A.P. Delchi

May 2511. In what would be the decisive battle of the Unification war, General Richard Wilkins of the alliance leads an offensive against the Independent Faction known as the battle of Serenity Valley. This battle results in the defeat and eventual surrender of the Browncoats.

Eventual is said because while those in power were negotiating the surrender of the Browncoats, soldiers on both sides continued to fight and to die. Cut off from support and ordered to lay down arms, thousands of Browncoats were abandoned to their fate.

Against direct orders Captain Christopher Tucker of the cruiser Bohemian Rhapsody convinced by his first mate Arthur Delchi decided to take that fate into their own hands. They flew into Serenity Valley and rescued hundreds of Browncoat soldiers, flying them out of the valley and to safety.

On what was to become their last rescue attempt, the Bohemian Rhapsody was shot down by the Alliance. At the hands of first mate Delchi the ship was guided to a crash landing which took the life of captain Tucker and a good number of the evacuated soldiers. The thirty-six survivors, under the leadership of Arthur Delchi marched for days from the crash site to the safety of the nearest resistance camp. From there the survivors disappeared into the waiting arms of anonymous obscurity. The Bohemian Rhapsody was labeled as a rogue ship, shot down with all hands lost.

Many of the soldiers that were rescued went on to form the Dust Devils. Amongst them the story of the Bohemian Rhapsody circulates to this day. In their honor many observe what is called The Silent March, in which ranks of thirty-six soldiers silently march towards the call of a single voice.

A voice to lead them home.

August 2518

Hull number KAGF-6023 classification Shovelhead, an Independent ship designed for flying deceased soldiers from the battlefield, is sold to Arthur Delchi at auction. He converts the ship into a cargo hauler and registers it with the name "Requiem".

When asked why he chose the name Requiem he had this to say :

" Back on Earth-that-was a requiem was a prayer for the salvation of the soul of the departed. Sometimes they were sung, sometimes it was just words over a body. Either way I figure she's done enough of that for one lifetime, and now she can bring salvation to the souls of the living for a while. "

PLEASE NOTE
Some folks over at the facebook group, and web page " Serenity Valley Smugglers Association " have taken to saying some unkindly things about my person and my material along with my intentions in becoming active in the pre-FFO fan groups. Let me assure everyone that none of my content is ' stolen ', the backstory and artwork I have posted here is original work by myself and a former roomate ( and awesome graphic artist ) from about 5-6 years ago that has been sitting on my web site ( www.delchi.net/requiem ) for about that long. Also I am not "subversive" nor am I trying to steal people or information away from these sites. I proposed to talk about the group and invite people to join in my live radio show but that apparently broke an unwritten rule about posting such things without asking first. How a person is supposed to know when there are no rules posted is a question for the ages, but there ya go.

Don't know what else to say, but feel free to email me at delchi@gmail.com if you have any questions.