The Union Task Force [UTF] is a currently deactivated unit of the LittleBigPlanet Union. It was originally founded as an elite operations group composed of members from across the Union. Its scope originally was for defending the Union from hostile threats and extending the influence of the Union when necessary. Its most recent and largest scale operation was 'Operation Arbor' during the 2022 r/place event on Reddit.
History[]
The Union Task Force was founded near the beginning of the LBPU in 2009 as a task unit of the best of the best in the Union. Commanded by MRLane1 from the H4H Bounty Hunters, the force saw little use except during one online create battle engagement in the RSR War, dubbed the 'Battle of Twisted Forest,' which resulted in a loss for the UTF. After that, President Godman2k7 moved to produce more equipment for the UTF such as tanks, patrol boats and research experimental weapons such as the portable railgun. However, this was of little use against trolls who fought in other ways than simply competition. While interest in weapon development continued, it never contributed to the success of the Union in that era. It is presumed that the UTF was mobilized against high priority H4H targets as well such as K00n3ss alongside the H4H Bounty Hunters. [1]
After the Union collapsed in a schism in 2011, the Union Task Force was dissolved. The New Union adopted a similar task unit dubbed the Union Survival Operations (USO) which was purely for Online Create Battle. It's presumed that the focus in this area is what caused the New Union to collapse, seeing as interest in OCB led to disinterest in politics and more in warfare, leading to the reformation of the Commando Recon Operations.
2013 Refoundation[]
After the LBP Union was 'refounded' in 2013, the Union Task Force was reactivated and placed under the command of Madcrazy_2013HD.
Remnants Union - LBP Union War[]
Propaganda for the UTF created by Huntsman007
During the Remnants Union - LBP Union War, the Union Task Force was deployed for several missions. One of the most notable of these were collective grief reports made by the UTF against Remnants Union levels that violated the LittleBigPlanet Terms of Service.
Judgment-LBP Union Conflict[]
Over the course of the Judgment-LBP Union Conflict, the Union Task Force conducted several grief report-raids which resulted in the deletion of multiple levels belonging to Judgment, a group composed of leaders of former Nazi clan Fallen Republic. The Union Task Force internally referred to the overarching conflict as 'Operation Lunar Storm'.
Visarian-LBP Union Conflict[]
The Union Task Force was involved in several missions during the Visarian-LBP Union Conflict from 2015-2016.[citation needed]
2021 Reformation[]
When the LBP Union was reformed in March 2021 in response to the LittleBigPlanet server outages, the Union Task Force was notably left out of the picture. Since the Union had dramatically changed in shape, scope, and objective, there was no focus on defense against hostile clans. Instead, the Union focused on growth of its website and Discord server to provide news to the community. It wasn't until April 4th, 2022, that the Union Task Force would be reactivated for a brief operation for Reddit's r/place event.
Operation Arbor: Reddit r/place[]
The area where the original tree was destroyed.
On April 1st, 2022, Union Peacekeeper Captain Ezoiar took interest in Reddit's r/place event and made plans independently from the Union to create the Union tree icon on the r/place canvas. After several days, his initial efforts were successful, with him and interested parties creating the tree. They successfully negotiated with r/greenlattice to allow the tree to exist within their sphere of influence on the canvas. However, on April 3rd around 2:00 PM EDT, the tree and a large swathe of Green Lattice territory had been destroyed by a massive force drawing new art over the area. In response, Union Lead Protector M88youngling announced in the LBPU's Discord server that the Union Task Force would be reactivated to "reclaim and defend LittleBigPlanet's place in Internet history". He also set up a reaction role in the Discord server that allowed anyone to enlist in the UTF to get updates and orders on the r/place operation.[2]
The UTF was placed under the command of Ezoiar, who appointed several other commanders including Aeywoo, Arek_Rekas2006_, Oxy, and Potatofarm. They quickly mounted a force of 72 enlistees who aided the creation of a new tree in the northern Green Lattice territory. The UTF was approached by the Drawpile Community to arrange a mutual assistance deal, but this was declined. The UTF instead aligned itself with 'Pound Town' and continued to support the Northern Green Lattice and a few neighboring territories.
The tree and its neighbors.
At some point, during the creation of the new tree and 'r/littlebigplanet' letters, Pound Town created a Sackboy face nearby as a gift to the LBP community in exchange for protection from the Union Task Force.
Organization[]
UTF Kommandos and Grenadiers
The Union Task Force was small, thus meaning that an advanced military ranking order is not very useful and would be counter-productive to its operations. The UTF in 2013-2016 organized into squads of four members. These squads had designated officer commanding them. Above these squads was the UTF commander, who commanded all aspects of the group. He received objectives to complete from the Union Protectors, mainly the President and the Minister of Defense during a time of conflict. The Union Commission (previously the Union Security Council) could also order the UTF's use in the case of a police action being passed.
Recruits were chosen selectively, and then given an informational book on what they would be doing in the UTF. At the end of the book, the recruits were required to fill out a short entrance exam. After submission, the recruit was then evaluated by the UTF. Correctly completing the test does not necessarily mean that they would be admitted to the UTF. The test is meant to clarify misconceptions the reader might have had. They may still be refused entry for any reason.