Sentinels of Peace: Cowboy Diplomacy

Risk-taking is something that everyone is forced to do at least once in their lives, no matter who they are. Some avoid taking risks unless absolutely required while others see risk-taking as a hobby and engage in it with a frequency that might seem insane to the average onlooker. Even the most respected individuals in Federation history, at times, have been accused of engaging in ‘Cowboy Diplomacy’ while attempting to bring about a favorable conclusion to events. In this case, taking a huge risk to resolve a situation that affects a large number of people… or governments in the most extreme cases.

This is a fiction competition in which participants are asked to engage in Cowboy Diplomacy. As risk is inherent with life aboard a starship, most do not actively seek to ‘up the ante’. That, however, is only when everything goes according to plan and the fate of the Federation isn’t hanging in the balance… at least from the perspective of those involved. But how would your character react if the fate of the Federation did hang in the balance and taking a major risk was the only way to see the crisis averted? What lengths would your character be willing to go through to ‘save the day’?

Criteria

• In no more than 3000 words, participants will write a scenario in which their character is forced to do something crazy, risky, or downright insane to escape a situation that would threaten the lives of trillions. For the sake of continuity, the scenario will be a holodeck simulation, and the imagined scenario strictly a 'what if' one. We're not trying to break the continuum here.
• Entries will be evaluated on their overall creativity, the constructiveness of the 'what if' scenario, and how the character pushes themselves well beyond the boundaries of what would normally be acceptable for them in order to reach a conclusion they could live with. In the event of a tie, spelling and grammar will also be used as a grading metric.
• Entries should be submitted as a Word document or PDF via link to a Google Document, Google Drive folder, or other such system. Make sure that the sharing settings are set to 'anyone with the link can view.' Submissions the judges cannot open will not be graded.