So, I'm back with another chapter sorry that it took so long to get out, but simply put writers block and simply not being satisfied with the final product kept making me take this back to the drawing board to redo. Now I have something that I feel that I can put out there and feel happy about doing so.

Also, I'm still looking for an office beta reader if you're interested PM me and we can talk about the details and office credit will be given at the start of every chapter.

Anyway, I don't want to keep you all waiting, so as usual the original idea for this story goes to Worldwander2.0, and as always, all rights go to their owners as I own nothing!

This probably had to be the most uncomfortable situation that the Master Chief had found himself in for quite some time.

As he was currently standing outside of what was essentially an impromptu holding center with his two prisoners currently inside, this was where they were going to stay until the Historian arrived and helped him deal with this mess. While he had been waiting for his arrival, Chief had done a medical check on the boys and found what he had been expecting. As the boy had a mild concussion from the hit, he had used to incapacitate him, the Spartan had readied and then applied a bacta patch to his head, hoping that it would do what others claimed it would.

After which he had left him with who he assumed was his adopted sister: a Pantoran as Cortana had identified her to him. Still despite learning what she was John couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable about what looked like an alien wearing a human face. This was probably due in part to the xenophobia that he had developed during the Human-Covenant War. But this didn't mean that he hated the girl, more that he was just weary of her.

Still, this hadn't stopped John from allowing the girl: Sarad to keep some of the food she had taken, as it was obvious that she and her brother were starving. This explained why they even attempt to steal from him in the first place, as people, no matter who they were, would do anything to survive, no matter how dangerous it was to them. Knowing this, John knew that the MREs that he had allowed Sarad to have should hopefully keep her pacified until the Historian arrived.

"Cortana, do you have an ETA on his arrive?" Chief then inquired as it seemed that Sarad bothers: Cabur was finally coming too.

A fact that would undoubtedly complicate matters, as the Spartan had barely convinced his sister to stay in the same room as him; her strong-will prove something of an issue even for him. As such when her brother finally woke up John knew that what little cooperation, he had gotten from Pantoran would most likely end and knowing this John knew that he needed the Historian to arrive soon, as the old man would be able to handle this situation better than he could hope.

"He's just pulling up to the front courtyard now." Cortana then informed him much to his relief.

As this news simplified a lot of things for John, as he then turned to face her.

"Have C9 left him in at the door. I'll check on the prisoners." Chief said as he made his way over to the door to the mess room.

As this was the room that was now serving as John's impromptu prison, and even though it wasn't the most secure room that he had available to hold the two intruders in. It was the only room in which both he and Cortana could easily monitor what their two prisoners were doing at all times.

So once the door opened in front of him, Chief immediately noticed that the blue-skinned girl had stopped eating and was now looking squarely at him. Saying nothing, he then checked to ensure that her brother wasn't awake yet before he ended into the room. When he didn't react to the sound of John's approach the Spartan knew that it would still be a couple more minutes before he fully came to. And hopefully, by then the Historian would be here to help him deal with the boy; John then approached the table where Sarad and her brother Cabur were currently seated at.

"So, what are you going to do with us?" Sarad then asked as she warily eyed him.

"Someone who's coming will decide that," Chief stated simply.

For her part, Sarad seemed nervous as to what this might mean for them. But Chief didn't say anything to them because he didn't have anything more to say to them. A few moments later the door then opened behind him, and a familiar figure walked through the passageway.

"Is there any reason as to why this couldn't of-?" The Historian started to inquire as he then caught sight of the two beings currently seated at the table.

One of which was a small ivory-haired Pantoran girl who was now in the middle of eating some food, while it was obvious that the boy with black hair and small yellow marks on his face was out cold.

At this point, the Historian turned to face Chief, thankful that he had his bucket on as it would've been impossible to keep what he was feeling from his face. Still, this didn't mean that it didn't show itself in his body language, as John could tell that the old man wasn't at all happy about the situation he had just unknowingly walked into.

"I'm assuming that this was the reason why you called me out here?" The Historian said waving a hand towards the two kids, to which Chief nodded.

"They attempted to steal some of my property. I took what measures I felt were necessary." Chief told him simply.

"By giving him a concussion; must've been something rather important then." The Historian commented as he checked on Cabur's condition himself.

"He went for a weapon," Chief then informed the old man.

The Historian could understand better why Chief had done what he had, but still, he couldn't understand something.

"I know you have a thing for slug throwers, but I thought you had acquired a blaster already. Why didn't you use that?" The old Mando asked.

As it was a good question, for most beings, especially those like the Master Chief, a stun blast from a blaster would've been the best way for the Spartan to of dealing with this situation. As such the only question the Historian had, was why this hadn't been the case?

For he knew that John had been looking for one, as he had even heard about him asking around for what kind of brand was good, and that was over a week ago. As such John should've been able to get his hands on one by now.

Still, it would seem that it wouldn't take long for him to get an answer to his question, as a familiar voice then made as she holographic from then appeared on one of the screens located in the room.

"Well, we originally had it, but it wasn't… available to him." Cortana then commented as she entered the conversion.

As John had gone out and acquired a blaster for him and Cortana to study, but there had been an unforeseen complication while they had been testing it.

"What happened to it?" The Historian then asked, as if he was a parent asking what a child had done.

"The trigger broke," John stated simply.

This was the truth of that matter, as it had turned out that the standard weaponry wasn't built up to a high enough quality to deal with John's enhanced strength. A fact that wasn't helped by how small he found most of them so small that he had gone as far as to remove the trigger guard so that he could use the weapon in question.

Needless to say, while doing a couple of tests with the blaster had acquired; John had squeezed it a little too hard resulting in him snapping off the trigger while leaving a slightly denting hand grip. Thankfully, this hadn't damaged anything else but had merely confirmed what John and Cortana had suspected for a while now. And that John would have to get custom-made gear to deal with his father, unique augmentation courtesy of this involved with the SPARTAN-II program.

"You should get a Wookiee then. As they might be able to build something a bit more up to your standards," The Historian said off handily as he continued to check on the Spartans' two prisoners.

The Historian wasn't joking about this either, as he fully believed what John said given had taken place only a couple of standard hours ago. As it hadn't escaped his notice that most of the weapons that the Spartans carried were built to handle heavy usage by their users. Still, any reply that John might've had to this comment was put on hold when Cabur finally woke up, and immediately realized where he was trying to escape!

"Claim down ad, all you're going to do is just injured yourself." The old man said, as he then placed a restraining hand on his shoulder.

Realizing that he couldn't escape the boy finally started to claim down as the old man checked on his head.

"Seems the bacta patch has done its work, you're quite lucky that it wasn't anything worse." The Historian commented, just as the youth spoke up.

"Who are you?"

"Someone who wants to know where your buir is, as you and your vod are in deep osik," The old man made this extremely clear.

What the two of them had done under what would've been normal circumstances would've been grounds for a Clan war. Thankfully these weren't normal circumstances, but still, the Historian wanted to ensure that this potential problem was nipped in the butt, so he would have a long talk with their buir about their ade's behaviour.

But from the reaction he had gotten Cabur, the old man knew he wasn't going to like the answer he was going from him regarding his legal guardians.

"I'm sorry, but our aliit… they're gone." The tone in Cabur's voice made it clear that it was just him and Sarad that was left of their lineage.

It took a moment for what Cabur had said to fully sink in for the old man. As he knew this kind of situations like this were becoming more common across the sector given the current circumstances. As the New Mandalorian had made it so that the Republic had unlimited access to the Mandalorian systems markets and as a result of that policy the whole economy of the sector had taken a nosedive.

As many of the kriffing aruetiise came to the sector to strip what they could from it and left, all under the protection of the jetiise and their Republic Judicial Forces. Thus, forcing many of its inhabitants to fall back on their old trade of bounty hunting and mercenary work to make ends meet, but with such a profession came the obvious dangers, but with danger came credits that many couldn't afford to pass up.

So often this would lead a Mando to take jobs they weren't ready for, and often because they either lacked experience, lack of equipment or a host of other distinct factors. Still, it often ended the same way, with said hunters would find themselves entering into a contract that they weren't prepared to take, often dying as a result, thus leading to the current situation that he and the Chief had to deal with.

"When did you last see them?" This might've been a senseless question for the Historian to ask.

But both he and the Chief needed to know how long they had been without their legal guardians.

"Over three stander months ago; they said they would be back after two, when they didn't return, we knew what had happened," Cabur explained to him.

For there was no reason as to why he should hide this from the old man, as Cabur knew that they were going to get this answer from them one way or another. So, he thought it best to go along with them at the moment, if only for his sister's sake. And for his part, the Historian didn't take any joy in asking about this either, for he had heard and seen enough situations such as this one during the great civil war to know just what kind of effect this would have on the future of the Mandalorian people as a whole.

For the Mando'ade were still rather divided people thanks to the two wars and also due to the outside forces that wanted it to stay that way.

"This isn't the first time that I've heard this happen, nor do I suspect that it will be the last." The Historian said more for the Chief's benefit than for his or Cabur's.

For the Spartan needed to understand that this was a common occasion and not just a one-off thing.

As there was a lot of kid like this on the moon, as most of those that were here now were those that originally supported the Death Watch and had fled to the moon once the decree from Mandalore Jango Fett had been broken and some had taken revenge against their fellow Mando'ade.

This was probably the darkest stain in Mando'ade history in his opinion. As not only had this gone against the ruling of a much-respected Mandalore, but what was worst it had led to a Kriffing jetiise backed government returning to Mandalore.

And despite what was said the Historian couldn't help but feel as if there had been a hidden hand at play. One that had worked to ensure the New Mandalorian's return to power after they had been cast out during Mandalorian the Restore rule, ensuring Mandalorian rule returned to the Mandalorian sector after the Dral'Han.

But before anyone could say anything else, Sarad then spoke up. As an insignia on the Historians' black, yellow armour caught her attention. For her parents had made sure that their kids could recognize this insignia.

"Are you…?" Sarad's voice trailed off as she then pointed at the stylized Mythosaurs skull that was on the old man's armour.

To which the old man muttered a curse in the privacy of his helmet. As he had been hoping to have a private conversation with the Chief about his past, but seemingly thanks to dumb luck he was going to have this conversation sooner than he would've liked. But that was something he could worry about later, as he knew that he had to give Sarad her answer.

"Yes, it's the mark of the True Mandalorians, those who fought alongside Jaster Mereel." The old man confirmed what she knew.

For his part, part Chief didn't say anything, but merely let the conversation between the two kids and the old Mandalorian play out. As he would have time to ask questions later on.

"Why, why did you abandon Mandalore?" The rather pointed question came bursting out from the Cabur.

This was a rather understandable question; as the True Mandalorians did have some responsibility for the current state of the Mandalorian sector as a whole.

"We didn't abandon Mandalore Cabur," The Historian seemed to struggle to find what he wanted to say next, "But we failed to secure its future."

As this was the truth as he saw it, for the Historian knew that if things had gone a certain way after the death of Tor Vizsla, then perhaps things would've returned to something resembling normal in the sector. Then perhaps they would finally be able to finish terraforming Mandalore which had been started near the end of the reign of Mandalore the Restore.

This project to restore their home world had been ongoing for centuries at this point.

"Then why haven't you done anything to fix it!" The young man then demanded.

To which the Historian could only reply with a light chuckle.

"Me, fix this? I'm sorry Cabur, but my fighting days are long since passed." The old man admitted to him.

Because even though he was still in good shape for his age; his old knee injury plus his rather advanced age made it so that his fighting capability was rather diminished from his younger years; a fact that the old man was more than aware of.

That old knee injury that ironically had ended up saving him from being a part of the ill-fated mission to Galidraan. For when he had heard what had taken place there, he had immediately gone into hiding knowing what Vizsla would do without any opposition to stand in his way. He had stayed in hiding until Fett had returned and pretty much signal handily destroy the Death Watch, after which he had returned to Mandalore only bare witnesses to what he considered The Great Betrayal.

Though this event had many names, some call it the Clan Wars, others the shuk'la ijaat, in the end, it all lead to the same conclusion. The word of a much-respected Mandalore had been broken, and those with old grudges used this opportunity to settle old scores. And it had only been Clan Kryze's influence alongside the massing of a Republic Judicial fleet on the sector's borders that had forced the Clans to the negotiation table.

Something even to this day brought only the thought of shame to many Mando'ade. For it had been due to outside interference that they had been forced to allow the New Mandalorian to return to the sector. They had been too weakened from their civil war to do anything about this, and what was worse was that a group of jetiise had been there to ensure that they got the arrangement that would benefit them and their Republic.

The fact that it had been Clan Kryze had personally invited the aruetiise to interfere with internal Clan policies was still a sore spot for many Mando'ade. But because Clan Kryze like Clan Spar and many others, had suffered greatly during the Civil War made it was understandable as to why they would make such a move.

But understanding the reasons as to why they had done this didn't mean that the Historian had to like the results. As this move had indeed brought an end to the fighting between the Clans and all other factions that were involved in this mess; but he and all Mandalorians were now forced to deal with the consequences of Clan Kryza's action. Consequences that were now sitting in front of him, as Cabur then spoke up.

"Then what are you doing!?" The youth demanded of him.

"The only thing I can do, keeping the old ways alive; and no, not the Poodoo that the dar'manda are pushing, but that of Canons of Honor." The old man explained.

Because despite having fought for Jaster and his Supercommando Codex, the Historian felt that he couldn't hope to follow it given his inaction during what was probably the most important event in recent memory.

So, he fell back to the old code hoping in some way to regain some of the honour he had lost by following it, and by extension ensuring that the bases on which the Supercommando Codex was founded would be there for future generations.

But it was around this time that John would make his way into the conversation. Up to this point, he had been more than content to simply sit back and listen, but now the Spartan was finding that he wanted to get back on track in terms of his questioning of the two kids sitting at the table. But there was the rather obvious problem, as John wasn't entirely sure as to how he could bring this up.

When he turned to Cortana to silently ask her for assistance; the AI simply shrugged her shoulders at him. Making it clear this was something that John would have to do for himself.

Knowing this was going to be difficult, the Spartan then allowed himself a sign in the privacy of his helmet, as he prepared for what he expected to be a rather uncomfortable conversation.

"If you don't mind…" John started to say before he realized that this wasn't going to work.

As the Spartan wasn't entirely sure if this was the right thing to say. As John had always been a man of few words, and often the few words he said were brief and to the point. But now faced with a situation in which he wasn't able to fall back on his go-to method of communication, the Spartan struggled with what he had to say. But thankfully for him, the Historian seemed to realize what John was trying to do and unknowingly came in to rescue in his attempt to change the topic.

"I'm presuming you wish to continue from where you left off?" The old man then asked.

To which he got a simple nod from John.

"Yes, also thank you," The Spartan meant this.

As John knew that he had a serious blunder in his attempt to steer this back to his original line of questioning, as the Spartan still had some rather pointed questions for the two kids still sitting at the table.

"Would you explain how you gain access to the building?" John then asked Cabur.

"I'm a Kiffar. We have certain psychometric abilities that allows us to recall memories from objects, such as from the code pad outside. As such, I was able to get the code that way." Cabur then explained to the Chief.

This caused the Spartan to look over at the Historian for an explanation, as he had heard of this Cortana briefing but wanted confirmation from the Historian.

"It's a rare gift, if I remember it's something like one in every thousand-" "One hundred." Cabur corrected his senior.

"Right, so it's not uncommon within the Kiffar to have this ability. But my question is how did you even get by his security?" The Historian then asked the same question that had also been on the Chief's mind.

As he knew that John and Cortana had made it so that anyone that wasn't authorized to approach would be given the warning to turn away before being considered fair game. Knowing this, the Chief and Cortana were rather curious as to how they had managed to get past the perimeter defences and into the main building.

"While we were watching your ship come in Sarad noticed that the defences went down. So, we took our chances." The young man admitted sheepishly.

Under normal circumstances doing this would've in all likelihood would've gotten the two of them killed. But because John and Cortana were still in the process of trying to get UNSC tech work with what hardware they had managed to acquire locally, it merely showed that even though they had made great progress in regards to mating the two systems, there were still obvious improvements that had to be made regarding integrating the two systems.

But despite the situation, John was thankful that it had been merely two hungry and desperate kids that had managed to slip past their perimeter, rather than a couple of heavily armoured locals looking to steal everything that wasn't nailed to the floor. But this issue could be sorted out by him and Cortana later on, as John still had questions for his guest.

"How were you planning to get out?" John then asked.

At which point he watched Cabur face betrayal him, for it was obvious that he hadn't thought that far ahead. Or if he had then he hadn't expected things to have gone the way that they had.

"I hadn't thought that far ahead. As the plan was to either wait until you left, or try and cut the power, or something." Cabur admitted.

As he didn't see any point in lying at this point, especially considering just how much he had told them already.

"Then why were you taking the risk of raiding the armouries if food was all you were after?" John then inquired.

Because the Spartan understood why Sarad had raided his food stores, but what John he didn't understand was why Cabur would take the risk of being shot to acquire a weapon.

"Prudii gaan," The young girl then muttered.

At which point Chief and the Historian looked at each other; the two men were completely unaware of what Sarad was talking about. But it was the Historian who recovered the quickest from this, or simply it was what Chief allowed him to believe.

Either way, he ended up asking the question and not the socially awkward Spartan.

"I never heard of the Prudii gaan. Are they new around here?" The Historian inquired.

As it wasn't uncommon for a Clan or specific Clan member to take on certain titles due to their work; even so the Historian was certain that he would've heard of someone calling themselves shadow hands.

"That's what we call them. As they usually come in the middle of the night and take someone. We only know they've been there once we wake up and see that someone is missing." Cabur explained to the two men.

Upon hearing this they turned to look at one another, both of them knowing what had to be done. And it was John that gave words to what they needed to do.

"This has to be dealt with," Chief stated simply.

Because if this problem was serious enough that the two kids had tried to raid his base for weapons, then he could only imagine what might be coming down the tub should this problem become too big to ignore.

"Agreed," The Historian said with no argument.

As the Historian knew that this couldn't be ignored; especially since this was the first that he had heard about something like this taking place. Even so, it then raised the rather uncomfortable question for him, as to how long this had been happening without his notice.

"How long has this been happening?" Chief then inquired, as he went into information-gathering mode.

To which he got a shrug from Cabur.

"I don't know, but all I do know is it hadn't been that long. As someone would've done something about it by now." Cabur explained to the Chief, and all the while his sister kept quiet.

Making it rather obvious that this was all the information they were going to get from the two of them. John responded with a nod as he then turned to face the Historian.

"What are we going to do with them now?" Chief then inquired, as this question had been on his mind since he had caught the two of them.

To which the Historian gave a simple shrug.

"It depends, but from the moment their whole Clan is killed, they have two options. As either Cabur can take up work to support his sister, or in the more likely case since Mandalorian custom is heavy on adoption; another Clan will take them in." The Historian explained.

But considering the situation on the moon, he expected the latter option to be the one that was most likely to happen. Even so, he wasn't underestimating Cabur, because the Historian knew if there was one thing that Mandalorians did have in abundance, it was the will and the drive to persevere through any hardship. But despite having this will he wasn't sure that this would be enough to deal with the situation they now faced.

Satine and her allies weren't enemies that you simply couldn't face in a head-on contest, as they knew how to play the Clans off on one another. And besides, they already had created the battlefield in which you would be fighting; so, the moment you started getting any sort of momentum, the New Mandalorians and their Republic allies would set another Clan against you, killing all the momentum you had originally gained.

"And what happens if none of the Clans adopt them?" Chief then asked.

As John didn't know what would happen if this didn't happen, but then again, he quickly found out that there was a lot that he wasn't aware of as what articles that he was able to access on the holonet were usually either horribly inaccurate or were heavily censored to the point of being rewritten completely. Knowing this John knew that the locals, especially the older ones like the Historian were his best source of information, especially since they knew what it was, he was asking about.

So, when the Historian replied with a shrug, Chief got the feeling that he wouldn't like the answer he would get from the old man.

"If not, then they will simply wonder until either Cabur starts working or a Clan comes along and adopts them." The Historian stated simply.

This was the answer that John hoped wouldn't be the case. As it meant leaving the two of them to the mercy of fate, meaning that they would in all likelihood be forced to steal once again, or worse these shadow hands might end up taking them. But despite knowing this John couldn't think of a way that he could actually of helping them in this situation. As he was first and foremost soldier, and that training hadn't included such things as childcare. So, adopting the two of them might've been too much even for him; besides what would the Spartan do once the UNSC eventually come to retrieve him?

But such questions were immediately forgotten when the old man spoke up once again.

"Unless you were to do something," The Historian said.

"…" Chief didn't respond.

As he wasn't sure how to respond in this situation, but that didn't mean that someone else had something to say in his place.

"Well, if you hadn't noticed this gorilla isn't really what I would call a role model for childcare." Cortana quipped.

"Nor would most of the 'civilize' galaxy call us that either; especially because once our ade is of age we take them out to learn our trade." The Historian explained.

"I hadn't seen that mentioned on the Holonet." Cortana then remarked.

"There are a lot of things that the aruetiise don't understand, nor care to learn about us." The Historian then stated.

"I can imagine. As it's obvious that you're not well like by the galactic community." Cortana commented, to which the Historian responded.

"Yeah, still the kriffing aru'e of all aruetiise in the stanging civilized galaxy." The Historian sounded extremely bitter as he said this.

Mostly because of how this image had been used both for and against them; as he wished that they could go back to the older times when Mandalorians were seen as both the best warriors and most honourable warriors that the galaxy could offer. But even if the Historian knew that this was nothing more than a pipe dream now.

As it seemed that those days had long since passed for the Mando'ade, even if he knew many Mando'ade would tend to disagree with this opinion, especially those who believe in the code before Jaster Mereel and his Supercommando Codex. Still, he expected this fact to eventually get through their thick skulls sooner or later.

"Still, there's the matter of what should be done with them." John then said, getting things back on track.

"Right, well Chief that's mostly up to you." The Historian pushed him slightly.

As he wanted to see what choice the Spartan would make in this situation. As a notable silence fell between them as John thought of what he wanted to do regarding this situation. This silence went on for a couple of minutes, as it was obvious that John was weighing up all his options regarding what he could do regarding this situation.

All the while the Historian wondered if he had made a mistake by pushing this issue; as he had wanted to see what the Spartan would do when faced with this kind of situation. As the old man wanted to see if the Spartan would be open to considering adopting, or at the very least taking these two in. But he would have to wait to see what choice the Spartan made just like Cabur and Sarad.

The Historian wasn't sure how long the Chief had spent thinking when suddenly and without warning; John then reached down and removed the M6 off his hip, removing its clip before handing it to Cabur.

"Can you field strip this and put it back together?" Chief then asked.

To which Cabur nodded.

"Show me," Chief said as he then watched him.

As it took Cabur a couple of seconds to figure out how to take the M6 apart, but when he had figured it out Cabur immediately started taking the weapon apart. As he did so Chief watched in muted silence, noting everything that Cabur stripping from the pistol, as he broke it down to its most base components. At this point, he started putting the M6 back together.

This whole process lasted around five minutes, as John and all those present watched Cabur reassemble the M6, after which he then handed it back to Chief. As the Spartan then checked the young man's work. As he silently made notes of what he had done well alongside his mistakes in putting the M6 back together.

"There are a couple of mistakes that you made when you put the M6 back together," Chief said as he then showed what they were, "But otherwise you did well considering that this was your first time." This was a genial compliment coming from him.

"So, what happens now?" The Kiffar then asked.

For a moment John seemed to consider that question because despite knowing his answer he couldn't help but think of the consequences of his answer. But despite any misgivings he might have, John knew that in the end, it was the right choice given the situation.

"C9 will take you to your rooms. Your training will be beginning tomorrow." The Spartan stated simply.

Because if he was going to go down this route then John was going to make sure that whatever happened to them, they would be able to handle whatever the galaxy threw at them. Still, that didn't mean that they would be trained like Spartans, more than he training them to be the best that they could be so that Cabur could look after Sarad if he ended up only staying here for only a year or two.

Even though Chief doubted that this would be the case, still with a galactic war on the horizon, Cabur needed to have the skills he needed to provide for his sister should anything happen to John.

But that was something John could worry about later, as he then waited until the two of them had left the room so that he could have his long-awaited conversation with the old man.

"I'm not sure how I can look after then, as I'm not sure as to how long I will be here." Chief then admitted to the Historian.

"I don't see a reason as to why you can't at least look after them in the meantime. Still, if you don't mind me asking, what is it that's making you uncertain about this?" The older Mandalorian inquired.

As it was obvious to him that John wasn't 100% sold on the choice he had made.

"I'm not a teacher, nor have any previous experience with kids," John stated simply.

"That's obvious, but you at the very least try to make the best out of a bad situation. That is worth more than all the credits in the galaxy." The Historian stated simply.

As this was a rather simple observation to make.

"…" Chief reminded silent as he then turned to face Cortana.

"Don't look at me, this is all you," Cortana said.

As she was correct, as in the end, it had been John's choice as to whether he would take the two of them in, still, Cortana knew that John wasn't entirely sure about this situation he had committed himself to. Knowing this, Cortana would do everything in her power to help him, but in the end, this would be all up to him. Something that Chief seemed to realize as well as he then turned to the only other person who could help him with this.

"Would you be willing to help me? Not as a combat instructor, but as a-," Chief started to ask before the old man waved him off.

"I know what you're going to ask. And yes, I'll help if for no other reason than for them."

"… Thank you." Chief managed to find the words.

"You can thank me by trying to be something of a father figure to them. As I know that's asking a lot of you." The old man said, as he knew whether the Chief liked it or not, this would be the case.

"…" Chief didn't reply to this as he turned his head away.

At which point Cortana decided to jump back in, after abstaining from their earlier conversation. As she could tell that if she didn't know then the whole conversation might just fall apart, as it was simply becoming too difficult for Chief to handle. Besides, she could tell that John was still coming to terms with what he had just committed himself to; so, she would buy him a couple of minutes to collect his thoughts.

"I'll be here to help of course," Cortana said as she once again entered into their conversation.

"I didn't expect you to be so interested in helping." The Historian admitted.

"Well, someone has to teach this caveman the basis of childcare." Cortana then quipped.

As the AI suspected that she would end up doing all the activities regarding education while the Chief was off doing certain things around the system. Which wasn't a bad thing, though she could imagine Cabur and Sarad became restless without Chief around to make them do their daily drills.

"We'll have to have a long conversation about this in due course; thou I imagine you want to talk to me about what I spoke about earlier…" The Historian then trailed off.

As he knew that this conversation wouldn't be the most comfortable one to have, especially because he was now the one who was acting in bad faith. But it would seem that the conversation would be had another time, as the Chief had his mind solo focused on what he considered their more immediate problem.

"That we can talk about later; as I want to deal with the more pressing matter of this… Prudii gaans," Chief said, trying these foreign words out.

As the Spartans felt that this was a bigger issue that they should be focusing on. For they now knew that someone or a group was kidnapping children from the streets without no one noticing. As such the Spartan wanted to deal with this situation as soon as he could; especially given the little information they had to work with.

"Okay, so how do you propose we deal with this? As we don't have any leads as to where to start looking." The Historian then reminded him.

"We have one," John stated simply.

It took a moment for the old Mando to realize what the Spartan was suggesting.

"You have to be joking." The Historian said in disbelief.

As he knew that they had extremely limited information, but this? This was something even he considered crazy by his standers.

"It might be the only way we can find them unless you have some contacts that you haven't told us about that could help." Cortana then said, taking Chief's side.

The Historian then sighed because he didn't have those kinds of contacts. Because if he did have those kinds of contacts that the Spartan was looking for then they wouldn't have to consider this option, but the simple fact was that he didn't have them. And given the current situation the old man was forced to admit this was probably the best plan they had given the circumstances.

Still, that didn't mean that the Historian had to like this fact but merely had to accept it.

"Unfortunately, I don't; so Chief, what's this plan of yours?" The old Mando then asked.

At this point, the Spartan then started to explain his plan to the old man. And as much as he might not like the plan, it was in all honesty the best one they had given what they had to work with.

Even so, the Historian couldn't help but feel uneasy about this whole situation, knowing that if something went wrong then someone would probably die because of it. Despite his misgivings, he still found himself fully agreeing with what Chief was proposing.

Because the Historian felt if anyone could pull this off then it was the man before him, as he had already proven it to him once before.

Mando'a dictionary:

Ad - Son

Aruetiise - Outsider

Aru'e - enemy

Aliit - family (Clan)

Ade – Children, Sons, Daughter's

Buir – Father

Mando'ade - Mandalorians (pl) - sons and/ or daughters of Mandalore

Shuk'la - fragmented, broken, crushed

Ijaat - honor

Dar'manda - A Mandalorian who's has lost his heritage, and so his identity and his soul

Jetiise - Jedi plural, Republic

Osik - dung

Prudii - Shadow

Gaan - hand

Vod - Brother/Sister

And that's all she wrote, anyway I hoped that you enjoyed this chapter.

Sorry, this took a while to get out but simply put this went through what could be called development hell. As I had the chapter finished and ready to go, and well… let's just say that it was one of my earlier chapters and it wasn't adequate. So, I rewrote it, and one thing leads to another, anyway you get the point.

Anyway, if it isn't obvious by now, let me state this rather bluntly, this story is pretty much going to be its own AU. With all its custom lore, such as Mandalore the Restore as an example; as such a person never existed in canon or Legends but was something I felt fitted the Mandalorian's rather well considering their background in Legends.

Still there will be elements from 'Canon' but they will be done with a twist or in a certain way that I'm happy with, as needless to say some elements of Canon I'm lathed to bring in, but at the same time I don't mind other bit. In fact, they inspired me to reimage them entirely.

Take from that what you will, also a quick heads up for you all, the next chapter will probably take a while to come out, as it was in a similar state to this one. Anyway, I won't say anything more, other than things will start to pick up next chapter. And I'm just hoping that it will stick to the landing.

So, with that off my chest, until I see you all the next time have a good one.