Operation Pitchfork - Official History [draft]

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Operation Pitchfork - Official History [draft]

January 14, 2015, 04:34:49 pm

Operation Pitchfork - Special Report to UEE Division of Executive Services

INTRODUCTION

Frequently in human history, it takes the worst of situations to bring out the best in Humanity, both individuals and groups. Our first effective response to the Vanduul was certainly no exception, but not from the channels one would expect. No, Mankind's reply to the alien aggressors was not delivered by the vast UEE starfleet with its mighty Bengal-class carriers and elite squadrons of F7A Hornets, but rather a rag-tag, ad-hoc collection of volunteers from across inhabited space. Starfarer and Reclaimer crews found themselves willingly refueling and repairing, and escorted by, the very pirates who had sought to prey upon them days, weeks or months before. Pirate Cutlasses and Advocacy Avengers found themselves forming ad-hoc fighter squadrons together, and UEE soldiers similarly set their differences aside with outlaw militiamen and others they'd previously fought—an alliance of breadth not seen since we were a collection of squabbling nations on Old Earth a millennium ago. And it would be an injustice to not recognize the contribution of other allies: the Xi'An contributed a few of their strange and remarkable Khartu-Al fighters and training our pilots how to fly them, a number of Banu merchants provided logistical support and even many of our old and long-crushed enemies the Tevarin joined the cause, a last hurrah for their dying species and its proud warrior traditions.

All of these brave men and women went in knowing that their odds of ever seeing loved ones again were slim if not outright none, and that even if they did survive they risked being branded traitors by the Empire—they knew that their best possible outcome was to die fighting rather than be taken captive and brutalized by the barbaric Vanduul, and yet they set course for the Orion system anyway. They dubbed this unlikely armada “Operation Pitchfork,” and themselves “Forkers”—and they fought with a courage and tenacity that any UEE Admiral would be proud to see from his or her command.

The author is obligated to note a certain degree of bias in this history—it was not my privilege to fight as one of the Forkers having been ordered by Pitchfork Command to return to Earth before the end of the final battle, but I got to know them well first having been assigned to infiltrate and report back on them for Executive Services, then in tandem with that serving the Forker cause as their Command Historian and Archivist. That firsthand experience, plus the Pitchfork Command archive and what evidence could be gathered from the Battle of Armitage's aftermath, are the basis of this report. These men and women became good friends, and I still grieve at their loss—truly, they were a star that burned bright and too brief.

[insert history here; will be written after Pitchfork plays out]

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

The following are this analyst's recommendations:
1. The Operation Pitchfork task-force in its entirety should be treated as a temporary, ad-hoc strike group of the UEE Armed Forces for purposes of pensions, decorations and medical and death benefits. More than once they lent military support to our carrier strike groups in Tiber and other sectors, and many UEE military personnel credit Forkers with saving them in hopeless situations.
2. Any surviving Forker who desires UEE Citizenship should either receive it, or at least be put on the fast track to it. These men and women flew off to face certain death to save the rest of us, and if that's not worthy of Citizenship this analyst has no idea what is.
3. Any individual wanted by UEE justice who gave their life in Operation Pitchfork should receive a posthumous pardon—many of “the worst of us” were among our finest fighters against the alien menace. Similarly, any surviving Forker wanted for crimes against the UEE should be offered a one-time “clean slate” amnesty—by no means a lifetime free pass for the future, but a simple “confess your sins, keep your nose clean and stay on the Straight and Narrow from now on, and your past misdeeds will be forgiven.”

To be sure, this is a very generous—and certainly not inexpensive—proposal, but as the Forkers fought For All Mankind with no expectation of even survival let alone reward, and gave service worthy of the UEE military's finest traditions, they ought to be honored accordingly.

[signed]
"John Smith"
Junior Analyst, Division of Executive Services
Command Historian, Operation Pitchfork Task Force

Re: Operation Pitchfork - Official History [draft]

Reply #1 – January 14, 2015, 04:35:54 pm

So, that's setting up the framework, and showing you how I write... Anything big that I'm going to need to watch for clashes with Official SC Lore on?

Re: Operation Pitchfork - Official History [draft]

Reply #2 – January 21, 2015, 01:00:52 pm

I really like this background and i cant see any any clashes simply because there is not much known about the vanduul apart from they travel in all male hordes took the orion from the UEE and love knives. So the possibilitys for new lore to come from Pitchfork are high and hopefully we can learn a lot more about the vanduul after Pitchfork if the devs are kind and acknowledge that this could well be a universe changing event and write it into the lore because that would be awesome.

Re: Operation Pitchfork - Official History [draft]

Reply #3 – January 31, 2015, 06:44:48 pm

Quote from: Paws on January 21, 2015, 01:00:52 pm

I really like this background and i cant see any any clashes simply because there is not much known about the vanduul apart from they travel in all male hordes took the orion from the UEE and love knives. So the possibilitys for new lore to come from Pitchfork are high and hopefully we can learn a lot more about the vanduul after Pitchfork if the devs are kind and acknowledge that this could well be a universe changing event and write it into the lore because that would be awesome.

Just to address this topic while I am at the office.

It has been mentioned that the dev team will be getting the UEE to try and assist in the retaking of Orion under UEE control at some point in the future, but it will be over time.

Re: Operation Pitchfork - Official History [draft]

Reply #4 – February 09, 2015, 09:03:37 pm

Good job, this was a very nice read! I like the idea of a constantly evolving lore to go along with the op

Re: Operation Pitchfork - Official History [draft]

Reply #5 – February 10, 2015, 09:44:17 pm

Part of my process: I write the pieces I can first to create a skeleton, then once I have enough data I just go and free-write starting from one "bone" or another. (For fiction, though, I like broad, sweeping, epic narratives then drilling down to "inside the character's head" detail--Tom Clancy in his prime was a heavy influence.) The end vision for this, though, is more the tone of a formal report or Position Paper.

I could show similar but farther-along work with my eventual Masters thesis (a look at Douglas MacArthur's mind through autistic eyes, probing the possibility that he may have been one of us); that piece of work I can pass along upon request by PM, but will need time to redact some personal info out of the acknowledgments and such.

Re: Operation Pitchfork - Official History [draft]

Reply #6 – February 10, 2015, 10:00:26 pm

Quote from: Diamondback on February 10, 2015, 09:44:17 pm

Part of my process: I write the pieces I can first to create a skeleton, then once I have enough data I just go and free-write starting from one "bone" or another. (For fiction, though, I like broad, sweeping, epic narratives then drilling down to "inside the character's head" detail--Tom Clancy in his prime was a heavy influence.) The end vision for this, though, is more the tone of a formal report or Position Paper.

I could show similar but farther-along work with my eventual Masters thesis (a look at Douglas MacArthur's mind through autistic eyes, probing the possibility that he may have been one of us); that piece of work I can pass along upon request by PM, but will need time to redact some personal info out of the acknowledgments and such.

Makes me think I should draft up a Writers Lounge in the Art's Board, so if you plan to draft plenty of Lore or articles of the nature you can do so and also take up requests that will be public and share and host from here on the site.

But, personally I like the idea, I know Ben the Rogue was working on a sorta drafting lore for when we took in the drafted letter to CIG and after I suggested it through everyone else that if we kept it up we could have plenty of articles.

So if you want a section in the artists board just message my Primary Account. JackDaniels

Re: Operation Pitchfork - Official History [draft]

Reply #7 – February 12, 2015, 01:46:18 am

Wow, if this is the introduction, I can´t wait for the entire history!

Of course, I can´t wait for the operation to go live either, lol.

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