Chapter Text
Kanan and Hera approached the agreed upon meet up point. Vizago had been using the outcrop by Tarkin town for exchanges for a while now, the towering rock spires providing perfect cover from prying eyes. The locals were also a plus. The ex-farmers having no love for the empire, were unlikely to report him to the local authorities.
In the clearing Vizago stood, datapad in hand. The green skinned Devaronian directed his droids as they carried various supplies to his ship, getting ready to take his wares and sell them to his many buyers.
“Ah, Kanan! Hera! You made it” The crime lord greeted, a confused look crossing his face as he realised the pair was empty handed. “Without the shipment I see”
Kanan decided to be diplomatic in this situation, going back to his jedi roots to reach a favourable outcome. “About that, we believe th—” he began, only for Hera to stride past him, her Lekku twitching in anger.
“The tip you gave us was a load of Bantha crap”, the pilot accused, jabbing a finger at the larger beings chest. Both Kanan and the guard droids stood motionless as the enraged Twilek vented her frustration towards the crime lord.
“My crew put themselves in danger and waisted valuable resources to secure the shipment” Hera continued, Kanan swearing he heard a hint of her native accent breaking through. “Only for it to turn out empty!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa” Vizago said, holding up his datapad like a small shield as Hera laid into him, his IG units finally putting themselves between him and the unexpected threat.
“The tip was good, I can ensure you that” He defended, regaining his composure. “Even if the intel was bad, that’s hardly my problem, you of all people should know there’s no guarantees in this line of work”
“You waisted our time and money for a job that turned out to be a dud, the least you can do is compensate us” Hera shot back, Kanan doing his best to subtly calm her with the force, her signature not having any of it.
“Sorry sweetheart, but that’s not how this works” Vizago explained in a condescending tone, Kanan having to place his hand on Hera’s shoulder to prevent her from attacking Vizago again for his unwise choice of words. He was seriously regretting bringing Hera along.
“No shipment no pay” Vizago stated, not leaving any room for argument.
Internally, Vizago was taken aback by the faulty tip. While he often dealt with questionable intel, the source who had made him aware about the shipment had always been reliable in the past, It couldn’t be the intel which was bad.
Only now did he remember the second party he gave the tip to, a slight chuckle escaping his lips as he realised who had bested Jarrus’ crew.
“Something amusing you?” Kanan asked, Hera resting her hands on her hips, partly as a display of her annoyance but mostly to stop herself from whacking the smug look of the Devaronian’s face.
“Just looks like I will be doing business with somebody else today” He replied, spotting the young thief drive towards them, supply crate in tow.
Both Hera and Kanan turned towards the sound of an approaching speeder bike.
Ezra stopped in his tracks when he spotted the third pirate with an unfamiliar Twilek at the meeting point, cursing his recent turn of fortune. He couldn’t help but feel like the man recognised him which should be impossible considering he was wearing a disguise last time they “met”.
“Finally someone who can deliver” Vizago congratulated, striding towards his younger client to inspect the crate, uncaring for the simmering tension between the spectres and the kid.
“Any trouble procuring these lovely ladies?” He asked, turning one of the blasters in his hand.
“Nothing I couldn’t handle” Ezra responded, casting a cold sidelong glance at the pair of strangers. “Your intel was accurate”
Kanan decided to speak up. “Wait, you hired somebody else to do the job?” he questioned.
“And a child no less!” Hera added, keeping more measured control of her tone in the presence of the young boy, her already poor opinion of Vizago plummeting to new depths
Before Vizago could get a handle on the situation, the last two sentient members of the ghost crew turned up, the tension escalating dramatically as the Lasat spotted the boy.
“There you are, LOTH RAT” Zeb’s bellow echoed through the rocky clearing, still fuming from their last encounter.
Ezra quickly armed himself with one of the blasters, levelling the barrel squarely at the Lasats head. “So sure you will survive round two furball?” Ezra hurled back, confident with a more deadly weapon in his hands. Momentarily Ezra questioned whether he could go through with taking another beings life but quickly decided he would if had no other choice. He had already forfeited so many of the values his parents instilled in him to survive this long on his own, what was one more?
Vizago audibly groaned as the rest of the ghost crew unholstered their weapons, the situation growing messier by the moment. “Now, now” Vizago attempted to defuse, “Let’s use our words here, just lower your weapons—”
“Not until the pip squeak lowers his” Zeb barked, his patients worn thin by the smug teen.
“Nuh uh” Ezra shot back, tightening his grip on the weapon, “These guys tried to mug me no more than 5 minutes ago. If anyone should be standing down, it should be them”.
Hera shot Sabine and Zeb a disappointed look, annoyed they even considered stealing from the kid, even if they did really needed the credits.
“Those are our blasters” The Lasat exclaimed.
“Too bad, I got to them first” Ezra yelled back as the two got into a shouting match.
“Enough” Vizago ordered, all of his droids raising their own blasters at a press of a button. The crew now surrounded and heavily outnumbered.
With a grunt, Zeb reluctantly lowered his bow rifle and secured it across his shoulder, the rest of the spectres followed suit. Zeb really hated that kid.
Satisfied no more blasters where pointed his way, Ezra slowly returned the blaster to the crate. He was grateful the standoff had ended for now.
“Listen here” The crime lord began to lecture, his tone firm as he regained full control, “Who I work with is my business and none of your concern” His gaze bore into the Twilek, emphasising his message. “I can and will give my tips to whomever I like. Whoever delivers gets paid. If you don’t like it, you can always find jobs elsewhere. Have I made myself clear?”
The four spectres nodded in unison, not wanting Vizago to release his droids upon them.
“Now that’s sorted, we can finally get down to business” The crime lord shifting back to his more easy going demeanor. “I was hoping to exchange part of the bounty for some intel your crew has been begging after, but it seems you have nothing to offer me in return”
“The Wookiees?” Hera excitedly asked, having been searching for a missing grove of them for some time now.
“The Wookiees” Vizago confirmed, “If you are still interested we could discuss another form of payment once I have compensated my young friend Dev for actually delivering the blasters I asked for”, one of his droids retrieving his case of credits.
Ezra closely watched as Vizago counted out the credits, the Devaronian grumbling to himself as he remembered he owed Ezra an extra two thousand as well.
“Hey” Kanan interjected, “You agreed to pay us six thousand for the shipment. Why does the kid get eight?”
“Again, none of your business” Vizago scolded, getting increasingly fed up with this exchange. “If you want that intel, I suggest you wait your turn”. The jedi in hiding bit back any further retort, realising that arguing further would only complicate matters.
As the credits were placed into Ezra’s hands, he noticed something unexpected amongst the golden chips, the device resembling a comm link. He shot Vizago a questioning look.
“You have proven yourself capable and worthy of my time” Vizago explained, keeping true to his deal from the bar, even if he didn’t think the Loth rat could pull it off at the time. “I’ll contact you next time I have a job for you to do”, now recognising the kids potential.
“I’ll keep in touch” Ezra assured, carefully concealing his excitement of having so many credits in his possession.
With a friendly salute he made his leave, eager to get as much distance between himself and the pirates as possible. However before he could disappear into the long grass a voice called out.
“Hey Kid” The female Twilek stepped forward, “I know we didn’t get off to the best start, but we could offer you a lift back home”, She offered. Ezra didn’t sense any malice in her words, having gotten good at detecting lies over the years. Her intentions seemed genuine.
Even if his gut was telling him it was safe enough, he defiantly didn’t trust them, considering two of their members tried to rob him. It was her next comment that really solidified his decision though.
“It’s the least we could do for all the trouble we caused and would put me at ease knowing you got back home safe, I’m sure your parents are worried sick about you”.
With that, Ezra left, not dignifying her with a response as he gave her his dirtiest look.
Hera’s mouth hung open as the boy sped off, unsure what she said to receive such a cold response from someone so young.
“Who is that Kid?” Kanan asked allowed, surprised to have felt him read Hera’s signature without any formal training.
“You know I don’t disclose the details of my clients” Vizago reminded. “Now then, I take it that you don’t have much in credits for the intel on the Wookiees” Vizago figured.
“We can do a job for you after for reduced pay” Kanan suggested, confirming Vizago’s suspicion.
“No commission for your next job or we don’t have a deal” Vizago countered, his smug grin revealing his satisfaction. He could have agreed to their terms, but he wanted to punish the crew for their poor conduct, they did nearly start a shootout after all.
“You can’t be serious” Hera argued, trying to reason with the crime lord. “We need to make credits somehow”
“Not my problem” Vizago shot back. “Now, do you want the intel or not?”
Kanan relented, shaking Vizago’s hand as he accepted the data chip. “So what do you need from us?”
“Hmm, today nothing, tomorrow who knows?” Vizago mocked as he shrugged his shoulders, “I’ll let you know when I want to collect”.
Having deadlines to keep to, Vizago made his way to the broken horn to sell his collected goods.
A few hours later
Ezra sat at his work station as he stared at the savoury pastry he bought on the way back to his rundown tower, the aroma alone almost making him salivate. He had never been able to indulge before. The last few years having lived off the scraps he could steal from the farmers market or scavenge from bins. Every credit he got his hands on was purely saved for fuel to keep his heater running throughout the harsh winters. Even then he had to use it sparingly, the decrepit generator barely able to keep his small home above freezing.
Refusing to wait any longer, Ezra took a large bite, instantly hit by the rich flavour of unspoiled meat. The crispy yet not stale puff pastry providing a wonderful sensation in his mouth that he hadn’t experienced in years. Part of him didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as it was just as he remembered.
Memories of time spent with his parents came flooding from the depths of his mind, his mother or father often getting him one after he got a good report from school or if it was a special occasion, like his birthday…
Shaking his head, Ezra pushed the images down as he took the last bite, only to realise he never had a whole one to himself before. One of his parents would always ask for a bite, teaching his younger self to share as he pulled a little pout, not knowing what is was like to have no one to share with at the time, no one to care, to worry. Not knowing what it was like to have no real home.
Ezra stood up abruptly as he chucked the paper wrapper in his bin, refusing to let his mind wonder any further down memory lane, blaming the Twilek’s comment about his parents for his moment of weakness. He didn’t even wipe the tear from his eye, not giving it the satisfaction of his acknowledgment.
Instead he occupied himself with planning improvements for his home, a long list of upgrades he wanted to make. A proper bed to sleep on rather than a rag, new lights to replace the flickering ones, a fixed refresher, a new boiler. The very idea of having a working shower making him giddy.
For the first time in his life he had credits to spare and a way to make more and he was going to make the most of it. Gone where the days he would go to bed hungry and shiver himself to sleep.
The Ghost
Kanan slumped onto the couch in the ghost’s lounge, resting his weary head as the rest of the crew called it a night. Their morale at an all time low after the disappointing mission.
The intel Vizago had given them led the crew straight into a trap, the Empire using their will to help others against them. Both he and Zeb had nearly been captured as a large group of troopers revealed themselves behind a doorway.
Having been caught off guard he had to resolve to using the force to push the troopers back so they could get away, revealing himself as a jedi in the process. He could only hope that he knocked out most of the troopers. At least the footage had been destroyed with prison transport, putting him slightly at ease. The last thing he and the crew needed was the Empire devoting more resources to hunt him down.