"Fight!"

As soon as the word sounded out clearly, the arena fell silent. The larger challenger circled the perimeter slowly, watching Nadine as he did so. In return, she met him step for step, equally sizing him up. Before the man even moved, Nadine felt a familiar pull at the back of her mind. She just had to time it right and then…

She watched as the man yelled out and lunged forward for the first strike, Anticipating just that, she skillfully moved to the side just enough to miss the blow. In the confidence of his brute force attack, he'd extended his arm out to thrust his staff forward. Taking the brief window of exposure, Nadine brought her own arm down on the elbow joint of his over extended arm. She knew that she hit the mark when the fast, decisive movement caused him to step back quickly with a grunt of pain. He's too confident, she thought, that he forgot defenses. He won't make that mistake again.

For what felt like hours - but was truthfully only moments - she focused all of her energy into dodging a relentless series of attacks, all relying on her opponent's strength rather than speed or precision. "She's just dodging and running," she could hear Captain Jex scoff to the side, "This isn't a fight." Focus, she reminded herself. Play the long game.

"Coward!" her opponent yelled as she dodged another swift blow, barely leaning back far enough to keep the staff's blade from scraping across her visor. He took the brief moment of vulnerability to kick her roughly in the stomach, tossing her onto her back with a thud. All he needed to do to win was make her bleed. As he jabbed the staff toward her, however, Nadine rolled quickly, using her position to kick the man's legs out from under him. Rather than to attack him when he fell, she flipped herself back up onto her feet, taking deep breaths, and focusing on trying to see weak points in the attack. This was a display of skill, not of brute force. She let her mind clear of everything but the movements of herself and her opponent. He got to his feet, but not fast enough.

As her mind had cleared, she saw the weaknesses and formulated a fast, strong, and decisive attack. While the soldier began to rise to his feet, she spun suddenly, throwing the top of her armored boot into his throat, right where the helmet and chest plate could not come together to protect him. He sputtered out a strangled cough and remained stuck on his knees as he tried to recover. In one hand, Nadine grabbed a firm hold on his staff, the other used for balance on his shoulder as she cartwheeled over him, jerking the weapon loose as she moved. She grabbed her own discarded staff as her attacker finally stood, fists up as he stood his ground.

"She's fast," Bo Katan noted thoughtfully, watching the display, "Fast and accurate."

"Doesn't matter," Jex scoffed, "She won't win no matter how many fancy flips she does. Not against a real soldier."

Spinning the the staffs in her hands, Nadine was able to push her opponent back into the defensive as the moved toward him. The sight, she'd hoped, would be enough of a visual distraction to mask her real attack. As her own staff still flourished in an impressive defense in front of her, she lowered his and jabbed it low on the side, trying to catch his leg. Unfortunately, her plan failed when he was fast enough to grab the un-bladed middle of the staff near where her hand was. Knowing that he would either have to release the staff or follow her movement to hold on, she quickly rolled to the side. The soldier, still holding on, was taken by surprise at the movement and almost pulled off of his feet once more. He lost the weapon but retained his footing.

As Nadine finished the sharp movement, she was distracted. A the blunt blow of a gloved fist into her side sent pain shooting through her torso. She reeled back from the pain, turning as she did. In that moment, an arm wrapped around her throat from behind her. The soldier had finally reclaimed the upper hand and she couldn't have that. She dropped the staff, grabbing at the arm and pretending to be weakened by the hold. Thinking fast, she hooked on of her legs around the knee of the man behind her and pulled it forward at the same moment that she kicked off of the ground with her other leg. The force of her weight coming down, along with his leg being kicked out, send him flat on his back as she landed hard on his chest.

Everything had turned red for Nadine, since the punch to her ribs. Now, she could no longer think about the fight. She didn't need to think; she just acted. Turning and shoving one knee down into the man's chest, which was likely already injured from the impact, she kept him pinned onto the ground. As soon as the staff was back in her hands, the blunt side was pressed into his throat by the pressure of both of her hands pushing in. It didn't take long for the oxygen deprivation to set in and weaken the soldier's struggling movements. Soon enough, his arms stopped trying to push her away and his legs stopped scrambling for purchase against the gravelled ground. His chest still rose and fell in shallow labored movements, signalling that he was still alive. Nadine didn't waste time, standing and thrusting the sharp blade of the end of the staff into the joint between his chestplate and the armor on his shoulder. The pain of the sudden stab was enough to bring the man back enough to cry out in a harsh, pained scream.

Nadine pulled the staff back out, turning to walk across the arena and present the bloody weapon to Bo-Katan. In as brave and commanding voice as she could muster, she looked toward the commander and spoke. "I beat your champion. You must consider me!"

Bo-Katan looked at the victor silently for a moment, before speaking. She had silenced Jex's protests with a simple motion of her hand. "Who are you, cadet? What's your name?"

Nadine knew the safe answer. When she reached this point, she would say her name was Adiline Feyah. It was a simple, easy, and convincing lie. Still, something inside of her kept the words from rising to the surface. If they found out who she really was, there was a high possibility that she would be killed on sight for what she'd done. Yet, the voice at the back of her mind hadn't failed her yet. If anything, this deep gut feeling was all she relied on anymore. It didn't make sense, but it was her only real chance. Fear still plagued her mind. They'll kill you. Just tell them the lie. "I am Adi-..." She had already begun her practiced lie, but her voice seemed to die in her throat. Taking a deep breath, and strengthening her stance, she removed her helmet. "My name is Nadine Kryze! I demand the right to join the Deathwatch and fight for Mandalore! For our people!"

In the silence that fell over the arena and all those who surrounded it, Teran could have sworn he could hear everyone's breath and heartbeats. What was she doing?! He hadn't even realized that he had been holding his own breath until he was forced to exhale by his burning lungs. Now that people knew that she had trained and taken up a mantle of Mandalore, it wouldn't be long before they realized that he was to blame for it. She was going to get both of them killed! His gaze nervously turned to his brother, on the other side of Bo-Katan. Jex was fuming with anger. That much was plain to see.

"You would dare disgrace Mandalore?!" Jex yelled at Nadine. "What you have done is unforgivable! I should have killed you when I had the chance! How did you even-..." Realization flashed across his face as his gaze and anger turned toward Teran. "You!"

Teran laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. "You did say I could teach her how to be useful around here, brother. You shook my hand on it, without bothering to ask how I planned to do it." Looking down to the ground to avoid his brother's venomous glare, Teran shrugged weakly. "Ta-da?"

"That girl isn't worth the trouble!" Jex snarled, "Her worth to me is spent! I want her head!"

Bo-Katan shot her hand up with a signal to her men as they all stepped back away by the distance of a few feet. "We don't kill one of our own," she stated plainly.

"She's not one of us! She's a prisoner of war who shouldn't even-"

"Quiet, Captain!" Bo-Katan didn't even bother facing Jex. She removed her own phoenix helm and studied the girl in front of her intently. There was no mistaking her. The girl's pale, angular features and golden hair made her the spitting image of her mother; the image of Bo-Katan's sister. Satine. "You're Satine's daughter…"

"I am."

"Yet you want to join Deathwatch?"

Nadine kept her footing, looking steadily into the other woman's face as she spoke. "I do. I want to fight for Mandalore. The chance to help my home is all I have ever wanted. If Mandalore won't fight for itself, then it seems that Deathwatch must."

"Then we have a lot of work to do," Bo-Katan noted, "Teran, you know her?"

"Um...yes, commander," Teran replied, "I was the one who initiated her training. I believed that she could be a really valuable asset to us. She really does want to restore Mandalore, as we all do. That part isn't a lie, I swear it."

"Good." Bo-Katan placed her helmet back on and turned toward Teran. "Get her and the others ready to leave. For all official purposes, this may as well be your own sister. You will watch her back and the responsibility for her actions will fall on you. Keep an eye on her. If what you say is true, there shouldn't be any problems, yes?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Make it fast." Turning to face Jex, Bo-Katan could have almost laughed at his outraged expression. "Is there a problem, Captain Jex?"

"You can't do this!" Jex protested, "She's not even a real Mandalorian. She's the daughter of our enemy and...and you want my namesake to answer for her?!"

"Who am I, Jex?!" Bo-Katan snapped suddenly, "What's my name?"

"Commander Bo-Katan...Kryze," Jex admitted. Truthfully, the name was the cause of all of the objection and disdain he held for her. How could someone from a traitorous household such as that possibly rank over him, a dedicated Captain whose family wasn't involved in the political disgrace of their home.

Bo-Katan stared him down coldly through her visor, watching as he shifted nervously under the weight of her glare. "Are you suggesting that I am unloyal to Mandalore? Or to our cause?"

"No, sir…" Jex grumbled.

"Then you will respect my decision. This child is no longer part of the Duchess's family, but she is now a part of mine!" With that, she walked back to the transports to make preparations for their departure.

"I can't believe you!" Teran exclaimed, entering the tent-like structure after Nadine. "You could have gotten us both killed! Now...we're in favor with one of the high officers of Deathwatch! How did you even do it?! She's even from your clan! That's…"

Nadine sat quietly, unphased by Teran's surprised ranting as if she didn't hear it. She stared into her narrow reflection in the cold, black visor of the helmet in her hands. The other new officers were ready to cheer her on for risking such a dangerous plan and succeeding, but that didn't matter to her either. As she looked into the faceless mask, she heard the spine chilling scream of her opponent over and over again in her mind. Sure, he had survived the challenge and would recover; that didn't stop the memory. She could still see the crimson blood pooling beneath him from where his shoulder had been speared through with his own weapon. The pain and damage done was because of her. This was the first time that she'd shed the blood of another person onto the ground in such a way. Needless to say...it felt wrong.

Teran continued his excited ranting as he paced in large steps back and forth in front of where Nadine sat. "I mean, you destroyed him! A fully trained Deathwatch soldier! I thought for a few moments in the middle that he was going to kill you, but you just suddenly broke him down! It was amazing and-"

"That's enough!" Her words were more of a sad plea for him to stop than an expression of frustration with him. "I did what I had to do for the good of the plan, Teran. That's all. We don't need to speak of it anymore." As she spoke, she still couldn't tear her eyes away from the object in her hands. It almost scared her, as though if she put it on once more, she would be trapped behind it. "I shouldn't have done it…" Her voice fell quiet, barely audible.

"You're not feeling guilty, are you, runt?" Teran chuckled, "It's not a big deal. He'll be fine. After all, your insane plan actually worked. You can join us now! You can fight for Mandalore and do the right thing. This is what you wanted! What we both want. You're one of us now, vod!"

"Then to become a true Mandalorian is to needlessly spill each other's blood! He was one of us too! I didn't even think about it." Her voice shook slightly as she spoke, still losing the adrenaline from the arena. "It didn't even matter that he was a person. All I cared about was winning and that's not right. That's not what I wanted!"

Teran watched her expression for a while, before sitting next to her for a quiet moment or two. "Hey…" he sighed, wishing the words would come easier, "It...it gets easier. Trust me. I don't have a lot of experience, but I already know that much." He slowly took the helmet from her hands and set it off to the side in an attempt to pull her out of her doubting thoughts.

Nadine took a long, deep breath. "Don't you see, Teran?" She finally looked up to him, blue-green eyes swirling with worry and doubt. "Getting used to something wrong won't make it right. This might get easier, but that's what worries me. I want to help people and...in trying to do that, all I've done is learn how to hurt them. A person is still a life, no matter what side of the blaster they're on."

"Be careful with talk like that, runt. You sound an awful lot like-"

"Like my mother?" Nadine asked, already knowing that was the right answer. "What she's doing may not be working, but there has to be some merit in trying to spare lives. I can't presume to understand how war works, having seen very little of it, but-"

"I know how it does," Teran stopped her. He stood up and grabbed his own helmet, carrying it under one arm. "And we're about to be stuck in the middle of one, whether you like it or not. It's time you realize that, in a war like this, saving lives and sparing lives are very different things. Keep your eye on what you're fighting for and stow the doubt. Compromising for a good reason is better than not taking any action at all!" He put his helmet on and grabbed his pack. "Get your stuff. The transport leaves within the hour."

"I understand." Nadine stood and touched his arm to stop him for a second longer. "And...thank you, Teran. You didn't have to stick up for me out there, but…you did it anyway. I won't forget that."

Teran lightly smacked her shoulder in a playful gesture. "Hey, we're family now, runt. We stick our neck out for each other, eh? Now...let's get off this blasted moon. For good!"

Nadine had never felt such an overwhelming sense of relief as when she watched the training compound, as well as the moon it was located on, fade away into a blur of light. Since she had been a prisoner during her first flight, this was the first time she was able to watch the stars disappear into a long tunnel of light as the ship went to light speed. When she had requested to watch the jump in the cockpit, it surprised her when Bo-Katan not only allowed it, but went to watch it with her. The view and movement of the ship was both nerve wracking and exciting to her. This was it. This was the next chapter of her life. This was when she felt she could finally prove herself and take her place among her people. The pull that seemed constantly in her mind was now satisfied, reminding her that this direction was where she was supposed to go next.

"You can come be with family now," Bo-Katan spoke from behind her, putting a hand on her niece's shoulder, "Where you really belong."

Family, Nadine thought, it sounds awfully good. Still, her thoughts ran back to her mother. She silently swore to herself that she would see her mother again, no matter what it took.