160

AN: Woke up late. Didn't notice that the chapter scheduler didn't work until now.

_____

After the pleasantries, the Jedis went to a meeting room and started talking. As Ahsoka was still reckless by Anakin's standards, she was sent out and was told to explore the ship. JARVIS and R2 accompanied her while the other three talked.

After she left, Tony talked about what is happening.

As it turns out, the Jedis' actions caused a lot more damage than they expected.

All the profits that the Trade Federation was supposed to obtain went to the Jedis instead. They were all transferred to Tony as he was supposed to build mobile suits with them.

Since Tony doesn't really waste materials and energy to manufacture mobile suits, he was able to save a lot on manufacturing. A lot of profits were used reused and the economy of the galactic sectors that the Jedi helped started to strengthen. This indirectly caused the Trade Federation's profits to lower exponentially.

These losses meant less funding for the Separatists as the Trade Federation was secretly giving them money. This equated to a decrease in the number of droids produced.

As the Separatist's tactic was to overwhelm the Republic through sheer numbers, this reduced droid production meant that they would lose a lot more battles.

This stressed Palpatine some more as the Separatists were losing more and more quickly. Palpatine started putting more focus as he didn't want the war to end this early.

He couldn't revoke Jedis' diplomatic immunity as they were currently fighting a war for the Republic.

He ordered Dooku to increase the Separatists rate of expansion and had him control all the Hyperspace routes that the Jedi were using. With the paths gone, the Jedi shouldn't be able to expand its influence as rapidly.

______

Anakin: "I'm confused..."

Tony: "What's confusing? They just want to weaken us since they don't know we have secret hyperspace lanes. They're using Jabba's son as a hostage so that we couldn't use mobile suits recklessly. They probably thought that the Jedis needed to pass through Hutt controlled space."

Anakin: "Do we really have to do this?"

Obi-Wan: "You said you were bored with the battles. This should be more exciting."

Tony: "That's true. Dooku has sent that assassin of his, Ventress. She should be more of a challenge than those battle droids. You take care of her. I'll just watch in case Dooku comes along."

_____

Meanwhile, Ahsoka was having fun exploring the ship. She found all kinds of interesting equipment to test and play with. She was particularly enjoyed using a simulator as she got to practice piloting a mobile suit in it

She just left the simulation when she noticed R2 was gone. Her master felt particularly protective of that droid she was concerned when she lost it.

Ahsoka: "Wait, where's R2?"

JARVIS: "Don't worry miss Tano. R2 is currently in a laboratory being upgraded. Would you like to take a look?"

Ahsoka agreed and they went to where R2 was. On their way, Ahsoka noticed something was wrong and asked.

Ahsoka: "Can I ask a question? Why are there no clones in this ship?"

Ahsoka didn't notice it at first but she found no CT in the space. There were a lot of humanoid droids but was not a single CT on board.

JARVIS: "Sorry but you're still too young to know of this."

Ahsoka: "This again. Why does everyone keep treating me like I'm a kid."

Anakin: "Because you're short Snips. Even R2 is going to be taller than you."

Ahsoka was surprised when she heard her master's voice. She looked back and saw that the other two were also with him.

Ahsoka: "Master. When did you..."

Tony: "They're here to upgrade their equipment. They need some special equipment to capture and contain Siths."

Hearing the term, Ahsoka got excited. She asked if they were really going to be fighting Siths.

Anakin: "No. Just us. You're still too young to face a Sith."

Tony and Obi-Wan looked at each other after this. They both knew that Anakin and Tony faced a Sith before, back when they were younger than Ahsoka currently is. Since they knew that Anakin was aware of this. They thought that Anakin was finally mature enough to realize a few things so they just watched to see how the situation would proceed.

Ahsoka tried to reason her way into joining but Anakin didn't seem to listen. She kept using things like it was her duty as a Jedi to try to participate. Anakin still didn't budge. She only stopped insisting after Anakin told her about his fight with the Sith.

He told her about his encounter with Maul and Dooku. He told her that he could run away from the two but that it wouldn't end well if he kept on fighting. He also admitted that he would have lost if he tried to fight them like the other Jedis.

He then told her that she had to first learn a lot of things before she could handle a Sith.

Tony: "Hey Obi-Wan. Am I dreaming or is Anakin maturing?"

_____

After the scene of the mature Anakin, they continued preparations. Ahsoka was allowed to accompany them but was told that she had to back away the moment she was told to. She was even given custom flight equipment which could pull her away if she didn't listen

Obi-Wan separated from the group and went to Tatooine. He still has to negotiate with Jabba. Meanwhile, the others went to the planet where Jabba's son is located

They didn't encounter any Separatist ships and were able to land on the planet. They didn't even encounter an ambush thanks to mobile suits. escorting them. They were able to land onto the stronghold where Jabba's son is being kept.

The CTs were left outside to guard against enemies while the Jedis went inside to search the place.

_____

Inside the stronghold.

Ahsoka was currently leading the group followed by the two Jedi as well as a chonkier R2. The Jedis were clearly not paying attention to the surroundings as they were enjoying snacks that were placed on top of R2.

Ahsoka: "Why am I leading the search? Aren't you two supposed to guide me? And why are you two enjoying tea?"

The two boys didn't answer immediately as they were still enjoying a cup of tea. After smelling the tea and having a sip, Anakin finally said something.

Anakin: "Calm down snips. It's not like we are in any sort of danger."

Ahsoka: "Not in danger? I've already destroyed dozens of battle droids while you two were just watching."

Anakin: "You said you wanted to come. You should handle the droids while we handle the Sith."

Ahsoka: "But there isn't even a strong battle droid in sight. All the droids here are those lousy B1 clankers. Are you sure there are Sith here?"

Tony: "Yup. There are only two reasons why only B1 droids would be deployed. One is if they have full control of the territory and use those B1's as manpower. The other is if they're setting up a trap."

Anakin: "Exactly. Now hurry up and look for that Hutt-let. We're getting tired of drinking this tea."

They continued to search and finally found the Huttlet. After they did, Anakin's Clone commander contacted him while referring to him as Anakin.

Anakin: "They finally decided to show up. Snips. Give that Huttlet to the droids. We moving somewhere else."

They moved through the Stronghold and got to another hangar. Once there, Anakin started stretching while Tony and Ahsoka rested on a corner.

Ahsoka: "Why are we stopping?"

Tony: "So that the enemy could catch up. Your master over there is very bored and wanted to lose some steam."

"Huh?"

Tony: "Just watch. They should be here in 3. 2. 1"

Right on cue, a bald woman came out of the passageway and onto the hangar.

Tony: "See that bald chick? That's Ventress. She a Sith Assasin trained by Dooku"

Ventress: "Skywalker. Stark. I see you brought a youngling. Too bad. Surrender and we won't kill you"

As she said this, B2 Super battle droids came out from the passageways. Not even a few managed to exit when an explosion happened. The blasts destroyed the passageways, blocking more droids from getting in.

Tony: "Come on. Did the Sith training corrupt you people enough that you never learn? We've already used that trick a couple of times yet you people still fall for it. You should demand a refund as your droids should be smarter than that."

"STARK!"

Ventress drew out two curved lightsabers. She was about to pounce at Tony but Tony dodged.

Tony: "Why are you attacking me? Anakin is supposed to be your opponent today."

Tony just ran around while Ventress tried to catch up to him. He didn't take her seriously thought as he also eliminated enemy droids while dodging.

After all the enemy droids were destroyed, Anakin jumped in to block Ventress. The two started fighting while Tony went back to Ahsoka.

Tony: "Sorry about that. JARVIS, is the popcorn ready?"

"Yes sir."

JARVIS opened the stomach portion of his armor and pulled out two bags of popcorn from it. He gave one to the Padawan but Ahsoka didn't receive it.

Tony: "What's wrong?"

Ahsoka: "Aren't you going to participate? Master Skywalker is fighting a Sith."

Tony: "It's fine. Ventress is just a Sith assassin. Now here. Ask JARVIS if you want other flavorings.

Ahsoka accepted the popcorn while Tony went to R2. When he got close, A layer of chonk around R2 folded out and transformed into a chair.

Tony: "Don't look at me. Look at the fight. It's rare for other Jedis to watch Sith fight. R2, bring give her a seat."

Another seat unfolded and Ahsoka sat on it. She started watching the fight but she looked a lot more nervous than Tony.

They watched the fight while Tony provided commentary.

____

Tony: "See that. She should have just dodged. Anakin's attacks are very powerful. She's just exhausting herself by blocking."

...

Tony: "Look. There's a problem with Anakin's footwork. If she noticed that, she could have taken advantage of it to knock him down."

Tony kept criticizing their moves. Since he wasn't even trying to whisper, the two noticed this and started improving. Tony didn't stop commenting even though he noticed this and the fight started getting harder for both Anakin and Ventress. He just kept pointing out flaws while using the excuse that he was teaching Ahsoka

A few more clashed and Ventress got exhausted. Anakin didn't miss the chance and used it to knock out Ventress.

Tony: "Finally."

Anakin: "Finally? You're the one who kept making things harder. If it weren't for you, I could have knocked her out faster"

Tony: "Wait, so you were seriously having a hard time? I thought you were just slowing down in order to teach your Padawan?"

Ahsoka: "That was intentional? Thank you for the demonstration master. "

Anakin was pressured by the situation as he didn't want to look bad in front of his Padawan