Minutes later, Vader resorted to the usage of torture in order to extract all possible information from the Princess' resistant mind. This time, he had a spherical droid with him, a tool that he had assured himself would make for a brief and unemotional procedure (at least, for him).
But Leia had borne the pain and tears, the latter of which hadn't even emerged from crying. The young woman had purely been silent. Cringing, of course, but peaceful.
And this lack of reaction disturbed Vader above all.
He felt his brutality had been almost uncalled for, that nothing had been justified about his droid-driven pressure upon the Princess for her information. Presently the Sith Lord stormed through the hallway, after exiting the cell in which he had interrogated her.
Then someone got in the way.
It was strange enough for Vader to encounter a normal-appearing man - could he be a Jedi? wondered the memory-short man in the mask - at one of the Death Star's most vital power plants.
Too suddenly did Vader recall and process this intruder, that he practically bellowed, "Obi-Wan?"
The other froze - he had already noticed the cloaked Sith's spotting of him - and asked the same question over and over again in his mind: So this is him... My former Padawan learner, the Chosen One...?
Both figures were, for a moment, but statues to one another. Neither could bring himself to conclusion; rather, everything they had known, thought about, most desired... All had been wiped out from their memories at the sight of one another. It was a frightening dive into the dark age for Ben as for Vader, except one of them was recognizable.
And so Kenobi, shifting his body so as to stand tall before this dissimilar yet incredibly familiar being, spoke. "At last."
"You will not get away this time, Obi-Wan. Do not think time has changed the course of the Emperor's scheme to be rid of all Jedi..." Vader could not properly finish, because his heart was still affecting every breath he took. Anakin was lurking inside him, craving an answer that had everything to do with that resilient princess. And even before he felt a care for Leia, the woman of his past - his former wife - radiated guilt and anger throughout his mechanical body.
"You can do away with me later, Anakin," assured the aged Jedi Master, "only right now my cause is righteous and in need of completion." His speech treacherously reminded Vader of the Master whose words had swayed Padmé in a direction far from him. Vader hated this moment.
It seemed like a reunion of their time on Mustafar.
"Do not underestimate my power, nor the Emperor's battle station," advised Vader quietly. "No Jedi can disarm it, as no enemy -"
"What were you doing in that cell down the hall?" questioned Ben quickly, curiosity a definite priority. Anakin's threatening words were a thing of the past to him. Kenobi was old now; little bothered him.
"I am surprised that you must ask. We are currently headed for Alderaan, the planet this Princess claims to call home."
"I sense that she's left an impression on you," concluded Obi-Wan. "What about her sets you on edge?"
"You are no longer my master, Obi-Wan. I give orders and answers of my own accord." But Vader was, in fact, inclined to answer his question. He added, "It seems you know who she is after all."
"She is not someone with whom to concern yourself," the Jedi warned. "For her sake, please -"
"Simply because you beseech me not to harm her does not indicate -"
"Anakin, I implore you!"
"Such disregard you hold for me," scolded Vader, "that you cannot call me by my true name."
"Which is Anakin. And you will not touch the Princess further -"
"Silence," demanded the Sith Lord firmly. "Now, you will answer my question, as I require it for good reason. And I shall put an end to your life, as you suggested, Obi-Wan; only later. Tell me," continued Vader, drawing nearer toward Obi-Wan and the generators surrounding him. "Did...the woman whose name I shall not present...did she live through..."
Having first assumed he'd meant Padmé, but then after reconsidering, he answered, "Through the birth? Yes," his tone of voice softer and calmer than Vader liked. Immediately the Sith Lord regained his intimidating posture and, swiftly, turned for the hallway.
As he walked, he announced to Obi-Wan, "The Princess is not a native of Alderaan."
"No," breathed Obi-Wan, his fear rising now that he understood Anakin's full comprehension of the evidence withdrawn. "But she has nothing to do with you, I promise."
"Lies," hissed Vader through his mask, the harshness of his tone appealing very much to him. He was not Anakin Skywalker, not at all, but that did not mean he had no claim of his daughter. "You know she is my child. You must have seen her... She wears Padmé's beauty."
"Then you must protect her since she reminds you of the past, even while she is not yours," requested Obi-Wan, trying ever still to thwart the Sith Lord's thoughts about Leia. Dangerous information at the disposal of a Sith is never acceptable, thought the Jedi Master.
But there was still something of interest that Anakin had confessed.
He is attached to the Princess through Padmé. He still knows love...
"I shall find you in the main hanger in due time, Obi-Wan," echoed the monotone voice which Vader carried with him, through the hallway and away from the old man whose fascination had not left him. Leia is in danger, he repeated constantly in his head. Luke and that smuggler had better be on their way.