Title: A Name Of Insignificance
Author: Layren
Timeframe: Around Ep 3
Summary: Darth Vader thinks back on his past life as a Jedi and where he's come from.
This is my very first attempt at writing outside the Before the Saga forum. I've been having bad Darth Writer's Block these past few days so I was scrolling through the plot bunny thread and I found this bunny listed on page 2 by Wild Huntress of Vader coming across Qui-Gon's name.. so this is my take on it This also is my response to Lilith's Purge challenge. Any comments are welcome
The sharp mechanical wheeze of his breathing echoed loudly in the silence as Darth Vader strode through the ruins of the Jedi Temple. The temple had been burned just a few days before and the ashes of the once magnificent building lay in ruins. The acrid scent of burned flesh and decaying material didn't bother him any as he walked along what had once been the corridor. The harsh sound of crushing durasteel and plexiglass beneath his boots broke the stillness of the air around him as he headed to the Jedi Archives. The archives themselves had been destroyed along with the rest of the Temple. The Emperor had made it quite clear that no information on the Force or how to use it was to remain. There was to be nothing that could possibly assist the Jedi in later returning to power to challenge him.
He turned a corner as he came into the archives and he surveyed the damage that had been done by himself and his men just a few days before. The records had been almost entirely eradicated and nothing remained except for the computer terminals of which Vader was here to dispose of. It angered Vader that he could not delegate this task to one of his officers but the Emperor trusted very few people to handle a job such as this correctly.
He pulled up several of the files which were still accessible one of which listed names for Jedi who had been killed and as he scrolled through the list of names he paused staring at one in particular: Qui-Gon Jinn – Jedi Master – Killed In Action. He reached up touching the terminal marking the spot where Qui-Gon's name was listed and stood out so prominently.
This particular Jedi Master had been the one to take him from Tatooine. He had taken from him everything he knew and everything he loved. No, Vader paused. Obi-Wan had done that. He had been the one who refused to let Anakin go to his mother's aide in time that would have saved her. He had followed Qui-Gon willingly off Tatooine though he had been hard pressed to leave his mother behind. Qui-Gon had tried to find a way that would free her also, but he had been unable to do so before his death. After his death, no one else cared. No one cared that Shmi had still been living a life of slavery while her son was free. No one but Master Jinn and Anakin, and he had been killed. They both had. The man who had once been Anakin Skywalker no longer exsisted and therefore this name before him now meant nothing.
He got up from the ruined seats of the computer terminal taking his lightsaber from his belt. He thumbed the blade on and plunged it through the each of the terminals. Machinery melted and twisted finally becoming a molten heap the longer he held his blade upon it. The name was one of insignificance. The Jedi were dead and it was time to embrace his future.
THE END