Vader and Xina walk outside the cave. They have been here for a while, and the next mission is awaiting Vader. His quest to hunt and eliminate Jedi has barely begun. But before they can leave, they have to take care of the Scimitar, which Xina crashed. She used the crash to gain entry to the cave where Jocasta Nu was hiding, and therefore had to make it as realistic as possible. So she crashed the ship. But now, it had to be fixed. And since Vader is a luminary in all things technological, he will help her. His vision calls him to Tatooine, and he needs to go there, but he will take things slower and not rush anything. He forces himself to wait, just to refuse the Dark Side the satisfaction of urging him along.
They make their way to the ship. Vader touches the Scimitar, using the Force to feel all of the damage done.
"Get the Hutt's ship here and then start taking it apart. We'll use some of its parts for the repair."
"Yes."
Using the Force, Vader begins to lift the Scimitar and position it horizontally, just off the ground, allowing them to work on all sides without issue. Xina brings the ship which Jocasta Nu stole from the Hutt and sets it down at the side.
"You will do it, while I watch. You have trained for this," Vader says and crosses his hands.
Xina starts checking everything that's broken and then moves from the Scimitar to the other ship to take out components she needs. She replaces the broken parts with new ones, which will work for now until she finds better equipment. Every once in a while, Vader would grunt and tell her what she did wrong. Without saying much, the Twi'lek learns more and more about technology and spaceships as she goes along. She has a talent for flying and assembling various technologies, making this enjoyable for her to do. Again, another aspect that they share.
Finally, after a few hours, Vader helps her by lifting the heavy objects and placing them in the correct spot for Xina to mend. After that, they are finished and ready to leave. Vader boards the Dark Tooth, while Xina boards the Scimitar. Both of them set course for Tatooine, since that's the place where Vader has seen the Jedi he wants to kill. A Jedi and a Tusken Raider, those two aspects make him the second most hated person in existence for Vader.
*Beep Beep*
Vader stops as he sees who is calling him. He feels the situation slipping out of his hands. He takes the call.
[Lord Vader... how goes your mission to find Jocasta Nu?]
"I have found her, Master," Vader responds and lifts up Jocasta's catatonic body.
[She doesn't look very useful anymore. Nevertheless, you have done well in restraining yourself from killing her. I believe it is time for me to continue your training. Come to Coruscant and bring the Jedi with you.]
"..."
[Ahh, I sense a great urge to hunt a Jedi. Interesting. What will you do?]
"..."
[...]
"What is thy bidding, my master?"
[Come to the Works district. I will be waiting.]
.
The Dark Tooth arrives on Coruscant and makes its way to the Works district. Vader steps out of his starship and walks through the smoking area. He feels his master waiting for him and feels the Dark Side oozing off of Sidious just as it does off him as well. He has grown stronger; he just realises it, and Sisious has realised it as well. After a few minutes of walking, Vader arrives on the platform where Sidious is waiting.
"Lord Vader," Sidious says.
He is smiling as he always does nowadays. What is strange, though, is that he has his lightsaber in his hands. What Vader doesn't know is that seeing and feeling Vader's power makes Sidious glad. He is a true Sith.
"Fight me," Sidious says and ignites his lightsaber.
Vader ignites his own lightsaber without saying anything. Sidious charges at Vader, shooting through the air, enhanced through the Dark Side of the Force, and they're weapons clash.
*TSSCHHHHHH*
The clash sends trepidation through Vader's body. This is new, this is different from fighting a Jedi. The Dark Side unleashed in the initial strike alone is immense, shaking the ground. The Dark Side itself trembles in excitement as these two clash. Vader feels the strain and reacts to it, swinging his lightsaber towards his master, who dodges rather easily, using dexterity belied by his look.
*VROOOM*
*VROOOM*
Sidious attacks again and, using his speed, manages to strike Vader's lightsaber out of his hand and into the air. He uses the Force to pull the lightsaber into his own hands and Force Pushes Vader back. Standing in front of his apprentice, Sidious ignites Vader's lightsaber as well and unleashes his power in the Dark Side.
"Good. You no longer fight like a Jedi, but it's close. I see that you have been training. Your lightsaber is not your only weapon. The Sith's weapon is not the lightsaber; it is the Dark Side of the Force," Sidious says to Vader, who is standing up again.
"And the Dark Side touches everything."
Sidious lifts up several pieces of wreckage and sends them flying towards Vader, trying to knock him back down again. He is the master in this relationship, but Vader is no longer the same as he was. He digs deep into his anger and pushes his hand forward, blocking the wreckage.
"The saber is merely a symbol," Sidious continues as he shoots more and more pieces of debris at Vader. "A flame, signifying the great blaze of the Dark Side."
Vader blocks the pieces in the air before they hit him and takes control of them. He concentrates and listens to his master's words. He pushes forward.
"The inferno that consumes all who come against it," Sidious says and slashes Vader's saber towards him.
But it doesn't reach him. Using his left hand, Vader conjures up his accumulated fear, anger and hate and projects focused blasts of dark side energy that could obliterate objects, or destroy living beings or creatures. Vader pushes his left hand forward, hitting Sidious with the Force blast.
*BOOOOM*
The Sith shoots backwards, but still manages to land on his feet, albeit hunched forward. Vader reaches out and has his lightsaber fly into his hand, igniting it and preparing for the second round. He was momentarily overwhelmed at the ferocity and different style of enemy he was facing, but that won't happen again.
"Kekekekeke... yes... YES. Good, Lord Vader. Show me, show me."
Vader sends the wreckage, which he is still holding in the air, towards his master, trying to crush him. There is no hypocrisy between these two. Loyalty is a strange thing with the Sith, as they are only loyal to strength. The apprentice needs to kill the master eventually, or the master continues until he finds a worthy apprentice.
Sidious blocks the debris easily and uses the metal pieces as conduits and unleashes a massive amount of Force Lightning.
*ZZZZZ--ZZZZBOOOOOM*
Vader blocks the attack using his lightsaber and performs tutaminis with his other hand. Tutaminis was an umbrella title used by the Jedi Order to classify Force abilities related to energy absorption. It is a rare feat to be capable of dissipating concentrated energy, such as what makes up a blasterbolt or lightsaber blade. Or in this case, the immensely powerful Force Lightning of Darth Sidious.
The amount of negative emotions powering the lightning is numerous. Sidious has a talent for the skill and uses it a lot. Vader uses the chance to move forward as he knows he is a better lightsaber combatant than his master, and why would he waste such a good opportunity to grow?
"Hahahaha..."
Walking closer, the energy released by the Force Lightning explodes and sends both of them back some distance. Vader charges forward, striking his lightsaber through the air and attempting to kill his master. Sidious grabs his second lightsaber and ignites it, blocking Vader's powerful strike.
"Haha, trying to target a 'weakness', Lord Vader? Despite being highly trained in the art of combat by my master, I rarely use these weapons. I preferred to call upon the infinite power of the Dark Side to win my battles. That's the lesson I have just taught you," Sidious says and kicks Vader in the stomach, making him fly through the air and land hard a short distance away.
"Yet when the time came to reveal my true nature, few could survive the fury of my blades. Allow me to demonstrate, my friend."
*TSSCHHHHHH*
*TSSCHHHHHH*
*TSSCHHHHHH*
Their lightsabers clash, and Vader finds himself on the verge of losing again. His massive talent takes hold, though, and he manages to grow as they clash. He feels Sidious' fear, anger and hate filling his blades and hits him with each strike. But he only uses that to fuel his own attacks and deal back the same damage.
Sidious uses Force blast, like Vader did before and strikes Vader, who is less flexible and dextrous than he is, giving him some space and then sending out his Force Lightning again. Vader stomachs the powerful Force blast and then tanks the lightning, forcing himself to stand back up and block the lightsaber approaching his face.
*TSSCHHHHHH*
Again, they clash.
Sidious has an extremely aggressive, rage-fueled duelling style and augments his swordplay by using Force-enhanced speed, which allows him to kill three experienced Jedi Masters at once within seconds. He utilises a violently ferocious yet extremely fluid fighting style. His style is a combination of brutal aggression, extreme speed, and lethal precision. And as he taught Vader just now, he uses the Dark Side in everything, switching things up to keep his enemy off guard and prevent him from learning or adapting to anything. However, he is fighting against Darth Vader, and he has been growing at an astronomical rate. This fight only helps him grow.
But he isn't quite there yet, to defeat the considered strongest to have existed to that point in time, at least in the canon timeline.
Seeing Vader's performance fills Sidious with glee, and he knows that his words to the former Jedi Grandmaster Yoda weren't a lie or a mistake. It is a fact and only a matter of time until Vader surpasses both of them combined. But he has to set an example as the Sith Master, and so he does. Using all of the Dark Side energy he can, he fuels his strength and speed, rushing into the defence of Vader and slashing his lightsabers at the metal titan. Before Vader can block and retaliate, however, Sidious uses Force Choke and cuts off Vader's oxygen supply, surprising the man.
*VROOOM*
*VROOOM*
Sidious' lightsaber clashes with Vader's suit, striking his beskar armour and deflecting the attack.
"Ahh, you did some upgrades, my apprentice. Good thinking," Sidious taunts and uses the Force to crush Vader's breathing apparatus and continues to attack even faster.
Vader feels the precise use of the Force and has to acknowledge his master's power. But that doesn't mean he has to like it or accept it. Not at all. He ignores the fact that he is dying right now and starts drawing on the Dark Side of the Force, and allows himself to fly into a Force rage upon being damaged. He uses his pain to trade for greater power.
Sidious feels the change and finds himself no longer the attacker in this exchange. On the contrary, he feels himself being pushed further back and uses sneaky tactics as he is a Sith to do more damage to Vader's suit. He fires his strongest form of Force Lightning and uses Force Choke, pulling Vader towards him and throwing him through the air. But it doesn't work to end the fight entirely, as Vader blocks the Force Sidious uses to hold him and breaks free. He rushes forward, attacking Sidious once more, and they continue to clash with Sidious using telekinesis to slowly but surely crush the joints of Vader's suit, while also blocking the ferocious attacks.
And yet, Vader continues to grow. But eventually, no matter what you do, you need oxygen.
*Thud*
Sidious looks down at the form of his apprentice and laughs maniacally.