CONTEST RESULTS: Asteroids: The Motion Picture

The results are in! Who lives and who dies? oh, wait. This isn't Thunderdome

Winning entries below!

In Third Place, getting an Honorable Mention, 250 points and a preview copy of the Republibot Original Fiction magazine (available very soon from the rapidly-approaching completion Republibot Store!), is Mike Kriskey with his "Asteroids Treatment"

John Doe is the headstrong captain of the USS LO-RES. He plays by his own rules, and bridles when ordered to risk his ship in an impossibly dense asteroid belt to save the life of the Admiral's reckless son.

Things come to a head when his Executive Officer starts to panic. Doe thinks he can shoot his way to safety, but the XO wants to make a blind jump to hyperspace!

All the while, deck-scrubber Mike Kriskey screams, "Why are you thrusting? Never thrust! Just spin in place, you maniac!"

Comments: Of all the entries, this one captured the essence of the game the most. And it will probably be the one that most closely resembles the finished product.

Next up, in second place, winning 500 points and a copy of the aforementioned Republibot Original Fiction Magazine (in all it's downloadable digital glory, priced at a very reasonable (yet tentative) $1.50) is Church, with "It was a dark and stormy asteroid field"

The crew of the USS Vector is on a deep space, rare mineral asteroid mining operation. The Vector consists of a Service and Transport module, which accounts for 90% of the combined ship's size, and a Command and Prospecting module, which does the actual work. The asteroid-cracking operation is going on at a steady, boring pace. Par for the game in the Merchant Marines.

The crew is composed of:
Captain Bill Morgan, the brash yet levelheaded commander.
Commander Dick Hardtack, the brash yet sexy pilot.
Lieutenant Nicole Berg, the sexy yet distant navigator.
Ensign Rick Ricky, the plucky yet enthusiastic first timer.
Mr. Rivers, the grizzled veteran who has mustered out, yet returned as a consultant prospector.

Suddenly, an previously unknown type of spacecraft appears. It fires a few bolts of some kind of energy weapon and then departs.

Morgan is alarmed by this turn of events. He's alarmed, but no damage was done, so he consults his crew. Hardtack argues that they should report back in person, as this discovery is too big to try to rely on communications. Rivers argues they continue with their mission, and any contact is gravy. Berg reluctantly agrees with Rivers, since there's no established procedure for alien contact, and the exant procedures are to justify the immense cost it took to send them to this system. Ricky is enthralled by the idea of aliens and hopes to see them himself. Morgan is persuaded and the mission continues.

Hardtack and Berg having a falling out over the decision, which clues us into the fact that they were, to some degree, a couple. Hardtack appeals to Morgan on a personal level, but Morgan points out that he's the only one who is argued for going back. Ricky is clearly fascinated by the older Berg, but she rebuffs his youthful advances. Rivers plays the younger girl with slightly better effect, but she ultimately rebuffs him. Her heart is still with Hardtack.

One day, Ricky is minding the Service Module, while the Command Module is cracking 'roids. Suddenly the mysterious saucer appears. Ricky