Date: 30 May 2014 01:03 Title: The Reaper and the Red Menace
I like very much that this is written as a news article. The requirements of a journalistic piece are different from those of a short story.
It also works quite well to give the ship and her Captain both a nickname. I like that the Captain is known as "the reaper" and makes members of organized crime syndicates quell at the mention of her or her ship, aka "The red menace".
This almost has an "untouchables" feel to it, which makes it all the more enjoyable. But, unfortunately, organized crime still exists, though they took down perhaps the largest of the syndicates, as evidenced by the fact that those criminals who remained, raised the bounty on Scanlon and her ship from four million to six million credits.
This was a fantastic read, and very enjoyable. Well Done!
Date: 05 Sep 2013 09:04 Title: The Reaper and the Red Menace
Very well written article. It did have a very newsie feel to it, which made reading it somewhat difficult because I'm not a huge fan of the news...but then, for a fiction writer, to try and write something that is supposed to be a very factual-based piece, and try to keep the more descriptive wording and fluff out of it, must have been difficult as well, so REALLY well done. The Currituck looks like fun; especially liked the comment about the ship possibly intentionally making their shields flare red just to keep up the nickname and reputation. I wonder though, given their very...liberal approach with pirates...if they're either outside of normal Starfleet, or if they ride the line separating "following orders" and "going rogue." Could be a very interesting series to read up on if there's more (just hit this thanks to the random button). Really good story though, very much deserving of the win.
Author's Response: I went with the thought that Currituck is constantly at the edge of things, like an admiral says "we got pirates, go get 'em", and people can't argue with the methods because she does such a good job. This was a one-off for the main universe I write in, so there isn't much else to it. Maybe I'll expand on it some day. :)
Date: 13 Nov 2009 02:26 Title: The Reaper and the Red Menace
Very nice how you follow the formatting of a news article--not only is the formatting in the header right, but you definitely seem to have the inverted-pyramid structure down. That said, though, you definitely have an alien perspective in here, in that the reporter does not seem to believe in impartiality the way that our media once did--they don't even make a pretense of it.
(Judging from the colorful language they use here: "She treats those seeking reward for her death with even more ferocity than the ones she is sent to hunt down. An attacking ship will be sliced to almost literal ribbons above being blown out of the stars outright.")
In some ways that's a good thing...better to be known as partisan than to pretend impartiality and not deliver it, perhaps. ;-)
Anyway, it's really neat to see how the doings of Federation ships affect the worlds they come into contact with, from their perspective!!
Oh...and one other note. The whole "Common Era" thing STILL rubs me the wrong way, though in the TNG political-correctness era, I would unfortunately expect it to continue, as you have it. I think either the entire date system should be ditched if the origin of the current one is too bothersome for some. (And that's why I like the "stardate" system, however nonsensical it is--at least it is honest in its intention.)
Author's Response: Not crazy about the "Common Era" thing myself, but there ya go. :/ *shrugs* I like this piece because we get to see what's happening "out there" beyond what's going on with the main cast. And to get around "there's trouble and Enterprise is the only ship in the sector/quadrant" syndrome. :p
Date: 24 Jul 2009 17:30 Title: The Reaper and the Red Menace
Very nice. You have me intrigued, want to see more about this Captain in the future.
Author's Response: She has at least one story in the works. Thanks for reading! :)
Date: 20 Jul 2009 20:24 Title: The Reaper and the Red Menace
Speaking as a former pro-journalist, I thought this had the real feel of a well-written news story. Very well done, and an excellent submission for this challenge!
Author's Response: Thanks! :D
Date: 15 Jul 2009 18:45 Title: The Reaper and the Red Menace
Well of course Capt. Scanlon was unavailible for request. Somehow I doubt that one of Sutek's proteges would be the type to seek headlines. Love the idea behind the 'Red Menance' nickname and of course how it is that Scanlon has a tag of her own. I wonder how Sutek would respond to that concept! And of course, I have to wonder what does Sydney make of hearing of the others and their exploits and just how she might match up to their deeds and Sutek's expectations?
Author's Response: Sutek would probably respond with the Vulcan equivalent of a shrug. He's got his own book of nicknames! :p
Originally, I was going to wrap another story around this where a rival from the Academy sent Sydney a mess of these articles as soon as they heard Sydney had made captain. The last thing this person asked was, "can you match that?" Sydney sends back, "watch me" or something like that.
Date: 13 Jul 2009 22:25 Title: The Reaper and the Red Menace
Great news report on a fearsome Starfleet crew bringing justice to the forces of evil. And if she's got a bounty on her head, that can only mean she's doing her job.
Author's Response: Yep! Thanks for reading! :)
Date: 13 Jul 2009 19:31 Title: The Reaper and the Red Menace
Neat. You have actual stories about Captain Lori?
Author's Response: Not yet. She'll get at least one when I get to doing a collection of stories about Sutek's protégés.