... Who I am doesn't matter. I'm nobody you need to concern yourself with. I'm a simple starship pilot now, running deliveries to make a living. Nothing more, nothing less. Now get out of my way! I'm already behind on my schedule and this little detour hasn't bought me any time.
—Vin to a security guard on Gorse.
Vin Garth was a Human Jedi Padawan who fought in the pan-galactic Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Two years before the war Vin was apprenticed to Jedi Master Ellie Grey. Vin was the only known survivor of the Republic forces who fought in the Battle of Falleen, with Jedi Knight Jax Ion taking up his training as his new master. In addition Vin was also temporarily assigned to Jedi Master Kit Fisto during the war. Following Order 66, which saw the Clone troopers turned on and betray their Jedi leaders across the galaxy, Vin suffered extensive injuries, though his life remained his own. He fled into exile and took up a number of professions whilst hiding his Force sensitivity: freighter pilot, security guard, bounty hunter and one-time smuggler. Senator Bail Organa eventually tracked him down however and directed Vin to his former Master on Orto Plutonia in order for Jax to finish his training. Vin did so and eventually took Pix, herself a survivor of Order 66, as his Padawan.
Biography[]
The Clone Wars[]
Battle of Falleen[]
In the first year of the Clone Wars Vin was present on Falleen alongside Jedi Master Ellie Grey when the Separatist forces overwhelmed and killed the Galactic Republic's entire battle group, leaving Vin the sole known survivor of the battle. Vin escaped death through the sacrifice of his Master; Ellie pointedly told him to run, remarking that the situation they where in demanded that one needed to stay behind to ensure the successful flight of the other. Vin heeded his Master's command and fled in her starfighter, where he then returned to the Jedi Temple.
Interim at the Jedi Temple[]
My latest assignment wasn't all bad. I got to play bodyguard to a Senator with a cute aide! And I just said that out loud, didn't I?
—Vin speaking to Pix.
After the disaster on Falleen Vin was placed amongst a security detail attached to the Senate Building. He would later accidentally reveal to fellow Padawan Pix that he was lucky enough to guard a Senator who had "a cute aide", before realising what he had just said. Vin was then assigned to the Pantoran Jedi Jax Ion as the latter's Padawan, with the pairs first mission together taking them to a medical station near the planet Felucia. Master and apprentice would recieve another mission which took them away from the medical station when it was attacked and destroyed by the Separatists.
Attack on a Republic cruiser[]
However, a Separatist saboteur attacked one of our Republic cruisers. A Mandalorian saboteur.
—Obi-Wan Kenobi describes the attack to Duchess Satine Kryze.
Vin was present aboard a Republic cruiser which came under attack by a Mandalorian saboteur working for Death Watch. Vin watched, helpless, as the saboteur opted to commit suicide rather than divulge any information when questioned. It was Vin who reported the incident which led to the Jedi Council dispatching Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi to investigate the saboteur's possible ties to the planet Mandalore.
Jedi Purge[]
After Order 66 was issued and the Jedi Order largely exterminated, Vin forsook the ways of the Jedi. Calling himself Garrett Sheppard he wandered from one backwater planet to another, making his living leveraging his piloting skills to various transport companies on the fringes of civilised space.
Equipment[]
Apparel[]
Vin carries a large assortment of clothing specially suited for numerous hazardous locations and extremes of temperature, though why he maintains this gear is unknown. His standard attire consists of a sleeveless white jacket over a thickly padded black-coloured long-sleeved shirt, with matching black trousers with grey-lined knee-pads. He wears a heavy-duty brown leather bracer on his right forearm that has a built-in wrist-mounted lightsaber that produces a knife-sized blade. In addition he wears a thick utility belt that holds an assortment of weaponry and equipment, most notably his two lightsabers.
Lightsabers[]
During his apprenticeship Vin crafted a standard-length lightsaber and a shorter companion shoto, both of which produced rare purple-coloured blades. Sometime following Order 66 Vin swapped out his purple crystals for blue-coloured crystals, but retained his old ones. He would eventually build a third lightsaber with an adjustable length setting that was concealed within his right bracer that, when ignited in that position, was no larger than a small knife. This third lightsaber became his signature weapon alongside his blaster following Order 66.
Skills[]
Force training[]
Vin's connection to the Force was remarkably strong. He has demonstrated successful use of mind tricks and can exert control over both docile and aggressive animals, though his greatest skill lay in applications on the battlefield. He frequently weaved Force pushes and repulses into his lightsaber sequences, with sufficient strength to send groups of clone troopers flying.
Lightsaber training[]
Vin, as a practitioner of Jar'Kai, wielded two standard-length lightsabers with blue blades.
Vin specialized in a highly personalized mixture of dual-bladed Soresu and Ataru stances and techniques, with a particular emphasis on speedy acrobatic counter-strokes, which he built upon a solid foundation of energy-efficient defensive movements. He was also capable of deflecting blaster-fire back towards its original point of origin, though in the years following Order 66 he was somewhat rusty. He also practised Niman as an exercise in handling his primary lightsaber and secondary shoto, and tended to utilize an unorthodox reverse-grip whilst wielding both lightsabers at once but relied upon the traditional grip when utilizing only one lightsaber.
As far as comparison with his contemporaries went Vin was neither the best nor the worst duellist amongst the initiates making up the membership of his Clan, and was noted to possess an innate aptitude for lightsaber combat that was evident from an early age. He rarely beat the athletic, acrobatic and patient Pix during their training, but was often capable of defeating the hot-headed and brash Cal, during sparring sessions. His skills enabled him to escape the clone troopers however when Order 66 was issued and escape into hiding, which some full-fledged Jedi Masters failed to accomplish. Despite being rusty -- by his own admission Vin hadn't fought a lightsaber duel since the Clone Wars -- he was nevertheless capable of crossing blades with and escaping from members of the Inquisitorius, who where all Dark Side adepts specially trained to hunt down and eliminate the last of the Jedi Knights. Through his battles with them he became one of the few surviving Jedi to not only survive multiple encounters with members of the Inquisitorius, but also one of the few surviving Jedi to have first-hand experience regarding their unique spinning dual-bladed lightsabers.
Other[]
His time in-hiding also served to increase his hand-to-hand combat skills. Through bar brawls and bounty hunter attacks, Vin has developed an effective means of close-quarters combat that subtlety draws on the Force to augment his skills without it appearing obvious to his opponents. He was once noted to "hold himself in check; enough that he was overpowering his opponent, but clearly not overly so to an observer." He was further noted to possess an acrobatic close-quarters stance that, at its core, mirrored his lightsaber form. Vin's greatest skill however lay in his prodigious piloting skills. He was at home in the cockpit of any vessel and utilized the Force with far greater ease when manoeuvring through the void of space, to the point he flew without instruments or assistance of any kind except that offered to him by his connection to the Force. Vin could outmanoeuvre entire squadrons with little effort whilst employing incredible aerial acrobatics, before then blowing his opposition into oblivion.
Behind the Scenes[]
- In the initial draft of the story Vin was a Jedi Master who led his own troops into battle durng the Clones Wars, for he saw the clones as to convenient an option. This enabled him to survive Order 66 because he had no clone troopers under his command.
- In the revised script Vin is younger. In addition he is no longer a Jedi Master, instead being a Padawan who survived Order 66.