_"You are Sith. Like Count Dooku and Ventress."_
As General Grievous' words hang in the air, Vader can't help but study him for a moment. The cyborg had always been quick on the uptake. But then to be fair, there was a reason that Palpatine and Dooku had picked the Kaleesh Warlord known as Qymaen jai Sheelal for his role in the Clone Wars.
They needed someone clever so that they could make him even cleverer. They needed someone capable so they could make him even more capable. Whoever it was also had to have that biological element to them though.
A mere droid, no matter how well programmed, could never have truly given the Republic a run for it's money. No, there had to be a sapient, biological mind behind the Separatist Droid Armies or it simply wouldn't work.
That was where Grievous came in. For all his cybernetic parts, he still had his original brain, albeit enhanced by both questionably ethical medical practices as well as careful application of Sith Sorcery. He was the perfect tool, designed to wage war on both the Jedi and the Republic… until he wasn't needed anymore.
In a way… Grievous was as much Vader's predecessor as Dooku had been. Both of them were mere prototypes, tested and found wanting, ahead of the real thing.
Frankly, if it hadn't been for Kenobi dealing with him on Utapau near the end of the war, then Grievous would have been taken care of another way entirely, just as Dooku would have been if Vader had been able to resist Palpatine's influence at the time and left him alive.
Sidious wouldn't allow for loose ends. Much as he'd had Vader go to Mustafar to kill the remaining members of the Separatist Leadership there, he'd had designs for anyone else who might have been a threat to his new Galactic Empire.
Treachery was the way of the Sith, after all. The Banite Sith, to be specific. Vader saw no need to engage in base treachery as of yet. Instead, he would use Sidious and Dooku's treachery against them, to turn their would be pawns to his side.
"I am a Sith. But not like Dooku or Ventress."
Grievous' reptilian-like eyes narrow at that, but he's already seen what Vader can do, so he's not exactly keen on trying to attack him again. Especially when every last one of his actual battle droids has been destroyed by their own blaster fire at this point. Vader had left Grievous' bridge crew functioning as a courtesy, but there was no denying the gulf in ability between the two of them.
Finally, the General powers down his lightsaber trophies and tucks them back away in a clattering of cybernetic limbs. Everything disappears back beneath his cloak as he snarls.
"You asked if I was ready to talk. So talk."
Vader opens his mouth… but then tilts his head to the side, feeling a pulse through the Force.
"… I shall allow you to deal with your current situation first, General."
As Grievous draws himself up in confusion, one of his bridge crew calls out to him.
"General! We've lost communication with the BX Droid Commandos at Rishi Station!"
Eyes widening, Grievous whips around.
"What?!"
Then, he looks back to Vader. But Vader wordlessly shakes his head and gestures for Grievous to 'get on with it'. Bristling, the cyborg nevertheless barks out orders, sending a battalion of B1-series battle droids down to the station to get ahold of things.
Vader just silently watches… in more ways than one. He had always had an affinity for technology, even when he was very young. His ability to build C-3PO and construct his own podracer at the tender age of nine went beyond just a powerful connection to the Force, though that certainly helped.
He had a unique ability to… interface with technology in a way he'd eventually realized not many other Force Users could. After losing his first arm, Vader had subconsciously began leaning on this unique ability with his prosthetic, allowing him to fight just as well with his mechanical arm as his flesh and blood one.
Of course, it wasn't until after he'd lost all four limbs and found himself confined to the suit that he'd truly realized what he was capable of. It had started as a necessity more than anything, the need to be able to control his cybernetic limbs as well as he'd controlled his flesh and blood ones leading him to discover the ability to suffuse his Force Presence through technology… and in doing so, take control of it.
Unfortunately, by the time he'd discovered this ability, he'd been rather limited by the loss of so much of his body and his reliance on the suit. Much of his Force Presence had become tied up in making the suit and his cybernetic limbs a proper body for himself, allowing him to in some cases physically outperform his old biological form.
Only… now that he'd come back in time, he wasn't so limited anymore. He could stretch his technopathic touch far further, the Force answering his call and allowing him to utilize this ability to its fullest extent for the first time in… ever.
That's why he's not worried about any of the droids on this ship reporting his presence to Dooku or Sidious or anyone else. When all is said and done, they won't even remember that he's here. In the meantime, Vader can see through their eyes and the eyes of every camera on this ship. He can even see through the eyes of the battle droids that Grievous sends down to the planet.
Obviously, he hadn't been present for any of this the first time around. But he'd heard how it played out. As he watches, everything continues exactly as it did the first time. The battalion of droids go down to the planet, while Rex and Cody meet up with the clone troopers Hevy, Echo, and Fives to try to retake the communications relay.
Sentiment should be beneath Vader, all things considered… but he nevertheless finds himself ready to intervene at any moment if its to save Rex, Fives, or Echo. He doesn't care nearly as much about Hevy or Cody, but those three clones… hm, a weakness, no doubt.
In the end, it doesn't matter though. Things play out just the same as last time. Hevy sacrifices himself to destroy Rishi Station while the other four clones all make it to relative safety. And just like that, Grievous' plan to invade Kamino and stop the production of clones comes to an abrupt end.
The General orders his fleet to retreat with a snarl, and as soon as they've made the transition into hyperspace, he whips around to glare at Vader.
"Skywalker. You expect me to believe you had nothing to do with today's failure?!"
Vader smiles thinly.
"I expect you to believe that if I wanted you dead, General… you would already BE dead."
That gives Grievous pause. Vader wasn't about to try and protest his innocence. Sure, he didn't do anything directly, but he knew what would happen and had trusted Rex, Echo, Fives, and the other two clones to be able to handle things on their end all the same. And yet… at the same time, he's still just standing here and Grievous remains unharmed, save for his wounded pride.
Growling, Grievous stomps forward until he's towering over Vader.
"Talk! What do you want from me, Skywalker?!"
What does he want? That's simple enough.
"It's not about what I want from you, General. It's about what I want FOR you. I want… to set you free. I want to unbind you from the shackles that Dooku and his Sith Master, Darth Sidious, have put on you."
The slight widening of Grievous' eyes lets Vader know that he already knows about Sidious' existence and that Dooku has a master above him. However, he's still clearly shocked that Vader knows of Sidious. It gives the cyborg significant pause before he finally answers with a scoff.
"… I have no shackles on me. I have no chains."
Vader tilts his head to the side, staring at Grievous intently. Or rather, not at Grievous… but at Grievous' head.
"Don't you? Tell me Qymaen jai Sheelal, what do you remember of your family? Of your ten wives and thirty children? More than that, what do you remember of Ronderu Iij Kummar?"
To an outside observer with baseline senses, Grievous' reaction would probably seem near instant as he drove his metal claws at Vader's neck with a roar of rage. To Vader… he saw it coming a mile away. The cyborg is once again stopped by the Force, this time mere inches from Vader. There isn't even a tremor in Grievous' form though, despite his strong efforts to fight back and break free.
"You are a shadow of your former self, Grievous. A puppet dancing to their whims. Allow me to show you just what they've taken from you."
After all… Grievous was a prototype in more ways than one. They hadn't just made him smarter, stronger, faster. They'd also needed him to be controllable. Manageable… and precisely as hateful and spiteful and venomous as they required.
To be fair, most of it was already there. The hatred in the depths of Grievous' heart against the likes of the Huk and the Jedi Order was born a long, long time ago, on his homeworld. But natural hatred just wasn't good enough for the Sith. Not when they could… amplify it at the expense of every good memory Grievous had in his head.
Reaching up, Vader touches the side of the Kaleesh Cyborg's skull and finds the modified biochip they'd installed in his brain. Something like what each and every Clone had in their heads. And Vader… shuts it off.
There's a pause as nothing outward seems to happen. Vader removes his fingers and then loosens his hold on Grievous in the force. Immediately, the frozen cyborg lurches back, his hands going to his head as he snarls.
"What… what have you done to me?!"
Vader smiles thinly once more.
"I told you I would set you free, Grievous. And so I have."
After a moment, the cyborg stops and just stares down at his hands, opening and closing them wordlessly for a moment. The biochip didn't just repress positive emotions and heighten negative ones. It also helped Grievous cope with the fact that he'd become mostly cybernetic.
But… Grievous was a strong willed being. He didn't need the help. And his hatred… his hatred has always been stronger than his despair. Slowly straightening back up, he narrows his eyes at Vader.
"This changes nothing, Skywalker. The Jedi are still my enemy, first and foremost."
Tilting his head to the side, Vader hums.
"I have not told you to stop hating Jedi, General. I merely wish for you to see that your enemies are even more numerous than you truly believed. If the suppression of your best memories is not enough, how about the fact that it was Dooku and Sidious who arranged for the shuttle crash that left you on the edge of death and forced to accept their assistance?"
Grievous flinches at that, before narrowing his eyes.
"And why should I believe you?"
Vader's smile grows.
"Because Darth Sidious is Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and he and his apprentice, Count Dooku, have been playing you just as they've been playing the rest of the galaxy."
Now that gets Grievous' attention. But even Vader has limits to his patience. Rather than wait for the cyborg to once again ask why he should trust him, Vader reaches out with the Force.
"If you won't believe my words, if you won't believe your own mind… then perhaps you'll believe the proof within this new body they gave you. Allow me to show you their plans for you, in the end."
If not for Kenobi on Utapau… this was what was in store for the Supreme Commander of the Separatist Droid Armies.
Grievous cries out and collapses to his knees as his joints crack open and miniscule devices are pulled free. Then, his head snaps back and his entire skeletal form shakes as a bulge slowly appears in the top of his metal skull. Finally, it splits open and another device is pulled free.
The Kaleesh Cyborg is wounded, but nothing life threatening or fatal. The multitude of devices that Vader has pulled out of his cybernetic body were not actually integral to its operation. In fact, they had one purpose and one purpose only.
Slowly, Grievous lifts his head as he recovers. And he stares at the mass of floating explosive devices right in front of his eyes. Vader floats them off to the sides one by one and lets them explode safely in midair on unoccupied parts of the bridge. Over and over again, he detonates them with his mind, allowing Grievous to imagine for himself exactly what they would have done to his body if they'd detonated while still inside of him.
The last one, the one that had been right atop his still organic brain, Vader explodes a few feet away from Grievous' face as a more… upfront example.
In the ensuing silence that falls, Vader shakes his head as he looks down at Grievous.
"I told you I would set you free, General. I did not promise it would be painless. Now you see though. You have no shackles anymore."
A shudder runs through Grievous' kneeling cybernetic frame.
"What… what do you want from me, Skywalker?"
Vader smiles grimly.
"You became the Kaleesh Warlord known as 'Grievous' because of Huk Slavers pilfering not just your planet's natural resources, but also your people for their own sick and twisted desires. And yet, the Banite Sith have perverted your purpose. Sidious, Dooku… they've enslaved you in all but name. And I hate slavers."
With a jerk of the Force, Vader yanks Grievous back up to his feet. Despite the holes in his joints and brain casing, the cyborg can stand all the same. He's sturdier than all of that.
"What do I want from you, General? I want you to return to your original purpose. I want you to fight slavers with me."
Grievous narrows his eyes, metal claws flexing under his cloak.
"You expect me to abandon my vendetta against the Jedi then? To desert my post and help you fight Count Dooku and Darth Sidious?"
But Vader is already shaking his head before Grievous is even done speaking.
"Who said anything about abandoning your vendetta or deserting your post, General? Dooku and Sidious may have arranged for the creation of the Clone Army, but it was the Republic who embraced them wholeheartedly… and the Jedi Order who made themselves complicit in the enslavement of over five hundred thousand souls."
He sees the moment that understanding dawns on Grievous. And for the first time, Vader sees naked interest in the cyborg's eyes. He had Grievous' curiosity already. Now though? Now he has his attention.