9 Signet

10 years later

After that day, Dak and Sabine became very close friends, and they ended up training together on everything they could, from blaster to melee combat. However, some aspects of their training did become more personalized over time; Sabine began training in specialty weapons and explosives while Dak began training in the Rising Phoenix, which helped him fly by means of a jetpack, though instead of a standard jetpack, he decided to craft makeshift thrusters that he installed into his boots. Dak also personalized the rest of his armor as well, adding black tattoo markings to his helmet and breastplate that resembled lightning bolts.

Aside from their training, Dak and Sabine also met in areas where they would rarely be disturbed whenever they had time off. Dak was currently waiting for Sabine at one of these areas, a small passage way near the kennels where a wide variety of creatures were kept to help train Mandos for otherworldly scenarios. Finally, Sabine emerged from the corner.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, "I accidentally took a wrong turn back there. It's crazy how easily one can get lost in here."

Dak knew exactly what she meant: "It's all good. The only thing that matters is that you made it. But…what did you do to your armor?!"

Sabine had painted spots of bright orange on her armor.

"I got a little artistic inspiration," she said, "It contrasts the pink quite nicely in my opinion."

"Fair enough, I guess." was all Dak could further say on the subject. The orange did actually look kinda good on the pink. Following that, the two talked about their further exploits in their training since they had last met. Sabine had created a concealable explosive spray paint, while Dak had been setting new record in the Rising Phoenix test flights, even outracing the Mandos in the standard jetpacks.

"I'm telling ya, these boots are way better than jetpacks!" Dak said, "I just wish I could put it to some real use."

"Yeah, I know how that feels." Sabine replied.

Sabine had recently turned 15, officially coming of age. With Dak a year older and both have fully sworn into the creed, they were now able to be deployed on missions against the Empire; unfortunately for both of them, that had not yet happened.

"I mean, it's not that life has been bad down here," Dak continued, "I just wish something more…exciting would happen."

As if on cue, a human scream broke the silence from further inside the tunnels, followed by blaster fire and a creature's roar.

"You just HAD to say something, didn't you?" Sabine said, unholstering her blaster pistols.

Dak mentally kicked himself: "Yeah, yeah, we'll discuss my big mouth later." He replied unholstering his own pistols, and the two ran down the hall towards the source of the noise. When they got further down the tunnel, they came across a Mandalorian animal handler, stumbling, bloodied and with his armor dented. Sabine ran to him and propped him up on her shoulder.

"Oh, my gosh! Are you okay? What happened?! she asked.

The wounded Mando struggled to get words out: "Damn bastards…went crazy…escaped."

"What escaped?" Dak quickly asked.

Just then, from around the corner came another animalistic cry as a large, green, insectoid creature appeared: an Ackalay. Dak looked at the Ackalay, then back at Sabine: "Get him to safety," he ordered, "I'll deal with this guy."

Sabine grabbed his arm with her free hand: "No! You're crazy! I'm not leaving you!" she retorted, worry in her voice.

Dak shook his arm from her grip: "Don't worry about me; I'll be fine. Just GO!"

With that, Dak raised his pistols and charged at the Ackalay. Sabine, realizing there was no changing his mind, turned to leave, and, looking over her shoulder one last time, ran as fast as she could, propping the wounded Mando's arm over her shoulders.

As Dak continued his charge, the creature sensed a challenge and increased its own speed. Just as it was about to pounce, Dak ignited his thrusters, launching himself over the Ackalay while firing a volley of blaster bolts at the creature's back. As he landed on the other side of the hallway, he turned to face the beast again. The creature did the same: the bolt hardly having fazed it as they barely penetrated its thick armor. If anything, the attack only enraged it further. Letting out another screech, it charged again.

Desperate to buy himself more time, Dak shot a stream of fire from his wrist-mounted flame launcher. Ignited, the Ackalay shrieked in pain and began scuttling around, ramming itself into the walls and the floor in an attempt to put out the flames. Ducking behind the hallway corner, Dak calmed his mind and remembered what he knew about the creature's defenses: its shell was near impenetrable. However, it is possible to kill it by attacking the soft part of the neck, but this was also where the head could reach. Dak got an idea: it was absolutely insane, but it might just work. Plus, he didn't have much choice.

Peeking from his hiding spot, he saw the Ackalay. It was no longer burning, but it was extremely ticked off: perfect. Dak holstered his pistols, unsheathed his combat knife, and ran straight for the creature. The Ackalay noticed his approach, but before it could react, Dak launched himself off the wall, flew over the beast once more, and fired his grappling hook. The cord lashed around the creature's neck and pulled taut, dragging Dak through the air and painfully onto the creature's back.

Startled, the creature went berserk again, this time desperate to get the attacker off its back. Realizing this would be his one chance to end it, Dak reached with his knife hand and drove the blade into the Ackalay's neck. This made the beast flail and roar even more; so much so that the cord disconnected from Dak's gauntlet and he was thrown from the creature's back and into the wall, crumpling to the ground.

Regaining his senses, Dak awoke to find himself in the infirmary on one of the sick beds. His back ached all over. Looking at himself, he noticed his armor had a few dents as well, and his right forearm was soaked in green: the Ackalay's blood from when he stabbed it in the neck. One of the doctors noticed his movements and walked over to him.

"How ya feeling, kid?" he asked.

"Like my back got trampled on by a Bantha." Dak replied.

The physician chuckled: "I would assume so. It was bruised pretty badly."

"How long have I been out?"

"Almost a day. You've become the talk of the covert recently."

"I have."

"Yes. There aren't very many Mandos who can kill a creature like an Ackalay, much less wrestle one."

Just then Dak remembered something: "Where's Sabine?"

"She's fine. We kept having to send her away, but she absolutely refused to leave your side when we first brought you in."

Of course, she did. Dak smiled to himself: "And the handler?"

"He's alright. Surprisingly, he recovered faster than you did.

That was a relief at least: "So, how much longer do I have here."

"Not long, about a day more now that you're awake. The bacta infusion works very quickly."

"Well, that's something."

"Indeed. Oh, and before I forget, the Chief says you are to see him once you leave.

Uh-oh. Dak's spirits dropped. The Chief was probably mad about him having killed one of their contained creatures. He could only hope the Chief would show mercy on him.

…

A day later, Dak was out of the infirmary and on his way to meet the Chief, still praying that he would survive the encounter. Soon, he came to the armory, where he was told the Chief was waiting for him. Sure enough, there he was, easily recognizable by the black cape over his armor. Then Dak noticed something he was not expecting; both Sabine and the handler they saved were also there.

"Stand over here." the chief said, gesturing to a spot in front of him near the smelting furnace. Dak did as he was told; whatever happened next, he was going to accept it, no matter what the consequence. Then Sabine ran over to him and hugged him before he could do anything.

"You had me so worried! I thought you were gonna die!" she said.

Dak slowly hugged her back: "Well, I'm here now aren't I?"

"Yes, but please don't do that again."

"No promises."

"Alright, that's enough for now." said the Chief softly, motioning for Sabine to pull back, "You'll have plenty of time to reconnect after the ceremony."

Dak was confused: "Ceremony? But, aren't you going to punish me?"

Now it was the Chief's turn to be confused: "Punished? Now why would I do that?"

"Well, I destroyed Mandalorian property, didn't I?"

"And you also saved the life of one of our own." The Chief gestured to the handler, "He and the girl told me everything that happened, and the recordings from our security footage filled in the rest of the details. Yes, you did kill a creature that was the property of the covert, but I value the lives of our Mandalorian brothers over such things. So yes, this ceremony is to reward you for your deeds. Armorer, is it ready?"

The armorer walked from behind a desk on the opposite side of the room. She was holding something small in her hand: "It is indeed finished, Chief."

"Good. You know what to do."

The armorer nodded and walked over to Dak, placing the object on his shoulder plate and welding it the Beskar.

The Chief began: "Because you not only saved one of our own, but also managed to defeat a creature that most of our warriors struggle against, the elder council and I have discussed and decided that you have earned…" The armorer finished her worked and backed away "Your signet."

Dak looked down at the shoulder plate. Decorating it was a symbol depicting the ferocious head of a snarling Ackalay. Dak could barely contain his excitement, but managed to compose himself enough to address the Chief: "Thank you, sir. I'll strive to wear it with honor to the best of my abilities."

The Chief nodded: "I know you will. You may leave now; I expect you are still a bit sore from the incident."

"Yeah, you could say that." Dak said and he turned to leave. Sabine ran to join him. After embracing each other once more, they went down to the sleeping quarters, admiring Dak's new signet the whole way there.

"You think this will finally get us on missions?" Dak wondered.

Sabine replied: "I sure hope so."

Dak smiled under his helmet: "Yeah, me too."

Sabine looked at Dak: "Now about your big mouth…"