Arc 2, Session 2

Star Wars: Halfway to Nowhere is a solo Ironsworn: Starforged actual play set in the Star Wars universe. It’s set in the Harron Marches sector of the Expansion Region during the reign of the Galactic Empire, and follows the misadventures of freighter captain Fyl Cridu as he struggles to pay off his debts and survive in a changing galaxy.

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Begin a session: Flashback reveals an aspect of another character, place, or faction

Hang around the cantinas on ORSH-1 and you’ll hear a dozen different legends about Veyl’s End. Most of them are probably bogus. The one about pirate queen Maz Kanata burying her wealth in a vault there a thousand years ago is definitely bogus. But there’s something about the planet - a ghostly pearl in a distant orbit around a decaying star - that makes the strangest, eeriest stories feel believable. The fact that the records of the original expedition were sealed by its corporate sponsors only adds to that feeling.

Here’s what we know for sure. The planet - originally, and still officially, designated Caerost II - got its odd name from the leader of the scout team that charted its surface, Arlon Veyl. A highly experienced corporate scout, Veyl worked for Nytharn Extraction Solutions back when the company was first expanding into the Caerost system, and was a logical choice to take the lead on identifying mineral deposits for the corp to exploit - along with hazards its extraction plans would need to account for.

Veyl charted - and named - Ossovar, or what was left of it, and measured the mineral yields in the Caerost Belt. Then he turned to the last planet in the system, drifting in its distant, irregular orbit. His team surveyed the ice world from high orbit, noting the dramatic weather patterns and thick permafrost of the surface. The last public record notes there was no indication of any significant concentration of valuable minerals, and that the permafrost would make extraction too difficult to be cost-effective.

Just to be thorough, Veyl and his team descended to the surface for deeper scans.

They made three reports, all now are sealed in Nytharn’s corporate archive.

And then they all died. That’s why we call the place Veyl’s End.

That’s where most of the stories come in - they pose explanations for what happened to Veyl and his crew. Sometimes spacers claim to have actually visited the planet, and to have seen the frozen bodies of the expedition, their faces twisted into rictuses of terror. Other times they claim to have gotten their hands on the three sealed reports after Nytharn collapsed… which isn’t totally implausible, given the chaos when its remaining subsidiaries fought over its assets in a desperate struggle to stay solvent.

The stories all contradict each other, of course. A lot of them involve ghosts - either hostile spirits that wiped out the team or the lingering spirits of the team themselves. Some involve hostile wildlife - giant ice worms that swallowed the team’s ship whole, or huge swarms of heat-drinking leech-bats. There’s a good one about how Nytharn’s follow-up team found Veyl’s camp, the bodies of each expedition member frozen in the snow… but next to each stood a perfect copy, recreated by a bluish fungal colony.

You can make up whatever you like when no one’s ever going to visit and fact check.

If I got my own story out of this visit, I’d get plenty of free drinks on the Orsh…

… provided that Sinyani and I didn’t meet the same fate as Veyl’s team.

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Oracle: Planetary Attributes (Ancient Wonders, by Ludic Pen)

Planet Size: 11 (Lesser)
Gravity: 96 (Ideal)
Orbital Feature: 7 (None)

Oracle: Ice World (Ancient Wonders, by Ludic Pen)

Biome Diversity: 72 (Simple - Two Biomes)
Biome 1: 46 (Glacial - Rocky valleys carved by masses of ice)
Glacial Feature: 65 (Perpetual heavy snowfall)
Biome 2: 56 (Glaciovolcanic - Fields of volcanoes tower over the frozen landscape)
Glaciovolcanic Feature: 16 (Bubbling magma pools)

As we descended toward the northern polar region, it became clear why the storms that wreathed the rest of the planet weren’t raging here. Colossal volcanoes jutted up from the landscape like frozen titans, natural windbreaks that belched soot into the thin atmosphere. Magma oozed out of wounds in their slopes - bubbling pools of molten rock that held back the cold. Rivers of meltwater ran down from beside the glowing orange lakes, only to refreeze into strange shapes further downhill.

“It’s beautiful,” Sinyani whispered, her face pressed against the viewport.

I smiled. It was beautiful, in a raw, primal sort of way. It was also unexpected. The way I’d always heard Veyl’s End described, the entire planet was as cold and featureless as the regions south of us - nothing but endless glaciers grinding through the bedrock while snowstorms raged atop them. But the north pole wasn’t like that at all; it was dynamic, geologically active, a fusion of hot and cold. Surely the permafrost here wasn’t too thick for mineral extraction; the magma wouldn’t allow for much to form.

So why had Nytharn’s public reports left out this entire biome’s existence?

Action: Set a Course (+Supply)
2 + 1 (Supply) = 3 vs 5, 4
Burning 6 Momentum for a Strong Hit
Navigator: +2 Momentum on a Strong Hit

Cynza had given me precise coordinates for the pickup, which should’ve made for an easy flight in, but there was a lot of sensor interference. The heavy clouds of volcanic ash made visual scanning difficult, and they also seemed to be playing havoc with the Fool’s systems, generating all sorts of false positives about impending collisions. It didn’t help that my battered old ship had a bad tendency to rattle and groan when flying in atmosphere, which was distracting to me and terrifying to poor Sinyani.

“She does that,” I said, shooting her an apologetic grin. “She’ll hold together.”

Probably. Hopefully. Come on, baby. Hold together.

And despite the battle damage and the low fuel and the general lack of maintenance, the Fool did manage to stay in the sky. After a little while of bewilderment, I figured out how to sort through all the sensor shadows that popped up on my screens and follow the markers to Cynza’s waypoint. It was disconcerting that I had absolutely no idea what I would find down there, or what thing I was supposed to load up when I arrived… but at least I would have answers soon. Hopefully answers I could live with.

Oracle: Planetside Exploration (Ancient Wonders, by Ludic Pen)

Planetside Waypoint: 29 (Terrain Feature)
Planetside Peril: 97 (Action + Theme)
Planetside Opportunity: 51 (Foe reveals themselves or tips their hand)

Oracle: Overland Waypoints (Sundered Isles, by Tomkin Press)

Lava Field Waypoint: 11 (Columns of volcanic rock)

Oracle: Core (Starsmith: Expanded Oracles, by Eric Bright)

Action: 80 (Restore / Sabotage / Resurrect)
Theme: 49 (Knowledge / Idea / Fact)

The coordinates led me to a grouping of tall basalt pillars, jutting out of the snow like a clump of blackened teeth. As I set the Fool down nearby, the landing struts sinking into the powdery snow, I caught sight of something I’d never have been able to see from the air: hidden among the pillars was a heavy blast door, set into the hillside like a closed mouth. “I guess this is it,” I said, unable to hide my unease. There weren’t supposed to be any settlements on Veyl’s End, so what the hell was this structure?

“I’ll, uh… go see who’s home, I guess. Be right back.” I hope.

I left Sinyani in the cockpit and headed for the loading ramp, grabbing a breath mask off the rack I kept there as I went. The air on Veyl’s End was theoretically breathable, but only for limited periods; more than a few hours of breathing it would cause bodily harm. I didn’t plan to be outside that long, but why risk it? I wished I had something warmer to put on, but I didn’t have a heavy jacket or snowpants or anything, and it felt silly to put on a full vacuum suit to walk the dozen meters or so to the blast door.

Slipping the breath mask over my face, I hit the ramp release. The metal plank slowly, grindingly descended to meet the snow below, and the burst of boreal cold immediately made me regret not opting for the vacuum suit. But I didn’t want to spook whoever I was supposed to meet by pulling the ramp back up and spending five minutes putting on equipment, so I gritted my teeth and walked out. The wind whipped around me, tugging at my hair and clothes, the chill of it cutting right to the bone in seconds.

If this was the calm eye of the storm, I could scarcely imagine the rest of it.

Step by step I struggled my way across the snow, my boots sinking calf-deep, or even to the knee. I pulled my ragged jacket as tight around me as I could and kept my head down. My eyes stung, and my ears ached with the intensity of the chill. It got a little better when I was in among the pillars, which towered over me, easily five times my height. The snow wasn’t as deep, and the wind was partly blocked. I blew into my fists, trying to warm my tingling fingers, and then slammed a fist on the blast door.

Oracle: Characters (Starsmith: Expanded Oracles, by Eric Bright)
and Oracle: Species (Star Wars Universe Oracles by FilmFans)

Character Role: 73 (Researcher / Spaceship Dealer / Space Traffic Controller)
Species: 40 (Togruta)
First Look: 79 (Tattooed / Scrawny / Short Hair)
Initial Disposition: 44 (Suspicious / Prickly / Stubborn)
Character Goal: 71 (Seize Power / Slay a Creature / Spread Knowledge)
Revealed Character Aspect: 10 (Boastful / Busy / Calculating)

Mechanisms whirred, and the blast doors slid open, revealing a downward-sloping illuminated by overhead lights. Standing in the entryway was a male Togruta dressed in antiseptic coveralls - typical lab wear. He was short and scrawny, with olive green skin and a sour expression on his face. “You’re the cult’s guy?” I supposed I was, at least for now, so I nodded. I would’ve smiled, but it felt like my face had frozen solid. “Fine. Come on. Let’s get your package loaded, so we can all get the hell out of here.”

I followed him inside, making the pleasant discovery that the tunnel was well-heated. I pulled off my breath mask as we walked, tired of the recycled air; the Togruta wasn’t wearing one, so I assumed there was life support. Our footsteps clanked on the metal catwalk as we descended, the sound echoing in the enclosed space. The Togruta was walking fast, as close as he could get to a run without fully running. He had a datapad in one hand and a comlink in the other, into which he barked terse commands.

I kept back, not wanting to push my luck by trying to pry.

I was wildly curious, though. There I was inside a facility that wasn’t supposed to exist, surrounded by planetary terrain that hadn’t been marked on the survey reports, with a scientist whose coveralls were scrupulously bare of any organizational insignia or personal identifying information. And something was clearly up in this place, based on the level of agitation in his voice and movements. I remembered what Cynza had said about the Inquisitorius and shivered, this time not from the cold. What was this place?

Oracle: Research District (Starsmith: Expanded Oracles, by Eric Bright)

Research Area: 49 (Genetics or Biology)
Feature: 4 (Aquarium or Tank), 69 (Specialized Equipment)
Peril: 57 (Evidence of sinister experiments)

Mark Progress: Ember of Vahl delivery (2/10)

When the blast door at the other end of the hallway opened for us, I felt my eyes get wide. The metal catwalk continued, but the ceiling became rough rock, and the ground beneath the walkway dropped away. Ten meters below where we stood, I could see bubbling geothermal pools - steaming hot springs surrounded by bands of bright mineral colors, reds and yellows and greens. I thought I could see movement in them, beneath the surface, but that might’ve just been the bubbles of rising gas. Maybe.

The catwalk led to a large platform suspended in the center of the cavern. Dozens of liquid-filled tanks stood at one end of the platform, hooked up to all kinds of bulky, highly sophisticated monitoring equipment and data terminals. More staffers in white coveralls bustled around them. It took me a minute to realize what they were doing… and when I did, I felt my jaw drop. They were smashing everything - tanks, monitors, terminals. They bashed in their screens, ripped out the wiring, fused their circuits.

And when they were done, they pitched the debris over the side of the platform.

“What the hell is happening here?” I let out, feeling vaguely sick.

The Togruta whirled on me, eyes hard, and jammed a finger into my chest. “You just shut up and do your damn job,” he said, punctuating the last four words with more jabs of his finger. “I’m not going to Imperial prison for this company, got it? They’ve had all the records for two days. They’ll be here soon, as soon as they read the internal memos and find out about this project. But if we dump everything, erase the databanks, destroy the evidence, they can’t prove we were involved. I’m not going down like this!”

He whirled away, then turned back. “And your culty employers are the ones paying for pieces of the project, so it’s not like their hands are clean!” I didn’t say anything, just held up my hands, taken aback by his explosive reaction. Besides, I still didn’t really know what was going on. I could gather that this was some kind of CRMA secret project, one the Empire would shortly find out about now that the company had been Imperialized… but what they’d been working on, and why the Vahl cult cared?

That I couldn’t remotely begin to guess, and it felt like a bad time to ask.

“Wait here,” the Togruta growled, then turned and stomped away. I waited, watching the spectacle of destruction unfold, wincing each time a huge piece of metal smashed loudly against the cavern floor or plunged with a sizzle into one of the geothermal pools. Peering at the tanks, I thought I could see humanlike bodies inside… which I confirmed when one of the chambers burst open on the rocks below and I saw a pale, naked arm flop out amid the debris. How was a mining company mixed up in this?

When the Togruta returned, he was guiding a repulsorlift sled. Atop the sled was a long, cylindrical pod, held in place with two metal clamps. After what I’d just seen with the liquid-filled tanks, I had the immediate and unpleasant thought that the pod was the perfect shape and size to contain a humanoid body. The scientist gave it a shove, sending the sled hovering wobblily over in my direction. He seemed like he was about to say something, probably something rude, but I never did find out what it was.

At that moment, an alarm wailed through the chamber, and everyone panicked.

“They’re here!” the Togruta shouted, his eyes so wide I thought they might pop out of his head. “That’s the perimeter alarm. We’ve got… ten minutes at most. Go on! Get out of here! Get that thing out of here!” I didn’t have to be told twice. I got behind the sled and pushed, sprinting back up the long corridor. The scientists must’ve had some other way out, maybe a concealed hangar somewhere, because nobody followed me. I was alone again, huffing and puffing as I pushed the damned hoversled uphill.

My sweat froze on my skin as I staggered outside, and the breath I was gasping for stung my lungs. I fumbled my mask back on, gulping down air that wouldn’t freeze my throat, trying to steady myself. But I didn’t stay put for long. The whoosh of engines overhead drew my gaze upward, and I saw three Imperial landing craft coming in on an approach vector. Thankfully, they were headed for a landing zone somewhere on the other side of the ridge… but I was sure I didn’t have long before I was spotted.

And having no idea what was going on was not going to be an excuse they accepted.

Action: Enter the Fray (Rank: Dangerous)
Approach: Preparing to act against an unaware foe (+Shadow)
1 + 2 (Shadow) = 3 vs 1, 30
Weak Hit - In Control

Action: Gain Ground
Approach: Hiding (+Shadow)
6 + 2 (Shadow) = 8 vs 7, 9
Weak Hit - In Control, Mark Progress (2/10)

Action: Gain Ground
Approach: Misdirecting (+Shadow)
3 + 2 (Shadow) = 5 vs 9, 2
Weak Hit - In Control, Mark Progress (4/10)

Keeping my head low, I made a run for the Fool… or as close to a run as I could make with my legs sinking into the snow. It ended up being more of an inelegant series of leaps and bounds, shoving the hoversled along in front of me. I wondered if Sinyani was seeing this; it would’ve been funny to watch, if not for the danger bearing down on us. It took me longer than I’d hoped to get back to the loading ramp, and I was exhausted by the time my boots touched metal… but there was no time to rest.

I yanked off my breath mask, tossed it on the rack, and headed on.

“Fire up the engines!” I yelled in the direction of the cockpit, shoving the sled to one side of the cargo hold and locking it down. I spared one last glance for the eerie pod, its sleek metal surface giving no hints as to its occupant, before hurrying up the corridor. The fething cockpit door was grinding again, metal whining as stuck servos struggled to open; I wrenched it as far aside as I could and wriggled through the gap, then slid into the pilot’s seat. Sinyani was already running standard preflight checks.

“No time,” I said, and simply fired up all systems. They whined in protest at the cold.

“What the feth happened to our quick and easy stop, Fyl?” I’d never heard Sinyani swear before, and the fear and accusation in her voice made me flinch. I didn’t have a good answer, so I shrugged apologetically. She threw up her hands, letting out a short, angry little huff. I wished instantly that I hadn’t gotten her involved in all this. Every time I tried to help someone, it seemed, I ended up getting them into fresh trouble. The ghost of Jekoralt seemed to be standing in the cockpit, staring hard at my back.

“We’ll be fine,” I said, hauling on the yoke. “I’ll fix this.” The Fool lifted off, dripping powdery trails of snow from her landing gear as they retracted. I didn’t head straight for orbit; I kept us low to the ground, skimming over snowdrifts and magma floes, zooming through the canyons between the ice volcanoes. When I saw dark clouds of soot, I aimed straight for them. Anything I could think of that would confuse Imp sensors, I tried. And as far as I could tell, they didn’t have a lock on me yet…

… but they were still closing in. My window of escape was narrowing fast.

“Hang on,” I told Sinyani. “This may get a little rough.”