Stand for the Crew

"Stand for the Crew" (or Unofficial Literary Challenge #15) was the fifteenth edition of the Star Trek Online Unofficial Literary Challenge, hosted on the Arc Forums. It was the second ULC of Star Trek Online's Season 10.5, for the month of September 2015.

Prompt #1: Minor Duties

"Minor Duties" was suggested by forum user takeshi6. Challenge host StarSword also linked to a thread on doffing as possible inspiration.

We know the various "mission novelizations", where people come up with stories inserting their characters into missions from the game and telling it like an actual story.

But what about the doff missions? Those missions that don't warrant the captain's presence, and simply require a small team of junior officers?

From a team of security officers searching for contraband, to a Klingon warrior having his Honor challenged by a member of one of the great houses, to mining efforts on an unstable asteroid cluster, the possibilities are numerous.

Pick a doff mission. Any doff mission. Determine how it turns out, be it success, critical success, failure, or disaster. Then write a short story, detailing what happens from the perspective of the participating doffs.

Entries

• "Dirty Business" by StarSword (Bait and Switch shared universe, combination of prompts 1 and 2)

Prompt #2: War Correspondent

"War Correspondent" was proposed by challenge host StarSword-C, and requested for the challenge by aten66.

In the grand tradition of press representatives risking life and limb to bring the experiences of soldiers on front lines to the public, your service has seen fit to attach a war correspondent from the Federation News Service or comparable organization to your ship. Was your captain and crew in favor or violently opposed? Was the intrepid reporter an asset or a complication?

Prompt #3: Bad Intelligence

"Bad Intelligence" was proposed by forum user moonshadowdark.

Before your crew can enter the Delta Quadrant, your faction has insisted upon you taking a new bridge officer, designation "Intelligence". This officer's job is to gather intel on the Delta Quadrant and report to "Command". You have a suspicion that this new officer may be a spy, which is an ethical quandary of epic proportions. How do you deal with a crew member you cannot trust?

Entries

• "Bad Intelligence" by Worffan101 (Bait and Switch shared universe)

Appendices

Background information

• Prompt #3 "Bad Intelligence" was a repost of Unofficial Literary Challenge #12 Someone To Remember Them By's Prompt #3, which only received one entry in June 2015.
• The title "Stand for the Crew" is a reference to a line by Worf in DS9: "Soldiers of the Empire", accepting his duties as temporary first officer of IKS Rotarran.

External links

• Unofficial Literary Challenge #15: "Stand for the Crew" on the Arc Forums
  • Discussion thread