Clan Shryke, a fairly minor clan that had allied themselves under House Kryze, during the Mandalorian Civil War. While many of the clan perished in the fighting between the three sides, those that survived managed to gain power under the new government of Duchess Kryze. Such was the case for Ayasha’la Shryke, a young survivor of Clan Shryke, who would soon become a rising politician in Sundari. While many of the New Mandalorians campaigned for peace and demilitarization, Ayasha’la maintained a political stance of readiness, believing that it was better to have means of defense and not need it, then to have no defenses at all. These policies often brought her into contact with MandalMotors, where she would meet her future husband.

As Ayasha’la questioned the engineers of MandalMotors on how they best believed Sundari could be protected, having created the dome that protected the capital city, one engineer stood out to her more than others. Brax Ramikad had been raised as a True Mandalorian, but had chosen to remain out of the fighting in order to continue his work at MandalMotors. Their passions aligned and the two began to spend more and more time together, before eventually Ayasha’la asked Brax to marry her. It was a small wedding, but Brax joined under Clan Shryke, continuing his work as Ayasha’la continued to push for more defensive policies for the protection on Sundari.

In the years to come at 42 BBY, Ayasha’la found herself with child, and the young Maysh’la Shryke was born. With the small size of Clan Shryke, the young Maya’s mother stepped down from her campaigning, spending more time to raise her young daughter, until Maya came of school age. Only then did Ayash’la continue her political career, lobbying for a more defensive Sundari and Mandalore, in what many other politicians considered to violent a manner. Maya herself was blissfully unaware of her mother’s turmoil as she received a New mandalorian education in Sundari.

As she grew older, Maya’s intelligence began to shine through as she excelled in her class. While her mother continued to grow less popular in the Capitol, Maya’s teachers favored her for her wit. Brax, recognizing his daughters aptitude, began to take her to his job, allowing her to tinker with droids and electronics, teaching her pieces of his own trade. When she came of age, though her mother’s political career was nearly over, her parents were able to enroll her in the Royal Academy of Government, where Maya began studying to become a politician herself.

Despite her aptitude for politics, Maya’s aptitude for engineering was far greater, and many of her nights were spent tinkering with parts provided by her father, much to her mother's chagrin. Maya’s progress as a budding politician and engineer would continue through her teens, but her carefree life would come to a crashing halt in 26 BBY.

Maya and her family were having lunch together at MandalMotors when the Death Watch attacked, turning the pleasant afternoon into a nightmare. The explosion had come from underneath them, collapsing the company cafeteria down several floors into a pile of smoke, fire and rubble. When the initial haze cleared, Maya could make out her mother, her neck broken and body crushed by duracrete. Her father she couldn’t find at all, lost somewhere in the rubble. Maya could do nothing but scream for help.

Trying to free herself from the rubble had been fruitless as she marred her hands on the metal pinning her down, slicing into her tendons helplessly. It wasn’t until her voice had begun to grow hoarse from her screaming that someone would appear to help. Maya was uncertain on if the man was real, dressed in Mandalorian Armor as he was, since so few wore the armor in Sundari. He introduced himself as Vaerk Vanth and it became clear that he was no illusion as he began digging her out of the rubble, and Maya finally realized she could stop her screaming.

The following days were the worst of her life. Vaerk had managed to dig her out and get her to medical aide, though the damage had been done. As she began her recovery in the hospital, the doctors were forced to amputate her left leg and replace it with a prosthetic. The damage she’d done to her hands trying to escape the rubble had ruined many tendons and nerves in her hands, hindering her ability to use her hands as she once did. The news hadn’t been surprising to her, but both her mother and father had perished in the collapse. It was all she could do to keep herself from breaking down every time someone told her she was lucky to be alive.

A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one, was that Vaerk had begun to visit her during her recovery in the hospital. Despite the doctors and nurses, no one had explained to her what had happened or why, but Vaerk understood her confusion and filled her in. It was strange for her, talking with someone like him, someone clearly not a New Mandalorian.

Vaerk himself was a True Mandalorian, and had moved to Vorpa’ya several years ago after the schism. He was a mechanic there, he explained, and spent most of his time fixing up gear, ships, and speeders for other True Mandalorians and the rest of Clan Vanth. The day of the attack, he had been at MandalMotors to buy some parts for a Kom’rk-class fighter when the Death Watch had attacked the company. They had broken into the hangar and stolen a large number of Kom’rk’s themselves, before setting off charges in the building to cover their escape.Vaerk had been caught in the collapse as well, but his armor had protected him and he’d managed to dig himself out. That was when he’d heard Maya’s screams, and dug her out as well.

The news hit Maya hard. She’d always been taught the Death Watch were criminals. Horrid. Evil. But they’d always been more of a fictional monster then a real force. And now they had caused the death of her parents. They were real monsters. And she realized that she hated them. Wanted to destroy them. Much more than anything a girl of her age could hope to accomplish.

When she was released from the hospital, she returned home, though it felt empty and wrong without her family there. Friends of her father and mother offered to take her in and help her, but she refused. Strangely however, Vaerk continued to visit her, and she grew closer to the older Mandalorian. She felt a kindred connection with him, both of them having been present at the attack on MandalMotors. Dipping further into isolation, Maya dropped out of the Royal Academy, the teachings there only bringing her to miss the mother she had lost.

Without Maya’s appearance to school and her refusal to stay with other families from her clan, the Mandalorian Protectors in Sundari stepped in, insisting that she had to live with someone. The laws were not as they had been, having changed with the New Mandalorians, and she was still considered too young to care for herself. She turned to Vaerk for advice, and the Mandalorian offered to take her into Clan Vanth, and that she could come live with him on Vorpa’ya if she wanted.

Maya agree and packed her things, moving to Vorpa’ya to live with Vaerk. She was hesitant about adopting the Vanth clan name as her own, feeling as though it might be a betrayal to her parents, but Vaerk didn’t press the issue, letting her do as she wished. It wasn’t until they arrived at his home that she realized why Vaerk had take an attachment to her. The pictures of him with his daughter were clear enough, and after a few days of investigation she learned that his daughter had died during the civil war, fighting for the True Mandalorians against the Death Watch.

Maya chose not to bring it up, believing Vaerk would talk about it if and when he was ready, and began looking for ways to busy herself instead. The cybernetic implant they’d used to improve her dexterity allowed her to continue with her skill in engineering, and Vaerk was more then happy to have her around to help with the repairs and jobs he took for other True Mandalorians. While she wasn’t that familiar with weaponry or armor, Vaerk began to teach her everything he could.

With what her father had taught her, Maya quickly picked up on the differing techniques. The difference between slugthrowers and blasters, micro rockets and grenades. The starships and speeders Vaerk worked on she was more familiar with, as well as the few droid repairs he did from time to time. What was most foreign to her, however, was the forging of Beskar, and the closely guarded Mandalorian secrets of working the iron. It was a difficult process, requiring specialized tools, but her natural aptitude allowed to learn how to work the metal into plates and repairing armor over time.

While the work was fulfilling, Maya grew increasingly frustrated at her situation. Day in and day out, she listened to the tales regaled to Vaerk from the members of the clan of the fights they had been in and the victories they’d won. The ones that bothered her the most were the run ins the clans had with the Death Watch. She increasingly felt useless, as though she weren’t doing anything to avenge her parents even though so many others were out fighting. When she heard about the casualties from the monument bombing in Sundari, she knew she couldn’t stand by any longer.

Announcing her plans to Vaerk, her foster father’s cautioning did little to stop her, and Maya began pursuing a career as a bounty hunter. She started out simply, taking on contracts for bail skippers and thieves. Her main goal was gathering information from those criminals however, coming into contact with a few former members of the Death Watch. From them, she was able to learn information about Death Watch camps and holdings, taking the opportunity to cause some mischief. At first it wasn’t anything too daring, stealing credits and supplies, but as she grew more successful Maya grew more brazen.

Maya began using her father’s Kom’rk class fighter to tail members of the Death Watch, staking them out and following them home, breaking into their homes in their sleep to capture the ones who didn’t remain in the Death Watch camps. It was going well, but with the increasing danger, Vaerk became more concerned for her, and insisted that Maya would need her own armor if she was going to continue her bounty hunting.

Maya was hesitant at first, but soon came up with a plan. She would need Beskar if she wanted to make her own armor, and while it wasn’t feasible for her to simply buy some on her own, she could instead steal some. She knew that the Death Watch had their own supply. It took her nearly three months to track down one of their mines on Mandalore’s moon, but she was finally able to sneak her way into the base. Knocking out one of the guards and stealing their armor, Maya posed as a member of the Death Watch, before fleeing with a shipment of Beskar that had been loaded onto a Kom’rk.

When she returned home, Vaerk was furious with her. The guard she’d stolen the armor from had seen her face, and since she’d neglected to kill him the Death Watch had learned who she was. While it was unlikely they’d come after her on Vorpa’ya, they Death Watch had put an internal bounty on her head. It was a bittersweet victory, but she and Vaerk stripped the Kom’rk she’d stolen for parts, and Maya hid away the Beskar she’d stolen, hoping that the pressure would die down soon.

Honor: While not having been raised as a True Mandalorian, the tenants she was raised under as a New Mandalorian have conflicted with Maya. She strives to uphold the Resol'nare and Supercommando Codex, believing that the policies of the New Mandalorians are insufficient. She feels indebted to Vaerk for saving her as a teen, and hopes that she can make his efforts worthwhile.

Lethality: Having not been raised as a True Mandalorian, Maysh'la is not nearly as skilled in combat as many others in the clan. As such, Maya goes above and beyond with her skills, training herself to be a better combatant and tinkering with her gear to make it as dangerous as possible.

Oath: The Death Watch having killed her parents, Maysh'la has stood idly by long enough. Feeling inadequate, she has vowed revenge on the Death Watch and will hinder and hurt them in any way she is able.

Deathmark: Having stolen a cache of Beskar from the Death Watch, Maya has a kill order out on her. Most Death Watch will kill her on sight if she's recognized, or at least try to capture her for interrogation on what she's done with their Beskar.

Age: 21
Height: 5'6
Build: Lithe
Hair: Brown hair in a ponytail.
Eyes: Brown
Homeworld: Sundari, Mandalore
Notable Features: Maya's hands have metal integrated into them where the bones run from fingertips to her wrist.