Obi-Wan walks past several glass cubicles where work is going on. He comes to an empty one and sits down in front of a console. An SP-4 Analysis droid comes to life. A tray slides out of the console.

SP-4: Place the subject for analysis on the sensor tray, please.

Obi-Wan puts the dart onto the tray, which retracts into the console. The droid activates the system, and a screen lights up in front of Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan: It's a toxic dart. I need to know where it came from and who made it.

Anakin: Why are we doing this again?

Obi-Wan: Because, Anakin, if we figure out where this is from, maybe we can find where the bounty hunter is.

Anakin processes the thought and accepts the idea.

SP-4: One moment, please.

Diagrams and data appear on the screen, scrolling past at great speed. The two watch as the screen goes blank. The tray slides out.

SP-4: Markings cannot be identified. As you can see on your screen, the subject weapon does not exist in any known culture. Probably self-made by a warrior not associated with any known society. Stand away from the sensor tray please.

Anakin: That's unfortunate.

Obi-Wan: Quiet. I thought I was free of your brother for a while, I don't need you doing it too.

Anakin puts his hands up in wordless defense.

Obi-Wan (to the droid): Excuse me? Could you try again please?

SP-4: Master Jedi, our records are very thorough. They cover eighty percent of the galaxy. If I can't tell you where it came from, nobody can.

Obi-Wan picks up the dart and looks at it, then looks at the droid.

Obi-Wan: Thanks for your assistance! I know who can identify this.

Anakin: And who might that be?

Obi-Wan: An old friend.

—--------------------------------------------------------

Obi-Wan and Anakin walk down the street. It is a pretty tough part of town. Old buildings, warehouses, beat up speeders and transporter rigs thundering past. Above, the old elevated monospeed with occasional "shiny freighters" hissing through.

Obi-Wan comes to a kind of alien diner. On the steamed-up windows it says "Dex's Diner" in alien lettering.

Anakin: This place seems sketchy.

Obi-Wan: Exactly. This is the place.

—--------------------------------------------------------

A Waitress droid is carrying plates of half-eaten food. There is a counter with stools and a line of booths along the wall by the window. A number of customers are eating. Tough looking workers, Freighter drivers, and so on. The Waitress droid looks up as the Jedi come in.

Waitress droid: Can I help ya?

Obi-Wan: We're looking for Dexter.

The Waitress droid approaches Obi-Wan.

Waitress droid: Waddya want him for?

Anakin: Don't worry. He's not in trouble. It's personal.

There is a brief pause. Then the droid goes to the open serving hatch behind the counter.

Waitress droid: Someone to see ya, honey. A couple of Jedi, by the looks of em.

Steam billows out from the kitchen hatch behind the counter as a huge head pokes through.

Dexter Jettster: Obi-Wan!

Obi-Wan: Hey, Dex.

Dexter Jettster: Take a seat! Be right with ya!

Obi-Wan and Anakin sit in a booth.

Waitress droid: You want a cup of ardees?

Obi-Wan: Oh yes, thank you.

Anakin: I'm alright. Thank you.

The Waitress droid moves off as the door to the counter opens and Dexter Jettster appears. He is big - bald and sweaty, old and alien. Not someone to tangle with. He arrives, beaming hugely.

Dexter Jettster: Hey, ol' buddy!

Obi-Wan: Hey, Dex.

Dexter eases himself into the seat opposite Obi-Wan. He just barely fits in.

Dexter Jettster: Who's this guy?

Obi-Wan: This is my Padawan learner, Anakin Skywalker.

Dexter Jettster: Well that's nice. What can I do for ya?

Obi-Wan: You can tell me what this is.

Obi-Wan places the dart on the table between them. Dex's eyes widen. He puts down his mug.

Dexter Jettster: (softly) Well, whaddya know...

Dexter picks up the dart delicately between his puffy fingers and peers at it.

Dexter Jettster: I ain't seen one of these since I was prospecting on Subterrel beyond the Outer Rim!

Anakin: Do you know where it came from?

Dexter grins. He puts the dart down between them.

Dexter Jettster: This baby belongs to them Cloners. What you got here is a Kamino saberdart.

Obi-Wan: Kamino saberdart? ...I wonder why it didn't show up in our analysis archive.

Dexter Jettster: It's these funny little cuts on the side give it away... Those analysis droids you've got over there only focus on symbols, you know. I should think you Jedi would have more respect for the difference between knowledge and wisdom.

Obi-Wan: Well, Dex, if droids could think, we wouldn't be here, would we? (laughing) Kamino... doesn't sound familiar. Is it part of the Republic?

Dexter Jettster: No, it's beyond the Outer Rim. I'd say about twelve parsecs outside the Rishi Maze, toward the south. It should be easy to find, even for those droids in your archive. These Kaminoans keep to themselves. They're Cloners. Damned good ones, too.

Anakin: Rishi Maze? Cloners? This all seems unusual.

Obi-Wan picks up the dart, holding it midway between them.

Obi-Wan: Cloners? Are they friendly?

Dexter Jettster: It depends.

Obi-Wan: On what, Dex?

Dexter grins.

Dexter Jettster: On how good your manners are... and how big your pocketbook is...

—--------------------------------------------------------

The main entrance at the base of the huge Temple is bustling with activity. All sorts of Jedi are coming and going.

A bronze bust of Count Dooku stands among a line of other busts of Jedi in the Archive Room. Obi-Wan stands in front of it, studying the striking features of the chiseled face. Anakin is off to the side, looking around at the vast expanses of the archives.

On the walls, lighted computer panels seem to stretch into infinity. Farther along the room in the background, Five Jedi are seated at tables, studying archive material.

After Obi-Wan studies the bust for a few moments before Madame Jocasta Nu, the Jedi Archivist, is standing next to him. She is an elderly, frail-looking human Jedi. Tough as old boots and smart as a whip.

Jocasta Nu: Did you call for assistance?

Obi-Wan: (distracted in thought) Yes... yes, I did...

Jocasta Nu: He has a powerful face, doesn't he? He was one of the most brilliant Jedi I have had the privilege of knowing.

Obi-Wan: I never understood why he quit. Only twenty Jedi have ever left the Order.

Jocasta Nu: (sighs) The Lost Twenty... Count Dooku was the most recent and the most painful. No one likes to talk about it. His leaving was a great loss to the Order.

Obi-Wan: What happened?

Jocasta Nu: Well, Count Dooku was always a bit out of step with the decisions of the Council... much like your old Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, and your student L/N.

Obi-Wan: (surprised) Really?

Jocasta Nu: Oh, yes. They were alike in many ways. Very individual thinkers... Strong opinions...

Anakin walks back from his looking trip, and chimes in.

Anakin: I wonder if Master Qui-Gon would've stayed had he survived.

Jocasta Nu gazes at the bust.

Jocasta Nu: He was always striving to become a more powerful Jedi. He wanted to be the best. With a lightsaber, in the old style of fencing, he had no match. His knowledge of the Force was... unique. In the end, I think he left because he lost faith in the Republic. He believed that politics were corrupt, and he felt the Jedi betrayed themselves by serving the politicians. He always had very high expectations of the government. He disappeared for nine or ten years, then just showed up recently as the head of the separatist movement.

Obi-Wan: It's very interesting. I'm not sure I completely understand.

Anakin: And yet you always fleece me when I don't understand something.

Obi-Wan: Because when you don't understand something, it's usually rather simple.

Jocasta Nu: Well, I'm sure you didn't call me over here for a history lesson. Are you having a problem, Master Kenobi?

Obi-Wan: Yes, we're trying to find a planet system called Kamino. It doesn't seem to show up on any of the archive charts.

Jocasta Nu: Kamino? It's not a system I'm familiar with... Let me see...

Jocasta Nu leans over Obi-Wan's shoulder, looking at the screen.

Jocasta Nu: Are you sure you have the right coordinates?

Anakin: We actually didn't get precise coordinates, just that it should be somewhere... just south of the Rishi Maze.

Jocasta Nu taps the keyboard and frowns.

Jocasta Nu: No coordinates? It sounds like the sort of directions you'd get from a street tout... some old miner or Furbog trader.

Obi-Wan: All three, actually.

Jocasta Nu: Are you sure it exists?

Obi-Wan: Absolutely.

Jocasta Nu: Let me do a gravitational scan.

Obi-Wan and Jocasta Nu study the star map hologram.

Jocasta Nu: There are some inconsistencies here. Maybe the planet you're seeking was destroyed.

Obi-Wan: Wouldn't that be on record?

Jocasta Nu: It ought to be, unless it was very recent. (shakes her head) I hate to say it, but it looks like the system you're searching for doesn't exist.

Anakin: That can't be... maybe the archives are incomplete.

Jocasta Nu: The archives are comprehensive and totally secure, my young Jedi. One thing you may be absolutely sure of, if an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist!

Obi-Wan stares at her, then looks back to the map. Jocasta Nu notices a young boy approaching. She turns from the two and leaves with the youngster.

——————————————————————

The master and his padawan come out onto the veranda and stop, watching twenty or so four year olds doing training exercises, supervised by Yoda. They wear helmets over their eyes and try to strike little training droids with their miniature lightsabers. The droids dance in front of them.

Yoda: Don't think... feel... be as one with the Force. Help you, it will. (he sees the two) Younglings - enough! Visitors we have. Welcome them.

The Children turn off their lightsabers.

Yoda: Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Young Skywalker, meet the mighty Bear Clan.

Children: Welcome, Master Jedi!

Obi-Wan: We are sorry to disturb you, Master.

Yoda: What help to you, can I be?

Obi-Wan: I'm looking for a planet described to me by an old friend. I trust him. But the system doesn't show up on the archive maps.

Yoda: Lost a planet, Master Obi-Wan has. How embarrassing... How embarrassing. Liam, the shades. An interesting puzzle. Gather, younglings, around the map reader. Clear your minds and find Obi-Wan's wayward planet, we will.

The reader is a small shaft with a hollow opening at the top. The Children gather around it. Obi-Wan takes out a little glass ball and places it into the bowl. The window shades close, the reader lights up and projects the star map hologram into the room.

The Children laugh. Some of them reach up to try and touch the nebulae and stars. Obi-Wan and Anakin walk into the display.

Anakin: This is where it should be... but it isn't. Gravity is pulling all the stars in this area inward to this spot. There should be a star here... but there isn't.

Yoda: Most interesting. Gravity's silhouette remains, but the star and all its planets have disappeared. How can this be? Now, younglings, in your mind, what is the first thing you see? An answer? A thought? Anyone?

There is a brief pause. Then a child puts his hand up. Yoda nods.

Jedi child Jack: Master? Because someone erased it from the archive memory.

Children: That's right! Yes! That's what happened! Someone erased it!

Jedi child May: If the planet blew up, the gravity would go away.

Obi-Wan stares; Yoda chuckles. Anakin slaps himself on the forehead, annoyed that he didn't think of that.

Yoda: Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is. The Padawan is right. Go to the center of the gravity's pull, and find your planet you will.

Yoda and the others move away from the Children. With a hand movement, Obi-Wan causes the star map to disappear. He uses the Force to call the glass ball back to his hand as the three walk into an adjoining room.

Obi-Wan: But Master Yoda who could have erased information from the archives? That's impossible, isn't it?

Yoda: (frowning) Dangerous and disturbing this puzzle is. Only a Jedi could have erased those files. But who and why, harder to answer. Meditate on this, I will. May the Force be with you both.

——————————————————————-

The view is just like the star map hologram, plus, the storm-shrouded planet of Kamino is exactly where it ought to be. Obi-Wan's and Anakin's starships disengage from the hyperspace transport rings and fly over and head down toward the planet.

Obi-Wan: There it is, R4, right where it should be. Our missing planet, Kamino. Those files were altered.

Anakin: Navigating without R2 is weird. Did we have to give him to Y/N?

Obi-Wan: It doesn't matter.

——————————————————————

Heavy rains and hard-driving winds lash the platform as their starships approach. The huge, ultra-modern city of Tipoca rests on great stilts that keep it above the pounding and ever-present waves that cover the surface of this watery world.

The Starfighter lands. They both get out and make their way through the howling wind toward a tower on the far side of the platform.

Anakin: This is like the polar opposite of Tatooine. So much water.

They both reach the entrance and a door slides open. A shaft of brilliant light pierces the swirling rain. They pass through it and go inside.

—--------------------------------------------------------

A Brilliant white light. Obi-Wan pushes the soaking hood from his face. Anakin shakes like a dog, trying to dry off. He walks up, further from the door and smacks into someone else.

Taun We: Master Jedi, so good to see you.

Obi-Wan wipes the rain from his face and blinks in surprise at a tall, pasty-white alien named Taun We. Anakin backs up in shock. He has large, almond shaped eyes.

Taun We: The Prime Minister expects you.

Obi-Wan: (warily) I'm expected?

Taun We: Of course! He is anxious to meet you. After all these years, we were beginning to think you weren't coming. Now please, this way!

Obi-Wan masks his surprise as they move away along the corridor. Anakin trails him like he usually does.

—--------------------------------------------------------

The door slides open. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Taun We enter and cross to where Lama Su rises, smiling, from his chair, which, like all the furniture on Kamino, seems made out of pure light.

Taun We: May I present Lama Su, Prime Minister of Kamino... and these are Master Jedi...

Obi-Wan: Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Anakin: I'm not a Master but my name is Anakin Skywalker, Master Kenobi's padawan.

Lama Su indicates a set of chairs. Obi-Wan remains standing. Anakin immediately sits. Taun We hovers. The room is bathed in brilliant white light. The whole place is ultra high-tech.

Lama Su: I trust you are going to enjoy your stay. We are most happy you have arrived at the best part of the season.

Obi-Wan: You make me feel most welcome.

Anakin: Yes, We appreciate your hospitality.

Lama Su: Please... (gestures to chair) And now to business. You will be delighted to hear we are on schedule. Two hundred thousand units are ready, with another million well on the way.

Obi-Wan: (improvising) That is... good news.

Lama Su: Please tell your Master Sifo-Dyas that we have every confidence his order will be met on time and in full. He is well, I hope.

Anakin: Master who??

Lama Su: Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas. He's still a leading member of the Jedi Council, is he not?

Obi-Wan: Master Sifo-Dyas was killed almost ten years ago.

Lama Su: Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. But I'm sure he would have been proud of the army we've built for him.

Anakin: You built an army?

Lama Su: Yes, a Clone army. And, I must say, one of the finest we've ever created.

Obi-Wan: Tell me, Prime Minister, when my Master first contacted you about the army, did he say who it was for?

Lama Su: Of course he did. This army is for the Republic. But you must be anxious to inspect the units for yourself.

Obi-Wan: That's why we're here.

The Jedi, Lama Su and Taun We come out onto a balcony. Below is a huge parade ground. The rain and wind are brutal. Thousands of clone troopers, faces covered by helmets, are marching and drilling in formations of several hundred.

Lama Su: (beaming) Magnificent, aren't they?

Obi-Wan nods slowly. Anakin stares in stunned silence.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The tour continues through a classroom filled with Identical young clones.

Lama Su: We take great pride in our combat education and training programs. This group was created about five years ago.

Obi-Wan: You mentioned growth acceleration...

Lama Su: Oh yes, it's essential. Otherwise, a mature Clone would take a lifetime to grow. Now, we can do it in half the time. Those items you saw on the parade ground were started ten years ago, when Sifo-Dyas first placed the order, and they're already mature.

Anakin: So you can accelerate their ages in such a speed that it only takes ten years to make more?

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lama Su conducts Obi-Wan and Anakin through a large eating area. Taun We follows as they walk by hundreds of clones who look exactly alike, all about twenty years old, dressed in black. They are seated at tables, eating.

Lama Su: You'll find they are totally obedient, taking any order without question. We modified their genetic structure to make them less independent than the original host.

Obi-Wan: Who was the original host?

Lama Su: A bounty hunter called Jango Fett. We felt a Jedi would be the perfect choice, but Sifo-Dyas hand-picked Jango Fett himself.

Anakin: Jango Fett?

Obi-Wan: Where is this bounty hunter now?

Lama Su: Oh, we keep him here.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The tour continues through a long corridor filled with narrow, transparent tubes into which Clones are climbing. Once in the tube, the Clone goes to sleep.

Lama Su: Apart from his pay, which is considerable, Fett demanded only one thing - an unaltered Clone for himself. Curious, isn't it?

Obi-Wan: Unaltered?

Lama Su: Pure genetic replication. No tampering with the structure to make it more docile... and no growth acceleration.

Anakin: Almost like a child.

Obi-Wan: I would very much like to meet this Jango Fett.

Anakin: I would too.

Taun We: I would be most happy to arrange it, for you.

Taun We bows, and leaves.

Rain lashes the city. Below, mighty waves pound the stilts, breaking almost to the height of the platforms. A large Avian carrying a Rain-soaked rider flies above the water toward a floating city.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taun We, Anakin, and Obi-Wan stand in front of the door of Jango Fett's apartment. Taun We waves his hand, and a muted bell rings.

As they wait, Obi-Wan notes the door lock entry mechanism. Then the door opens, and a ten-year-old boy, Boba Fett, looks