disclaimer=standard

Anything you recognise is either JK's, George's or Disney's. Anything else probably belongs to them too.

/disclaimer

o_ooo000ooo_o

The Jedi Council sat in silence as they waited patiently.

Outwardly, most of the Jedi Masters present appeared as they usually did. Yoda looked thoughtful; Mace Windu expressionless. Luminara serene, Eeth Koth's hologram sat ramrod straight.

Ki-Adi-Mundi however had changed. The Cerean Jedi Master had become increasingly waspish in the past few days, ever since the back of his head had inexplicably turned bright yellow one morning. The discolouration was quickly diagnosed as medically benign, and simple – if time consuming – to cure. However, each morning the enormous patch of exposed skin was once more an eye-catching shade. Why it continued to reoccur was a mystery, but Mundi insisted that the Force told him the culprit was Skywalker, despite the fact the lad was thirty thousand light years away.

The door to the chamber opened.

"Master Sinube, pleased we are to see that recovered, you have," Yoda said as the aged Jedi hobbled into the Council Chamber.

The Cosian Jedi dipped his head respectfully. "Recovered is perhaps an exaggeration, Master Yoda. I still find myself becoming fatigued rather quickly, but I am well on the way to recovery. Being within a few metres of a teleporting individual was not an experience I care to repeat. I find myself decidedly sympathetic with Masters Galia and Unduli now."

Yoda gestured towards the centre of the room. "Your report, we eagerly await."

Sinube dipped into his robes and withdrew a holosphere. To the assembled beings and holoprojections, he said, "At the request of Masters Yoda and Windu, I have used my experience with assisting Coruscant law enforcement in identifying criminals to compile a profile on Captain Harry of the Gryphon." The sphere drifted out of his hand to the centre of the room where the holoprojector activated it. A larger-than-life image of the subject flickered into view in the centre of the room. It began to rotate slowly as the verbal report began.

"Beginning with the verifiable facts; Harry is a human male of approximately twenty-four standard years. Unique of all known organisms in the galaxy he has a midi-chlorian count of zero."

That single fact caused more shuffling in the Council Room than the news that Master Dooku had left the Jedi Order.

"Unfortunately, that is the limit of our verifiable knowledge. The remainder of this profile is deduction and supposition based on observation and collected evidence."

"You know nothing more about him? You spent quite some time talking with him." Luminara interjected.

Sinube sighed. "I know much about him," the Cosian agreed. "However, profiles such as this are based upon the standards of evidence used by Coruscant courts. His species and midi-chlorian count are the only facts we can verify independently from the blood sample he left behind. As Jedi we are trained to rely on guidance from the Living Force first and regard verifiable facts as secondary. While in the past this has served us well, given the damage he does to the Force, I believe that method is unlikely to work with the Captain."

Luminara nodded her acknowledgement of the clarification.

"The evidence suggests that the man is a warrior – as distinct from a soldier – belonging to an order of Force users who hail from an as-yet unknown world. As is common on almost all other planets throughout the galaxy, these Force blessed individuals represent a minority of the greater population.

"On his sudden arrival, Harry expressed visible shock at seeing some common galactic species, yet showed a complete lack of surprise at some other non-human species. Thus, I conclude that he hails from a world where humans are not the sole, sentient species."

Several nods of agreement accompanied this.

"It also appears that he does not know the coordinates of his home system."

Mace Windu leaned forward. "You are sure he is ignorant of the location of his birth planet?"

Sinube tilted his head. "Quite sure. Most of the evidence for that conclusion comes from CorSec slicers who were monitoring his research while he prepared for a short mission at the behest of the Green Jedi Halcyon. But Skywalker's debriefing supports this conclusion too. Captain Harry does not know where his home planet is located.

"One inference I draw from this fact, and his reactions, is that his arrival here at the Temple was not expected – and likely unwilling. The head trauma he suffered a few moments after arrival would have magnified his confusion, especially considering the results of the spectral analysis we conducted on the blood he left behind. That analysis revealed exceedingly high levels of adrenaline and neurochemicals indicative of a recent, high-stress situation."

"How high? How recent?" Eeth Koth queried.

"Life-threatening stress, and mere minutes-old," Sinube replied. "He was in a fight for his life just moments before his arrival; an arrival that caused him great pain."

Ima-Gun Di nodded. "I heard him scream in agony underwater from ten metres away."

Sinube spread his arms. "Consider his position. He found himself on an unfamiliar planet directly after a highly stressful situation, in great pain, suddenly wounded and concussed, surrounded by many unknown species, where no one spoke his language."

Luminara seemed to sink into herself with a sigh. "Well, it is perhaps understandable why he reacted so violently towards the Trandoshan in the cantina who drew a weapon on him."

Ki-Adi-Mundi narrowed his eyes. "Harry has shown abilities that he could have used to escape, or to defuse the situation rather than immediately escalate to lethal violence. He is clearly a sociopath who revels in causing harm to others," he snapped.

"Then I suppose we should be grateful that such a violent sociopath chose to exit the Temple peacefully rather than attempt to viciously extract answers from defenceless younglings," Sinube responded mildly. "Doubly so, given how incapacitated we were at the time."

Had he not been a Jedi Master, Mundi would have flushed at the rebuke, but everyone present felt the spike of emotion.

Mace Windu cleared his throat. "Tera, tell us what you can about the man. We will not object to your conclusions, but we may ask you to elaborate how you arrived at them," the bald Jedi said evenly, yet clearly directing his statement to certain individuals.

Sinube nodded. "In summary then; Harry is a child of prophesy…" he began.

Several Jedi Masters gave decidedly un-Jedi-like gasps at that. Yoda leaned forward. "So certain, are you?" he asked skeptically.

Sinube continued, undaunted by the surprise. "Yes, I am; as is Master Jinn." He waved a hand and the hologram of Captain Harry vanished and was replaced by the familiar Jedi Master. "This is what Qui-Gon reported after his interaction with Harry on the Corellian shipyard."

"I believe him to have laboured under a prophesy," Qui-Gon's holographic image said. "While reclaiming Anakin, I was obligated to placate his concerns that Anakin would not be trained. I mentioned that there were unique circumstances surrounding the boy that meant that the normal rules on accepting younglings for training were potentially being waived. He immediately jumped to the conclusion that there was a prophesy surrounding Anakin. He made the connection so quickly that he must have had personal experience."

The recording of Qui-Gon shrank and was replaced again with Harry. Sinube continued his recitation. "Harry's reaction was an almost textbook example of someone recalling a personal, tragic experience."

"Do you know anything of the prophesy relating to this man?" Mace asked.

"I have no data of the wording, no. And while I must reiterate that this is supposition at best, from the way Harry insisted that Master Jinn immediately inform Skywalker of the prophesy of the one who will bring balance to the Force, I suspect that Harry was kept ignorant of his prophesy. And due to that ignorance, he either acted inappropriately or made poor choices. He regrets his actions strongly.

"We are however, veering away from what can be logically deduced. Harry is a child of prophesy who was born into slavery."

For the second time, the Jedi was interrupted.

"Act like a slave, he does not."

Sinube nodded. "For the most part, that is true. I based that conclusion on several facts; including the physical scans we have of him as he left the Temple and the blood he left. A human with his genetic structure should be a dozen centimetres taller at least, assuming adequate nutrition during childhood. His physique shows that he was raised in deprivation and servitude without much in the way of medical attention, at least until puberty, and quite possibly longer. In Skywalker's debriefing, we learned that Harry admits to being a slave by some definition, if not in the classic sense. His actions show a clear, visceral hatred of the institution. Essentially, while he was born a slave, he then rose out of servitude. The circumstances of which can be deduced."

A few accepting nods greeted that.

"From an offhand remark he made to Skywalker on Tattooine, we can assume slavery is outlawed, though not eradicated, on his homeworld. Given this assumption, when combining his clear contempt for authority with the fact that he was a child slave, I deduce that his plight was likely ignored by those charged with the welfare of his people."

Yoda frowned deeply. "His situation was known, you believe?"

Sinube nodded, suddenly very sober. "Yes, Master Yoda. Given his visceral hatred of the term 'greater good', he may well have been left in his abusive environment ostensibly for the benefit of a section of his society as a whole. There are many potentially valid reasons for this; perhaps his powers were too great to control, or he was not locatable, or perhaps he did not pass some arbitrary, cultural measure. However, on examining the situation at a holistic level, I believe that he was deliberately left in servitude. Perhaps he was only rescued to fulfil his prophesized destiny, and would have remained a slave if he was not needed."

There was a long, level stare between Mace Windu and Yoda. "Valid reasons, why drawn to this man, Skywalker was, hmm?"

Sinube closed his eyes and communed with the Force briefly before continuing. "The parallels between the pair are quite distinct. When he decided to leave Telos, Skywalker claims he selected a ship he felt was right to stow away on, so the Force may well have guided him to the man. If Harry noticed the similarities in their histories, it may also explain why the Secura and Skywalker were treated so differently. In any event, Harry's personality was defined by lengthy experience of lacking basic freedoms and protections. During these formative years he had few, if any, positive adult role models. His indelible self-reliance and fondness for juvenile mischief bears this out. He cherishes, even venerates, the freedom of choice of all beings, even should those choices lead to tragedy."

"This information will be useful the next time he is confronted. But are you able to infer more about after he was rescued?" Luminara pressed.

The Cosian Jedi shrugged. "Harry does not appear to have received what we would deem a classical education. It is clear that he received extensive combat training as a front-line fighter, as opposed to that of a general. He is clearly used to battle, adapting to new situations quickly. He is extraordinarily dangerous even by the standards of his people. He acts decisively when encountering a problem and deals with consequences after. He has survived a decade or more of constant attempts on his life, and in doing so has adopted the simplistic philosophy of destroying your opponent so thoroughly that it becomes unthinkable for anyone else to attack him."

Many frowns greeted that observation. Mundi nodded, his expression dark.

"He fulfilled his prophesy at great personal cost, but his distrust of those in power suggests that he was probably hampered in doing so by those in authority, perhaps including those who should have been his allies. Indeed, given his attitude towards authority figures, I suspect that there were individuals in power who actively campaigned for his failure."

Jocasta Nu cleared her throat. "Prophesies can have failure states. Is it possible that this man is the result of someone failing their fated duty?"

Yoda shook his head. "Beyond the scope of this presentation, such speculation is. Continue, Master Sinube should."

"As you wish," he said. Waving his walking stick at the hologram, Sinube continued, "On the fulfilment of his destiny, Harry gained widespread, perhaps even planetary-wide fame and notoriety. It is probable that he gained significant political and cultural power as well. He was lauded by the very same individuals who hindered him, though that was more likely an effort to retain their position than anything else.

"The circumstances of his success gave him an objectionable level of leeway with the law, from a contemporary perspective. So much so that it is in fact possible that laws on his world no longer apply to him. He is accustomed to working alongside law enforcement, yet skirts legality on a whim with little regard to being caught. He has no objection to personal enrichment, or using his powers to give an unfair advantage over competitors, but he appears to reserve blatant theft for criminals. I would suggest he believes that relieving lawbreakers of resources is a worthwhile endeavour. This apparent avarice is at odds with the fact that he appears to live a decidedly simplistic, even Jedi-like, existence with few personal possessions beyond his weaponry, clothing and vehicles.

"Jedi-like?" Mundi spat, sounding outraged at the idea. "He ruts with any willing female!"

Sinube sighed. "A polygynous lifestyle and preoccupation with acquiring material wealth are strong indicators of a hedonistic personality, yes. But the way he decorates his personal space is at odds with that. Both Skywalker and the Nabooan Minister who travelled on the Gryphon report that his cabin contains few personal effects and no luxuries. It is a utilitarian space that would not be out place here at the Temple."

"Minister Schrieffer's dalliance with the Captain began on the journey from Naboo?"

Sinube shook his head. "No. She told me that while she actively sought him out during the trip, circumstances conspired against her intentions. The pair's first… ahem, union occurred immediately before I met him in the Nabooan Senate suite."

Windu leaned forward. "You spoke with him longer than any Jedi. What do you think of the man, Tera?"

Sinube gave the question some consideration. "He is thoughtful, even philosophical – when not in danger, at least. When I presented objections to his beliefs, he did not respond with anger or denial, but reflection. He is very charismatic; despite his vast and varied abilities, it is the deep loyalty he attracts from those who befriend him that is his greatest power; loyalty that he returns fervently."

"Explain!" Mundi snapped.

Sinube gave the Jedi Master a long stare before continuing. "The Council interviewed Skywalker on his return to the Temple," he stated. "Surely it did not escape your notice that the lad values his friendship with Harry above his loyalty to the Jedi. That friendship had only months to develop, yet the depth rivals many of the bonds between Master and Padawan formed over decades. Skywalker's mother was offered gainful employment in the Chancellor's personal retinue, an unfathomable offer for an unskilled labourer. Yet she turned it down for a role as a mere kitchenhand on the Gryphon. The Twi'lek ex-slave Kalu'minari is besotted with him, and while he willingly accepts her favours, he is fiercely protective of her. His Houk employee Vox was injured defending both women, and he was given an extremely generous reward for his intentions, even though he was unsuccessful."

"Slaves he rescued," Mundi said dismissively with a wave of his hand. "Ex-slaves often feel a great loyalty to their saviour."

"That does not explain Minister Schrieffer," Sinube pointed out.

"What of her?"

"She has actively lied to protect him from the Committee established to review the breach in security. She also went out of her way to convince a Lieutenant of the Royal Naboo Security Force to accept employment with him. If she were an impulsive youth, such actions could be dismissed as mere infatuation. But the Minister has been at the forefront of Senate politics for over a decade; hardly the sort of person to succumb to ill-considered temptation. No, those close to Harry invariably feel protective of him."

"Is this a conscious ability?" Luminara asked, her green skin even more pale than usual.

"If I had to guess, I would say not. He simply appears to be extraordinarily likeable. Putting that aside, he is unquestionably one of the most dangerous individuals in the galaxy, and quite capable of subjugating an entire planet or more, should he choose. However, he delights in mischievous humour, teasing, flirting and pranking. Death does surround and strengthen him, yet I got no sense of a desire to rule or dominate from him. In a single sentence, Harry is a good soul tarnished by mistreatment, who wears a mercenary persona as protection from being hurt again. I believe it would be best to treat him as a fallen Padawan who needs guidance back to the light rather than an irredeemable, hardened murderer."

"Balderdash!" Mundi spat. "He mutilated and tortured a bounty hunter, and not only killed Gardulla the Hutt, he desecrated the corpse!"

"Desecrated?" the holographic Eeth Koth interjected. "There was nothing about desecration in the Council's report."

Mundi growled, "What else would you call making the corpse look like it had been stomped on by a giant, novelty shoe? The worst insult imaginable to a Hutt is to threaten to step them like a slug. He didn't just kill Gardulla, he humiliated her in death and claimed dominance over her entire family! There is no redeeming him!"

"Feel free to review the detail of my report," Sinube replied in the same level tone he had used throughout the meeting. "Each of my conclusions and deductions are supported by observations and testimonies."

"Enough!" Mace snapped to stop an argument from starting, a depressingly more common occurrence in the past few months. "His home, Tera, we need to know about where he comes from. If you believe there to be an entire order of these Force users on an unknown planet, then we must locate it immediately."

Yoda shook his head, his eyes closed. "No. A distraction, this line of thought is."

Mace looked at his old friend in surprise. Sinube simply nodded at the Grand Master. "Quite so. While an entire planet of beings that could use this man's powers is a daunting thought, the fact is that we can easily sense him using his power, even from thousands of light years away. An entire planet of such Force users would not escape our notice. That suggests something that is both relieving and disturbing."

Yoda frowned, his face crunching together. "Then of this galaxy, this man is not."

That was not an unexpected revelation. It had been theorised among the Council from the day of his arrival. His lack of midi-chlorians was the major piece of evidence supporting the idea. Sinube however shook his head. "I disagree, Master Yoda. He is definitely genetically human, and it is unlikely beyond comprehension that concurrent evolution would result in two identical species in different galaxies."

"Then how do you resolve this contradiction?" the Temple Archivist interjected. "How can any life within the galaxy not have midi-chlorians? Is he a genetically engineered experiment?"

"Unlikely," Sinube said politely. "To date there have been no reliable method to create or reproduce multi-cellular life without midi-chlorians. I believe there is a more likely explanation."

"Your ridiculous suggestion that he is a time traveller?" Mundi sneered. "That is even less likely than him becoming a valued member of society!"

Yoda hummed, and everyone turned to face the ancient Jedi. "Impossible, time travel is. Or so we thought. Perhaps only to the Jedi, impossible it is, hmm?"

Luminara nodded. "We know the man can manipulate the three spatial dimensions, in defiance of all we know of the universe's laws, let alone logic. Is it so fantastical to consider that he has the power to manipulate the forth?"

Mundi sighed. "So he is from the past. You believe humanity evolved from him?"

Yoda shook his head. "No. If not from this time he is, then from the past, he cannot be."

Sinube smiled. "Indeed Master Yoda. Midi-chlorians have been a part of life in this galaxy for all of history. However, that does not imply that they will always be part of life."

Windu leaned forward. "You believe this man is humanity's future?"

"It is a possibility, yes," Sinube agreed. "Perhaps in one potential future life finds a way to progress without midi-chlorians. Perhaps the Force as we know it is destroyed, and with it, midi-chlorians are rendered extinct. While disturbing to consider, such a hypothesis allows us to answer a great many questions about Captain Harry."

Mundi snorted derisibly. "He barely knew how to operate the turnstiles at the skycar station! He's a primitive! He cannot be humanity's future!"

"Perhaps we are the primitive society," mused Jocasta Nu.

All heads turned towards her, silently questioning.

In response she held up a hand. "The archives are full of records where past Jedi found themselves stranded onto a pre-spaceflight world with no communicators. Despite superior education and knowledge, they initially stood out as unknowledgeable bumpkins when interacting with local technology. Imagine if Captain Harry is indeed from the future, a future where much of our technology is obsolete."

She rose to her feet and manipulated the hologram, shrinking the human figure and shifting the perspective to highlight the trio of spaceships he had provably owned. "While our modern vehicles have intuitive interfaces compared to ancient ships, a primitive human would not be able to fly a freighter with such ease. Padawan Skywalker is a piloting savant, and he gave glowing reviews of Harry's skill. It is undeniable that this man has an expert's knowledge of aerodynamics and flight concepts; that knowledge is unlikely for someone who has never flown before. The telemetry from the space battles in which he was involved shows his ships performing impossible turns and acceleration. Perhaps his knowledge from the future includes how to manipulate mass the way he manipulates space?"

Sinube chuckled, apparently enjoying himself. "Indeed, you have independently come to another of my conclusions. Rather humbling, is it not? Coming to the realisation that we are perhaps not the most advanced society?"

"Disturbing," Windu corrected, leaning forward. "What else can you tell us?"

"Harry has taken to our time period as if born to it. In the few months that he has been here he has amassed an astounding fortune. The Gryphon uses less than a tenth of the necessary fuel to travel between Corellia and Coruscant, even assuming one hundred percent fuel efficiency. Master Nu is correct, not only can Harry violate spatial dimensions; he can violate the laws of thermodynamics as well. He had access to another ship for barely a day and managed to modify it well enough to take on six squadrons of Black Sun fighters single-handedly, destroying around half before losing the ship. And he accepted that loss with not even a shrug."

The archivist nodded her head as she returned to her seat. "Yes, as astounding as it sounds, I believe Master Sinube is correct. If Harry is not of this time, then he is from the future."

"Where, or when, he comes from is of less importance than his abilities," insisted Windu. "Tera, what can you conclusively tell us of his power?"

"His powers are diverse, and that pushes the definition of the word beyond understood limits. Using them harms the Force, but I can conform Master Di's hypothesis that isolating ourselves from the Force protects Jedi from the adverse effects. He has shown the basic ability to manipulate distance and mass, and if our assumptions are correct, can affect time as well. He can adjust matter; including both creating and annihilating it, with no ill effects. He can teleport from one place to another, in defiance of all our understanding. I personally witnessed him reverse entropic decay by returning an irrevocably broken object back to pristine condition. Scans taken of the object afterwards show no sign of any break, even down to the molecular level. He can literally take a scrambled egg and return it to its original state with nothing more than a wave of his wooden stick."

"By the Force," Master Galia murmured.

"But that is just the powers he has shown to manipulate the physical world. He appears able to read minds at a level of detail that is quite simply astounding, if the testimonies from Master Halcyon and Padawan Secura are to be believed. He can coerce others with phenomenal skill, setting up a Corellian crime boss to destroy his own criminal empire within minutes of meeting him."

Mundi nodded his head once firmly.

"He is also capable of defending himself against mental intrusion with ease. Master Halcyon, considered one of the most capable Jedi Masters in this discipline, tried using a Mind Trick on him, only to be effortlessly rebuffed. Neeja was informed that using influence on others was a jailable offence on Harry's home world."

Mace rubbed his chin. "That suggests that it is possible to confine people with his teleporting power."

"Consider this at length, we should. Meditate on it, I will. But for now, continue, Master Sinube should."

Sinube nodded. "Harry can violate thermodynamics by destroying waste heat rather than transferring it. He can imbue common materials with Force energy, equally able to weave a cloth that makes objects invisible, embed a recorded, audio message in a piece of flimsy, and create vehicles that are powered by the Force rather than fuel cells. He can destroy reinforced structures with a gesture, speak a language considered impossible for a human to learn or articulate, draw a line on the ground that can somehow determine someone's age and prevent them from crossing, and supposedly can create an alchemical concoction that reverses aging. If there was ever a being that could be called a god, this man is it."

"We cannot allow this!" Mundi snapped.

"Allow?" Sinube asked mildly.

Mundi's eyes narrowed. "Yes! You just described a man capable of destroying matter, teleporting behind secure lines, and reading minds! A violent murderer with boundless greed! What is to stop him killing Galactic Senators, or even the Chancellor himself?"

Sinube frowned, but Luminara leaned forward and spoke before he could respond. "Master Mundi, what action are you suggesting we take?"

"He must be neutralised as soon as possible! Confined and kept sedated if necessary. He is too powerful to be left at large!"

"He is one man!" Sinube insisted. "Whatever mischief you think him capable of, what could he do that any other politically powerful being could not? The Hapes Queen Mother can bring the resources of over sixty systems to bear, and our relationship with her could generously be described as antagonistic."

Mundi rose from his chair and left the Council room without responding. The remaining Jedi Masters glanced between one another at the action.

Ki-Adi-Mundi drew the Force around him as he made his way to his quarters. He recognised in himself the loss of control during Sinube's presentation, and worked to calm himself.

His comm pinged. He raised it with a sigh. The form of Eeth Koth appeared. "Ki? What troubles you?"

"You were in the Council. Did you not see?"

"I was only there remotely. Did I miss something?"

Mundi nodded. "Tera's description of his powers. This murderer can affect people just by being near them. Despite his professed anti-slavery stance, he has no qualms about turning those close to him into slaves."

"You think the ability of his is that strong?"

"Of course," Mundi retorted. "And it's worse than you believe."

"How so?"

"Qui-Gon and Tera both are championing a conciliatory approach to Harry. Both have spent time in his presence."

Eeth's eyes widened. "By the Force."

Mundi nodded gravely. "They're infected, and need to be neutralised before they can convince the Council to make a grave mistake."

Eeth paused. "Who can we trust?"