The Stardream was a passenger liner operating during the Cold War era, a period of tension between the Galactic Republic and the reconstituted Sith Empire. A routine voyage originating from Ord Mantell in 3639 BBY took a disastrous turn when a passenger's pet risp managed to escape its confines, initiating a rakghoul plague outbreak among those onboard. Within just 15 days, the majority of the passengers and crew had become infected, leading the ship's infected captain, Magnus, to isolate himself on the bridge, convinced that the crew was staging a rebellion against his authority.
Deviating from its intended path, the Stardream met its end in a crash landing on Tatooine, a world situated in the Outer Rim. The vessel disintegrated as it entered the atmosphere, resulting in the dispersal of numerous fragments of debris and escape pods across the planet's surface, before its final impact in the northern reaches of the Dune Sea. The surviving passengers and crew underwent complete transformations into rakghouls, and the infected individuals who had utilized the escape pods facilitated the spread of the plague across the entire planet, prompting both the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire to jointly declare Tatooine a quarantine zone.
During the Cold War period, which saw conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, the Stardream served as a passenger liner. By the year 3639 BBY, Magnus held the position of captain, while Lieutenant Pursal was responsible for maintaining the ship's flight records.
In 3639 BBY, the liner embarked on a journey, taking on 492 passengers from the war-ravaged planet of Ord Mantell. However, among the passengers was Zama Brak, who described himself as a "privateer extraordinaire," and he managed to smuggle a risp hatchling onboard. This particular risp had been infected with the rakghoul plague on Ord Mantell by the deranged Doctor Sannus Lorrick, a Tionese scientist who had unleashed the virus on Kaon as an act of vengeance against the Tion Hegemony. Shortly after the ship's departure from Ord Mantell, the risp bit Brak, initiating the infection of other passengers located on Deck 2.
Within five days of the voyage, a number of passengers began to exhibit symptoms of illness, initially believed by the crew to be a case of food poisoning. However, by the seventh day, the illness had rapidly spread across Civilian Decks 1 through 5, and the affected individuals became increasingly difficult to manage. Captain Magnus, recognizing the telltale signs of the plague, himself became infected two days later. Overcome with paranoia when the doctors suggested he take rest, he accused the crew of plotting mutiny and barricaded himself on the bridge, diverting the Stardream from its intended course. By the twelfth day, the ship had become lost in hyperspace, and the infected passengers began congregating near the vessel's core. The remaining crew members, many of whom were already infected, attempted to subdue Magnus and regain control of the ship.
The crew's efforts proved unsuccessful, culminating in the Stardream's catastrophic crash landing on the Outer Rim planet of Tatooine. As the liner disintegrated over the desert landscape and collided with the northern region of the Dune Sea, fragments of wreckage were scattered across the surrounding area. Dozens of escape pods were deployed, but all occupants were already infected. Magnus, along with numerous other passengers and crew members, now completely transformed into rakghouls, survived the crash and began to haunt the wreckage of the ship, attacking and infecting any individuals who ventured into the vicinity.
The Stardream was conceived for Star Wars: The Old Republic, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game launched by BioWare on December 20, 2011. It serves as the central element of the limited-time World Event known as "Rakghoul Pandemic" on Tatooine, accessible to both Imperial and Republic players from April 15 to April 24, 2012. The World Event missions task players with addressing the repercussions of the Stardream's crash, and the Daily Area mission "Wreck of the Stardream" requires players to explore the wreckage of the liner. Although the event has since concluded, the wreckage remains in place, and some Jawas can still be observed investigating the site.