THE FORGOTTEN

Chapter 1: The Rear Guard

Disclaimer: This story contains loose descriptions of fantasy violence and vague references to adult themes.

Author’s Note: This chapter marks my first recorded attempt at a solo TTRPG narrative experience. It was an experiment in every sense, played out in January 2022. I’ll admit that much of what follows is rather cringeworthy—but it felt important to transcribe the narrative here, as I grew quite fond of this campaign in the chapters that followed.

This first chapter was played using the SW5e rule set. It was after this chapter that I converted the campaign to Ironsworn-Starfoged. Unfortunately, the dice rolls for this early adventure were poorly recorded. What follows is a simple summary of the narrative.

Date: 4296.UNK

Pevio lay on her back, one arm tucked behind her head, absently tossing a grenade into the air with the other. “Know what the last thing Lieutenant Sprits said to me before he took off in that transport was?” she asked. Across from her, Sergeant Brecker—known as Column due to his size—kept working on his vibrobaton, his focus unbroken.

“Nope,” he said, voice flat.

“He said, ‘Stand by.’” She snorted. “Stand by,” she repeated. “Then he hopped onto the transport, docked with the cruiser, and off they went, light years from this dirt hole.” She sat up, eyes narrowed with frustration. “You know we’re probably the last two troopers left on this bloody planet.”

“Hadn’t occurred to me,” Column said, barely looking up.

“Just the two of us and enough Jedi to start a temple. Know what Tech Sergeant Haggar told me? He says they take vows of celibacy. I don’t know if I can trust someone who swears off sex.” She shook her head, her expression twisting as she glanced at Column.

Column didn’t look up. “Hadn’t heard that,” he replied. Pevio had brought it up at least four times since they’d been assigned together.

“So, we’re stuck here, aren’t we? Lieutenant’s not coming back, is he?”

Column shrugged, chewing on his cleaning tool.

Pevio exhaled, her tone suddenly bleak. “Just us against a division of Imps. Ever seen a Jedi fight? Are they… good?”

He finally looked up, nodded once. “Scary good.”

Pevio’s face relaxed into the smallest hint of a smile. “Better than you?”

Column shook his head, returning to his task without a word.

A young Nautolan Jedi Knight named Cazio interrupted their banter, gliding up to their makeshift base with a calm presence that felt a little out of place in a war zone.

“You asked me to notify you of enemy movement,” she said, her voice smooth, measured, almost too tranquil. “The city’s shields have switched to auxiliary and the maintenance crew the city sent to assess it has not responded.”

“Now we get to go check it out. Lucky us.” Pevio mused.

Column checked his blaster rifle and holstered a heavy blaster pistol. He nodded to the Jedi. “We’ll do it.”

---

“There’s gotta be more Jedi on this planet than anywhere in the galaxy, and they need us to check this thing?” Pevio muttered, peering through her scope at the windows of the generator facility. “Something’s moving in there. Could circle around. Find a back door.”

Column shook his head, cocking it toward the main entrance.

Pevio sighed and shrugged. “Fine. After you.”

They moved quickly, crossing the rubble-strewn street to the facility. Pevio took up position behind Column, blaster rifle ready. She tapped his shoulder. Without hesitation, he slammed his fist against the control panel. The door ground open, revealing five battle droids whose glowing eyes snapped toward them. Their blasters rose in unison.

Column charged. His shield absorbed the first volley of fire, sparks skittering across the surface. He crashed into the nearest droid, knocking it flat and bringing his baton down hard. It convulsed and went still. Another droid flanked him, firing. The bolt clipped his shoulder, but he swung around, shield slamming into metal, sending the droid staggering.

“Any time now!” he barked.

Pevio fired, her blaster rifles’s bolt piercing clean through a droid’s chest. “You’re the one who wanted to go through the front!” she shot back, ducking behind cover as another droid sprayed blaster fire in her direction.

Column closed the distance to the remaining two, his baton sweeping low to disable one’s legs before cracking it against the other’s head. The final droid dropped, sparking. He turned toward Pevio, shaking the vibro baton free of debris.

“Five down,” Pevio panted, standing. “What’s next?”

As if in answer, a voice echoed from the far side of the room. “The droids are down. Troopers, move in and secure the building!”

Three Imperial soldiers charged forward, their rifles firing. Column’s shield deflected most of the shots, but Pevio ducked again, returning fire. Her first shot clipped one trooper’s arm, sending him stumbling.

Column closed the gap. His baton swept upward, disarming the nearest soldier before slamming the man to the ground with a single blow. Another aimed at him, but a blaster bolt from Pevio caught the trooper in the side. The third hesitated, firing wildly before Column’s shield crashed into him. The Imperial crumpled, dazed, and Column delivered a swift baton strike to finish him.

Pevio lowered her bowcaster, scanning the room. “How in hell did this many Imps make it through the perimeter?”

Column shrugged, glancing at the scattered bodies. “Search them.”

It didn’t take long before Pevio found something. “Look what we got here,” she said, holding up a datapad. She tapped the screen, only for it to flash blank. “Wiped.”

She pulled out her slicer’s kit, setting to work. Sparks jumped as she rewired the device. A few moments later, the screen flickered back to life, projecting a map of tunnel systems with a red line weaving through them.

“That’s how they got in,” she said, grinning with a wink. “I’m good.”

Column nodded, studying the map. “Looks like we’ve got work to do.”

---

The map led them to a powered access portal at the edge of the city. Pevio double checked it against her wristpad. “This is the place.” She tapped the screen, frowning. “Looks tight in there.”

Column knelt by the door’s lever, gesturing for her to stack up. She readied her blaster rifle, moving into position. With a sharp pull, Column yanked the lever, and the door ground open with a metallic groan. He jumped down, landing heavily, with Pevio close behind.

The tunnel was dark and cramped, pipes and conduits snaking along the walls. Their boots clanged against grated flooring, the sound echoing ominously. Column slid a glow rod into his chest strap, its pale light casting shadows that flickered like restless ghosts.

Eventually, they came to a junction room. Workstations lined the walls, and a computer terminal sat in the center. In the corner, a bed mat and a stack of rations hinted at an inhabitant.

“What the crap?” Pevio whispered. Before Column could answer, a blaster shot lanced toward them. The impact staggered him, sparks flying off his armor.

Pevio reacted first, firing a shot at a Rodian she now saw crouched in the corner. He dodged deftly, returning fire. Column steadied himself and unleashed a barrage from his blaster pistol. The room erupted in chaos, bolts ricocheting off walls. Pevio narrowly missed a bolt to the face, but a final shot from Column dropped the Rodian, who slumped to the floor.

Pevio crouched by the body. “What in the stars was this guy doing down here?”

“Dunno,” Column said, adjusting his armor. “He was good, though.”

“Not good enough,” Pevio quipped. She began searching the room. “Bedroll, rations… guy was living down here, but why?” She shook her head, frustrated. “Nothing useful.”

Column gave a short nod toward the tunnel. “Let’s keep moving.”

The air grew heavier as the tunnels descended, the smell of damp cement mingling with rust. The floor shifted to cracked stone, and the walls were streaked with grime. Pevio squinted into the dim passage ahead. “Lights,” she whispered.

Column slipped his glow rod into a strap on his armor, hiding its light and nodded. Together, they crept forward, weapons ready. The tunnel opened into a broad room dimly illuminated by a cluster of portable lamps. Imperial troopers worked quietly, arranging crates and checking gear at a makeshift staging area. The two sides locked eyes almost simultaneously.

Blaster fire erupted, the echoes deafening in the confined space. Column surged forward, his vibrobaton cracking into the nearest trooper’s helmet with bone-shaking force. Pevio took cover, her blaster rifle firing bolts that sent sparks ricocheting off the Imperials’ armor. Then she rolled a grenade across the floor, forcing them to scatter. The explosion lit the room for a brief instant, leaving a haze of smoke.

Column emerged from the smoke, slamming his shield into the last trooper, sending him sprawling. Pevio finished the fight with a well-placed shot, and the silence that followed was broken only by the hum of cooling blasters.

Pevio leaned against a crate, catching her breath. “Maybe they were using this area to support other operatives in the city.” Pevio muttered, partly to herself.

“Maybe.” Column replied. “But there is nothing here to confirm that. We should press on and blow this place on our way back.”

They pressed on, the tunnel narrowing as the air turned colder. At the end of the passage, they entered an old service room. Crumbling cement walls and corroded pipes opened into a desert landscape they knew led outside the city.

“This looks like how they got in,” Pevio said, dropping her pack.

Column moved to the entrance, vibrobaton in hand. “Set the charges.”

Pevio worked quickly, placing mines around the room and along the tunnel’s entrance. “Proximity triggers,” she explained, standing back to admire her handiwork. “This’ll light up anything that tries to crawl through here. We’ll use the rest on that staging room and seal the tunnel behind us.”

It took nearly an hour to set and detonate the charges, the explosions sending tremors through the ground. As they made their way back toward the entrance, Pevio wiped a streak of dust from her horns. “Why are we even doing this?” she muttered. “The military left us here like we were nothing.”

Column walked a few paces in silence. “If the Empire takes this city, we’re dead. This way, we’ve got a chance.”

“That’s it? A chance?” She adjusted her helmet. “Look at us, big guy. No Lieutenant, no orders, just you and me. We’re doing all this on our own. Maybe we don’t need the Army.”

Column stopped, meeting her gaze. “What are you saying?”

Pevio shrugged. “Just thinking… if we can survive this without the military, maybe we don’t go back. Maybe we keep doing it our way.”

They walked on in silence for a while before Column finally spoke. “Maybe.”