Originally posted by Axem
Or make use of spoiler tags. :p
[Untitled Campaign]
Length: 5 Missions
Takes place: Shortly before Capella.
Pre-Plot: All contact has been lost with the GTD [Destroyer] within the nebula. The Shivan presence is increasing by the minute, and we need to rescue that destroyer. The GTCv [Corvette] will lead a search operation in the last known sector we heard the Destroyer from.
I had mission-by-mission stuff, but it became too complex. Basically the major turning point of the campaign is...
The GTVA is going to seal off Capella, and you are on the wrong side right now.
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Goddarnit dude! I had a very similar idea. Instead, it went something like this:
You play Alpha wing, sent into the Gamma Draconis nebula to rescue a damaged GTVA Battlegroup, the only survivors of which are an Orion Class Destroyer , the GTD Ionas, and two damaged Corvettes, The GTCv Julius and the GVCv Annatet. The group has been missing for several days after a fierce encounter with a large Shivan fleet. Due to the nebula, contact with command was lost for the time period, and the fleet has been drifting and trying to repair itself.
Initially, the rescue attempt suceeds and the first mission sees the Ionas jumping out to safety after repelling several shivan assaults. Ive actually managed to FRED this mission; only left with beta testing it and what-not.
The Second mission is where things start to go downwards. Alpha wing and the Ionas are approaching the jump node back to Gamma Draconis when the Shivans arrive - this time in force. They encounter a retreating Aquitaine as it heads for the node. Command re-establishes contact and informs them that another Sathanas has been found, and more are inbound for Gamma Draconis. Alpha must now defend the Battlegroup as it heads to the node (which is now empty as the Aquitaine has jumped out) and as it comes under fierce attack from the Shivans. Just before the Ionas can make it through the node - A Sathanas jumps in from behind and rips it to shreds, throwing the Julius and the Annatet off-course. Alpha wing is ordered to retreat and re-group with the Julius as it jumps out.
Mission three sees the rendevouz with the Julius. They are badly damaged after the previous encounter. The commander forms a plan to make a run for the node, along with the Annatet once they reach the rendevouz point. But when the Annatet reaches the point, it is badly damaged and is able to send only a distress signal before a large force jumps in behind it and obliterates it. Alpha cannot do anything much to save it; and is ordered to jump out again with the Julius.
Mission four is in Subspace. The Shivans have followed both Alpha wing and the Julius into subspace. Only a few fighters and bombers have managed to follow them in, and strangely the main fleet seems lacking. After the fighters and bombers a dispatched off; its comms chatter time. A plan is hatched and a secret is revealed: The Battlegroup had actually gone in to rescue a SOC transport, which had been the base for several scout operations within the nebula and beyond. Recently, a lone wing had come in from of the nodes leading systems beyond the Nebula, where the Shivans were gathering all the Sathani to invade. But what was more interesting is the node next to this one. It leads to a crossroads which in turn leads back to Gamma Draconis and at the time, an undiscovered node.
The transport's signal was lost and it was assumed destroyed; but recently the SOC recieved it's distress signal again, and sent the Ionas in to rescue it. The Shivans were about to close in onto the Transport when the Ionas arrived, but they managed to distract it enough for it to escape. The transport is still in the nebula and around the same co-ordinates, so if they can find the Transport, they might just be able to find a safe haven of sorts. The plan is to find the transport and get a way out of there.
Mission five takes place back in the Nebula. Alpha wing is searching around for the transport and its quite...seemingly too quite. Alpha wing find a few shivan wings and destroy them before they eventually find the transport - its barely functioning and only a single survivor is left. The Julius jumps in and the transport docks. It then undocks and leaves along with the Julius. Alpha is ordered to leave as well. Thats about it - mostly a talking mission more than anything else.
Mission six is where things get interesting. The subspace node to the gamma draconis system is not too far away from the one leading to the system the Sathanas is coming from. The transport pilots says that scout wings went into this system and came out the other side near the outer parts of the Gamma Draconis system, but far away from actual GTVA presence. The node is too unstable for Destroyers to use, but a Corvette and a few small ships should be able to get through allright. The plan is simple. First, the Transport goes in laden with heavy explosives some distance from the node. Alpha is ordered to keep some distance from the transport as the Shivans attack and destroy it, causing a large explosion and damage to ships all around. The Julius then jumps in and makes a run for the node. The Shivans have a small presence near the node (which Alpha has to clear), but things tend to get interesting as a group of corvettes follows the Julius in as it departs.
Mission seven is again in subspace. The trio of corvettes, designations Flaga, Isthar and Ereshkigal, have followed the Julius through subspace. Fortunately, it is almost at the end of its journey through the node when the Corvettes come through. The Isthar tries to take a pot shot at it, and hits, but then doesn't fire after that. Alpha must now intercept bombers and fighters as they try to destroy the Julius (again)
Mission eight is red alert from Mission seven. Turns out the node doesn't go to Gamma Draconis - nothing could be further from the truth. The node leads all the way to the Capella system, skipping Gamma Draconis totally. It turns out that the subspace corridor was unstable, and kept on switching from the nodes in both systems; with an ever-changing exit point the chances of the trio of corvettes following is quite low. But now the problem is that the Julius has emerged smack bang in the middle of a battle between GTVA and Shivan forces. The Julius (and Alpha 1) runs through beam fire, GTVA ships, Shivan ships and whatever else you can think of in an attempt to get away from the crossfire. GTVA forces cover the Julius's retreat as they themselves start to retreat and head to the node to Epsilon Pegasi. Alpha 1 leaves just as the trio of corvettes show up nearby.
Mission 9 is simple. The Julius has reached the Epsilon Pegasi node - it moves past the convoys in an attempt to reach the node (maybe insert complaints from the civvys that the GTVA are cowards) and gets there whilst protecting them against shivan attacks as well. Red Alert to Mission 9a.
Mission 9a is VERY simple. Julius jumps into the node, so does Alpha 1. Their moving along when they recieved a signal from a bouy on the other side - the GTVA are about to close the Node; the Bastion is on its way in. General cursing and shouting and "OH CRAP! WE'RE GONNA DIE!! ARRGH! RUN!!!" sort of a thing as the Julius turns around and makes a run back for the entrance. It warns off the Civvies that come in as well; and is about 5 seconds out when the Bastion arrives in the node. Cue command starting the remote detonation sequence. Alpha 1 and the Julius make it out barely in time.
Mission 10 is the last mission. The Julius jumps in...only to see the entire fleet being annihalated by the Shivans - including the Trio of corvettes mentioned earlier. All are extremely damaged, but all open fire on the Julius (enter more messages about "Oh crap!! We aint gonna make it!! stuff) and it goes down. Their are other GTVA ships here; but they are behind the shivan vessels. Alpha one is now ordered to jump out ASAP to rendevouz with the retreating task force, but has to jump in behind the Shivan vessels. Basically running through all the way to a nav bouy.
Now Cue Supernova, end-mission and debrief. The debrief is a log entry from the Captain of the GTCv Actium, which was one of the few ships that made it into the nebula. The captain laments on their current situation, stranded behind enemy lines and what-not. In the log the captain mentions the presence of the Julius and what an aid the information it was holding might have been - and also mentions that a fighter tried to escape from there, but was destroyed in the Supernova before it could reach them. Also mention on how hopeless the situation is for the survivors; faced with an overwelhming shivan force and nowhere to go.
Edit: Finished, at last.
None of these are fully fleshed out ideas.... most ideas I come up with are centred around some form of mod ;), so I do little work on 'straight' campaigns. I may have some more detailed synopses of other campaigns lying around, though.
Evade, Escape, Survive
The player is a rookie pilot in Ikeya, when the Shivans strike (NB: set at time of FS2). Player has to fight in a guerilla war to survive until GTVA support can arrive.
NB: not the most original scenario, it'd be the missions that would have to make it effective - replacing standard attack / escort / defend missions with more subtle ambushes, feints, and hectic evacs. Heavy use of nebulas and asteroid field, as these are ideal to hide / ambush within. Also use of booby trapped cargo crades within these, kamikaze training drones, etc
NB2: my initial idea was a TV-war set campaign, where the player would further handicapped with primitive sensors and weapons... i.e. making it a lot harder and more edgy
NB3: Shivans did attack through Ikeya in FS1, IIRC, so plausible in that sense
NB4: It would be nice to be able to limit the players weapons & reinforcements finitely, based on performance & difficulty level... player should be very much alone.
Smugglers' Run
The player is an escort pilot working on a smuggler freighter who is hired to deliver a mysterious cargo to Polaris. Polaris is subject to civil unrest & terrorism, and Admiral Bosche's 6th fleet has been sent to enforce martial law.
The player discovers - at the rendezvous - that they have been carrying a cargo of biological weapons intended for a terrorist act by NTF agents on Polarises Capital Planet. The player and his freighter barely escape the NTf turning on them (removing witnesses), and turn to the GTVA 6th fleet to help them... only to find out that the 6th fleet is in league with the NTF.
After an abortive attempt to stop the NTF terrorists (attacking a decoy convoy instead of the real one...), the player has to reach an Arcadia, sneak in and send a message to the GTVA HQ. During this time period, massive terrorist attacks take place in Polaris CP, giving Bosch an excuse to send in troops.
The player sends the message succesfully, and the 6th fleet ships still loyal to the GTVA begin to engage the NTF (this is when the player gets their first assistance). bosch is forced into a bloody coup rather than a contrived military dictatorship, and the civil war begins as the player escapes along with the 6th fleet survivors (the few ships still loyal to the GTVA).
NB1: this was conceived as a mod whereby there would be both a new flyable freighter (alal Millenium Falcon), which also had a small drone fighter that bolted onto the underside. Aspects of the story would obviously need to be changed to make this modless. In particular, the freighter would not by flyable (as it would be unfeasible to survive dogfighting in a Triton / Elysium / Poseidon / Argo)
A possible solution is basing the player at least partly on an Arcadia, or a simple mod to add a fighterbay to a cargo pod used on a Triton. A possibly neater one is to set it over 24 hours / near real time - i.e. long enough to justify the player being in the same ship and 'active' for that period.
NB2: Intended to have strong characterisation of the 2 other 'pilots' - the captain of the players freighter, and also another pilot / gunner / engineer persona. This interrelationship would be key. If you wanted new anis, could just replace the Vasudan ones (unlikely to be required for this campaign) with some vidcapped from,well, any suitable source. (big maybe)
NB3: Hopefully fleshing out the NTF origins and tactics...how they were able to take control in a coup d'etat
NB4: I lost the complete synopsis and mission plan for this, so this is unfortunately vague. IIRc I had an 8-mission draft with a nice bit of political/historical reference built in.
NB5: Neat spin could be to have the player as a Vasudan... given how much the NTF hates them, it'd certainly lead to some interesting dialogue. Justification for hiring them could be simply that it is a good way to diver suspicion, or to change it so the player is simply assigned as an escort to a GTVA cargo ship carrying a diplomatic package for a covert rendez-vous.
A Rush of Blood to the Head
GTVI / SOC sends in covert recon fighters into Shivan space prior to 'Into the Lions Den'. Recon fighters work to sabotage the Shivans and win time to evacuate Capella.
NB1: Er... needs more story.
NB2: I actually came up with this idea wondering what ship picked up the player at the end of 'Into the Lions Den' after they returned to the nebula - and what it's operations would be
NB3: The necessary mods for this are, to a degree, done. the 'mini-carrier' is in a modeldump somewhere - with everything done bar conversion IIRC - the (Icarus) fighter was released when Reci went belly up - albiet it needs interface. Both were shown in a render that used to be on the Reci site ('A Rush of blood to the Head' - attempt at a nebula)
EDIT; I have one really detailed outlline for a small campaign done, which has no (essential) mods, but would need minor revisions to remove any references to such. It's actually a bloody good story of duplicity and hidden agendas....which makes me somewhat reluctant to publicly release it. I don;t have it handy at the mo, anyways... but will later.
Here's another idea. Although I warn you, it may be a bit cliched...
An alternate take on the Great War. The Terrans won in 10 years and conquered the Vasudan systems. All that's left of the Vasudans are some bands of renegades. Now four years later, the Shivans come. Without the two sides working together, the Lucifer fleet begins to lay waste in typical Shivan fashion. Eventually, the Terrans and Vasudans work together, however its too late to save Earth or Vasuda. The Lucifer is eventually destroyed by some cunning plan.
This would use the FSPort, so I would count on this being a more advanced one.
Karajoma asked for perhaps a larger campaign based on the fleet devasted at Epsilon Pegasi. I'll need some help correcting ship names whereever applicable.
Mission one takes place as per normal. Alpha one plays part of the 44th Iron Fist's Space Superiority Squadron, based onboard the GVD Toeris, one of the 6th Fleet's two Orion Class Destroyers inside the Epsilon Pegasi system. Alpha wing is on routine patrol of the system. The Toeris is being escorted by the GTCv Hawkwood, the GTCv Parapet, the GVCv Nebtuu and the GTC Explorer. They are currently on the lookout for pirates and are also aiding in escorting a large civilian convoy (consisting of several transports and freighters - a few of them Vasudan) from Epsilon Pegasi into Capella. Cue comms chatter between Alpha 3 and Beta 1 (the latter of whom is a Vasudan pilot attached out to the Toeris). Basic chatter about how it is being the only Vasudan on a Terran destroyer and basic back-and-forth arguments. The Vasudan pilot points out that he isn't the only one here, and the GVCv Nebtuu does point out that they are here as well. The Captain of the Explorer pipes in and asks them to keep quite.
Then of course, pirates jump in and attack the convoy. Alpha and beta wings have to engage and destroy. The pirates go for only the Vasudan transports and freighters, along with the GVCv Nebtuu; but are rebuffed by Alpha 1. Mission debriefing mentions how odd this is; but nothing more. Alpha 3 and beta 1 MUSt survive the mission.
Mission two doesn't see the NTF revolution just yet - but suggests hints of it.
The Toeris completes its escort and all the civilian freighters jump out. They are about to jump out when a signal comes in from the GTD Repulse and Rear Admiral Koth - they are under massive attack by pirates. A conversation ensues between the captain of the Toeris and Admiral Koth.
The Captian of the Toeris asks what is going on, and questions about the assault, but Admiral Koth just keeps giving excuses about lack of information and some such. the conversation starts to get fierce but finally the Captain of the Toeris agrees and jumps out. But the mission isn't over just yet. The GTC Explorer and the GVCv Nebtuu have remained behind to help escort another group of civilians that are to arrive soon. They do arrive, followed by more bombers and fighters, all of which focus their attacks on the Nebtuu. When the Nebtuu asks for the Explorer to give covering AAA fire, the Explorer gives an excuse saying that all power relays have had a massive failiure and that they are dead in the water. Alpha wing finally manages to throw off the assault. All ships depart as they recieve a signal from the GTD Teoris. Note: Alpha 3 and Beta 1 must survive this mission.
Mission three is the betrayal. When the GVCv Nebtuu and Explorer arrive on the scene; they appear just before the GTD Teoris, which is right behind them. Ahead is Admiral Koth's ship, but no sign of the pirates. Surrounding the Repulse are several bombers, cruisers, corvettes and.......the Iceni.
When the Nebtuu asks what is going on, and what is the Iceni, Admiral Bosch replies, stating that Neo Terra has no place for Vasudans; and they should retreat immediately or be destroyed. He offers a choice to the terran pilots: either join or die. The main reason Alpha three and Beta 1 has to survive is for this mission: the true betrayal happens between both, when Alpha three attacks Beta 1. Cue comments from Beta 1 how they had worked alongside each others for 'years' yet how can Alpha 3 just turn on him like that. Cue general hatred/extremist reply against Vasudans and death scream from Beta 1. Various fighters take friendly and hostile IFFs accross the board, and Alpha one has to take down all hostiles and survive till the Toeris returns. Protection of the Nebtuu is secondary; but its still an objective.
When the Toeris finally arrives, the Captain confronts Koth, asking him how he could do this to the GTVA and conversations flowing with shock and fear. Mention that Koth worked with teh captain of the Toeris personally for several years; and how could he betray him, of all his friends. Bosch is the only one who replies that he is doing this for humanity, and orders Koth to open fire on the Toeris. Koth hesitates, unsure what to do, faced with one of his friends. Then Bosch reminds him this was what he had signed on to do; humanity's future is at stake, and unless they made a stand here and now, the dream of Neo Terra would never be realized. Bosch then reminds him coldly of what the GTVA have done for Koth and his family.
this fuels Koth onwards, and he coldly obeys, and opens fire (perhaps add a little 'I'm sorry.' bit here). The Toeris doesn't stick around, it and the Nebtuu jump out as the Explorer and other ships that came with it turn traitor and attack it. Neo Terra has arrived in Epsilon Pegasi.
Onto Mission four.
Mission four takes place with the Toeris on the run. At every corner, the fleet (consisting of the GTD Toeris, the GTCv Parapet and the GVCv Nebtuu) are hitting into and running from NTF Blockades and forces of varying sizes and magnitudes. The NTD Repulse has apperantly not chased them just yet, focusing more on getting the Iceni out of the system. The Main assault itself hasn't begun (as witnessed in the main campaign) and this mission focuses more just before it. NTF Units have defected from the 6th Fleet and more are pouring in from Deneb and Alpha Centauri. As it is, almost 40% of the fleet is in the hands of the NTF, and with forces pouring in, the odds don't look good.
With a damaged ship and a demoralized crew; the Captain of the Toeris has made a plan. The Toeris and the corvettes are of little use on their own, with little or no support from smaller craft and supplies. The first priority is on getting re-enforcements.
For this mission, it is in the form of a small group of cruisers that managed to avoid the NTF conflict so far. They have sent out a distress signal out requesting for immediate assistance. The mission is simple - Alpha wing has to go in, make contact with the cruisers and inform them of the situation. The Cruisers in question are the GTC Templar (Aeolus), the GTC Rampart (Leviathan) and the GTC Rogue (Fenris). All are holding position for now, next to a medical frigate that had come under assault from the NTF. The Cruisers communicate with the GTD Toeris and say that they are ready to move once the frigate has fixed it's engines. Alpha wing is ordered to protect them as per normal. You eventually get trouble, but then, this is freespace, waht do you expect? :p
The mission ends when an NTF Corvette jumps in (The NTCv Hawkwood) along with even more fighters and bombers. It opens fire on the frigate (cue message of 'oh the humanity!' or 'how descpicable' and such) and Alpha is ordered to retreat with the cruisers to the Toeris. The cruisers will play an important role in the next mission - which is a run on an NTF supply depot.
Mission five is done at the other end of the Epsilon Pegasi system. Admiral Koth has now turned his efforts into hunting down the GTD Toeris and it's small fleet. However, after the initial attack and betrayal by Koth, supplies are running low and the Toeris needs spare parts, food and water to keep on running. Contact with Command was re-established for a short while before it was lost again. Re-enforcements are on the way, and would be there within 36 hours - but the Toeris cannot wait that long, and with Koth hot on their heels, he would catch up to them long before the re-enforcements do.
Admiral Toeris says he has a plan to strike back at the NTF, and maybe stop Koth as well. But before they can start, they need the supplies present at this Depot. Scans revealed that it is gaurded by two cruisers, the NTC Majestic and the NTC Reef, along with several wings of fighters. The Depot itself consists of an Acardia Class Installation, several transports and a field of Cargo Containers.
Alpha wing will be going in first to Nuetralize all the fighters. Once that is done, the GTC Templar, the GTC Rogue and the GTC Rampart will jump in along with Gamma wing's bombers to take on the cruisers. During this time, Alpha wing has to go through the cargo and scan to see which one contains the cargo required. The cargo will be present in only three containers out of the entire bunch, and freighters will be dipatched to collect it once the scanning is done. But this is the more interesting twist here - a transmission is recieved from a transport on the other side of the station. It is from a group of civilian hostages being held by the NTF. They are the only survivors from a battle between NTF and GTVA forces elsewhere, and Koth had ordered them taken in rather than nuetralized. The transport is on auto-pilot and set to dock with the station within a few minutes, where marines would board and them take them into custody. Alpha one is ordered to terminate the auto-pilot (read: scan) onboard the transport. As soon as he's done however, a wing of fighters are launched from the station to intercept the transport and destroy it. Of course, Alpha 1 intercepts and they go kaplooie. The mission ends almost immediately after the transport departs, when Koth's destroyer pops in to stop the assault. Everyone jumps out, running like heck!
Mission six sees Alpha one back onboard the Toeris. The raid on the depot is declared a total success. The civilians have a rather interesting story to tell the Toeris. Koth's raid has been going on throughout Epsilon Pegasi, destroying GTVA forces left and right, leaving the Teoris's small fleet as the last remaing bastion of strength the GTVA has here. Losses of the fleet are estimated at 75%, a devastating blow to the 6th fleet. But interestingly enough, wherever Koth has been involved in battles that has Civilians inside of them, he has captured them rather than allow them be killed, and made sure that the ships acting under his command do not do the same. The Captain of the Toeris says this is one of the main reasons for his plan, which as unbelievable as it sounds, is to convince Admiral Koth to surrender. With re-enforcements less than twenty hours away, they are going to have to slow down Koth's destroyer long enough for them to get away. As of the moment, Koth himself is chasing down the Toeris, not trusting the task to any of his other ships, as the exact size of the Toeris's fleet is unknown to them.
A strike is planned against the chasing destroyer - which is just one jump behind them now. Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta wings will jump in near the Destroyer, with the main objectives being to disable the following systems: Navigation and Sensors. Disabling the Engines is not recommended since the Captain wants Koth to keep the chase himself - rather than dispatch the massive fleet at his command, which the Toeris would never survive against (but Koth doesn't know that).
Mission six is a success of both subsystems are disabled. Of course, make it tough for Alpha to do so. Koth has been delayed a few hours, giving the Toeris just enough time to make a run all the way to nearby Enif station.
Mission seven doesn't take place near Enif station - its at the other side of the planet in fact. The Toeris and Alpha wing jumps in, only to find an NTF force of two corvettes, a cruiser and a wing of bombers waiting for them. A fierce battle ensues, and the NTF ships fall as they are outnumbered massively. But the Toeris takes a direct hit to the engines and they go down. Alpha must not gaurd the Toeris from several cruisers, corvettes and bombers as they jump in to take it out. Then finally, Koth himself comes in and opens fire on the Corvettes and Cruisers (but not the Destroyer itself. note: The Parapet, Nebtuu and Rampart all have to survive as they appear later in the main campaign). The battle ends when the GTCv Hawkwood sends a distress signal regarding a large, unknown ship before the signal terminates. Seconds later, the Colossus jumps in, right in-between Koth's destroyer and the Toeris. Koth retreats immediately; while the Toeris is ordered to stand down for the moment.
Debriefing mentions facts about the battle elsewhere in hte system, and the possible plan to lure Koth out from hiding. But the captian of the Toeris says he has a different idea instead, one which has a more peacefull resolution. Cue Mission eight.
Mission eight is simple, very simple actually. The captain of the Toeris knows one of Koth's hiding spots, and manages to track him down for a final showdown. The Toeris is alone, and here against Command's orders. The Repulse is alone, without any fighter cover or any other ships. They are still repairing damage which the Colossus did to it. The guns are off-line when the Toeris jumps in, and Koth muses how the Toeris has come to finish him off when he's down. The Captain of the Toeris says he isn't here to kill Koth, he never was. What follows is a long conversation and argument between Koth and the Captain of the Toeris - who tries his best to convince Koth in ending this Massacre; he brings out everything, including the friendship he had shared with Koth in his earlier years. When the main guns come back online on the Repulse, the Captain refuses to open fire, and instead disarms his guns, throwing his fate and their friendship entirely into Koth's hands. Koth ends up being surprised and speechless - but it works in a sense.
Koth then says he has no choice - and then says why.
The reason he defected was not because of his hatred of the Vasudans - it was what Bosch told him. It is revealed that in an attempt to get Koth to defect, Bosch told him everything of his plans - plans which convinced Koth to help Bosch and the NTF, for the sake of humanity - the very same reason that Bosch initially created the NTF. He has little choice but to fight. The Captian of the Toeris tries to convince him to tell him the plan - Koth agrees, and sends a classified packet of data directly to the Captain.
The Captain has almost got Koth to change sides when the signal comes in - the Rampart has been spotted attacking the Majestic and the Refute; and to save both Koth has to jump in and help them. Koth is surprised, thinking the Captain had betrayed him. He then opens fire and then jumps out to engage the Rampart....the debriefing mentions how Koth went up against the Colossus, and how Command might just court-martial the Captain of the Toeris for disobeying orders. If you want to extend it, mention Bosch's plan and how the Captain intends to act on it,otherwise cue end of campaign.