Chapter 68 – Uncle Goldy

Layan next stop was Kamino as he wanted to see the small Shae's progresses and bond with her as she wasn't like the clone troopers of the Republic made to obey. He had to make sure that the small girl sees him as the closest person to her.

Inside the facility, he saw Jango sending fly the small girl in the wall with a kick. He wasn't delicate while training her and it was perfectly normal for a mandalorian; they weren't training weaklings.

Nonetheless, the physical improvements made to the girl proved worthwhile as she got up as if nothing happened and rushed at Jango with a ferocious smile on her lips. The small and cute redhead was unable to land any blows as it seems Jango was more training her to withstand pain and understand her physical abilities.

"Little Shae did you punched uncle Jango in the face?"

The cute girl which was once again thrown to the ground turned her head to look at Layan, who stepped stealthily in the room.

"Uncle Goldy! No, I can't touch him and uncle Jango never speak except when teaching me, he is boring!"

The little girl which didn't really changed since he saw her even with an accelerated growth ran into his arm so gave her a hug.

"Goldy…huh."

"Yes, because you're like gold."

Layan would have preferred to get a better surname given by the little girl, but she was adamant and kept calling him this way. Meanwhile, Jango was watching the two and Layan was almost sure he almost heard a snicker from the ever stoic mandalorian.

"So how is she and how goes her training?"

"She is motivated by your promised gift and like to fight, fearsome girl. The flash-learning just started, but she is improving at a fast rate. I have nothing else to say, she is attentive and doesn't whine when she takes a blow."

The two were discussing while watching the small girl of appearing eight years old fight with the young Boba. The boy was imitating his father with his stoic face but he still had a problem to control his expression when taking on a blow from the girl as her physical strength was far higher due to the serum inoculated to her when she was still an embryo.

"I'll beat you up Boba!"

"Dream on, I'm the strongest!"

The girl was using her superior strength to hard press him, but Boba was trained for years by his father hence his fighting skills were far stronger than the few weeks old girl.

"How is your sister?"

"I'm pretty good. Still some nightmares, but I'll learn to deal with it."

Behind them, Jango's sister, Arla Fett stepped into the room. She really was his sister and we could see the similarities between them. The biggest difference was Arla hair color, she was a blond girl around the same age as Jango.

"Happy to meet you. I owe my freedom and reunion with my family partially to you."

"It was a deal; I got a good bargain."

Layan saw her before, but Arla on her end wasn't really conscious or still unstable and was not remembering him. It was the first time he met her since her mental health improved.

"I know but I like to have young Shae around as Boba doesn't have other kids to play with."

"He doesn't need it. He is my son and have to train his skills to be a worthy heir of my mentor's legacy."

"Not to hurt you Jango, but it's important for him to play with other kids. Don't be too stuck up, you grew up with warriors and trained as a warrior and see the result I don't have any sister-in-law to chat with."

"Pff."

Layan almost laughed out loud as Arla's statement, but had to hold back when he saw Jango's dark glare.

"Hey uncle Goldy, when can I roam space with you?"

"When uncle Jango will say you will be ready and not before."

"Uncle Jango, come and fight me."

The little girl was already taking a fighting stance and was looking seriously at Jango, and Layan couldn't help but to find her cute. Should she really grow up?

"I have two kids to train and sometimes the clones of the Republic when I feel like it and I'm starting to think the training in my childhood wasn't so hard compared to this."

While Jango talked about his past, the little girl was tugging Layan's clothes for his attention and started to talk about her training with the mandalorian.

"You know, it's funny to watch uncle Jango train the others, they look like brothers."

"They look the same is by far the best."

"Uncle Jango is beating them up each time and tells me to point out their mistakes. He also teaches me songs and traditions about the mandalorian peoples."

Layan left after discussing a bit the small Shae and started to search for the best way to establish links with the good senators he knew of.

He already had a dozen of names in mind and several of them were close to some Jedis or will be in the future like Bail Organa and Padmé Amidala.

Senators usually are part of some factions inside the senate, so if he gains the friendship of one, then he will have access to the others of the same faction.

(Amidala would be a good leverage to affect Skywalker's mind but I'm still not sure if I will kill that prick or not.)

Layan got the chance to remake everything, but it didn't make him forgot what happened in his previous life. He hated really deeply Darth Vader, he killed the majority of peoples he considered as a family or close friend but in the other hand he himself experimented firsthand the corruption of the dark side and wasn't sure of what to do.

Rationally speaking, he should try to avoid Skywalker's fall to the dark side, but his anger still was affecting his thinking of the matter.

(Amidala has almost getting killed as a hobby so I may find an opportunity to save her ass and then establish friendly ties with her, but I have to find when it will happen or stage an assassination attempt myself.)

The idea may appear good, but the sudden rescued of the senator by someone which could benefit of establishing ties with here may appear doubtful.

(I could also put a bounty on her head or use her fame against her.)

From what Bibfort told him, Padmé Amidala's Campaign against Republic Militarization was stopped by the fake terrorist attacks to stop peaceful negotiations between the Republic and the Separatists.

(The times when she will leave Naboo or Coruscant will be reduced after such an event but if she is as reckless as I learnt from stories and the holonet, she will try something stupid which will endanger her life.)

Using the communication system from the Phoenix, he contacted HK-47 and told him to send one of his droids keep watch over Amidala on Naboo and warn him if she plans to leave the planet. After this, he could contact terrorists, pirates or separatists and come just in time to save the day.

Meanwhile, on Hoth,

Lyn was freezing her ass today, like every other day since she came on this damned world. After waking up in the cave, she restarted her journey toward her destination under a calm weather.

After a walk of several hours hearing nothing but the stifling sound of the wind and the crunching noise of the snow under her feet. She finally sees a group of creatures; it was a dozen of Tauntauns walking toward a big aperture which should be their shelter.

Before coming on Hoth, Layan gave her a small recap of all the species living on Hoth, so she knew that these creatures were good at finding hidden valley or caves where was growing a type of fungus.

Following the creatures with her body slow down by the cold, she arrived to their hideouts and found a large cave filled with a dozen of Tauntauns and a ground covered in fungus.

Before they could detect her, she enhanced her speed with the force, drawn her blade and stabbed one with her orange blade. The other Tauntauns fled out of the cave when they saw Lyn killing one of their own.

"Finally, I'll have a good meal."

Using Pyrokinesis to lit on fire a small pile of fungus, she hovered a piece of meat above the flames using the force.

As soon as the meat color appeared good, she eats it with big bites. The week before, she was rationing her food and was starving due to the cold temperatures making her metabolism more demanding.

"Kriff, it's at the same time the worst thing I ate and the best."

The flesh of Tauntauns wasn't tasty, but she could finally eat without caring of what would be left of it.

*I'm sure I would be laughing at you if I could see you eat right now. *

Unexpected as usual, her master telepathic communication came without any warning first. Each time it takes her aback. It could really be an unpleasant sensation said like this, but it was not. Layan wasn't communicating with her only using telepathy, but also through their force-bond.

A force-bond is a bond created through the force, through persons with a good understanding of each other's, like parents and child, lovers, or master and student.

Through a force bond, one can share images, knowledge and feel the presence of the other even at great distances. This was why she wasn't feeling bad about it, it was really fulfilling to share a force-bond with someone.

The only problem was to cut a force-bond when the relation between the two take a turn for the worse.

*Smelly master, sending me shiver on Hoth while you're enjoying yourself on Coruscant. *

*I'm not on Coruscant, I just arrived on Florrum and the mood isn't great. I'll change this. *

*Playing with pirates? Yes, I think you can become good friends. Haha. *

*See you in three weeks, ice cube. *

The conversation was short as usual as Layan wanted her to feel alone and survive in a hostile environment. His presence even only in thought could affect her mental state.

Several hours later, as Lyn was sleeping, something woke her up. Loud booming sounds were coming toward the cave, and soon, a big shadow appeared at the entrance of the cave.

(What's this? A wampa?)

Lyn put her back against the wall and did her best to hide her presence while holding her lightsaber hilt in her hand.