trans_9 | "OW! That so totally hurts!" -- Charles Xavier

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"OW! That so totally hurts!" -- Charles Xavier

The battle against the Ohm raged on, and the casualties on the ground were mounting. Injured crew members got emergency treatment in the field, which largely amounted to patching them up so they wouldn't die sometime within the next fifteen minutes. After that, they were quickly picked up by shuttle and brought back to the ship, where they were sent to a medbay that was getting progressively more crowded.

The situation was growing increasingly dire, to the point that Stacy activated one of the AI's to help out.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

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"You will try," He agreed, solemnly. This was formal, somehow, and it twisted in his chest at the distance of it, "And, for what it's worth, I am sorry. I failed you, and myself."

He hesitated, then sighed and shook his head. No, it could wait, "However, you are in no condition to be issuing threats."

"Can you not bear the sight of your own handiwork?" Vader growled, lifting his chin defiantly, even if he couldn't quit shift himself into a seated position. "I will return every scar you gave me tenfold, I swear it to you. I will take what you love most, as you took from me that which I loved."

"Ah, that," He grimaced. It was difficult not to think of Padme, to wonder what had happened to his friend...to both of his friends, "You already have."

He waited, let that sink in, then took out what he'd spent all his stipend and nearly all his vacation creating; a lightsaber.

"I would like you to let Arha heal you, if you can. When you've regained your strength, I--" It stuck in his throat, but he muscled past it. There is no fear: there is serenity, and so he gently tucked the weapon into Vader's hand, so that it would not be obvious to Arha or anyone else, unless they knew what to look for, "You deserve a fair chance, and I truly have no reason not to allow it."

Vader was silent for a long time, staring at Kenobi with furious yellow eyes.

"Are you such a coward that you find yourself incapable of taking your own life in the face of your failure? It would be preferable, and perhaps even honorable of you. I will make sure it is days before you finally die."

His fingers curled around the lightsaber hilt.

"Suicide is not the Jedi way," Obi-Wan reminded him, gently, as he had on at least two occasions, previous. It nearly made him smile, that old exchange.

Remember: patience. Use the Force.

"Please do allow yourself to be healed?"

"I do nothing at your behest, Kenobi! I am not your pawn anymore!" Vader hissed. "I already know that a Jedi does not feel anything, much less guilt, so you may cease this charade. If I submit to your new padawan, it is for the well-being of my son alone that I do."

"Arha is a knight, she's only just realizing this for herself," He corrected, just as gently, ignoring Vader's strident tone with ease, "I am not anyone master. Not anymore."

Fine. He was fine with that. For his sake or Vader's own, or for Luke's...it hardly mattered.

"I'm sorry. Goodnight, Anakin."

And then he left, to meditate, or try to, to wander the corridors and heck up on projects he could not begin to fathom and hope...no. Wish. Wish for a vibrant world that was as recent as a month ago for himself, and so very long dead for everyone else.

"That is not my name!" Vader shouted after him. "That was never my name!"

Kenobi had had the last word anyways. Vader settled back, allowing himself to drift off into his own thoughts.

Soon.

But soon into that drifting off, there was a presence looming over him.

"That seemed rather unpleasant."

"It is none of your concern!" Vader snarled. "I will see him dead."

"Not in that condition, you won't." And speaking of his condition, Lex decided to take a closer look at it. Such interesting mix of flesh and circuitry.

Though, for once, it wasn't the science that interested him, but the person inside of there.

"So what did Kenobi do to earn your ire?"

"Kenobi thought that death was too good for me, and instead left me to burn while he let my wife die and stole our newborn children. It was the only time he ever called me brother."

It's not quite an accurate summary, but it's close enough for jazz.

Lex considered that a moment, pausing to look in the direction Kenobi had went.

"That seems like a valid reason to hold a grudge."

Vader made a fist, imagining that he could wrap his hand around Kenobi's neck.

"It is not a grudge. I hate him, and I will see him dead, though it will take days in order to provide the maximum amount of satisfaction."

That drew Lex's attention back to Vader. "Sometimes suffering is over-rated.

"Still, in this condition, you won't be able to do much. Though I think I can help you with that."

"I am only second to the Emperor. I am the Commander of the Imperial Navy. I have killed more Jedi than you will ever know, and I could end your life with a thought if I so chose!" Vader snarled.

It's mostly a bluff, he can't get up and Stacy won't let him choke people, but the sentiment is there.

"And I know which wires to pull to make you die a slow, agonizing, suffocating death." That wasn't so much of a bluff. But Lex wasn't trying to make an enemy here.

"I also have the know how to improve your suit and all of its functions."

"I do not believe you," Vader growled. "Are you a plant? Were you sent here by Black Sun? Xizor has no power here, not any more than I do. If my suit is here, no one but me will be tampering with it."

"Who I am, is Lex Luthor." Lex leaned in closer, unafraid of Vader. "And whether you know it or not, you and I are a lot alike."

Vader shook his head in disgust.

"I sense nothing in you. You are not a Sith, nor does the Force speak to you at all."

"No, I'm not part of your religion, but as people, we are alike.

"Both of us, heirs to great empires, our destinies written before we ever so much as took our first breath. Groomed by people we cared about, only to discover that we were little more than pawns to them, puppets roped into doing their bidding. And when we finally discovered the truth, we were both betrayed and abandoned, cast aside for someone else." Lex had ~~seen Star Wars~~ done his research.

"The real difference between us? The person who betrayed me... I dropped him out of a forty story window, I watched as the concrete broke his body when he hit, and I set myself free." He tilted his head slightly. "I want to help you attain that same freedom."

Vader studied Luthor, searching for the hidden catch.

"What makes you think you posses the power to defeat one such as Kenobi, or indeed any Jedi? And what do you stand to benefit from doing so?"

"I've no intention of killing Kenobi. I wouldn't deny you that." He may or may not even want Kenobi dead, but that was beside the point at the moment. "But I've created weapons that have brought gods to their knees. With that knowledge, that skill, I can help you.

"And in return... I get an ally. Which, on this ship, is far more valuable than all the riches in the universe."

"What is it you hope to accomplish? The presence of the ship is everywhere. You will achieve nothing, with or without an ally," Vader said, bitterly. He was more than a little discouraged.

"I have access to the ship's brain." He'll let that bit of information hang there for the moment.

"OW! That so totally hurts!" -- Charles Xavier

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Hope you don't mind a thread-jack

It's all good!

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