyone in the dark about it? Qui-Gon stroked his beard as he pondered this question. It would seem that while investigating a conspiracy against Senator Amidala, he had stumbled upon yet another conspiracy.