.

Rose of Naboo

Chapter Three: "Discovered"

(o)-,-'—


The meeting with Senator Mothma went as well as expected. She was a slightly haughty woman but for good reason: Her family was one of the wealthiest in Hanna City. It was the main reason why Bail Organa had taken such a huge risk in meeting with her. He was one of a dozen leaders left who had stayed loyal to the Republic after the Emperor's coup.

He suspected the galaxy's newest leader was keeping a close eye on him, but it took a lot of credits to finance a rebellion and Mothma had just promised him a substantial amount. They were nearly halfway to their goal. Now, all he had to do was make it back home to Alderaan where he had essentially been put under house arrest. He wasn't supposed to leave the planet without permission.

Bail had always considered himself a bit of a rebel and had taken risks before. He was the one who had delivered Jedi Masters Yoda and Kenobi to safety and delivered Senator Amidala to her final resting place. He was well aware of the dangers of going against the emperor and had seen for himself just how long the reach of Palpatine was. His tyrannical reign had permeated nearly every system in the galaxy in a short time; his troops patrolling every outpost on every hospitable planet; Chandrila included.

Here, in Hanna City, Bail thought he could blend in. His appearance was similar, and he even though he had brought his personal bodyguard with him, he'd rented a local transport to take him where he needed to go. He'd even left his private ship, the Sundered Heart, back on Alderaan. Still, he was being careful.

As he made his way back to his personal transport, Bail caught sight of several Stormtroopers heading his way. He ducked into an alley and pulled the hood of his cloak over his head. He leaned against the stone wall and watched them walk by, freezing in place when they stopped a human female directly in front of him.

"As a citizen of the Empire, your cooperation is mandatory," they told the Chandrilian brusquely before producing a 3-D holographic image emitted from a palm projector. "Have you seen this woman?"

Bail shrunk back even further against the wall and turned his head. He could not only hear the conversation, but the soldiers were also standing close enough for him to view the image. The woman they had accosted shook her head negatively but Bail had recognized her. The image he'd identified, however, made absolutely no sense.

Why were Stormtroopers demanding to know the whereabouts of Senator Amidala, when he knew for a fact her body was lying in the Queen's Mausoleum in Theed? He'd attended the funeral himself!

In this day and age, what he'd once considered fact wasn't necessarily proof. Did he not always believe the Jedi would be here to protect the innocent? And that democracy would prevail? In the past few years, he'd learned not to trust in things he'd once thought were dependable. They'd only proven to disappoint him.

But this was too strange not to investigate and as soon as the area was clear, he returned to his vehicle, shielded the windows, and told his driver to patrol the streets. If indeed these soldiers were looking for someone who even remotely resembled the deceased Senator Amidala, she was in danger and would need his help. There was no telling what Darth Vader would do to the girl.

As his driver turned left onto Junari Street, Bail noticed a male youth emerging from a basement stairwell. As he stepped up onto the walkway, a gust of wind blew back his black hood and Bail demanded his driver stop. It wasn't a male after all and not even a youth. It was a young woman who'd caught his attention and one with a very familiar face. He would recognize it anywhere. As a past Senator himself, he'd worked beside Padme Amidala for many years. They were usually on the same side of every issue and had the same beliefs. In fact, they were both strong supporters of the Republic and members of the Loyalist Committee. He knew her quite well. This was who the Stormtroopers were looking for. It had to be.

Too bad for them. He'd found her first.

After assuring his bodyguard he'd be careful and be right back, Bail exited the vehicle and followed the young woman. Soon, she turned down an alley. He did the same, only to come face to face with the barrel of a silver blaster.

"Who are you and why are you following me?" the petite female demanded.

Peculiar, thought Bail. Not only did he recognize the face, but the voice matched as well. That was where the similarities ended. This woman's eyes were heavily lined with black kohl, her hair dyed bleach blonde and cut short.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "I thought you were someone I knew."

She eyed him skeptically and cautiously, keeping the blaster leveled at his nose, he noticed. "Oh, really? And you just wanted to say hi, perhaps buy me a drink? Save it."

"All right," he admitted with as much sincerity as he could manage, "here's the truth. If you haven't noticed, there are Imperial Stormtroopers combing the city with a holo-image of someone who looks remarkably like you. I'm not a fan of the Empire and we can keep standing here and wait for them to find you or you can come with me now. I mean you no harm and can take you somewhere safe."

Her brown eyes shifted nervously as she apparently considered her options. "Why should I trust you?" she finally asked, lowering the pistol to chest level.

He smiled in a friendly manner. "Let me just say, you remind me of someone I once admired."

Just then, her eyes spied something across the street and she took a step to the side, using him to block her view. Bail twisted his head around and noticed his suggestion had just been visually supported. Directly across the road were three armored soldiers.

"Fine," she was forced to agree, "but just remember my blaster is going to be pointed at your back the entire time."

Bail led the way to his rented ride and told the driver to head to the spaceport. He kept the windows darkened but noticed the woman lay quite low, practically on the floor as they flew. When they arrived, Bail was disappointed to find the hangar was crawling with Stormtroopers, checking each and every ship, storage unit, and office. They were taking this far more serious than he'd initially believed.

"Stay close by me and keep your hood on," he advised. He wasn't worried about himself. His false identity information was secure; unless, of course, they had any type of scanner. During his travels, he'd yet to come across one yet. Hopefully, this check would be routine as well.

Two troopers stopped him just outside of the yellow flight line next to his ship.

"State your identification and destination," the soldier demanded, his gloved hands gripping an impressive blaster rifle.

"Janesh Shendu. I came here for a good time and got lucky. At least I'm about to be," he boasted in a vulgar manner.

The soldier reached out and roughly removed the hood covering half of the young woman's face and tipped her chin side to side with his finger. "Sweet," he said, which prompted her to jerk her head away and eye him angrily. "And feisty. Should be fun."

"Worth the price I hope," Bail stated pulling her closer to his side.

The helmeted trooper watched them both for a long moment before stepping aside. "You're free to go."

Once they'd boarded and the ramp sealed shut she released a sigh. "That was close. Let's get out of here."

"My thoughts exactly," Bail agreed, before taking the co-pilot's seat and helping to maneuver the ship out of the hanger. Once they had cleared Chandrila's orbit, he handed all controls back to his driver and returned to the rear of the ship.

"Jendu? That's not your real name is it?" she asked before taking a seat on a bench that ran the length of the wall.

"No. I'm Bail Organa, of the House of Organa. My wife is Queen of Alderaan," he answered truthfully, hoping to gain her trust.

She smirked instead. "Impressive. I'm Queen of Corellia, by the way. Thought I'd take a break from palace life, go out and see some sights. They're expecting me back at court soon, so we need to start heading that way."

"Corellia has a governing body, not a monarchy," Bail pointed out. "Why don't you tell me who you really are?"

The young woman stretched her shoulders and seemed to be deciding something. "Leira," she exclaimed abruptly as if the name had been picked from a list. "And that's all you need to know."

"Very well," the older man kindly replied. "It's nice to meet you, Leira."

A smirk lifted the corner of her mouth. "Your turn to tell me who you really are."

His driver chose the perfect time to stick his head through the doorway. "Returning to Alderaan as scheduled, your Majesty?"

"No," Bail responded. "Change of plans. Set coordinates for the Outer Rim."

"Yessir," the man replied before returning to the bridge.

"Ok," Leira stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. "Just for fun, let's say you're actually King of Alderaan. What do you want with me?"

Perhaps there was hope for her after all, Bail decided. The pistol she'd been brandishing earlier was still on her hip instead of aimed at him. "I'm taking you somewhere safe; the only place I know the Emperor chooses to ignore. At least for the time being. The planet is Tatooine. It's in the Outer Rim; some distance from here, so why don't you get some rest?"

Her brow was still skeptical, her eyes watching his every move. She didn't trust him completely, which was understandable.

"Feel free to take the bunk in back. I'll be on the bridge," he suggested before ducking beneath the doorway to head in that direction.

He'd told her nothing but the truth. If the Emperor wanted her that badly, he'd have to extend his search. No one ruled Tatooine except for a ruthless crime syndicate called the Hutts. Apparently, they'd made some sort of agreement with the Emperor which would keep him out of their business and off their base planet. It was the safest place for her to hide. It was also the best place for her to get help.

Only a few knew the location of one of the last Jedi left in the galaxy and Bail Organa was one of them. Tatooine was the hiding place of Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had taken up residence outside of the Dune Sea. He would take Leira there and see what Obi-Wan thought about all this.