Darth Vader, Lord Sith, Apprentice of one of the most powerful Sith who ever lived, the emperor's right hand and supreme commander of the imperial forces, was suffering to bathe.
It was humiliating to know that the most he has suffered since his arrival on this planet was not the wound of some huge confrontation, it was not due to the dispute over territory and not solidifying himself in power....
It was the simple need to clean himself up.
He wasn't going to lie, it hurt, but it was necessary.
This personal moment was horrible in many ways, without a bowl of bacta to supply the pain and clean it up, it became manual work.
And doing so only reminded him of past burns and how sensitive his skin had become.
Each touch felt like that area of skin was on fire, and with each pour of water, it was as if something was trying to rip the skin off him.
Even so, he did this daily, to maintain a form of hygiene under his armor, it was necessary for him to go through all this pain.
And without his support equipment where he could remove his armor easily, he had to use force to its maximum capacity to keep him alive in that short period of time when he had to keep himself out of his armor.
Those few moments were when Darth Vader not only washed himself, but reflected, too.
For every moment in pain, it was a memory he remembered, every scar he wiped, it was yet another memory of past defeats and failures.
Every moment he spent suffering, it was every moment when his spark of hatred was reignited.
Like it or not, it was a source of power, a daily reminder of the past things he had suffered, and the mistakes that led him to where he is now.
The maintenance of his armor was not as bad as he would expect it to be, cleaning it was simple even if it was laborious.
He was already teaching some of the blacksmiths how to design his armor and he already asked for spare parts of his armor, but he had a problem, his electronic parts, like the life support and his breathing mask.
Vader after a long time reflecting on this, decided that he would solve this problem himself, he had several occasions where he had to rebuild his equipment himself.
It was neither difficult nor impossible, with the right tools and materials, he could do it.
Slowly he rose from his seated position by the river, and slowly put his equipment in position again in his armor with the aid of force.
His Armor, as when he slowly bathed, brought him enormous discomfort and pain, but it was one of the things that kept him alive.
Vader was not stupid, his master designed this armor, all the weaknesses he had in this armor were made only to test him to the limits, leaving him frustrated most of the time by how the bastard of his master just wanted to make him suffer.
Slowly he walked into the forest in the darkness, slowly approaching a source of orange light that reflected off the surrounding trees and shrubs.
By pushing another bush in front of him, he could come across a small camp, two humans flanking a fire while roasting meat.
Both almost instantly took note the dark lord and looked in his direction, both were clearly male figures, but both were hooded, not showing their faces.
"You took more time than expected my lord."
Vader just nodded his head as he slowly sat down with them both at the fire.
"The river was more difficult to utilize than i expected."
Both agreed with a nod.
"Who would ever thought? A warrior god defeated by a body of water."
The other at the fire would just snicker with his mate's comment, and the lord would just nod his head from side to side and negatively with the stupid joke.
"You can't say anything Dagger 5, in our last operation your performance against a child was the most disappointing thing i ever had the misfortune to witness"
The other agent on the side of the fire would just burst out laughing while 'Dagger 5' would just look on the side fuming with embarrassment.
"That little bastard got lucky."
His Mate would just looked at him with a mock expression under his hood.
"Dagger 5, that kid who had no training managed to trick you three times before you were unsuccessful in ANOTHER attempt in capturing him, seriously, I would be pissed at you if it wasn't the funniest shit in my life."
Dagger 5' just looked at his partner in anger while he would be laughing at the misfortune of his friend
"How the hell would I know Dagger 7??! The kid had fucking wings on his ass! By that time he had ran out of food! I thought it was easy pray! I didn't expect him to have the strength or less the ability to run that much!"
Dagger 7 tried to control his laughter while continuing to tease his mate.
"Admit it man, you were bested by a 7 year old."
Both continued teasing and insulting one another as if the presence of that sinister Sith was nonexistent, and it was easily noticeable how both were relaxed in sentiments and postures, Vader slowly smiled under his mask.
Since the early days of his missions in hostile territory, he recognized the talent of both, despite his very informal attitudes towards his supposed 'god', Vader did not care.
It was almost like a relief to be treated like a normal human being, and not like a deity, he missed the pranks and jokes he had with his soldiers and apprentice in clone wars.
And these two were very reminiscent of Clones that he had already served and earned his respect.
So much time working, sleeping while one takes care of the other's back, and eating together made them get used to the presence and tactics of the Sith lord
Vader ate on a specific and difficult diet because of his armor and was always alone when doing it, but even so, it was pleasant to be with them both on their eating time.
That's why he always appointed them to work with him, even if he didn't show it, Vader had a certain admiration for their companionship.
He wouldn't lie, being with them brought good memories with their laughter and ridiculous jokes, it made him at ease after so many years.
They were discussing the parameters of the future mission they had ahead after the bickering of the two agents, they stood by the fire while both of them ate, when suddenly, they heard something.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
It was low, since it was obvious that it had been issued from far away, everyone stood up in full alert.
Everyone already knew what the noise was.
A scream.
But what the agents couldn't feel, Vader did.
Huge despair, pain and fear.
Whoever had screamed was in a possible attack.
Darth Vader slowly looked at the agents.
"Stay Here, i will investigate the screams, stay alert."
Both without question or hesitation nodded in confirmation.
One of them went quickly to a bag, and took a small dagger, and threw it to his companion, who skillfully took the sword in the air and kept an eye on the surroundings, while he took a dagger for himself and did the same.
They both trusted the Lord, and after months of working with him, they already knew that their boss could take care of himself.
On instinct, and training, they both started to make a perimeter, while Darth Vader ran quickly using force to increase his speed, heading towards where he felt the enormous source of negative feelings.
He ran.
Tears streamed down his scaly face, mixing with the dirt and blood.
It hurt, it hurt a lot, the arrow wound in his belly hadn't hit any vital organs, but it didn't stop the pain, it didn't calm him.
They were coming, and he knew he wouldn't be able to run as fast as they did, but he continued, if he wanted to have any chance of surviving, he would have to try.
He still wondered why they continued to hunt him down??
Just because he was different??
He just wanted everyone's to be safe, he wanted to show good, and yet, they treated him like a monster, like a complete outsider.
And now they saw him as a threat, he never did anything wrong! He didn't want that! He didn't want any of that!
Then a huge sensation of pain could be felt in his back, with a scream he fell hard scraping himself on the dirt floor.
Slowly he tried to force himself to get up, but that only brought that feeling of enormous pain in his back, totally losing his strength in his arms and falling from the cane to the dirt floor.
He could do nothing, he no longer had the strength to continue, he had no more hopes and no more willpower.
He just stood there, with his face rubbed in the dirt and his shell completely pierced with the attackers' arrow.
Behind him, he could hear the light laughter and voices of his pursuers.
"Well well well, this is the end of the line Thorax, dawn traitor."
He slowly and in pain, tried to look back, only to feel an enormous spark of pain in his back, making him groan heavily, having no more strength to scream.
Feeling his attacker stepping his hoof on his back shell, it felt like his skin was being torn apart, humiliating Throax even more.
"After fleeing for so long, one hour you would fall, did you think you could escape the clutches of the queen?"
Tears streamed further as he gritted his teeth, trying to resist the pain with all his might.
Slowly the attacker would duck, and pull the head of Thorax up, holding him by the neck, and approaching his head from behind, he would face Thorax from the side, smiling victoriously and maliciously.
"I will not lie, your effeminate body would make you an excellent instrument of much pleasure..."
He teased Thorax from behind, licking the side of his face like a predator toying with his prey, while laughter could be heard from behind.
The humiliation that Thorax felt was monumental, he was totally defeated, unable to do anything, being threatened with rape for the pleasure of his attackers, and totally hurt and without hope.
He then threw him on the ground, his chest and head on the floor hurted even more, while the other stood up and laughed, drawing a sword.
"But alas, the queen is tired of waiting your end, and i don't want to waste the chance of finally end your insufferable existence."
Crying, sobbing, he waited for his end, while his attacker and former brother, prepared to deliver a final blow.
Then something happened, something quick, unexpected and terrifying.
BZZT
A huge red light appeared in the darkness, and out of nowhere, the attacker's arm was completely cut.
The Striker screamed, losing his balance as he looked at the place where his arm had previously remained, green blood gushing as he fell on his back on the ground.
All the companions looked in horror at the attacker, who could be seen because of his bright red sword.
The reflection was terrifying, a black armor with a skull helmet, his gaze completely devoted to life, a demon had come to seek their souls.
And his breath.....
Khuuur Phuuur
They were doomed.....
Thorax did not know what was happening, the red light reflected a huge figure, but without being able to lift his head, it was impossible to know what the creature was like.
But the screams he heard, the screams of dread, fear, and the noise of the mysterious and luminous object cutting and supposedly killing everyone.
He just kept his eyes closed while the massacre unfolded, just waiting for his turn to be put out of his misery.
After a while, the noises of grunts and screams stopped, and the red light suddenly disappeared.
However, he heard noises of footsteps across the soil, and they slowly increased as he approached him.
Again, a huge sensation of pain in the back, in the same place where the arrow remained impaled.
And then soon after, and suddenly, the insufferable pain was...
Gone.....
Slowly, he felt a sensation of arms passing under him, and slowly, he was lifted, being placed snugly in someone's arms and being carried in bridal style.
Slowly he had the courage and strength to open his eyes and look at his supposed savior.
The darkness was enormous, he could see nothing, however, he could feel and hear the footsteps of the person who carried him, and his loud and intimidating breathing....
Gathering his last strength he tried to thank whoever that person was.
"T-t-thank y-you."
Without having any more strength, he passed out in the middle of his words in the arms of whoever his saviour was, being taken to the total unknown.