• The Delay:

• We had planned to originally deliver it in January, but the lack of supplies and my sheer exhaustion from the holidays cause me to have to cancel my planned trip to see friends in California. What lore event happened at that time to justify a delay? I'm thinking the virus thingy happened about that time, didn't it? I might go with that.


• In February I took the letter with me to England to deliver it to Squadron 42. Unfortunately, their office was closed to visitors because they were still getting set up. Do we have anything in lore that was happening with the UEE that might be used to justify a delay?


• Knightcrawler was going to take the letter to the Santa Monica office. After I received the knife, we changed the plans to meeting up as a delegation to deliver the goods. Unfortunately, Knightcrawler suffered a automobile accident, and then his job moved him to a new site. For the lore, I'm justifying that with this: Anthony Guardic (Knightcrawler's character's name) failed to make the rendezvous because a ship collided with his Constellation, the Indigo Twilight, on his way there.


• The earthquake in LA and the subsequent aftershocks force me to divert to my friends' apartment in California instead of the CIG offices. Cabalcat and Lacrifish were kind enough to put me up for the weekend, so I'd like to mention that in the story as well. I'm just not sure how to make an earthquake delaying me into a lore event.

• The Letter

• The letter was decided upon because we wanted a RP letter writing campaign for Operation Pitchfork to CIG. This is pretty easy, because I'm just saying that many Pitchforkers were discussing how they had sent messages to the UEE detailing their frustration with the situation, and they were all equally frustrated with the lack of response to the growing OPPF movement. So a committee was formed to write an open letter to the UEE and all well-known media outlets.


• The letter was physically written by Cabalcat, so once I get her RP name and details, I'm going to include her in a brief mention for helping me get the letter properly inked.

• The Knife

• The knife was forged by LelesPL, so before it arrived, we brainstormed a bit on the lore for it. This is mostly for him to voice any suggestions or critiques for the lore, but anyone else is welcome to make comments as well.


• The knife was taken when a Vanduul boarding team was repelled from the smuggler Adam Sikon's (LelesPL's) Freelancer, the Winged Hussar.


• The knife is NOT the main Vanduul combat knife. It's a utility knife that is also used for finishing off enemies who are down and out. I know CIG has their own lore version of the Vanduul combat knife on the way, so this way we're not stepping on any toes.


• The handle of the knife is horn. It's explained through the lore that the handle is horn because the original one was shot off during the boarding action.


• I (the courier) received the knife when Adam Sikon approached me with it at the conference where the letter was drafted up. He felt it was important that the UEE leadership be reminded of the very real and the very physical threat the Vanduul pose to to humans everywhere along the boarder.

• The Courier

• The courier is I, Benjamin the Rogue. I'm only going to go by the name of Benjamin for the duration of this story, refusing to give any other identifiers as to my identity. I'm flying a Freelancer named Nothing But Time.


• Most of my story will be shared in the "Delay" section of the lore, since just getting to the CIG offices was most of the story.


• When I presented the knife and the letter, I unexpectedly got a chance to speak to the High Secretary himself. I spoke of the commitment of the Pitchfork movement to free themselves of the Vanduul threat once and for all, and of the great good the UEE could accomplish by supporting such a movement of united humanity.


• Because I was also delivering a package on behalf of The Skjaldborg, I'm also going to make a mention of that in the lore. After delivering the Operation Pitchfork package to the High Secretary's office, I proceeded to spend some time in the capital spreading the good word of Borf with mead and meat.

[DATE HERE]

Earth - Sol System
Imperial Senate Hall
Honorable High-Secretary Sharrad

Mr. High-Secretary,

We write this letter on the anniversary of the Vanduul attack on Boro 185 years ago in order to ask the United Empire of Earth for its endorsement and support for what has widely become known as "Operation Pitchfork." We, the men and women who have rallied to its cause, request you present this letter and its contents to the Senate for its consideration.

It is not as beggars that we come to you, but as loyal sons and daughters of humanity, from all walks of life. However, our task is great, and our resources are limited. The United Empire of Earth, in its role as both home and protector of humanity, could advance our efforts by leaps and bounds. What we strive to accomplish in months, the Senate could manage in a day's session. From temporarily waiving docking fees to directly subsidizing fuel and armaments for our operations.

However, we ask for more than simply economic support.

Preferred jump-point and transit rights for our pilots and supporters. Access to military intelligence in the Orion and Tiber sectors. A call for volunteers on the Navy's ranks. And because we go forth as a united force for humanity, a limited and temporary pardon to any outlaw elements of Operation Pitchfork while they support the operation so that they may be able to freely aid our cause. There are a myriad of ways in which Imperial aid for our cause could help save lives, all of which would require minimal effort and expenditure on your part.

We shall not falter, though we fly into unknown and uncharted space against a deadly foe. What we will aim to accomplish has never been attempted before. They do not expect us, they have not prepared for us, they will not stop us. We shall bring the battle to them where they reside, where we will prove - once and for all - that humanity is not to be preyed upon. That humanity will fight back. That humanity will prevail.

Operation Pitchfork is not meant as - nor will it be - an endeavor for any personal or corporate interests. What we aim to accomplish is not meant to enrich or glorify any one group or individual, but for all of humanity as a whole. We act today because no one before us has, and we fight now so that no one after us is forced to. Whatever the result of this endeavor, the men and women who have joined together for this righteous cause have only one thing in their minds: The future and well-being of the entire human race.

While we wish that you would grant us your assistance, know that we are many, and we are adamant in our resolve. Operation Pitchfork will come to be, with or without Imperial sanction. Far too long have we endured the Vanduul onslaught. Far too long have we allowed those wretched leeches to gorge themselves on the lives of our innocent and brave.

No longer.

The Men and Women of Operation Pitchfork.

• Luther nailing the Ninety-Five Theses to Castle Church in Wittenburg leading to the Protestant Reformation.


• The arrival of the letter written by Alexios I Komnenos to Pope Urban II calling for assistance with the Turks who were invading his lands which lead to the first crusade.


• The Olive Branch Petition of the Second Continental Congress to the Empire of Great Britain which was rejected and helped push the start of the American Revolutionary War.

I'm not sure I comprehend why we need two versions.

You mention a "behind the scenes", is this like in-lore top secret information that only a few people will know or is it what actually happened in the real world with the making and sending of the letter? If its the former, then it can't be secret if it's created by us. If its the latter, then what happened happened, no need to write up anything new there.

Some clarification would be welcomed.

In any case. I believe that our best best with the lore (at least regarding the letter) is to be pretty honest about it. Say the truth. Bunch of 'forkers got together and started arguing about what to do. Ask the UEE for help? Don't ask the UEE for help? Ask for this? Ask for that? Send it now, send it later... etc.

As for the delay in delivery... perhaps we could say that the High-Sec was doing a tour through some systems that get raided by the Vanduul in a regular basis and the main idea was to give the letter to him during his tour but that his schedule kept getting changed and that we missed him. Forcing us to chase him all the way down to Earth?

The knife... I don't know. I believe it's pretty clear that the Vanduul are a threat, the main problem is that the threat is believed to be contained to the frontier systems. The purpose of this knife is of course symbolic... but instead of just "reminding the government about the Vanduul threat" it could actually be used as a warning by saying that even Earth is currently under threat. Perhaps... something about the materials used to make the knife... taken from a planet or a ship that was supposedly in the "safe-zone"... something like that.

Just some thoughts;

You could use Lynch Fever for background story, about the delays.

Links to Lynch Fever Stories:
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/spectrum-dispatch/13458-News-Update-Showdown

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/spectrum-dispatch/13499-News-Update-Kaizen

The earthquake delay could be a mining company blowing up asteroids to get closer to the materials they want, and the shock waves damaged your ship in some way to where you had to set down for repairs.

His ship would have been held up as their insurance companies squabbled over who was liable for the repairs. Then Knight was conscripted to haul urgent medications for the viral outbreak, thus unable to complete the journey as planned.

I like this part as well. Knightcrawler, what do you think about that for explaining your company moving you around?

The accident didn't really keep me from going (get a rental a few days later), it was just an IRL frustration I wanted to share. LOL The main thing was just my work schedule of M-F and inability to take any days off for three months. The first person I talked with said I could visit on a Saturday in March during the DFM crunch, but then I got handed off to another person who rejected that approval.

But I do like the idea of an accident delaying my delivery in the story. Hehe. That's way more fun than having trouble with appointments. If we're going with the accident idea and people like the idea of a racer, another idea could involve one of my other ships. Could be I took my M50, Recca, to get to the rendezvous as fast as possible. But someone in a 350r took my haste to mean that I was looking to race. As I slowly started to lose him, he got more desperate, and crashed into me. Fortunately, Benjamin was a determined individual and delivered the letter himself.

#1 and #2 could definitely be covered by the viral outbreak and ensuing multi-system quarantine. Add on a few weeks for assorted jump transit delays, and you'd be set. Just need to figure out which of the affected systems we'd be caught up in.

As for delivering multiple packages, I think it's fairly common for couriers already making a delivery to one destination to take on a second contract for the same system. It dramatically cuts costs and increases profits.

On my phone so I can't really add more (this site is always laggy on my phone, probably because of the chat)