Steadfast

Steadfast was a now canceled unofficial Inferno project whose development phase dates back to the period between March 2006 and February 2007.

The team was entirely comprised of Italian modders; several missions of this campaign were completed but the project entered a long hiatus that ultimately culminated with a de facto cancellation in early 2007. Despite its fate, the skills and experience acquired during the development of this campaign proved extremely useful for Inferno first and Series Resurrecta then.

As of today, some 50 mission files in various stages of completion still exist but are likely incompatible with modern FSO and Inferno builds. The mission pack has been released for eventual public use, but its compatibility with current modpacks and FSO builds remains untested.

General Info

Authors: Darth DySkO, Admiral Edivad and Mobius
Missions: 25 (first episode), 10 (WIP second episode), 50+ (overall)
Mods required: INFA, INFR1, FSPort, eventually INF SCP
Release: 50 missions released on May 25th, 2022

Plot Information

The campaign followed an alternate storyline of Inferno where the completion of the Melia Sol Gate led to an alliance between the EA and the GTVA. The Steadfast, a Telemus-class carrier, was built in the outer orbit of Earth to celebrate this alliance and several elite squadrons from either factions were based onboard this carrier. Ever since its introduction into active service, the Steadfast prevented potential rebellions all over GTVA-EA space without firing a single shot: its presence on any environment was well enough to discourage any threats to the renewed alliance.

One of the elite squadrons based on the Stedfast was the 35th Black Eagles, formed on the Aquitaine when the 70th Blue Lions got disbanded. Led by a charismatic squadron leader, the player would have started the campaign as Beta 1, following the orders of the squadron leader, Alpha 1. Contrary to popular belief, the elite squadron, a true pride for the GTVA, was formed by seasoned pilots as well as much younger pilots who passed through programs of intense training.

The construction of the Sol Gate, combined with the completion of a new, powerful fleet able to face the Shivans, required the sacrifice of all citizens of the GTVA. The Alliance decided to recycle unused, retired or damaged craft and weapons to save money. Following the complete success of the Genesis project, thanks to which Vasuda Prime became habitable once again, the Vasudans left the Altair system and radically reduced their presence in the Aldebaran system. The GTVA chose the Altair system to build a massive scrapyard, named ASC. With false promises of riches, many hundred thousand citizens of the GTVA moved to this system to work at the scrapyards. The working conditions were beyond awful, and whoever moved to Altair effectively remained imprisoned there. Hundreds, if not thousands of workers died because of releases of toxic gas coming from scrapped craft and other terrible accidents.

The population of Altair started to hate the GTVA and its new ally, the Earth Alliance. Under the command of Admiral Hugh Van Eyck, the population rebelled and formed the Altair Phoenixes, or AP. The rebels, moved by anger, wanted the annihilation of both the GTVA and the EA. In a matter of days, they prepared their fleet to attack the Aldebaran system, where a consistent Vasudan fleet was based.

The AP fleet is fearsome and is in some ways more powerful than a regular GTVA fleet. Thanks to superb modifications, apparently ineffective assets such as Amazon drones, old Athena bombers, Fenris cruisers equipped with explosives, and other old units could potentially break through the most modern defenses. Due to worrying and suspicious coincidences, the APs control powerful ships like the Raynor destroyers and many assets of EA manufacture. AP pilots don't fear their opponents and many of them appear to be very expert NTF, GTVA and even EA veterans who decided to defect to the rebel cause.

What worries the GTVA, however, is the fact that Altair and Aldebaran were once colonized by the Ancients and most artifacts are still to be found, so it is probable that the AP can develop ships and weapons based on Ancient technology. Many other things don't have a valid explanation and people are starting to consider the rebellion as something planned decades before. Otherwise, the presence of former NTF officers, many GTBM Venom-class cruise missiles, advanced assets and EA personnel born in colonies that once fought against Mars and Earth can't be explained. Investigations were in progress.

Following the victory in Aldebaran, where the AP sustained only a few casualties and managed to decimate the Vasudan fleet in that system, the GTVA decided to react. The Steadfast has reached the Alpha Centauri system. The survivors of Aldebaran and the population of Alpha Centauri are to be evacuated. The presence of the Steadfast is a comforting one and the most optimistic officers estimate the complete defeat of the rebels in less than two weeks, but things take an unexpected turn and the battle with the rebels becomes a war of attrition.

While the AP rebellion alone was well enough to weaken the alliance between Terrans and the PVE, a number of incidents and accidents would have made things much worse. The player would experience accidents such allied ships firing on Vasudan assets by mistake, and escort duties on Vasudan ships being very ineffective. Though the plans for the campaign never got that far, the idea was to experience a full scale conflict with either the entire PVE or, at least, a powerful Vasudan subfaction.

There was no clear plan for the final outcome of the war with the AP.

Gameplay

The campaign was meant to feature take off and landing cutscenes plus normal cutscenes set during the missions. In addition to all these features, there would have been squadrons of powerful enemy aces to defeat. Each pilot of the enemy ace squadrons was at first meant to have his/her own personal description, but as progress carried on, only the most important information on the squadrons themselves and their respective leaders became Intelligence entries, unlocked during the campaign. The squadrons will be tough enemies to defeat since they have their own, effective strategies and are boosted thanks to advanced SEXPs and FRED settings such as special hitpoints. Biographies, descriptions and squadron introduction cutscenes were vastly based on Ace Combat Zero's intros and battle records.

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