Chapter 82

"Stand down lieutenant," Taun We snapped at the Kaminoan team leader.

Not out of a desire to help the mother and her child, she wanted them dead as much as the security team, but out of a desire for lives of the security team, and her own, to continue.

"But…" The kaminoan began to object but was soon cut of by Taun We, "NOW!"

The kaminoan security team lowered their weapons and backed away nervously but Renn and the others remained vigilant.

"Ah-hem," Taun We cleared her throat before beginning to speak.

"Noble bounty hunter, we beg that you respect our traditions and do not try to interfere with the internal laws and policies of Kamino." She said bowing respectfully towards Jango Fett, who responded by tilting his head slightly in confusion.

"You're better off telling him that," Jango said shrugging disinterestedly and nodding his head towards Renn.

Taun We turned to look at Renn, slightly unsure of herself, before beginning her speech again. "Oh, my apologies… honoured Guest—"

"Yeah, I heard you the first time," Renn interrupted her and began staring silently at the kaminoan.

Renn glanced behind himself at the Kaminoan mother and child, curled nervously in the corner of the room, and at Opal and Seela crouched protectively next to them.

If they did turn the mother and child over Renn knew that both of them would be killed, and he wasn't about to stand by and allow that to happen.

"And to answer your question. No, we're not just going to let you kill an innocent child, just because its eyes are a different colour." Renn said coldly while locking eyes with Taun We.

"But… our race only survived the great flood that drowned our planet by maintain strict control of our genetics… Any imperfect or undesirable being has to be culled… this was the only way we survived the flood and the only way our race has prospered so much." Taun We pleaded for them to see reason.

"Your planet was flooded thousands of years ago, you can't seriously be still basing your society on what happened then." Renn said while narrowing his eyes into a glare.

"It is the only way to sustain our society. If we allowed imperfect beings to remain, chaos would descend upon us." Taun We insisted, "They cannot be allowed to live on our planet."

"… Well, what if they weren't on your planet?" Renn asked after a short pause, and Taun We looked at him in confusion.

"If they weren't on your planet, you wouldn't have any reason to want them dead, would you?" Renn continued and Taun We looked like she might be agreeing with him.

"But it doesn't really matter, in the end. I'm taking them off world, Alive and Unharmed, and there isn't much you can do to stop me." He said simply, still staring straight into Taun We's big grey eyes.

Taun We was silent for a moment. She looked around and saw the glares directed at her and the security team, glares that promised violence, and sighed.

It might not have been how the kaminoan government would have liked the situation to end but it was probably the best result available.

Taun We had no doubt that Renn and the others would have no trouble cutting down her and the security team before making it to their ship and escaping with the mother and child.

She sighed again before gesturing for the security team to leave, which they did grudgingly, before responding to Renn.

"That is… acceptable."

-

"So… What are your names?" Opal asked, smiling happily at the Kaminoan mother who was sat terrified in the Speedy Vagabond's lounge.

The kaminoan seemed like she still couldn't believe that she was safe, and probably still would believe it until they had left Kamino's orbit.

The Speedy Vagabond was currently hurtling up through the clouds and towards space with Sapphire at the helm, as Renn and the others escorted the mother and child to safety.

They had left soon after the confrontation in the generator room, not wanting to stick around for long, and so after saying goodbye to Jango, his family, and the ARC troopers they had returned to their ship and left the ocean planet behind.

"…Teah Kinu." The kaminoan said quietly, still holding her child protectively to her chest, "…And this is my daughter… Nia Kinu."

"Awww, and she's sooo cute isn't she," Opal cooed excitedly while leaning over Teah and looking down at Nia.

"Leave her alone Opal," Seela said nudging Opal in the side with her shoulder.

"Can't you see your…making her… uncomfortable?.... Aww, you're just the cutest. Aren't you? Yes you are. Yes you are." She said before joining Opal in fussing over the baby.

Renn and Shae sat on a sofa opposite the small group and looked at them with rye smiles on their faces.

As they travelled further and further from Kamino Teah began to relax and open up to Renn and the girls.

The fact that Opal and Seela had spent around half an hour cooing and making funny faces directed towards Nia in an attempt to make the baby laugh had also helped in demonstrating that they meant the two kaminoans no harm.

Once they were safely in hyperspace Renn cleared his throat and leaned forwards to lock eyes with Teah.

"Teah, I'm sorry about everything that has happened to you, I know it must have been difficult, but we need to discuss what you what to do next." He said firmly, and Opal and Seela sat back down to let Teah speak.

"… I… I don't know…. we're all alone…. I've got nothing except Nia… I just want to keep her safe." Teah said and tears started welling up in her eyes as she spoke.

Opal shot Renn a glare for causing the woman to start crying, and he quickly started trying to calm her down.

"It's okay, don't worry," Renn said quickly, "It's not like we're just going to abandon the two of you. I was just asking if you wanted us to set you up with a new life far away from Kamino, or if you'd like to work for me."

"Really?" Teah sniffed before looking towards Renn hopefully.

"Yeah, whatever you want to do is no problem. We'll ever give you enough credits so you can live a nice easy life on some quite planet, or you work for me, we've got a range of jobs available, and we'd set you up with accommodation, support for your daughter, as well as protection."

Teah sat quietly for a moment, looking thoughtfully towards her daughter who was giggling and waving her arms towards Seela and Opal, before answering.

"I think I would like to work for you if you'd let me?" She asked hesitantly, looking down at the coffee table in front of her. "I'm scared my people will assassins after my daughter. We are a cruel race, but you seem like you might be able to keep us safe."

"Sure, what kind of work would you like to do?" Renn said, agreeing instantly.

"I was a technician whose role was primarily maintenance of sanitation droids back on Kamino… before my daughter was born and her farther reported her eye colour to the government." She said sadly.

"You've probably already got people better than me already, kaminoans are known more for being cloners and scientists than mechanics, but I'll try to fix or build whatever you need." Teah stated looking up to meet Renn's gaze, a look of determination on her face.

"Ooooh, what about if she helps Zix in his workshop. He's really good at building stuff but he isn't really that good at other things, like interacting with people or remembering to eat and sleep. So, he could use someone to remind him of things," Opal said excitedly jumping up from her sofa.

"Plus, she'd be on the space station, the Kaminoan's would never be able to find her there." Seela said from beside her and Renn and Shae nodded in agreement.

"That's a good idea. I've got the perfect job for you, you'll help my head of research and development, and you'll also be staying in the safest place in the galaxy for you and your daughter." Renn said and Teah gave him a grateful smile.

-

Present Day, House Dredd space station 'Bastion 1', Zix's workshop.

Renn watched the playful argument between Teah and Zix and smiled.

Since she had started working for him Teah had changed drastically. She was now much happier and now acted very unlike other kaminoans.

Instead of spending her time acting serene and ethereal, Teah had instead started acting a lot more expressive and would frequently be seen smiling and chatting with the people living on the space station.

Teah had also started to regard Renn as her and her daughter's saviour and had built up a vast amount of loyalty towards him.

"How's Nia doing Teah, it's been a while since I've last seen her?" Renn asked the kaminoan and she turned to smile towards him.

"She is doing well, but I think she's growing too fast. I'm worried she'll soon be fully grown and going off on her own," Teah laughed happily and Renn smiled at her.

Kaminoans matured quickly and became fully grown at the age of eleven, which meant that the young Nia was growing rapidly every day, much to her mother's annoyance.

"Ahh, I wish she could stay my sweet little baby forever." Teah said wistfully while looking off into the distance dreamily.

"Yeah, but that's not how life works. Things grow." Zix said absent mindedly as he fiddled with a broken comm device.

Now that Teah had stopped shouting at him, he had gone back to fixing things, but he felt a cold chill go down his back and turned slowly to see Teah glaring at him.

"I don't recall asking your opinion," she said menacingly and Zix held his arms up in a placating gesture and backed away.

Renn laughed as he watched them before interrupting, much to Zix's relief.

"It's been great seeing you again Teah and thank you so much for helping me with the weapons Zix, but I really should be getting home." Renn said.

"Ohh of course dear, you must be missing the girls," Teah said and shot Renn a sly smirk.

"Yeah," Renn admitted and as he smiled, he tried to hide the blush that spread across his checks but judging by the way that Teah's smirk widened he knew that he had failed miserably.

"I'll be back soon," Renn promised as he left the room before thanking Zix again and leaving the room.

He then returned to his ship and set a course for Naboo. Where he knew Opal, Seela and Shae were waiting for him.