Imagining Obi-Wan as a Sith, even in light of these recent revelations, is still quite difficult for Vader. And yet… there's no denying that his old Master is powerful in the Force. If Obi-Wan could be turned to his side, that power would be extremely helpful in bringing all of Vader's plans to fruition.
But that would require the other man actually acknowledging the fact that he'd Fallen to the Dark Side. It would require Obi-Wan to internalize and accept his new state of being. Hiding it from him was doing nobody, least of all Vader, any favors.
Looking to Commander Cody, who still looks undeniably tense, Vader comes to a decision.
"You do not have to worry, Commander. I'm not planning to report Obi-Wan to anyone, nor do I intend to harm him."
It wasn't like there was anyone to report Obi-Wan to in the first place. The entire fucking Order had apparently Fallen when Vader wasn't looking. It would be quite literally the blind leading the blind, if everyone involved had their eyes open and was coincidentally avoiding all eye contact. Still, Cody looks downright relieved. The Clone Commander had already made the difficult decision of prioritizing his fellow clones' lives over a doomed last stand to protect their General from Vader, but it was obvious Cody still cared about Obi-Wan all the same.
"That said, he will have to be told. It's best if it comes from me so I will handle it."
Cody tenses up again… but doesn't try to argue or offer any resistance, seeming ultimately resigned to the idea. Vader shifts his gaze over to Varice and grunts.
"Padawan Tano, return to the Tranquility and keep Master Unduli and Padawan Offee from asking too many questions."
At the same time, he sends out a pulse through their Master-Apprentice connection with a proper order for her that the Clone Commander doesn't hear.
Prepare them for my arrival, Darth Varice.
The Togruta straightens up at that, a wicked smile flashing across her face for just a moment before being replaced with solemnity as she simply nods.
"Yes Master, I'll get right on it."
With that taken care of, Vader watches as Varice peels off. Meanwhile, Cody reluctantly stands aside and lets him pass. He finishes the trek to Obi-Wan's quarters in the next few moments and upon arrival, he reaches out with the Force and disables the security, unlocking the door.
Stepping inside, Vader pauses as his eyes fall upon Obi-Wan's unconscious form. The man doesn't react to Vader's presence even now… he's been drugged to the gills by his own troops just so he can sleep off his latest Dark Side Bender.
Letting out a sigh, Vader approaches the bedside, staring down at Obi-Wan Kenobi's face. The sight of his old Master fills him with far too much emotion, even now. Especially now given this Obi-Wan is much closer in appearance to the one who had crippled him and left him to die on the shores of that lava river on Mustafar.
Sidious had been the one to put Vader in the suit, but it was Kenobi who had made it all but necessary. All of his suffering, the half-life he'd lived for over two decades… was a result of Obi-Wan's actions. All because the bastard couldn't see fit to finish Vader off. He'd won… but he was too weak to finish the job.
Vader's hands curl into fists at his sides, both mechanical and organic. His jaw clenches as his body becomes taut with rage at the thought of it all. And then… slowly, he releases that rage back into the Force. Not a very Sith-like thing to do of course, but he simply can't hold onto it at this point.
To his mild surprise, the Force reacts in a way he's not expecting. As his rage flows out of him, he receives a sort of response from the Force, it rising up to meet his emotions, to consume them almost greedily. Vader's head twitches at this, his attention pulled from Obi-Wan very briefly… before he gets himself under control and yanks himself back into the present.
Whatever that was, he would investigate it later. Right now… he was dealing with Kenobi. And as much as he hated what the other version of the man had done to him… Vader felt a certain gratitude towards that Obi-Wan as well. After all, if Obi-Wan hadn't left him alive… Vader would never have gotten the chance to meet his son.
… He also wouldn't have gotten the chance to unknowingly torture his daughter and remove his son's hand either, but they were setting that aside for the moment and focusing on the positives. Without Vader, there's a question of whether Luke would have been strong enough to defeat Sidious, in the end.
So yes, this is what Vader knows. Obi-Wan contributed to his time in the suit… and that came with both good and bad. And now that Vader is back in time and has his health again, he finds himself with a new Obi-Wan, a very different Obi-Wan… and an opportunity for something akin to reconciliation.
Reaching out with the Force, Vader purges the sleeping Jedi Master of the sedatives in his system. Obi-Wan's eyes flutter open within moments of him doing so, blinking and meeting Vader's gaze in confusion.
"… Anakin?"
Sitting up, Obi-Wan dispels the last of his drowsiness with a shake of his head before furrowing his brow at Vader.
"What are you doing in my quarters?"
Vader, in turn, stares at Obi-Wan's eyes, still a vibrant Sith Yellow. The man hasn't had enough time to sleep off his latest foray into the Dark Side it would seem. But then, Vader suspected it was probably taking longer and longer for the Fallen Jedi Master's eyes to go back to blue these days.
Obi-Wan's own strange lack of self-awareness was doing him no favors in that department. The other Jedi knew they'd Fallen and could at least try and hide it… but he didn't know there was anything to hide.
"Obi-Wan… we need to talk."
The way his old Master arches his brow at that is so stereotypically him that Vader feels a strange pang. And then there's how Obi-Wan's mouth quirks into a wry grin.
"And it couldn't wait until I was awake and functioning like a real human being again? Honestly Anakin, you've always been impatient."
Then, placing his hands on his knees, the Jedi Master straightens up and leans back a little bit.
"Very well. What is it?"
Vader opens his mouth… but doesn't actually know what to say. How do you tell someone that they've Fallen to the Dark Side? It was easy enough if they knew it of course, but Obi-Wan was entirely oblivious to his own relationship with the Force at this point. For the first time since coming back in time, Vader truly doesn't have a clue what to say.
… So he doesn't say anything at all. Instead, he takes the datapad Cody had given him earlier and wordlessly brings up the video of Obi-Wan using Sith Lightning on a battalion of Battle Droids. Turning the datapad around, he hits play and lets his old Master watch himself absolutely demolish his enemies… with the power of the Dark Side.
Obi-Wan's brow furrows as he watches the scene play out but the horrified realization that Vader is banking on never quite manifests. Eventually he just looks up at Vader, confused.
"Anakin? I'm not sure why you're showing me this."
Vader stares blankly for a long moment. Seriously?!
"Obi-Wan… that's Sith Lightning. It's certainly not Plo Koon's 'Force Judgment'. That lightning is golden."
Obi-Wan's mouth opens for a moment… and then of all things, he has the audacity to laugh! Vader's hackles are raised as the Fallen Jedi Master who doesn't even know he's Fallen laughs at him.
"Ah, I see the misunderstanding now. No, of course not… this isn't Force Judgment, you're correct. Nor is it Sith Lightning, however. I am merely using an advanced version of Ionize, a Force Technique that disables electronics. Unlike Sith Lightning, it only works on droids, Anakin."
… Okay that was a little bit better than being truly, willfully blind. Vader had been wondering how Obi-Wan could still be in the dark about his own Fall while casting Sith Lightning in such massive amounts during his battles. But it seemed he wasn't completely oblivious; he was merely filled with self-delusion. A delusion that Vader had to break.
"Look closer, Obi-Wan. Specifically, look at the color of your eyes."
Vader plays the video again, shoving the datapad in Obi-Wan's face. To his credit, Obi-Wan does watch closely, his brow furrowed and his lips drawn into a thin line as he looks for what Vader is talking about. And finally, with direct orders… the Fallen Jedi sees.
His eyes widen in disbelief and dismay, his expression cycling through a number of looks before finally settling on incredulity.
"No… that can't be right… the footage must be doctored…"
Vader huffs and shakes his head. He's quite done with this whole farce… so reaching out with the Force, he rips half of the mirror off of the wall of Obi-Wan's fresher and drags it into the other man's bedroom with a screech that makes him jump.
"Anakin, wha-?!"
Obi-Wan's recriminations are cut off by having the reflective surface shoved in front of his face. His Sith Yellow eyes stare back at him as he gazes at himself for a long, silent moment. In the ensuing quiet, Vader huffs.
"You've Fallen to the Dark Side, Obi-Wan."
Another handful of seconds before he gets a response, his old Master's voice faint.
"… So it seems I have."
Reaching up, he doesn't quite touch his eyes… but his fingers linger on the skin under them as he studies himself for a long moment. Then, it's as if the life goes out of the Jedi in one long exhale as he leans back and his shoulders slump.
His gaze, when it meets Vader's own eyes, is downright dead… defeated, to put it simply.
"What is to be done with me now, Anakin?"
Setting aside both the mirror and the datapad, Vader shrugs.
"Nothing."
A flicker of incredulity and outrage appears on Obi-Wan's face.
"Excuse me?"
Vader just smirks, causing Obi-Wan to get even more upset.
"Anakin… you can't just sweep this under the rug! The Council must be informed! I must be contained! You're letting your attachments cloud your judgment… again!"
The sheer absurdity of the situation keeps Vader from feeling any real anger over Obi-Wan's inflammatory words. Instead, he chuckles.
"But if I turn you in Master… then I might as well turn myself in as well."
Making his own eyes transition from their organic blue to a blazing Sith Yellow-Orange is the work of a moment. Obi-Wan reels back as if struck, his mouth agape in even greater horror than before. When he finally speaks, he sounds like a broken man.
"Anakin… no… not you too…"
Finally he finds the words to just tell Obi-Wan what's going on. Or at least, the relevant parts.
"Not just the two of us either, Master."
Obi-Wan flinches at that, looking extremely afraid but still finding the courage to ask.
"Who… who else?"
Vader isn't sure he'll ever take more relish in anything than his response to the other man.
"Everyone."
Obi-Wan's face goes blank. He stares at Vader in disbelief. But Vader… Vader doesn't stop there. Stepping closer, looming over his old Master, he pushes with the Force, making sure that Obi-Wan can feel every single word he says… and the truth of what he's saying.
"Every single Jedi has Fallen to the Dark Side, Obi-Wan. Not just you, not just me… all of them. All of us. From the greatest of our Masters to the lowest of our Padawans… even the younglings have already been touched by the Dark."
The Fallen Jedi Master's mouth opens and closes, making it obvious he wants to refute Vader's words. Desperately so. However, they both know he can't. Because he can feel the sincerity that Vader is projecting. There is no deception here. No lie. No deceit. Vader is telling Obi-Wan what he knows to be empirical fact at this point.
"… How?"
Here, Vader is forced to shrug.
"I don't know. I plan to look into it eventually… but for the moment there's a war still on. Not to mention, the vast majority of the Jedi don't realize the others have Fallen and are so busy hiding their own shameful states from one another that they don't understand the Jedi Order as it once was is already gone."
Those last words hit Obi-Wan like a physical blow. He looks extremely pained by the idea that the Order that raised him, that made him into the man he is today… is gone. He also looks lost. Which is understandable, given the circumstances. Who the hell is Obi-Wan supposed to turn himself over to for being a Dark Sider if the entire organization meant for policing such people are also now Dark Siders?
"It's not all bad news, Obi-Wan. In fact, I'd say this is good. The Order as it was… was blinded by its dogma and adherence to the Light. It's not exactly good that they're blinding themselves with the Dark, though not to the extent that you did… however, it can be fixed. Just as I ripped the blindfold off of your eyes… we can rip it off of theirs too. We can build something better… something stronger."
But Obi-Wan shakes his head.
"No… nothing good can come from the Dark Side of the Force, Anakin. I know I taught you that. If this is true… and I believe you believe it is… then the galaxy is doomed."
Pathetic. That's the first word that comes to Vader's mind as he stares at his old Master. Was Obi-Wan really going to just give up like this? With a growl, Vader leans forward and sneers.
"So you're just going to give up then? Is that it? You can't depend on your precious Light Side anymore so you're going to simply sit there and wallow as you throw yourself a pity party?"
Obi-Wan looks caught off guard by Vader's sudden vehemence.
"Anakin, I-!"
"What would Siri think of you simply giving up when the fight isn't over yet?"
Obi-Wan jolts at the mention of Siri Tachi, an old flame of his. She was a fellow Jedi, one that had died in the opening months of the Clone Wars on a mission with him, Vader, and Padme in fact. A mission that had unfortunately taken place before Vader had come back in time.
"Anakin you-!"
"And if not her, what of Satine? Would the Duchess of Mandalore be pleased to know you are just giving up? Dooming her and her people simply because you see no point in trying anymore?"
With a snarl, Obi-Wan is suddenly up on his feet and in Vader's face.
"Keep their names out of your mouth!"
Vader grins and before Obi-Wan can falter, he lights his blade and swings. Instinctively, the other man's own lightsaber leaps to his hand, blocking the lackadaisical strike.
"Fight, old man. Fight!"
Growling, Obi-Wan does exactly that, the two of them locking blades right then and there in the Jedi Master's quarters.