Chapter 148 - Star Forge

With Vizsla dead, the Jedi's had a hard time proceeding with their investigations. They didn't get any evidence that he was behind related to the ȧssassination, but the information they gathered on him said that he could do it. The Jedi's ended up relying on Force visions, where they found a black and white vision of a Mandalorian talking with Viceroy Gunray. They concluded their investigation and also started monitoring the Viceroy.

While the mystery of the ȧssassination was closed temporarily, the Jedi Council still had to discuss how they were going to handle Death Watch.

Because Tony didn't use his lightsaber or (blatantly) used Force abilities until after the fight was settled, the members of Death Watch acknowledge Tony as their leader. Even though he wasn't a real Mandalorian, his use of his suit and technology was familiar to them.

While Tony already had Bo-Katan control Death Watch in his stead, the Council still didn't like how the situation. Tony's position, even as a formality, still created problems for the council.

The representative of Mandalore decided to go to Coruscant to settle the situation directly.

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The Jedi went back to Coruscant along with the Duchess and her sister. The official story is that they were going in order to show gratitude. They didn't want the meeting to become public as Mandalore was supposed to be a government independent from the Republic. They may allow a Jedi in Mandalore, but they didn't want the Republic to buŧŧ in.

Because they visit became official, the Jedi's and the Mandalorians had to use their own ships. They were able to communicate with each other, but it wasn't enough for what Tony wanted. He was able to get close to Bo-Katan, but he wasn't able to do any actual stuff with her.

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The group got back to Coruscant and went to the Council. They talked about the situation. They were able to settle on small things like Tony accepting challenges, but they weren't able to settle things that have a touch of politics.

The Jedis wanted to at least inform the Republic's Chancellor, but Satine made it clear that they would only be dealing with the Jedis. She didn't even want the situation to be known to the Republic. The Jedi's may have problems following their code but at least they followed a Code. Politicians follow their greed. She knew that they would aim for Mandalore once they heard of the deal.

These kinds of problems made things difficult during the negotiation. It took a lot longer than they expected, so they postponed the talk for everyone to rest.

After the meeting was finished, everyone proceeded to do their own things.

After the first meeting, Satine was stressed so she had Obi-Wan tour her across the city. She invited others to come along but Windu grabbed Tony and dragged him to another place.

When they were alone, Windu and Tony talked about what happened to Vizsla. This was Tony's first kill in Windu's perspective. It usually affects people, not to mention Tony who practiced Vaapad. He wanted to check how much changed if Tony was affected by it.

Tony thought that his master wanted him to reflect on what happened. He regretted causing Vizla's death. He felt that he was still lacking and asked his master to help him fully control Vaapad.

Windu felt happy that Tony didn't seem to crave killing, unlike another Jedi(the co-creator of Vaapad). While he was glad that Tony wanted to focus on training, he didn't agree to help Tony.

Windu: "No. Vaapad's state of mind is not like that. With the Dark-Side clouding our vision, it has become clear that the Sith Master is alive. You may have to face him one day. Vaapad is effective against Siths. I would rather have you use Vaapad to kill your enemy than fight while trying to spare him. Remember, any Sith you couldn't suppress easily is too dangerous to be kept alive."

While Windu didn't help Tony in mastering a weak Vaapad, he still helped his Padawan by pointing out other Force abilities.

He knew that Tony is close to mastering all the special abilities that he was attuned with. Instead of having him waste time working on some ability that he couldn't use easily, he introduced Tony to Forbidden Force abilities.

Most of them were restricted due to the Dark-Side tempting someone through it. Vaapad is the same but Tony was able to manage it.

He guided Tony to a Holocron Vault where all Forbidden information was recorded. After going inside, Windu warned Tony about the risks when viewing forbidden information.

Even though Tony has some experience with the Dark side through Vaapad, he still had to be careful. Tony had to remain vigilant so that he wouldn't fall to the Dark Side.

Windu: "Honestly, I still think it is too early for you to access this area. But the visions Master Yoda and I received prove otherwise. "

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For the next few days, Tony started by looking for some hidden areas. Groups that have restricted sections usually have a place where they hide the most restricted of their information.

While he was spending a lot of time in the Forbidden section, he couldn't spend all of his time in it. He had to put up a front so that the Council wouldn't be concerned about him.

He sent his clones to study in the vault while he went to meet the ladies.

He went around the city with Bo-Katan while she was still in Coruscant. She was stiff and formal with him at first, but they were able to get close by talking about Satine and Obi-Wan. They felt that there was something between the two, but they were both dedicated to their jobs to do anything. They didn't do anything because they knew that if they did something, it wouldn't just end with that.

Bo-Katan and Tony shared frustrations on the two's relationship because they never went past kissing on the cheeks. They were too frustrated that they eventually started doing things for them. Bo-Katan and Tony did a lot of 'stuff' in the two's stead.

The two had a fun time, but Bo-Katan had to go back to her planet. The Jedi Council was watching Death Watch, so Tony's clones couldn't make contact with her for a while.

This left Tony disappointed for a bit, but it didn't take long. Aayla Secura came back from her mission and returned to Coruscant.

With Tony's recent 'activities', he was starting to regain his groove. He wasn't at his best, but it was enough to seduce the inexperienced Jedi. They started a mostly physical relationship. (AN: It is never purely physical when it's not a one-time thing)

After some time, the search for the secret area in the Holocron Vault resulted in something. Tony found records of Rakata. It was a species that excelled in both science and the Force. They used to establish what they called the Infinite Empire.

Tony was skeptical at first because based on what he knew, it was rare for something to have the word Infinite on it. These kinds of things were usually created by a unique event like how the Big Bang created the Infinity Stones. They should have added the word infinite because of their hubris.

When he read further though, he found out that the Rakata's claims weren't unfounded. They create an enormous space station called the Star Forge. The Star Forge is said to be able to create spaceships, and other technologies, using matter from a nearby star along with the Dark-Side of the Force.

Tony continued reading but stopped when he encountered something that didn't make sense. The star they utilized wasn't destroyed by the Star Forge.

Tony believed it at first, thinking that the materials are created through some kind alchemy. This idea was struck down when he read further.

The Star Forge was able to create a fleet large enough to conquer the ENTIRE galaxy using just a star. This felt wrong as no matter how huge a star is, it shouldn't have enough matter to support the extremely large fleet. This should have broken the law of conservation of matter. There should be some secret behind the whole thing.

Tony tried to come up with ideas but he wasn't satisfied with a single one. He had an idea that made sense, but he still couldn't believe it was possible. He eventually gave up and asked the Force directly.

When he contacted the Force, the Phoenix also showed up. Tony didn't shoo the bird off as he really couldn't get his head around the mystery.

After telling them the story, they first asked Tony what he thought. Both Force and Phoenix knew the answer, but they couldn't just tell it to him. He had to figure it out for himself, and then they would help fill out the rest.

Phoenix: "No.that would just make things complicated. If such a thing is possible, then it should also be possible to have something that could contain that the omniverse. You would be trapped in an impossible concept where the scope of space keeps getting bigger and bigger. "

While he felt something was wrong with the statement, the two didn't allow him to think about it too much. They had him continue with his guesses. The two rejected each of them out until he got to his last theory.

According to the story, the Rakata enslaved all species in the galaxy. Tony thought it was weird for them to do that.

As far as he could tell, the Rakata could have just created an army of robots instead of relying on slaves. They could create a lot more robots thanks to the Star Forge. Keeping slaves around would be a waste of resources. Not only were robots more reliable than slaves, but they could also 'evolve' a lot faster than people. They may be inferior to slaves, but they wouldn't be eventually. Slaves' just couldn't outperform properly programmed robots.

Since they weren't kept because of their productivity, they should have kept the slaves around for something else.

Tony guessed that this was because slaves have emotions and they harvested these and used it as fuel the Dark-Side of the Force.

While the Force agreed that this was what the Rakatans did, it didn't acknowledge that it was what the Force used for power. Tony tried to get another answer but Phoenix stopped him.

Phoe"Close. But you're not close enough that we are allowed to tell you. I suggest you give up on this for now as it is way too much for someone like you "

Tony wanted to pursue this further but they didn't reply to him.

The only thing he heard from them is to not abuse the Star Forge when he acquires its wreckage. The Force didn't mind him using it, as long as he made sure to keep things under control.

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Tony couldn't put place his focus on anything else, so he ended up placing his focus on the Katana Fleet. They were about to set sail. The symbiotes he placed on their crew, found out why they didn't show up in the Clone Wars and what happened to them.

Before they set sail, the fleet's crew went on a party to celebrate the upcoming voyage. They acquired a virus in the party, and it remained dormant until the voyage.

They didn't show up in the medical scan, but Tony didn't encounter difficulties detecting the virus. The virus propagated fast, making the symbiote feel that the body it occupied suddenly became crowded.

When the Katana fleet set sail, the virus activated almost simultaneously. The infected became insane and started getting rabid. Tony couldn't handle the carnage and to stop the zombie apocalypse.

He tried to take over but he found out that he was already too late. The virus has already destroyed their bodies. Tony might be able to purge the virus but everyone was dying.

He tried to induce cellular regeneration, but he was prevented from doing so by both Phoenix and the Force. They said that he wasn't allowed to help them at this point, as he would be messing with nature. Their bodies had to die at this point, and letting them live would cause serious problems.

Since he couldn't save them, Tony decided to at least give everyone a short time to make proper goodbyes. He controlled their bodies and prevented the virus from doing anything.

After saying their farewell, the Admiral of the fleet gave Tony a message. He wanted Tony to make sure that the Katana fleet didn't land on the hand of whoever caused this.

The Admiral didn't want to give the fleet to the Republic specifically because he learned that the whole fleet was infected. There was something too fishy considering the whole fleet was infected simultaneously. Only someone with a high position should be able to do this.

After their time was up, Tony had the clones closest to their location come to the fleet. They took the bodies along with their personal effects and sent them to the Republic. He wanted to give the Jedis a hint that the Republic is already corrupted. He wanted to have them look at the Sith problem more closely, while investigated the vestige of the Rakatan Empire.

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The Republic dealt with their loss of the Katana Fleet by blaming it at the Fleet's Slave-circuit technology. They tried to focus the problem on the technology until the bodies started coming in.

When they saw what happened to the crew, they started investigating everyone who is even remotely involved. Having a whole fleet infected made it look like the Republic was useless. Even the Jedi were involved, as the Republic needed to show the public something.

With the whole Inner Rim was in chaos, Republic's forces that were ȧssigned to useless ȧssignments, such as guarding Rakata's home planet, were sent back to the Republic.

The Senate thought that it was better to have them guard their territory instead of the home planet of an already fallen empire. The Jedi's tried to stop this, but they didn't try to insist on it. They have already sealed all records of Rakata. They would only be putting Rakata in the spotlight if they tried to have the Republic continue watching over it after the situation.

Almost everyone in the Republic acknowledged that the Rakata wasn't that great. The Jedi's wanted to maintain it.

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With the guards gone, Tony was able to bring the Katana Fleet to the Rakata's home planet.

Tony wanted to bring the whole fleet because the Fleet only had AT-PT walkers on board. These walkers were glorified chicken robots. Tony wanted to use them at least once because he felt that it would be such a waste if he just scrapped them brand-new.

After having his clones spread out, Tony used the carriers to create a blockade around the planet. He didn't want anyone to get it as he was going to be creating a crazy amount of clones, enough to cover the planet. He wanted to cover as much ground as possible and create a grid to find out where the remains of Star Forge is located. He wanted to study the device which could possibly help him create all the machines that he wanted.

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AN: I noticed that the recent chapters aren't that fun. The world has just leveled up on its crazy. I just couldn't get myself in the mood for something fun.