Ezra quickly hid the tablet he had been reading under his pillow at the sound of his Master's footsteps coming towards his door. Looking up as the doors swooshed open, his eyes met those of his Master, Caleb Dume. "Pack your things Ezra, we are going on a trip." "Where to Master?" he asked as he moved to do so. He picked up his lightsaber that held a secret from the other Jedi, except for his Master of course. Not even his friends, Luke and Leia, knew that he could fire a shot from it.
The Jedi Council wouldn't approve, his Master had told him, but after things he had seen in the war, when a time to have a good blaster by his side would have served him and his own Master, Depa, Caleb didn't force his pupil to change it. He realized his Master had started speaking and forced himself to concentrate on what he was saying as he grabbed a bag to throw his extra clothes in.
"We are going to Naboo. The Queen has received death threats from the bounty hunter Boba Fett and considering he is a Clone of Jango Fett just like Rex and the others, we can't afford to take chances. We'll be going undercover in the palace and just in case our names our recognizable, we need to use an alias while we do so. I'll be Kanan Jarrus from the moment we leave the Temple and you shall be Dev Morgan."
"Alrighty Mas… Kanan." Ezra said with a wink. Grabbing clothes that looked like they belonged to anyone but a Jedi, he headed to the refresher to change as his Master also went to do so. Ezra skillfully hid his Padawan braid, he and his Master having often been put on undercover jobs due to their status of not being well known, and so he had a lot of practice doing this task. However, this was the first time they had completely changed their names, usually just changing their last was enough.
XXX
Soon Ezra and his Master were walking the same spaceport Ahsoka and Leia had departed from just hours earlier. Caleb stopped in front of hanger that a Lasat was standing outside of and asked "Excuse me, do you know if the ship inside open for hire?" "I believe Hera is looking to take on a job, go ahead aboard the Ghost and ask her." The Lasat responded. "Thank you." Caleb said, then motioned for Ezra to follow him.
Inside they ran into a grumpy droid who begrudgingly led them to the cockpit. As they passed a room, Ezra heard the sounds of something being sprayed. Peaking inside, he saw a girl in full Mandalorian armor who was painting something on the wall. Before she could turn around and spot him, he moved to catch up with his Master and the droid who had introduced himself as Chopper.
Inside the cockpit, a female Twi'lek worked on something on the control panel. Chopper beeped, getting her attention and, upon seeing the two human males standing there, wiped her hands on her pants and stood up. As she offered her hand she said "Sorry, didn't hear you come in. I'm Hera, pilot of the Ghost, can I help you?"
"I'm Kanan Jarrus and this is my ward, Dev Morgan. We are needing to hire a ship to take us to Naboo and the Lasat outside said you might be looking to hire out. If so, I am hoping we can work out a deal." Hera gave him a smile and said "That I am, in fact we can leave as soon as Zeb, the Lasat you mentioned, gets back with some Meiloorun fruit. Let's see if we can come to terms on the price."
This part of their travels always bored Ezra so he wandered off as the adults started talking. Finding a ladder that led up, he had almost decided on climbing it when a girl's voice said "That leads to our mini ship, the Phantom." Startled, Ezra turned around to see the same girl he saw earlier. This time, her helmet was removed and he could see her face. Judging by what he saw he would put her at just a couple of years older than him, but he couldn't say for sure.
"I'm Dev Morgan, who are you?" he asked. "Sabine Wren." The girl replied, "I am staying with my mom's friend while she does some political stuff back home." The girl sounded both thrilled and sad about this, and Ezra was pretty sure he knew why. While this girl was lucky enough to have at least one of her parents, by the tone of her voice he could tell she probably knew just as much about her mom as he did his parents.
Before he could respond to her comment, Hera followed by his Master came in and said "Oh good you two have met." Her tone implied that she felt Sabine needed more friends or maybe even just needed a friend period. The next few minutes where filled with a whirlwind tour ending at the room they would be sharing. "I hope you don't mind sharing a room, but it's the last one I have open at the moment." Hera stated.
"We don't mind at all. Besides I can keep a better eye on Dev here." Caleb said, gently socking Ezra in the arm. Ezra chuckled as he rubbed his arm absentmindedly. Just then the Lasat, Zeb if he remember correctly, returned carrying a small crate of Meiloorun fruit. "Well now that everybody is hear, we can get this show on the road." Hera said, as she turned to head back in the direction of the cockpit, Caleb close behind her.
Ezra listened as Sabine filled Zeb in on what the job was before he went off to put the fruit away. Sabine then turned to Ezra and said "Come on, I'll show you the best place to watch from as we take off." He followed her down into the lower turret and they both settled around the chair that the operator of the lower gun would sit in. He had to admit, watching the ground fade from blue all the way to the streaks of hyperspace, that this was the best location to view it from, minus possibly the cockpit.
XXX
Ezra had to admit, the palace was stunning, what he could see of it as they flew past it anyways. They soon landed in a hanger that they had been assigned to, to Hera's delight it was near a market. She was hoping to secure some cargo for her return trip to Coruscant. "Will you be wanting a ride back?" she asked Caleb as the ship gently came to a rest on the ground. "Yes, however I am not sure how long our business here will keep us, so feel free to take off. We can always get another ride back."
"Well, I might spend a week here so if you finish before then look for us here and I'll charge you the same fee as before." She said as she shut down the Ghost. "We'll do that." Caleb said as he stood. Exchanging some last farewells, he went and collected Ezra before exiting the Ghost. Ezra waved goodbye to Sabine, wondering if he would ever see her again.
Soon they reached the gate to the palace, where Caleb asked to see either Panaka or Grehar Typho. They were soon met not by just one, but both of the uncle/nephew captains. Caleb quickly informed them that they had been sent by the Jedi Council and they were whisked away to a private conference with both of them and the present Queen of Naboo. There, Caleb was outfitted with a uniform much like Panaka and Grehar's while Ezra was given one for a lower ranking soldier.
The four of them were to constantly be with the Queen, Panaka and Grehar keeping the day hours while Caleb and Ezra the night, until Boba Fett either made his move, dropped her as a target, or he was somehow taken out of the picture. Ezra hesitated to ask a question, after all he was only ten, but he decided to do so anyways and so he asked "Are we even sure it's Boba Fett that is coming after you, your majesty? I mean usually bounty hunters, especially Boba, are so silent about their work, at least until its complete. It seems odd for Boba to not only be mad at you but to announce that he is after you."
The Queen seemed to consider this for a moment, though you could only tell by looking at her eyes, so stoic was the rest of her face. Finally she responded "You could be right young Jedi, but I would rather be safe than sorry, wouldn't you?" Ezra nodded, starting to feel foolish for having mentioned it, before she continued "However, we really should be looking into this theory a bit more I think. Panaka, see what your men can find out about Boba Fett's whereabouts."
"Of course your Majesty." Panaka said, before he hurried off to get some of his men started on this possible trail. Once he returned, Ezra and Caleb were given a quick tour of the palace before being shown their sleeping quarters. They gratefully sank unto their beds, knowing that the possibility of many long nights were in their futures.