[G7 - Ilum - FF] 1 | The Thaw

[RocketBoy]

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Quote

WAR IN THE UNKNOWN REGIONS!
After years of searching for the location of the sacred crystal planet of ILUM, members of the FOLLOWERS OF THE FORCE venture out of the known galaxy on an epic pilgrimage. To their horror, they found a planet stripped and cracked open by the EMPIRE, long plundered of its Kyber Crystals. An equatorial durasteel trench desiccated the planet, out of which still crawled Imperial troops. Furious at the planet's savaging, the pilgrims' call goes out for help and the FREEDOM FIGHTERS answer...

STORY

Spoiler

SKIRMISH IN THE THAW
Once a barren wasteland of ice and snow, destructive mining has resulted in cracks in the planet's surface which have wrecked Ilum's ecology. The land around the trench, far from the still-snowy poles, thaws and refreezes over and over again from the glacier runoff, creating an inhospitable wetland.

An Imperial scout team exits their bases in the trench to begin a patrol. None of them want to do it. Not since the war began. But the Colonel wasn't known for sympathizing with his men.
Meanwhile, there were rebels on Ilum now. And until they were gone, the garrison would throw stormtroopers at the problem. Ilum belonged to the Empire.
They'd pay for it.

For weeks, Freedom Fighters had turned the wetland into a killbox, a hunting grounds.
Fenree Kel, a veteran of the Fondor and Ankus campaigns, lay in wait in the bushes, watching the white-armor stumble closer in the muck. When he rose, on either side rose numerous shadows with him, vengeful ghosts in the marsh. He bared his teeth as he set upon the enemy. Panicked transmissions, blaster fire, and then once again the quiet of the bog settled with the mist. Kel opened a secured channel back to the Temple, the staging ground in the western ice shelves. 

"Glacier Home, this is Hunter Lead. That's 'nother group of trenchies down."

"Great work, Hunter Lead. The Admiral wants you in by evening."

Kel stretched gratefully. "Can do. Three days straight in this muck...It'd be nice to warm my paws. Leave a spotter?"

"Leave a spotter," the woman replied.

"Alright," Kel scratched at the scruff by his neck. "Don't envy that guy." Who was he kidding, he knew Gadacca would volunteer. That Wookie loved this climate. Just meant Noora, the comms officer back at base, would have to keep her Shryiwook dictionary on hand.

"Hunter Team will be back by sundown, then."

"See you then. Glacier Home out."

Kel ducked down low to the ground, resting for a moment on a dry patch. He looked around at his troops, many of whom had already disappeared back into the landscape. This was the oddest assignment he'd had, and he'd had some doozies. Usually, when the Freedom Fighters deployed, it was to help a native population. This time, there was no native population. Just hundreds of miles of ice and a few temples and a lot of Imps crawling out of a hole in the ground you could see from space. But he had to admit, he understood why Admiral Yima had a particular fire about his eyes ever sense they'd arrived: Ilum felt...different. There was something beautiful and true about the place, but also something wildly off-balance. Ilum had been trashed by the Empire, like so many other planets. They hadn't just oppressed a people, they'd oppressed something that, as far as Kel knew, had been sacred for thousands of years. Could the planet ever bounce back? Kel had no idea. He'd heard of some planets recovering from the Empire, like Lothal. But Lothal didn't have a trench carved down to its core, hundreds of miles across.

Either way, there was someone to protect here, its just that instead of natives they were all pilgrims. Lot of pilgrims, too. Either way, Kel wasn't bothered. As long as he was gunning down imps and protecting those who couldn't, he was happy as could be, and he knew all too well that his team felt the same. 

He whistled sharply, grabbing the attention of Hunter Team.

He indicated a message with his hand.

"Home by sundown."

______________________________

Continued...

PHOTOS

Spoiler

(This one just for vibes)

Thanks for looking!

Edited May 1, 2021 by RocketBoy

[n1majneb]

This is a really nice build, backed up with a great story. 
The tree design isa nice touch - the build as a whole has a really haunting touch to it

[Simulterious]

Really nice! Great work on the story, as usual! 

[marvelBoy123]

Really nice work on the trees. I do think that it has maybe one minifig too many though personally it seems a little too cluttered.

[Darth Bjorn]

You've captured the thawing snow/ice perfectly! That's a terrain I haven’t really seen before - nice!

[Macropus]

I really like the terrain. Maybe I have to try it myself.

[dvogon]

You've got a convincing color scheme and nice characters for this strange snowy world.