Kyle didn't mind being placed on archive duty, it gave him time to work on his skills and focus on developing his knowledge on the Jedi. It was the exact opposite of Ahsoka and her experiences during her brief stint on archive duty. Unlike her, Kyle enjoyed being away from the war and the pressures of commanding. He'd rather assist Tera Sinube in his teaching of the Younglings, helping them learn how to properly hold their weapon. He didn't care much for meditation. So he found himself as one of the students at certain points of Sinube's class.

The library was something Kyle initially looked forward to visiting his first day at the Jedi Temple. Then he found out most of the writings aren't in the basic language, that Jedi usually learn up to five languages before they reach the age of ten. Madam Jocasta was generous enough to point Kyle in the direction where the few books written in basic are shelved.

Asuka was shocked to see Kyle at the front desk. It's been a while since they've talked and she wanted to catch up. "Sorry you're on archive duty." She's shared Kyle's job at one point and isn't particularly fond of it.

"Don't be. I'm enjoying it. I've practiced my new Ataru style and have gotten better at it." He couldn't remember a time he's felt more comfortable in his own skin.

"How've you been practicing? The new shipment of MagnaGuards to replace the defective ones hasn't come in yet."

"I found a holodroid a while back who is programmed to spar." Kyle explains. "His name is 28-03."

"You named him a number?" Asuka didn't understand.

"No that's his barcode number." Kyle didn't think it's appropriate to name a droid, a machine he could take for granted, like a toaster.

"You don't name your droid?" She asks.

"It isn't mine, I just found it. Besides, it doesn't matter." He noticed the braid tied around her raven black hair. "Did you get promoted?" Asuka nods vigorously, unable to contain her bright smile for a second longer. Kyle hops over the desk and gives her a modest high five. "That's great!" He tells her. "I'm so happy for you. Who's your teacher?"

"Master Luminara Unduli. She trained Barriss Offee." Asuka answers.

"Yes, I've met her before. She's very nice." Kyle said. He was taken aback at how cordial Barriss was. Always bowing as a form of greeting, even to fellow Padawans and Younglings. Kyle never was showed such respect for her.

"She trained under Unduli for two-years and quickly became a Jedi Knight. Maybe I'll be on the same trajectory." Asuka salivated at the thought of being on the fast track to graduating to Knight-status.

"At this point, I'd just be happy if my Master keeps me around." He chuckles.

"Don't say that, Tera enjoys having you as her student." Kyle knows that's true, but the doubt gnaws at him. "Anyways, I have to get going."

"Congratulations, Asuka. I hope to see you out there."

(Scene break)

Asuka could not wait to meet her master. At the same time, her hands were clammy and her stomach had tied itself in knots. What if she was mean? Asuka pondered if she wasn't good enough for a Jedi Master of Unduli's status to train? Self doubt plagued her mind. Nothing about her was spectacular, her appearance screamed generic. Then again, so did Kyle and she routinely took him to the cleaners when they locked horns.

Asuka knew she's being ridiculously. Unduli wouldn't have picked her if she didn't believe in her potential. There's more to being a Jedi than looks. She's trained all her life for this, it is time for the next step. Taking one last long breath before finally meeting her master, Asuka set eyes on the Galactic Republic hanger bay for the first time. Unable to fathom its large size. Measurements added to 100,000 square feet, filled to the brim with state of the art fighters, such as the Z-95 star fighter sporting high maneuverability and top of the line sensors.

But what Asuka noticed a lack of was soldiers. Only a handful of soldiers accompanied the Jedi. Before the inhibitor chip crisis, Clones would often reside in the hanger bay fixing warships and readying themselves for deployment.

Unduli told Asuka there mission was simply to investigate a distress signal not too far from Coruscant, right near Brentaal. Unduli warns her Padawan to tread carefully, as the entire communications station been shut down. "Curious. I've heard similar occurrences three times in the last couple of days." Luminara ponders if there was some bigger game afoot.

"Can we fix it, Master?" Asuka asks.

"Unfortunately our volunteer force isn't skilled in computer repair." Luminara sighs, trying not to make the soldiers feel bad. She's heard humans are a fickle bunch.

"Actually, Master, I could fix it." Asuka offers, much to the shock of her master.

"You're free to try."

Asuka only needs a brief look under the hatch to see the problem. "We have a malfunctioning bifurcating dialator." She says, complexity giddy to use her unheralded skills for once. Asuka beamed when the lights came back on, only for them to return off moments later.

Asuka is about to again look under the latch when she sees an eyesore of a monstrosity come into her view. A heavy cruiser rotating itself away from the communication station, it stretched over three miles long dwarfing the size of the strongest republic cruiser in their navy.

"I think I found who did this, Master."

(Scene break)

Once again, the Jedi found themselves stretched thin. Obi-Wan was tasked with guarding the Duchess during Mandalore's constitutional convention. Anakin and Tera have returned recently from their successful mission on Geonosis, sustaining heavy damage, however. Despite Skywalker's insistence on the contrary, he was in no condition to be out in the field.

For the Galactic Republic, now laboring the last ting they needed to find out was the C.I.S have developed a super weapon that's wholly operational and did it under their noses.

"The senate is losing confidence in the chancellor." Bail Organa gathered from his various conversations with his mates in the capital building. "Not to mention the people. If this keeps up, the mob will be banging down all of our days for a special election."

Padmé wasn't too keen on the chancellor's performance since the outbreak of The Clone War. Many chances presented itself for the republic to simply wash their hands of this quagmire and Palpatine choose false pride at every turn.

"If I may be frank, I too am losing confidence in the chancellor. He's lost control of the war and is leading us to defeat."

Bail wasn't sure what came next. He had a rough idea, he assumed Padmé did not have the gall to actually suggest and carry it out. "I'm going to call for a vote of no confidence in the chancellor during today's session."

"It's very risky to do something like that." Bail warns. "You're the one who called for a vote of no confidence in the previous chancellor."

"Which'll only amplify my actions when i do it again."

Before Padmé could make good on her threat, Organa asked her to converse with the chancellor prior. It wouldn't look good to the press, who largely give cover to the chancellor and pass off his failures or shortcomings as the fault of others, to vote to unseat the leader the senate recently chose to give unlimited power to.

The chancellor, like always, was not stressed given the circumstances. He was more hurt to find out one of his oldest confidants in the senate expressed interest in turning on him. "Why would you do that?" His expression was similar to an old man asking why his children don't visit him anymore. It honestly left the experienced senator flat-footed.

"I feel the war has been mismanaged and there are better candidates for the position." She states bluntly.

"Oh?" Palpatine raises a white eyebrow. "Perhaps you could throw your support behind one of the ultra-left parties? You really want to see how a Collectivist handles this war? For the sake of your re-election chances I hope you don't cast your lot in with the nationalist to your right."

Padmé knew extremism didn't sell to her voters on Naboo. They fancied themselves as intellectuals, eager to find common ground with a nuanced opinion. This was a real gut check for her political career. Could she sit back and watch Palpatine lead the Galactic Republic, which has stood for over a thousand generations, be split in two after losing a war to the slave owning bureaucrats heading up the C.I.S?

When the war initially broke out, a parade celebrating the Republic's response to the succession of ten thousand systems with war. Throngs of people marched on Coruscant, Alderaan, and Naboo singing joyously in chorus "The Republic forever! Down with the traitors!" Less than a year later, those same people still march, but sing a different tune. "I didn't raise my kin to a other mother's darling!"

Padmé left her meeting not sure if she remembered what her retort was, but very sure it displeased her. Returning to her chambers the isolation let her dwell on her failure and it gnawed at her. Her hands were covering her face when a surprise visitor snuck past the public eye.

"Annie?" She said wistfully, yearning for someone to help her in her time of need. Luckily for her, it was the Jedi himself. Wearing casual attire, only discernible thing of his appearance is the white bandage wrapped around his head. "I've heard what happened on Geonosis." She would have rushed to give him a warm embrace if they did not need to keep their marriage a secret from the press, the Jedi and her colleagues. "I assumed the worst."

Anakin grins, disarming Padmé's concern, albeit briefly.

"Now senator Amidala, you and I have known each other long enough to know I can handle the hairiest of situations." He says cockily. But Padmé wasn't amused. She looked unsure. "What's wrong?"

"The Separatists have a super weapon, we don't know what it does, we're sure what it looks like. What our spies have been able to communicate to us is it is equipped with mega-ion cannons to disable the power systems of potentially an entire fleet. It's so far only done this to the communications center on Brentaal IV."

"What?" Skywalker's been out of the loop for a while and wasn't refreshed on the recent developments. Padmé showed him the holographic video taken by one of the irregulars, even in its miniature form the weapon looked intimidating. It's appearance reminding Anakin of a jackknife.

"That's all we know so far. The Republic navy is readying a reconnaissance mission as we speak to gather more information." Padmé explains.

"So this weapon is going to haunt us now whenever we go?"

Padmé nods. "We'll need to destroy it, but first we need to know it's capabilities and weaknesses. It'll be sometime."

"But we don't have time." Anakin firmly states.

"I know. Many think we do, however."