France - Summer 1415 AD

The country of France faces a point of crisis. King Henry of England, fifth of his name and hope of the House of Lancaster, declares his intention to conquer France, stating it is the will of God. Charles, sixth of his name and known as the Mad King, is poorly suited to deal with the rising threat and relies on the strength of better men. To the shock of the French court, Henry and his army arrive safely in Normandy despite coastal defenses, leaving Henry to freely begin his siege of the port of Harfleur. Charles, furious and frothing at the mouth, threatens his lords into compliance to answer English aggression.

Command the destiny of Jean the Younger, heir to the Valois-Alençon dynasty. His father Jean the Elder, named the "Wise" and Duke of Alençon, is ordered by his liege to lead a portion of the French army to counter the English invasion. Little Jean wants to his father in action, drawn by the romantic, medieval desire to see the glory of battle. But, there is one problem: Jean is only a six-year-old boy! Nevertheless, he dreams of glory, being the son of one of the most powerful men in France.

Will you bind Jean's actions to history, guide him to a greater future or doom him to obscurity? His fate lies in your hands.

"There is no war in Ba Sing Se."

My vote is for Story B.

Both stories are worthy of commendation. Story A plays a bit with format and manages some exposition without taking the reader out of the story. The humor works well too for a story focused on mocking corporatocracy. Story B takes a sincere tone with historical fiction and handles an inner character struggle very well. I think I enjoyed Story B more for being better fleshed out and consistent with its tone. Story A had a lot of potential, but I felt as a reader that the shock humor of the "merger" was the main thing that carried the narrative. I liked how the story started, but that tone didn't carry through to the end. The merger scene was just too ridiculous. Still, I got a kick out of the scene regardless. Story B stays on point. I understand the protagonist and the conflict well. As an American, I already have an understanding of what happened at that point in history, but I felt confident I could understand what was going on just based on the narrative alone. It ends at an appropriate and satisfactory point. Good job to both authors! 

Done.

Continuing to post for the meme. You're welcome.

I like Ogre.

Congratulations Sherbet! Kudos to you as well Wizzy!

There are some here who are not put off by your wholesomeness and actually find it endearing. It's good to see another Christian here. Maybe one day we can convert these pagans by gaining their respect as writers. The only thing that might be a bit much is the amount that you post in the forums. However, you're absolutely gaining some credit with your showings in the Thunderdome!
 

It's important to have grace for yourself and a short account of mistakes. I've definitely had this problem with dealing with myself in the past. If God isn't going to condemn you for your shortcomings, then neither should you. It's good to live and learn without beating yourself up over anything.

My vote is for Story B.

Both of these short stories really knocked it out of the park for me. Story A's framework really reminded me of the Warhammer 40K universe and how glory for the Imperium of Man is desired and yet children can really just be taken for the sake of the war effort. With my somewhat casual understanding of the universe, while more hardcore fans might not share this opinion, I could see this short story fitting in as a decent sub story. It's well written, the character's come through well on the page and the ending is fine.

Story B manages to have a good handle on characters as well, but with a more engaging hook. Yvette's psychopathy is introduced and paced well and help paints a gruesome picture of what probably happened to Noah. We're never explicitly told what happened, but the audience is given credit to make an educated guess, which I love. Story B edges out the competition by a more engaging ending, but it was a good competition nonetheless.

It was definitely not completed and the ending was rushed for the deadline. I will be working on the second part of the story after the Crisis Competition. Stay tuned for the next episode.

And thank you as well