A/N: Well, it's been awhile once again. This time, however, it was simply out of laziness, I fear. This chapter has been done for ages but then review week happened, followed by finals weeks, followed by a month of utter mental exhaustion also know as the winter holidays. So, to say the least, this should have been posted six-point-five weeks ago. I'm not sure if it's the beginning of a new term that's kicked me into action or if it's the realization that I haven't updated in nearly four months. At any rate, this story is, sadly, coming to a close so the next few chapters may be a little while in coming since they have to be perfect. They are, for the most part, already written, but now it is time for the perfection stage to begin. Until then, happy reading!

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Spectres

Boba Fett had spent nearly a week trying to find his daughter and grandson. His stop at the Jedi Temple had been of little help as the Jedi knew less than he did and it had taken a good deal of money to get the information he needed and now had. Though unsure of what it was that drove him, Fett felt as if he had to find his daughter. Now. If he did not, he was certain that he would never see her again, nor would he ever meet his grandson.

The word had been a tough one to get used to. Grandson. Grandfather.

"Hell," he muttered as he picked up the detached barrel of his rifle. There were times when he was still having difficulty accepting the fact that he was a father, let alone a grandfather. Sighing, Fett placed the barrel at his side and stood up, stretching his legs. They were sore from being crossed and Fett cursed; he was getting old, which was not something he liked admitting, even to himself. Especially to himself. Still, he reasoned, compared to most men his age, he was in peak physical condition. The enhancements, genetic manipulation, and limb replacements didn't hurt, either. A slight smile crossed his scarred lips as he walked to a small viewport in order to take in the star streaks of hyperspace. He had spent a lifetime's worth of money to stay at the top of his game and it was something so small as cramped leg muscles that made him remember how old he really was. That and remembering that his daughter was old enough to have a son of her own. The thought made him frown, as did the proximity alarm that suddenly rang through the ship.

Turning and starting to run down the hall, Fett was thrown into the cockpit and against a wall of instruments and panels as his ship was jerked out of hyperspace. He growled and started to curse viciously as he pulled himself up into his seat and took in the space around him. Surprisingly, he was not tumbling madly through space and was, instead, sitting quite still. He checked his instruments only to find them snowed over before pulling on the headset that was talking to him. Turning his ship to port, Fett swore quite magnificently.

"…Myian Rah'Thalla, Captain of the Lyian Rhapsody. Do not arm your weapons or bring any additional systems online or we will be forced to take action."

Rather than trying a diplomatic approach to the whole situation, Fett immediately took offense. He had no time for games. However, rather than just attempting to dart out of there, Fett started to test his instruments and bring his backups online. When he realized that he would need some time for everything to come up, he began to talk.

"Who the fuck do you think you are to pull me out of 'space like that? This is unclaimed territory which means it doesn't belong to your damn Cluster."

There was silence.

"It has been ordered by the Prime Minister that Commodore Garen Thain Gil Myian Rah'Thalla keep this sector under blockade until further notice, Captain. If you agree to turn around and return to your place of departure we will not cause you any further distress."

"And if I choose not to comply?" Fett asked as he switched to his sublight engines and started to warm them up. A swarm of TIEs appeared above the white capital ship in the viewport.

"Please shut down all systems, Deuce. You have been asked already and the Commodore has little patience for people who do not follow the orders they are given."

Glancing at his displays, Fett replied. "He's not gonna like me, then."

The TIEs started to break up into flights and wingpairs as they moved a little closer.

"This is your final warning, Captain. Stand down or we will be forced to fire upon you."

Fett just needed a few more minutes. However, it was growing increasingly obvious that the Lyians wanted him out of system in order to keep some big secret and he had a strong feeling that it had something to do with Keilana. He had heard of her trouble in the Cluster and was quite proud when he learned of her escape from their prison system some years ago. The Lyians disliked bounty hunters and fugitives far more than they disliked Outsiders.

"Tell your Commodore that Keilana probably isn't going anywhere." It was risky bringing up her name but it seemed to work. The TIEs retreated slightly as the comm clicked.

"What do you know of Cluster business, Captain?" A gruff voice asked; Fett could only assume he had been patched through to Commodore Garen Thain.

"Lucky guess," Fett said as he fed energy to his engines via a foot pedal. The Slave roared and jerked against the tractor beam keeping it in place. The TIEs shot forward a kilometer. "But thanks for confirming my suspicions."

There was silence for a long time and Fett stayed where he was, quite content that he had caused some trouble. In fact, confident with his ability to escape, he put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his seat, watching the TIEs and the gleaming ship in front of him.

"I believe you are withholding information, Captain," the Commodore said after a time. "What do you know of Keilana?"

"Quite a bit, actually," Fett said with a grin that came through his words. "She's about one-point-seven-seven meters tall, sixty kilos, nearly twenty-three years of age, brown hair, brown eyes, Lyian by heritage, a very skilled bounty hunter. Shall I go on?"

"Only if you know something that we don't," the Commodore replied, anger edging into his voice. Fett simply grinned. The information he had given really didn't mean anything, especially to people who had all of it in prison records and criminal files. His daughter's Lyian-heritage was a recent discovery and he was sure the Lyians at least suspected it, if they did not know for sure. Apparently Aena Lytio's father (Keilana's maternal grandfather) had been a well-to-do Lyian business man connected to a powerful crime syndicate within the Cluster. Aena, who had been accepted into the syndicate as a young woman, had been a rather skilled assassin before being banished from the Cluster due to a messy job and the discovery of her allegiances. That was when her fall had started and Fett was sure she had hit rock bottom some time in the past several years. He did not know what had happened to his daughter's mother, except that she had somehow escaped death and was now hiding in the Outer Rim.

"I'm sure I do," Fett said simply. "But I'm not just giving it up. I'd expect a hefty sum for this intel, if I choose to share it, that is."

Leaning forward and placing his hands on the yokes, Fett checked his displays. He had stalled long enough; his engines would be able to rip him out of the tractor beam with little damage to the ship.

"And what is so valuable about your supposed information for me to initiate this exchange?"

Fett grinned even though the Commodore wouldn't be able to see it and slammed his foot down on a small pedal to feed extra fuel to the engines.

"I know where she is, is all," he said just before shooting off for deep space. Plotting a course, Fett made a microjump away from the ship as soon as he was out of the interdictor's range. Checking his displays to make sure he hadn't been followed, Fett started plotting another, longer jump that would take him to a system near his final destination.

At first, he ignored the alarm that started buzzing over his head. Hitting a button to silence it, he went back to his work until a female voice filled his ear.

"Captain," it said. Fett literally jumped in his seat and swore. "That is no language to speak in the presence of a woman."

"Then don't sneak up on me like that," he said, swinging his ship around until he came into visual contact with a TIE and its two wingmates. Phantoms. Great. The tips of their stabilizers started to glow as the cannons powered up and Fett swore to himself this time. For some unexplained reason, however, he was not compelled to move.

"Captain," the woman said again, "I was originally sent out here to bring you back to the Rhapsody. However, upon your final statement, I made the split decision to pursue you for my own reasons."

"And what are those reasons? To get revenge on the fugitive bounty hunter?"

"No, to return a favor. She saved my life and I did not succeed in saving hers upon my safe return home. If it is discovered that I followed you to help with Keilana's well-being, I will be banished from the Cluster and stripped of my names and rank, but I have decided that this is well worth it. I cannot allow a favor to go unreturned and I will not live the rest of my life waiting for an opportunity. I am in her debt."

Fett rose his brow, impressed by the woman's speech. There was just one thing he was confused about…

"How do you know that she's in danger?"

"There have been…rumors," she said slowly. "Rumors that she has been captured by a crime syndicate working out of the Cluster. Keilana would hardly draw a capital ship, an interdictor, a squadron of Phantoms—my Eidolon Squad, no less—and fifteen flights of TIEs out of Lye on her own. No, the Commodore is planning on capturing a wanted criminal and destroying a syndicate all in one blow."

"And you believe this syndicate has Keilana?"

"Yes," the woman said. "Now, I am only confused as to why you are here looking for her."

"My reasons are my own."

"I see," the woman clipped. "Well, if we are going to be working together, I do expect a bit more honesty. "

"Whoa there, woman," Fett growled, his eyes narrowing at her through the void of space. He could see her moving in her cockpit. "Who says we'll be working together?"

"I do," the woman said. "My name is Seva Caiterina Rai'en Rasputin Se'Czaria, daughter to Lord Severus Rai'en Aidale Nytel Se'Czaria of the Second House of the Katana of the planet Lye. I demand that you tell me your name or this agreement will be very short."

Fett smiled to himself. He had hardly believed his decoy signal had worked on the capital ship and the fact that this woman didn't recognize his ship was almost too much. This would be fun.

"I don't exist, my Lady. My name is of no importance."

Seva growled something in her native language and Fett chuckled.

"My pleasure to accommodate you, too. Now if you want to honor your debt to Keilana, you will connect your navicomputers to mine and allow me full control of navigation."

"How do I know that you aren't leading us into a trap."

"You don't, but you'll just have to trust me. I don't like this anymore than you do, Lady, but I'd rather not rot in your prison and I'm sure that you would like to live the remainder of your life inside the Cluster. Either you give up control or I book it out of here and leave you to your Commodore. I have little preference."

The comm clicked and Fett turned back to his computer. He had patience after raising Keilana but time was short and he didn't have enough to waste on a snotty politician's daughter. Her conflicts were none of his concern.

Just as he was about to give up on the Lyians and jump, the comm clicked in his ear and Seva's voice came through.

"We are patching through to your computers now, Captain. My wingmates are not pleased nor am I."

"This isn't a picnic for me, either," Fett responded as he typed a sequence into his controls in order to lock the three TIEs to his ship. "And just so you Lyians know, we have three microjumps and a thirty-six hour run ahead of us. Enjoy."

---

"Papa!" She yelled, running across the hot sand. "Wait for me! Don't leave me behind!"

She reached out for the figure hidden in the sandstorm and started to cry. She didn't want to be left in the desert alone.

"Papa!" She cried harder, the tears falling in streaks down her filthy face, her long hair falling into her eyes and covering her vision. "Wait…!"

She fell to her knees, the heat penetrating her thin clothing, the air suffocating her with every breath. The sand was too thick to see through now and the air was becoming clogged as the storm raged in around her. Clinging to a torn and dirty bantha doll, she buried her face into the worn hide and started to wail, the moans leaving her lips without sound.

After a time, the screaming wind began to die and the sun became less intense. When she looked up, she was no longer in the middle of a desert. There was water, a city, white sand. Naboo. Looking down at her hands, she was not surprised to find them long and calloused. Tendons stood out from her white skin, long and powerful.

A splash sounded to her left and she looked up to see herself as an adolescent emerging from the water. She moved with the grace of a killer despite being so young; every muscle in her body was lean and fit. She pulled on a dry tunic and boots that had been left on the shore before passing by and walking towards a ship parked not very far away. The Slave

Standing, she followed her adolescent self into the familiar ship and was not surprised to find a standoff between a half-breed prostitute, herself, and Boba Fett taking place. This was all so familiar; it had happened before. That had been her at the age of fifteen, ready to run and ready to kill.

Pew-pew…

She was brought back to the scene and out of her thoughts by the sound of blaster fire. The half-breed ran past her and out of the ship. By the time she looked back, the blaster had disappeared and Fett and herself were arguing over something, the words lost to time. With a rude gesture, her adolescent self spun away to leave the argument only to be forced back by the powerful hand of Fett on her shoulder. Screaming ensued before she watched herself slip by the man and into a cabin.

She blinked. The scene changed.

"Where do you think you're going, girl?"

She was packing things into a duffle bag.

"Away from you," she heard herself say. "Away from this fucking ship."

"You can't leave."

"Just watch me."

She spun around the moment he grabbed her shoulder and ground a blaster into his gut. He hardly grimaced.

"There's no need for that."

"Get out of my way, old man."

He regarded her for a moment and shook his head.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Wouldn't I?"

She began to squeeze the trigger; he didn't know the gun was locked. In an instant, she was thrown across the room, her head hitting the wall with a mind numbing THWAP! The room span for a moment. She stood up.

Taking off at a dead run, she shoved him out of the way before sprinting off the ship and into the city.

She stopped. Her head didn't hurt. It was dark. A baby cried. She wailed.

Before her stood a man. A young man. A boy. Her son. His eyes were bright, his irises barely visible for their colour. They were blue. This wasn't Jaxon.

Her vision tunneled as she was thrown backwards into space to hover above the galaxy; the stars flickered violently. The man held a lightsaber high above his head, the galaxy rolling beneath him, the planets burning. He laughed, his blue eyes flashing with delight and anger.

"No!" She cried as she fell.

He laughed harder.

She kept falling.

"Nooo!" Keilana's throat tore with the scream and she started coughing violently. Spitting up a glob of blood, she looked at the three Jedi and blinked several times.

"Are you all right? Keilana?" Jacen looked at her from where he sat across the room. His face was red from the constant, harsh light and his skin was glistening. The raw tattoo on his shoulder was puffy and looked infected but his mind was only on Keilana and his concern for her.

It wasn't until all three of the Jedi were studying her intently that she said something.

"It started out as a dream," she said slowly, her throat raw from her cry. "Just a dream like any dream I've had before. I was lost in the desert, I was getting off my father's ship, arguments, whores, nothing out of the ordinary."

"You don't tear up your throat over ordinary dreams," Kyp said, rubbing at the scabs on his wrists. No one had come to replace his restraints just as no food or water had dropped through the ceiling in quite some time. The four of them were starting to weaken and sleep was a persistent thing.

"And then," Keilana said, continuing without hearing Kyp, "and then I saw a man. Not Jaxon. Jaxon's eyes are green."

"His eyes are brown, Keilana."

"No, no," Keilana continued. "They've haunted me for my entire life and now he has them. I'm sure he has them. She has them. He'll have them."

Jaina and Jacen looked at each other before looking to Kyp who shrugged. He had no idea what to do.

"He'll have them," Keilana repeated. "But his eyes were blue, and the galaxy was burning, but he was mine."

"Wait," Kyp said. Keilana finally looked up at him, which he took for a good sign. Her eyes, however, were not focused. "Did you say the galaxy was burning?"

"And my son was laughing. He held a lightsaber. But his eyes were blue; he wasn't Jaxon."

Kyp, though worried from the start, grew concerned with Keilana's current state. A lack of water and food shouldn't bring this on, at least not so quickly. He stood up and crossed the small room to Keilana but she stood as well and darted away from him. Turning her back on the three Jedi, she pulled at her restraints and they broke with little effort. Kyp stopped in his tracks as he strained to touch the Force. The moment he grasped it, he reached out for Keilana and was physically repelled away from her. A fantastic storm was brewing around the woman.

Glancing back at the Jedi, Keilana tilted her head to one side. She was obviously in a state of delusion.

"You should eat something, Kyp. We need you in top physical condition if we are going to get out of here." Her dark eyes lightened slightly and changed from brown to a very dark green in the matter of a moment. Again, the three Jedi exchanged glances. Something was very wrong.

Turning, Keilana came up on the balls of her feet and walked a meter away from the Jedi before spinning in a circle like a dancer. Llywen had come to take away their boots at one point; no one remembered precisely when it had happened.

"You said the galaxy was burning," Jacen prompted this time, hoping to learn more about Keilana's vision.

"And it rolled as if trapped in Kamino's waves. It heaved to and fro, the planets burning, the stars poofing out of existence all while he stood atop it laughing in triumph. His eyes belong to Ganner; he won't live to see his son fall."

She held out her arms and looked up to the mirrored ceiling before slowly spinning in another circle.

"He's only nineteen." She arched her back as she said this and lowered into a slow, precise handstand, her movements almost unreal as she touched her bare feet to the floor once again, several meters away from where she had been standing.

After consulting the twins with nothing but significant glances, Kyp started once again towards Keilana. If he was just quick…

Before he could get close enough to induce unconsciousness, Keilana spun towards him and flung him away from her with little effort. He hit the wall hard enough to shatter the mirror; his head made a sickly sound as it made contact with the wall and the big Jedi fell limp to the ground. Jacen and Jaina were on their feet before Kyp landed on the floor, their hands free of the restraints the moment they touched the Force. Keilana glanced at them, her eyes a lighter shade of green, her expression blank.

Jaina started forward this time and just as Keilana responded, Jacen leapt for the woman, knocking her to the ground. Before Keilana could react, he sent a jolt of Force energy through her spine and into her brain. The woman fell limp beneath him, her chest rising and falling steadily. She was unharmed but no longer a danger to the three Jedi. At least not for the time being.

Jaina looked at the woman before looking at Jacen.

"She's falling Jacen."

"That vision was too much for her mind to handle."

"Do you think it will come true?"

"The future…"

"…is always in motion. Yes, I know. But, Jacen, you have to think something."

"I think that whatever it is she saw terrified her." Jacen watched the sleeping woman as he stood up. Wiping his hands on his trousers and touching his infected tattoo lightly, he grimaced. "We need to get out of here, Jaina. The longer we stay the farther Keilana will fall into her mind and towards darkness. And now, now she's no longer just a danger to herself."

He turned towards Kyp and crouched next to the older man. Putting his hands on the back of Kyp's skull, he felt around for a moment before regarding the blood on his hands.

"He's skull seems to be intact but he'll probably be out for some time. Keilana really put some power behind that shove." He used the Force to lift Kyp into the air and away from the shattered glass. "Come help me get this glass out of his back. If you have any spare fabric to bind his bigger wounds, it would be appreciated."

Jaina glanced at her clothing before sighing and removing her tunic. Handing the piece of clothing to Jacen, he tugged at her sweat-stained undershirt and crinkled her nose in disgust.

"I feel gross."

"You smell gross, too," Jacen said with a strained laugh. Jaina looked up at him with a slight smile as she accepted the torn piece of fabric he handed her.

"I think that's you, Jace," she replied as she started to remove Kyp's blood-soaked tunic. His back was bleeding from multiple wounds and was already starting to bruise where the glass hadn't torn at his flesh. Jaina frowned in sympathy as she started to remove the mirror shards that were still stuck in the big Jedi.

---

Keilana groaned as she opened her eyes. Her head hurt. Pushing herself into a sitting position, Keilana looked around. The twins were sitting against the opposite wall, watching her; Kyp was sleeping halfway between herself and them. Blinking several times, she held her face in her hands.

"What happened?" She asked, rubbing at her throat. It was raw and she did not know why. "Why is that mirror broken? How did Kyp get injured?"

The twins looked at each other before Jacen opened his mouth to speak.

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what?" Keilana pulled her knees to her chest.

"You had an episode, Keilana," Jaina said. "A vision. And then you freaked out. Kyp was trying to help you and you tossed him across the room like a rag doll. Luckily, Jacen and I managed to knock you out before you went totally insane. It happened…" She looked at her brother. "Yesterday. Maybe. I've lost all track of time."

Keilana's eyes widened as she stood up and kneeled next to Kyp. Brushing a lock of hair out of his eyes, Keilana frowned.

"What did I see?"

"Something terrible."

"Tell me."

The twins looked at each other.

"I think it would be best if we didn't tell you, Keilana," Jacen said. "Maybe when we aren't under duress and out of all this, but I don't want to trigger another episode."

Keilana tilted her head to one side.

"Fair enough," she said after a moment. Standing up, Keilana touched one of the mirrors.

"I wish they would give us some food. I'm starving."

"I think they're trying to keep us weak," Jaina said, her eyes moving to Kyp as he moaned and started to move. "Something big is going to happen."

Keilana stepped away from the mirror and sat down next to Kyp as he pushed himself up onto his knees.

"Sorry," she said when he looked at her.

" 'Snot…your fault." Kyp touched his side and groaned rather loudly. "I shouldn't have assumed that my fourteen years of training would be able stop you."

Keilana grinned.

"Sorry."

"Just don't do it again."

"I'll see what I can do."

Kyp was just about to say something else when one of the panels slid open and Llywen du Kiins stepped through. She held the pommel of a double-bladed lightsaber in her right hand and was looking at Keilana.

"The Crimelord wishes to speak with you—all of you. It's time for you to make your decision, Fett."