Nadine woke up when a metal plated boot nudged her side roughly. She didn't open her eyes out of silent fear, but she could hear two people hovering over her and talking.

"Is she dead or something? What's wrong with her?" one of the voices said.

"I dunno. Kick her harder and see if she moves," the other suggested.

Both voices sounded young, like two young boys poking around curiously. She feared an incoming kick until a third voice, slightly deeper and more severe than the first two, chimed in.

"Hey, both of you! Get out of here! Now!"

Light footsteps scurried away as the boys fled, leaving only the third voice.

"Kid, wake up!"

Slowly opening her eyes, Nadine looked up at the figure standing above her. He wore a suit of armor very similar to that of the captain that had killed Talla and taken Nadine captive. The same crest adorned his right shoulder and the same demeanor radiated off of him. She scrambled to move and back away from him.

"Hey, easy, Tiny," he remarked, holding his empty gloved hands in the air, "No weapons. I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Liar!" Nadine insisted.

With a shrug and a sigh, he reached up and removed his helmet, holding it at his side instead. He was a boy who looked to be about fifteen years of age, with a face that held far more experience than that of a normal teenager. His hair was shaved short on the sides with patterns shaved around his head, yet long enough to have brown waves on the top. His skin was a bit tanned and scarred from what looked like hard work and a lot of time outside. Overall, he didn't have the friendliest face, but his display of showing his face at all was a good start. He knelt down to look at her, watching as she took in her surroundings.

Looking around, Nadine realized that she was in a large tent of some sort, circular in shape with a fire and a smoke vent in the center, keeping it warm and lit. A few crates laid around, but that didn't mean much to her.

"Wh-where am I?"

Her voice sounded small and weak, but she didn't even notice the sound in her own ears.

"You're at a training camp," he answered plainly, "They dropped you here to keep you outta the way until the job was over."

"I don't understand," she trembled, "Why am I here? I didn't do anything!"

"No, but you're worth a lot. Good news for you is: you're worth more alive."

He set the helmet down on the ground and shifted to sit down beside it, still watching her closely, but not crowding her.

"Are they going to hurt me…?"

"That depends," he answered with a blunt honesty, "You gonna break the rules? If you do, you'll be in trouble. Probably a world of hurt. If you be quiet and do as I say, you might be just fine. My name is Teran Jex. I've been put in charge of making sure you don't run off or get yourself killed. You're needed alive, so that means there's rules."

"Rules…?"
"You hurt yourself to try and die and get outta this, I'll stop you and it won't be fun. You try and starve yourself, I'll force you to eat. Trust me, that's not fun either. You run, I catch you. Again...no fun. You getting how this works, runt?"

Nadine nodded quickly, afraid to say too much.

"If you follow all my rules, it looks good on my part and you don't get hurt. Doesn't hurt any that you'll get food and a shelter."

"I'm worth a lot?" she questioned, going back to his previous statement.

"You're a Kryze. That means you're a small fortune to the right people...or a good asset to have lying around. Just...be careful. Everyone around here hates that name."

"But...I know your armor. You are Mando'a. So am I. Why are you doing this?"

"Oh, please," he chuckled cruelly, "You're not Mando'a. You peacekeepers are ruining everything Mandalore once stood for. We're some of the last true Mandalorians left."

"That's not true. My mother is trying to protect people."

"Your mother is going to let the homeworld starve and suffocate in their peaceful isolation. If she'd just chosen the good fight, they'd have trade and wealth flowing back into the streets. Instead, it's all politics now. What a joke!"

"She'll be looking for me!" Nadine insisted, some confidence behind her words, "She won't rest until she finds me and then you'll all be-"

His resuming laughter caught her off guard.

"Look, runt," he pointed out, "Your family thinks you got blow outta the galaxy with those ships. They're not gonna scour the systems for a ghost."

"No, they'll-"

"Don't you get it? No one's looking for you."

He stood back up taking his helmet in his hands and raising it back onto his head.

"Wouldn't make a difference anyway. They wouldn't find you. Better get used to your new home. You'll be here a long time."

"Wait!" she called after him, stopping him from leaving, "What's going to happen to me?"

"That depends…" he replied, thinking for a moment, "The leaders are discussing

it now. Your fate's in their hands. It's not a great feeling, but only the strong get to control their own fate in a messed up galaxy like this one. That doesn't mean you."

He walked out of the tent, inadvertently giving Nadine a small glance past the heavy fabric door before it fell back into place. Guards were stationed outside, so there would be no leaving that way. All she could do was wait.

Teran entered the largest tent structure, where a gathering of the lead captains were already standing around and arguing loudly.

"Teran," the captain of the raid greeted him, "That girl giving you trouble yet?"

"She's a kid," the teen huffed in response, "I think I can handle it, Captain Jex."

"You'd better, little brother," the captain warned, "Once more screw up and you'll go from babysitting down to scraping mud off of the boots of decent mercenaries! Now, why are you here?"

"What are you gonna do to her?"

"Why's it matter to you?"

"It doesn't!" Teran defended, unconvincingly, "I was just curious."

"We get paid to keep here here until she's useful to the buyer who gave us the job. That's all. Just keep her alive."

"That's stupid!" Teran objected, "Just let her sit there. She'd be a waste of space and food."

"What do you suggest?"

Jex folded his arms across his chest and glanced around at the others, who had, by this point, stopped and begun to watch the conversation.

"Well…" Teran stuttered, losing the spine he'd had moments before, "If she's gotta be here and be alive, we can make that work better for us."

A collective mumbling of side conversations and rude comments rose up, but Jex silenced them with a shrill whistle.

"Go on, little brother. Humor us."

"The only instructions that we got was to keep here here and to keep her alive, yeah? So, we can do that without her being a total waste of resources. If she could be trained to work or cook or something, she'd have a real purpose. She's young and brainwashed by all of that political junk, but we could show her the truth and convince her that we're right. Then, she'd be here and alive, but she'd be one of us."

A moment of silence passed before cruel laughter was spat at the young man. Teran just paused and thought of a new strategy. He crossed his arms and mirrored his oldest brother's apathetic and condescending posture.

"Well, if you have that little faith in the cause of Mandalore then-"

"Wait just a minute!" Jex snapped, "We never said that."

"You're so convinced that a mere child can't even be swayed to see the truth, the homeworld never will."

"We are the only true children of Mandalore, whether they like it or not! That child will never be Mando'a."

"You once told me that being a true Mandalorian was a right you earned!"

"It is!"

"Then, how will you ever know if she is or isn't. Either way, she lives long enough for you to get your money. You don't lose a thing. We're short on help around the camp and-"

"Alright! Alright," Jex conceded, "If you want to waste your time training a ten year old girl to be somehow useful, then that's your problem. Just make sure she's alive or I beat the lost bounty out of you."

"Useful, huh?"

"Sure. Just...get out of here."

"Deal!"

Teran held out a hand, which Jex hesitantly shook. As soon as the deal was struck, the boy walked back out.

Nadine's attention shot up when Teran reentered the tent.

"Good news, runt! You get to live!"

"You're...you're not going to hurt me?"

"I won't have to. You'll learn pain a different way."

She scrambled back as far away from him as she could.

"Relax. It'll be worth it," he explained, "You see, you and me have a lot to talk about. For starters, I'm going to teach you about the real Mandalore. Then, we'll see if you have what it takes. We start now!"

He tossed her a large stick as he wielded a similar one.

"Lesson one: don't get your hide handed to you during lecture time!"

She stood on shaky legs and grabbed the branch as best she could, holding it up in a weak defense.

"We have a lot of work to do."

Useful, he thought, that was what Jex agreed to. She'll be useful alright. He'll show them.