Prompt

• The trip through the Palioxis Cloud between Pharos and the Kiast system itself is a long mixture of short hyperspace jumps, asteroid fields, and tedious sublight flight through astral storms. However, this time something’s a bit off. In the lonely depths of the nebula, alarms begin to chime at the helm of your personal vessel. Two unidentified ships are coming up behind you, weapons hot.

• You were having a pretty good night, nursing your drink and tapping your foot along to the almost-decent band at Happy Landings. Your contact seemed to have stood you up, but if we’re being honest, you expected him to be a dead end anyway. What you weren’t expecting, however, was the sudden press of cold metal against your back. A gruff voice barks, “On your feet, Jedi. You’re coming with us.”

• Nobody was supposed to be at the Temple today. That was the whole point of trekking through the mountains to get here from the Praxeum—some peace and quiet. Whether you were meditating, exploring, training, or just enjoying the weather, your plans for a quiet few hours at the ruins just got cancelled by the squad of heavily armed goons trolling through the Temple complex.

Wherever you were, whatever you’ve been doing, it looks like trouble has found you. The Vauzem Dominion—or someone you’ve wronged who just knows a good opportunity when they see one—has come to get you out of the way, permanently.

Submissions and Grading

• Write a fiction at least 500 words in length with no maximum, outlining a combat skirmish fitting with one of the scenarios outlined above. The primary focus should be on the combat between your character and one or more adversaries.
• Your story should be centered on your Main or Alternative character. Slotted NPCs, Wikipedia NPCs, or other characters that you create or invent to tell your story are not only allowed, but encouraged. However, your narrative should focus around either your Main or Alternative character.
• A snapshot of your Main or Alternative character loadout must be selected and submitted with your entry. Preferred submission format is pdf. Anything in a Google Doc must be exported as a pdf for submission. Grading will be based on the Voice Fiction Rubric, with the caveat that roughly half or more of your story should focus on combat.
• Always ask permission before using someone else's character.
• Explicit content is allowed, but be absolutely sure to uncheck the Publish Your Submission box if your fiction includes non-PG-13 content.

This competition is in the Fiction Bin. Participating in a competition in this bin for the first time awards 4 points from participation to you and your house. Tipping Point: Evade and Resist and Tipping Point: No Such Thing As Luck are also in this bin. Participating in at least one competition in each bin will earn a a bonus of 3 points. See the parent competition for detailed rules.

This competition is worth a relatively high proportion of placement points. Cumulatively, the placements in this competition are worth 10% of placement points.