Star Wars AARC Airspeeder Racing Circuit: Minor Leagues (Racing RPG) [Signups Underway]

The year is 124 ABY. Political stability and turmoil occurs throughout the galaxy as it always has since the end of the last Great Empire. The rise of a new Galactic Republic in the past century has brought to an end an era of uncertainty regarding galactic government, and this peace has ushered in a new state of Republican being for citizens of its member worlds. Outside its governance from the glittering capital of Coruscant are non-affiliated worlds, some hostile towards the Republic, others neutral, and others allied with the Republican forces. At the moment, the Galaxy is at relative peace.

The state of racing sports in the Galaxy has come and gone. In days of old, podracing provided an adrenaline rush for those participating in it, and a lawless culture of black-market merchandise and unregulated betting abounded. By the creation of the new Galactic Republic, the sport has been banned from all member worlds, although in the Outer Rim bastions of the once-dominant sport can still be found in its old hotspots such as Malastare.

The vacuum created by the banning of podracing led racers to turn towards alternative craft such as landspeeders and swoops, causing a major boom in the swoop racing circuits around 100 ABY. However, a relatively obscure sport, sling racing, utilizing airspeeders instead of land-based craft, came into the mainstream eye through the daring exploits of Carl "Finney" Finnegan, a Coruscanti man who won all three sling racing circuits in the same year to win the sport's first-ever Sling Racing Triple Cup in 107. After Finnegan repeated the feat in 108, interest in sling racing increased exponentially both within the Republic and across the Galaxy. Finnegan, a very likeable man, used his gregarious personality to promote the sport, and its popularity soared as a new generation of racers found a use for old airspeeders once cast off as junkers. The Republic tolerated the sport unlike podracing, because airspeeder collisions provided higher likelihood of survival for the pilots due to larger vehicles going at slower speeds, and it slowly became known as a more family-friendly spectacle than the "more dangerous" swoop races in some circuits. Other circuits remained much more akin to podracing, and were mostly run in lawless operations deep in the Outer Rim.

In the year 119, the best of the best of the professional sling racers flying on the various minor circuits around the galaxy banded together to create their own top circuit in their profession, the Association of Airspeeder Racers Circuit (AARC). The goal of the AARC was to provide a hotspot for the top sling racers in the Galaxy, and a funnel for money and sponsorships for the participants. The HoloNet was quick to pick up on this opportunity to broadcast sling racing throughout the galaxy, and the Circuit's pilots soon gained major fan following. Ranging from the calm and collected Marmar, the cold and calculating Mas Rosko, the indestructible "Bumper" Bumpakutt, the "golden boy" "Madcap" McGee, and the fiery and downright loathed Sluggs Fereen, the AARC developed a major fan following rivaling that of the podracing days of old, and was constantly considered a top-five sport in the Republic's broadcasting preferences according to yearly HoloNet polls.

In order to increase the already-high interest in the Circuit, its Board of Directors have voted to start a 'minor' circuit to train the next generation of AARC star racers. The participants in this development circuit would compete for the prestigious berths into the AARC series for the following season, adding extra drama and intrigue to its inaugural season. Coming from all over the galaxy, these racers will fight over the span of eight races, spanning the Core worlds to the Mid Rim and beyond, for the right to be promoted to the 'big time'.

Only two racers will win this right.

Will you be one of them?

---

Welcome to the AARC Junior Circuit, also known as the the Airspeeder Racing Junior Division (ARJD). This division will act as a development league for the next generation of sling racing stars on the AARC circuit.

What this Game Entails:

This is a season-based racing game, where eight races will consist of an entire "season" on the circuit. Players will be involved in the ARJD for the inaugural season, and during the period of the game, various notes will be included about the AARC circuit for the 124 season. Results for this game will be randomly generated by the generator over at Random.org, which in theory will provide true randomness for game results.

Format of the Game:

Once the roster is determined for the entire circuit, the first race of the season will be kicked off. Results will be posted every Saturday during the racing season, allowing for a week to write stories for your racer. This game is intended to be about character development in addition to standings and scores, so please feel free to use the week to write up stories (this game would be considered as a 'Fan Fic RPG' under the RPF Resource Thread criteria) and collaborate with your fellow players. After all, what's an RPG without character interaction?

My Role as the GM:

As the Game Master for this game, I, Jedi Gunny, will be your resource for all things AARC. I will be generating scores every week, updating the standings after each race, determining the winner, and most importantly determining who gets the two berths into the AARC circuit for next season.

I will not be playing as a character in the game. This is an intentional move to remove any possible aspects of bias towards certain racers or players. Instead, I will spend my time providing opportunities for your characters to interact with each other, and to control NPC racers. There will be NPC racers to fill out the roster if necessary (see game rules below for more information).


The Character Sheet:

Name:
Gender:
Species:
Homeworld:
Appearance:
Skin Color:
Hair Color:
Eye Color:
Clothing:
Other Attributes:
Prior Racing Experience (i.e. are they new to airspeed racing, have they done it for a little while, did they swoop race before, etc.):
Racing Habit (i.e. aggressive, laid-back, calm, etc.):
Area of Specialty (i.e. speed, balanced, technique, etc.):
Biography:

Ship model (if applicable, or custom-built):
Description (or use an image, if you are so inclined):
Markings (if applicable):
Vehicle Name:

Pit Crew:

Pit Leader Name:
Pit Member 1:
Pit Member 2:
Pit Member 3:

Insignia:


Game Rules:


1. Send a Private Message to the GM after filling out a completed copy of the Character Sheet (the blank Character Sheet template can be found below these rules). Any incomplete submissions will be rejected by the GM and not reviewed unless the character sheet is completed.

2. Once approval is granted by the GM, you may post your Character Sheet in the thread for all to see. Do not post your Character Sheet in the thread if it has not been approved by the GM.

3. Adhere to all Role Playing Forum rules. Any questions regarding forum policy may be discussed with the forum moderators.

4. Follow all the in-universe game rules and these out-of-character game rules to make sure that you follow all instructions the GM has given you. Failure to adhere to these rules can result in disqualification from races or removal from the game.

5. Please be courteous to other players. This is designed to be a for-fun venture, and should not be grounds for bickering or arguing about results or other racers. If you have an issue with someone, please PM them to work out any issues, or PM the GM if you feel like it is something that needs to be brought to their attention. And remember, no auto-hitting; any action the GM deems as unnecessary or not following along with game protocol (i.e. posting that you knocked someone else’s vehicle into a ravine if they have finished safely and you crash on the first lap, etc.) will not be tolerated.

6. Furthermore, the GM’s word is law, and must be paid attention to by all participants in this game. Questions may be asked about the functionality of the game and so forth, but these discussions must be PM’d to the GM instead of posted in the thread.

7. You have complete control of your characters. Remember to have them follow the bounds of their character sheet if at all possible. Any updates to a character must involve the submittal of a new Character Sheet regarding the changes to the GM for approval.

8. NPC (Non-Player Characters) can and will be used in this game for a variety of purposes, whether as cameos to interact with, other racers, or your instructor. Generally, you can include them in your posts as you please, but follow all game and forum rules in your interactions with NPCs.

9. Socializing within the game thread itself should be kept to a minimum, even if it is on-topic. Failure to adhere to these rules, or failure to heed multiple warnings from the GM, may result in removal from the game.

10. Socks (additional accounts from an individual user) are not allowed. Any perceived attempt to use alternate accounts to operate more than one character is grounds for the forum moderators to be notified of possible illegal sock account activity by the GM. If found guilty of violating this rule, a player will be removed from the game without prior warning.

11. If for whatever reason you switch forum username, or must log in from a sock account to participate in the game (such as travelling and only being able to log into certain accounts on your phone, etc.), please PM the GM ahead of time that you have changed your username or that you may use a sock account in the future to participate in this game. Failure to do so could result in skewed race data, or in extreme circumstances can be grounds for removal from the game.

12. Have fun. That’s why we’re all here, and is the main point of the game.


Information about the Game Mechanics is located in the next post for ease of use.

I would like to extend thanks to Imperial_Hammer for the initial concept of a racing game on these boards. Although I never played in the Podracer series he ran, I could not have developed this idea without looking at his example.

Thanks to Trieste for helping me develop a mechanics system for this game utilizing the random number generator.

Lastly, thank you to JM_1977 for helping me determine the format of the game, and to the mods in the RPF, Ramza and Penguinator, for giving me the green light on this project.

 

You're probably wondering how this game works. All the details you need to know are posted right here.

Game Mechanics:

Each race during the season will be simulated on the Saturday of every week (other arrangements may be necessary, and the GM will provide fair warning of times when scores may be delayed for any reason). Users are not required to post during the week, but posting is strongly encouraged to maintain the overall health and vitality of the game.

Each racer is given a roll on the generator from 0-50. Different results determine how a racer does; a chart owned and operated by the GM will be used to determine which die results lead to what outcomes on the chart. This initial roll determines if a racer finishes a race safely or gets taken out altogether and cannot finish a race. The overall odds to finish a race safely are about 3 in 5, so this is not a 'safe' sport by any means, and not for the faint of heart!

A 1-10 die roll will be generated for each eligible racer (i.e. those who safely finish the lap) for the first lap; the racer that has the highest score will be the leader at the end of the first lap, and so on and so forth. Ties will be broken by the following tiebreaker procedures: if 2 racers are tied, a coin will be flipped, with both sides of the coin representing the different racers. The winner of the toss will win the tiebreaker for position on that lap's leaderboard (or the end of the race, whatever the circumstance may be). If 3 or more racers are tied, the random number generator will be used to determine who wins the tiebreaker. The number of tied racers will be entered as the maximum value on the generator, and the GM will generate a number corresponding to one of the racers. That racer wins the tiebreak, and the GM will use the generator or the coin flip method to determine tiebreakers until all ties are broken.

Each succeeding lap will be determined in this manner until the number of total laps in the race is reached. At this point, the racer with the highest combined total of the generated rolls will be the winner, with each succeeding racer being ranked according to their combined roll compared to other racers. All tiebreaks will be conducted by the GM.


What happens if I crash or don't finish (DNP)?

If a number pertaining to a failure to finish is rolled, the number on the chart and its notes will explain what happened to cause the failure to finish. These could be engine burnouts, crashes, or mechanical failure. Extreme problems, like medical conditions or track-side distractions (such as Tusken Raider attack) will be disclosed by the GM before the race as a possibility on the die roller for finishing. Players will not be able to take out other players in their posts unless otherwise specified by the GM, or face disqualification.

If a player crashes due to being bumped by another player, the GM will determine who the racer is who made them crash. This is for genuine reality in this game. The GM will look at the overall standings at the point in the race where the crash occurs, and then roll a random number with the generator with the closest racers involved. The racer who knocks another off-course has permission to write in this action into their post as an unintentional or intentional act of race action. Extreme actions will not be permitted, as racers are subject to major penalties if they are caught risking the lives of other racers and driving recklessly with intent to injure.

The Points System:

After each race, racers will be granted points based upon their place of finish. These points will be combined at the end of the season to determine the overall winner and the final standings.

The points will be awarded as follows:

Winner: 10 points
2nd Place: 8 points
3rd place: 7 points
4th place: 6 points
5th place: 5 points
6th through 8th place: 4 points
9th through end place, if the racer has finished: 2 points
Racer DNP, finished at least one race lap before being DQ’d: 1 point
Racer DNP, no laps completed: 0 points
Racer Disqualification (for breaking game or league rules): 0 points

End of Season: At the end of the season, the two racers with the most points will earn promotion to the major circuit. The winner receives the AARC Junior Circuit Cup, which certifies them as the champion of the racing circuit. Their name shall be etched into the Cup for all-time, and the winner shall receive a replica trophy for their personal collection. The second-place finisher will receive the AAJD Racer’s Shield, which shall be etched with their name and copied for their personal collection. Every other player who wishes to return to the game can come back for the next season of competition in the minor circuit.

"The Garage":

'The Garage' will act as an in-game forum for character interactions before and after races. In theory, this is where your racer will be working on their craft, and would be a vital piece of race infrastructure. This is a venue that will be commonly used for any sort of game announcements, but you are not required to post in 'The Garage' if you so choose. You may choose other venues for your character to be in; this is provided like a 'lobby' in video games during scene or chapter select, a neutral place away from the track. In-game, racers may make changes to their vehicles as necessary within 'The Garage', as long as all league rules are followed. Race officials will make pre-race checks to guarantee that no illegal parts are found. Illegal parts may be added to a vehicle, but there is no benefit to doing so other than to risk disqualification from a race or from the circuit for three such offenses.

Upgrades:

Upgrades that have multipliers on number generation are not available, as there is no in-game currency to spend or any reason for multipliers. Any in-game upgrades to vehicles made may be alluded to in posts (such as modifying the engines on your craft), but they will not affect overall race results. This is to make the game simpler on the GM.


League Rules:

1. All racers must have only 0-2 years of professional racing experience in various pro airspeeder leagues or circuits around the galaxy. More seasons shall be allowed in the case of those who have taken breaks from pro airspeed racing, who have had medical issues that forced them out of other leagues, or if they have raced in other racing circuits (i.e. swoop races, etc.) but have not passed the maximum limit for airspeeder racing.

2. Racers of most species are eligible to participate in the circuit, including males and females or species with no identified gender should they not be of a banned species. Examples of beings that would not be allowed to race are: those belonging to a race with a hive mind, droids, species will abilities to alter the mental, physical, or emotional states of other species or of vehicle operation, Force-sensitives, any beings considered to be dangers to themselves or to others.

3. Racers are recommended to keep in contact with their pit crew at all times. While this is not necessary, if a racer is in danger, keeping communications open helps the league and the racer’s crew in preventing any accidents.

4. No illegal parts shall be included on any vehicles. The list of illegal parts includes: any sort of battering ram or other passive object on the exterior of a vehicle with explicit intent to injure the craft of other racers; weapons, including blasters, ion cannon, disruptors, grenades, shock wave generators, or any other sort of weapon that could be attached to a ship; auxiliary parts that could be used to impede other racers, such as harpoons and tow cables (only authorized league vehicles are allowed to carry such equipment); any devices that could jam communications between racers and their teams or can cause malfunctions with such channels such as navigation or machine function.

5. Any intent to damage another racer’s craft using handheld objects that are thrown or released at other races, including tools, weapons, spare parts canisters, or another other unaccounted for object will be dealt with immediate disqualification from a race, or if a severe infraction, from the entire circuit.

6. Any intent judged by league officials to purposely knock other racers’ vehicles off the track could result in disqualification for interference. This is a speed sport with some contact, but blatant intent to damage others’ craft may result in a DQ.

7. Any racer attempting to sabotage another racer’s vehicle, or to modify the track in any way, shall be disqualified and subject to further penalties.

8. All racers must yield to pre-race safety checks of their vehicles by both their pit teams and league pit officials. Racers must follow all instructions regarding official business, and must not fail to prove that all of their systems are a go and that they have no illegal parts on their craft, and are encouraged to test out all systems in their vehicles as necessary before the race is to begin.

9. Racers must yield to official league vehicles on the track (i.e. if they are picking up wreckage of another racer’s vehicle). This may necessitate slowing down to pass official vehicles, and passing other racers during these periods is strictly prohibited. Any racer found using such a situation to advance in the standings may be disqualified from the race.

10. Should dangerous conditions (i.e. weather, hostile being on the course, crowd hostility, etc.) affect the integrity of a track in any way, the head league official in charge of the race may postpone, cancel, or call a race before it is finished for the safety of all racers, their teams, and fans. Races cannot be postponed while in progress unless the league official calls it off before the completion of the first lap (if a three lap race; if the race is four or more laps, two laps is the required minimum). A race, once started, will not be restarted unless there is a necessary need to do so regarding disqualifications. A race can be ‘called’ and completed if more than two laps have been completed and the league official sees a need to prevent any possible damage from being done in the immediate future. The words of league officials are final, and any protests may result in disqualification.

11. Written protests may be sent to league offices if the integrity of the circuit is at stake. Complaints about other racers are strongly discouraged unless league officials determine the validity of such dangers as being threatening to other racers and can compromise the integrity of races or their venues. Failure to heed these rules may result in penalties, such as fines or disqualifications from circuit races.

12. Participants may have endorsements from governments, corporations, or other entities, but are not to exceed 50,000 credits. Sponsorship rules in the major circuit keep endorsement deals at the minor circuit level to a minimum to maximize league and racer revenue.

13. Injuries will be examined by league officials to determine if racers are fit for other races in the series. If officials determine a racer is too injured to compete in the next race, a substitute racer may be used for up to 2 consecutive races. If a racer is injured beyond two races, then their points in the standings are frozen until they can return to the track.

14. Monetary payments will be handed out at the end of the season depending on place of finish in addition to purse shares collected from individual races.


15. The top two finishers at the end of the season will be promoted into the main circuit for the next racing season, and will have all the rights afforded to racers in that circuit.


The AARC Circuit for the 124 Season:

The AARC season will go on in the background of the game, usually as HoloNet new updates. These results will not affect your season in the ARJD, but can be used as conversation material if you wish.



If you have any further questions, please PM me.

 

Name: Veloxa Mcear

Gender: Female

Species: Human

Homeworld: Chandrila

Appearance: 5’7” athletic build large scar running from her brow to her scalp, rather average facial features.

Skin Color: Fair (Caucasian)

Hair Color: Dark blonde, cut short to fit under the helmet

Eye Color: brown

Clothing: when not racing T-shirt, pants, running shoes. Racing uniform is a green flight suit with required sponsor logos

Other Attributes:

Prior Racing Experience: one season in the Junior Galactic Rally Championships

Racing Habit: aggressive, especially in corners.

Area of Specialty: Highly technical.

Biography: Daughter of Rally legend Linoc Mcear, Veloxa seemed to have her father’s gift for driving but, she never got to show him. He died when she was young in an airspeeder crash that took her younger brother as well. As she grew up hearing stories of her father’s speed and recklessness she became enamored with the Rally circuit. Small landspeeders flying down narrow roads at, some would say ridiculous speeds always a hairs breath from a crash, racing the clock. As soon as she was able she joined the Junior Galactic Rally Championships.

Her name alone was enough to get her through the door but, her talent behind the wheel was unmistakably that of her father. She was second in the standings towards the end of the season until she came around a corner too fast and had a crash of her own. A piece of the speeder broke off and punched through the windshield striking her in the head, cracking her helmet. She suffered a season ending head trauma and her co-driver broke an arm as well as his spine.

After healing and getting a clean bill of health she tried to get back into the JGRC but, no manufacture would touch her, not after her accident and what happened to her co-driver. After that she fell into a bit of a depression struggling with her actions and not having any release for her emotions she shut down and barely left her family’s farm house on Chandrila. Then one of her father’s friends suggested joining the AARC they were always looking for talent and the Mcear name still has some weight to it. Her mother was worried at first but then saw the light in her daughter’s eyes return again at the prospect of racing again. With help from other retired Rally drivers she put together a team and got a minor sponsorship from ChandrilTech. Now she doesn’t care too much about her standing, she’s just happy to finally race again.

Ship model: Civilian model V-Wing, unarmed, and lightened, with slightly tweaked engines

Description: standard V-Wing with a blue and yellow color scheme

Markings: ChandrilTech logo right behind the cockpit.

Vehicle Name: Madman

Pit Crew:

Pit Leader Name: Marcus Grun Human, male

Pit Member 1: Ton Macca, Human Male

Pit Member 2: Bash Lob, Twi’lek, Male

Pit Member 3: Car Sain, Zygerrian, male

Insignia: A white ‘X’ shape to the right and a group of four stars to the left

TAG: Jedi Gunny

 

I know I'm breaking my own rules, but I'll add in a PC for myself to give y'all someone else to interact with on or off the track. How much I use them remains to be seen.


Me Approved!

Name: Jemma Talion
Gender: Female
Species: Cathar
Homeworld: Denon
Appearance:

Skin Color: Yellow
Hair Color: White
Eye Color: Blue
Clothing: Wears a black flightsuit during races, with a white helmet that features a prominent red stripe down the middle. When she is not racing, she normally wears a light brown tunic with gray or black slacks.
Other Attributes: Very intelligent racer who is prone to out-thinking herself when she gets stuck in a jam. When she over-thinks a situation, she tends to fall apart.
Prior Racing Experience (i.e. are they new to airspeed racing, have they done it for a little while, did they swoop race before, etc.): Amaetur airspeeder racing champion, spent part of a year on a professional circuit before a crash ended her season and forced her to re-think the design of her craft.
Racing Habit (i.e. aggressive, laid-back, calm, etc.): Somewhat calm, but always calculating
Area of Specialty (i.e. speed, balanced, technique, etc.): Balanced, but prefers speed
Biography:

Jemma Talion has always had a ‘need for speed’. Growing up on Denon, she immediately gravitated towards anything that could get her going fast. She started doing junior racing with small speeders at the age of 6, and went through all the major junior circuits on Denon and in the Core region as she grew up. During secondary schooling, she would occasionally miss class due to races on the other side of the Core, bringing home amateur race titles along with Denon planetary school league championship titles. At one point, she was named the 2nd-ranked racer prospect coming out of Denon.

In her first season as an amateur racer on a circuit, Jemma took it to her competition and won easily. She supplemented her income by working two jobs, barely paying the bills as she hoped to land a job in one of the pro circuits. It would take another year before one of the circuits would take her on as an amateur champion.

She participated in four races in the Inner Rim Airspeeder Racers Challenge before crashing in a devastating manner on one of the junior courses on Brentaal. Another racer cut her off and forced her into a crash-landing, but she wasn’t able to keep control of the craft correctly, and the ship partially came apart on impact. Her craft was smashed beyond repair, and she missed the rest of the season with her injuries.

With medical bills eating up her precious savings, Jemma turned to junkyards to scrounge together another racing craft. She tried various old wrecked frames to build upon, but she finally had to build one herself out of spare parts and anything she could find in the junkyards of the Core. After about a year, she started to test out her new custom-built speeder, but initial tests were not promising. Undeterred, Jemma allied herself with a few of her former amateur racing opponents and built herself a stronger ship, sometimes spending days at a time in a workshop to craft the correct parts to the right specifications. In the process, the ship, her friends later would say, became like her partner; she would look after it, paying attention to every small detail, and in theory it would look after her by giving her a powerful airspeeder to someday dominate the pro circuit. She built parts from scratch and filled in with older scraps until she finally had the design and functionality that she wanted.

When the call came out for the ARJD, Jemma immediately used what contacts she had to get herself involved in the minor league circuit. She hopes that her work will have paid off enough to land a spot in the AARC, and to someday make a living as a racer.

Ship model (if applicable, or custom-built): Custom-built using parts taken from various scrapyards to create the initial frame, and took the ship out for technical challenges. As pieces broke, they were replaced meticulously by her and her crew to complete the look and update the rusty old parts into much stronger new ones.
Description: Something similar in shape to this, but obviously low-powered for a racer.

Markings (if applicable): Large yellow stripes down the sides of the vehicle.
Vehicle Name: Sun Rider

Pit Crew:

Pit Leader Name: ‘Speedy’ Crannon (Human, Male)
Pit Member 1: Elzbet Villit (Twi’lek, Female)
Pit Member 2: Hugo ‘Heavy’ Wizzin (Herglic, Male)
Pit Member 3: Lira Walles (Human, Female)


Insignia: A yellow sun that has a small dot on its edge that indicates her craft riding along its surface.

 

GM Approved!

The Character Sheet:



Name: Jamie Vehn
Gender: Female
Species: Human
Homeworld: Ord Mantell
Appearance: Slender
Skin Color: Pale
Hair Color: Blonde/Brown mix
Eye Color: Green
Clothing: Racing Jumpsuit and Helmet complete with dark visor.
Other Attributes: N/A
Prior Racing Experience (i.e. are they new to airspeed racing, have they done it for a little while, did they swoop race before, etc.): Swoop raced on Ord Mantell.
Racing Habit (i.e. aggressive, laid-back, calm, etc.): Aggressive
Area of Specialty (i.e. speed, balanced, technique, etc.): Speed
Biography:

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far, away…..

Before the formation of the Roon Federation.

Before the hallowed days of Elite League Limmie and the Nar Shaddaa Smugglers.

Before the dark times of the Neo-Sith War and the heroic actions of one Derek Vehn over Taris.

There was a family living regular lives on the blue collar world of Ord Mantell. A family with little political aspirations. A family that had wandered for centuries from planet to planet in search of a better life. A family that felt it had finally found a place they could call home.

In this family there was a young woman with a dream and a vision: to win enough money racing to save her father’s life from a debilitating virus that was slowly killing him.

This young woman was brave, ambitious, and a bit of a risk taker.

Her name was Jamie Vehn.

Ship model (if applicable, or custom-built): Modified Shuttle (Unable to obtain space travel or even high atmospheric flight)
Description (or use an image, if you are so inclined):
Markings (if applicable): Blue Markings on the dorsal fin, wings, and fuselage.
Vehicle Name: Iron Lady

Pit Crew: ‘The Scrappers’

Pit Leader Name: Alpha (Droid)
Pit Member 1: Beta (Droid)
Pit Member 2: Gamma (Droid)
Pit Member 3: Delta (Droid)

Insignia:​

​

​

 

GM Approved

Name: Niall Dunross Trieste
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Homeworld: Bakura
Appearance:
Skin Color: Fair, but tanned
Hair Color: Sandy
Eye Color: Blue
Clothing: A brown nerfhide jacket is his one trademark
Other Attributes: Craggy, chiseled face
Prior Racing Experience: No speeder experience beyond regular driving, but previous experience flying starfighters
Racing Habit: Aggressive
Area of Specialty (i.e. speed, balanced, technique, etc.): Needle pusher
Biography: Airspeeder racing is the second most dangerous thing that Niall Dunross Trieste does. The first is get out of bed, for there is a bounty on Niall’s head.

Fourteen years ago the youngest son of prominent Fianna Fail politician Daly Trieste was a normal being with a normal job, normal aspirations, and a normal life. Then someone killed his aunt, Saraid Trieste, fourth Taoiseach of the Noble House of Trieste, one of the most prominent and influential political families on Bakura.

To the surprise of everyone in the family, her will stated that this unremarkable, ordinary, rough-around-the-edges being was now the fifth Taoiseach of the Noble House. It was not an honor Niall sought, but he accepted it for one reason: it gave him control of the family’s fortunes and he could use them to find the beings who killed Aunt Saraid.

At the end of seven years, he had achieved his vengeance and all those who played a part in Saraid’s death were in their graves. However, those beings had powerful friends. Just when Niall found peace, the first of the bounty hunters looking to collect the reward found him. That being is dead. So are the three others that followed. The most recent attempt on Niall’s life was years ago...but he knows it was not the last. The bounty still stands.

Even so, has settled down. He is happily married. He adores his children. He has more credits than he could need by virtue of the family holdings. Justice has been done. And yet without the hunt...life is dull. When Niall heard about the AARC’s formation, he thought that, perhaps, this thrill could satisfy him...

Ship model: BakurRepulsor Corp (BRC) DB5
Description: Silver, sleek lines, enclosed--the speeder equivalent of this
Markings: None
Vehicle Name: No name, licensed under registration BMT 216A

Pit Crew: Noble House Racing

Pit Leader Name: Henley Bloomwood (Human, Female)
Pit Member 1: Carmerr Alnor (Kurtzen, Male)
Pit Member 2: “Kit” Renard (Amaran, Female)
Pit Member 3: Torquemada Chellow (Xexto, Male)

Insignia: Yellow stag on green field (Not exactly, but sure, let’s go with this)

 

GM Update

IC: “Madcap” McGee




The man they called “Madcap” was the racer that many looked up to, but his success had just never been there. After all, an unfortunate crash on at the place they called “The Crossroads” on Brentaal had cost him his chance at the title in the prior season’s AARC circuit. As usual, Madcap blamed Sluggs Fereen, the Nosaurian loathed for his fiery attitude and aggressive racing style, for pushing him into a rock formation, but there was nothing he could do now. Fereen had claimed his second AARC circuit title, while Madcap had finished 11th out of 12.

Then, during the offseason, when he was out testing out a new engine system in his old mainstay ship, Madcap’s Mayhem, the AARC officials had come to him with a proposition. They wanted him to be the face of the new ARJD, the new Junior Division of the AARC that would train ‘new’ or young airspeeder racers to someday join the major circuit. Madcap was hesitant at first; after all, his tests had been going disastrously, and he wasn’t in the mood to talk about adding more rivals than he already had. If Sluggs didn’t get his skin crawling, there was always that brash young kid Calvin Heddy from Bakura who raced as dangerously as Fereen but lacked the same vehicle-controlling skills the Nosaurian employed, or Lilla Corhan, the Wroonian speed racer who always caught up with you even when you thought she was way behind. The AARC was littered with racers who just knew how to win, and Madcap had fallen victim to each one of them at least once.

Finally, when the AARC officials came back to him a week later with a better offer, that he would be the one overlooking the ARJD but still be able to race in the AARC circuit, he finally agreed, but on one condition: that he maintain the right to some of the revenue created by the Junior Circuit. The officials finally gave in to his demands, and now here he was the ‘guardian’, if you will, of the ARJD. It was a position of great power; he wasn’t a “Commissioner” with the power to run the circuit, or one of the officials whose job it was to make sure all league rules were followed, but he was the one who the new racers first met. He was the AARC racer whom they all wanted to face off against in the AARC arena. They wouldn’t get a shot at him this season, but two of their number would get that chance for 125. And he would be ready for them.

He had called all the racers together in the garage three hours before the race was to begin. For the first race of the season, the ARJD would have its run early in the day, and then the AARC racers would take to the course that night for their season-opening race. There would be plenty of publicity for the initial race of the Junior Circuit, and it was hoped that the circuit could make some noise. The inhabitants of Malastare, were they Dug or Gran, certainly hoped so; face racing had always made their economy go like gangbusters, and this was no different. Add in the publicity of the first-ever ARJD race, and things would be even more packed, at least in theory. There was no telling how the ARJD would be received by the galactic press; plenty would be determined in the next few hours.

Standing up on a makeshift stage, Madcap looked down at all the new racers. He had read their profiles before coming here, to make sure that he knew at least a little about them. As ‘Guardian’ of the ARJD, he needed to know such things. It was a motley crew of racers, some from the swoop circuits, other with a year or two under their belts in sling racing, and others more akin to hobbyists who just loved piloting fast ships and making money. It would be an interesting season.

“I want to thank you for showing up here promptly as asked,” Madcap said to the group of racers. “My name is ‘Madcap’ McGee, and before you ask, it was because of my fondness to race really gritty-like.” There were no questions being asked, so he continued.

“I want to welcome you all to the place they know here on Malastare as ‘The Dragstrip’. I’ve raced here every year since the AARC circuit began back in ’19, and I can tell you from experience that this is a speed track, plain and simple. I know some of you think you’re good at turning and the like, but this is where the speed demons take off. They don’t classify this place as ‘Extreme Speed’ for nothing,” he said with a chuckle. “To my recollection, it’s the only track currently in the circuit with such a rating . . .” He paused here for a few seconds, and then got back to his main point. “It’s a straight oval, with very long straightaways so that turning is minimal. I can’t tell you how to race this one, since I need to worry about my own strategy for the AARC opener tonight, but it’s pure and simple speed. So know what you’re getting into and prepare for it, because once that race begins, it’s go time.”

He stared down every racer in the group in turn. There was Veloxa Mcear, the Chandrilan pilot whose time in the landspeeder leagues had turned near-fatal. She had almost died from injuries sustained in a crash, and there was question if she was capable of racing with the same kind of vigor as she had in the Rally Circuit. Although Madcap had sustained a few injuries in his time, including the infamous one on Brentaal, he had never been in the same situation Mcear had been in, and he hoped that she was not scarred for life by the traumatic accident. Successful racers had to put those things behind them and just continue to race.

Then there was Jemma Talion, the Cathar pilot whose rise to fame on Denon had been through the Amateur Airspeeder Circuits. She was an established champion against fellow amateurs, and had been ranked second in the amateur sling racing rankings on her home planet, so she had talent. However, like Mcear, he career had been derailed by injuries sustained in races, hers in the Inner Rim Airspeeder Racers Challenge after four races in the series. Talion had worked meticulously to improve her ship since those injuries had cost her the rest of her season, and she was known to be a pilot like Madcap, more balanced in her approach to a course. Yet her calculating manner was the key to her success or her demise; could she channel her inner Mas Rosko, the calculating racer Madcap had faced off against in the AARC, and use it to her advantage?

Third was Jamie Vehn, the brash young racer from Ord Mantell whose reason for entering the circuit was to save her father from a debilitating and deadly virus. With a chip on her shoulder, Vehn was about as close to Sluggs Fereen as Madcap was seeing in this field, fearless and an addiction to high speeds. Of course, no one could quite compare to Sluggs, but Vehn was cut in the same mold. She would likely do well on ‘The Dragstrip’, Madcap reasoned. Her crew of pit droids was an old-school approach to a circuit now dominated by sentient pit crews, and it looked like a cold sense of efficiency that Vehn operated on. Clearly she was here to clean house on the circuit.

Next was the surprise entry into the ARJD, Niall Dunross Trieste. The man was known to be a wanted man, but he was also rich and in a very powerful family back on Bakura. In fact, Madcap had learned when doing more research from the files, Trieste was as close to royalty as one could be on his homeworld. So it was odd seeing him here, as most racers here were looking to find fame and fortune on the racing circuit. Trieste was here . . . well, Madcap figured, because he wanted to. There was no other reason than just the thrill of the chase, and that matched up well with Trieste’s racing bio. He had never raced sling racers before, but he was an accomplished Starfighter pilot, and that would likely translate into sling racing. He was also known to thread the needle at every turn, and his turning skills were legend if you listened to the tales. This man would be a dangerous racer to his opponents, that was for sure.

Fifth up was a scruffy-looking Bothan from Bothawui named Stamm Hyri-rily. He had been racing since he was a boy, having come from a middle-class family on his homeworld. His father worked for Bothan Intelligence, and the boy had a good upbringing in the family business. He was a smart one on the race course, using his brains to try and outwit his rivals. In two seasons of racing swoops, he had brought home a pair of wins, both on his home planet, and had placed in several others. He had a lot of pride to gain in this circuit, and unlike his fellow racers to this point, he liked to rely on a balanced approach. His ship wasn’t overly fast or overly maneuverable, but he knew how to make things happen. Madcap likened him to Marmar, the Khil racer on the AARC circuit whose approach was calm and collected.

Sixth up was a racer named Kelvina Hammer. The human woman, hailing from Coruscant, was a balanced racer with decent skills. She would do a decent job, Madcap figured, but probably wouldn't end up in the top two spots at the end of the season.

Seventh was Hyvey Monn, the Chevin racer from Vinsoth. The man’s species, being very heavy, required his ship to have extra-powerful engines to get through races. But out on the course, that extra power provided plenty of turbo boosts for speed courses. Madcap had seen only average results from the Chevin, who made bad decisions on when to use his speed boosts during races. It was almost like he didn’t like speed, but he wasn’t a great turning racer, either. He just knew where to be and when on the course. His sense of direction made sure that he rarely ever crashed; in fact, Madcap had seen that in two years of sling racing, and in landspeeder racing circuits for almost a decade, Monn had only crashed twice. Neither had been serious, and he hadn’t been injured. He was like Bumpakutt, the tough Weequay who was deemed “indestructible” because his ship always stayed intact despite taking a beating during races.

Eighth was Zala, a Kel Dor racer from Dorin whose demeanor was calm, but she could be aggressive when necessary. She was an excellent technical driver, and struggled at speed when the courses came flat and straight like at ‘The Dragstrip’. She would struggle, Madcap noted, and that would put her behind after the first race. She was most closely related to Prennis Antilles, the Corellian-born racer in the AARC who also raced well on technical courses but failed on speed courses.

Ninth saw Wi’ker, the Noghri man from Honoghr whose natural killing instincts from hunting made him another aggressive racer. He had toned down his hunting instincts when he joined the swoop racer circuits, but he was still a strong racer whose instincts and reflexes were almost second to none. But his aggression often got him in trouble, so he was a bit of a loose cannon who had to focus his rage. He was like Sluggs and Calvin Heddy, but more like Heddy because he was still uptight and couldn’t focus his anger. Sluggs could, and Wi’ker would need more work before he finally got his anger under control and could channel that to his advantage.

Last up was Dinga Goa, the very friendly and adventurous Sullustan from Sullust. The woman had a very easy-going personality, and made sure that she made the right moves on the course instead of the ones that might risk her position. She was a smart racer who wasn’t great at either speed or technique, but could just be there on your back bumper and finally pass you on the course. She had great instincts, but her friendly personality could be a hindrance, Madcap had thought. She had raced three seasons on Sullust in the landspeeder leagues there, and then had two more seasons out in the galaxy at large before a single season in the lower airspeeder leagues. She had been referred to the ARJD by the Commissioner of her prior league as a talented prospect.

Once Madcap had looked over all the racers, he returned to his original purpose at the race, to help the ARJD racers figure out the standard protocol for the new league. Madcap had stayed up most of the night a few days earlier trying to digest all the rules and his instructions, and he hoped he had the correct instructions to give to the new racers. “As your ‘Guardian’, or whatever in the hell the title is, because I haven’t bothered to care about it, I will be your source of advice for this race, and for any other races after this. Although I have raced most of the courses on your season before, I cannot tell you how to win. But I can help you through the league rigmarole, because if any one of you read through the instruction booklet and understood it all in just one pass, then I salute you.”

He paused for a few seconds and then continued. “This is a momentous opportunity for all of you today. The ARJD will hopefully become a great development league for AARC hopefuls, and the media is interested in seeing the next generation of sling racers. They want to see great competition, so you will have to give that to them. But I shouldn’t need to tell you to compete; I’ve read up on each of you, and you all know how to fight, how to scrap, for everything you want. You may have different reasons to be here, but in the end you want that trophy. And the Major Circuit berth. Good luck in your season.

But before I open things up to questions, I will say this one thing: make sure your ship is ready to go before league inspection. The officials will be here an hour before the race to do their checks, so you have . . .” he said before checking his wrist chrono, “two hours before then to make any last-minute changes or checks. Anyone found violating league rules will of course be subject to penalty, and that would be one hell of a bad way to start your season. I don’t recommend it, because getting zero points on this race can kill you in the long run. So I suggest you stick to the rules and oblige the league officials in their mandatory vehicle checks. So, once again, good luck on the track. Your success today could be paramount to an eventual berth in the AARC.”

Once the racers were scattered throughout the space to work on their ships, Madcap walked around and talked to each of them in turn. “Ms. Mcear, I am sorry to hear of your accident in the Rally Championships. I sincerely hope that you will be able to put your full effort into this circuit,” he told the Chandrilan pilot.

To Jemma Talion, “Ms. Talion, I am intrigued by the skills of you and your team to put together this racer from scratch. We will see how it works out in the end, won’t we?”

To Jamie Vehn, “Ms. Vehn, you have a lot to play for here. Good luck to you in your quest to help your father.”

To Niall Trieste, “Mr. Trieste, good to see you here. The circuit’s officials look forward to seeing what you have to offer this circuit and this sport.”

After speaking to the other racers, Madcap left the space for a while. He had his own race to prepare for.

As for the ARJD racers, they had ‘The Dragstrip’ to deal with.

---

The Dragstrip, Malastare

Race Type: Extreme Speed

Configuration: Large oval, long straightaways, about as close to a drag-racing track as you can get without it being completely straight

Number of Laps: 3

Obstacles: ‘Killer Cliffs’ on the far side of the oval from the starting line, but they are far enough away from the race track that they shouldn’t be a hassle as long as you don’t turn too sharply going into that section. Otherwise, this is a flat course meant for speed and speed alone.



TAG: Trieste, Vehn, galactic-vagabond422, JM_1977

 

IC: Jemma Talion
Malastare

The tension in Jemma’s chest was palpable. There was still three hours left before the race, but she was nervous as all get out. The amateur racing champion knew that there was reason to be nervous; after all, it was the first real test for the Sun Rider since the tests she had done with her crew while making tweaks to the body of the craft, and it was also the inaugural ARJD race. She didn’t know what to expect, or how exactly this would go down.

And, in a deep recess in the back of the Cathar’s mind, she still couldn’t quite shake the major accident that had cost her part of a season. She had never fully gotten over that crash, and it was always in her mind as a possible result of her racing career. She had heard all the horror stories of pilots who had died in their racing vehicles. That’s why she had a top-notch crew to try and keep the Sun Rider in the air where it belonged.

As she listened to “Madcap” McGee speak to her and her fellow ARJD pilots, Jemma allowed her mind to wander. She had heard that “The Dragstrip” was a speed-oriented course, but McGee made it sound as if it was just one long stretch of track that didn’t end. It was almost as if there was no real course, just an open plain to race on. And that was not her specialty, Jemma had to admit. She liked going fast, yes, but not like the speed demons of the AARC circuit did. She had seen all the races, and had seen how Sluggs Fereen and Lilla Corhan had destroyed their competitors with their speed edge. She was not a pure speed racer, and thus this course on Malastare, known for its speed, would prove to be a challenge. She would have to rely on guts and instincts in order to finish well.

“This is a momentous opportunity for all of you today. The ARJD will hopefully become a great development league for AARC hopefuls, and the media is interested in seeing the next generation of sling racers. They want to see great competition, so you will have to give that to them. But I shouldn’t need to tell you to compete; I’ve read up on each of you, and you all know how to fight, how to scrap, for everything you want. You may have different reasons to be here, but in the end you want that trophy. And the Major Circuit berth. Good luck in your season.”

Again, Jemma wasn’t sure what to make of this whole ARJD. She had signed up hoping for a chance to break the big time, but so was everyone else on the circuit. Would this thing even last all season? Sometimes circuits got closed down before they even crowned a winner, and that was a fear a lot of racers had. They would put a lot of time and money into training and into their crafts, only to have dwindling purse shares for race finishes and the constant threat of circuit disbanding hanging over their heads. It was a major problem in the small-market swoop racing leagues, she had heard, because wealthy benefactors would walk out on the circuits they created because of low turnout at the turnstiles. Hopefully the ARJD would last its inaugural season, and she would be in the AARC next year.

McGee gave one last piece of advice to the racers before letting them go. It was about the two hours of window they had to get everything figured out on their racer before the league officials came to do their inspections. Jemma had nothing to hide, but it was still only two hours. She had sometimes spent more time than that just going over the specifications of parts she would need to keep her ship together. Two hours was nothing in the racing world.

Once the talk was over, she returned to her ship in time to accidentally step on the foot of one of her crew members. “Ow!” was what Lira Walles said. The blonde-haired human was on a mechanic’s sled underneath the racer, but her foot was right out on the floor for the Cathar to step on.

“Sorry, Lira,” Jemma said.

“What timeframe were we given?” the human asked as she slid the sled out from underneath the belly of the racer.

“Two hours until the official inspection,” Jemma replied. “Of course, that’s not a lot of time.”

“Two hours is nothing,” Lira commented before going back underneath the vehicle.

“How’re the wings looking, Hugo?” Jemma asked.



“They look fine,” the Herglic male Hugo “Heavy” Wizzin said in his gruff tone of voice as he took off the welder’s goggles. He held a blowtorch in his hand, ready to strike at any perceived fault. “You should have all aerodynamic advantages you can get from a racer like this.”

“We’re going to have a serious speed disadvantage today, I’m afraid,” Jemma said, a bit downcast. “It’s supposedly flat and ready for taking over by the speedier racers.”

“Since when did you worry about those types?” Hugo asked.

“Not much, but it’s always in the back of your mind,” Jemma said. It was true; you always had to worry about what other racers would, or wouldn’t, do during a race. Sometimes one’s reputation preceded them, but other times they were deceptive. And that’s when you had to really be on your toes and vigilant.

“I thought you were never one to back down from a challenge, Jemma,” came a new voice from up above. Elzbet Villit, the third pit crew member, was dangling from the cockpit trying to clean up a dirty spot on the windscreen.



She was taking a quick break to talk to the pilot. “Because we’d all love to be in your place.”

“You’d be nervous, you know,” Jemma told the Twi’lek.

“Come on, Jemma, we’re all racers here,” Elzbet commented. “Hell, Lira there was the fourth-ranked amateur racer coming out of Denon the same time you were, and Hugo and I were racing in the amateur circuit you won the title of. So don’t think we don’t know where you’re coming from, because I think we do.”

“Don’t forget Speedy’s racing experience,” Hugo said as he found a spot to weld and attacked it.

“I wasn’t going to,” Elzbet said.

“Someone ask me something?” Speedy Crannon asked, poking his head out from the back end of the vehicle.

“Nope,” Jemma said.

“We were asking about your racing experience,” Elzbet said. She moved the cloth she was using to a new side to keep dirt off the windscreen.

“I’ve done my fair share of races,” Speedy said. “We all raced together, ya know. Back on the old amateur circuit, in the good old days.”

“Sometimes I wonder how you ever persuaded us to work for you as your pit crew,” Lira said from underneath the ship.

“I’ll just say that I was lucky,” Jemma said. Then she noticed “Madcap” McGee coming to talk to her.

“Ms. Talion, I am intrigued by the skills of you and your team to put together this racer from scratch. We will see how it works out in the end, won’t we?”

“We sure will,” Jemma replied to the grizzled AARC pilot. “I have faith in my crew to get everything figured out.”

When McGee left to talk to other racers, there was a question burning in the minds of Jemma’s crew. “I wonder how they got McGee to do this whole junior circuit shindig,” Speedy said. “Doesn’t he have better things to do than look over this circuit?”

“He’s not exactly the best pilot in the AARC, Speedy,” Elzbet commented. “He’s probably doing it for the money. I know I would if I was in his position. Any cash you can get on the side without risking your neck in a racer is cash well-received.”

Jemma didn’t pay much attention to this banter, though. Her focus had to be on the course ahead, so she excused herself for the next thirty minutes to gather her thoughts. When the two hours were up, the league officials checked her ship and found nothing illegal. Then it was on to the race.


TAG: Anyone

 

IC: Veloxa Mcear
Malastare

Although Veloxa, Vel to her friends, was sleeping on Malastare her mind was back on Aphran, the second stage of Rally Aphran. She held the fastest time on the first stage and looked to keep her lead. She braked coming up to a turn then accelerated out of it, the small but powerful engines wining as she went full throttle down the straight away. Her Co-Driver’s, Cin’s, voice came through with a heavy Courscanti accent,

“Jump into hard right, keep mid,” Vel’s eyes didn’t blink, nor did she slow down. “Too fast, too fast,” Cin’s words were firm but, not panicked. The landspeeder flew over the hill and she tried to correct her course. It was too late, time slowed down as the trunk of a large tree began to fill her field of vision. She let go of the steering wheel and wrapped her fingers around her harness, just like she was taught in the safety class. There was a sickening crunch as the front collided with the immoveable object. She felt a sharp pain on her head as her helmet cracked from something striking it. Blood began to pour over her right eye as she looked over to her co-driver.

“It’s all right we can just reverse,” her hands reached for the repulser control,

“We can’t love,” Cin said keeping his somewhat jovial nature even though the pain she knew he was feeling, “Mi notes are in the bush, and” he hissed in pain moving his arm slightly, “Mi arm’s broke,”

“Alright then I think I’ll just,” her head, feeling heavy all of a sudden, began to drift towards the steering wheel.

“No Vel keep your eyes open,” her vison blurred a bit as Cin leaned forward letting out a howl of pain, “Mi back, I think I broke mi back.” He slammed the palm of his good hand into Veloxa’s shoulder, “come on Vel stay awake, stay awake Vel.” Her eyes closed then snapped open again. Her vison cleared and she could see, she was back on Malastare. She checked her chrono they had a mandatory meeting soon. She took as quick a shower as she could and got dressed in a hurry, thankfully she’d just need a white shirt and light cloth pants, her flightsuit already in a locker at the track. She rushed out and got a cab to the track, just in time for the meeting. A rather stocky man stood at the podium,

“My name is ‘Madcap’ McGee, and before you ask, it was because of my fondness to race really gritty-like.” She’d never heard of McGee but, she hadn’t really followed AARC before a few months ago so there was still a huge learning curve for her to get all the names. “I want to welcome you all to the place they know here on Malastare as ‘The Dragstrip’. I’ve raced here every year since the AARC circuit began back in ’19, and I can tell you from experience that this is a speed track, plain and simple. I know some of you think you’re good at turning and the like, but this is where the speed demons take off.” Vel bit her bottom lip, the Madman was fast but, in rally the straights were never long enough to get going extremely fast, while Rally speeders had buckets of acceleration and could get up to over 200 kmh in a flash you generally had to slow down before too long. It had taken some time to get use to the massive difference in speed between her landspeeder and her V-Wing. She was still uncomfortable at truly high speeds, which the ‘Madman’ was easily capable of. ‘Madcap’ looked down to her, could he since her nervousness? He then moved on to the other racers, Vel let out a sigh.

“As your ‘Guardian’, or whatever in the hell the title is, because I haven’t bothered to care about it,” She thought maybe ‘Mentor’ would be a more official title, but to her she had the greatest urge to call him ‘Grandpa’. “I will be your source of advice for this race, and for any other races after this. Although I have raced most of the courses on your season before, I cannot tell you how to win. But I can help you through the league rigmarole, because if any one of you read through the instruction booklet and understood it all in just one pass, then I salute you.” She hadn’t done it in one pass it took several readings and help from Marcus for her to fully grasp what was being said so, no salute for her. “Make sure your ship is ready to go before league inspection. The officials will be here an hour before the race to do their checks, so you have… two hours before then to make any last-minute changes or checks.” She nodded her head listening to the rest of the briefing, this was their first race after all they needed as much guidance as was possible. When the other racers broke away so did she, moving over towards her Blue and Yellow airspeeder after getting into her green flightsuit. The main color was blue with long yellow crescents running along the back edge of the wings. The concave side of the crescents faced the front with a grouping of yellow stars nestled in them.

“Ah, Miss Mcear,” Marcus Grun, the pit crew leader said as she approached, “What are we racing today, I hear it is called the Dragstrip.” He spoke basic with an accent Vel had never been able to place, but, she’d heard it many times before on the rally circuit.

“Yeah, they said it has an ‘Extreme Speed’ rating.” Marcus nodded his head then looked over his shoulder,

“Ton,” he shouted,

“Juu” was the reply from the similarly accented Ton Macca. The two humans have a conversation in a language Vel can’t decide where it’s from, maybe from whatever planet their accents come from.

The discussion over Marcus returned his gaze to Veloxa, “We’ll tweak the engines a bit, give you more speed on the straights, but you will lack a bit in acceleration.” He then put an arm around her shoulders and brought her in close, “If that’s what you want, I know you aren’t comfortable with the speeds the ‘Madman’ can produce.” She swallowed hard, he was right but, this course called for speed, she’d need every ounce of it.

“No, do it, I’ll need the speed.” A knowing nod from the older human and he went over to the V-wing. Her helmet was still secured under her arm a blue helmet with her insignia on it, a white ‘X’ slightly squished on the right side, with four white stars in a cross pattern in the crux on the left side.

“Ms. Mcear,” she turned to see ‘Grandpa’ coming towards her, “I am sorry to hear of your accident in the Rally Championships.” She instinctively brushed her dark blonde bangs over the scar that ran from the inside corner of her right eyebrow to right corner of her scalp a few centimeters above her right temple, “I sincerely hope that you will be able to put your full effort into this circuit,” She nodded her head, if her nightmare before coming here was any indication she still wasn’t over the crash yet. She had a cracked skull and some minor brain damage from the injury she sustained. Her doctors assured the league that it would have no effect on her driving ability, physically. Mentally that would be a different story, this would be her first true race behind the controls of a vehicle, could she handle the stress? The time passed and the officials came and went, Veloxa put her helmet on and moved toward the cockpit of the ‘Madman’

“Wait, Mademoiselle,” Bash Lob stopped her just short, turning her to face him. The Twi’lek leaned forward and kissed the insignia on her helmet, “it is a tradition, for luck.” She smiled weakly this was a new tradition to her, maybe it was a Twi’lek thing.

“Veloxa,” a soft voice called out as she got one step closer to the ‘Madman’ “save a bit of that bubbly for me,”

“Car,” she said looking at the Zygerrian, “I don’t drink, still underage.”

“I wasn’t suggesting you drink it, just save a bit for me.”

“I don’t think they give alcohol at the end of the race anyway.”

“They don’t,” he replied slightly perturbed, “how uncivilized.” She got into the flightseat, finally, where Marcus waited looking over her,

“You’ll do well, Miss Mcear,” he again leaned in close, “Don’t do anything you’re uncomfortable with alright.” She nods her head again and he disappears over the edge. Before leaving the garage she kissed the first two fingers on her right hand then pressed them to the picture of her father and brother that she lost so many years ago. Now she was ready.

TAG: Jedi Gunny

 

GM Note:

Players, there is now a Library thread located here in the Role Playing Resource forum. Please post your Character Sheet in that thread as well, and for new players who are still in various stages of CS development and the approval phase, once you have your Character Sheet approved, you must post a copy of your CS here and in the Library thread.

Remember, only one post in the Library thread per player.

TAGS to galactic-vagabond422, Trieste, Vehn, BartSimpson-SithLord

 

GM Approved


Name: Syl Syrgas
Gender: Male
Species: Nautolan
Homeworld: Glee Anselm
Appearance: Syl stands at 5'9 with an athletic build. He wears his tentacles mostly towards the back but does drape two onto each shoulder. His large spherical black eyes accentuate his strong jawline.
Skin Color: Bright blue.
Hair Color: No Hair.
Eye Color: Black.
Clothing: Inside his speeder he wears an orange and black flightsuit and helmet that have his sponsorship logos on them. Outside he usually finds time to wear only the finest tailored and fashionable clothes.
Other Attributes: Aggressive and more than a bit arrogant, Syl has a thirst for life and danger that may well see him dead.
Prior Racing Experience (i.e. are they new to airspeed racing, have they done it for a little while, did they swoop race before, etc.): New to airspeed racing, and knowing nothing about the inner workings of the craft, Syl does have some racing experience. He has raced in illegal swoop races across the galaxy, preferring the courses. He filmed a holovid about pod racing and, due to having to learn how to pilot, claims he "ran a podrace once".
Racing Habit (i.e. aggressive, laid-back, calm, etc.): Aggressive. Even when he has no right to be. Reckless. Dangerous. Prone to mistakes in the pursuit of a win.
Area of Specialty (i.e. speed, balanced, technique, etc.): Speed.
Biography: Growing up on Glee Anselm, the only thing Syl really wanted was excitement. He didn't care for tradition or anything that told him to stay with his people. He wanted to experience life. This led to his admiration of the land on Glee Anselm and especially with dangerous activities. He quickly grew infamous amongst his people and others as a trouble maker and daredevil. He would constantly push local speederboats and swoops past their limits in order to get a rush.

When he was 18 one of his exploits caught the eye of a vacationing holovid talent scout from Coruscant. The man liked Syl's attitude, looks, and abilities and decided made him an offer to leave Glee Anselm and head to Coruscant to become a star. Not even thinking to let his family know, Syl accepted the offer and headed off on what he thought would be his greatest adventure.

And he was partly correct. The man was right, and Syl quickly became a known actor in the world of action Holovids. People recognized him all over the galaxy and he gained great wealth. However, amidst the life of a star, Syl realized he still had something missing. The thrill just wasn't there. Even when doing his own stunts the danger wasn't present. Too many harnesses and other protections. He didn't feel like he could perish at any moment. That was when he discovered the world of illegal swoop racing and decided to try that out on the side.

For a time, this was perfect. He could act and still thrill seek. However, one costly accident and he had to promise to his manager to never do that again in exchange for starring in a holovid about Podracing. He still wished one day to return to the world of racing. His true passion being the never ending ballet between life and death as you speed past obstacles.

Now, 28, Syl heard about the AARC and abruptly fired his manager and 'retired' from acting. Spending a large portion of his fortune, he hired a crew, bought a custom speedboat, and headed off to find that thrill once again. This time legally.

Ship model (if applicable, or custom-built): Custom ordered amphibious speederboat.
Description (or use an image, if you are so inclined): This, only without the landing gear.
Markings (if applicable): MonCal Shipyards logo, various other sponsors.
Vehicle Name: Salamander

Pit Crew: "The Flying Fish"

Pit Leader Name: Oxnak (Male, Ugnaught)
Pit Member 1: Tallima (Female, Aleena)
Pit Member 2: Freqas Desno (Male, Xexto)
Pit Member 3: Jax Trisli (Male, Human)

Insignia:

 

IC: Jamie Vehn
Ord Mantell



Jamie leaned against the kitchen couter of her parent's house exhausted after a long day in the scrap yards of Ord Mantell. Her job was assembling valuable metal in bulk shipment for the shipyards above. Only the best metal could move forward past the initial screening process and the job required a human eye and an attention to detail.

She winced as she ran water over her hands to wash the grease and grime off. Blisters stabbed her fingers all over as she looked out the window of the small home at the house next door, built very much like the one she currently lived in, occupied by a family very much like hers, doing everything they could to simply get by.

Jamie had once entertained dreams of going on to college after graduating high school. She'd wanted to study engineering on some school far away from Ord Mantell. Something, anything, that would get her off this wretched planet. Just as she was preparing to leave for school her Dad had been injured on the job. The bills started to pile up and so did the threat of eviction. Jamie didn't hesitate one bit as she set her dreams aside to take his place in the smelting factories of Ord Mantell and never looked back. Regrets were for the weak, anyways.

"How long you going to stand there washing away your future?" Robert Vehn asked.

"Until the bleeding stops," Jamie replied as she furiously scrubbed at her battered hands.

"You know you can ask for fewer hours," Robert suggested.

"You know we can't afford that," Jamie replied as she shut the water off and dried her hands on a nearby towel.

"Jamie I don't want you spending your entire life doing something you hate because you're trying to take care of me," Robert said.

"I don't have a choice, Papa. If I don't work then we're behind on our bills and we lose the house and," Jamie stopped as pounded the kitchen
counter in frustration, "and I'm worried sick about your health. I read the latest doctor's report and it said you've got some virus. Something is slowly sapping away at your life."

"You saw that," Robert said with a sigh as he sat down at the kitchen table. He bore the look of a man whose secret had just been revealed. The look of a man who was defeated in spirit at having to be less than to his own flesh and blood to his own daughter.

"I'll pick up an extra shift," Jamie said crossing her arms.

Robert shook his head, "No you won't Jamie. You've enough already."

"Yeah? How you going to stop me?" Jamie challenged.

Robert reached into his pocket and pulled out a hologaphic advertisement. It was information on the new ARJD racing league.

"What is this?" Jamie asked.

"Since tonight is all about spilling secrets," Robert said, "then I have to say I've been noticing you're coming home later and later at night. Your clothes smell of exhaust fumes and death-sticks. I was concerned about the crowd you are hanging out with and so I followed you one night to one of your street races."

Jamie's face went ashen as she tried to offer up a defense. "I can explain."

Robert held up his hand and shook his head. "I think you mistake my meaning. I'm saying that I discovered what a good racer you are. You can ride swoop bikes with the rest of them. How long have you been doing this?"

"Six months," Jamie admitted. That felt good. Nice to finally come clean. "The factory wages aren't that great, Papa. You know that. I had to pick up some extra money on the side. Something I enjoyed doing."

"You enjoyed an activity?" Robert asked, "I didn't realize you enjoyed much of anything."

"I didn't until some friends of mine introduced me to racing," Jamie replied.

"I see," Robert said. "Then I'd like you to consider something."

"Oh yeah?" Jamie asked.

Robert tapped the small holoprojection of the ARJD advertisement and smiled. "I think you should do this, Jamie."

"And leave you here? Whose going to take care of you!" Jamie protested.

"Your aunt as a matter of fact. I've arranged everything," Robert said.

"She couldn't cook her way out of a paper bag!" Jamie groused.

Robert laughed and nodded in agreement, "I know but she does know how to take care of people. She'll keep my healthy."

Jamie looked at the images flashing before her of the AARC circuit. Fast speeds, close calls, and the chance to earn some glory for the Vehn name.

"Big money?" Jamie asked.

"Enough to set us up for a long time," Robert said.

Jamie didn't know what to say. What an opportunity.

"You're young, Jamie. You should go out there and find yourself not rotting away in the factories. Go, experience life. I've already calle ahead to the AARC. They know to expect you. I showed them some of your swoop racing videos and I think you should go. Besides, they can't wait to meet you," Robert urged.

"You sure you're going to be okay?" Jamie asked.

"I'm still here aren't I?" Robert replied.

Jamie laughed and embraced her father in a fierce hug.

"I love you, Papa. Thank you so much!"

Robert returned the embrace and kissed Jamie on the cheek.

"I love you too, my dearest daughter. I love you too."

---

Malastare

“Ms. Vehn, you have a lot to play for here. Good luck to you in your quest to help your father.”

Jamie snapped out of her reverie. Snapped out of her memories. Focused on the task at hand. The race that she had to perform well in to save her father's life. It all started here. The road to healing.

Jamie fumbled for the words and managed to say, "Thank you, sir."

She left the facility and headed out to her speeder. 'The Scrappers' as she affectionately called her crew were waiting in front of the modified Theta class shuttle. She'd named her pit droids after a long lost alphabet from a time long ago. Easy names. Ones she would remember in the heat of the race.

Jamie clambered into the cockpit flicked the power and tightened her straps.

"Alpha, we good to go?" Jamie asked.

"Read you five by five," Alpha responded.

"Engines holding," Beta added.

"Computer systems online," Gamma chirped.

"Structural integrity looking good," Delta commented.

"Time to rock," Jamie roared over the whine of her engines.

"Time to roll!" The pit droids replied simulataneously.

Jamie adjusted her goggles and eased her airspeeder out onto the track. She tried to steady her breathing but all she could think about was her father back home on Ord Mantell. Was he doing well? Was he watching right now?

She didn't know.

All she did know as that today she needed to win.

She had to win.

Tag: Jedi Gunny

 

IC: Niall Trieste
The garage, Malastare

During the welcome speech, Niall kept one ear on the words of Madcap and one eye on the other racers. Niall appraised them automatically. It was habit born of experience. He rarely walked into a room without his mind automatically going through some kind of a threat assessment. It was one of the realities of his life now and one that he didn’t even think about.

I suppose they meant it when they said this was the “junior” division, Niall supposed. I wonder...I am I the oldest of them all? The “old man” jokes are probably going to come pretty regularly...and probably from Henley. Should have thought that through before I joined.

“...‘Extreme Speed’...”

Malastare and I are going to get along quite well, Niall thought with a smirk.

He gently patted the side of his speeder, against which he was leaning. The DB5 had been handbuilt at BakurRepulsor Corp, as all of this model were. Niall would know--his family owned an 11% stake in the company. Owning stock, sadly, did not bring any employee discount. However, Niall didn’t care. When his application for AARC’s junior division had been accepted, Niall had done what he always did and what you could do when you had a lot of credits: he asked people who knew better than him what to buy. His requirements were simple: buy Bakuran and go fast.

The DB5 was not the fastest speeder BRC made, but when Niall had gotten the showroom tour, he’d been called to it. The lines were gorgeous. There was a classic style to it, especially in this bright silver color. The other airspeeders in the hangar around him were all sharp lines, paragons of the finest the galaxy had to offer. They were welcome to them. The DB5 had style.

It had undergone some aftermarket tinkering that was bound to happen with any racing speeder. That was the domain of Carmerr Alnor, the Kurtzen that was the first person that Niall had brought into the pit crew. Carmerr had been the mechanic on Niall’s starfighter, the one that had crisscrossed the galaxy years ago. Niall trusted Carmerr with his life--as well he should given the speeds that he was going to be going. The Kurtzen had assured Niall that the DB5 would pass inspection with flying colors when it came up in a few hours.

“Don’t worry, Taoiseach,” Carmerr had said, not even bothering to pull himself out of whatever hatch he’d stuck himself into to work, his words rattling off the interior of the DB5. “It’s all good.”

Taoiseach. That was what Carmerr always called him. The old Bakuran words that had survived into their vernacular were relics of the Kurtzen language. It meant “chieftan,” “head of family.” It was not just a title to the Kurtzen, but a sign of respect. It was not lost on Niall that Carmerr used it with him.

“...if any one of you read through the instruction booklet…”

Niall had read the AARC rulebook, but McGee was right. He’d taken just the high points away from the parts he’d read. That’s why he’d have Henley on the comms with him.

Henley had seen Niall when he’d been putting the DB5 through speed tests on the Brentaal salt flats. “Nice speeder,” she’d said when she’d wandered over. “You’re a fighter pilot though, aren’t you?”

“Why do you say that?” Niall had replied, meeting her question with one of his own.

“You turn like a bantha,” she said with a smile. “You think you can bank that thing like it’s in vacuum and go at whatever speed you want. Beautiful thing about an airspeeder driven properly is the way you can drift it in the turns and keep your speed up.”

“Drifting doesn’t result in more speed.”

“But it looks super cool,” Henley had pointed out.

Henley knew more about airspeeder racing than Niall did and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. He wanted to win and he couldn’t do it without her. That was why she was his pit boss. They were still having their debate about the finer points of his style, but in a race he would trust her implicitly.

“Anyone found violating league rules will of course be subject to penalty…”

Niall elbowed Kit, but given the difference in their heights he got her in the shoulder. “Hear that?” he whispered. “They’re onto you.”

The Amaran glared at the human, clearly working hard to keep herself from getting goaded into a spat that would catch McGee’s attention and get them chewed out--likely to the point of finding out another reason they called him “Madcap.” Niall didn’t know Kit’s real name. Kit was Kit and that was that. He’d met Kit on Taris back during year 4 of The Hunt. Well, actually, he’d seen Kit beat the snot out of a Gamorrean in a bar and then he’d stepped in to slam the Gamorrean’s friend into the bar when said friend tried to shiv Kit in the back. Why Kit and the Gamorrean had gotten into the fight was something that Kit had never volunteered and Niall had never asked. Kit was a mechanic and from that day on whenever Niall got that far out from Bakura he brought his fighter to the Amaran for servicing. Usually it involved her complaining about “the idiot who did this wiring.” Niall wasn’t concerned now that Kit was working with “that idiot” because Carmerr complained just as much about the way that Kit swapped parts “like a hyperactive Jedi with telekenetic powers”.

They’d work things out between themselves eventually.

The pep talk ended and Niall turned to look at the final member of his team, Tourqemada Chellow. He was using all four of his arms to organize parts, fuel cells, and other equipment that might be needed during pit stops. It stood to reason that anyone with more than two sets of arms should be fast when making a pit stop (which was not part of Niall’s plan, but you never knew how an airspeeder would stand up being pushed to the limit). However, that reasoning was wrong. Just as every human or near-human could just as easily be clumsy as nimble, so could any non-human no matter how many appendages he or she had. That being said, Tourqe, as he went by in the heat of the moment, was everything you’d thought a Xexto could be with four arms. His arms worked in concert like General Grievous wielding lightsabers. If he was born to do something, it was this...or maybe do flashy bartender moves.

Chellow was the only being on Niall’s team who had professional experience doing this kind of thing. They’d met during The Hunt, exactly when Niall couldn’t remember, but he did remember the way that he’d heard a full grown Wookiee get bawled out by something half its height and about a fifth of its mass. The way the Wookiee took it told Niall that the yeller commanded quite a bit of respect. It turned out that someone had messed around with the Xexto’s equipment pods and since he was pretty sure it was the walking carpet (though, in the end, it hadn’t been) he was going to give said furball a piece of his mind. Niall watched the argument with amusement, until Tourqemada noticed the observer and decided that he needed to be chewed out.

After three minutes of bickering, Niall finally shouted, “What are we even arguing about because I don’t remember anymore but I want to keep yelling at you!”

This caused both to stop and then start laughing uproariously. Thus began their friendship. Over drinks, Niall learned that Tourqemada was on the NASPOD circuit doing pit work. They kept in touch here and there (Niall actually watched some of NASPOD as a result, mainly to see Tourqe do his thing in the pit) and when Niall decided to get into AARC, Tourqe had been his only choice for a skilled pit crew member for the heat of the moment. The Xexto had dropped his current gig and come to join his crew.

“Everything ready Four Arms?” Niall asked. Probably not the best move to needle him so close to a race, but he can always use a little loosening up.

“How would you like it if I called you Two Arms?” Tourqe asked without turning.

“We all have two arms,” Carmerr said from underneath the DB5. “It’d get confusing.” Tourqe used one of his arms to swat the leg of the Kurtzen in reply. “Hey. I’m doing precision work here. No touching.”

“It was Kit,” Tourqe replied evenly.

“It was not!” the Amaran said from the other end of the car. “I’ll all the way down here!”

“Don’t believe her, she’s a sneaky little thing,” Niall said.

“Takes one to know one,” Henley interjected.

Further conversation was halted by Madcap coming by on his way out.

“Mr. Trieste, good to see you here. The circuit’s officials look forward to seeing what you have to offer this circuit and this sport.”

“I look forward to seeing how this goes myself. It should prove illuminating,” Niall replied.

The big man moved on and Henley came around the speeder. “Sounds like they’ve got high expectations for you,” she said.

“They can have whatever expectations they want,” Niall said. And they can go to Korriban with them. I’m racing for me. “Who should I keep an eye on?”

This was another area where Henley shined. When he watched a race, he just saw vehicles going around a track. Henley saw strategy and what each racer was doing.

“Mcear has prior experience. Banged up in it, but her experience means she knows what she’s doing,” Henley said. She leaned against the side of the DB5 next to Niall nonchalantly, making subtle motions that seemed like part of a normal conversation but that he could translate into indications of who she was talking to. “Talion, the Cathar, also has experience. One amateur championship, a little junior time. Wrecked a ship too.”

“You sure I didn’t sign up for a demolition derby?” Niall quipped with just a hint of an arched eyebrow.

“Har har. I’ve seen you drive, mister. You’re the biggest risk to cause a crash of anyone out there,” Henley said with withering eyes. “Syrgas, the Nautolan, has swoop experience. Drives like a mynock out of Korriban. Stunt experience. Action vids, that kind of thing. Watch him if you’re around him. The others are solid, but nothing worth special mention.”

“You missed one.”

Henley’s eyebrows went up in curious surprise. “Oh yeah? Who’s that?” She apparently wanted to hear who Niall thought was worth notice.

“That one. With the V,” he said.

“Vehn? Swoop racer, hasn’t done speeders yet,” Henley said. “I wouldn’t be worried about her.”

“Anyone who’ll get droids to do their work instead of a sentient being shouldn’t be trusted,” Niall said, glowering at the pit droids doing their tasks on the speeder.

“I let a droid clean my apartment,” Henley said, “Ordinary beings trust droids, weirdo.”

Niall knew Henley would never understand. He didn’t know where she was from, but clearly that world didn’t have a massive droid revolt in its past. To this day, the many of Fionn’s countrymen didn’t trust droids and he counted himself in the majority.

“Besides, you could never replace me with a droid. I’m too cute for that,” Henley said with a smile before she walked off.

“You know, somebody probably thought that before Xizor got Guri,” Niall called over his shoulder.

Henley didn’t reply. She’s right. Not about droids, but that it’s time to get ready. Race time.

TAG: BartSimpson-SithLord galactic-vagabond422 Jedi Gunny Vehn

 

Posting just for the hell of it.


IC: Tuft Tutt, Racing Official
Malastare

Tuft Tutt had been on the AARC circuit since its very first race. As a junior official, the Xexto had moved his way up through the years, finally achieving the job of assistant official at the end of the 123 ABY season. When the offer came to be a head official in the ARJD, he had accepted without hesitating. It had been a no-brainer; the pay wasn’t as nice, but he could hone his craft better as a head official and eventual get the job in the AARC compared to waiting and hoping that a spot would open up if he stayed. This was the best course of action to take, and there was a lot of excitement about it, too. The ARJD was shiny and brand new, and he was going to start the first race of the circuit. Everything was in his hands.

When the racers were all out on the starting line, Tutt looked to the broadcaster and nodded. “Ladies and gentlebeings, welcome to ‘The Dragstrip’ on Malastare. Today, you will witness the first-ever running of the Airspeed Racers Junior Division here on this lovely breakneck speed course,” the announcer said, before it was translated into many languages. “The ARJD welcomes all of you to the event, and hope that you have an excellent time today. To the racers, good luck. This is the first leg of your journey. It all begins today, so start. Your. Engines.”



The relative silence in the air at the starting line was soon eliminated with the sounds of engines starting up all over the place. Some racers had very booming engine sounds from their vehicles, others had much whinier and tinnier tones to their engines. It was a cacophony of sound that Tutt loved.

Once the engines were revved and all personnel were removed from the track, Tutt got the signal from his assistant officials. They would be in charge of enforcing all the rules of the circuit, so they would keep a close eye on proceedings. For some of them, this was their first race action, and Tutt didn’t know if they were ready for what they were about to witness. He had seen podracing here on Malastare a time or two, and that was intense. This was nothing in comparison. But airspeeders were a whole different breed; this was their proving ground.

One of his many fingers hovered above the button to start the race. Once that button was pressed, there was no going back.

TAG: No one or Everyone, depends on if you want to rev the engines on your racers in a needlessly dramatic fashion

---

IC: Jemma Talion
Starting Line

“Give me engine diagnostics,” Jemma said into her microphone.

“All tests are running smoothly. We are good to go,” Speedy Crannon said into his own mic as he stood outside the speeder. Jemma looked down to the ground where her crew, dressed in their flame suits and helmets, were standing. It was funny to see the large helmet that Hugo needed on his head, because Herglics were naturally large, and he was of course shy about mentioning his size or weight. It was a Herglic culture custom, Jemma guessed. Elzbet’s headtails came out the top of the helmet, obviously making her a lot more comfortable than smashing them into the helmet for a perfect fit. All wore goggles and safety gloves for their work in Pit Row, in case Jemma needed their help.

“Repulsors?” Jemma asked.

“Check,” Hugo said on the channel.

“Wing and stability control?”

“Roger that,” Lira Walles said.

“Windscreen clean and visuals are go?” Jemma asked.

“Windscreen is cleaner than the back side of a bantha after taking a bath,” Elzbet said, her usual cheery humor not failing her.

“Not something I’d like to see,” Jemma muttered to herself.

“What was that?” Speedy asked over the comm. “Didn’t copy.”

“Nothing,” Jemma said.

Finally, all the vehicles were lined up at the starting line. Jemma looked around at her nine fellow racers; this was their first step in the ARJD towards an AARC berth. That was where the real money and fame was. She had to do well here to get a good start; she couldn’t afford a letdown.

“Start. Your. Engines!” came the announcer’s voice.

Jemma flipped on her engines’ secondary power. The primary power was enough to taxi out to the starting line, but the secondary power was the actual racing engine. She and her team had designed it this way so that if a malfunction occurred with the racing engine, she could still limp her way off the track to get clear or, if she was close enough, to try and finish a race at low speed to earn any additional points she could muster. After all, getting the extra point on this circuit for finishing in last place certainly beat not finishing at all.



When the racer roared to life, Jemma could hear the sweet sounds of its engine in her helmet. She had worked meticulously to get this engine system the way she wanted it, and it would be a shame to have it destroyed on its first race. Extra housing was put in place to keep the engine safe should she crash and the vehicle come apart, because that sucker took a lot of work to design and build. Any complete rebuilds could take weeks, time she didn’t have in her back pocket on the circuit.

“Good luck out there today,” Speedy said.

“Remember, speed kills here today,” Lira commented. “Find a way to move up the field early on and let the jackrabbits get out to a lead and burn themselves out before you make your move.”

“Copy that,” Jemma said. She was a calculating racer, always looking two steps ahead if she could. Sometimes it worked, but other times it burned her. Which one of those results would she get here?

There were a lot of questions to be answered out on ‘The Dragstrip’ today.


TAG: No One

 

GM Update

'The Dragstrip' at Malastare

• ARJD starts off season on Malastare with three-lap race at 'The Dragstrip'. Initial reaction from local fans mixed.
• Syl Syrgas wins initial race of ARJD season after coming from behind to overtake Niall Trieste late.
• Racer Dinga Goa takes out own speeder, two others in crash on Lap 3
• Analyst: "It was absolute carnage out there with the Goa crash. Not only did the 'Killer Cliffs' get her, but then she goes and takes out two other racers. We didn't think we'd see a lot of crashing action today, but fans certainly saw a spectacle out there."
• Fan: "We almost never see crashes out here on this course, so to see one racer take out herself and two others was big!"
• Goa: (through translator) "I went through the one turn too sharply, and I lost control. Simple as that."
• AARC season begins at 'The Dragstrip' on Malastare as well. Lilla Corhan holds off late charge from Calvin Heddy to win season opener. 'Madcap' McGee finishes fifth, and defending champion Sluggs Fereen, dealing with engine troubles, finishes tenth.
• Corhan: "It felt really good out there. I am ready to defend my win this week next time out."
• Fereen: "(censored) engine beat me. No one else could."
• McGee: "I feel that I put in a strong effort out there today."

Results:
Lap 1 (results of 1-10 random generated roll):

Mcear – 2
Talion – 6
Vehn – 1
Trieste – 10
Syrgas – 8
Hyri-rily – 6
Monn – 8
Wi’ker – 6
Goa – 1

Lap 1 Standings:

Trieste
Syrgas
Monn
Hyri-rily
Talion
Wi’ker
Mcear
Goa
Vehn

Notes:

Zala crashed after being pushed by Mcear, unable to finish race


Lap 2 (2nd lap score inserted after first lap score):

Trieste – 10 10
Syrgas – 8 9
Monn – 8 9
Hyri-rily – 6 4
Wi’ker – 6 7
Mcear – 2 1
Goa – 1 8
Vehn – 1 5

Lap 2 Standings:

Trieste
Syrgas
Monn
Wi’ker
Hyri-rily
Goa
Vehn
Mcear

Notes:

Talion crashed, Monn responsible, did not finish the race

Lap 3 (third lap score after prior two lap scores):

Trieste – 10 10 1
Syrgas – 8 9 9
Wi’ker – 6 7 8
Vehn – 1 5 9
Mcear – 1 2 6

Notes:

Goa crashed, responsible for taking out Hyri-rily and Monn

Final Standings:

1. Syrgas
2. Trieste
3. Wi’ker
4. Vehn
5. Mcear

DNP Racers:

Monn
Hyri-rily
Goa
Talion
Zala


Circuit Standings:

1. Syrgas - 10 points
2. Trieste - 8 points
3. Wi'ker - 7 points
4. Vehn - 6 points
5. Mcear - 5 points
6. Monn - 1 point
7. Hyri-rily - 1 point
8. Goa - 1 point
9. Talion - 1 point
10. Zala - 0 points


TAGS: Vehn, Trieste, galactic-vagabond422, BartSimpson-SithLord

 

IC: Jemma Talion
Malastare

The initial rush of the speeder taking off from the starting line was what Jemma lived for. It was the fast and furious change of speed, the lurching of the craft, the squeal of the engines, the finger-tight grip on the joystick. This was why she raced, for the adrenaline, and the pressure on her shoulders to get off to a good start was just one more factor weighing on her. But that’s what made racing fun; it was the thrill of the chase and the fact that you skirted the line between safe and dangerous, the risk factors high. But as a racer, you routinely spat at the laws of logic, because they wouldn’t help you in the midst of battle. And this battle would last three laps on the fastest course on the circuit. It would be a true test of speed and adrenaline, and Jemma was going to put herself right in the middle of it all.

She got a good jump from the starting line and got into the sixth position of the ten racers. Trieste and Syrgas had gotten the best jumps and had formed into the top two of the leaderboard almost immediately. Obviously the reckless Nautolan and the Bakuran royal, or whatever he was supposed to be in his society, because it was all very confusing to Jemma, had found McGee’s opening speech to be a rather blatant blueprint for how to win. They had come out with engines blazing (although Jemma could see no fire, so their engines were working just fine) and had grabbed the top two spots. It would take time for the Cathar to try and pass them, but she would have to do it if she wanted to have a chance at this one. Her strengths relied on her to sit back, though, so she had some advantage. All it took would be a mistake from another racer, and she would find some space to make a pass.

It was clear on the first lap that this was indeed a fast course. It couldn’t have been more flat, Jemma noticed as she went around the first half of the course. All of the jungle around them had been cut down to make for a very smooth ride, and the speed aspect of the course manifested itself when she got passed by another racer down the straightaway. Not one to give in to competition, Jemma found her spot and passed Wi’ker. The Noghri obviously wasn’t too happy about being passed, but Jemma had a sly grin on her face. She was sure that Wi’ker would try to pick another spot to make a pass, so she had to try and make some space between her and the other racer.

Around the ‘Killer Cliffs’, Jemma had to slow down a slight bit. It wasn’t a real obstacle like on technical courses, but it was enough to make you think a bit instead of keeping the foot on the accelerator the whole time. It was here that she jockeyed for position with Wi’ker, the Noghri not giving her any space. It was like that for the entire remainder of the first lap, with the two racers battling for the fifth position. Monn and Hyri-rily had settled into the third and fourth positions, respectively, and Trieste and Syrgas were way out ahead. Jemma bit her lip as she realized that her jump hadn’t been nearly enough; she would have to make her move sooner rather than later, or risk finishing fifth or worse. It was only the first race, but finishing in the Top 4 would be a big boost going into the second race of the season.

Then she found her spot. On part of the straightaway, Jemma noticed that Hyri-rily was leaving space between himself and the guard rail that was enough for her to squeeze through. Checking her side to make sure that Wi’ker couldn’t follow her, she made her move. The Sun Rider boosted to the side, and she was barely able to scrape past the Bothan’s craft without bumping into the rail. It was an amazing pass that she tried to find all the time when she raced, the kind of move that would send a momentary sense of shock into the other pilot. That was usually enough to knock them back a peg or two, giving Jemma enough time to extend her lead.

“Nice pass,” came the voice of Speedy Crannon over the headset. “Always trying to make it interesting.”

“Not now, Speedy,” Jemma said. She had to concentrate, because Wi’ker had found a way around Hyri-rily, who was leaving his back bumper open and let two racers pass him on the straightaway. Now Monn was ahead, the Chevin known for his lack of judgment when it came to engine boosts. But his ship was big, and it would prove much more difficult to pass than Hyri-rily’s smaller speeder was. It looked like a good time to wait for the next straightaway to try and make the pass. Trieste and Syrgas were still way out ahead, and Jemma knew that she was running out of time.

It was around the ‘Killer Cliffs’ and into the next straightaway where she finally picked her spot. Monn had slacked off a slight bit, most likely trying to find another boost in his engines. The momentary pause gave Jemma a chance to try and make the pass. She gunned the engines and tried to cut Monn off on the left.

What she didn’t know was that Monn had been watching her, and cut her off.

Jemma tried to move the joystick, but her ship didn’t respond correctly. The contact with Monn’s craft had been enough to clip her trajectory, and she had been going too fast to get herself back under control. The Sun Rider skidded to the side, and Jemma fought with the joystick to try and right her ship. But it was too late, as the vehicle steered off course.

With the guard rail coming dangerously close, Jemma commed her team. “Speedy, I’ve got a problem! Joystick won’t change my direction!”

“Monn must’ve clipped you,” Speedy said. “Try lateral controls.”

“They’re not working!” Jemma said, frustrated.

That was when she ran out of time.

The Sun Rider smashed into the guard rail at high speed, flipping over the rail into an open patch of dirt and landing on its right wing. The airbag went off in Jemma’s face, and as soon as the ship finally fell on its bottom after climbing the guard rail, her head made its way onto the headrest.

“Dammit!” she yelled. There was no way she was going any further in this race; it was over for her.

It didn’t take long for the league’s recovery droids to come to her aid, and her crew showed up in the emergency cart to check on her. By the time they arrived, Jemma had long since left her cockpit and was sitting on the guard rail, her helmet off and her feet on the wires. It wasn’t too long before Trieste and Syrgas went past, obviously battling for the top spot.

“Monn must’ve clipped you harder than you thought,” Speedy said when Jemma, dejected, looked over to him. “There is no other reason the controls wouldn’t work. You must’ve been in a sharp-enough turn that you couldn’t retain control.”

“Not now, Speedy,” Elzbet said. “Can’t you see that she doesn’t need the technical explanation right now? She just lost her chance because that fat Chevin guy cost her the race.”

“Doesn’t do me any good now,” Jemma said, resting her chin on her hand as her elbow was anchored on her thigh. “I crashed, and I missed out on all those points. What a lousy way to start the season.”

“Look, Jemma. There’s still seven races left. There’s plenty of time to make a comeback,” Elzbet said. Vehn and eventually Mcear came around the bend on their way towards the finish line, way back from the leaders.

“How’s the damage looking?” Speedy asked.

“The repulsors on the right side look totaled,” Lira said. “Must’ve happened when the ship tipped over the rail. “But the engine looks fine, and otherwise I think we’re looking at a very fixable accident. We’ve got time to make changes.”

That was the good news, Jemma knew, but it was still a DNF, and the trip back to the garage with her wrecked speeder was a dejected one. At least she hadn’t been the only one; Zala had wiped out on the first lap, giving the Kel Dor zero points on this race and making sure that Jemma wasn’t tied for last place in the standings. A three-racer crash on the third lap had cost Goa, Hyri-rily, and Monn, the Chevin who had bumped her, their chance, and Jemma got a small, if unexciting, sense of redemption knowing that Monn’s racer had bit the dust on the next lap after he had ended her race.


It was two weeks until the next race, and Jemma understood that the pressure was really on now. She needed to be in the top two at the end of the season to earn the AARC berth, and right now that looked almost impossible. She would have to ramp up her game over the next seven races to make up ground. What a terrible start.

 

IC: Syl Syrgas
Nautolan

"And that is why, as of today, I am leaving acting and focusing entirely upon my venture into the exciting world of the ARJD Speeder racing!" The crowd of reporters and fans erupted in concerned gasps and confused murmurs at the announcement that one of the biggest Holovid actors, Syl Syrgas, had decided to enter such a dangerous sport. The microphone at the podium picked up several bewildered statements and, in some cases, downright anger. They had expected this to be an announcement for a new sponsorship, perhaps a holovid about the events before the Empire. Rumors had been spreading for months that Syrgas had been the only actor in mind to play Jedi Master Kit Fisto. In truth, Syrgas had been offered that role only to turn it down. Who wants to see anything to do with that age? He'd told the director, laughing in the man's face when he'd mentioned the holovid would mainly focus upon the politics of the era.

"Mr. Syrgas, but what about your fans?" A lone question rang out from the sea of reporters.

"Oh, I'm not deserting my fans, if that's what you're implying. I'll still be the same Syl Syrgas my fans of come to know and adore. Only, now, they'll be able to follow me weekly in the ARJD speeder circuit. Think of it as a shift in focus rather than an abandonment. Why, this new venture will allow me even more time with my adoring public..."

What many had believed to be a new holovid venture conference had turned into a maelstrom of questions and activity that went on for another hour while the crowd tried to wrap their heads around what they had just heard. Even when the questions died down it didn't truly seem like anyone actually believed that Syrgas was serious about this. After all, the man had made a movie about podracing and now claims that he's raced pods, even during this conference he answered the very real question about his competency with "Come now. I've been in podraces. They're much much faster than speeders," which elicited far more laughter than admiration. A fact that seemed to go right over the ego filled head of Syl Syrgas. It wasn't until he pressed a button on his podium and the large doors behind him unvelied his custom MonCal speederboat, which he announced as "The Salamander" that people started to believe him.

"I trust you all are finally starting to see the seriousness I have for this opportunity," He began as four beings entered into the room, "So, without further delay, this is the group that I've hired to make sure I stay in these races and compete from week to week."

"The first is Oxnak, he's an Ugnaught from Cloud City. Best mechanic I've ever seen. He fixed my luxury sky yacht right up in record time."

The next is Tallima, she was the head mechanic for the podracing movie I was in. She knows the ins and outs of making things go fast."

"Following is Freqas Dresno, a Xexto and a former podracer himself. He studies the way things move in the air and has even written holonovels about the science of racing."

"And last, but certainly not least, is my human buddy, Jax Trisli, otherwise known as the man who introduced me to swoop racing in the first place."

With the introduction of a seriously put together pit crew, the crowd flew into another frenzy of questions fielded this time to five people.

---

Malastare

But all that had been months ago, at the very beginning of the registration for the ARJD, and since then it has been nothing but a fury of media appearances and practice runs with the speeder to get her ready for the big time. Thankfully the crew, while they never really seemed to get along too well, were motivated enough by the paychecks they were bringing in and kept bickering to a whisper. The main problems stemmed from Oxnak and Tallima's inability to see eye to eye on the mechanics of the ship, as well as them seeing Jax as nothing but a glorified painter as his only notable claim to the ship was the bring orange and white paint scheme. All, though, had nothing but respect for the Xexto and when he spoke, they listened. He had become something of the mediator in the shop, sometimes agreeing with Tallima, sometimes Oxnak. But always his word was kept as law. The man knew his repulsorcraft, and he knew them well.

Syl, however, was busy this day outside of the garage. The racers had been called back to the garage to listen to a speech by "Madcap" McGee, but Syrgas found pulling away from his fans a rather difficult task. And, frankly, he didn't really care. He didn't know who McGee was, only that he was a racer in the next circuit up. As far as Syrgas was concerned, that made him something to aim toward, not listen to.

"Hey, buddy," Jax's voice rang in the radio in Syl's ear, "You might want to stop giving autographs and come back inside for this. McGee's really glaring at the spot you should be standing. Seems kind of important, this speech he's about to give."

"And deny my fans what they've come to see? No. Patch the audio in over my comm. I'll listen to Madcap but I didn't see anything in the rulebook that stated we had to be at anything but meetings. And this little 'changing of the guard' ceremony isn't a meeting, now is it?"

"Fine, I can tell I won't change your mind on this. Patching it through, so far he's just been rambling about the track. You'd never guess it, the track named 'The Dragstrip' is focused on speed. Shocking."

Syrgas gave a chuckle as a reply and then returned to giving facetime to his adoring, obnoxious, fanbase. He gave a passing ear to the old man's ramblings about the way the organization was run and all that. Really, this is stuff that could've been in a message to the racers, no need to organize this little show. What, was this guy their racing father or something? When it was obvious that Madcap was finished with his speech and everyone was dispersing, he finally bid farewell to his fans and returned to his ship to see how progress was coming along on its calibrations.

"So, our employer finally shows his face. What, too good to stand in line with the rest of the racers and listen to the veteran's speech?"

"Too busy, more like. You know my fans still have to come first, promised them that and they're buying my merchandise at 200% markup, so I have to give them what they want. And what they want is a chance to meet me outside of the garage."

Tallima scoffed, it seems the two had found something they agreed on for once. "You shouldn't be so quick to abandon your responsibilities to the league. Sure, there was no warning that you had to be at the speech, but they'll be looking for you. And I don't think that Madcap was very happy that you skipped out on his chance to size you up."

Syrgas jumped into the cockpit as you put on his helmet and gave them a big grin, "Tell you what. There'll probably be one of these speeches again every week. You get me the win today and I'll make sure to attend all the rest of them."

"That better be a promise, cause we'll hold you to it."

"You bet it's a promise." He grinned as he waited for their final two hours of prep to be up, choosing to listen to music in the cockpit instead of being reprimanded for not attending a frivolous speech. He expected to be good, no doubt about that. But, c'mon, this was his first actual race. There was very little chance he'd win his first race.

---

The Dragstrip

Finally, the moment he'd waited on since learning about this junior division, the chance to race this beautiful ship at breakneck speeds, was on its way. And Syrgas couldn't keep the grin off his face as he joined the group of taxiing speeders heading out to the starting grid for the race. It all felt so surreal as he looked around the course, a patch of deforested land with some sheer cliffs in one of the turns. And flat. Boy was it flat. So much speed would be attained out here today and that excited him to no end.

"How are your engines looking, have you done the prerace checks yet?"

"Everything is in the green and ready to go," Syl responded to the Xexto's inquiry. He sometimes wondered if Freqas cared more about getting a good start than having a strong finish.

To the racers, good luck. This is the first leg of your journey. It all begins today, so start. Your. Engines.



This was it. That call meant there was no turning back, even if Syl had wanted to do so. He flipped the switch, moving sending the engines to full racing power, listening to the mix of engine sounds as the shrill whine of his mixed with the more thunderous bellows of the others, truly this was a symphony of noise.

"You need to listen and listen carefully. Your engines have been calibrated for a quick burst of speed, but only if you commit to going full out right from the start. If you second guess yourself, you'll stall, if you gradually speed up you'll still go fast, but you won't get the benefit. But if you time yourself correctly, you'll get a burst of speed that very few will be able to match or exceed."

"Roger that," Syl replied. Gone was the tone of the celebrity, gone was the light demeanor, gone was the laughter. All that remained at this moment was Syl Syrgas the racer. The call of the engines had pulled him back to those days of racing swoops illegally. He gripped the controls for his speeder, paying close attention for the sign to go.

At the signal, Syrgas punched his throttle forward, erupting from the starting line with a speed he hadn't thought possible from a standstill. The only one keeping up with him was that silver Bakuran speeder piloted by that Trieste fellow. It had better straightaway speed, however, and quickly overtook Syrgas for the top spot as they neared the first end of the first half of the course. Syl wasn't about to go down without a fight, and pushed his throttle down to try and get more speed from his ship.

"No, get in behind him. Use his vortex to carry you along. You'll both go faster. Make this a two ship race," the Xexto's calm voice rang through Syrgas' ear. Vortex? Like, the wake left behind by the silver ship?

"I'll try. Let me know when I've got it," Syl agreed as he fell into line behind the Bakuran's speeder as they neared the end of the first lap. And, as he did so, he felt something strange about his ship. He was going faster. They were both going faster. Was this what Freqas had mentioned? Apparently he wasn't the only one to have this idea as, at the end of the first lap, the top five speeders were all in a line behind each other.

"That's exactly it. You're not using as much of your own engine now and you're going just as fast. Keep that up and you'll have a chance to pass him on the final lap, but you'll have to time it just right," The Xexto's calculating voice had a calming effect on Syrgas. This was why he hired the man, why he was basically the chief during a race. He had all the strategy that Syrgas lacked.

The second lap saw most of the same for most of the lap, that is until they got to the 'Killer Cliffs'. The fifth place speeder was wanting to try her hand at making some passes. And passes she was making. She made up excellent headway and her disruption of the line of vortex surfers slowed the entire pack down to meet her. As Syl and Trieste pulled away from the person in third thanks to the jockeying for position behind him, he heard the call as he approached the start of the third, and final, lap, "Talion wrecked by third place, that's slowed down the whole field. Two speeder race now. Stay in that vortex and go get him!"

Syrgas smiled at that announcement, not that a racer had wrecked, but it was now just him and Trieste. MonCal vs. BakurRepulsor. Speed vs. Speed. He settled back into the vortex of the silver speeder in front of him, trying to ride the wake of his drag as best he could, keeping close to the rear of the other speeder.

The front straightaway gone.

The turn to the back straightaway gone.

Still, he was right up on the back of the silver bullet in front of him, it still wasn't time. No, he wouldn't make that decision, Freqas would tell him when to pounce, his job now was to simply keep close. Keep his engine fresh while Trieste did all the work for the both of them. If the other racer knew the idea, either he couldn't shake Syrgas without losing too much speed or he just didn't think Syrgas could pass him in time.

As they pushed out of the 'Killer Cliffs' the Xexto's voice finally came over the comm, "Three speeder wreck right behind you, third, fifth, and sixth. Clear to make your move! Go! GO! GO!"

Never had Syrgas been more happy to hear that man's voice than when he was given that go ahead. As they exited the turn and came back on the final straightaway, Syrgas swung out to the right, pushing his throttle forward for all the power he could muster. The effect was something like a slingshot. Trieste, without the push of the other speeder, slowed down tremendously, while Syrgas was propelled forward by the wave of the vortex. For two speeders that had been relatively close in speed the whole race, this seemed too easy. The rush of speed pulled him ahead by two lengths as they crossed the finish line.

"Congratulations, buddy you just won the inaugural race of the ARJD!" Jax congratulated him as he approached the finish line.

"Wooo-hooo! Heck yeah!" Syrgas screamed into his comm as he slowed down to do a victory lap around the track, listening to the congratulations of his pit crew over the comm as he showed off for the crowd and his fans before making his way to the designated winner's area. He was going to soak this in, this was amazing. There would be no sleep tonight, that's for sure. It'd be a party all day and all night. His crew and himself were about to get drunk like they'd never been drunk before. This was exhilirating.

As Syrgas left his speeder in the winners area and started celebrating, he had but one nagging thought at the back of his head: Crap, now I have to listen to Madcap's speeches...

TAG: Anyone

 

IC: “Madcap” McGee
Prior to the ARJD Season

It was two months before the ARJD season was to begin, and “Madcap” was being given the schedule the Junior Division would compete on. Before him was a list of eight race courses, on eight different worlds, in many different places in the galaxy. The idea was that this was to be more than just a regional circuit; it was truly meant to push competitors to the edge in a bunch of different circumstances.

“Hm, ‘The Dragstrip’ to start?” Madcap asked Tuft Tutt, the Xexto head official for the circuit.

“Yes,” the Xexto replied calmly. “The league office decided it would be interesting to have that race in the morning, and the main circuit race in the evening. The Gran there are very interested in having a pair of major races on their course, as I am sure you are well aware.”

“Yeah, those Gran love their speed,” Madcap said, rubbing his beard. “And the Dugs do, too. They still talk of the glory days of Sebulba in the podracing circles, I’ve heard.”

“Hence why they race hard and fast,” Tutt said.

Then Madcap moved his eyes down to the next race on the list. This one made him raise an eyebrow. “Tuft, I’m not sure how the league will be able to justify this one . . .”

“Trust me, all the necessary preparations have been made. The circuit will compete there, regardless of local politics,” Tuft said. “I have assurance that everything will go off without a hitch.”

“Oh boy,” Madcap said, sitting back in the chair. He already knew that half of the racers wouldn’t like this one, and the course itself might be the least of their concerns . . .

---

Name: Queen Mother’s Challenge, Hapes Prime
Race Type: Technical
Configuration: Mix of elements; somewhat-flat stretches of cleared jungle morph into technical sections of mountains, continue to more flat terrain until section of open water forms a loop returning to starting line.
Number of Laps: 4
Obstacles: Hala’ga Mountains form a challenge for those who rely purely on speed, as narrow passes force racers to slow down and use technical skills. Although the race does not go through the high mountains, the passes are elevated enough to occasionally see some snow. Light snow is forecast for race day in the passes.

Open Water section requires emergency boats to be available to rescue stranded racers. Crane available to pluck wrecked speeders out of the water before they sink, but it is advised to make sure your ship can float just in case if at all possible. Open water contains floating markers to demonstrate where the course edge is on both sides, requires sharp turn

Ta’ama Cut in the final few turns to the starting line vary from the early jungle flat, requiring some technical expertise to conquer. Skilled turning is a must on these stretches.


TAGS to Everyone: galactic-vagabond422, Trieste, Vehn, BartSimpson-SithLord

 

IC: Jemma Talion
Hapes Prime, Garage

It was only the second race of the season, and yet Jemma had a very uneasy feeling about her position on the circuit. The second-lap crash on Malastare had set her back quite a ways, and she was starting to second-guess herself. It was an unfortunate part of her personality; as calculating as she could be, and as successful as that could make her, it also made her question herself regularly and wonder if she was doing enough. She wasn’t sure if it was anxiety, uneasiness over her position, or a combination of both. The day prior, Speedy had castigated her for checking her ship over thoroughly for the third time that day. “You don’t need to be obsessed over this,” he had said. “You’ll do better this time, I promise.”

And, in a way, Jemma hoped her crew chief was right. The Queen Mother’s Challenge would be just that: a challenge. It would be 4 laps of technical racing that would test the mettle of the racers on the circuit. Unlike at ‘The Dragstrip’, which relied on speed, and speed alone, the course here on Hapes would provide a variety of challenges to overcome. While she wasn’t overly worried about her talents, some doubt had crept into her mind over the past two weeks since the wreck on Malastare. What if she wiped out here? Could she ever recover to get to the top two spots and earn an AARC berth?

The league inspection had just finished, and Jemma pulled on her flight suit. It was a very comfortable outfit, but as she put it on, she knew that a lot of pressure was being put on her shoulders. Maybe it was just that she was afraid of failure, she didn’t know. Everyone in the galaxy probably had the same paranoia about life, but it was especially nerve-racking when your best chance at advancement towards a life-long goal was the target that kept pushing back. Other racers on the circuit probably knew what she was talking about; the fight to get to the top was a hard one, and now she had to scrap and claw her way back into contention. There was only one way to do that; get a solid result in today.

“You OK?” Elzbet asked as she watched the Cathar pilot put on her suit in a very deliberate manner.

“Wish I could say I was,” Jemma commented.

“Jemma, we’ve gone over this. You’re overthinking things again,” the Twi’lek commented. “We all know that when you start to second-guess yourself, everything falls apart. You need to get out there, forget about last week, and just compete. Maybe you can even best Monn this time, get some payback for him wiping you out last time out.”

“I’m not overthinking things!” Jemma retorted.

“So why do you look so distraught?” Elzbet asked, a tinge of concern in her voice.

“I got off to a horrible start. How can I expect to get back into contention now, being down 9 points already?” Jemma asked.

“Get your head screwed on straight, Jemma, or we might as well not be here,” Elzbet said. “Look, you’re here now, and you’re going to race for victory today. Don’t worry about the standings; there’s plenty of time to get things turned around. That’s why there’s a circuit, to even the playing field. You’ve got a hell of a lot of talent, and it would be a shame to waste that by feeling you’re out of things when you’re not. We’ve got your back, all of us. We trust you to get out there and prove yourself. We want to be in the AARC, too, so we’ll do our job. Only question is: will you step up, let the past go, and push forward?”

It took several seconds, but Jemma finally conceded to her crew member’s point. Elzbet was right; she was still in this thing, even though her hopes had taken a considerable hit. But she wasn’t alone; four other racers had wiped out on the course on Malastare, so she wasn’t in a deep hole. Syrgas had won the first race, yes, but he was only 9 ahead of her. If their roles were to be reversed, they would be tied after two races. There was still plenty of time remaining to get back on the high bantha and ride.

“All right,” Jemma said. “You always know what to say at the right time, Elzi.”

“Sometimes I feel like you need to pay me to be your life advisor in addition to the pit crew stuff,” Elzbet commented. “Because I’m usually the one who has to beat sense into you.”

“Thanks,” Jemma said meekly. She looked to the rest of her crew; Speedy had a determined look on his face, and Lira and Hugo were ready to go. “How’s the ship looking?” she asked.

“We’re good to go when you are,” Speedy said. “And Elzi’s right; we trust you to do your job. Go out there and kick some ass.”

“Thanks, guys,” Jemma said. “I don’t know how I would do any of this without all of you.”

“And I’m the life coach,” Elzbet said, wagging a finger in Cathar’s direction. “Don’t you forget it.”

“I won’t, especially not now,” Jemma said. “Are controls all ready to go, and everything in place?”

“Should be. Everything tested out fine this morning,” Elzbet said, switching gears. “And, before you ask, the windscreen . . .”

“Is about as clean as a bantha after taking a bath, I know,” Jemma said, rolling her eyes.

“I was going to say it was pretty spotless, but I think the other works better,” Elzbet replied, cracking a smile. “Makes for a nice bit of garage jargon, don’tcha think?”

“Either that or someone would call you crazy,” Jemma pointed out.

“I’d be flattered if someone did claim that about me,” the Twi’lek said. “Now let’s win this race.”

“A few things about the course today,” Speedy said, coming forward. “It’s going to be a grueling challenge up in the passes. All the weather conditions point to snow up there. While it won’t exactly be blizzard-like, it could cause some problems if you hit a sharp curve at high speed. Watch your speed there, and make sure to keep position if at all possible. I wouldn’t suggest trying to pass others there, since we don’t know exactly what to expect just yet. That’s what the first and second laps are for, to jockey for position, and then you should know the course well.”

“What if the passes fill up with snow while I’m out on the rest of the course?”

“Hope it doesn’t,” Speedy said. “I’ve talked to the organizers, and they will have rescue craft up in the passes as well as on the open water stretch.”

“Oh, that,” Jemma said. She had pleasantly forgotten about the water portion of the course.

“Make sure not to cut that too tight, and try not to take on any water. I don’t trust them to be able to save the ship on water,” Speedy said.

“So, basically, if I have to crash, do it on land?”

“Pretty much.”

“That makes me feel a whole lot better,” Jemma said, rolling her eyes again.

“You can win in this section. The speed demons will have to slow down, and you should have a slight leg up on them. You’re a better technical racer than speed . . .”

“I’d like to think I’m a balanced rider,” Jemma said, folding her arms.

“You just need to be careful on this course. It’s a major challenge, especially after Malastare. That course was open and obvious, with no surprises. Then they come out with this one. Don’t give in, and fly smart. We can win this stage, or at least get back in the thick of things with a solid outing.”

“Remember, the galaxy is watching,” Lira said. “Think of all the kids of Denon who will watch this race and think to themselves that they want to be just like you when they grow up.”

“Just like how we all watched Carl Finnegan win the Triple Cup,” Jemma said.

“Exactly. Now, get out there and prove yourself,” Speedy said in a determined tone of voice.

Jemma eventually got in the cockpit and put on her helmet. There wasn’t much time before the race, and she sealed the cockpit closed and started to taxi out to the starting line. It was a strange feeling being here, as Hapans were notorious for disliking men. Luckily she wasn’t male, but Speedy and Hugo probably felt a little miffed at all the pro-female agenda coming out of the Consortium. Luckily for them they would probably leave soon after the race, so their agony would hopefully be short-lived. How that same phenomenon would affect the male racers, she didn’t know, but it wasn’t her objective to care. They would still come out firing; her job was to match them step-for-step.

When she got to the starting line, she waited for the announcement to start her engines. When that came, she flipped on the power to the secondary engine, and it came to life with a roar. The Sun Rider was ready to go.

“Good luck out there today,” Speedy said over the headset. “We’re all counting on you.”


Jemma gripped the joystick hard in her hand, and her pulse started to rise. When the signal came to start the race, all bets were off.

TAG: No One

 

IC: Veloxa Mcear
The ‘Dragstrip’, Malastare

“To the racers, good luck. This is the first leg of your journey. It all begins today, so start. Your. Engines.” Veloxa spun up her engines and readied to launch off the start line. She doesn’t get the best start but, it is acceptable. Her breathing began to quicken as she accelerated down the front straight.

“Decent start, Miss. Mcear,” Marcus said over the com, “Keep your speed up, if you can.” The jungle that flew past her on the course brought up memories of Rally Aphran, and her wreck. She slowed early for the first turn getting past by Zala. She managed to speed out of the turn to keep ahead of Goa. She swallowed hard coming down the back straight. Her speedometer creeped higher and higher as it did her breathing became more labored, “Miss. Mcear, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, just getting used to the speed again.” Her heart pounded in her chest, as they approached turns three and four. She held her position coming out of the turn and throttled out. Zala had drifted up in the turn and left a space between the wall and her. Veloxa made a move for the empty space.

“Miss Mcear,” Marcus’s voice shouted though the com, “Zala is coming down to block, you won’t make it brake brake.” She tries to slow her craft but, it’s too late the ‘Madman’ shook as the outside wing hit the rear of Zala’s airspeeder and sent it to the outside of the course. The sound of the impact and skidding could be heard over the other sounds, and stuck Vel right in her chest. Her breathing went from labored to panicked as she crossed over the start line in eighth, no make that seventh place. He body tensed up and her speed dropped. Goa and Vehn past by as if she was standing still. “Miss Mcear,”

“I can’t do this Marcus, I can’t.”

“Miss Mcear, I understand just make it around once more and come into pit row, we can retire from there.” Veloxa continued around the track at a crawling pace, in comparison to the other racers.

“Mademoiselle,” Bash’s voice rang out in her helmet. “You can’t give up just yet, you’ve only just started.”

“Bash, I can’t do this, my hands are shaking and my heart is pounding in my ears. I’m a danger on the track.”

“Non, Mademoiselle,” the Twi’lek said firmly, “Take a deep breath and just focus on the track, it’s flat and rather straight. It’s nothing like rally stages, it should be a cakewalk for you.”

“I can’t do these speeds Bash,” her speed dropped even more.

“You’ve got this Mademoiselle, just focus and keep an eye on the other racers.” She took one deep breath and tried to focus on Vehn in front of her. She sped up to close the gap as they came back to turns three and four. Vel stepped out to try and pass on the front stretch but, backed off.

“Miss. Mcear,” Marcus started, “Now’s the time, come into the pits and we’ll retire of the day.” Although she was a nervous wreck, a part of her wanted to keep going to finish her first race. She took several more deep breaths, settling her nerves.

“It’s just one more lap. Bash is right, I can do this.”

“Alright Miss. Mcear,”Marcus replied perceptible worry in his voice, “just please be careful, there’s already been two crashes, I don’t want a third to involve you.” She started to pick up speed again catching up to Vehn, this time her breaths were even and controlled, her hands stayed still and her mind cleared of other worries. She followed the other airspeeder close on its tail feeling her craft get even faster. Flying out of turn two Veloxa stepped out from behind and began to inch alongside the other racer. Just as she got even with Vehn, her crew chief burst through the coms, “Wreck Miss. Mcear, bad Goa, Hyri-rily and Monn, get to the outside now.” Without hesitation she followed his advice moving out of the way of the wreckage. Out of the corner of her eye she saw three speeders, broken and inoperable, parts strewn across the track. Her breathing became shallow, panicked, her mind filled with images of her crash, and then her fathers. Tears formed on the edge of her eyes threatening to fall. She couldn’t blink, not at these speeds, one tear fell then another, and another, until her cheeks were wet with them and sweat. She crossed the finish line dead last of an already thinned field, there was no fanfare for her.

She returned to the pit and got out of her craft as fast as she could, holding her mouth. Car tried to say something but, Veloxa was in too much of a hurry. She found a women’s ‘fresher and in one motion removed her helmet and began vomiting. It tasted bitter and fowl but, she couldn’t stop. After a few more seconds of dry heaving she pressed her back against the wall and slid down until she sat on the cold floor. The tears continued to pour out of her eyes and she began to curl up bringing her knees closer to her chest, where her heart still pounded furiously. She didn’t want to be here, she wanted to be somewhere else, somewhere where no one could see her like this. The door the refresher station opened and Bash walked through with his eyes averted,

“Apologies Mademoiselles, just checking on a friend,” He looked up his eyes covered with is hands. He peeked though and saw Vel on the floor. “There you are,” he said moving closer, “we are worried sick.” He glanced over and saw what remained in the basin, “and apparently you are too.”

“I can’t do this Bash, I told you,” he slid down the wall to join her, “I can’t do these speeds and the other racers, I wrecked Zala.”

“These things happen, that’s something you accept when you get behind the wheel. This was shocking I know but, I know you want to race, it’s in your blood. You just have to get past your own fear that has built up after your accident.”

“I can’t,”

“You can Mademoiselle, you nearly overtook that other racer, Vehn.”

“But, then that wreck,” her words trailed off again.

“That’s why Marcus and the rest of us are here, to tell you when things happen so you can be prepared.”

“But, what if…” The Twi’lek put an arm around her shoulders,

“No more buts or what ifs, you are a racer Mademoiselle Mcear. You can’t deny that, like your father you can’t stay still. This is just your first race, you’ll adapt.”

“I hope you’re right Bash.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll come around.”

Hapes Prime, Garage

“Bash,” Marcus called out across the garage, “stop flirting and get over here,” Veloxa caught sight of the Twi’lek pit member walking away from another Twi’lek from Talon’s team, and “we need to get the maneuvering flaps adjusted before the race.”

“Yes sir.” Bash replied after giving a final wink to the other Twi’lek.

“Veloxa,” Car said approaching her, “are you doing alright? I noticed you were a little shaken up after your first race.”

“I’m fine,” she replied brushing her hair over her scar, “it was just my first race is all, this one should be easier. What about you, Hapes in not known for being welcoming to males.”

“Veloxa,” she cooed, “I have endured the scorn of many beautiful women. I’m Zygrrian, we have pretty faces and can’t stay with one partner. Many humans do not understand this, and that is fine. Though I think the males of this planet have it figured out, the ladies don’t care if you take lingering stares at their beautiful figures.” The young woman’s brow shot up. “What, there are many cultures where even looking at a woman is frowned upon.”

“Alright I think we’re ready to go,” Marcus called out, Vel put on her helmet and moved toward the ‘Madman’ again Bash stopped her and kissed the insignia on her helmet.

“For luck, Mademoiselle,” She climbed into the cockpit where Marcus was looking over her.

“This should be easier for you,” he stated, “it’s rather technical and there’s a section very reminiscent of Rally Hapes, just treat that section like a rally and you should get through fine.” He leaned in closer, “I’m glad you finished your first race Miss. Mcear.” He disappeared over the side and Vel began to taxi out to the track. Once in the starting position she kissed her first two fingers and pressed them to the picture of her father and brother, settling her mind for the race that was about to begin.

TAG: Anyone

 

IC: Niall Trieste
Dragstrip, Malastare

“You can’t keep pushing it like this Niall!”

“It’s a race speeder Henley!”

“It has limits!”

The middle of a race was probably not the best time to have such a conversation, but, as was so often the case with many such conversations, this appeared to be the only time that they were going to have it. Malastare played to Niall’s instincts and strengths. Unadultered, all out speed. This race was about who was going to get the most out of their speeder, plain and simple. Technique would count for little, though the turns would take some and there was the jockeying between racers.

All those racers were behind Niall right now, including one in particular, the stunt being. He was drafting behind Niall. He knew drafting was smart, that it saved fuel and might actually boost their collective speed. All Niall knew was that as long as he knew everyone behind him, he was going to win. Fuel savings were for losers.

“Niall, your onboard computer readings are dangerously close to redlining,” Henley repeated. “You’ve got to back off.”

“I do that and this joker behind me is going to punch out. It’s less than a lap Henley! It can take it!” Niall shouted into his comm, one eye on the road, one eye on his sensor array, tracking where the speeders behind him were. “This is why we test the frigging thing!”

“N--” Henley only got out the very start of his name and then the sentences was discarded before it had even begun in earnest. “He’s making his move. Cut him off!”

“I’ll do better than that,” Niall muttered as he saw his closest competitor begin to slide out from behind him. He was going to beat him with more speed. Can’t pass something you can’t catch.

He jammed the accelerator forward--and the speeder shuddered as the Nautolan (what was his name?) zipped by.

“Fuel cells overheating!” Henley shouted into his comms, “Throttle back!”

Niall looked at the systems display and cursed aloud. He did as he was told because Henley was right--the DB5 might catch on fire if he didn’t bring the speed down significantly.

“Where’s everyone else?” Niall asked.

“Far enough back you can limp over the line,” Henley said, “Get yourself into the pit so we can assess the damage.” He heard something else, muffled and distant. If he had to guess, Henley had probably taken her headset off and was complaining about how he hadn’t listened to her.

Next time, you drive and I’ll be the backseat driver, Niall fumed. See how you like it.

---

En route to Hapes

Carmerr and Kit had been murmuring to each other inside the DB5 ever since they’d pulled it out of pit row for transport to the next race. The fact that the two of them were getting along was reason enough for Niall to stay out of their way. Not because he wanted to disrupt their newfound collaboration, but because he knew that this meant it was a serious problem if they could both focus on it rather than needling each other.

“He was smarter than you,” Henley said.

“You can lay off that now,” Niall growled.

“Well it’s the only way that you’re going to get the picture that you can’t brute force your way to winning,” Henley said, “Certainly not where we’re going.”

She brought up the map of the next course. “It’s not wide open like the last one. You need control and speed here. Sharp turns. Uneven terrain.” Henley gestured to each as she mentioned them. “Open water--it might be an airspeeder but there’s still interaction between your repulsors and the surface it’s traveling. You’ve got to take that into account for racing. And that doesn’t even take into account the hills. You speed up those--”

“I know, I know, I’ll go flying and not the good kind. The kind that’s going to destroy my repulsors when I come down again. Even Bakuran repulsors have limits,” Niall finished wearily as he sat down and sighed. He rubbed his eyes.

“You need to trust me Niall,” Henley said from the other side of the course projection.

“I do.”

“Not enough. If you’d listened to me you could have won. The DB5 went to the limit and you’re lucky that you finished. Half the racers didn’t.”

“But we did,” Niall said, “and I mean we. You’re right that I need to trust you. I call this a team, but that means I have to be on it.” He stood.

“Is that an apology?” Henley said, with a sparkle in her eyes.

“Closest you’ll get to one. But you have to admit, second place isn’t bad for a learning experience,” Niall replied. “Besides, have to play nice for next week. It’s Ladies Night.”

“On Hapes it’s always Ladies Night.”

“No. My wife’s coming to the next race.”

TAG: BartSimpson-SithLord

 

IC: Jamie Vehn
Malastare

The Theta class shuttle, modified to participate in the ARJD, felt heavy in her hands. Every movement of the stick, every kick of the rudder pedals, every attempt to get a bit more power out of the craft led Jamie to believe one thing: the Iron Lady was too heavy.

She realized it was too heavy when Trieste in his silver dart, his silver bullet, went racing past her flashing his exhaust right in her windshield. She'd raised her fist at him as he was the first of many to slip right on by without much of a contest.

She realized it was too heavy when she continued to hover in the back of the pack heading into end of lap two. Fortunately, the weight served her well when three speeders up ahead crashed into oen another sending flames and smoke, debris and the cheers of the crowd, everywhere.

Debris clinked and clanked off her shuttle as she soared high above the wreckage. Jamie didn't have time to think about the fates of the racers who'd crashed. That was their loss and her gain and she took full advantage as she wrapped up the race in second to last place. A disappointing finish to start off the ARJD.

When she pulled into pit row she ripped off her helmet and shook her head as Alpha, the Pit Crew Leader, came up.

"Something wrong, Jamie?" Alpha asked.

"Too frakking heavy!" Jamie cursed as she walked away.

Hapes

"We've made the modifications you requested," Alpha said handing Jamie a datapad an hour or so before the race.

"You really took a lot of weight off this thing, I'm impressed," Jamie said.

"We also added some extra thrust as well. I think you'll like the changes," Beta, Alpha's second, added.

"I'll be the judge of that," Jamie replied as she strapped on her helmet and slipped into the cockpit.

The ignition was keyless. One button would turn on the main power. That was the way she liked her machines. Responsive, fast, borderline dangerous.

Jamie pressed her thumb to the ignition and the engine roared to life. She loved the way the Theta-class shuttle sounded on flyby, at full power.

It sounded a little like this:

(Skip to 25 seconds or so )



She was ready.

It was time to race.

Time to win.

Tag: Jedi Gunny

 

GM Update - RAAAAAAACE DAAAAAAY!


TAGS to Everyone: Trieste, Vehn, BartSimpson-SithLord, galactic-vagabond422


Headlines:

• Jemma Talion comes back after a rough start to beat Stamm Hyri-rily in a dead sprint to the finish to win Queen Mother's Challenge on Hapes Prime.
• Talion: "I'm elated that my strategy worked. I didn't think I'd be the winner today; with the way the rest of the field took off, I thought I'd have to fight for third at best."
• Hyri-rily, on how he felt about the close loss: "That's why we run eight races. I can't do anything but go into next week feeling good about a second-place finish."
• Bumpakutt wins Fondor 4 at Fondor in AARC Circuit. "Madcap" McGee finishes seventh.
• McGee: "It was a tough one out there today. I did my best given the circumstances."

Lap 1:

Talion: 3
Trieste: 2
Syrgas: 5
Hyri-rily: 5
Monn: 10
Zala: 3
Wi’ker: 1
Goa: 5

Vehn crashed after contact with Trieste
Mcear unable to finish due to mechanical issues

Lap 1 Standings:

Monn: 10
Syrgas: 5
Goa: 5
Hyri-rily: 5
Talion: 3
Zala: 3
Trieste: 2
Wi’ker: 1


Lap 2:

Monn: 10 1
Goa: 5 1
Hyri-rily: 5 7
Talion: 3 4
Zala: 3 6
Trieste: 2 9
Wi’ker: 1 10

Syrgas wrecked by Goa

Lap 2 Standings:

Hyri-rily
Wi’ker
Trieste
Monn
Zala
Talion
Goa

Lap 3:

Monn: 10 1 6
Goa: 5 1 8
Hyri-rily: 5 7 5
Talion: 3 4 9
Zala: 3 6 8
Trieste: 2 9 5
Wi’ker: 1 10 2


Lap 3 Standings:

Hyri-rily
Zala
Monn
Trieste
Talion
Goa
Wi’ker


Lap 4:

Hyri-rily: 5 7 5 7 (24)
Zala: 3 6 8 5 (22)
Monn: 10 1 6 5 (22)
Trieste: 2 9 5 6 (21)
Talion: 3 4 9 8 (24)
Goa: 5 1 8 7 (21)
Wi’ker: 1 10 2 5 (18)


Final Standings:

Talion
Hyri-rily
Monn
Zala
Goa
Trieste
Wi’ker

Other racers:

Syrgas
Mcear
Vehn


Current ARJD Standings (through 2 of 8 races):

1. Trieste: 12 points
2. Syrgas: 11 points
3. Talion: 11 points
4. Wi’ker: 11 points
5. Hyri-rily: 9 points
6. Monn: 8 points
7. Vehn – 6 points
8. Zala: 6 points
9. Goa – 6 points
10. Mcear: 5 points

 

IC: "Madcap" McGee
Two Months Before the Season

"Madcap" still had his doubts about the Hapes race, even after Tuft Tutt had assured him that everything was set and ready to go for the ARJD's maiden voyage season. With plenty of uncertainty still in the man's mind, he went down to the next item on the list.

"Pantora," he said, in a tone only slightly louder than a mutter.

"Yes, Pantora," Tutt, the Xexto official, repeated. "As I am sure you are aware, Madcap, Pantora has a proud sling racing history, going back to Finney Finnegan and his Triple Cup wins. Two of the races he participated on in the 107 season, albeit in different circuits, were run there, and he won both of them. We thought it would be good to bring one of his old stomping ground tracks into the fold."

"I never said there was anything wrong with it," Madcap said. "I've raced there before. The AARC ran that in 120, I believe. Sluggs won it easily, as I recall, but his winning margin was only available because he cheated on the last lap . . ."

"Would you give that a rest?" Tuft asked, visibly irritated. "Your concerns may be valid, but there is nothing the league can do about it now. Just let it go."

"Fine, but seeing this race at that track will always remind me."

"Old habits die hard," Tuft said, still unconcerned.

"That underestimates things quite a bit," Madcap replied, still a little bitter.

---

Marshlands Classic, Pantora City, Pantora

Laps: 4
Type: Normal
Course layout: The track goes around Pantora City and the marshes that surround it. Flat land and marshlands create a very level course without much elevation change. There are three turns on the circuit, all of them with some level of difficulty. One is almost immediate after the starting line, and the other two are near the finish line. Gentle curves between the tight turns allow for speed without much need for slowing down.
Obstacles: Marshlands. Although there is no concrete evidence to support this, the locals (and various pilots) believe that the marshes here slow down repulsor engines, making them slower than normal.

Pantora City 1: The first turn goes around the main residential parts of the city, this part on terrestrial land. Pilots need to watch out for buildings that can come up on you quickly if you turn too tight.

Pantora City 2: Near the end of the course are two major turns, one by the main business sector for the planet, and the other by the governmental seat of power. This part of the route takes you right around town, so it could be a sightseeing tour or a trap, depending on how you navigate it.

TAGS to galactic-vagabond422, Trieste, Vehn, BartSimpson-SithLord

 

IC: Niall Trieste
Hapes

“Tell me all about it,” Bria said.

“I came in second to last,” Niall said.

“And I haven’t seen you for a month,” Bria pouted. “You have to indulge me.”

“Was that in our vows?” Niall asked with arched eyebrow.

“I think it falls under the ‘honor and cherish’ part.”

“As you wish,” Niall replied.

The two were wandering the streets of the town nearest to where the Queen Mother’s Challenge had been held. They were far from Bakura and as Niall was on the junior circuit, few beings were going to take note of them. Of course, not that many people on Bakura knew what the Taoiseach of the Noble House looked like so they rarely weren’t bothered. However, just knowing that there was little possibility that anyone would disturb them made the husband and wife feel more comfortable as they took in what charm there was to be had here.

“Before the race, Henley told me to take the first lap slow, get a feel for the course and the turns. There were, after all, three laps to go after that, almost the entirety of the previous race,” Niall began.

“You did look like you were taking your time, love,” Bria observed. “But clearly you were still going fast.”

“Wouldn’t have crashed with that Vehn pup if I hadn’t been,” Niall grumbled.

“She all right?”

“I suspect. Serves her right for trying to block me out like that.”

“You wouldn’t have done the same?” Bria inquired, her voice rising in a gentle inquisition.

“I wouldn’t have done it in a turn like she did. Running like that with centripetal motion, so easy to clip a wing like we did,” Niall said, shaking his head. “Early in a race like that, let someone pass. There’s time enough to make it up later. Left a nasty dent in the DB5.”

“Niall, the other pilot crashed. A dent in your speeder isn’t worth getting upset over,” Bria chastised.

“She keeps droids for her pit crew.”

Bria put her head down for a moment. “The rest of the galaxy has yet to see the error of their ways. We are the minority.” She looked up again. “You shouldn’t hold it against her.”

Niall let the comment pass and continued with his narration of the race. “I followed Henley’s advice, drifted through the turns. She was right--I was able to make corrections on an unfamiliar course more easily. I still think it slowed me down.

“By then I knew the course. I opened up the speed, started moving up the field. I had Wi’ker on my tail the entire time. His crew must have had him doing the same thing, learning the course. We rarely ran three abreast with the other racers, each of us trading passes. If I wasn’t shadowing him, he was shadowing me. Very Noghri-like tendency, wait for your moment to strike.”

“You backed off after that though. Why?”

“The field started bunching up in places. Maneuvering got tighter. I got boxed behind other racers when trying to make passes and, unlike Vehn, I didn’t try to make a move at the wrong moment. It’s how you can tell there are professionals out there. They’re not just thinking about where they’re going, but where they want to put you too.”

“When you were...on the Hunt--” Bria didn’t like to talk about that period of her husband’s life, but sometimes she found it necessary, “--you never thought about what your quarry would do?”

“I did, but this is different. There’s a different skill involved. I’m still learning it,” Niall said pensively.

“Go on, love,” Bria encouraged, a subtle way of shaking her husband out of his brooding.

“It was shortly after the start of the fourth lap that Talion moved up. She was close on my tail then and she started an aggressive charge up. Clearly knew how to manage a field. I think that one had time on another circuit. Again, the benefit of experience.”

“Says the being older than most of his competitors,” Bria kidded.

“There were three of us all in a pack there towards the end. Zala...Goa...and…” He closed his eyes. “...Monn. All three competent racers. Monn and Zala made their move right before the water. The repulsors didn’t have quite the same purchase on that surface. I knew that I was going to be stuck behind them jockeying for position.

“Goa and I were neck-a-neck at the end. I still don’t know how he got in front of me at the finish line is beyond me.” Niall shook his head. “I’d opened up the DB5 as much as I could but…”

“But if I understood the standings they announced at the end of the race, you’re now in first place on the circuit despite a second to last finish,” Bria finished, wrapping her arms around one of Niall’s.

“By a point,” Niall admitted.

“It’s still leading, as my husband does,” Bria said. “Do they give you a trophy if you win a race?”

“You forget--your husband hasn’t won one yet.”

“I think they should give a trophy. Something nice for the mantle.”

“You just want something to compete with Grandfather’s Laurel Prize in the Kilmainham great room, don’t you?”

“...Maybe.”

Niall kissed his wife. “You are so endearingly loyal.”

“Where are you off to next?”

“Pantora.”

“So this is the beautiful beings circuit too, is it?” Bria observed. “First Hapes now Pantora. I can tell that they’re playing to the teenage male demographic.”

“And now I understand why you left Nevan at home,” Niall said, referencing their young son.

“I’d never get him back to Bakura after here,” Bria said. “I shudder to think what these Hapan women would do to him. Scar him for life, I’m sure.”

“We’ll find a good race for him to attend.”

“I hope he’d like it. You know he wants to make you proud, but you two are so different. It weighs on him.”

“I know, but it will be his strength, our strength. This family…” His words trailed off. This family can’t just be bounty hunters and beings who have killed. It was not a sentiment he wanted to share with his wife.

TAG: Jedi Gunny Vehn (both of whom took a look at the parts regarding their racers and approved them in advance)