Fira, Dvar of the Salama Consortium (Starforged Actual Play One-Shot)

Ash Adler
13 minutes ago
11 min read

These two IPs go together decently well, in my opinion

Having been playing a bunch of Ironsworn lately, I decided to do a one-shot in Starforged, to remind myself a bit of the changes in that compared to the original game. Rather than going through Truths in full, I just decided to pretty much use the setting from Age of Wonders: Planetfall, so if anything seems unexplained and confusing, the best answer is probably to refer to that game's lore. Compared to Quinn's series, expect this to be lighter on roleplay and more focused on the game side of things.

For this one-shot, I'm playing as Fari, a Dvar, who works for the Salama consortium as an exploratory team leader. She was sent to get into an proto-Promethean vault that surfaced recently on some desolate planet, but the rival Kiralokas consortium also learned about the mission and sent forces to acquire whatever she might find in there. Her starship, the Lodestar, was granted by the Salama consortium. It is an armored cargo ship, proudly bearing the damage of several atmospheric entries and exits.

The vault was unlike any that Fari had seen before. Terminals were arrayed around the outsides of the hexagonal room, still blinking with indicators on standby, the heavy construction having somehow held up despite the planet’s seismic activity having thrust the whole buried compound to the surface recently. It almost reminded her of the lecture halls in the Salama consortium’s education stations, except rather than a professor standing on a dais at the center, there was a great battlesuit, kneeling, its back open and waiting for a pilot. "Dig in here," she ordered the two trenchers flanking her. "I don’t want any interruptions while I have a closer look at our prize."

It looked like a lost prototype of some sort, showing elements similar to both modern phoenix walkers and baron suits combined into a robust, armored frame of warfare that seemed to be from an era before PyrX. Time and disuse had left a patina of verdigris on the brass trimming around the plates and joints of the battlesuit, but that only added to its visual distinction in Fari’s eyes. Setting down her breaching cannon, she stepped closer, marveling at the intricate overlapping of its front-facing segments, capable of presenting a continuous wall of armor through its full range of motion. "Incredible," she said breathlessly, anxious to climb in and see if it was still operational.

Fari had just started up the scaffolding to the pilot’s compartment, though, when the crack of spike guns caught her attention. She took cover behind the battlesuit and witnessed her escort be cut down by a hail of sizzling arc fire. A trio of squat, hooded forms stepped into the room, two using their full-body shields to push aside the fallen trenchers while the third scanned the vault. "We know you’re there, Fari," they called out through the speakers on their DV-R suit. "The Kiralokas consortium thanks you for clearing the way, but we’ll be taking that battlesuit from here. Your services are no longer needed."

Vow: Escape the Kiralokas hit squad (Dangerous)

Swear An Iron Vow: 5 + 1 Heart = 6 vs 1/6 -> Weak Hit

Momentum: 2 + 1 = 3

Face Danger: 3 + 2 Shadow = 5 vs 1/8 -> Weak Hit

Spirit: 5 – 1 = 4

Endure Stress: 1 + 4 Spirit = 5 vs 1/3 -> Strong Hit (Embrace the darkness)

Momentum: 3 + 1 = 4

"How did those treacherous dogs find me here?" Fari thought, but she restrained herself from responding even as the vital sign readings of her escort plummeted on her AR HUD, lest she give away her location. Using the battlesuit for concealment, she crawled between its legs and waited for a moment where the hostile Dvar seemed to have their attention elsewhere before diving for her breaching cannon.

Objective: Take control of the battlesuit (Dangerous)

Enter The Fray: 1 + 2 Shadow = 3 vs 4/8 -> Miss

React Under Fire: 5 + 2 Iron = 7 vs 2/8 -> Weak Hit

Health: 5 – 1 = 4

Endure Harm: 6 + 4 Health = 10 vs 8/10 -> Weak Hit (Exchange)

Health: 4 + 1 = 5

Momentum: 4 – 1 = 3

Unfortunately, Fari’s DV-R suit was not made for stealth. No sooner did she have her cannon in her grasp than she found herself under fire from the hackers. The dais helped to ground her against the incoming jolts, minimizing the damage to her suit, but she had to duck behind the nearest ring of terminals to get a break from the fusillade.

Oracle (Combat Action): 10 = Compel a surrender or concession

React Under Fire: 4 + 1 Heart = 5 vs 1/7 -> Weak Hit

Spirit: 4 – 1 = 3

Endure Stress: 1 + 3 Spirit = 4 vs 2/10 -> Weak Hit (Exchange)

Spirit: 3 + 1 = 4

Momentum: 3 – 1 = 2

"Your allies are still alive," the speaker called out, "for now. Surrender, and we’ll stabilize them before it’s too late."

The offer hung in the air for only a moment before her DV-R suit started to flash warning at her about an incoming cybervirus attack. Gritting her teeth, she turned the payload dial on her cannon to the maximum and fired at the ceiling, hoping to bring down a screen of dust and rubble that could give her an opportunity to act freely.

Charge = 3

React Under Fire: 1 + 2 Shadow = 3 vs 2/3 -> Weak Hit, upgraded to Strong Hit

Momentum: 2 + 1 = 3

Her cannon fired with a deafening boom, causing a large chunk of the ceiling to tear free over the nearest hostile Dvar, and they had to abort their hacking attempt to get out of the way from the falling debris. Fari moved over to another terminal to keep cover as she called out, "I’ll give you one chance to throw down your arms and flee, because I’m not afraid to bury us all in order to stop the Kiralokas from claiming my prize!"

Gain Ground: 6 + 2 Iron = 8 vs 3/6 -> Strong Hit (Mark, Take)

Progress: "Take control…": 0 + 2 = 2

Momentum: 3 + 2 = 5

Charge = 3

Strike: 6 + 1 Edge = 7 vs 7/10 -> Miss

Pay The Price: 22 = A surprise development complicates your quest

"Be reasonable, Fari," the speaker said, concern clear in the words, but she was not having it.

"Like you were with my team?" she thought as she fired an overcharged breaching load directly at the closest hacker.

The shot went wide, slamming into the wall, and an alarm klaxon began to sound. "Warning, structural damage detected," a monotone voice said over the vault’s PA system as suppressant gas pumped out emergency vents. The environmental filters on the DV-R suits protected both Fari and the Kiralokas Dvar from any direct harm, but the opaque gas plunged the room into a misty haze with essentially no visibility.

Another cybervirus warning flashed on her HUD, and without any way to see her attacker’s location, Fari had to work quickly to manually enact counter protocols.

React Under Fire: 6 + 3 Wits = 9 vs 3/7 -> Strong Hit

Momentum: 5 + 1 = 6

While the hacker’s automated virus would execute too quickly for her to match it directly, Fari predicted which of her suit’s systems they would try to scramble and cycled them preemptively, nullifying the attack.

That gave her a further idea. Fari shut down her suit’s communication features, trying to hide it as much from another digital attack as the gas was hiding her from physical fire.

Gain Ground: 3 + 3 Wits = 6 vs 6/8 -> Miss

Pay The Price: 01 = A trusted individual or community acts against you

Spirit: 4 – 2 = 2

Endure Stress: 4 + 2 Spirit = 6 vs 2/4 -> Strong Hit (Embrace)

Momentum: 6 + 1 = 7

Gain Ground: 3 + 1 Edge = 4 vs 2/3 -> Strong Hit (Mark, Add)

Progress: "Take control…": 2 + 2 = 4

Gain Ground: 5 + 2 Shadow + 1 = 8 vs 1/7 -> Strong Hit (Mark, Take)

Progress: "Take control…": 4 + 2 = 6

Momentum: 7 + 2 = 9

Charge = 3

Strike: 6 + 1 Edge = 7 vs 3/8 -> Weak Hit, upgraded to Strong Hit

Progress: "Take control…": 6 + 4 = 10

Take Decisive Action: "Take control…" 10 Progress vs 5/9 -> Strong Hit

Momentum: 9 + 1 = 10

Reach A Milestone: "Escape the Kiralokas…": 0 + 2 = 2

"You think disabling your systems can save you?" the speaker said mockingly, raising their volume to be heard over the klaxon. "We were trying to make this easy on you, but fine, have it your way. You have until I count to zero to surrender, clearly, or else we’ll take the helmets off of your team’s suits.

"Five…"

The threat cut Fari to her core; unmasking a fellow Dvar was such a strong taboo that even suggesting it in jest could get someone expelled from a consortium. For the Kiralokas member to say it openly meant that it had to be a sincere threat, in her mind. "If you’re going to be that ruthless," she thought, "I will be, too."

"Four…"

The blaring alarm provided enough sound to obscure her footsteps as she climbed back onto the dais. At the same time, she adjusted her breaching cannon head selector for deep penetration; a direct hit from it would get through even a blast-resistant DV-R suit, and the overcharged payload would guarantee anyone inside was turned into paste.

"Three…"

She climbed the scaffolding and took aim towards where the speaker’s voice was coming from, waiting for a gap in the gas eddies to give her a clear view.

"Two…"

Seeing a silhouette, Fari fired.

The Dvar took the shot straight in its chest, and the overcharged payload turned its suit into a makeshift shrapnel bomb.

Rebooting her externals, Fari did a signal sweep on the vault. There was no output from any of the Kiralokas suits. Her escort teams’ vitals were still present, having been moved away enough earlier in the fight to escape the brunt of her final attack’s aftermath, but they were fading. Following their signals, she hustled to their sides.

Heal: 4 + 3 Wits = 7 vs 1/2 -> Strong Hit

Fortunately, their suits were still in good condition, having enacted their automatic emergency routines to render the wearer comatose in the event of significant injury to maximize how long they could hold on for help to arrive. Fari was able to connect their survival systems to her own suit’s, keeping them stable while she dragged them with her back to the battlesuit. "There’s got to be more Kiralokas forces out there," she thought, "so there’s only one way I’m getting you two out of here with me."

It was awkward work, and a tight fit, but Fari got the pair into the battlesuit’s cockpit before seating herself. With a sense of anticipation, she activated the power.

A low thrum sounded, followed by panels and displays lighting to life. A moment later, the cockpit’s monitors transitioned to a panoramic camera view, and Fari made it rise to its full height.

"Let’s get out of here."

Set A Course: 2 + 1 Edge = 3 vs 4/4 -> Miss + Match

Peril (Mechanical): 69 = Moving machinery creates a danger or obstacle

Confront Chaos: 89 = Technology warped for dark purpose

The battlesuit’s first step was slow, its joints and servos having seized partially from disuse. The second was smoother, and the third smoother still, until it was moving at a brisk but comfortable gait. The door into the vault was too small for it to fit, but a battering strike from its arm fixed that problem, opening a path back through to the exit.

However, a different one faced Fari now. The drones that had been sitting dormant in the vault’s outer layer were moving, with projection flickers in the suit’s camera views that were telltale signs of autonomous daemon takeover. "No doubt a back-up plan from the Kiralokas consortium," Fari thought as she readied the battlesuit’s incineration cannon.

Objective: Get through the drones (Troublesome)

Enter The Fray: 4 + 2 Iron = 6 vs 5/7 -> Weak Hit (In control)

Strike: 4 + 2 Iron = 6 vs 3/6 -> Weak Hit

Exosuit: 6 Integrity + 2 Iron = 8 vs 3/6 -> Strong Hit

Momentum: 10 – 1 = 9

Progress: "Get through…": 0 + 6 = 6

Take Decisive Action: "Get through…" 6 Progress vs 3/6 -> Weak Hit

Integrity: 6 – 2 = 4

Withstand Damage: 6 + 4 Integrity = 10 vs 3/5 -> Strong Hit (Bypass)

Integrity: 4 + 1 = 5

Reach A Milestone: "Escape the Kiralokas…": 2 + 2 = 4

Fari waited for the drone swarm to draw near before unleashing. A torrent of red flame burst forth from the cannon nozzle, flashing to white-hot for an instant before her optics throttled the display brilliance to protect the pilot’s vision. The drones melted to slag where they were caught in the blaze, but a handful of them managed to avoid it and close enough to latch onto the battlesuit.

Fari activated the anti-boarding subroutine and watched as the battlesuit turned the nozzle onto itself. The camera display turned off as it washed itself in an inferno, reengaging a moment later to show her the aftermath of molten metal dripping off of its armor while internal thermal shunts triggered to vent the worst of the heat.

"Not what I was expecting," Fari thought as she directed the battlesuit to the exit, "but good to know."

Outside, more Kiralokas personnel opened fire, but their spike guns and hashers mostly glanced off of the battlesuit’s armor as Fira rode it back where to her starship was still hovering on standby.

Face Danger: 1 + 2 Iron = 3 vs 5/10 -> Miss

Exosuit: 5 Integrity + 2 Iron = 7 vs 5/10 -> Weak Hit

Momentum: 9 – 1 = 8

Integrity: 5 – 1 = 4

Reach A Milestone: "Escape the Kiralokas…": 4 + 2 = 6

Though the individual incoming attacks were of little concern, the raw volume of them did add up, especially once she had moved far enough to grant them an angle past the thick frontal armor. The damage was fairly incidental, though, leaving the battlesuit still in good condition as she leaped into the cargo bay and closed the hatch.

Once inside, she dragged her allies out of the cockpit. "Thanks, friend," she said to the battlesuit, "but this next part is up to me." She deposited them in the medbay and climbed up into the cockpit.

As expected, the rader showed signs of Kiralokas consortium fighters scrambling to intercept her, so she cranked the starship up to full thrust to try escaping before they could engage.

Face Danger: 1 + 1 Edge = 2 vs 4/8 -> Miss

Burn Momentum: Weak Hit, Momentum Reset (2)

Integrity: 5 – 1 = 4

Reach A Milestone: "Escape the Kiralokas…": 6 + 2 = 8

Fulfill Your Vow: "Escape the Kiralokas…" 8 Progress vs 1/8 -> Weak Hit

Vow: "Find the mole" (Dangerous)

Quests: 0 + 0.5 = 0.5

Swear An Iron Vow: 4 + 1 Heart = 5 vs 1/8 -> Weak Hit

Momentum: 2 + 1 = 3

Faithful as ever, the Lodestar’s engines roared to life even as the first shots came in. While she was not able to get away complete unscathed, Fira’s ship ripped away from the surface faster than the fighters had expected and pulled away into the void of space before they could ground it.

Once she was sure that there was no further pursuit, Fira let the autopilot take over flying towards the nearest Salama consortium station. The captain’s terminal showed that her escorts were both still alive and stable, too, much to her relief.

One thing still troubled her, though. This mission was supposed to have been a secret. It made no sense for Kiralokas personnel to have been on the planet at all, let alone having been able to ambush her team in the vault.

There had to be a mole in the Salama consortium, one that did not mind if she died for their schemes.

Character Summary: Fira Salama (callsign Phantom)

Edge 1 / Heart 1 / Iron 2 / Shadow 2 / Wits 3

Health: +5 / 5

Spirit: +2 / 5

Supply: +5 / 5

Momentum: +3 (max +10, reset +2)

EXP: 0 available / 0 total

Legacy Tracks:

Quests: 0.5 / 10

Bonds: 0 / 10

Discoveries: 0 / 10