Scathach's clone legion engages Separatist in what would become Ritsuka's first conflict at the Clone Wars.

The droids barely even had time to react when a rain of fire came upon them, curtesy of Blackwatch.

Scáthach pulled from her wrist a double lightsaber, igniting both edges with a deep purple blade. Without waiting even a second, the Jedi Master launched a barrage of attacks that cut at the droids with none of them getting the chance to fight back.

While she was busy destroying droids left and right, more of them showed up from the back of the group and started to shoot.

Ritsuka pulled his own lightsaber, a light blue blade was ignited and he started to block the droid's attacks while the clones of Blackwatch opened fire in return.

While Fujimaru was fairly experienced in combat, this was still his first real battle, and pression quickly got up to him.

One of the shots from the droids catched him off guard and landed in his knee, having him falling to the ground in pain, which left him open to a deadly hit.

Seeing this, Scáthach launched herself to protect him, blocking every hit while he slowly got up.

"Padawan, get up! A shot like that shouldn't put you down like that!" - Scáthach yelled at him.

"Yes Master!" - the boy said as he got back on his feet and helped the Jedi Master in fending off the droids.

With the two and Blackwatch, the droids were quickly dispatched and the clones got time to think about a plan

"General, the slaves say that they're members of the Resistance and have information that they say will be used for us" - Hound said to them.

"Bring them then" -

Scáthach and Ritsuka got introduced to the Twi'lek that the separatist defeated.

"My name is Fare Sandula, a pleasure to meet you Jedi Master" - the purple Twi'lek said.

"Nice to meet you. Now, what is the information that you have for us?" -

"In the cannons, they have Twi'lek civilians as hostages, we tried to free them but we couldn't defeat any of the droids" -

Hearing about the hostages put a dent in the plan of the clones, who planned to destroy the cannons with explosives. With this new information, they wouldn't be able to do that.

"What now Master?" - Ritsuka asked.

"Our main goal is destroying those cannons, and that's what we're going to do" - Scáthach declared - "I will be in charge of that. As for my Padawan, he will take a few of my clones and free the hostages while the main army battles the droids" -

"Master!? You want me to free the Twi'lek!?" -

"Yes. I wish to see your skills first hand, and this is the perfect time to do so" -

"But..." -

"Do you think this task is above what you can do?" -

"A bit Master, this are innocent lives that are at stake, and if I fail..." -

"While your concerns are understandable, we'll need you to acomplish this. Hound will join you alongside other clones to save the hostages" -

"But Master..." -

"We'll cover you with a frontal assault against the droids, low the security so your mission will have more chances of succeding" -

"Excuse me..." - Fare interjected - "If you want to free the hostages, I think the rebel lider will be happy to help" -

"Are you talking about Shi'da Ouge?" - Scáthach said - "Do you mind taking us with him?" -

"Yes. I'm sure he'll be happy getting help from the Republic" - Fare answered.

"Very well then. Take us there" -

Fare and the remaining hostages freed by the Republic started making their way towards Ouge's small rebel cell.

In the way, while Scáthatch made talk with the Twi'lek they saved about their struggles with the separatists in Ryloth, Ritsuka was approached by Commander Hound, who had questions for him.

"Hey, Padawan" - Hound said to get his attention - "I see you got nervous during the fight" -

"Yes, sorry for that. This is my first battle experience so I got a bit... Scared might be the word?" -

"You can't let it happen again. You put your life in danger, and you were lucky the droid didn't managed to hit your head or any other vital spot in your body" -

"I know, but one doesn't simply lose fear in one battle" -

"Then you'll have to be the first one to do it, we can't have someone get scared and put not only his own life, but others as well in danger" -

With that said, Hound advanced to where Scáthatch was found, leaving Ritsuka thinkin about the words of the clone. That is, until another one approached.

"I see you alredy met the Commander" - the clone said. This one had a red stripe in the middle of his helmet, distinguishing it from the rest.

"Yes, he's always like this?" -

"Since the battle of Geonosis. He's not one to tolerate dangers to the mission, I guess that's why he was asigned to Master Scáthatch" -

"Yeah, something tells me he and I got off on the wrong foot" -

"You'll get used to it. He's a bit more friendly outside of missions, so if you wish, you can talk to him after we finish here" -

"Thanks... Um... What's your name?" -

"Oh, I'm Ash, nice to meet you Padawan Fujimaru" -

After a few more hours of walking, they arrived into a cave which had been repurposed by members of a Twi'lek resistance into a base to try and retake Ryloth from the droid army. Inside, they met Shi'da Ouge, an old Twi'lek which leaded the rebelion.

"Who are they?" - the blue Twi'lek asked.

"Sir Shi'da, they're members of the army of the Republic, they came to help us take back our world" - Fare explained the situations.

"The Republic? Hm, took them long enough" -

"Excuse me Shi'da Ouge, my name is Scáthathc, general of the Republic. I believe the cooperation between our two armies could prove rather beneficial for the fight against the droids, and the release of the captives" -

"A general... You're a Jedi Master?" -

"Indeed I am. I also brought my Padawan here, Ritsuka Fujimaru. Padawan, come here" -

Following the orders of his Master, Ritsuka got close to Shi'da and made a small bow in sign of respect.

"I always heard tales from the Jedi and their prowess, but after what happened to the last one, I'm not sure I can trust another" -

"What happened to master Gun Di was unfortunate, but we're here to finish what he started. If you help us take down the cannons, crusiers from the Republic will be able to drop supplies and resources to increase the chances of the campaign being a success and Ryloth could finally be free" -

Shi'da looked directly at Scáthatch for a few seconds, after which he gave an order.

"Tell me your plan and how many soldiers you brought here to fight. I hope we can make something up" -

"Very well then, a pleasure working with you" -