Year

Synopsis

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Far Far Away, is a limited run of paintings by Ash Thorp and Friendly Robot with narration by Pilotpriest.  Our goal is to dive into moments, ideas, scenes, characters that we adore from the lore of Star Wars.

Process

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The Empty Valley

18 years. We fought aboard her for 18 years.
We brought balance and harmony to countless systems, saved planets from annihilation, and rescued millions of refugees from the outer rim. The death of our beloved ship, and so many of our dearest friends. An end. The end. The beginning.

Process

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The Last Run

After the impact, we fled along the shoreline.
In a blinding instant, I rapidly rose the ranks through the freshly strewn blood of our fallen.  Isolated on the surface, I was now in command of our entire platoon. Hostile fury erupting on all sides, my first order was simple: Survive.

Process

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An Infant Tongue

Unlike others, he always spoke face to face with me.  This was because we had an enduring history... Because I knew the boy behind the beast.  For this reason, I knew he'd join our cause when the time was right.

Process

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Fate Ruptured

In order to defect, it had to appear as though he'd been shot down.  A mere weeks ago, we'd have really done it. But now: here he was... In my sights. 
The event stirred me. It was an odd thrill to lower my weapon, and watch him walk to his freedom. This was the first time I truly felt THE FORCE.

Process

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An Unbroken Promise

The Hutts wanted him dead for many reasons, but this offering was for his betrayal.  Those that profit from war have little to gain from what we, his followers, were now exploring.  Negotiations for his life were short. They had to be. Now we'd owe the Hutts, which meant an accelerated timeline... Or a lifetime on the run.

Process

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The Omega Shores

After the siege on Byss, there were no more dispatches sent. All communication ceased.  The horrors left behind that day revealed the true nature of our enemy. Nothing could've prepared any soul for the unknown hell deposited upon those front lines.  An unnavigable ocean of death. Not a single survivor.

Process

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At First Light

When you first meet a ghost, you must tread cautiously. They are not of this galaxy. Nor was he.  There was no trial in the future for this fugitive bounty hunter, only an order to catch and KILL.  This was why he did not attack the battalion. He knew. Instead, he allowed us to advance, to surround him, and then... HE SPOKE.  

Process

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Savage Reminder

As we docked, I stood alone in my quarters, staring out at the mist.  Cold and beautiful. Eerily still.  They thought we'd be safe here, but I knew different. I'd felt it.  When our first brigade eventually breached the city gates, their discovery verified my fears.  This place was no longer natural. This place was now haunted.

Process

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Wrathful Winds

We may never know where they came from, or who they truly fought for, but in the end, they slaughtered hundreds of soldiers on both sides. Like a force of nature, their bloodshed was indiscriminate, powerful, and always unexpected.

Process

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Former Gods

I watched from the surface as our entire fleet fell.  Their distant cries of celebration fused with the screams of our injured and dying.  This is the song of war I remember most. I wish I didn't.

Process

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Amongst Idols

Respect and admiration for our analogues clouded focus, nearly sacrificing the objective.  We knew victory could only be won by obeying orders, and so we irresolutely carried them out. A new kind of pain was released upon our young psyches as we shot down hundreds of the galaxy's best pilots... Some of them, our childhood heroes.  

Process

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Without Home

Sometimes, all it takes is seeing the aftermath:
Witnessing the picture you and your comrades have painted upon matter.
That's when the ideologies start to melt within you, and all that is left is a shell.
He was, like we once were, an empty vessel waiting for a new purpose.
Fett gave him one.

Process

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All of us Ghosts

I'll never forget the sound of that probe floating overhead.  The first few nights, we prayed for the moment they would come: when we'd all be saved, and reinforcements sent. But then something happened while waiting to be rescued, and when our only hope finally arrived weeks later, we all laid motionless in the mud... Hoping that they'd never find us.

Process

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The Anterior Heart

Limited visibility, yet we advanced on his orders, unprepared for what lay in hiding beyond the mountains. A routine sweep, spun into epochal bloodbath. A swift and thunderous retaliation for our recent tours, leaving those that survived with broken morale, hearts, and flesh.

They were winning the war.

Process

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No Safe Harbour

A rare moment of respite as we sat waiting within the cargo hold, quietly listening to the hull expand and contract in the solar winds, as our captain negotiated safe passage. It was now our allies greatest challenge to move our unit through protected quadrants, as we had become so sensitive under his teachings, that our presence was now enough to alert forces light years away.

Process

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Memento Mori

I was the one who discovered it first among the wreckage. It hurt to look at. A ceaseless reminder that conjured an anger that instinctually made my tears well, and my entire body shake. This was my soul realizing that good, bad, right, wrong, all faded away once perished. When enough time had passed, even legends ended up in a forgotten trash heap.

Process

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Infinite Departure

A convoy every hour, on the hour. There was nowhere left to hide. They'd killed or captured everyone at the remaining build sites. We could no longer fight back. They questioned us. They tortured us. They killed most of the volunteers... But none of us gave them up. None of us let them know about the new hope.

Process

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Enter Dominion

He told us of this place when first becoming aware of their presence. Revealed to him in a vision, an uncharted realm visible only from the surface of Solus. Created by those we now call THE OTHERS, we had finally found its entrance. Ren warned us to protect our thoughts. He knew their capabilities, and that they could be much stronger than the Jedi, or even us KNIGHTS.

Process

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The Shallows Deep

Our horrific denouement had become a cautionary tale... A bedtime story told to those in both the REBELLION and the EMPIRE. It was first reported, and archived, as our final battle. Our last stand. The debris, an ever-shifting monument to the vast unmarked grave of our last, and lost soldiers. They'd later come to realize that this shrine was empty, and our deaths had proven to be a necessary camouflage for the true final act.

Process

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Too Far Away

This will be my last communication. Although we'll have taken the surface by the end of day, it has been ordered that some of us stay behind to execute his final order. I've volunteered to take part in this last operation knowing that I will not return. It is my duty, but more importantly... It will be RIGHT. The Jedi would not see it. The Sith would not allow it... And for this, we will end them both here today.

Credits

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Illustrator - Ash Thorp
Illustrator - Friendly Robot
Narrator - Pilotpriest

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