[Phase 1]: Omega

Omega particles have been detected across the galaxy, activating the Omega Directive. Some starships are on the front lines, their ship’s systems locking down with the Omega Directive until only the captain, bound by law to keep the existence of Omega a secret, lifts the lockdown and gives further orders. Other captains receive classified briefings to race to an afflicted region and either assist in evacuation, or in the safe destruction of the molecules.

Your ship may fall into either category. Write about your crew’s first encounter with the Omega molecules themselves; either as a surprise rocking the ship, or an anticipated threat they are rushing to meet and neutralise. Remember that knowledge of the Omega molecules is restricted, captains alone understanding the threat and the full burden on their crew and ship. This would make for an even more confusing and challenging encounter for junior officers on a runabout team, who can report their findings but never understand what they stumbled upon.

Your story might address one or several of the following questions:
– How does a captain handle their crew being kept in the dark?
– What strain is the crew or a team of junior officers under, being expected to conduct complicated and stressful operations with incomplete information?
– What is the impact of the burden of responsibility on the captain, where failure would mean the loss of warp travel in a whole region?

Criteria

• Your story should be between 1,000 and 2,000 words in length
• The entry should be written in the Echoes of the Tkon Fleet-Wide Mission, and linked to in the submission. While we allow and encourage you to choose a Story from your ongoing Fleet Action fiction, only the single submitted Story will be graded and judged.
• Stories will be graded on 1: Originality within the bounds of the brief; 2: How compelling characters’ reactions are to the crisis and its tensions; 3: How engaging the prose is, including compelling, clear, and evocative writing and accurate grammar and spelling, 4: Adherence to Star Trek and Fleet canon.