Yoda could feel it. The cacophony of emotions around him, his fellow Jedi Masters internally reacting to Vader's declaration: They needed to "clean house," both the Jedi and the Sith. What that entailed, few could deduce yet. The greatest feeling was confusion, often mixed in with outrage or dismissal. But there was curiosity. It was obvious to most that this moment, this meeting had been a goal of Vader's. The point of it was beyond them though. Was he here attempting sow discord and doubt amongst their ranks? To sway Jedi to the Dark Side? Was he diverting their attention away from something else, a large scale slight of hand to obtain his true objective?
Yoda wondered if, ironically, the Sith wasn't simply telling the truth.
The Grandmaster would be the last to believe a Sith at face value, but he was old and experienced. There were certain things that were near impossible to fake, to pretend to feel, least of all to someone who truly felt as such. And if nothing else, he believed one claim Vader had made.
That this Sith Lord was tired.
While Yoda did think the Sith were wrong in how they used the Force, among other things, he did accept the idea that they fully believed in their own twisted ideals. If he had a sympathy for one type of individual, it was those that grew wary after steadfast years of commitment to an ideal or goal. Vader would be hard pressed to change anyone's minds, but Yoda would hear him out.
One tired soul to another.
"How shall we begin, Jedi?" Vader prompted patently.
There was a tense pause before Ki-Mundi sat forward. "You stated you were tired, of being our excuse. Elaborate on that claim," he requested, stern yet curious.
Vader's shoulders almost seemed to sag at that. "Well, I shall ignore the truly ancient history, as none will ever be too sure which side truly started this eternal feud of the Light and Dark sides. So I shall only tread back to one of your greatest hypocrisies: The Genocide of the Sith."
"Five thousand years isn't ancient?" Yarael asked in honest surprise.
"I can venture further back if you truly desire," Vader offered in warning. "Tell me, Jedi. Can you claim for an instance that slaughtering the race of your newly defeated enemy, down to the very children in their cribs, is anything short of an act of extreme and paranoid fear?" Vader asked coldly, even as his own hated memories returned to him; Of the sand people, of the Jedi Younglings, and so many others.
"We did not kill children," Ki-Mundi retorted with a scowl. "If you're going to criticize us, at least be factual."
"Do not bring up semantics, Jedi," Vader retorted coldly. "I would honestly not condemn the Jedi of the past for that atrocity, if not for the fact that they and the Republic invaded as a joint force. The first Sith Empire was defeated, thoroughly, to the point of mass-suicide in its ranks. Yet, the Chancellor at the time decided that this was not enough, that victory was not enough. You may not have committed the worst of the atrocities of the Sith Holocaust, but you did stand by and worse, enabled it to occur."
"Unless you're claiming our own records are false, the Jedi of the time took every effort to capture the Sith alive," Yarael retorted, his head cocked slightly on his long neck.
"Jedi," Vader addressed him with something approaching dryness. "Do not sit there and pretend that it is some how less paranoid, less cruel that this order spared Sith solely for the intent of severing their very connection to the force. Be it physically or culturally, the entire point of that campaign was to destroy the very existence of the Sith."
"Are you honestly saying that wasn't the goal of your predecessors?" Eeth Koth retorted. "That, if the Sith of Old had claimed victory, that the Republic and this order would not be destroyed?
"While genocide wasn't exactly one of the main goals of the Sith, I will not refute the spirit of your point," Vader admitted bluntly. "I just find it interesting that, while the two thrived in isolation and ignorance of one another, the first response between the Sith Empire and your Republic was quite telling: They gave war and yet, in return, who was it that gave unto them extinction?"
"The end of the Dark Side's corruption, to be accomplished, great measures were needed," Yoda point out gravely.
"Tell me something, Grandmaster? Whom do you think that justification of "liberating" the common-born Sith from the Dark Side, was conjured up by? By Supreme Chancellor Pultimo to justify to your predecessors why that counter-invasion was necessary? Or perhaps the reverse is true? That they gave it to him, allowing you the chance to wipe out everything that the Sith had built?" Vader pondered pointedly.
"Either way, it's not exactly untrue."
Every head turned to the speaker, Qui-Gon giving his student a curious look as Obi-Wan shrugged under Vader's scrutiny.
"From a certain point of view," the padawan added on, even if he felt a bit wary speaking amongst so many Masters. But this was the Jedi Order itself Vader was scrutinizing, not just the Masters.
"How many Sith do you believe have tempted Jedi away with promise of "liberating them" from your beliefs and institutions, Padawan?" Vader rebutted without effort, Obi-wan wincing at the technically correct-comparison. "Regardless of if you believe it was justified or not, it is a fact that the Sith as a species and society were believed to be essentially extinct for many ages after that, as the survivors hid in exile for an age. Any notion of even simple non-hostility between the two sides was doomed with that single act."
"The Sith Empire conquered and enslaved entire planets, and would have done so again if left unchecked to reform," Windu countered with a stony expression. "You cannot sit in judgement of our past, and ignore that such travesties were being committed in yours."
"And yet, your double standards are rather plain here, Master of the Order," Vader pushed on. "You claim it was for the benefit of saving and liberating others? A fine defense. There is just one, minute flaw in its design. A flaw passed down to this era."
"What flaw can there be in saving the innocent?" Plo Koon asked skeptically.
Vader paused, his gaze shifting over the closest thing to allies he had in this room.
Qui-Gon felt a chill up his spine as he felt Vader's stare, realizing that Vader was excluding no one from this conversation.
"Jedi do not normally go around freeing slaves."
"What exactly is that suppose to mean?" Oppo Rancisis asked, his tail of a lower half curled awkwardly around his seat. "Are you actually trying to say we condone slavery?"
"There is a very grey area between condone and condemn, Jedi. Most know it simply as inaction," Vader explained calmly. "Tell me, Qui-Gon? If that boy had not been a Force Sensitive, or even one of more normal power, would he be here? Would you have gone to the same length to free him if he was just another slave in the Outer Rim?"
Qui-Gon's face was a mask just on the edge of pensive. He knew what he wanted to say, what he wanted the answer to be. It just wasn't the whole truth. "Assuming he still risked as much as Anakin did to help us, complete strangers to him? Then yes, I would have. But if you're asking me if I would have tried to free any and as many random slaves on Tattoine?" Qui-Gon stopped to sigh. It's what he would have liked to do, true, but he was not all powerful; None of them were.
"You need not answer, Qui-Gon," Vader allowed after a moment's silence. "It is the same as any other Jedi would do. It is a rarity that a Jedi makes a mark against slavery in this galaxy."
"You're pretending like we have much of a choice in the matter, that there is something we can do that the Republic can't," Eeth Koth retorted with a scowl.
"You mean, besides going to war with the Hutts?" Vader stated blatantly. "If you put that much effort into annihilating the Sith as an ideal, I don't see why during the times of "peace" neither you nor the Republic made an effort to curb the power of such long standing and oppressively vile Clans of criminals, to the extent that they essentially have full autonomy from any other authority in the galaxy."
Vader paused, allowing himself to relish the feeling vibrating from Mace Windu: The man agreed with Vader on this topic, if nothing else, and hated it. The Hutts were one of the eldest and cruelest of the space fairing races, and admittedly one of the most resilient at times. It was a miracle choking them worked so well when they could survive losing part of their brain.
"Question unanswered, it remains," Yoda pointed out with a hum, wondering just what Vader was getting at.
"The Acquisition department," Darth Vader answered, seemingly randomly.
"What? What does that have to do with anything? Or you going to accuse us of kidnapping our younglings now?" Ki-Mundi asked skeptically.
"No, that is a topic for later," Vader answered with complete seriousness. "No, what I am addressing is that you have the resources and the unregulated authority to test, locate, and take a majority of all Force-Sensitive infants across the entire span of the Republic and beyond. Yet, in spite of that, you cannot allocate the resources and time for even the occasional raid to free the enslaved innocents of the galaxy? To cripple criminal resources and operations? In spite of the fact that you carry out routine missions to such lawless places to infiltrate organizations and hunt down certain criminals?" Vader pointed out.
It had been an idea he wanted to introduce one day...or rather, Anakin Skywalker wanted to introduce. Then the Clone Wars happened, and there was no chance of any such endeavor happening within Sidious's empire.
Vader was honestly a bit surprised by how shocked the Jedi seemed by the notion. Had it truly not crossed their minds? He knew from experience how bad the complacency of the Jedi Order could be, but had it truly been that bad?
"You do realize that many of our successes in hunting down dangerous criminals and such is because the local Hutt Kajidics allow us to go about our business quickly and quietly?" Yarael Poof countered civilly.
"So you would rather gain safe access to a rat's nest rather than fill it up to end it as a hiding place to begin with?" Vader questioned rhetorically.
"The risk to many in and around their territories would be enormous, if the Hutts as a whole feel they are being attacked?" Even Piell pointed out, even if his gaze didn't entirely oppose the idea in spirit.
"You are afraid of the Dark Side, you are afraid to anger the Hutts, how many exceptions does your code allow?" Vader retorted with a head shake. "If you're going to treat myself, the Sith, and the Dark Side as a whole as a disease, you can at least have the integrity to give such crime lords the same treatment."
"Vader."
The Dark Lord turned his head to Mace Windu, who regarded him with a deep revulsion held back by their shared sentiments on this topic. He inclined his head to the side, towards the master of the Order, indicating he was listening.
"You and I know perfectly well the ultimate issue in that. If we succeeded in destroying the Hutt's power over the criminal underworld, it would only create a power vacuum. A war among criminals to fill the gap would erupt, especially with Hutt Space being in the Outer Rim. Assuming for once that saving lives is a priority for you: how is destroying the status quo a reasonable objective if it risks destroying the very lives we're trying to save?"
Vader regarded him for a moment, realizing that Windu was actually asking his opinion, daring him to try and justify that in a way that wasn't Sith in philosophy.
"A power vacuum is inevitable. What fills it is not. The issue becomes that no one is willing to commit the time and resources to fill that with any form of order. Granted, that particular issue is more a fault of the Republic's government," Vader conceded evenly. "Your only fault is neglecting to help the desperate and defenseless, however minor the help might be. At least, that was what I believed you Jedi were suppose to stand for."
"So, that's your argument? That we don't try hard enough?" Plo Koon questioned with a scowl behind his mask.
"There is a point when it ceases to be a mere lack of fully committing to a cause and treads more into the realms of outright neglect and complacency," Vader clarified scathingly. "You won't make your own mark against the Hutts because it will break the status quo, causing chaos and suffering. Yet that is somehow preferable to quietly allowing more suffering to go unanswered. At least with the former, there is a hope for some that comes with the risk."
"You, a Sith, speaking of Hope?" Eeth Koth repeated, almost scoffing at the notion.
"How do you think I became this, Jedi?" Vader asked, the air chilling with his ire. "How do you think many arrive at Dark Side? Ones like myself, we ran out of hope long ago. And only when one has known true hopelessness do they understand the true value of having even a smallest hope."
Yoda shook his head, a pitying look about his sage eyes. "Too hard, your old path became. The easier, quicker route you embraced."
The room feel silent, the only noise being the creaking of metal as Vader's hands clenched into fists.
A great crack echoed throughout the room, many of the masters pulling their lightsabers as they saw the floor around Vader nearly crater around him.
"Yoda," Vader addressed with full, unveiled ire at the fearless Grandmaster. All wariness of challenging the green alien was lost even as he held himself back. "Listen well, and listen now. Claim any falsehoods and half-truths about the Dark Side that you desire, but NEVER claim that what I do, what I DID was the easy path. It was the single hardest choice I ever had to make."
Yoda looked unphased by the wrath of the Sith, but he frowned thoughtfully. "Hard perhaps, the choice is, but the path?"
Vader paused, the warmth returning as the tension lessened. "I'm not here to discuss the Force, Grandmaster, only our organizations. But if you wish my opinion, I will say no. The short term benefits may seem easily gained, more potent, but in the end the path to true power is always long and hard. That is the same for the Jedi, the Sith, and beyond."
Yoda hummed, and while Vader knew the Grandmaster would never embrace the Dark Side or see it in a positive light, he wondered if the ancient Jedi might just change some opinions about it. "Off topic, indeed then, we have treaded," Yoda granted before gaining a curious look. "Your criticism, yet one-sided, it would appear?" he pointed out curiously. "Both you claim, in need of "cleaning house," we are."
"In full sincerity, I was waiting to see if anyone would bring up any of the issues with the Sith Order," Vader answered with nearly a tinge of amusement. "I am not so hypocritical to deny the Sith have many flaws to attempt to resolve as well: In-fighting that needs to be contained to, at minimum, keep competition from evolving into self-destruction. The Sith of Old had a penchant for slavery that I do not intend to resurface, and the same is true for the human-centrism that has a habit of showing up in our human members. For reasons I'll never understand. The Jedi and Sith Orders both have very different ideas of where the line between ruling and oppressing is, but I do concede that we Sith cross our own line too often and too willingly. And, of course, both our Orders need to cease out mutual obsession with destroying each other."
There were wide eyes all around, even Yoda looking mildly surprised by that self-assessment. "Believe this, you do, truly? Required, a change for both?" Yoda asked, stroking his chin even as many gave him disbelieving looks...especially Windu.
"It would hardly mean anything if I admitted to no problems within our own Order while addressing yours," Vader admitted without hesitation. "Does anyone else care to add to my list?"
"...Self-control?" Ki-Mundi offered, wondering just how this would go now. "Even ignoring our differing views on the Force, you must admit that Sith are correctly known for their emotions running wild and ruling them more than most sapients would believe is healthy."
"While it is more obvious among the Sith, I believe all those that use the Force run the risk of becoming drunk on their own power, even if for many it is just a short time before they acclimate and return to reality," Vader countered calmly. "Sith are actually often very in control of themselves outside of battle and even then it is our goal to unleash it in a directed manner. Our emotions may get the better of us, but that is an ideological difference more than anything. You suppress your emotions, we embrace them."
"Not an...unfair point," Ki-Mundi allowed awkwardly, feeling somewhat strange to have some mutual understanding with the Sith.
"Inward you look, seeking only your own ambitions," Yoda pointed out.
"Not only, Grandmaster. We have our own goals and prioritize them. I believe I have proven well enough that I am capable of mercy here today," Vader rejected entirely. "If I'm honest, I believe you are entirely too much in the opposite end of the spectrum: You are rather obsessed with control."
"I'm sure you well know it how hard it can be for Jedi to not stray to the Dark Side," Eeth Koth retorted pointedly.
"Jedi, if any belief system feels it is required that its members be trained from infancy, never know any attachment or home outside of its sacred temple, and teaches that any straying from the right path might lead to self-ruin and warrant expulsion from said order? That means there is something wrong with the belief system, not the individuals it finds wanting," Vader pointed out dryly.
"You make it sound like we forbid our members from leaving the Order, that they are forced to stay," Even Piell retorted with a glare.
"A choice between the only home one knows and being thrown out into the Galaxy without any support and little resources to yourself? That is only a choice in formality. Not every Jedi has a wealthy heritage to rely on, ad fewer still would know it," he pointed out.
"He's...not incorrect," Dooku granted awkwardly. "That said, Vader, I believe the topic of how hard is to leave is an issue you have overplayed. It might be hard, but any truly disillusioned will leave. Granted, many end up either in a similar role as a Jedi, as a hired bodyguard, if they do not fall to being simple Bounty hunters or criminals."
"Hm, that I will acknowledge, but I retain my point: It is very telling you believe an ideal Jedi should be trained from such a young age. A change you made as you became more isolated from the rest of the Galaxy," Vader compromised.
"Still, from how you portrayed the issue with the Hutts, you might sound as though righting the wrongs of all the galaxy is somehow our impossible duty," Qui-Gon pointed out carefully.
"Again, I merely find the degree of inaction to be reaching neglectful levels, that you more often than not treat the symptoms but not the disease," Vader corrected.
"It is not neglect, Sith," Adi Gallia spoke up with a scowl, having remained silent for too long in her mind. "We are merely unwilling to risk peace at the slightest chance."
Vader regard the female Jedi as a strange feeling came over the Jedi Council members. A feeling that, unless they were wrong, Vader was regarding Adi as if she were, to put it politely, less than intelligent.
"Peace?" he repeated incredulously. "You truly attempt to claim the galaxy has peace?"
"To you, a deception, Peace is, correct?" Yoda questioned with a quirked brow.
"No, I am not even questioning that as a Sith now, but instead as a sapient without a head buried in sand," Vader answered bluntly, catching many off guard. "At best, Jedi, what you and the Republic has is Quiet. I literally came here by helping a Queen escape an invasion on her planet, where her people are being held captive by a mechanical army of a corporation."
"Obviously peace is not continuous or all-encompassing," Qui-Gon stated, eyeing the dark lord curiously. "You wouldn't bring this up if that was your only point."
"Do you truly wish me to discuss this in full, Jedi?" Vader warned in momentary annoyance. "Because I can, with ease. Ignoring the entire situation of the Outer Rim and the Hutts, Naboo is hardly a special case, as the Trade Federation has taken over many planets, in all but name, with full legal authority due to not only their influence on the senate, but having a seat on it. Beyond that, there is the entire debacle between the Huk and Kaleesh, the Kol Huro incident, the Arkanian Revolution, the Stark Hyperspace War?"
"Incidents the Jedi Order helped end!" Eeth Koth retorted with a glare.
"I am not arguing that, but instead that the Galaxy is NOT at peace. Again, you might treat the symptoms, but the disease remain. The turmoil has grown increasingly beneath the surface of Quiet that the Republic sends you out to keep. I'd continue, but I trust I do not need to remind you of the Yinchorri War?" Vader asked, pausing as he caught a twitch on Windu's brow. "Or, better yet, if we were to return focus to your order's shortcomings, Galidraan?"
A great many gazes found their way to Dooku. The aging Jedi glared, not at Vader, but at the council...at Windu. And the Master of the Order could not even meet Dooku's gaze.
"There is no need, Vader," Dooku stated firmly. "I have already expressed how foolish we were that day, even myself," he stated before giving a hollow chuckle. "Fooled not by Dark Jedi or Sith, but by a simple corrupt governor. He hired the True Mandalorians to kill rebels on his planet, than framed them with Death Watch so that we would kill them in kind. We were used, like political tools."
"And even after the truth, you could do nothing about it," Vader summarized, even Yoda's mood souring at the notion of such a failure. "There would never be enough evidence to prove to the senate that the Governor had manipulated the Republic and the Jedi to secure his hold on his planet."
"Dooku, we have been over this, there was no way to know, to prepare for that," Windu retorted.
"Jedi, I mean this as civilly as possible: enough," Vader warned, giving Dooku a look. It wasn't pity or sympathy behind his mask, but it was understanding. He understood the feeling of Dooku intently in this situation. "He blames you, the council, for allowing yourself to be used for political gains on many occassions, but more importantly: He blames himself for being deceived."
Dooku said nothing for a moment, glancing away to glare at nothing as Qui-Gon put a supporting hand on his shoulder. "If I had paid more attention, I might have spared so many souls that day from joining with the Force too early. Or if I had bothered to investigate immediately after the battle, perhaps it would not have been so in vain."
There was a heavy silence that followed, one even Vader refused to break immediately as the Jedi mourned one of their greatest failings in recent history.
"All the more evidence to summarize one of the ultimate shortcomings of the Jedi Order," Vader continued on, redrawing attention to himself. "It is one thing for the common person to think it, but it's a much more serious issue that, somewhere along the line, you have all become the lapdogs of the Republic."
"Really? This old insult?" Even Piell asked with a scowl.
Vader immediately pointed to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. "The Supreme Chancellor sent two Jedi as Ambassadors to end a blockade that was done as a protest. As fortunate a decision as that accidentally became, it doesn't change a simple fact: Sending Jedi as ambassadors is not done to secure a equally or mutually desired resolution, it is done purely as an intimidation factor. After all, no one wants to provoke a Republic-sanctioned mystic with a blade as hot as a sun and powers that can affect their mind."
"You're scolding us for using the Force on others?" Obi-Wan asked skeptically.
"No, Padawan, I'm scolding you for being used as puppets of the Republic. The Jedi of Old were allies, but not servants of the Republic. There was a time before your birth, Yoda, when Jedi did what they thought was right. We could debate all day if their actions were noble or foolish, but those actions were solely the Order's own to make, in service to the Force and the Galaxy, instead of a decaying regime. There was even a time when your predecessors left the Republic entirely, and overthrew a Xenocidal Chancellor. Now you sit here, isolated in this temple, blindly pulled only by the Force and the Republic as times march on," Vader stated in legitimate disappointment.
"We're hardly out of touch with the rest of the galaxy, Sith," Eeth Koth retorted.
"Jedi, your council literally passes down decisions and orders from an all but literal ivory tower, from the proverbial center of the galaxy." Vader countered dryly. "I cannot make a point more fitting than that. Time has changed: The Republic, the factions, the state of worlds, technology, even the Sith have changed. Yet you remain unchanged for a thousand years, as shadows of your former selves."
"A thousand years ago, the war with the Sith finally ended," Yareal Poof retorted. "That was why the Ruusan Reformations were implemented, to make way for a more peaceful time, and prove that we were not like you. That we were not a conquering force on the Republic's front door."
Vader nodded slowly, deliberately. "And that is why you failed, Jedi. You will dedicate your entire Order's existence to fighting the Dark Side of the Force, but nothing else."
"You say that again, that we failed. How?" Mace Windu challenged firmly. "What is this great failure you were so intent on making us see?"
"It's not obvious, Master of the Order?" Vader countered steadily. "The Ruusan Reformations themselves. Before them, you had one, bright, shining chance to be...so much more. And like everything else handed to your order, you botched it. Ruined it, and the Galaxy suffered for it."
"Of course a Sith would see it as a mistake for us to end our military powers," Adi retorted with a sigh.
"That was less a mistake of the Jedi of Old and more a collective blunder between your predecessors and the Republic. No, your error was much simpler. The Ruusan Reformation wasn't the supposed end of just the Sith Lords, but another form of Lords as well," he stated, Yoda looking up in surprise. "The Jedi Lords."
"The Jedi Lords?" Obi-Wan repeated with a scrunched brow.
"I'm not surprised you haven't heard of them, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon mused. "They were a brief existence, existing for a mere century"
"The concept was simple," Vader continued on icily. "A Jedi went out to defend unprotected worlds, and came to rule and watch over one of those planets. Not as conquerors, for the position was often hoisted upon them by the locals. Here it was, a system in which a noble Jedi might protect a world that no one else truly protects. But just as the Sith admittedly crave power, you continuously fear it, fear to be corrupted by it. In spite of various Jedi being elected Supreme Chancellor in the ancient past. But that was what the Ruusan Reformation ultimately was for you all: adding limitations. Limiting the age to allow one to be a Jedi, limiting your own influence, limiting yourselves to robes instead of armor, limiting your order to become centralized here at the Galactic Capital, and even limiting the very allowance of interpretations of your own Code," Vader ranted off, pausing to allow that to sink in. "Your Order failed everyone, Jedi, when it threw away EVERYTHING to appease the Republic and your own fear. Fear, of yourselves."
There was a shock in the council from Vader's bold claim. It was not the first time any of them believed they had come up short or could have done more, yet it was different to have your supposed enemy pointing it out all at once, and all its implications. Some were truly stunned, others were thoughtful, yet many found their resolves and returned Vader's words with steely and unwavering stares.
"Is that all you wished to speak of, Darth Vader?" Mace Windu asked in a firm monotone, finding himself looking forward to an end to this discussion.
"I only have one final thing, Jedi. Granted, this part is not a debate, but a warning," Vader informed as they all gave him cautious looks.
"Are you threatening us, Sith Lord?" Mace Windu asked, his body tense once more.
"Hardly, Jedi. The warning is simple: I am done," Vader answered, both blunt and vague in one.
"Done?" Yarael Poof repeated as confusion, even annoyance filled the room.
"I told you all earlier that I was tired. Now I am done. I am done being your excuse for taking children from cradles. I am done being what you fear your wayward younglings might become. I am done being the reason you do so many things. Because I am done with you and your entire Order, Jedi," Vader answered ominously. "It is over."
"...What is over?" Obi-Wan asked, feeling something odd in the air.
"Something that should have obviously been over a millennia ago," Vader answered, wrapping the Dark Side around himself as the Jedi watched him warily. "Jedi, as of today, you will no longer be able to claim whatever you do is a defense against me."
"And why is that?" Mace Windu asked with a guarded tone.
"Because, Mace Windu, I am ending it," Vader answered, watching as Yoda's surprise was shown, understanding dawning with eyes wide and ears raised. "After today, I will be the defender, the reactor. Not the aggressor. And conflict between your order and myself will be initiated by you, Jedi, and you alone."
He paused as the Jedi began to comprehend the weight of his words if not his meaning. With their full, unwavering attention, he made his decree clear.
"Our Neverending War is over."