DISCLAIMER: I do not own Star Wars. If I did I would be erasing Jar Jar frame-by-frame from Episode I & II and replace him with Ryan Reynolds wearing a speedo.

I do want to say I have taken bits and pieces from the profic novels for this fanfic. Sometimes part of a scene is copied verbatim and then my dialog is added and sometimes the scene only has some of the dialog the same. I have included scenes from books such as: The Last Command, Vector Prime, I, Jedi, Invincible and (shudders) Children of the Jedi…just to name a few.

I just don't want people thinking I am stealing…which I am, but I don't want you to think I am stealing and taking credit for the scenes. Basically if you find a brilliantly written scene in this fanfic…it is taken from a professional novel. If you read babbling incoherent sentences…that is most likely my original work.

Altered Perceptions

Subtitle—how to make the EU a better place in 20,000 words or less.

Chapter One

Jacen Solo, hero of the Vong war, Jedi Knight, and nephew to Grand Master Luke Skywalker was now a following the path of a Sith. Mara Jade Skywalker had absolutely no doubt of that. She was also certain that he needed to be eliminated or neutralized before he brought the galaxy to war or worse—drag her son Ben down to the depths of depravity that Jacen now appeared to embrace.

Mara tried to save her nephew. Han and Leia deserved that much. They already lost one son, the death of another would devastate the Solo family…especially if it was at the hands of a family member. Although Mara did not want to lose the element of surprise, she had to try to get Jacen back on the right path. Therefore, she sought him out and offered him the chance to go to the Jedi temple to get help—to be deprogrammed in a way. He wouldn't be the first Jedi to turn to the darkside and he wouldn't be the last.

Jacen of all people should know there was a chance of redemption. His own grandfather had dropped deep into the darkside, but managed to come back to the light. It could be done, but Jacen refused her offer of help.

It probably wouldn't have mattered, Jacen was worse off than even she suspected. Mara could feel the darkness within him. His eyes were not the jaundice yellow of Palpatine, but they were empty and soulless. At that moment, Mara realized the nephew she once knew, the boy who told jokes and loved animals, was gone.

The cause of Jacen's turn to the darkside was unknown, but Mara suspected that Vergere's torture and manipulation of her nephew during the Vong war broke the young man and pointed him down the path of evil.

Jacen Solo was now Sith and therefore, regrettably, he must die.

Mara returned to her apartment after her disappointing meeting with Jacen. She breathed a sigh of relief when she discovered Luke was still asleep in bed. She didn't want to face him. If Luke knew the path she was about to embark on he would never let her go.

She went to her desk and pulled out a flimsi and stylus. She paused not knowing what to write to her husband. After a few moments she wrote 'Gone hunting for a few days'. She looked at the note and immediately reconsidered her wording. She balled up the flimsi and tossed it in the trash and pulled out a fresh sheet.

'Gone information hunting for a few days. Don't be mad at me, farmboy…'

She went over to the bedroom and gave her sleeping husband a gentle kiss on the cheek. He gave a soft grunt, but rolled over and started snoring again. She left the flimsi on the nightstand where he could find it and quietly slipped out of the apartment.

Part of Mara wanted to get into a stealth fighter and chase after Jacen for a final confrontation, but Mara knew better. The years she spent working as the Emperor's Hand and later fighting multiple conflicts as a Jedi Knight and then Master had taught her some hard lessons. Lesson number one is you don't go into a fight without knowing your enemy.

It was time for some tactical and strategic intelligence gathering.

Mara went back to her ship, Jade Shadow, where she could make a holocom call to Tionne Sulusar in private. Tionne was a Jedi Master, historian and archivist and also one of the best researchers Mara had ever met. A few weeks earlier when Mara suspected that something was amiss with Jacen she had made a personal request to Tionne. She asked the historian to attempt to trace Jacen Solo travels during the five years following the Vong War. If Mara was going to go up against her Sith nephew, she needed to know what training he might have gained on his quest for knowledge.

Mara went to her ships communications unit and punched in the contact numbers that would link her to the archivist in Ossus. She then sat back in the pilot seat and waited for the connection to be made. After a few moments a silver haired woman appeared on Mara's viewing screen.

"Tionne," Mara said with a smile, attempting to appear as natural as possible. She didn't want Tionne to become concerned and contact Luke. "I was wondering if you found anything concerning Jacen's travels."

"I found something, but I don't know how much help it will be," Tionne said softly in her usual melodious voice.

"Anything is better than nothing, which is what I have now," Mara remarked.

Tionne picked up a flimsi from her desk and read from the paper. "It appears that Jacen travelled to the Aing-Tii homeworld within the Kathol Rift."

Mara frowned, "That sounds familiar. I think Karrde had mentioned that Jorj Car'das once spent some time with them."

Tionne nodded, "The Aing-Tii are very secretive and live in a very dangerous part of the galaxy, which made research difficult. I can tell you they have a very different view of the Force. They don't have a dark and light mentality. They believe there are all shades of the Force. They also believe the Force is a gift from their Gods. They see the Force as sacred."

"Do they have any special knowledge of the Force that Jacen would be interested in?" Mara asked.

"It is reported that some of the Aing-Tii masters could move objects of any size instantaneously," Tionne reported. "They also are said to be able to flow-walk."

Mara's creased her brow in confusion. "What is flow-walking?"

Tionne put down the flimsi. "Flow-walking is the ability to enter the flow of the Force. When you do this you can move to the past or the future. Of course you would be in a non-corporal form."

Mara's jaw dropped, "Can they change the past or future?"

Tionne shook her head, "Nobody knows for sure. The Aing-Tii believe you can change events in the past, but the flow of the Force will eventually go back to its original path." Tionne cocked her head to the side and gave Mara a questioning look. "Do you think Jacen is flow-walking?"

Mara took a deep breath and then blew it out slowly. She didn't know how much she should tell the Jedi Master. "I don't know, but he is acting strange. I just want to find out what Force training he might have stumbled upon during his journey." That was the truth. Tionne didn't need to know the disturbing details of Jacen's recent behavior.

"Are you planning on going to the Rift," Tionne asked concerned, "It is a very dangerous journey and the Aing-Tii do not like strangers."

Mara chewed on her bottom lip in thought. Going to the Aing-Tii would take more time than she had, but perhaps there was another way. "No, I don't plan on visiting the Rift," Mara replied slowly. She gave Tionne a smile, "Thanks Tionne. I really appreciate your help. Please let me know if you discover anything else."

Tionne smiled in return. "I will let you know right away. It was good talking to you Mara. Please give my regards to Luke."

"Will do," Mara acknowledged. "Mara out." She then flipped the switch turning off the communication connection.

Mara stood up and walked from the cockpit down the length of the ship toward her personal living quarters. Jade Shadow was a Horizon-class Star Yacht that was specially modified with military-grade hyperdrive and shield generators with retractable blaster cannon and concealed concussion missile launchers. But the missiles were not the only thing concealed. Mara had the ship equipped with various hiding places where weapons or other items could be stashed away from sight. Luke knew about them all, save one. This was a storage space she secretly had installed in her cabin shortly after the Vong War.

She entered her cabin and went to her bunk. She then got down on her hands and knees and reached into the storage area under the bed. It was an area to put luggage, but in the bulkhead there was a hidden panel with a voice-activated door. "Jeneth, aurek, dorn, esk ,one, niner, niner," Mara recited the code and the panel silently slid open. Mara reached into the compartment her hands shaking as she retrieved the object within.

She repeated the code again and the panel closed smoothly. Mara scooted out from under the confined space holding a small pyramid shaped object in her hand. The metal objects had various hieroglyphic designs across its surface and at the bottom of the object were the words In Umbris Potestas Est. On the other side were inscribed the words, Darth Sidious.

It was Palpatine's Sith holocron.