Quiet disbelief answers Callera's statement. Choking down her frustration as she draws her presence inwards, hiding herself from the Force. "If I had been introduced like this to you, would you have thought I was Force Sensitive?"
Yoda pauses as he stares at her. "Barely sense you, I can. But sense you I do."
"I am not a master of hiding myself in the Force, only recently have I truly started learning those skills. Now imagine a Sith Lord dedicated to the destruction of the Jedi, the first thing you teach your apprentice is concealment. How to hide your true self and patience. How to bide your time. So that when they come face to face with a Jedi in a moment where they cannot strike down the Jedi, they can walk away smirking that they were right under your nose, plotting your deaths."
Again a slow circle to acknowledge the circle of Masters. "I am no Caamasi, though at this moment I wish I was, so I could share memories clearly and directly. During the trip to Tatooine I let Master Qui-Gon into my head where he saw glimpses of my life, and what he saw convinced him of my sincerity." Stopping in front of the Cerean master she continues. "I know of the Cerean pride and trust in logic, if my memories can convince you it should help the rest understand."
He nods his head briefly, "Would not Master Yoda be the better choice since he leads the High Council?"
"It's because he leads the High Council, it shouldn't be him. A member of the High Council, yes to impart the seriousness and validity of my thoughts, but the leader no."
The barest hint of a smile on his face as Callera feels like she passed some test in his eyes, before he looks past her to Yoda.
"Proceed if you wish Master Mundi." The now named Cerean Master nods towards Yoda before looking Callera in the eyes. Feeling his presence washing over her she slowly drops her walls, letting the Master in.
Sitting along a large anti-gravity stadium with debris everywhere. One young man floating in the middle, his bisected opponent drifting to opposite ends of the Arena. The holographic image of a hooded robed man looming over all present.
***
"The Dark side is insidious and subtle and the paths to fall can even be from good intentions." A sandy-haired man with haunted eyes addressing a few people. "In my case, I surrendered to it to save the New Republic from the reborn Emperor and I still bear the scars to this day. Each step you take down the dark path, the easier the next one is, and the next, the next; until all that is left is dark. But even then, it is possible to come back from it. It is a long road back from the Dark side, full of sacrifice and pain, but it is possible. If the person wants it."
***
"How much longer?!" Silver blade leaving the speaker's hand, clipping the top of the noseless scared being a handful of feet away, dropping them. Unfamiliar armor on a trained solider.
"Last transport is being loaded, ten minutes!
Lightsaber back in hand, "We don't have ten minutes!
***
"Tionne," the speaker addressing a silver-haired woman, "out of the Jedi in the time leading up to the Fall, who would you have liked to talk to the most?"
***
Master Mundi slumps over suddenly and Callera fights to not drop to the floor, her emotions raging.
"If she is not telling the truth, then she's been a victim of memory tampering on a scale and depth that is highly improbable. I recognized Dantooine in the glimpse of a memory and nothing like what I saw has happened there in our lifetime." The Master's word worn and tired. "Whatever happened between now and the future she represents, we are destroyed."
"Nothing that could be used as proof?"
"I was born a few years after the death of Sidious, nothing in my memories would suffice as proof. All I have is the history of his atrocities from the moment he kills you all, till his death. And even then, I wasn't the best student of history. Medicine, philosophy, and bureaucracy yes. The specifics of history, not so much." Her smile wry as her emotions settle.
"Stop the Sith to save the Republic and ourselves," Yoda's calm words resonate in the High Council chamber, "Prove Palpatine is Sidious we must."
The dark-skinned Master speaks up. "If you knew that Palpatine is Sidious, why leave the Queen with him?"
"Because he can't do anything overt without outing himself. He is her Senator after all."
Qui-Gon also adds in. "That's why you left Anakin with him too, try and downplay his importance."
"Indeed, Master Qui-Gon." Callera tilts her head in the affirmative.
"The young boy on the platform?" The Master next to Yoda interjects.
"Correct. Anakin Skywalker." Pausing for effect. "The 'Supposed' Chosen One."
That declaration rocks the High Council further.
"The one prophesied to bring balance to the Force?"
"Correct, or at least correct according to one interpretation of the prophecy."
"If that is correct than why was the Order destroyed?"
"Because the Force is balanced by reducing the Jedi and then eventually the Sith to ashes."
"Right now he's a scared and excited little boy, but between Sith Manipulations and Jedi traditions he could be pushed to destroy the Jedi in about fifteen years, and about twenty years from then he would kill the Sith."
"From that Future you came, but here is different."
"Correct Grandmaster Yoda. Much has changed here. His mother free," gathering herself, "a growing bond between Anakin and myself instead of Qui-Gon, the Naboo crisis resolved without Maul and Qui-Gon clashing and the passing of Master Qui-Gon, the chance that the Sith threat might be purged before the Order is ground down by war and then eventually betrayed from within."
"War?" Master Mundi rejoins the conversation.
"The Clone Wars. With a Chancellor Palpatine leading the Republic against a foe of his own design and under his own command, the 'Confederacy of Independent Systems. He positions the Jedi to be Generals, leading clone troopers against CIS droid armies. Making you appear incompetent and potentially power-hungry even as you slowly 'win'. And in that last moment as you capture their last military leader, he turns the clones on you with an order buried deep in their programing. Killing almost all Jedi in the field as his new Apprentice leads a group of clones on the Temple, slaughtering Padawan, Jedi, and Youngling a like."
Callera lets that sink before continuing. "A few Jedi, Padawans and Younglings survive and are scattered across the galaxy. Many of them ruthlessly hunted down by the now Emperor Palpatine and his acolytes and inquisitors. But those few survivors pass scraps of information down to others who are Force-sensitive, trying to keep the light alive. Till one Jedi master," Callera waves at Obi-Wan, "takes on a student briefly before his own death. Sending that student to the only other Council Member still alive," pointing at Yoda," between the two of you he learns and grows. Both of you telling him he needs to face the Emperor's Apprentice to stop the Sith. And he does, but not with his lightsaber. Compassion reaches through the cracks in the dark armor, to reveal the good that had been the core of the man before fear and pride had twisted him. And thus, the 'Chosen One' turns on the Emperor and sacrifices his life to end the threat.
Looking at the assembled individuals, "The Force brought back into balance."
Again pausing to let them absorb that information, "But right he is just a boy, an excited well-meaning young man, who is afraid to lose anything or one that is important to him."
"So, what would you suggest we do? Train him as Jedi, knowing he could destroy us?"
"In theory anyone in the room could destroy the Order with enough time and preparation or even a different Jedi could fall and start eroding the Order. To deny someone training because they MIGHT become a threat is just begging for trouble and might even cause the very threat you wish to avoid."
Yoda stares intently at Callera, "Wish to teach the boy, you do."
"I wish for him to be taught, yes. But I am not ready to take a Padwan myself, even if I was back in my original time. In regards to the fate of Anakin Skywalker, the best two paths I see are these: Let Obi-Wan take his trials so that Qui-Gon make take him as a Padawan with some guidance from me, or let Anakin be an Initiate here and hopefully when he is of the usual age of being taken as a Padawan I have built up enough good will and trust, that you will allow me to teach him then."
"Our own counsel on who is ready to take their trials, we keep."
"Yes Grandmaster, but my very presence and actions have denied Obi-Wan the chance he would have had. The High Council agreed that his actions at the end of the Naboo crisis and his fight against Maul were enough to elevate him to Knighthood. I have now cost him that, so I am asking you to consider that now." The young man in question, stunned at the passion in Callera's plea, stays silent.
"The dark-skinned Master nods, "We will deliberate on the matter after this meeting is concluded."
Callera gives him a deep bow, "Thank you, as much as I am changing things by my very presence, I want the good things I know of to come to pass as much as possible."
"And what of the second option, why that path? Master Mundi asks so all can hear her reasoning.
"Even if I might be better at helping him navigate his emotions and fears based on my background, teaching the basics at this time is not a good choice for me."
"Between the darkness within and without, you feel the boy would be safer in the Temple for the time being."
"Correct Master Mundi. With all chaos that is about to descend being under Temple supervision or Qui-Gon's watchful eye will be safe than me teaching the boy. By now Palpatine knows for sure I have interfered in his 'Grand Plan' in such a powerful and direct fashion. I expect assassination attempts, arrests, and other ways to kill, cripple, or capture me to start happening soon."