"By the Force, he's good," Dooku stated as objectively as possible.
"You sure a member of the council should be praising a Sith, Master?" Qui-Gon asked with a scowl as he leaned against a window, watching the affair with a troubled look.
"Qui-Gon, I'm watching Knights, Guardians, Consulars, and at least three Masters of the Jedi Order being defeated by one lone warrior who, to be frank, has displayed relatively minimum mobility in this fight," Dooku countered dryly. "And even if I ignored that? Unless I'm mistaken, he's incorporated and modified elements of nearly every style to his technique. As a duelist, I'm forced to admit his skill."
Qui-Gon winced as he felt the Dark Side crash against the temple again, glancing up at where he sensed the mass of unseen darkness. "And drawing all the Dark Side to himself just to bash the temple with it?"
"That's more my Master's area of expertise. I'm not even sure to make of what it means, esoterically or as a battle tactic," Dooku admitted with a frown. "His power has swelled to its zenith, but..."
"It's swelled ONLY to his zenith," Qui-Gon finished stoically. Despite all the might and terror that Dark Side inspired, the power of its own champion had not broken any previous heights Qui-Gon had sensed in Vader's power.
"Master! Master!"
The pair glanced away to see the younger Jedi Master's Padawan came running towards them. "Obi-Wan? What is it? And where is Anakin?" Qui-Gon asked in concern.
"Helping a youngling," Obi-Wan said as he came to a halt. "But that's not important. Masters, we have to stop this," he urged.
"Do you have some power over this Sith Lord, Young Kenobi?" Dooku quipped with a raised eyebrow. "Otherwise, ending this nonviolently seems unlikely."
"With respect, Master Dooku, I wasn't referring to Vader," Obi-Wan corrected grimly.
Both Jedi Masters regarded him as a bewildering subject to study, Qui-Gon searching intently through their bond. "You want to stop them from attacking Vader?" the maverick Jedi summarized with a scrunched brow.
"Masters, look. I mean really, LOOK," Obi-Wan stressed while pointing out the window.
Rather confused by the normally conformist student's odd behavior, both looked back out to the battle as Vader countered and defeated everyone that came at him with a precision that only experience could bring. "Yes, we are well aware he has avoided slaying anyone, Padawan," Dooku acknowledged, only to raise a brow at Qui-Gon's look of deep thought as his old student studied the scene. "Qui-Gon?"
"Is it really that simple?" Qui-Gon murmured.
"Hmm, and here I thought only Master Yoda could still put me in this position," Dooku remarked in interest. "What is it, my old friend?"
"He's only attacking when attacked," Qui-Gon pointed out with a sigh as he wiped a hand all over his face. "And if that is true for what happened with those first four-"
"Mace Windu is about to fall into a trap," Dooku deduced grimly. "All Vader needs is a valid reason for coming to the Temple, and this entire situation legally becomes one man defending himself."
"It's Vader, of course he'll have a reason," Obi-Wan said knowingly, obviously a bit frustrated.
"Which means-," Qui-Gon paused to sigh. "-the only way to keep this situation from getting worse is to stop this now."
Dooku stared as understanding kicked in. "Well, this will certainly be a new level of "maverick" even for you, my former Padawan."
"Technically, this is Obi-Wan's idea."
Meanwhile
There was one thing that Darth Vader missed about being Anakin Skywalker. It was not his wife, for if only briefly, Vader had her as well. No, what Vader missed from his past life was...the fullness. With all Anakin Skywalker's power and agility, able to practically fly across a battlefield, he had only felt truly free when using the Force. Growing into his own abilities had been overwhelming as a Padawan in a way few Jedi could truly appreciate, most having no life to remember before the temple. While as Darth Vader, no matter how much he gained, it never filled that void. He had learned to be a steady and relentless being, leaving fear and death in his path. Yet for all his ever growing power, even ignoring the obvious hold Sidious had over his entire existence, Vader rarely felt quite as free anymore.
Until now.
The Dark Side flowed through him in a way it never had before. Through. Not swelling within or encompassing around. No, it existed as a river and he had become the maw from which it flooded forth and passed out of. His powers were not without limit, but instead without end. The Jedi could fight him for a hundred days, but until his limbs broke and his suit gave out, until he was literally incapable of fighting, they would never exhaust him. Perhaps not even that would be enough.
It was a joy, both dark and true, that kept him steady in the sea of hate and rage that the other Dark Siders brought by allowing him to bring together all of the Dark Side into a singular point, here and now. Ohh, how the ancient vengeance of the Sith and the anger of all others longed to spill their blood, yet...Vader took a personal enjoyment in what he was doing. Not just in defeating the Jedi without killing them, but because he COULD; because he could crush them without ending them. It was, truly, the most alive he had felt in decades.
For Vader could feel the Dark Side. It was in every swing of his blade and in every movement made with the Force. It was in this battle as much as he was. And as he felt it, he felt as the Dark Side did. Its sapience, its true awareness could be argued, but if it truly had a mind of its own? Then Vader knew exactly what it would be feeling in this instance: Sheer delight, like a wolf with a smile bigger than its mouth, hunting and fighting with power it had not known in ages. It would welcome the deaths of the Jedi, but it was far too satisfied to care as it gorged itself greedily upon the emotions they tried to deny and fight off.
And devour the Dark Side did, all of it: the fear and despair of every Jedi the Sith Lord defeated, the terror of those within the temple at sensing the full weight of the Dark Side, and the frustration- and dare he think it, anger- from many that one lone being of "corruption" could besiege their mighty temple, their bastion against darkness? Even Vader's own warlike bliss was a drink to help swallow the main course.
As another group of Jedi fell before his power, he and the Dark Side breathed deep as companions in battle. He turned around as he felt the Dark Side grow hungry again, knowing what that meant. For the Dark Side always grew hungry for more in the face of those that sought to strike it down.
With both hands outstretched, he sent the Force at two more foolish Knights returning for more. But they merely crossed their arms, gritting their teeth as they skidded back by what seemed like the winds of some alien hurricane, not just on their bodies, but on their souls. They nearly collapsed when it ended, yet stood defiantly. Until they perceived that his limbs were still outstretched.
Vader closed his fist as they realized they were never the targets.
The two statues closest behind them imploded, cracking and crushing upon themselves and then exploding outward, the large structures of ancient stone crumbling into dust and rocks. The debris didn't settle, however, rolling and flying towards the Jedi, and to the Dark Lord, like a swarm of angry insects. The Dark Side passed by them, mocking them with its inaction to them even as they used their sabers and the Force to deflect stones and boulders from slamming into them.
One leapt away for a tactical retreat, but the other was not so wise or fortunate, as the pebbles and grains wrapped around one leg before throwing said Knight aside. The debris came to circle around and above the Sith, guarding him like a foreboding protector. Vader folded his arms as he used the funnel of stone and pebbles to push back and strike down Jedi who dared to get to close.
He was growing weary of this pointless repetitiveness. How long did it take the council to get down from the tower?
The Dark Side broadened its attention to the many combatants out of commission and those unable to withstand it within the Temple. It savored them, creating and devouring itself as Vader, its champion, decided to stop entertaining the Light's cannon fodder. It rippled in interest and Vader looked off to the setting sun, both sensing the Dark Side's figurative desert. Vader wasn't surprised. After all, even without the Sith in the open, it had tasted Jedi facing and falling to its lesser wielders routinely over the past thousand years. Under the Order of Bane, it normally only tasted Sith fighting Sith once a generation.
Meanwhile
A Sith plans for everything.
Plagueis had drilled that into Sidious's head. Sidious had drilled it into his own head!
But planning for everything didn't mean all your plans were good.
Sidious dodged being hit by a Force Wave that tore metal shrapnel from walls and floor before dropping down into a circular passage, using the Force to close it behind him. It led down to a labyrinth of levels below the LiMerge Building. He shot down several floors, closing the passages as he dashed through several twist and turns before going up a floor. It would buy him some time, putting distance and uncertainty of his location between himself and his mas-former master.
Of course he had planned for the chance that his attempt on Plagueis's life failed. A growing number of their contacts and allies, knowing of them as Sith Lords, believed that Sidious was the true Master and knew nothing of Hego Damask's true significance. He had plenty of resources and safehouses that he had kept secret from Plagueis, to the point of having false-secret ones for the Muun to find as decoys. Yes, he was very confident of his plans for going out on his own with Plagueis still alive and trying to kill him.
The only plans he wasn't confident in, the ones he would never classify as good, were his plans to survive and escape his master immediate after failing to kill him. He had to settle for "good enough" on that front.
He held up his hands, allowing a spark of Sith Lightning to pass through his fingers. Wrenching back the Dark Side from Vader to unleash his full power would be too revealing, too potentially noticeable in the Force. His affinity for Force Lightning, however, allowed him to wield such an attack even with the handicap.
Fortunately and unfortunately, the same applied to Plagueis.
He reached around a corner and set a torrent of Sith lightning down the seemingly empty hall. They parted around seemingly nothing, Plagueis allowing himself to bleed into existence from his illusion, one hand held in front of him as the lightning passed around him harmlessly. "That is a far cry from your usual veracity, Sidious," Plagueis commented, unamused.
"And any other time, you would have simply absorbed such an attack," Sidious countered, allowing himself a small smirk.
It vanished in an instant as he ducked under a lightsaber strike aimed for his head before blocking the second strike with his own blade.
Plagueis regarded him with some idle form of disappointment as the blades remained locked. "Did you leave your other lightsaber in your suite again?" he asked as if his traitorous student had forgotten his backpack.
Sidious rolled his eyes. Of course Plagueis would scold him during their deathmatch. "We've been over this, I don't always feel confident about being able to conceal both in the senate," he reminded, imagining the disaster if he accidentally made a loud enough noiseby hitting the concealed saber against something, and forget if it accidentally went off. "Besides, it's not like they're the only ones I have."
Plagueis almost seemed impressed as he watched his traitorous apprentice jump back and saw several small pieces of metal, idle and forgotten bits of machinery to the naked eye, shoot from all around the room towards Sidious and form a second lightsaber, which he ignited in an instant. "That trick took me months to truly master," Plagueis admitted in interest.
"In that, if nothing else, we are equal, Darth Plagueis," Sidious answered as he leapt forward, the Muun Sith doing so as well.
The sword fight now was more like a dance than a struggle. Strikes from one set of sabers barely made contact with the opposing blades, emitting the slightest of crackles, before both Siths leapt past or away from another...a pure battle of speed and precision.
"So is this your lesson in fear, Master? I find the material lacking in substance," Sidious mocked, mentally calculating how far he'd have to get before he could hope to escape. Three minutes down the quickest path, so obviously he couldn't use that.
"Lessons often take a while to sink in, Sidious," Plagueis answered mysteriously.
Which meant he believed he had already won. Which wasn't good, Sidious knew very well.
"Forgive me, but this is one lesson for which I must be remain Absent," Sidious snarled back before taking off with a dash.
Plagueis would have followed suit, if he wasn't currently destroying two security turrets that had sprung forth and attempted to shoot him. Luckily, he had begun twisting and crushing them before they could fire. "Yes, like I didn't already suspect you hacked the security defenses," he murmured as he finished crushing them. It would have been easier to make them shoot each other if he hadn't designed them himself to not be physically able to point at each other for that exact reason.
He glanced down the path Sidious had taken, wondering just which of the "secret" plans this fool was attempting. Because Plagueis was confident he had accounted for ninety-five percent of them.
Which, to give credit, was three percent less than he assumed about most foes he prepared for.
Meanwhile
"A Sith? What is a Sith?" Sol Sixxa questioned with a scowl.
"I would not be surprised you don't know of them, My Friend," Duke Brumel stated, stroking his beard. "They are an ancient, mysterious enemy of the Republic. Or, rather, the Jedi. Not many records of their culture exist. Most worlds only have them listed as events, such as long forgotten wars with the Republic."
"The Red Jedi," Cifo muttered. "That is what the Duros I grew around called them. Stories of an Empire of Jedi-like warriors, always hungry for war. Especially with the Jedi."
"Hmm, history has not been an issue our people could pursue," Sod Gert commented, trading looks with his fellows. "But I do believe I recall them, if only in mention that the Ruusan Reformation occurred at the end of a war with a group called Sith."
"Are you sure you can trust him, Queen?" Sixxa questioned with a head tilt.
"For now, yes," Amidala answered diplomatically. "If what I understand is correct, Darth Vader claims no allegiance or connection to the political entity the Sith may have once been, only to the culture of one."
Cifo made a noise that might have been a hum, obviously feeling a connection to that notion as a Neimoidian in biology only.
"I don't like how he seems to have just come out of nowhere with no explanation," Sixxa countered before nodding to himself. "But I've been to Tatooine, once. If there was ever a time to have turned on you, it would have been there. And you obviously have more reason to trust him than us."
"Very well. We should call this meeting to a close, as the senate will soon be called to vot-" Brumel started before the door suddenly opened, a purple Twi'lek woman appearing with a white dress. "Zafi, what is-?" he started with a scowl, his voice halfway between scolding and concern.
"Forgive the intrusion, Duke Brumel, but there's been an incident," she interrupted firmly.
Instantly, the entire group was on alert, trading wary looks amongst themselves. "In the senate?" Brumel guessed.
"No, the Jedi Temple."
Padme's eyes went wide, instantly knowing who the only source of this could be. She watched, eyes glued to the messenger, as the tail-headed alien moved to activate a holofeed in the center of the room, showing the HoloNet News. There, on full display to the watching Galaxy, was Darth Vader amongst a great many Jedi. Around him was a swarm of rocks and boulders that circled him, blocking and bashing away the Jedi that dared to approach him.
"Is...is he taking on the entire temple?" Sixxa asked, looking truly gobsmacked for once, his jaded demeanor giving way to disbelief. It was well known that Jedi were among the hardest things to fight and kill. To see so many bested spoke to him as a warrior, giving him an uneasy idea of the true gap in power between this Vader and others with the Force.
"I doubt Vader, after everything else, is doing this without reason," Panaka added in, more to himself than anyone else.
"Regardless of that, it seems your ally just became a political liability, Your Highness," Cifo remarked apologetically.
"Don't be so sure, Cifo Klatt," Amidala countered, nodding back to the image.
They all looked, wondering what she saw that they didn't. One by one, they began to notice it, until even Brumel blinked. "Are those Jedi there...helping him?"
Meanwhile
"Master Dooku! What are you doing?!" A Jedi knight asked in alarm as the Serennian Jedi held his blue blade towards a group of his comrades, his back towards the partial cocoon of debris that floated around Vader, now still and no longer spinning.
"Hopefully, putting an end to this foolhardiness," Dooku answered smoothly, his hawk-like stare penetrating their souls. "I suggest putting your sabers away, my friends."
"Please, Master, we don't want to hurt you!" a Padawan requested earnestly.
"Hurt me?" Dooku questioned with an amused look. "You must think rather highly of yourself, Padawan."
No one dared to strike him with a lightsaber, but one guardian did attempt to disable him with a Force Push. Dooku dodged behind the attack with a spin of his heel. His blade knocked aside another Jedi's weapon, giving Dooku an opening to deliver a Force Push of his own, knocking him off his feet. Two beside him struck in defense of their comrade, but Dooku blocked over the top of his head with ease before parrying them away. He wasn't as spry as he used to be, but few were as good of a true duelist as he.
"I knew you were a strange one, Qui-Gon, but I never thought you were out of your mind," a female Guardian addressed to the maverick, smiling despite being locked in sabers with her.
"Funny, I believe you called me that nearly every day with Tahl, Clee," he retorted fondly before frowning. "You know this is wrong."
"How so? A Sith attacked, and we're defending ourselves," Clee retorted firmly, orange eyes searching him suspiciously.
"Then why are they still alive? Why hasn't he killed even one of us?" Qui-Gon retorted, before grunting slightly from the stain of their blade-lock.
"You tire too easily these days," Clee remarked with a touch of sympathy.
Qui-Gon steadied himself at that, but scrunched his brow as she broke their blade-lock and stepped back, her hands trembling, "Clee?"
"You don't know what it was like, Qui," she said with gritted teeth, glaring past him to the Sith Lord standing like a statue, but completely out of anyone's grasp. "The Dark Side erupted like a waking beast when he revealed himself."
"Clee, I was there! Literally, I was on the same planet as him!" Qui-Gon reminded firmly, blocking as she struck him. Not in anger, but frustration.
"That isn't what I meant! You weren't here, the Temple suddenly felt less bright, less safe. You weren't here as that...thing you're defending left Padawans and Younglings screaming in their beds, and no one could explain to them what was happening or why."
"Clee, this is not the Jedi way. You're allowing your fears to take root in you," Qui-Gon cautioned in concern.
"Fear? No, Qui-Gon, courage. As far as I'm concerned, he's been attacking the temple this entire time. Regardless of why he came here, I do this to protect our home and the Order," Clee stated firmly.
Up above, Obi-Wan decided to substitute his inexperience with unconventionality, taking the fight onto the floating rocks. "Well, this is a fine mess of things you've made!" Obi-Wan called down to the Dark Lord after kicking a fellow Padawan off.
"Funny, I thought that was my line."
Obi-Wan turned in surprise to see someone he wasn't sure how to feel about in the moment. "Quinlan Vos," he greeted, giving a weak smile as the man looked at him from another rock, arms crossed. "Situation aside, it's good to see you."
"You as well, my friend," Quinlan agreed with a brief nod, glancing down at the Sith Lord below them. "I'm going to assume you haven't turned to the Dark Side."
"Good, that's half the battle for me," Obi-Wan quipped, keeping his senses tuned for anyone else venturing up here.
The often troubled Jedi looked back to his friend with searching eyes. "You truly believe this is the best way?"
Obi-Wan paused for a moment. He knew that look, but had a hard time believing what he believed was about to happen. "Yes. And as a man that battles the Dark Side so often, you know this is more than it appears," Obi-Wan reasoned.
Vos stared for a moment before nodding and turning around to send a Jedi that had climbed up falling off before they could get proper footing. "I'm going to have a hard time explaining this to Aayla."
Obi-Wan just blinked in astonishment. "I am very much looking forward to the sabbatical with the MediCorp."
And at the center of this conflict, one wouldn't know it, but Vader was genuinely confused under his mask. He hadn't expected something like this, Qui-gon and others actually defending him in combat. To be frank, he wasn't entirely sure what was going on now. But he actually found the situation a little hilarious. Obi-Wan Kenobi, future Jedi of Jedi, was helping Qui-Gon and Dooku defend a Sith Lord from a horde of the Jedi Order? If he had been ten years younger, Sith Lord or not, he probably wouldn't have been able to resist laughing at the sheer absurdity of this scene around him. Even the Dark Side felt uncertain what it wanted to focus on more now: Sith versus Sith or Jedi versus Jedi.
Said uncertainty died as the main event finally arrived, the Dark Side hungery anticipation returning with avengence.
Vader looked over his shoulder and all the fighting started to die down, all eyes fixed towards the temple entrance.
Flanked by many others of the council, Mace Windu had a surprised and troubled expression that hardened into stony determination. "Master Dooku, what is the meaning of this? Have you all lost your senses?" he called out in question.
Dooku merely shrugged. "In fairness, this was the Padawan's idea."
Vader mentally did a double take at that, Obi-Wan groaning above at being thrown under the bus. 'What...am I doing to this timeline?' Vader questioned himself, wondering if he should be concerned. Obi-Wan going along with this idea, that was just unexpected. Being the origin of it? Now that was surprising. Once more, he checked the Dark Side just to make sure he hadn't somehow corrupted his would-be Master, which came back negative once more.
Regaining his focus, he noted Windu beginning his approach. "I don't know how you four have succumbed to this madness, but it's time to end this."
"I couldn't agree more."
Obi-Wan and Quinlan instantly jumped off the floating rocks as they suddenly fell, the Force no longer supporting them against gravity. Many more, Qui-Gon and Dooku included, quickly leapt and dashed further away as the debris started to push its way outwards in all directions from Vader. When it was done, the message was clear to everyone, especially Mace Windu.
All the stones and rocks now formed a circle that the Dark Lord stood in the middle of. It was a ring, a dueling ring.
The Reemerged Sith Lord against the Master of the Jedi Order.
For a moment, all was silent save for Darth Vader's breathing as he waited patiently for the Vaapad user's response.
And respond he did. While reluctant, his fellow council members stood down as Windu wordlessly jumped into the ring. "If this was your intention, "My Lord," you could have simply joined us earlier," Mace Windu commented with narrowed eyes as they sized each other up.
"Trust me, Jedi, you won't believe the real reason I have come to your temple," Vader forewarned as he waited patiently.
"Master Windu! Don't!" Obi-Wan called as he stood on the edge of the arena.
"This no longer concerns you, Padawan," Windu rebuked, never taking his eyes off the Sith Lord.
"You don't understand! You're playing right into his hands by attacking him!" Obi-Wan warned.
"Listen to the Padawan, Master Windu," Qui-Gon called, sounding much calmer in his imploration. "Your zeal has blinded you more thoroughly than your anger ever could."
But the Master of the Order paid the maverick no mind, the voices of his comrades distant and muffled in his ears. His focus was on Vader, as he felt the Dark Side condensing around the monolith of a man. He knew this could not be a battle of attrition, Vader's March had proven that. Victory would not come from wearing down his opponent, only breaking through the shield that was this Sith's experience and skill.
"It is Galidraan all over again," Dooku murmured in disappointment as the tension finally reached its apex.
Mace Windu charged forward, but for this foe, so did Vader. Qui-Gon stared in disbelief as Vader, normally favoring a less speed-based style, was able to match Mace Windu with a burst of Force Speed to increase his agility. Their sabers igniting in mid swing, the two clashed at the center and the stone beneath them cracked from the intensity of the Force colliding against itself.
"Well, Master of the Order?" Vader asked in challenge. "The Sith, the enemy you wish to defeat, stands before you. Is this not the event you desired the moment I stepped foot onto this planet?"
"Your attempts to goad me won't work," Windu countered calmly.
"I highly doubt you require any goading, Mace Windu," Vader as they both pulled back from the sword lock. What followed next, no one was sure who was attacking and who was countering, who was the actor and who the reactor. All it appeared for most Jedi was two lightsabers rapidly clashing. Never actually blocking so much as two attacks colliding.
Something broke. A missed swing, a minute loss of speed, something resulted in the two blades locking once more. Whose error, only the combatants could know. Vader batted the blade away, but Windu rolled with the assault, leaping past the Sith's guard.
Or so he believed.
Windu wasn't surprised that this Sith could produce a Force Barrier, but it was rather troubling just how durable it felt. The shield did not waver or crack from the blow, not even slightly.
Vader knew Windu would not waste time trying to break the barrier head on, and instead used it to unleash a wave of Force energy, sending the Master of the Order back several feet. Windu raised his saber to block a spinning saber throw from Vader. The Vaapad user almost didn't compensate in time when the blade made contact, for it was not just a saber throw. Vader walked forward with one hand held out, using the Force to wield his weapon against Windu.
Windu would admit, if only to himself, that surprised him. Using the Force to truly wield a saber was not a common skill. He found himself on the defensive now as the lightsaber struck his at his until Vader grasped it and seemlessly resumed his assault in the same instant. While he searched for an opening, his Vaapad style allowed him maintain an unbreakable defense against the Dark Lord as he churned Vader's own power back at him.
"Do you really believe you have the power to destroy all the Jedi here?" Mace asked through gritted teeth, blocking blow after blow as the Dark Side flowed through him and back at its Master. It felt much colder than he ever recalled in fighting Dark Jedi in the past. He always imagined it would feel more burning sensation if he fought a Sith like this.
"Do you really believe you can handle the culmination of the Dark Side?" Vader countered as he struck again with...
None of his power?
It was physically strong, but Vader had not used the force in that swing. Mace almost stumbled forward, but recovered to block again at the last second. He almost felt backwards as the Dark Side flooded through him again, stronger than before. He swore he heard something snickering in the distance of the Force, but knew it was not Vader.
To his bewilderment, it was Vader that broke the contest, stepping back with his weapon at the ready. "Your Vaapad is truly impressive," Vader freely complimented. "One consumed by their own power would never be able to fully exploit its weakness."
Mace tensed as he realized what had just happened. Vader had intentionally weakened and then enhanced his attacks to disrupt the cycle created by the Vaapad style. A flaw he never imagined would be an issue, for he always theoretically knew this could happen, but only against someone extremely powerful in the Dark Side. And just as Vader said, he had expected that a Master of the Dark Side to be drunk on power..
But even with Vader's apparent self control, how could he have prepared for that? Vaapad was among the newest styles, and he the only master of it.
Qui-Gon just shook his head from the side lines as he saw the duel unfold. He wasn't sure what weakness Vader referred to in regards to Windu's form, but he knew one thing the Master of the Order didn't grasp about the situation. Vader could have used that weakness, the opening just now to land a crippling blow, or even a death blow. Just as he could have killed every Jedi that had fought against him until now, and yet still he hadn't. The sheer suddenness of the Sith and Dark Side resurging had thrown many a Jedi into unknown territory, and it was clear even those on the council weren't handling themselves properly in deciding how to handle this.
Granted, he wasn't sure how much of this situation was jumping to conclusions and how much was Vader being intentionally difficult.
End of Chapter