[J7 - Iridonia - TT] The Death of Farantros, Son of Devaron

[marvelBoy123]

*This entry has earned 22 XP*

Farantros narrative: 

Location: The streets of Wortan in the Market Quarter

The streets of Wortan were a dangerous place. An Imperial loyalist might indeed tell you that the Triumvirate's occupation had fixed that, but there still remained resistance to their rule. The Southernmost area of the city had been easily taken, it remained a maze of half collapsed buildings, the scars of a war long ago. The North however contained most of the population. It was on the banks of the Aro river and contained a massive network of tunnels and bridges that allowed resistance networks to spring up on any given street corner, commit their treacherous acts of terrorism and then disappear as though the whole thing had never happened. The Triumvirate had tried to seize the tunnel network but alas to no avail. The stormtroopers complained that the tunnels were not wide enough for their armour and said such a dangerous mission was not within their contract. Oh for the days of the old empire, when fear and strict discipline could keep the troops and the locals inline. 

To deal with the problem of resistance in the last holdout regions of the city, the Triumvirate had opted for a different tactic: dealing with suspected conspirators publicly. Those suspected of rebellion were arrested and paraded through the streets, some were executed in public squares, others sent to forced labour camps, some were even made to star in propaganda videos and show trials, forced to renounce their past and proclaim the glory of the Triumvirate. It was a purge on a level so widespread that many innocents were needlessly rounded up and punished. The system of rewards for reporting rebels was such that neighbours would spy on one another, friends would have each other reported and sometimes even members of the same family would turn on one another. Wortan became a bloodbath, a city already with such a tragic past was once more swept by a wave of violence.

Farantros had not felt easy about this strategy. He has heard of it used before, of course the empire itself had used it but there had also been whisperings about certain goings on on the planet of Skye. He told himself that it was necessary. The words began flooding through his head. The words from his imperial training. The programming. "The Ends justify the Means...security, safety...The galaxy needs order... doubt has no place in the mind of a soldier..." The thoughts grew louder and louder, reaching a crescendo as they tried to force away his conscience "security and continuing stability...our most cherished beliefs will be safeguarded...defend our ideals by force... Good Soldiers follow orders". 

He continued with his mission, patrolling with a squad of regular troopers on the hunt for rebels. Many of the rest of his own squad had been required on other fronts (despite the humanocentrism in the Triumvirate, command was no longer able to ignore the usefulness of alien operatives). And so he was stuck with regs, ordinary troopers who had barely scraped a pass in the Imperial academy exams. Suddenly, they had contact, a Gungan up ahead in what was once the main market square. A shootout began as the Gungan clumsily opened fire on them. 

It was then that Farantros saw something out the corner of his eye, a young Devaronian and his mother, caught in the crossfire of their battle. They stood their terrified as both the Gungan and the stormtroopers continued fighting around them. Both sides claimed to care about the people and yet here were those in need and neither side seemed to notice. This was not a major battle, just a small skirmish but even then it seemed that ordinary civilians mattered so little to both sides that they were simply expendable, collateral damage. It was in that moment that something in Farantros changed, the cycle of Imperial indoctrination was broken and in the scared face of that young child, Farantros saw what he had once been. But as he ran to try and save the Devaronians something happened, something that would change everything else. One of the stormtroopers carelessly threw a thermal detonator towards his opponent. It was an attack that was specifically warned against in all imperial combat manuals. In close quarters combat, the casualty risks of such a blast were too high even if the detonator were thrown by an expert trooper. Unfortunately this trooper was in no way an expert.

The detonator fell short of the target and landed near the child. Farantros new what he had to do. He ran towards the detonator, pushing the child to the floor and leaping onto the explosive device. It is usually at this point where for the hero of the story time seems to slow down. Where time stretches out endlessly so he can consider his life and his sacrifice in great detail. For Farantros, no such thing happened. Perhaps it was because he was not the hero of any story, perhaps such things do not happen in real life or perhaps it was because Farantros did not need to think about this action. It was an impulse, a selfless act, a penance for his life of violence. 

And as the blast exploded outwards Farantros felt the heat of it on his face. Devaronians are not hurt by fire you see and so he was still fully conscious and aware as his body was thrown outwards. This he thought was the end of Farantros, Son of Devaron, Slayer of the Dragon Slug, Agent of the Empire...

Spoiler

My conclusion to the three part redemption arc of Farantros which has hopefully been an enjoyable story. A range of complex parts in doing this build, particularly the cobbled broken pathway (blending it into the groundwork), the round building (using two completely different techniques to create two full circles, the larger circle is actually all held together by pressure on the bricks and is a completely irregular size so was definitely a pain to put together) and also trying to keep to a very specific colour scheme (greys, tans and medium nougat only so that details like the crates and figures really stand out). Thanks to Bjorn for editing a number of the photos for this build. As ever feedback is appreciated.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2021 by goatman461

[Stuartn]

Brilliant work, I really like the overall detail, the rounded textured walls, the doorway and window designs, the composition and especially the pathway design, though my favourite parts are the white crates with the Red Cross, simply genius 

Edited July 29, 2021 by Stuartn

[Simulterious]

What a way to wrap up a storyline! Can't wait for Season 2!

[RocketBoy]

This is your best work yet, both in building and writing. MAN, compelling! Tragic! I am genuinely upset and feel the way Farantros does! Or, did. Wow, what a wrap up.

[karmajay]

Nice story and great path work!

[Darth Bjorn]

YES! - but noooo... We're not ready to say goodbye to Farantros yet!!

Awesome build - the architecture is super well done, and the angled buildings really adds to the feeling, that this is cramped and narrow streets of a bigger city... So many cool little details to pick out! Love the main front door design, the threads as fence, the rounded building, and lots of neat little crates! ;)

Great entry!

[MKJoshA]

Those buildings are amazing! Perfectly SW. Your path is also stellar. And your story is very compelling.