Many held the opinion that Qui-Gon would have been seated on the council, if not for his penchant for bending the rules and following his own instincts- even when those instincts conflicted with the combined wisdom of the council members. This had not endeared him to his loftier peers. In fact, rather than treat him like a peer, they viewed his unwillingness to amend his ways and accept a seat on the council as a further sign of his incorrigibility.
The Reconciliation Council was made up of five members- though rarely the same five-and today there were only four on hand: Jedi Masters Plo Koon, Oppo Rancisis, Adi Gallia, and Yoda.
Qui-Gon fielded their questions from the center of the room, where he would have been permitted to sit but had elected to stand.
'How knew you, Qui-Gon, of Captain Cohl's designs on the Revenue, eh?'
Yoda asked as he paced the polished-stone floor, supported by his gimer stick cane.
'I have a contact in the Nebula Front,' Qui-Gon replied.
Yoda stopped moving to regard him. 'A contact, you say?' 'A Bith,' Qui- Gon said. 'He made contact with me on Mala — stare, and later apprised me of Cohl's plan to attack the Revenue at Dorvalla. On Dorvalla, I was able to learn that Cohl had altered a cargo pod to suit his ends. Obi-Wan and I did the same.' Yoda shook his head back and forth in seeming astonishment. 'News, this is. One of Qui-Gon's many surprises.' An ancient and diminutive alien-a patriarch, of sorts-Yoda had an almost human face, with large knowing eyes, a small nose, and a thin- lipped mouth. But most similarities to the human species ended there, for he was green from hairless crown to triple-digited feet, and his ears were large and pointed, extending from the sides of his wizened head like small wings.
A senior member of the High Council, he was something of a trickster, who preferred to teach by means of thought-puzzles and conundrums, rather than by lecture and recitation.
Yoda and Qui-Gon had a long-standing relationship, but Yoda was one of those who sometimes took issue with Qui — Gon's focus on the living Force over the unifying Force. As Qui-Gon explained it, he was simply built that way.
Even in lightsaber training, he rarely entered into a match with a strategy in mind. Instead he allowed himself to improvise, and to alter his technique according to the demands of the moment-even when the longer view might have helped him.
'Qui-Gon,' Adi Gallia said, 'we were given to understand that the Nebula Front had hired Captain Cohl. What was your contact's purpose in sabotaging an operation the Nebula Front itself had sanctioned?' She was a young and handsome human woman from Corellia, with exotic eyes, a long slender neck, and full lips. Tall and dark- complexioned, she wore a tight-fitting skullcap, from which dangled eight tails, resembling seed pods.
Qui-Gon turned to her. 'The operation was not sanctioned. That's why my Padawan and I were there.' Yoda lifted his gimer stick to point at Qui-Gon.
'Explain this, you must.' Qui-Gon folded his thick arms across his chest.
'The Nebula Front speaks for many worlds in the Mid and Outer Rims, which contest the prohibitive practices and strong-arm tactics of the Trade Federation. Some of those worlds were originally colonized by species who fled the civilized repression of the Core. Fiercely independent, they want no part of the Republic. And yet, in order to trade, they are forced to do business with consortiums like the Federation.
Worlds that have attempted to ship with other enterprises have found themselves cut off from trade entirely.' 'The Nebula Front may have laudable goals, but their methods are ruthless,' Oppo Rancisis commented, breaking a brief silence.
A scion of royalty from Thisspias, he had red-rimmed eyes and a tiny mouth in a large head that was otherwise covered entirely by dense white hair- piled high at the crown, and extending from his hidden chin in a long beard.
'Go on, Qui-Gon,' Plo Koon told him from beneath the mask he was forced to wear in oxygen-rich environments. Like Rancisis, Koon had a keen mind for military strategy.
Qui-Gon tipped his head in a bow of acknowledgment. 'Without trying to justify the actions of the Nebula Front, I will say that they tried to reason with the Trade federation before turning to acts of terrorism. Where they might have financed their operations by smuggling spice for the Hutts, they refused to deal with any species that condoned slavery. Even when they finally did turn to violence, they restricted their actions to interfering with Trade Federation shipments or delaying their vessels whenever possible.' 'Destroying a freighter is certainly one way to delay it,' Rancisis said.
Qui-Gon glanced at him. 'Gobi's actions were something new.' 'Then what drove the Nebula Front to escalate the violence?' Gallia asked.
Qui-Gon sensed that she was asking as much for the sake of the council as for Supreme Chancellor Valorum, with whom she had close ties. 'My contact claims that the Nebula Front has grown a radical wing, and it is those militants who contracted with Captain Cohl. The Bith and many others were opposed to employing mercenaries, but the militants have assumed command of the organization.' Yoda rubbed his chin in thought. 'After the aurodium ingots, were they not?' Qui-Gon shook his head. 'Frankly, Master, I'm not sure if I accept the Federation's claim.' 'You have reason to doubt it?' Koon asked.
'It's a question of method. The Trade Federation concedes a preoccupation with safeguarding their cargos.
Why, then, would they entrust a shipment of aurodium to a poorly defended freighter like the Revenue, when the more heavily armed Acquisitor was only a star system away?' 'A point, he has,' Yoda said.
'I consider the reason obvious,' Rancisis disagreed. 'The Trade Federation falsely assumed that no one would suspect the Revenue of harboring such wealth.' 'The question is of little consequence,' Gallia said. 'The use of mercenaries like Cohl signals the beginning of a coordinated campaign to counter the Trade Federation's droid defenses by force, and ultimately to overthrow Trade Federation influence in the outlying systems.' 'Fortunately, Captain Cohl is no longer a concern,' Plo Koon remarked.
Yoda adopted a wide-eyed look. 'Concern Qui-Gon, Cohl does.' Qui-Gon felt the council's close scrutiny.
'I don't believe that he perished with the freighter,' he said at last.
'You were there, were you not?' Rancisis asked.
