Malsept would be a liar if he said he wasn't surprised to be contacted by Orgus Din. In truth he had been convinced it was a prank right up until Maldecka actually strolled onto their ship and they took off.

He had felt like Maldecka was his responsibility after finding out about her. They had gone back to the Tribe, but they acted like Maldecka was a good as dead because she became a Jedi. Meanwhile Malsept and his brothers had been welcomed with open arms despite having joined the Mandalorians.

So when Malsept had crossed paths with Maldecka again, he made sure he had a reliable way of contacting her. Someone needed to be sure she was challenged and taught the ways of the Sunset Tribe. And then the opportunity literally fell into his lap with this need to go undercover.

So of course, they took her on board. She was already dressed the part in lightly armored clothes that had hidden pockets for her lightsabers. After a month on board she had absorbed a great deal about the dynamics of the group, the workings of the ship and the combat moves of the Tribe.

It was still strange. Strange enough that he wasn't comfortable calling Maldecka 'little sister' anymore. Malsept looked up as a noise to see Maldecka cleanly take down a Zabrak twice her size in the combat pit, a vent shaft repurposed for sparing matches. She pinned him and let the match be called in her favor. Then she reached down to help her opponent up.

Malsept called down, "This is when you gloat, Girl."

Maldecka looked up and let the corner of her mouth lift, "We all know I won, so I don't need to gloat."

Malsept shook his head, returning to his musings. That was the thing about Maldecka. She didn't emote, or at least not openly. It was like the Jedi had sucked all the emotion right out of her. Malsept knew she could smile. He has seen it. He had seen her laugh too. But something changed and Maldecka didn't smile with her teeth anymore.

Malsept could guess it had something to do with the Cathar master she had. He hadn't come up in conversation and Malsept wasn't sure how to ask the questions nagging him. Everyone knew the Jedi were distant and weird but it was strange seeing it up close for an extended amount of time. Especially when Malsept could compare this Maldecka to the little captive he had first met.

Malsept stood up as the combatants climbed the ladder out of the pit. He braced himself to pull Maldecka aside to settle all these thoughts in his head. Then the proximity alarm went off.

Malsept was stomping down the elegant halls of the luxury starship. They had been escorting a cruise ship through a dangerous part of space and the pirates had finally shown themselves. Maldecka had picked up a gun and stuck with Malsept as ordered and they had cleared out the pirate ship pretty well. The problem was a good number of pirates had already boarded the ship by the time Malsept's crew had shot all the shuttles. So now they were sweeping the ship. Malsept's brothers had gathered the guests and crew to guard them in one of the ball rooms.

Then Maldecka and Malsept found the pirate captain. Who just so happened to be a Sith. And it was like Maldecka went mad! She just suddenly tore after the Sith. All Malsept could think was that she was going to get killed and it was his fault for bringing a 13-year-old along, Jedi or no!

Malsept stumbled to a halt as he stepped into the climate dome. A massive pool surrounded by plants and elegant stone spanned the space in front of him. Above him Maldecka and the Sith were violently attacking each other with their lightsabers. Malsept blinked, since when did Maldecka have two lightsabers?

The two of them landed at the side of the pool and Maldecka was forced back, lightsabers blurring as she blocked blow after blow. The Sith was right on her until Maldecka motioned with her hand and swept a wave of water over the pirate. The Sith landed in a heap in the bushes and Maldecka was leaping after him. A bolt of lightning shot out and Maldecka was launched across the pool. As the sith stood up Malsept fired a volley of bolts at him. The Sith causally reflected them at Malsept, forcing him to roll behind cover. The Sith never took his eyes off Maldecka, not sparing Malsept even a glance.

Malsept looked up, unsurprised to see Maldecka and the Sith right back to trading blows. They were up on one of the cross beams high above the water. Maldecka was giving as good as she got, even with her size disadvantage. The Sith snarled something to Maldecka. She just dropped one of her hands to the beam and lightning crackled around the whole thing and causing the Sith to yell out in pain.

The Sith stumbled back but Maldecka was rising up and pushed her hand with the yellow saber out toward the Sith. Malsept heard the absolute crack as the Sith's head hit the wall. He could only stare dumbly as the body dropped from the wall to the ground. The Sith was dead.

Malsept looked up to where Maldecka stood on the beam. Her eyes were glowing white hot and her shoulders were rising and falling with every breath she took. Her lightsabers were steady in her hands though. She looked like she could take on half the Empire from there.

And Malsept had to admit defeat. Maldecka was a daughter of the Jedi, not the Sunset Tribe.

A sniffle behind him made Malsept spin around, his rifle up and at the ready. One of the crew had taken shelter behind an overturned table and was staring at Maldecka with shock.

Malsept called over his shoulder, "Put those away Girl. Go check on your brothers."

Maldecka leapt down saying, "You got it Boss."

Malsept let her walk away without taking his eyes off the crewmember in front of him.

Maldecka may be a daughter of the Jedi, but Malsept was still her brother. And he wasn't going to let her cover be blown by some punk bragging that he had seen a Jedi and Sith fight.

Malsept tilted his head at the crew member, "Would you like a smoke?"

Several weeks later and Malsept was back to watching Maldecka spar with her brothers. She had apologized for running off without warning but Malsept waved it off as a Jedi thing. Maldecka had looked relieved and it bothered Malsept that that was the greatest amount of emotion he had gotten out of her.

Still, Malsept was okay with this. He had made sure that Maldecka learned some rougher skills here while she traveled with them, and he would be on hand to do evil so she wouldn't have too.

Malsept called down to the just victorious Maldecka, "Isn't your birthday coming up Girl?"

Maldecka looked up with a smile in her eyes, "Yes, it is."

Malsept casually leaned on the rails around the combat pit. "We should be sure to challenge you."

Maldecka shifted her stance to face Malsept fully, along with everyone else watching on the rails, "Actually, I have a challenge already. It's a challenge for you too, if you want."

Malsept glanced around. Most of the crew had assembled. "Oh?"

Maldecka gave him a full smile, teeth and all, "We're going to rescue my Master."