"How do they feel?" Anakin asked Ahsoka as his apprentice tested out her new weapons.
Ahsoka wasn't sure how to answer the question at first. She had heard of the legendary and ancient Je'daii Force katanas, and seen a few of them the Jedi liked to display, but she had never expected to actually own one, never mind two. In the last two months, the clone wars had virtually stopped and intelligence revealed the Separatists had been hit harder than the Republic, if that was even possible. When word spread that the Daleks had incredible ease in destroying droids, the Senate had decided against building their own form of battle droid. They were actively recruiting from the galactic populace armies of actual people instead of clones.
The Jedi had been very busy lately. Much of the Temple on Coruscant had been in the process of being emptied before the war, now it was only going to have a small group inside it, maybe about 3,000 members still, maybe less. Many Jedi were going off to the old and long abandoned Temples and outposts scattered in the galaxy. Too many had been massacred when the Daleks had attacked the Temple two months before, and the Council didn't want the entire Order to be wiped out. In Ahsoka's mind, and she guessed her own master felt the same way, this was perhaps the smartest move they'd made in a long time.
The Council had reopened the holocrons detailing the creation of Force swords, and katanas. The techniques were quite straightforward, and since it was relatively simple for anyone who had enough metalworking experience and skill to make a sword, it was even easier if one used the Force. Making a Force augmented sword or dagger was a case of meditation, as they combined the power of the kyber crystal with the sword itself.
As she held her short katanas which were glowing green with her kyber crystals, Ahsoka could feel how well-balanced both weapons were in her hands. She had purposefully made sure they weren't that long, as she was a skilled practitioner of Ja'Kai, and she didn't want her new katanas to get in the way.
"I dunno just yet, they're gonna take me a while to learn how to use them. I'm definitely gonna feel like an initiate again," Ahsoka said at last.
Anakin nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean," he pulled out his new katana. As she took in the blue glow, Ahsoka felt the weapon suited him better than his old lightsaber. "All Jedi are going to have to relearn how to use the Forms."
"When do you want to start?"
"Now?"
"Okay."
As they got into position, both of them slowly entering the combat stances, Anakin and Ahsoka both began. For the next two hours they slowly went through Form 1 before moving on to Form 2.
"Y'know, I kinda prefer these. When I first began learning how to use a lightsaber, I was often criticised for the power of my blows. The Masters thought I might accidentally burn someone's face," Ahsoka commented.
Anakin chuckled. "Imagine what they're gonna say now," he replied, although he knew the Jedi Masters would change the rules and likely still use the training sabres, or they'd just use wooden poles or something to help them mimic the blade.
"When are we gonna go back out there?"
"I don't know. The Separatists were hit hard. I think they'll rebuild faster than us. Most of their technology and hardware is droid-based, so they can focus on rebuilding faster than we can."

"What do you think about this idea of recruiting from planets?" Ahsoka asked, upset on the clone's behalf.
Anakin sighed, "It was likely going to happen, Snips. The good news is Kamino is being rebuilt, but it could take decades to build another clone army. And the Senate did organise the building of other cloning facilities on other worlds. But this is the only logical option to protect the Republic from the Separatists and the Daleks." He was unable to hide the hatred in his voice as he said the name.
Ahsoka picked up on the hatred herself. She frowned, not in disapproval, but curiosity. For the past two months, hate and fear towards the Daleks had just grown and grown. As for the Daleks themselves, well they hadn't been seen. Among the Jedi Order, those two dark emotions were rampant, despite how frequently Jedi Council members like Yoda and Windu tried to curb them, but it didn't work. It was impossible to not hate and fear the Daleks.
All the planets targeted by the Daleks had suffered greatly. But Coruscant took the cake. The planet was largely radioactive now, and millions had died. Millions had left, even though Palpatine refused to move as an act of defiance. A small garrison of Jedi would remain on the planet, but it was all so chaotic that nobody knew where they were going. The Jedi hadn't needed to move for decades, and now here they were, alternating between splitting the Order up, and trying to maintain a presence on a radioactive and shattered planet.
"What about the idea of a droid army to fill in the gaps?"
"I hope it doesn't happen, Snips; it would shatter the morale of the clones. But at the same time...it might be the only way before the first battalions of the new army are finished training, but I don't see what good they'd be against the Daleks. Hundreds of clones on many fronts tried, and they were slaughtered," Anakin finished with a growl that worried his apprentice.
"Master, I know how you feel, but getting angry's not going to help us much," Ahsoka said reasonably.
Anakin took a deep breath when he caught the look of worry in the Togruta girl's eyes. He sighed, feeling the same old shame that once more his temper was truly starting to rear its head once more. Sometimes it had the effect of Anakin feeling like he was the apprentice once more.
"Sorry, it's just I don't know how else to react," he said quietly.
"I understand," Ahsoka gave him one of her smiles, and Anakin smiled back.

-8-

The meeting in the hall the council had reserved for their sessions had been going on for hours.
"Our work rebuilding the Temples on Ach-To and Tython are both going well," Master Billaba was reporting via hologram. "I've also made several stops to several temples along the way. Some of them definitely need work, but maybe it would be better to take advantage of their current states to fool any ship or scan, to better conceal any Jedi."
Yoda exchanged a look with Mace. "That's something we can work out later," Mace replied, absently fiddling with the almost unfamiliar hilt of his new Force-enhanced katana. It felt strange to carry it, but he was comforted by the familiar aura of his old kyber crystal.
"Has there been any word about the Daleks?" Kit asked, his usual cheer dimmed.

"No, thank the Force," Master Piell answered. Like Depa, he was attending the conference through a hologram. "My ship has been jumping between systems near the edge of the Outer Rim. We haven't picked up much, but when we jumped into several once inhabited systems, too far for casual travellers to visit, we found the remains of settlements but nobody living there."
Obi-Wan grimaced. "The Daleks?"

"Possibly. But whoever they were, they were efficient."
Yoda scowled at the wanton destruction of life. "Disturbing, this is. How long ago, did this happen, Master Piell?"
Piell's single eye narrowed, and his ears seemed to flatten inwards. "Almost two centuries ago, Master Yoda."
"Two centuries?" Shaak Ti repeated over the whispers. "How come we didn't know about this?"
"Distance. These worlds were likely too far from the Republic to really be noticed, and if they were too small to be noticed, nobody would bat an eyelash," Kit explained, his eyes closing in sorrow as he released it into the Force. "But can we really be sure the Daleks have been here since then? If so, what have they been doing all this time? And how can we hope to find them?"
"That's worrying, Kit, but do you know what's even more worrying; the fact we can't seem to sense or track the Daleks through the Force? And we've been trying. " Adi observed.
"If the Daleks have been in the galaxy for 200 years, then they have learnt to hide themselves extremely well. They have the technology to teleport down from their ships to planets, and their ships use weapons we have never encountered. Disguising themselves must be something they're good at," Oppo Rancis spoke up.
Plo Koon was getting tired of the direction of the conversation. Usually, the Kel-Dor Jedi Master was relatively silent in sessions, speaking only when he felt like it, but whenever he did speak, unlike Master Tinn, his words were measured with a lot of weight. "Master Yoda, have you reached a decision of how many of us will be remaining on Coruscant?"
Yoda was relieved at the change of topic, but he didn't show it. "Only 1,000 Jedi will remain on Coruscant, and 500 will be sent to Ach-To, and 700 to Tython. For the other Temples, more thought will be putting into the decision. Remain on Coruscant, I will, as Grand Master to represent the Jedi to the senate, and Master Windu, also remaining, he will be. Split up the council, we must, to oversee the leadership on the Jedi worlds."
The Council masters accepted this. They felt it was a perfectly logical decision on Yoda's part to have the council masters split up and command other worlds.
"Speaking of Coruscant and the senate, and the Chancellor, Master Yoda," Master Fisto began slowly, "has Palpatine reached a decision on the creation of a droid army?"
Yoda and Mace both went still. Suddenly all the council masters felt the same worry.