These days the Stardream sees little action in SWTOR, sitting just North-East of Republic Outpost Thorazan in the Dune Sea. You may know it as the location of the Tatooine Track during the Swoop Rally event, or as a place to dig for Seeker Droid treasure, however it didn’t always exist in the game.

The Stardream first crash landed on Tatooine in 14 ATC (under first year of SWTORs release) after making a routing passenger journey from Ord Mantell, at first nothing was suspected out of the ordinary until sick citizens, Jawas and Tuskens began started appearing across the Dune Sea, creating issues all the way until Anchorhead and Mos Ila.

Several days after the Stardream crashed, SWTOR’s social media accounts uploaded an in-universe news broadcast lore video detailing the crash of the Stardream and the severity of the Rakghoul Plague that had begun to spread across Tatooine:

Only a few days after the initial crash of the Stardream, heroes from the Republic and Empire ventured from Carrick and Vaiken spacedocks to Tatooine in order to contain the Rakghoul Pandemic at all costs, this included taking blood samples from citizens, culling livestock as well as investigating how different cultures handled the plague, as well as the obvious: locate and exterminate the infected crew and passengers of the ship.

Below are a collection of logs recorded before, during and after the crash of the Stardream:

[Partial reconstruction of official ship’s log, found in wreckage in the Tatooine desert.]
Stardream Flight Log \\ Updated by Lieutenant Pursal:

Day 1. Departure from Ord Mantell was on time at 0600 hours. Passenger count is 492, excluding crew and military personnel. Captain Magnus predicts a smooth flight.

Day 5. Flight continues on schedule. Mild cases of food poisoning reported on civilian decks. The kitchen has been notified.

Day 7. The illness has spread. Patients are feverish, violent and inhumanly strong. Ship doctors ruled out food poisoning. Civilian decks One through Five have been quarantined.

Day 9. Captain Magnus has fallen ill. Doctors recommended bed rest, but he accused them of mutiny. Captain Magnus has now locked himself on the bridge and sent the Stardream off-course.

The passengers are growing violent. The crew is sick, myself included.

Day 12. The Stardream is lost in hyperspace. Infected passengers gather near the ship’s radioactive core while the crew readies to stop Captain Magnus and retake control. We will end this.

From Log 1 – The Final Flight of the Stardream

[Recovered from the wreckage of the Stardream on Tatooine and the remains of an infected officer.]
\\Communication Log of Captain Magnus\\
Amy, guess what? Daddy’s flying a ship called the Stardream. A passenger even gave me a stuffed orokeet, just for you! Tell mom to get a cage–I’ll see you in a few days.
—
Sorry I missed your call, Yllen. I’ve been sick. The doctors said it’s an allergic reaction, but they weren’t stationed on Taris. It’s been years, but I swear I recognize the symptoms. Don’t tell Amy anything.
—
were working on control, Yllen. The outbreak started on Deck two. Probably by an animal, smething from Ord Mantell that spread the disease to everyone on board. doesn’t make any sense
—
amy everyones against us. my crew turned agnst me and sed it was 4 my protecshun. no ones stealing the stardream from me!!

From Log 2 – Captain Magnus

[Careful examination of the infected Sand People tribe’s mural reveals a grisly story.]

The paintings portray a third sun crashing into Tatooine. A great evil spills from the wreckage and spreads across the desert.
The mural shows the evil infecting banthas, duneclaws and other creatures of the desert. Then, the darkness spreads to the Sand People.
The pictures grow violent and agitated as they reveal a Sand Person tribe torn apart by infection. Scratchy images show sick Sand People, fever dreams, outbursts of violence and funeral pyres.
The final image on the mural shows the hopeful figure of a shaman who left the Sand People to find a cure.

From Log 3 – Outbreak on Tatooine

[An infected Sand People shaman lies dead. His records chronicle the Sand People’s quest for a cure to the plague that ravaged their tribe.]

Detailed notes describe the shaman’s experiments. Rare desert plants, krayt dragon blood and ancient Sand People remedies were tested.
During his experiments, the shaman contracted the virus from his test subject–an infected bantha. He raced to beat the disease before it destroyed his mind.
The shaman finally found a cure. His antidote restored the infected bantha to health, but it failed to cure the shaman’s symptoms–the medicine only saves animals.
In the last entry, the shaman despairs over his failure to save his tribe from the mystifying plague. The remaining records descend into the scrawlings of a mad man.

From Log 4 – The Sand People’s Cure

[Partial reconstruction of personal log, credited to “Zama Brak, Privateer Extraordinaire.”]

Note to self: Take more jobs from Doctor Lorrick. He’s well-funded and a lousy negotiator. I almost feel bad charging a fortune for smuggling one little risp hatchling aboard the Stardream.
—
Note to self: See a medic. Blasted risp bit a chunk out of my leg. Mantellian whisky eases the burn, but I’m down to my last bottle.
—
Bad time to get sick. Passengers going crazy, no ear plugs–and either I’ve got another fever dream, or the risp’s looking strange.

From Log 5 – Origins of the Outbreak

Gathering the evidence by piecing together each log from the remains of the Rakghoul Plagued crewmembers, the origin of the pandemic came from that of a pet Risp that had boarded on Ord Mantell, likely infected on purpose by Sannus Lorrick to spread the Rakghoul Plague across the galaxy similarly to the Outbreak on Kaon that happened around this same time period.

Regardless of which, after a few more days of investigations the Republic and Empire assumed they had quarantined and removed the Rakghoul Plague from Tatooine, however it would resurface roughly a year later on Alderaan and Tatooine again before also appearing on Corellia.
In response to these outbreaks, the Galactic Solutions Industries corporation would found T.H.O.R.N. aka The Hyland Organization for Rakghoul Neutralizaton after the CEO of GSI, Addalar Hyland, lost family to the Rakghoul Plague.

T.H.O.R.N. continues to this day to install quarantine spikes across the galaxy each time the Rakghoul Plague re-emerges, hoping that one day they cut off all of the Rakghoul tunnels and kill the population for good.

Sources:

STAR WARS: The Old Republic – Rakghoul Outbreak video on youtube (linked above)
Codex Entry 1-5: Rakghoul Outbreak Event 2012 in SWTOR
EMERGENCY ALERT: Rakghoul Plague Outbreak on Alderaan – AVOID ALDERAAN! Lore page on swtor.com
Codex Entry: THORN – Rakghoul Resurgence Event SWTOR
Codex Entry: Rakghouls on Tatooine – Rakghoul Resurgence Event SWTOR
Codex Entry: Rakghouls on Alderaan – Rakghoul Resurgence Event SWTOR
Codex Entry: Rakghouls on Corellia – Rakghoul Resurgence Event SWTOR