Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/April 27, 2010

The Steadfast was an Ardent-class fast frigate in the service of Darth Krayt's Sith Empire during the Second Imperial Civil War, seven years after the Dark Lord overthrew Galactic Emperor Roan Fel at the end of the Fel Empire's war with the Galactic Alliance. In 137 ABY, under the command of Captain Vaclen Tor, the Steadfast was assigned to the Coruscant Third Fleet, which had been tasked with protecting the strategically important planet of Ralltiir. That year, the fleet of the Galactic Alliance Remnant launched a surprise attack on Ralltiir, intending to capture as many of the Third Fleet's ships as possible. Under the command of Admiral Peto Kelsan, the Third Fleet engaged the Alliance forces until the Bastion Second Fleet, aligned with Emperor-in-exile Fel, arrived to bolster the Alliance fleet.

Facing overwhelming numbers, Kelsan surrendered the Third Fleet to Admiral Edouard Fenel, the commander of the Bastion Second Fleet. However, Tor declared from the command center of the Steadfast that he must decline to follow Kelsan's orders to surrender, as it was their duty to ensure the enemy did not capture their ships. In response, Fenel ordered the crew of the Steadfast to rise up and replace Tor, and when that failed, Fenel ordered his entire fleet to open fire on the Steadfast. Refusing to help fire on the now heavily damaged frigate, Kelsan instructed the crews of the Third Fleet to disregard his previous order and to initiate the self-destruct mechanisms on their ships, before using lifepods to evacuate to Ralltiir. When Fenel ordered his ships to fire on the lifepods of the Third Fleet, the commander of the Alliance fleet&mdash;Duros Admiral Gar Stazi&mdash;intervened, protecting the lifepods and escorting the Steadfast, as the frigate's lifepod and self-destruct systems had been damaged. After the battle, under orders from Stazi, Tor and the Steadfast crew were deposited on the surface of Ralltiir, and the Steadfast was given to Fel as a gift.