A few months after the beggining of the Clone Wars, all Jedis are being called to serve in the front lines of the bloddy conflict, and one of the newest Padawans in the order, Ritsuka Fujimaru, is no exception.

Ritsuka Fujimaru stood in the Senate, watching all of them argue about the current state of the Clone Wars. Despite having started recently, it had alredy caused devastation in a number of different worlds.

Right now, senator Padme Amidala had the word, and she was talking about ways the Great Army of the Republic could be use to bring help to planets that had suffered because of previous battles between them and the CIS, with some agreeing with her message while other stated that the Army should only be used to fight and not to deliver provisions.

"Oh, here again? I never thought you for the political type" - a woman's voice got close to the boy from behind his back.

"Ah, hi there Mash" - Ritsuka said, as he turned around to face the pink haired girl - "What are you doing here? I thought Grand Master Solomon had you bussy training in the temple" -

"He gave me some time to say goodbye as you leave today" - the girl said as she started to tear up a little, but held them back.

"Ah, so the rest of them also know" -

"Yes, Master Shiki told me about it" - Mash then walked right next to Ritsuka - "Tell me, how do you feel about going to your first battlefield?" -

"I'm scared, really scared if I'm honest with you. I've heard stories from other Padawans about their first mission and..." -

"First mission? Do you mean the Battle of Geonosis?" -

"Exactly. For what I heard, a lot of Padawans joined the assault and many of them died, those who didn't ended up severely scared for the events there" -

While Ritsuka was lucky enough as to not be tasked to join the Battle of Geonosis, he found out about everything that happened there due to his new Master, who decided to tell him everything.

Many highly respected Jedis ended up dying, and Padawans were slaughtered like they were nothing but cattle to the CIS droids, and it was like that until the Clone Army decided to step into the fight, and even still, many still ended up dying.

One of the hardest losses for the Jedi Order was that one of Jedi Master Morgan. She was one of the best Masters and an expert in using the Force, prefering not use her lightsaber most of the times. According to Ritsuka's Master, after the Clone Army arrived, Morgan was planned to return to the Order and leave the planet, but something shot down the LAAT in which she traveled, killing the Padawans, clones and Morgan at once, with the body of the former Master ending up burned to such a degree that it was unrecognizable.

A funeral was orquestrated for what little was left of Morgan. After the funeral ended and seeing as there was a vacant in the Order, her sister Artoria was selected as her replacement as the Clone Wars started, with all but one taking the rank of 'General' and getting their own Clone Legions. Alongside them, nearly all of the surviving Padawans also joined their Masters or in some rair ocasions, commanded Legions on their own.

"So, who's going to be your Master? That's the thing no one told us" - Mash asked, curious as to who would take her friend into battle.

"Master Scáthatch" -

With just that, Mash froze in place. She was one of the most demanding members of the Order, and had such a high level of discipline that was even selected as one of the members of the Council. All of her Padawans grew to become great Jedi and warriors, but all of them speak to the level of difficulty regarding her trainings.

"Why her? Wasn't anyone else available? Like Master Lancelot or Master Muramasa?" - Mash asked, fearing for the life of Ritsuka.

"I have no idea. For all I know, she's the one that I got, no explanations about it, nothing" -

"Have you seen her alredy?" -

"We met in my room a couple days ago and talked about what had happened in this months to give me as much knowledge as she could, but outside of that, nothing much" -

"But still, she's... No, as much as I fear for you, I have to support you, wherever you go!" -

"Heh, thank you Mash. I'm going to miss talking with you, it always makes me feel better" -

"Same thing here, you're someone very special to me" -

After that, both of them hugged and continued to watch the Senate argue. Later that same day, Ritsuka boarded a Venator and was transported to the place his Master waited for him, the orbit of the planet Ryloth, that was currently suffering an invasion. A blockade was put in the planet and Jedi Master Ima Gun-Di had been killed trying to break it, with Scáthatch being send there to finish what the he started.

After arriving at Scáthatch's fleet just outside the blockade, Ritsuka took a deep breath as both ships conected to allow passage between them. Joined by members of the 223rd Legion, he made his way to the bridge, and there she was...

"Ritsuka Fujimaru... Took you long enough" -

"A pleasure to see you again Master Scáthatch" -