StarBurst 2: The Final Mercy

Deep beneath the scorched surface of Inferno’s moon, in the sweltering penal colony known as Hellhole, plunge down the yawning central shaft of the Moon Well. Darkness swallows the view until faint glimmers of artificial light emerge, leading the descent through a twisting maze of tunnels. The air is thick with dust and the shimmer of oppressive heat, every surface trembling faintly with the constant heartbeat of the mines.

H34Lr bolts into the workshop. From the shadows behind, a colossal lava worm barrels forward, its monstrous length radiating waves of blistering heat. It surges with terrifying speed, but just before reaching him, Otto hits the controls, slamming the reinforced door shut with a metallic clang that echoes through the stone corridors. The cyborg dog turns toward the far side of the cavern and spots Cordelia, Ordo, and Layla, locked in combat with a figure clad in black armour—Beckett, their long-hunted quarry. The cavern sprawls wide, doubling as both workshop and gathering hall, littered with half-built machines, piles of scavenged parts, and humming experimental rigs. Mr Rabbit stands beside H34Lr, visor glinting in the dim light.

On the platform above, Layla slams her palm onto a control panel. A graviton surge erupts, shimmering in a tight 5×5 zone. The very air grows heavy, dragging at Beckett’s limbs. “I want my workshop back, you fool!” she snarls. Beckett drops to one knee under the crushing force, armour creaking, but with visible strain forces himself upright.

Otto recalls automated turrets outside the workshop, he franticly punches into his terminal to activate them. They swivel and open fire, hammering the worm before it can reach the door. Forced to veer off, it dives into the floor, boring a smoking shaft deep into the rock. Otto’s fingers fly over the screen, pulling up the door’s specifications: reinforced steel, plasma-resistant, ballistics-proof—yet nothing confirms survival against a tunnelling monster. “The worm’s slowed,” he warns, “but if it comes back, this door might not hold.” Even in its brief appearance, the worm’s sheer size is staggering—easily hundreds of feet long.

Mr Rabbit tilts his head. “That sounds like a problem for future Mr Rabbit.” Louder, to the group: “Are we talking to this man, or killing him? I’ve only got one choice.” Layla’s reply is sharp: kill him. Otto confirms Beckett is the target. Rabbit calls out, offering to talk, explaining they were sent to kill him by people who also want them dead. Beckett ignores him entirely, focus locked on those closer.

A sudden flare of heat blossoms beneath Rabbit and H34Lr—five metres of stone glowing red-hot. Rabbit sidesteps, never taking his eyes off Beckett.

Beckett taps his wrist panel, releasing three spherical drones from recessed wall tubes. One darts for Layla but misses, another slams into Otto, and the third speeds toward Ordo.

Otto staggers under the hit, losing both stamina and resolve, but stays on his feet.

From below the platform, Ordo calls up, “Beckett, surrender to me now and I will offer you a chance at absolution. Continue this fool’s game and these mercenaries will flay you alive. Choose to be cleansed, or be consumed.”

Beckett halts for a moment, glaring down. “I know the kind of absolution the temple provides… I want freedom. They promise everything, but give nothing.”

“You are not dealing with them now,” Ordo says coldly. “You are dealing with me.”

Layla presses for them to finish him. Ordo steps toward Otto, murmuring, “Fear not the devil in the cell, but the angel who smiles with empty eyes.” Spotting the drone closing on Otto, his whip cracks through the air, tearing away its weapon arm in a shower of sparks.

Cordelia charges another drone, fist smashing into its shell. A second blow punches through, scattering components across the floor. She leaves key parts intact for salvage before pulling into a guarded stance.

The molten hotspot by the door swells, the heat rippling outward. H34Lr leaps for safety but misjudges the distance. Layla releases her gravitational hold on Beckett just long enough to boost H mid-air, launching him to safety. He crashes down hard, armour scorched, suffering burns before scrambling to more solid ground.

H34Lr glanced at the small knife clutched in his paw, its modest blade absurdly inadequate against the chaos consuming the cavern. His optics swept the battlefield — Beckett in his sleek stealth suit, katana gleaming like a shard of midnight; Mr Rabbit braced behind his roaring machine gun; and the colossal lava worm tearing through stone as if it were paper. The air rippled with blistering heat, carrying the roar of destruction and the acrid tang of molten rock. He needed something far more potent. His gaze first locked on the glint of a disabled drone’s stun gun lying amid debris, but a wall-mounted rack of heavy rifles pulled his attention. Without hesitation, he sprinted, claws skittering across the heated floor, and wrenched a laser sniper rifle free from its magnetic cradle. The weapon thrummed in his grip, humming with deadly promise — a far more reassuring companion than the knife he discarded.

A deafening eruption split the chamber as the sealed door’s base shattered. The lava worm surged upward, spewing molten rock in a murderous spray. The air shimmered with heat so intense it threatened to strip flesh from bone. Fragments of burning stone ricocheted off armour and machinery. Otto took the brunt, his armour blistering as his stamina drained to nothing. The worm’s immense body pressed down, cracking the cavern floor and leaving molten seams glowing beneath the stone.

Beckett halted his assault at Ordo’s approach, his voice tight but unwavering. “Where would you go? You’re failing their mission. They will never stop hunting you. This was the safest place I could find… and yet here you are.”

Layla’s voice cut through the roar, sharp as a blade. “He’s destroying my work. My people will die. I’ll take his life for theirs.” Her shock whip lashed out, striking Beckett’s armour. The blow was light but enough to stun him. “If you want off this rock,” she told the others, “I have a way. But he dies first.”

Otto scrambled up a ladder, plasma pistol flashing as he destroyed the last armed drone. His eyes fixed on coolant tanks feeding into the reactor. “Rabbit, those could hurt the worm!”

The beast lunged toward the platform, jaws wide enough to engulf a man whole. Otto yanked Beckett out of harm’s way as stone shattered under the worm’s bite. It vanished back into the depths, leaving scorched rubble in its wake.

From higher ground, Mr Rabbit unleashed a volley at the coolant tanks. Metal shrieked as they ruptured, jets of supercooled liquid blasting into the worm’s path. Steam exploded into the air as coolant met molten flesh, and the creature bellowed in pain. A deep, ugly scar marred its hide as mist began curling across the chamber.

Ordo advanced, voice low but resonant. “The web of deceit has entangled us both. A holy reckoning is at hand, and we are its blade.” He shed his cloak in a single motion, stripping Layla’s graviton device from her wrist. His summoned robot hound moved into position, blocking her approach to Beckett.

Cordelia scanned the glowing floor — only the zone near the ruptured coolant was remotely safe. Sprinting to the tanks, she unleashed her nanites to reroute the nitrogen flow. “When I say run, you run. Air’s about to turn deadly.” The molten spread slowed, buying them precious seconds.

Beckett, still reeling, grabbed Otto’s collar, murmured something only he could hear, then shoved him back.

Rabbit shouted over the cacophony, “Can we decide if we’re killing him, skinning him, or talking to him when we’re not about to die?”

“Squabbling later. Moving now,” H34Lr barked, bolting toward the rear exit, rifle poised.

The worm erupted beneath Rabbit’s feet. He rolled clear, eyes locking on the creature’s exposed weak point. Beckett tried to rise, but Otto slammed him back down, dragging him away from a nearby container.

Layla retrieved her graviton device with calm precision, speaking as she reattached it. She told of resisting corruption, of being cast into exile, of building a revolution only to be painted as a villain — branded Ratatosk. Her coded message went out: Cool. Move. Replies came back, fewer than hoped but enough. She advanced toward the containers, Ordo’s hound still barring her path.

Otto hauled Beckett toward the exit. “He’s got a ship and the code.” Plugging into the man’s armour, Otto forced a shutdown. The suit sagged lifelessly, Beckett’s glare burning with fury.

The worm exhaled a wave of superheated air at Rabbit. The first blast missed; the second slammed into his shield, melting nearby walls and igniting volatile fuel canisters.

The weak point still yawned open. Rabbit’s laughter rose over the chaos as he overclocked his weapon, pouring a storm of plasma into the wound. The cavern became a furnace of molten spray and roaring flame, his silhouette cut stark against the inferno.

The lava worm convulsed in violent desperation, its massive side rupturing with a sickening crack as molten gore and an unidentifiable blackened substance poured from the gaping wound. The corrosive fluid hissed and spat on contact with the stone, burning straight through the floor and sending up great clouds of acrid steam that rolled and swirled across the cavern. Its scream was an ear-splitting, primal roar — part rage, part agony — a sound that rattled the bones and shook the air. Even on the brink of death, its thrashing sent tremors through the chamber walls, showering the battlefield with dust and shards of stone.

Ordo didn’t pause for even a heartbeat. Surging forward with relentless purpose, his electro-whip cracked to life, its arcs of blue-white energy casting ghostly light across his scarred features. He lashed the weapon into the gash left by Mr Rabbit’s punishing barrage, widening the injury with precise, brutal efficiency. The worm’s colossal form shuddered, its movements faltering, teetering on the edge of collapse. With a sharp, commanding whistle that cut through the din, Ordo summoned Astro.

The robot hound’s rocket-limbs ignited in a burst of fire and smoke, propelling it forward like a living missile. It slammed into the worm’s wound with unstoppable force, tearing straight through its torso and bursting from the opposite side in a spray of molten ichor and steaming gore. The worm gave one last, rattling convulsion before its immense bulk toppled forward, crushing Astro beneath its weight. Both began to sink as the fractured floor gave way, melting under the combined heat of the beast’s lifeblood and the volcanic stone.

Then came the first explosion.

A thunderous detonation erupted behind Mr Rabbit, hurling him across the cavern like a ragdoll. His overclocked weapon, already pushed beyond its limits, spun away and clattered to the floor in twisted ruin. He slammed into the ground hard, the impact driving the air from his lungs, but he still crawled toward the weapon, refusing to abandon it despite its destroyed state.

Cordellia was at his side in seconds, grasping for his suit to pull him clear. Her hands caught the edge of his helmet instead, and in the frantic yank it came free. The sight beneath made her hesitate — his face was a map of old scars, one eye lost to violence long past, the other burning with stubborn defiance. He drew a sharp, ragged breath, but without the helmet, the nitrogen-heavy air clawed at his lungs.

The worm might have been dead, but the cavern itself was still intent on killing them. Fires raged unchecked. Molten stone bubbled and hissed underfoot. The suffocating gas grew thicker by the second. Without his helmet, Rabbit was no longer protected.

At the far end of the chamber, Beckett slammed his palm against a container keypad, punching in a sequence with rapid precision. Otto never let go of him, dragging the man into the shadow of the container. H34Lr closed in, pulling out his field medic kit and working fast to give Rabbit a second wind. The treatment was crude but effective, restoring just enough stamina and clarity for Rabbit to keep moving.

Layla was already at the entrance, her gaze sharp enough to cut steel. Beckett had the first door open when she snapped, “These people are not to be hurt.” She turned to the others, her tone an order: “Everybody in!”

They piled inside, stumbling as the workshop door burst wide to reveal five more figures — the last of Layla’s crew. The doctor and another familiar face froze at the carnage before rushing forward, explosions rumbling closer with each passing heartbeat.

Beckett pushed them into a narrow airlock, Layla staying on his heels. The doctor’s voice cut through the chaos, demanding to know what had happened. Layla’s reply was cold and sharp as a blade: “Beckett happened.” The airlock sealed, the hiss of equalising pressure filling the cramped space, before opening onto the interior of a heavily retrofitted spaceship.

Beckett made for the pilot’s chair, but Layla intercepted him with deliberate force. “This is not your ship,” she said, each word a warning. Otto stepped in to block him, his grip firm. Beckett relented with a theatrical shrug, muttering only that they shouldn’t set course for anywhere “civilised.”

The Dreadheart roared through the final seal at the top of the lava-worm tunnel, hull plating shuddering as she burst into the open sky. Beneath them, Inferno’s scorched expanse stretched endlessly, the penal colony’s distant lights flickering like cold embers against the darkness.

Otto shot a glance at Cordellia across the cockpit. “You ready?”

She smirked, her eyes glinting. “Light it up.”

A sudden flash ripped across the horizon, followed by a bone-rattling shockwave. The abandoned ship in the colony hangar erupted in a violent fireball, jagged shards spiraling into the air before vanishing into the searing inferno. The dome above the colony warped and groaned under the strain, its supports shrieking in protest. The cockpit panels rattled as the shockwave reached them, a deep, vibrating hum coursing through the ship.

Ten tense heartbeats later, Layla’s finger stabbed her own failsafe. Deep below, the penal colony’s overworked atomic reactor let out a tortured groan, then detonated in a blinding surge of light. The deck lurched violently beneath their feet; alarms wailed, and an ear-splitting roar drowned out every other sound. For a moment, the world outside was nothing but blinding white. Then, the horizon erupted upward, a colossal mushroom cloud clawing its way into the sky, trailing molten debris like sparks from a forge. Heat shimmered across their viewports as a rolling thunder chased them upward into the thin air.

“Rest in peace, Timmy,” H34Lr murmured, voice almost lost in the hum of the ship.

Mr Rabbit smirked faintly. “Yeah… he’d have loved that.”

The Dreadheart climbed higher, the colony below reduced to a smear of flame and shadow. Otto was already at the comms console, fingers moving in a blur. “As soon as we’ve got signal, I’m forging new IDs. Fresh names, clean records. Whoever you want to be, I’ll make it happen.”

Mr Rabbit leaned back with a weary sigh. “We’ve still got the Church breathing down our necks… and now we’re wanted.”

“They think we’re dead,” Otto said, not looking up. “Ship’s gone. Colony’s gone. No survivors — except us.”

Layla glanced over her shoulder. “Once Beckett’s far from civilisation, anyone sticking around is crew. The Dreadheart has room for people who know how to survive.”

“I’m in,” Cordellia said immediately. “She’s rough, but I can make her sing.” She was already heading for the engine room, muttering about rerouting power lines and overhauling life support systems.

Otto crossed to Beckett, pistol steady in his hand. “Armour. Off. Now.”

Layla’s voice was cold as steel. “Or we save time and use the airlock.”

Mr Rabbit caught Ordo’s eye and motioned him over. “Alright, mate — what’s your plan for him?”

“I’ll take his confession,” Ordo replied, voice low but unwavering. “And I’ll find which Cardinal is to blame.”

Rabbit nodded slowly. “Good. I’m in.” They clasped hands, Ordo sealing the pact with a small circular gesture. Rabbit tried to imitate it, failing miserably but grinning nonetheless.

Beckett said nothing, his swords now strapped across Rabbit’s back — the marksman-turned-melee fighter adapting without complaint.

H34Lr padded through the cramped cabin, checking burns, stitching wounds, and applying quick patches where needed. “I’m staying. Easier to watch your backs here.”

Talk turned to potential crew names — Mother’s Mercies, Rabbit Milk, The Yum-Yuckers. Ridiculous suggestions all, but laughter eased the lingering tension.

Outside, the Dreadheart rattled and groaned as she left Inferno’s pull, battered yet defiant. The crew — scorched, bruised, but bound together by survival — sailed into the vast, dangerous dark. Ahead lay profit, revenge, and the truth… and the galaxy waited.

Starburst is a new TTRPG System by Axel Runnholm https://www.tabletopastronomer.com/
This game was run using a beta version with members of the Dice Company Podcast Community Discord https://discord.gg/DgjtZjKJqF