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BlackAdder's Cantina Space Opera Contest

by BlackAdder

Rated: 13+ · Message Forum · Contest · #2275750

A place for spacers, washouts, and dreamers of dreams. Open for May 2023!

Hey there, Rook. No, don't take offense - there's no harm in being young. Everyone's got to start somewhere, and this little gas can will do. Less likely to get you shot than most. Take a seat and grab a drink. There's plenty here as had to make a quick jump ahead of the Snoopers and lived to tell the tale, most of 'em even keeping their hard-earned credit stash. And the ones as didn't - well, maybe a young bull could do with a tip or two on how to live without when times get tight.

Pirates? No, Rook, there are no pirates here, not a one. Nasty creatures, pirates. Bug-eye in the back, maybe he knows a guy who knows a guy - he'll give you the dirt on any pirate you can name. And Jet back there, she'll tell you all about her run-in with the Red Hooks and how she turned the tables on them. But no pirates here - we're all good, decent, folk, the kind you want in a pinch. So tell me what you'll have, Rook, and what you're doing in the Outer Cluster. My name? Call me BlackAdder. Captain of the now-defunct Strigian Navy, not-quite-retired. Welcome to my little slice of heaven.

Welcome to BlackAdder's Cantina! Give us a tale or song of the spaceways and your drink's on the house! The best of the bunch will even take home a trinket, a nice little Awardicon worth at least 10K credits and twice that in GPs. Just be sure to keep us awake, nothing longer than 2K words or so. Make sure to link your story in a b-item below.

May 2023 Prompt: Family Ties

It's been awhile since we've had a good round - it can get awful cold and quiet out in space, and when the Snoopers been snooping her a ltitle too long, I've gotta take some space, whether I like it or not. But the long arm of the law seems to have passed me by: they're busy strong-arming someone else, most likely. So I've got a hankering to hear another tale about coming back together.

When you're cruising through the black, living on your wits and making ends meet, places like this little watering hole are an oasis, and the flks your drinking with here are like brothers - well, cousins maybe. But almost family isn't quite family, if you catch my drift. And when you're blown from one adventure to another, sometimes it's hard to keep that family together. So the next round is on me, and it goes to whoever tells the best story about making this life and family work.
(All 2K-word stories with space opera elements illustrating the tension between a risk-filled life and family will be eligible for this month's contest).

Sure, I got a story. Listen to her, and my Mom's trash, don't you know - she barely scrapes through by the sweat of her brow and her prickly disposition. But she always did alright by me. In my books, she's the next best thing to an angel. After my Dad left, she kept me upright and fed, and mostly out of the clink no matter how many times I screwed the pooch. And when I did need help, I could always go back to her, every time. So when a job goes well, I try to take care of her how I can, you know - give a little back.

Of course, she don't know what I do: she thinks I made good and I'm some drone salesman and deliveryman for a medical corp, making sure high-tech meds make it from point A to point B. And that's true, as far as it goes. Sometimes, maybe, that medical tech ain't quite got a license, sometimes it's not quite legal round way of the Revnar system yet on account of their "human enhancement" restrictions. And sometimes the corp providing the tech don't quite know they're selling it. But hey, it's all for a good cause: the survival of the working man.

And, of course, I can't tell my Mom this, on account of her being so proud. Sometimes, that gets a little dicey. I been promising to take my dear old Mom to dinner for near on a year at her favorite place, and I was going to give her a little gift there - a dose of that experimental cure for the autoimmune disease that had kept her off her feet for most of the year. Unfortunately, I was just a little short on cash for that after some joker drew to a straight flush. But lucky for me, I got news this medical supply shuttle just happened to go astray right where I could rescue it, right near the moons around the Sarnan system where I was supposed to meet my Mom - the same day I was supposed to meet her. All I had to do was make sure the goods came my way without my mother catching on that I was working...

Congratulations to May's Contest Winner, and thanks for all the entries!

STATIC

The Interesting Case of Mrs Ganly

(E)
Jerome applies to join the Superheroes League. 1st in BlackAdder’s Contest 2023.
#2296000 by Beholden

May Entries:
"Night time Cousins"

[ASR]
"The Interesting Case of Mrs Ganly"

[E]
"New Russia"

[13+]
"A Family of Their Own Making"

[18+]

Archived Entries and Winners ▼

Previous Prompts ▼

October 2022 Prompt
People love to whine about how much better life in the past was. People tell me they wish life was simpler, freer, and that we didn't have all the kingdoms and federations up in our personal business, with AI watching our every breath - and sometimes our thoughts. But let me tell you my favorite thing about the time we're living in: the transportation.
It used to be public transportation meant sitting 3cm away from coughing strangers on the way to get your groceries. Now it means an hour in your own private cabin on the way to a beach 20 light years away. But the new hot rods! I look outside my little cantina and I see sleek racers and big buses, cheap sedans and ex-military fighters hot off privateering in the Rim. So I gotta ask: what are you driving? And where are you going?

September 2022 Prompt
Dirty deeds and they got done cheap. Now I know many of the folks hear went to the school of hard knocks. As for those knocks, some of you have been giving and some have been taking. Have any of you ever been paid to cause pain - or been hit by someone who had money to gain by it? If so, bring it by the bar! The next round of drinks is in the honor of whoever brings the best tale of paid woe!

Example Entry:

All's Fair

(18+)
Tale for BlackAdder's Cantina
#2281609 by BlackAdder

August 2022 Prompt
Since you're here, you might know, but I wanted to set up my cantina somewhere I could keep my finger on the pulse of the "trade," if you will, right by the Nexus of Star Nations, where the Crilllian Empire's border meets three of its neighbors. It used to be four, of course, but I haven't drunk enough yet to go on about Strigia or the terms of amnesty that keep me from moving on to greener pastures, so to speak.

Now I'm hungry for news, always have been, but even more so with how tight the Empire clamps down on journalists these days. So spill it! There's a round for any sort of rumors of the state of the Empire you won't hear through official channels: whether it's Alarian spies in high tech, the military actions on the southern border with Myrnal, rumors of unrest out by Glenhaven, or something else juicy and unofficial. Let's hear what you've got!

August Example entry:

Love for the Empire

(13+)
Example entry for BlackAdder's Cantina
#2277880 by BlackAdder

July 2022 Prompt
What?! You need a prompt too? Well, here's your prompt. We've got a few in the room who knew some smugglers once upon a time. Tell us about your encounters with the Law. Or, if you're the respectable type, maybe you've got a friend whose story you can share...
Or wait a few days for an example - someone's sure to speak up. Just make sure you make your little contribution by the end of July.

In fact, there's a gentleman with a story to share right now:

First Run

(13+)
Example Entry for BlackAdder's Cantina
#2275826 by BlackAdder