The Claws District can be seen from a long way off.  As the airspeeders that serve as the planet's extensive public transport system near the region the wide expanse of tall urban buildings abruptly show a wide crater-like circle of devastation.  Even from a couple of klicks away the jagged ruins loom over their surrounding neighbourhoods.  This looks like it was one of the taller and more grand districts before it was ravaged by gang wars and law enforcement strong-arm tactics.

In the centre of the district are a group of several buildings - or rather, the remains of them - which must have been made of much sterner stuff than the rest of the area.  Ragged spires of twisted durasteel reach up toward the sky like giant betaloned hands are reaching up through the crust of the planet, angry Gods intent on wreaking vengeance on the species which covered it with cities, choking the life out of it.  The Claws District looks like a section of war-torn planet has been uprooted and planted smack dab in the middle of Det Akari.

As they near the Talons can make out the sights of tiny dots weaving in and out of the building husks at tremendous speed - swoop bikes.  There must be a race already ongoing.  As they near the end of their journey they can see several holo-emitters have been set up around what looks like a vague race track area in and amongst the 'claws'.  The emitters all show a flapping yellow flag with a stylised swoop bike on it and a credit symbol just below.

A couple of larger buildings at the edges of the district remain mostly intact.  There are wide platforms for airspeeders, a taxi rank and several shops and services in long rows and alleys winding both into and out of the district itself.  Swoop merchants and repairs are prevalent and some of the wider platforms are dominated by swoop gangs loitering around looking cool at one another.

To the left of the taxi rank (as a passenger embarks) one main platform seems to have been set up with rough but extremely tough auditorium seats made from scavenged durasteel.  a few dozen viewers of a wide variety of species (some of which would never fit on a swoop bike) watch the race.  Interestingly there are no overhead speakers blaring out commentary on the race but several onlookers have one hand up to an ear (or ear-equivalent).  Presumably the commentary is piped in via earpiece.  There are large hovering vidscreens set up by the main viewing platform, though, with rapt attention.  Some are holding datapads as well, following the action there.

OOC: I assume you're taking public transport to get to the Claws District.  If you're not that's fine; there's a platform with ample parking for private (and rented) vehicles.

"So, let's go get me something decent to wear - that is, to wear after the race", Arin said, peering around him to locate a store that sold clothing. Despite of his high birth, he had been around places like this before. His wild youth had brought him to those places, and in a way, there as well. "After that, we'll find ourselves some swoops and see about the race."

Kimy nods, "Fine by me, lead the way."

She falls into step with Rathon, looking around to see if there's any clothing stores without much hope.  They should've stopped some place before they came to the Claws District for shopping, or so her thinking runs.

Rian hurries to catch up, quickly pulling alongside Kimy.

"Hope you like wearing racing leathers, cos I reckon thats all your're going to find here." he said as he looked around with interest.

"Well, even they are better than this jumpsuit. But I reckon, there's some kind of a tailor around here", Arin replied. He kept looking around. "Even these people buy their clothes from somewhere and I'm pretty sure they don't go downtown that often."

Surprisingly enough it's not that difficult to find a clothing shop.  There's one just off the main platform, though it's not very prominent and it seems to be a business in danger of failing.  It also carries a wide range of clothes for manyd ifferent species; the shop itself is a bit on the narrow side but quite deep, with racks on either side of what amounts to a pair of poorly-lit aisles.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, however, it's all second-hand clothing.

Some of it looks well-kept but there's a fair amount of the clothes here that still show the signs of burn marks at the hems and the occasional blood smear that hasn't quite been washed out properly.  The shopkeeper, a surly-looking Twi'lek man, barely looks up from his datapad as Arin (and whoever goes with him) enters.  Clad in a pair of loose pants and a ragged t-shirt he wears a thick leather belt with a pair of blasters quite openly; they're legal, after all, and marginally below power limits.

OOC: Everyone who goes into the store, please make a Craft Blasters or Knowledge (Blasters) roll.

Flash follows the others in, having come along to the Claws District as well.  He's staying mostly out of the way, just hanging around and watching.  The pilot eyes the shopkeeper's pistols but since the guy doesn't seem likely to draw them unless trouble is made he decides not to make some - unless someone else makes it first.  Either way he's edgy.  He just wants to see the swoops.

Rian looked up from browsing through a rack of shirts to grin as Flash came in.  He really wasn't surprised the Duros had decided to join them - given Flash's hotshot tendencies, a swoop race would be right up his alley.

Finding a particularly loud shirt with a worrying scorch mark on the chest; Rian turned to Kimy, held the shirt up against himself, and winced - the scorch on the shirt was ominously close to where he'd been hit not that long ago...

Knowledge: Blasters (unskilled):  21
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 13:16, Mon 06 May 2013.

Arin looked at the less-grimy selection, looking for something that was less "freshly killed" than some. He wasn't exactly worried about the merchant carrying a blaster pistol - on the contrary. While shooting thugs and muggers who tried to rob the place was good for business, shooting paying customers was not.

Kimy looks about.  She's not particularly interested in any clothing, but it beats standing around.  Besides, there wasn't much here that would fit someone as small as her, even with her tendency towards baggy, over-sized clothes.  She does seem to take pleasure in finding the most god awful outfits and pointing them out to others, trying to see if she can get them to actually buy them.

Electric greens with pink highlights, safety orange with chased through with sparkling threads of purple, rose tinted goggles and brimless puffed hats of neon colors, whatever strikes her fancy.


13:24, Today: Mika Trake rolled 16 using 1d20+11. Blaster Knowledge.

There's actually a bit of clothing small enough for Kimy but it all tends to be non-human gear - ugnaughts, for example.  She could pick up some quite serviceable working leathers here if she doesn't mind that their last owners were humanoid pigs.  And there's certainly a wide selection of vomitously bright clothing, as if a Day-Glo paint factory had collided with a freighter full of golf clothes. 

Rian, on the other hand, finds a selection of hotshot swoop rider gear in just the right size and all the wrong colours for him.  Pink and neon green (actually glowing neon green) isn't a good look for him.

Rathon, though, scores the jackpot.  Amongst the older stock - most of it was probably appropriated from dodgy sources or bought cheap from liquidating businesses - he finds a set of leather(ish) gear that looks like it'll fit snug.  It's a stylish black with blue accents and looks both smart and comfortable, affording a good range of movement.  Looks like a good price, too.  It's hard to figure why something like this hasn't sold by now.

Flash lounges about looking bored.  He's not even bothering to look through the clothes and eventually he just waits outside.  Clothes shopping really isn't his thing.  To him 'dressing up' means attaching more powerful weapons to whatever he's about to fly.

Arin knew, there had to be some kind of a catch in the set, but he had been wearing the coveralls far too long and even if the new set had been pilfered off a dead body, he didn't exactly care. He picked up the set and brought it to the clerk. "Say, my good man, how much would you like for this set of clothing?" He put on his most charming smile.

21:39, Today: Arin Branden rolled 18 using 1d20+8. Diplomacy (Barter).

The guy behind the counter looks up with a mild look of irritation on his face, as if customers disturb him more than please him.  Then again a bit of attitude is probably more a survival trait than anything in this kind of district.  Look too soft and the scum'll take you for all you're worth.  One thing Arin knows, though: he's right about the guy not being stupid enough to shoot paying customers.

The charming smile seems to do its work and Arin's not disappointed with the price.  For what would normally cost 100cr he walks away after spending 75cr.

Arin thanked the shopkeeper and looked at the others. "So, shall we go find ourselves some swoops?" He seemed eager to get in the air again. He did, however, make a mental note of sanitizing the clothing before he put them on - he did not want to know what kind of a mess they really were.

Rian sighed as he sized up his options.  Bright green racing strips? you could get away with that.  But pink with green strips?

He found himself wondering if he could do something with the hull-paint they had stored back on the ship....

If not, he'd just grin and bear it.  They were here to have fun, after all.  And Rian was used to being the class clown.


OOC: I'm gonna be away for a few days...
This message was last edited by the player at 20:51, Wed 08 May 2013.

"You kids looking to get into the swoop races?" the clothes shop guy says casually.  "If you're not just watching and you don't have a sponsor you're gonna need your own bikes.  Got a friend who's got a shop down the street could fix you up, there.  New or used, good quality stuff."  His manner seems to indicate that if they don't take him up on the offer it's pretty much all the same to him.

Kimy frowns a bit. She hadn't thought so much about buying a swoop, not unless they could figure out how to get them back.  In fact, it might be nice to have a swoop of her own.  She could idle away the hours tinkering with it, break it out once in a while maybe...  Giving the man a winsome little smile, "Down the street?  What's the name of the place?"

Had Arin been a non-human, he might have literally perked his ears on the mention of swoops being sold. Mika (or Kimy, if you went by the name on her current ID) asked the very question he was about to ask himself, so the ex-Imperial pilot waited to hear the answer. His thoughts were along the same lines as Mika's - bringing back a swoop would be nice. He could tinker with it and it might even come in handy on some missions.

"Su's Swoops."  He grabs a couple of business cards and writes something on the back, what looks like a random assortment of letters and numbers.  "Give Su these, say I sent you.  She's a good sort.  Just don't, y'know.  Piss her off."  His smile sparkles particularly bright as he hands Kimy her card.  "And watch out.  Some of those racers are right rancor-balls."

"Thanks", Arin offered to the clerk. Checking out the swoops would be fun and they might actually stumble upon something worth buying. "Let's get going. Last one in the air is a nerf-herder", he said heading outside with the bundle of clothes packed under his arm.

Kimy collects one of the cards and heads out of the shop.  Once they're on the street, she looks to get her bearings.  It's just possible that the shop owner was hosing them, that the cards would tell Su to amp up the price and the shop owner would get a kick-back.  Still, it wouldn't hurt to look...

Su's Swoops, it turns out, is a pretty decent place.  It combines a showroom and a workspace kitted out to repair and rebuild swoops, often from spare parts.  There are several new models of swoop in the showroom area but the majority are second-hand, rebuilt models.  A couple look like entirely unique designs fashioned from the parts of more common brands.

The proprietor herself is a tough-looking Nautolan woman in oil-stained pants, a worn tank-top and - currently - a breath mask.  She has the musculature and curve of a woman who looks after herself and gets a lot of exercise through simple application of hard work.  Her fine green skin glistens slightly with a sheen of sweat and both arms bear extensive full-sleeve tattoos.  She's wearing goggles but her large dark eyes are clearly visible behind them.  Her forearms show a couple of scattered burn scars just above her gloves.

She lifts a hand and waves as the Talons walk into her shop but she doesn't stop what she's doing just yet.  What she's doing is spray-painting the side of a newly refurbished swoop bike, stencilling a series of fine silver designs on its gleaming black outer shell.  When she's finished with the spraying she carefully peels off the stencil mask to reveal a silver circuitry design on top of metallic blue flames.  The net effect is both dramatic and cunning; certainly more interesting than the standard red-orange flame design one often sees on black swoops.

"Hey," Su says as she walks over, pulling her mask down and her goggles up.  "You folks after anything in particular or just having a look?"  She isn't armed but she projects the sensation that she probably doesn't need to be in order to beat a troublemaker to death with their own feet.  She stands loosely, easily, a woman with no particular reason to fear interlopers.  Her muscled form only serves to enhance her hourglass figure; this is definitely not a boy named Su.

"We're looking to rent and perhaps even buy some swoops, if you can give us a good deal", Arin said, flashing a charming smile at the Nautolan. "I'd be especially interested in a JR-4, if you have one for sale - depending on the price, of course. I used to ride one as a kid and would love to have one again."

Mika gives Su a nod.  "Sleek work, that." she indicates the paint job, finding it to her liking.  "Every street punk with a black ride seems to like flames, gets old."  If Mika had the artistic skill, she'd want black with a tracery of glowing electric blue lines....  Well, maybe not.  That was fine for swoop gangs, but for Talon's who needed to keep a low profile, some sort of boring, medium steel gray would probably be better.

"Forget the antiques."  One could assume that she means the JR-4 reference, but then again, maybe not.  After all, she's quite a bit younger than Rathon.  "You got anything along the lines of the Air-2's?  The original TaggeCo's, maybe the SoroSuub version?"  Sure, the Air-2's were finicky little beasts, but the higher ceiling and the hotter thrusters would give mean a lot more functionality in a lot more situations than the low flyers would.

Rian straightens up from the custom-build he'd been enthusiastically examining and nods agreement with Kimy.  Rathon could ride an outdated relic if he wanted to.

"Or how about the Strato-9?" He indicates the bike he'd been looking at.  "This beast looks like it might have been a Strato once, but..."  he grins disarmingly  "... I'm still trying to figure out what you've done with it.  Hell of a piece of work."

The woman watches in mild bemusement as the sudden crowd of people, with the exception of the quiet Duros in the back, start looking about and asking questions.  She knows about groups like this - individuals who all have their own tastes, not a mere gang all leashed to the same fad.  She gives Kimy a slight nod and a grin, recognising the compliment on her paintwork.  "Hah," Su laughs, nodding to Rathon.  "Only thing left of a Strato in that's the framework.  That's a Special."  The way she says it you can hear the capital letter.  "Got a few of them on the build, all unique.  So you're looking to buy?" she asks the group as a whole.  "Got a few models you'd be interested in.  The JR-4 I've got ain't factory stock, couldn't get the right parts so I improvised.  Got three Air-2 swoops, all SoroSuub builds.  Crazy bunch of kids came through and thought they'd bet their reputations on their racing skills, ended up losing their bikes.  No Strato-9, but I got some spare parts for one if you need 'em."  She smiles easily back at Arin.  "And my prices are always good.  Just depends if your pockets are deep enough to afford quality bikes.  I don't sell bantha-shit here."
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:22, Sat 18 May 2013.

Kimy gives Su a nod, pleased with what she's seeing and hearing from the woman.  "We'll, I can put my hands on a few creds, how many we talking about for the Air-2's?"

Rian waited whilst Su answered Kimy's question, walking around the 'Strato-Special' and examining it from all angles.

"So what makes this one a Special, then?  I can see some of what you've done, but - you tell me, she's your baby."

Rian had the horrible feeling he was falling in love with this bike.  This could turn out to be a very expensive day for him....

"Well, Air-2s aren't expensive and those are stock, so I let 'em go at 2,250 credits a pop.  Fully refurbished, good workin' models.  No warranty cos I've been stung like that before but my reputation's riding on 'em so you can be sure they're worth it."  She laces her fingers together and stretches her arms out, working some kinks out of her frame.  "You want special work done on 'em I can do that but it means more time an' money.  You know how it goes," she adds, giving Kimy a shrewd look.  "You got a mechanic's look about you."

Upon the query of the Special, though, she lights up with enthusiasm.  "Well!  Lots.  They're called Specials cos 'kitbashed crap' don't sell well and gives a poor impression of what I can make."  Su starts moving about the bike, pointing features out.  "Reinforced chassis so she can take a few more knocks.  High-performance boosters t'compensate for the increased chassis weight.  Shaped vanes t'boost cornering an' handling.  Concealed pop-up cup holder, more or less cos I could.  She's got concealed cargo space an' weapon-mounts for twin fire-linked laser cannons - no weapons supplied with th'model, though.  The law's pretty strict about that kinda thing."  The Nautolan spreads her hands and gives Rian a wide, charismatic grin.  "Plus, she's unique.  Nobody's ever gonna know what to expect from a Special."

She casually jerks her thumb toward the door.  "Shame y'didn't get here yesterday.  Had a Special with less chassis weight an' a personal shield generator - lost a bit of cargo space but she was fast as a greased nexu an' damn if she didn't give people a few scares in th'red-flag races."

"What about the JR-4? How much would you want for it", Arin asked. "Such a classic, even though it is not completely original when it comes to the parts." Sure, Air-2 was faster but could hardly compare to the original swoop.

Devon was silent as he digested what had been done to the Special, then without even taking his eyes off the bike he said:

"I know I'm going to regret this... how much?"

"The JR-4 is 4,000 credits," Su says easily, "which isn't bad at all for a refurbished classic.  It's pretty much factory specs but the parts aren't all original.  Though frankly that's not necessarily a bad thing unless you're a purist collector - in which case," she adds shrewdly, "I doubt you's be in the Claws buying from me."

Gesturing to the Special she says, without missing a beat, "The Special's 8,500 credits.  Might be different if I had a fancy company and could mass produce 'em.  As is every last one of 'em is hand-tooled by yours truly.  Works of art, these things."  She leans over a bit to stage-whisper in Devon's direction.  It's not a bad sight.  "Of course it's the Su Shift that makes 'em particularly unique.  Lets you shift power from handling to speed as you're riding, gives a hell of a boost when you don't need to take tight corners but means you can pull power back from the engines when you need to be a bit more careful."  The Talons would recognise that as a swoop with the ability to divert power to various systems in much the same way a starfighter can.

"3000 credits and I'll take the JR-4 right off your hands", Arin said, flashing Su a radiant smile. "Most people don't understand the quality of such a classic, even if it has been refurbished with non-standard parts." He felt confident that his charm would work on the mechanic - he had often had his way with people due to his charm and this would not be much different.

11:54, Today: Arin Branden rolled 26 using 1d20+8. Diplomacy (Bargain).

The Nautolan lets out a snort of laughter.  "3,000?  25% off?  Want me to throw in a toolkit and a set of steak knives?  You're cute but I got expenses to pay and the parts I had to use aren't cheap."  Unlike a lot of salespeople she doesn't seem insulted by the offer, just amused, but she shakes her head.  "I'll drop it to 3,750 creds."  Su's clearly used to hotshot flyboys wrangling over the price of quality hardware - even if she isn't aware of how much hotshot, between the four Talons, is currently standing in her store.

Arin's no stranger to haggling but he doesn't quite get the price he's after.  A bit of back-and-forth between the mechanic and pilot makes it quite clear that she won't (or can't) go any lower than 3,500 credits; chances are good that she'd be running at a loss if she went as low as 3,000.  Still, whether the adjusted price tag is worth it is really up to him.

"3500. No use for steak knives and tools we have", Arin gave Su a wink. "I promise to tell everyone, you get good deals down here. Besides, I've got to show these here what a real swoop means." He indicated the three others and grinned widely.

Mika smiles, "I've got a bit of engine grease under my nails." . but then she keeps silent while Su haggles a bit with Rian.  While they haggle, Mika considers the options.  Sure, she wasn't as solid an engineer at modifying swoops as Su probably was and buying stock wouldn't have some of the perks that the specials might have, but it'd be something she could work on herself, make the mods she wanted, make it her own little project...

When her time comes, "I'm leaning towards one of the Air-2's, give me a chance to specialize it myself.  I'm sure I'm not the swoop mechanic you are, but Without working stuff out on my own, I never will be.  Aside from the swoop, you got a good set of tools for working on the swoop?  Maybe a few spare parts to get me started.  What sort of price are we talking?"

Rian makes a rude noise and ruder gesture at Rathons comment about 'real swoops', but he's grinning as he does it.

Whilst the haggling goes on around him, he spends a few moments on his datapad, checking his finances....
I could just about afford the Special he thinks to himself but it would totally clean me out.  And there was other stuff I wanted to buy... he winces at the figures. Perhaps Mika - I mean, Kimy - has the more realistic idea...

Rian sighed as he looked at the Special again - wondering if he could possibly argue Su down to a price he'd find more affordable... and then wondering if he SHOULD.  After all, that machine was a work of art.

Su gets out her datapad and secures the transaction, getting her deal with Rathon Dann finished and dealt with before responding to Kimy.  Tapping a commlink at her ear she says, "Zee, bring out one of the JR-4s, the one with the reconditioned repulsorlift generators."  With the deal done she shakes Rathon's hand and then turns her attention to Kimy.

"Tools I got but only basic sets.  You'll want to pad it out with better gear as soon as you can.  Havin' a mechanic droid nearby would be damn handy, too; there's a place up in Central District that sells good droids.  Most of all, though, you'll need enough space to set up a workshop.  Without a workshop you'll be restricted to adjusting flare compensators and that kinda thing.  If you want to get into reconditioning you'll need heavy lifting power."  She points upward at a block-and-tackle arrangement hanging from the ceiling.  It has an engine hanging from it.  "Engines are heavy.  Anyway, the Air-2 is 3,000 creds.  Basic toolkit's 250.  I sell the toolkits more or less at cost so no negotiation on that."

Behind her a door further into the workshop slides open and a Nautolan comes out riding a JR-4.  The thing looks brand new - the swoop, that is.  It's got a fairly neutral gunmetal grey paint-job and its repulsorlift generators hum beautifully.  Rathon certainly didn't get ripped off.

Zee is a teen-equivalent Nautolan girl with skin the same shade as Su's.  There's a certain family resemblance and chances are good she's a younger sister.  She tends toward more ripped jeans and leather fingerless gloves than Su's more practical mechanic gear but she sure knows her way around a swoop, driving it in smoothly and negotiating the showroom space easily.

"Pleasure doing business with you", Arin said with a broad smile on his face. "You'll be sure to have my highest praises." He winked at Su and Zee - he had no problems with the Nautolans as a race, nor other aliens either. Even if he was more of a pilot than a mechanic, he knew enough about the mechanical stuff to know quality and to be able to figure out, the swoop was indeed a good one.

Still looking at the swoop, Rian hesitates for a long time after hearing the price.
A loooooong time.
Long enough for Rathon to finish paying for his JR-4 and be given the start-up codes.
Long enough for Su and Kimy to start talking about tool kits and  reconditioning Air-2 engines.

He didn't seem to notice when the converstaions trailed off and the others stood there silently watching him stare at the Special.

Or maybe he did notice.  "Know something?" he said quietly, to no-one particular.  "When I was kid, running with the street gangs back home, we all had swoops.  heh, most of them were stolen, and most of them were pieces of crap.  But we thought we were awesome.  We used to race through the streets - get chased by the cops, get yelled at by everyone.  Got arrested a couple of times.  Got into a few crashes too - was in hospital for a couple of months this one time."

He regarded the Special for a few more moments before he continued.
"An' then one day, this guy comes through town on his way someplace else - stops in to refuel his speeder an' get something to eat.  He had this trailer on the back his speeder, an' there was this custom racing swoop loaded on it - it was the most incredible thing I'd ever seen, made me realize just what a pile of junk my T-47 actually was."

Rian smiled at the memory.
"We all just stared at it.  Hell, if it had been any sorta ordinary bike he'd have tried to 'jack it soon as that guys back was turned.  But we didn't... we couldnt.  Not to this thing.  This guy must have spent a hell of a lot time an' credits building this thing.  He'd put love into it.  We couldn't take it - it woulda been like kidnapping his wife.  So we all just stood there like a bunch of slack-jaws and stared."

"An' even though I knew I was just some street punk on a crappy swoop, dreaming the impossible, I told myself that one day I'd have a bike like that.  An' I wouldn't steal it.  I'd earn it."

"Now I'm thinkin' about the crap we go through on every job we take, an' you know what?  I have earned this."  The other Talons would know what he meant, even if Su didn't.
Rian ran his hand down the bikes flank, then finally met Su's gaze.
"I'll take it."

OOC: minot edits to Devons speech for clarity purposes
This message was last edited by the player at 02:00, Tue 28 May 2013.

Zee stares at Rian for a long while in the silence that follows his speech.  Then she breaks it with a giggle.  Looking up at Su she says, "He's cute."

Su smirks at the smaller Nautolan and claps a hand on Devon's shoulder.  "Sold.  And it's good knowing that she's going to someone who'll appreciate her."  She doesn't ask what he means by earning it; perhaps she understands.  She doesn't ask what he's done to earn it; that's none of her business.  She gets the financial stuff done swiftly and painlessly, checking the payment's gone through and shaking the human's hand in a business-like style.  Her smile seems a bit wider, though; seems she agrees with Zee's assessment of Devon's cuteness.

"I got a tool kit, so I'll pass on that.  The stock Air-2 and contact information for that place up in Central District that sells mechanic droids for 3000 creds.  That's the deal?"

Kimy wasn't sure about facilities for a workshop, droid and the rest.  She'd have to talk to Sheppard about that one, but she'd go ahead and get the swoop now.  Sure, it wasn't the pimped ride the others were getting and that might cost her in their race, but there was more to life than winning the next race.

"That's the deal," Su confirms, extending her hand to shake on it.  She nods to Zee, who dashes back out toward the back work room after giving Rian another up-and-down covetous look.  Su keeps chatting to Kimy as she taps up the purchase.  "Any kind of astromech'll get the job done but they sell good mechanic droids of all kinds.  Second hand so some of 'em can be a bit... full of personality," Su adds diplomatically, "but worth the sale.  You got any skill with droids?"

Kimy nods.  "Yeah, I've a bit of skill with droids, and the ones with personality are the ones that are the most fun."  She grins, pulling out her cred stick to pay for the swoop.

"So, got any good tips on the swoop trails?"

Now the proud owner of a custom built swoop, Devon stands there with a slightly goofy grin on his face face for a few moments before descending from whatever mental cloud he was occupying.

He grinned back at Su when she shook his hand.
"So, if I'm going to keep her in shape, I'm going to need to know a lot more about her than I do.  Don't suppose she comes with an owners manual?"

"No owner's manual but you'll get the hang of it," Su shrugs to Devon.  "Thumb-slide on the handle makes power switching easy, other than that it's really just a matter of familiarity.  Best thing to do would be to make sure you're real nice to your mechanic friend here," she adds, nodding her head at Kimy and giving the smaller woman a wink.  "Having said that, yeah, swoop tracks."  She frowns for a bit and looks at her chrono for a moment before answering.

"Okay, there should be another yellow starting soon.  Basically there's three track colours.  You'll have seen those track flags when you got into the district.  Kinda hard to miss."  She waves a hand vaguely out toward the gully outside.  "Those flags change position and colour according to the difficulty of the track.  When you're racing the track you follow the flags; track computers send nav points to your swoop as well but most people are too busy trying to stay on their bikes to pay much attention to the nav computers."

At this point Zee brings the Air-2 out and parks it near Kimy, hopping off and bowing with a slightly ridiculous flourish.  Su waits for the engine noise to lower before continuing.

"So the three track colours."  She holds up a hand and starts counting off on her long fingers.  "Blue is the lowest level.  Track's a nice easy ride, competition is generally pretty relaxed, goes for three laps.  Yellow is more challenging, competition's not so relaxed, goes for five laps.  Yellow's the most common race colour.  Then there's red."  She pauses, perhaps for effect.

"Red's scary," Zee says in the sudden silence.  "Really hard track an' it goes for eight laps.  There's no rules on a red lap.  Someone pulls out a blaster an' starts shooting at another racer, it's all 'part of the fun'.  More swoops get wrecked on reds than any other."

"And people die," Su points out.

"That too," Zee shrugs.

"And then there's betting," Su continues.  "If there's a credit sign on the flags it means people are betting.  Blue tracks have a restriction on how much you can bet - up to 500 credits - so it's all pretty light-hearted.  Yellow it can go up to 5000 so they're taken a lot more seriously.  Still, rules are pretty strict - there's some bumping and a couple people get flashed by afterburners but actually attacking another racer gets you disqualified.  Red tracks don't have a betting limit.  Sometimes the gang bosses are betting hundreds of thousands on red tracks, and that's only the official betting.  Rumour has it that sometimes millions pass hands on underground bets."  She shakes her head.  "Nobody can really tell if a red track is scarier if there's betting or not, cos if there's no betting then it's basically a race to see who dies and who doesn't."

Zee nods emphatically.  "Sometimes there's a closed no-betting red, just between two racers, kind of like a duel.  Most of the time only one racer walks away.  Or limps away.  Or gets carried away."  She looks thoughtful.  "Almost as often, though, nobody walks away from a red duel."

Whenever the Talons check their holomail during the day they find a message from Zyra.

We hope you are enjoying your leave and contract bonus. For anyone interested we will be discussing how to spend the company dividends tomorrow night in our reserved dining room at the hotel, 1900 local time. Attendance is entirely optional - S. Starflare.

Rian nods as he take sin Su's instructions about the power switching - then he starts loading any stuff he couldnt keep on his person whilst riding into the cargo compartment.

He grins at Su's comment about staying friends with the engineer.  "actually," he says, deciding to let Su in on the Big Secret (ok, well not so big).  "Me and Kimy are both mechanics - its these two hotshots here that have to be nice to us." he eyeballs Rathon and Flash and briefly wondered what the Duros was up to - he'd been uncharacteristically quiet...

Kimy gives Su a grin at her advice to Rian, knowing him to be a fair mechanic in his own right and probably able to work on his swoop well enough, but she couldn't let it go that easy.  "You want the book, buy stock.  You want to buy a Special, you'll have to figure it out on your own."  Of course Kimy did buy stock, but she wasn't about to go getting the manual for it, she'd worked on enough swoops, she'd figure it out on her own, or at least get the enjoyment of trying and that, really, was the whole point.

But there was still some bragging rights to be settled.  "I can't say I'm all that interested in getting shot at.  You guys think Yellow?"  She looks at Su and Zee, "If there's no rules on Red, what's the rules for Yellow?"

'ONE joke-you make ONE joke about Owners manuals and suddenly they all think you're an Idiot...' grumbled Rian as he resealed the cargo compartment.

He straightened up. 'Yeah, my experience is that getting shot at isnt as fun as some people seem to think.' Without thinking, he rubbed at the (still sore) spot on his side.

'we're gonna want some practice time first too.'

Kimy snickers.  "Maybe we thought you were an idiot before you brought up the sodding manual."

"You think, you're the only one who knows how to hold a hydrospanner, hot-shot", Arin asked Devon with a grin. "Sometimes, with mechanics like you, the order of things is: you try. Then you try with force. Then you try with Force. Then you take a big hammer and break it. After it is broken, you dig the pile for a manual to see, what button you should have pushed."

Su's little sister (or possibly daughter, though she's probably a bit too old for that) pipes up with a confused look on her face.  "Why did you say 'try with force' twice?  I don't get it."  She scratches one of her head tendrils in slight confusion and then shrugs to herself.  Old people, who gets 'em?

"It's an old religion that got outlawed a while back," Su says easily.  "Interconnected doohickey whatsits.  Before your time," she assures the kid.  "As for the rules...  Well, there's racemasters at the track's main HQ.  I can give you a quick -"

She stops, then, as several people enter the shop and start looking around.  They have a casual sort of air but they're all wearing the same sort of clothing - leatheris jackets and pants, torn t-shirts, tough but sleek biker boots and blood red bandannas.  Gang members.  They don't seem to be out to cause trouble and neither Su nor Zee seem worried about their presence.

"Nope, looks like I can't give you a quick run-down on the rules.  Work calls.  Head out to the racemasters, they'll explain the whole thing.  Did you want something before I tend to these others?" she asks the taciturn Duros who's been lurking around at the back of the Talon pack.

Flash shakes his head.  "Like the look of the Air-2 swoops but I think I'll just watch for now," he says in a very un-Flash-like way.  "Might come back an' bother you later, though.  If that's okay," he adds, shrugging one shoulder to indicate with careful carelessness that he'll just go to another dealer if she's too busy.

"Yeah, that's cool.  Well, good luck!"  She waves and then heads over to the gang group.  Zee has already slouched over there, endeavouring to look as cool as she possibly can.  Su manages to be cool without trying and leans up against a wall as Zee starts her sales patter on the new store-comers.

(( OOC: The race HQ isn't hard to find; all of the Talons would have seen it, a big building at one end of the platform they're now on, with racing flags either side of the broad double-doors.  Feel free to RP going there or elsewhere if you care to. ))

Astride his shiny new swoop, Rian turned and gave Su a cheery wave and a grin as they waited for the main garage doors to finish opening and let them out.

"I'll stop by and let you know how we did!" he calls over the engine noise.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:46, Sat 08 June 2013.

Arin stowed his new clothes in the cargo compartment and climbed on his newly-acquired swoop with a broad grin on his face. "Catch you later, Su and Zee", he said and pushed the ignition switch. The repulsorlift engines hummed to life and levitated the vehicle off the floor. "Let's get going!" The swoop darted out through the open door and towards the race HQ.

Mika climbs on her own swoop and revs the engine, but she doesn't engage the drives, looking to Flash.  The Air-2 wasn't designed for passengers, but then one wouldn't typically design a racing swoop for passengers anyway.  "You good hoofing it"

Flash looks a bit surprised at Mika's question but then shrugs.  "Yeah, it's like a five minute walk to the race HQ by the sound of it.  There's a couple things I wanna check out anyway, you all go ahead."  He gives her a wry sort of grin and then heads out on foot.  "Thanks for asking," he adds as he heads off.

The race HQ is, indeed, only a very short distance away and the trio make it there in extremely short time.  Their swoops function flawlessly, purring like well-oiled machines (which, in context, they more or less are - even if their parts are more electronic than mechanical).  The Talons might even be startled by the quality; they're easily as good as brand new swoops but have that worn-in feeling of a comfortable pre-loved vehicle.

The HQ is the most impressive building in the area, connected as it is to the main entranceway to the swoop tracks and spectator seating.  The seating curves around in a wide crescent along one edge of the broad ruined area that gives the Claws District its name, easily capable of seating several hundred fans.  They're also heavily shielded to prevent unhappy accidents should a swoop lose control near the watchers.  From the look of it there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of less wise spectators hanging around on ruined platforms and in windows all around the track - free spectators with less spectacular views and no protection should something go awry.

The entranceway is flanked by 4 metre tall holographic statues of Twi'lek women in almost nothing holding up flags displaying the race's current stats; the one on the left brandishes a yellow list of racers and their swoop's name, while the one on the right holds a yellow flag with a stylised swoop in the top half and a glowing credit sign below.  It seems this is a regulated race (yellow) with betting allowed (credit sign).  Fans flock around outside the entranceway, heading through the small turnstiles to get into the seating after paying for a ticket; next to the flag Twi'lek is a broad ramp leading up to the headquarters.  There's a parking area at the top of the ramp for racing swoops and a couple of large guards - a Wookiee and a Talz - guarding the parked vehicles from vandals, thieves and fans alike.

Several bookies have small stalls set up outside the entranceway and other, shadier types circulate amongst the crowd; chances are good there's bookies operating inside the seating area as well.  It's also a fair bet that while not all of the bookies operating will be legitimate, the ones in the booths will be raceway-approved.

Kimy looks around for someone who works the track.  "We're new here and still learning our way around, but we need to put a few klicks on these bikes and this looks like a good place.  What's the chances of getting into a Yellow race?"

She had thought in terms of the three of them racing, not being part of a whole heard of swoopers.  Still, this kind of crowd and this much attention....  Well, Kimy was never one who wanted to be the center of attention.

The mechanic she stops just looks her up and down a few moments.  He's a human and somewhat unusually tall, but he also looks busy and more than a touch annoyed.  He looked annoyed before Kimy stopped him, though, so that's fine.  He points a long finger up the ramp.  "Go up to th'main offices, park your swoop an' go in the big double-doors - an' for frag's sake don't tell 'em you're new around here.  They'll squeeze you on fake fees til you're sellin' your last pair o'panties to race."  Then, without another word, he hurries on.

ooc: apologies for my absence recently

Rian should probably have realized admitting they were new was a dumb thing to say... but he'd been too busy zooming his new toy round the an emptier section of the parking area.

Pulling up next to Kimy and Rathon he looks round at the crowds and whistles.
"An' here was me thinkin' it'd just be the three of us racing.  How about we reconsider this a little?  Us against them?  We could use our work commlinks to co-ordinate."

As he says 'work' commlinks, Rian produces the earpiece for his encrypted Talon commlink.

Kimy gives a snort.  "If we're racing for bragging rights among the, well, the three of us, then teaming up on the race defeats the purpose."

"I'd prefer racing just between us three as well, if that is possible. But if we have to race with the bigger crowd, then being a team is a good idea", Arin said. If they had to race others, then working together with the two other Talons was a good idea - after all, it would work to knit them together as a team.

Flash rolls up, then, on a swoop.  He's managed to secure for himself a Flare-S, one of the fastest, twitchiest and least safe swoops on the market.  For those Talons that know him there's very possibly no surprise in this fact.  He's in a new outfit, too - all black, with a shiny pair of swoop goggles over his large Duros eyes.

"So we goin' in or what?" he calls over the noise of the engine, nodding toward the office doors.  "Or we just gonna hang around all day talkin' shit?"  And then he grins a big, wide and ever so slightly manic grin.

Kimy shrugs.  "Looks like we're going to stand around all day talking."  She says it with a grin, but she's obviously not enthused with the direction the conversation had turned.

Rian looks up from examining his bike to give FLash's a once over as the Duros pulls up.  No surprises there - Flash had gone for the most dangerous, fastest thing he could find.

Rian found himself wondering how fast his own bike was - they'd not been able to hit anything like full speed on the way from Su's garage...
"All I'm sayin' is, if we have to race with a big gang of the locals - then lets take them to the cleaners.  If we can get the track to ourselves, brilliant - but I got a feeling that wont happen."

Flash pulls his goggles up, kills the engine and hops off his bike.  "Wait, what?  Did you just say what I thought you said?  You wanna team up?"  He shakes his head.  "This ain't a relay race or a capture-the-flag game, Dev.  It's a buncha racers on bikes ridin' around a big circle dodgin' chunks of ruined building.  How exactly did you expect we're gonna 'team up'?  We can take 'em to the cleaners just by bein' damn good."

"We can take them to the cleaners by ensuring one of us wins", Arin said. "But let's go see how the game is played first, before we start splitting the wins prematurely." It was not as much a question about which one of them would win - it was about how the locals handled the race and whether they'd allow an outsider to win.

"yeah, lets find out what the rules are before we start plotting." grinned Rian, revving his engine a few times - just to hear the amazing noise.

Someone was clearly going to have to get off their bike and go ask.  And, just as clearly, it wasnt going to be Rian - in fact, if anyone even SUGGESTED he get off his childhood-dream-come-true, he'd probably shoot them.

Kimy was more then willing to race, either against her ship mates, the locals, or both, but she wasn't so sure about the direction the conversation was heading.  Still, it would be best to figure out where they stand before they figure out anything else.  "Well, then let's go ask some questions.  It's over that way."

She points to the main offices.  "And remember what our friend said, we're not newbies around here."  She engages the swoop and slowly moves it over to the main offices and finds a place to park it.  She stops to lock it down, not wanting to loose it without having had a real chance to ride it, and looks for the main entrance.

Rian slows his bike to a halt next to Kimy's, and sits on his bike looking around with curiosity at any other bikes he can see.

He'd apparently nominated himself to stay with the bikes whilst anyone who wanted to go inside did so.

The aforementioned guards patrol up and down the parking section (which, conveniently, is right next to the aforementioned doors to the office building).  They grunt and growl to one another on the way past; they both have blasters that look rather too heavy for normal civilians so this is either a quite lawless place or they have permits as security guards to carry heavier weapons.  Either way they're not anyone to mess with unduly.

Through the transparent automatic doors Kimy can observe two people behind a large shiny desk - a male Human and a female Twi'lek.  There are screens up on either side of the office desk and one long one above it; they seem to show stats from previous races and also the current one.  One shows a roster of pilots for the next race, a betting yellow.

A voice can be heard over loudspeakers in Basic.  It sounds automated and it's hard to tell if it's male or female.

"Pilots, get your registrations in!  Registrations for the next race end in five minutes!"

Arin tailed Mika into the office. "So, shall we ask about the next race or wait for another one - or suggest renting a course fo the lot of us?" He sounded somewhat undecided about the whole thing, probably not wanting to dictate, what they were going to do. At least with Mika and Devon, Arin seemed to be enjoying himself regardless of the fact, Flash seemed to be tailing them - or rather, him.

Flash hung around near his bike after getting off, nodding to Devon's monster of a machine.  "Nice ride.  If you weren't gonna buy it I was gonna.  Screw credits, we got heaps comin' our way an' we can always get more.  Handcrafted masterpiece like that, y'don't let it get away."  If Arin's marked distaste of Flash is bothering the Duros he's certainly not showing it.  He's just some guy talking about bikes.

Rian couldnt help it - he grinned a big goofy grin at the Duros.
"I nearly talked myself out of it back there, cos of the cost.  But... it's like I said - ever since I was a kid, I promised myself a bike like this one day.  And now I've got one AND I'm gonna race on it.  Today's just getting better and better."

Kimy waits the five minutes until such time as the lines clear up, then moves over to the desk.  "So, when's the next yellow?  Better yet, you got a practice course, I've made a few mods I'd like to check out before putting it through it's paces in a real race."

Arin shadowed Mika and waited quietly what the two 'officials' would respond. With good luck, they'd have the chance to use the practice course or green track for testing their bikes. With bad luck, they would not even have the right to participate the racing - it might require some lubricating, so to speak.

The guy at the counter, a Zabrak with a scar running from ear to throat and with a perpetual sneer on his face, looks up from his pornographic datapad and looks at Mika as if she is a very annoying fleck of dust.

"Practice track.  Sure there's a practice track."  He waves out the window.  "It's called 'outside' and we don't charge for it."

"Next yellow is in thirty minutes.  Fifty creds each.  Winner gets five hundred.  Sign there if you want in."  He points to a computer screen afixed to the desk next to him.  He returns his attention to his datapad.

On examination of the computer screen it has a simple entry form consisting of a name (no Identification required), the type of swoop you'd be racing, and a credit slot for your credchip.  Mika or Arin could enter all of them right now if they wished.

There is also a list of races, one every half hour until sundown, when they became more frequent and a list of 'rules' for racing.  There wasn't much in the latter session.  First person to reach the end won.  Time penalties applied for leaving the zone.  Weapons of all kinds were forbidden in yellow races.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:36, Tue 02 July 2013.

Kimy gives a nod and thanks the Zabrak.  "Let me get the others...."

She heads back outside to bring the others up to speed.  "Next yellow is 30 minutes, 50 credits entry fee, 500 credits for the win.  If you guys want to sign up, I'm in if you guys want but I was really just looking to get a bit of butt time on the swoop.

If someone starts blasting away or ramming or something, then I'll cover you guys as best I can.  Beyond that, don't expect me to be teaming up or anything because only one person gets to win the race and I'm looking to be that one."

Flash jumps off his bike and moves inside, returning a few minutes later.  "I'm booked fer the next race.  Now I'm gonna watch this one and see how it's done."

Without waiting to see what the others are doing, he shoots off towards the race track, opening up the throttle as he goes, enjoying his new toy.

"For once, I agree with the Duro. No point in standing around. Let's go race." If Arin really agreed with Flash, then this had to be a good idea.

"Yeah, lets do this." grinned Rian and followed, leaving Kimy to keep an eye on the bikes whilst he signed up.

Having signed up, Rian hopped back on his bike and chased after the others to  trackside - so that he could get an idea of the competition and the track itself.

Whilst they were watching the race currently in progress, he says to the group in general.
"How about... if one of us wins, they have to buy the first round of drinks afterwards?"  he glanced round.  "Dunno why you're looking so worried, Rathon - it wont be you, will it?  you bought the wrong bike."

Rian clearly wasnt going to let his bantering disapproval of the JR-4 die a quiet or dignified death...

"It's not just the bike, Rian. Anyone can buy a fast swoop provided he has the credits. What you can't buy is the skill to pilot it." Arin gave him a grin. "But we'll see, who is the better pilot."

Kimy, glad to see the guys getting back into the spirit of things, moves on in to pay her 50 creds and register.  "Let's not go counting credits before we win 'em."

As each person registers, it occurs to them that because no ID is required, your name can be whatever you want.  People obviously take advantage of this or there were a lot of spice-addled parents naming children.  Names like 'Harry Hyperspace' and 'Novastar' and 'Speedfreak' abounded.

When applications were complete and money was paid, the computer ejected a small chip from a port on the side.  These were clearly a combination receipt and transponder tag, designed so bikes could be tracked through a race and determine if people left the zone.

Once all was paid, the trio rushed off to join Flash, who had settled on top of a building a few hundred metres from the start line.  The first kilometre of the course could be seen from there, and had tuned his datapad and commlink into the race frequency.

Seventeen racers were lined up for this race, their names and bike specs available for review.


OOC:  Up to you what you call yourselves for the race.  Flash's vantage point only lets you see the first and last half kilometre of the race.  The whole race is over 40km.

Kimy, having registered simply as K, sits upon her bike on the building.  She looks over things, not just the part of the course available but also the competition.

Arin registered himself to the race as Rathon Dann and ran his swoop over once more. With some non-original parts, Arin was quite sure, he would be able to make at least the top speed of the original model, if not more, should the track allow such high speeds. Of course, some of the swoops in the race would most likely be faster than his, but he was a professional pilot and had raced in his youth.

Rian also registered himself under his assumed identity - and briefly considered trying to bribe the guy behind the counter to re-register Arin as 'The guy on the wrong bike'.

Now whilst he waited for the Talons to get their shot at the track, Rian spent his time watching the race in progress, trying to learn the route of the track and how the racers handled it.

Having settled into a comfortable position, the various Talons began to go over the details of their schematics.  Mika noted, that of all seventeen racers, not one had registered with a name, but instead with an alias.  The bikes varied with most simply called 'custom' or 'hybrid'.  While this seemed fairly obvious since no true racer rode a stock model bike, it didn't really offer much detail.

Devon meanwhile focused on the track itself.  The race was just under forty kilometres long.  There were twenty five race makers along the route.  A racer had to travel within fifty metres of a marker for it to 'tag' them.  A racer had to tag all twenty five markers in order.

While there was a recommended route, racers did not have to follow it.  The only rules were you had to tag all markers and stay within the 'zone' which constitutes several kilometres around the recommended course.  This seemed more for pragmatism then anything else.  Swoops varying too wide could be a risk for spectators or might get spotted by the law.

The recommended route had numerous sharp turns and obstacles, including three jumps over large crevasses with drops of hundreds of kilometres.  Besides these there were three main 'danger points'.  Markers 8-11 were on different level within an abandoned factory requiring bikes to shoot up and down stairs or through holes in roofs to get through.

The second challenge was between markers 15-16 was a gas pipe network that cut up to a full minute of a racers time if they chose that path.  The two risks were that the pipes were narrow and required precision and that waste contamination droids would spark an electo-shock pulse through the pipes if contaminants were detected.  The droids took 30 seconds to engage the shock so racers had to get through in that time.  While the shock was not lethal for most species, it was strong enough to incapacitate most beings and fry bike circuitry so while the shock wouldn't kill you, the resulting crash possible could!

The final challenge was between markers 22-24 where a complicated maze of tight-packed buildings made it wise to slow down, especially given the horizontal connectors running between the buildings every five stories or so.  Hitting one of those at speed would ruin anyone's day.  Of course, given these markers were slow close to the end, racers tended to navigate this course at speed or risk another racer crashing into them, or worse, losing!

The rest of the rules were simple.  No weapons, no deliberate collisions with another rider.

---

The group had only just finished reading over the track layout and rules when they heard the annoucer's voice over an intercomm.

"Racers, start your thrusters."  Almost immediately there was the sound of revving thrusters and whining repulsorlifts.  Riders began sliding on goggles and face masks.  A few sported helmets, drawing jeers from the crowds.

"Get ready, set, GO!"

Almost immediately the bikes shot out as one.  The initial space of track was straight with no obstacles and the more powerful bikes pulled out ahead.  They were quickly lost to sight though the data feeds began to offer up different views from holocamms along the race length.

The commentary was continuous.  "It's Nugget in the lead followed closely be Slasher.  Left-Ear is not far behind.  This hasn't been a good season for Left-Ear, with his nasty accident last month which left him missing his bike, and half his face when he crashed into a support beam.  Don't worry Leftie, you look much better without your ear!  Oh and they're coming up on Marker 8."

Checking the feed the Talons saw that the lead pack was approaching the warehouse.  There were still fifteen within half a kilometre of each other as the track had been fairly straight with few tight bends to navigate.  Of course thay all changed as they hit the warehouse.

Some riders slowed as they approached the gaping hole where the double doors had been but seven charged in at full throttle, aiming for a whole that maybe three could fit through abreast.  Four charged forth while three gave ground.  At the last moment, one tried to veer off a fraction too late, smashed into the warehouse with the forward half of his bike and was thrown clear, flying out of holocam range.

"There goes Novastar!  That'll teach him to try and play chicken with the big boys.  I think he hit the same piece of wall that mashed Masher last year!"

The holocomm followed the bikes in the warehouse.  There were far more views in here, obviously meant to catch the 'danger points' and the variety of paths the racers could take.  Indeed while many took the 'assigned' path, others tried other methods.  Some proved successful, others resulted in riders having to backtrack, losing valuable seconds.

By the time the warehouse was navigated, four bikes were out in front - Executioner, Redline, Hawkbat and Nitro.  One more bike was out of the race with a damaged stabiliser fin, the rider unhurt.  Data began to scroll up on the four riders, listing their races, recorded wins and any other juicy titbits.  The Talons, glues to the action barely noticed.

Only three of the racers took the pipe shortcut with Hawkbat taking the long route and falling behind.  Nitro took the pipes more cautiously and missed being electrocuted by 6.37 seconds (the datapad feed helpfully supplied this).  By this time, Executioner and Redline seemed the clear favourites.

Executioner was huge, a Weequay Male who looked like he belonged in a fighting pit rather than a race.  His bike was large and seemed largely engine and a seat.  His skill with the machine was incredible as he nimbly negotiated obstacles.

Redline was much the opposite, a Twi'lek female who rode a custom stream-lined speeder that spoke speed and agility.  She never seemed to slow, navigating the tight turns with the precision and grace of a ballet dancer.

As the pair entered the last danger point, the race got even more heated.  Executioner constantly tried to use his bulk to cut off Redline, to force her to slow, veer off, even crash.  This proved as useful as trying to swat a fly with a star destroyer as she nimbly avoided his every dirty trick.  Until marker 24.  Executioner swung in, trying to crowd her into a wall.  Redline seemed to lose control as she went into a spin.  The Talons couldn't help but gasp, thinking she would die most horribly.  Only Arin wasn't concerned, he knew what was coming.

Moments later, Redline showed her ruse as she pulled out of the spin above Executioner.  Slamming her repulsors to full, she shot up, over a horizontal support beam whilst Executioner was pushed down slightly towards another.  The Weequay was forced to brake and veer upwards, costing him several seconds as Redline shot ahead and took the race in 9 minutes, 41 seconds.

Immediately the commentators began discussing Redline's move with the repulsors, while replays were shown.  Did it violate the 'no collision' rule.  It was agreed that while it was likely an intentional act, it could be argued that she'd engaged her repulsors to avoid an obstacle.  Besides, Executioner had certainly had given his share of 'bumps' in his time.

The remaining racers came over the line at various time.  Fourteen finished, the last one limping in almost five minutes later.



OOC:  You have almost fifteen minutes until your race

Kimy takes careful note of the course, and what others did to approach the dangers.

It'd be mostly a straight out race until the warehouse, that's where things would get mixed up.  Then, getting through the warehouse, it'd be a bit more of a race until the pipes...  Her swoop was smaller, probably could handle the pipes if she wasn't too bound up with others.  Then another straight-away for a bit until the maze.

Kimy's bike would probably suffer a bit in the straight-away's, but she should be able to make up some of that time in the narrows.

Her pulse picks up a bit.  It's been a long time since she felt the thrill, the adrenaline.  Odd, when she went aboard that freighter, she'd been as keyed up, but there wasn't any excitement then, just fear and concern.  This was probably as dangerous as that had been, maybe more so, but here she was in her element.  There's a lesson there, but she's not quite sure what it is.

"Shame you got such a big bike," she says to Arin, "It's gonna cost you in that warehouse."

OOC:  Just a note for your upcoming race.  You will need to think about two primary areas - individual and group tactics.

Group tactics (if any) need to be agreed on before the race.  Are you working in a group somehow or every Talon for themself?  There is no rule that says you can't use your Talon comms and work as a team in the race.  It's hardly ethical but then again, most of the racers seem to enjoy using various dirty tricks.

Individual tactics will mainly stem around the three 'danger zones' in the race and can be determined as they arise (i.e. do you take the pipe route or go the long way.  Do you trade safety for speed in the final area or vice verca?  Do you follow the assigned route or go for another route?

Decide quickly on anything you need to discuss, the race starts soon.

"Don't worry about that, Kimy. I'm not racing the first time like this", Arin said, grinning. Yes, it might get a bit tight in the warehouse, but Arin trusted his eye for the racing and experience in it as well as his experience as a fighter pilot. "But you need to be careful. These other racers will most likely be pulling stunts like in that last race."

"Yeah - don't I know it." said Rian.

"They might focus in on us four too - we're the outsiders, the new guys..."

Kimy sighs, "And what makes you think everyone else is a local?  If any of you get in trouble, I'm not so wrapped up in winning that'll I'll leave you for the wolves and I hope you all will return the favor."

"They start targetting you and you are most certainly bantha poodoo. I might have a chance against a couple of them at a time, but against four, even I'm going to be outmatched. To win this race, you would have to do miracles. For me to win, it would be a lesser miracle but miracle all the same."

Flash can't help but snort in derision.  "Whatever.  A thousand credits says you wont even be the first of us four to finish.  Rian's swoop is far superior to yours and I doubt you'll even be a blip on my rear sensor."

Kimy gives Arin a smile that speaks more of malice than anything else.  "You keep up that sort of chatter and maybe I'll let them splat you."  Well, at least they're starting to get into the right mind set at least.  Swoop racing isn't for the timid or the unsure.

As the group discuss who is more likely to win, they are disrupted by a loud beeping.  Each of the Talons realise it is coming from the transponder they each got when they registered.  As one the four transponders repeat the same message.

"All racers, you have five minutes to get into start position.  All racers, you have five minutes to get into race position."

"He's all talk and crap Kimy.  If he was so confident he'd take my bet.  All he has to do is beat the four of us, doesn't even have to win the race."

Flash revved his bike.  "If you change your mind Rathon let me know.  I'll even raise the wager to twenty-five hundred credits if you want a real bet."

The Duros revs his bike and prepares to head for the start area.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:20, Sat 13 July 2013.

"I don't have that kind of credits, my blue friend. Not anymore. But we can go for bragging rights, if you like." Arin was short on cash and he had other things to obtain with the money. "Good luck with the race." He climbed on his swoop, pushed the ignition button and darted after the Duro.

"Bragging rights?"  Flash scoffs as he flies off.  "Are about as useful as tits on a rancor."


OOC:  Flash has grey skin, not blue.

a beep will come through on Kimy;s com.  It's Sheila, trying to call and yet not interrupt anything.    If Kimy answers (she might or might not, if she's actually racing, sheila wouldn't expect it, )  the question will be.  'did you guys find a race?"

Kimy takes the comm quickly.  "Yeah, we found a race.  It's gonna start in a few minutes though, so we'll probably all ignore comms for a while.  I'll call when it's over."

"Thanks"

Rian kept pace alongside Rathon as they headed for the start line.  He considered teasing the ex-Imperial about not taking Flash's bet, but in truth he'd kept quiet about it because he was now too broke to put his money where his mouth was.

Instead he shouted over the wind "hey, even if you win - which you wont, wrong bike and all - but even if you did, bragging rights tend to be a bad move when two of your fellow racers do all the maintenance on any vehicle or ship you'll ever be in, and the third is your usual wingman.  Accidents can happen - just sayin."

With that charming variation of 'win and we'll kill you' delivered, Rian treated Rathon to a cheerful but not entirely reassuring grin and pulled ahead.

If he was honest with himself Rian didn't care who won - so long as he he got to leave at least half the competition choking on his exhaust fumes...  he owed it to himself, his childhood dreams, the incredible bike he was riding, and the mechanic who'd built the thing.

Arriving at the start line, Rian halted in his assigned spot and glanced round at the competition.  He gave the other Talons one final nod and a grin, then focussed on the track ahead, planning his race.

About 10 seconds after the thanks, a "good luck" comes through on all four comms

OOC:  I'm making two assumptions here.  That Sheila asked someone (presumedly Mika) and was told where the race actually was!  The second assumption is that Mika is joining the others at the start line.  If either of these is not done, please let me know ASAP.


The Talons flew to their allocated start positions.  The starting lines consisted of three rows, the front two with six bikes abreast, the rearmost with five.  None of the Talons were next to each other, removing their ability to communicate, except via comm.  Even that would soon be lost as taking a hand off a swoop bike had high speed was an invitation for a body bag.

The Talons' bike tended to stand out as all of the other racers tended to have highly customised bikes, painted in ostentatious designs.  Several of the racers sneered at the bikes Mika, Arin and Flash were riding.  Only Devon's rig seemed to garner some respect, the rider on his left commenting that Su does nice work.  Arin meanwhile was getting lots of crude remarks about wether his great-great-grandmother had left him his bike.

The racers fell silent as the clock counted down.  At the thirty second mark, the same announcer from the previous race spoke over an intercomm:

"Racers, start your thrusters"

All the racers immediately engaged the engines and the sound of revving ion drives and humming repulsors came to life.  The noise was quite deafening.

"Get ready. . ."

Several of the racers powered up, their bikes straining to go as they held the brakes on.

Sheila, who had literally just arrived, ran to find a good spot, cursing at her datapad to connect to the vidstream more quickly.

"Get set. . ."

The excitement was palpable.  Several of the Talons could feel their hearts racing almost as fast as their engine's RPM's.

"GO!!!!

---

OOC:  You have a few minutes pre-race to chat over comms before race start.

With the race itself, I need to know how each Talon handles the first part of the race before the warehouse (which is fairly straight, only a few tight bends).  Do you go full pedal to the metal?  A balance of speed and handling?  Play it safe, etc.

Sheila, you have arrived in time to watch the fun.

Kimy lets the excitement and adrenaline surge as the count down moves ahead.  The throbbing of the engines, the roaring sound...  It's all she could do to not engage thrusters before the countdown, though that would disqualify her and with the swoops ahead, would get messy.

As the countdown goes to GO, Kimy engages the thrust.  She'll go pretty strong, but had to wait for the press to break up a bit to focus solely on speed (call it 75 speed/25 handling).

Arin figured, he'd race the race with his head intact - flying fast on those parts of the track that made it possible but ensuring the integrity of his speeder and its survival on the more difficult parts. He did not have to prove anything to the Talons or himself - this was going to be strictly a race for fun for him. Besides, he had spent a great deal of his credits on the speeder, so he wanted to get it back to base in one piece.

Settling himself onto his bike, Rian glanced around at the other racers one final time and then stared over the head of the guy in front of him and down the opening straight to the first corner.  Didnt want to be too tangled up in the pack when they started into that turn.  Rian made a decision and made a slight adjustment to his controls without looking down.

The 'Su Shift' was easily controlled with a simple three position switch near his left thumb - Rian clicked the switch over to a new setting and listened as the engine noise of the bike changed.  Hell, never mind hearing the difference, he'd felt it when the entire system down-shifted - the sensation transmitted up through the seat and hand grips.

Rian grinned - he was looking forward to this.  He crouched low over the bike, trying to reduce wind resistance as much as possible and gripped the throttle, ready.

GO

Rian opened up the throttle and screamed off the starting line, in hot pursuit of the guy in front of him and wary of the other riders around him - didnt want any collisions, but anyone he passed now was one less he'd have to worry about dodging in the turns.

<Approaching Marker 7>


The bikes roared out in a plume of dust and petrochem exhaust.  The swoop riders immediately began jockeying for position.  With seventeen bikes in such close proximity it wasn't easy going.  A clumsy rider swerved into Flash costing him valuable seconds and leaving him in second last position.  Jamming the accelerators to the stops, the Duros began working his way forward.

As the bikes covered the first kilometres, the pack began to seperate.  Four bikes pulled out ahead.  The surprise of the group, at least to the commentators was the newcomer 'Rian Cloudrider' who was in third position.  Almost a kilometre back in the main pack, Mika, Arin and Flash held seventh, eighth and tenth place respectively.

Not far ahead, the front pack could see Marker 8 and the entrance to the warehouse.

---

OOC:  Guess that custom bike is showing it's value.  Devon is currently in 3rd, the other Talons further back.  Still it's early in the race.

How does each of you take the warehouse district?  Play it safe or agressive?  Fast or slow?  If someone tries to ram them into the wall to you push back or let them pass?

Sheila you can see all this on your vidfeed.

Give the high-speed nature of the race we're moving to combat round posting here.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 11:32, Fri 19 July 2013.

Mika is a bit annoyed at her poor showing to date.  Zipping along in seventh place, her old swoop buddies would be laughing their butts off at that.  Of course it was stock and she hadn't had any time to zip it up, or even get used to the swoop.

Well, the warehouse was coming up and Mika's thought is her swoop would be able to handle it a bit better than the larger meat grinders.

OOC:  Mika is going to go with 75/25 on the aggressive/safe scale and she'll be looking to take it pretty fast.  She'll probably give ground to anyone trying to push her into the wall, no sense putting her brand new swoop, not to mention herself, in the scrap bin.

Flash was unpreturbed about being so far back in the pack.  He knew the race would be won in the 'danger zones' and that's where he'd make up his time.

The Duros floored the accelerator and aimed for the warehouse.  If the racers wanted to play chicken he'd oblige.  He'd done it with a System Patrol Craft and the damage to his ship had been minor.  Hell he'd done it to a Corellian Cruiser with a Barloz freighter, though he didn't think he should mention that one around the Talons.  Those who'd been there probably wouldn't thank him for that one.

Rian didn't actually know he was third - he hadn't been counting too carefully and figured he was maybe somewhere in the top five.

Gritting his teeth, Rian powered into the warehouse, determined to stick like glue to the guy in front of him.  A flick of the thumb and the scream of bikes engine changed pitch as he diverted power to aid him in the tight turns to come.

Sheila followed the race as best she could.  She hadn't bought anything this morning so she didn't have anything other than what was in her inside pockets, which was basically her id and credit stick and padd.  She found devon and arin by their assumed IDs, and she suspected that the K was Mike, a short female type.  Then she found flash,    No betting for her though.

Determining a course of action, Devon slipped in behind the bike before him, determined to follow the more experienced racer along.  He shot into the warehouse without incident.

About fifteen seconds later the main group, containing the other three Talons caught up.  While Mika and Arin resolved to take a more conservative approach to the warehouse, Flash put his throttles to the stops and shot full speed for the hole.  The aggressive move had the Duros pulling ahead of the pack as the others slowed to navigate the hole more cautiously.  Flash disappeared from sight.

The cluster of riders became tighter as the group of five bikes approached a hole really only big enough for one to two to enter.  The bikes seemed to slowly merge into a straight line to enter.  It was then that disaster struck.  Sheila, watching on vidcam saw the whole thing play out.

The second bike in the line began to wobble suddenly and veer.  The bike behind him panicked and threw his bike into a hard turn, causing him to clip Mika's bike and sending them both into a spin.  The first rider was thrown off to the left and managed to prevent crashing.  Mika was not so fortunate, one of her steering vanes was bent in the collision and she went into a lateral slide, heading straight for the point where Masher had died.

Sheer skill saved Mika from a similar grisly fate.  Managing to correct her spin she put all power to the repulsors and spun her bike's underside to face the wall.  Even so she still hit with a jarring crash and was thrown from her bike.  She fell to the ground and everything went black.


The crash happened so quickly that Arin had already passed into the warehouse before he knew what had happened.  With other bikes cramming in behind him, he had no choice but to keep going, weaving his way through the warehouse, sacrificing speed for safety.

Devon, completely unaware of Mika's crash had suffered misfortune of his own.  The bike he was following had clipped a wall and been forced to brake hard.  Devon likewise had been forced to brake and swerve to avoid a collision.  Then he had to wait while the bike before him got back on track.

Whilst the move hadn't caused any injury or damage, it had cost him time.  Two bikes had passed them and Devon could hear the others gaining fast.

By the time the bikes shot out of the warehouse, Devon had fallen to 5th position.  Flash was now in 7th position.  Arin had remained in 8th position but his mind was as much on Mika as it was on the race.

A crash response team was already moving to respond to Mika.


OOC:  Devon and Flash are completely unaware of Mika's crash.  Arin saw it but couldn't do anything even if he wanted to, whilst in the tight confines of the warehouse.  He'd have to wait until after he cleared this obstacle.

The next section is a mix of curves and straight runs before you reach the 'optional pipe shortcut'

Sheila you saw the entire event unfold.  There is even slow-motion replay of the crash available.  Spectators love a good smash!
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:29, Fri 02 Aug 2013.

Sheila watches the replay of the crash enough times to determine that it was Mika that crashed, so after doing so, she waits to find out if the are going to remove her from the course, or will she get back up and fly.

Sheila can see on the holovid that Mika isn't moving.  She still hasn't moved about a minute later when a second speeder arrives and a human and a Kel Dor get out.  The human is dressed like a race official but the Kel Dor is in civilian clothes.  He's carrying a bag that looks like a medical kit.

Down near 'Masher's Wall', Mika slowly comes to.  The headache is stronger than any three day bender she ever took with her engineering buddies.  As she opens her eyes, she stares straight into the breath mask of a Kel Dor male who was kneeling over her, feeling her pulse and checking her for injuries.

Doctor Dohr Veen let out an audible sigh as the young human girl began to regain her consciousness. Due to his mask's electronic amplifier it didn't quite come out as an indication of relief though, but sounded more like a sigh of frustration at least to the human official who'd driven him to the site of the accident. And the Kel Dorian doc could have been just that, frustrated. He'd been called off from a more urgent case of an another driver who too had shared the hidden agenda of becoming a new Masher. But he wasn't. This girl, 'K', or whatever her real name was, was ok and that was more important to the doctor than the little annoyance he had to experience. She'd probably be having a terrible headache, a lot of bruises and maybe some cuts around her body, but she was either more skilled than Novastar was, or as was more likely, luckier.

The entrance to the warehouse was a tight spot and one of the most accident prone parts on the track as Dohr had learned during his 18 months in the Claws. And it was definitely the one place where most of the newbies got themselves hurt of even killed. The doctor could understand well the thrill of action having seen his share since he'd joined the Dorian army all those years ago. But what he never got was the lack of common sense the newcomers often showed. One of the official at the tracks, probably Gotal, had once told him that only 2.6 percent of the novice Claw-runners were smart enough to take their first race as an introduction round. Sure there was a fee they needed to pay and not everyone could afford to "waste" one to get familiar with the track beforehand. 2.6 percent! Dohr would bet his clinic on the fact that 'K' hadn't either.

"Ok then, lass. Take it easy now. You had a pretty bad crash, but you were damn lucky to get out of it in one piece, unlike that fool Nova. Take your time and take a breather to sort your head out. I'll give you a shot of tranq to stop the banging in your brain. It'll help you get on your feet, but it may make your legs a bit wobbly for a while. The doctor didn't wait for a reply. He pressed the tip of the jet injector into K's neck and squeezed the trigger. There was a slight hiss and the Pharma was forced into the woman's blood flow.

The effects were immediate. Dohr could see the girl blinking a couple of times as a wave of numbness ran across her body. Pharma was a powerful analgesic and could take over the central nervous system if used in too large dosages or if the applier didn't know his or her trade. Dohr Veen did. He'd been a doctor and a surgeon for two thirds of his life and anesthesia was one of the most important skills in his line of business. The girl would be fine. Tomorrow, if her Air-2 was still up to it, she could try losing her life on the tracks again.

Shaking his head sadly, Dr. Veen helped K up and put his robed arm around her waist for support to stop her from falling over again. He turned to the unnamed official as he half carried, half dragged the girl towards the speeded. He was happy she was fairly light… "Let's get her to the medtent too. She's ok, but might go and do something stupid before her head works properly again… or someone else might take advantage of her condition to suit his needs."

As the speeder headed back to where they'd taken off, Dohr's mind was occupied by the whole situation. All of this was taking too much time. The longer he and Dorank were fixing hurt racers, the more dangerous things would most likely get to them. The Kel Dor had thought the tracks a good place to get lost in the crowd, but right now the two of them were exactly where anyone aware of how the tracks worked would expect to find them. The medtent was probably the worst possible place after the clinic the hide. And yet… Yet there they were.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 12:18, Tue 23 July 2013.

Janine could tell they were taking Kimi somewhere and decided that going there was probably a good thing.  She worked her way back out of the crowd, irritating a few, she was sure, and once she was back out, stated looking for the first aid tent.  IIf it isn't obvious, she'll ask.

"Wa.... Wait, where's my swoop?"

The dazed  Kimy is pretty shook up, but all the parts seem yo be there and in mostly the right places.  As soon as she thinks she can stand on her own, she frees herself of the Kel Dors support.

In typical racer fashion, K seems more interested in her bike then herself.  Breaking away from the unidentified Kel Dor before he can load her into a speeder, she unsteadily but surely moves back to her bike to examine it.

A skilled mechanic, it doesn't take Mika to determine that the damage is not minor.  The steering fin would need replacing or repair and a few dents in the fuselage would need to be banged out (unless she felt they would add character of course).  All in all, less than an hour's work with some basic tools would have her racing once more.  She could probably ride it a short distance at low speeds.

Her own situation wasn't much different.  Whatever that Kel Dor had injected her with had reduced the throbbing pain in her head from a supernova to just a jackhammer.  It had made her a little groggy but was otherwise fine.




OOC:  I'll update the race later this afternoon (hasn't been two days yet).

Before Dohr could walk the dazed K to the speeder, the girl apparently became somewhat steadier and pushed the doctor's arm away. The Kel Dor watched in disbelief as she wobbled back to her bike and started going through the damage it had endured. Shaking his head, the doc leaned on his walking cane and smiled. Yes, she was ok alright. A few moments ago, he'd only had to take a few steps from the race official's speeder and hadn't really needed his cane at all. But now, as Dohr turned to follow the young human female, it was clear he didn't carry it around just for the fun of it. For an observant eye, the Kel Dor's left leg was a tiny bit shorter than his right one giving him a slight limp.

"K?" He called out as he realized he hadn't introduced himself to the girl. "My name is Doctor Veen. I know you're worried about your dear bike, but I'd like to take you to the Medcenter for a proper checkout. It seems to me you're not hurt bad, but I'm quite certain you've suffered a fairly heavy concussion and I'd like to take a closer look. Is that ok with you?"

Arin was worried about Mika, but he could not really turn back right now. No, he had to navigate the warehouse and get to the finish line without crashing - and at this point he was worried enough not to care whether he was first or last to finish. Flash would probably ride him on finishing last and so would Devon, but he didn't really care. Had there been a choice, he would have rather raced with just the Talons at a locale that was far safer than this. There was no point in getting people killed between the missions - they were short on staff as it was and it would be most probable, it could get ugly with the CO once the word of Mika's crash reached him.

Completely unaware of Kimy's predicament, Rian was busy yelling at the idiot who had slowed him up; who was busy yelling back whilst he tried to get his bike back on track.
"Get the hell outta my frakkin way; you scum sucking -" the rest of the sentence was mercifully lost in the engine noise as first one then another racer screamed past.

Snarling in frustration, Rian pushed his way into the first gap in the traffic he saw and got through the rest of the warehouse as fast as he could - he could have sworn he'd seen Flash coming up behind him as he accelerated, and if the Duros beat him he'd never hear the end of it.

The second he had the warehouse exit in sight, he slammed all power over to sheer acceleration and the bike hurtled forward like the whole Imperial navy was after it.
Crouched over the controls and scowling, Rian sighted on the back of the guy ahead of him - the jackass who had screwed up and cost him two places.
That wasnt going to happen again, Rian told himself.  Ten seconds from now that moron was going to be nothing but a blob in the rear-view.

Mika continued to examine her bike while the Kel Dor doctor continued to admonish her for putting her machine before her on health.  Behind both of them the race official was getting impatient.

"Racer, I need that bike off the track.  Ride it, have someone pick it up, whatever.  Personally I'd listen to the Doc.  He knows his stuff."

Up in the pedestrian area, unaware that Mika was still with her bike, Sheila made her way to the medcenter.  She found a human and a Zabrak medic inside.  The Zabrak was treating a Weequay, the one who had crashed in the former race while the human looked on.  There was no sign of Mika.

Meanwhile, the trio of Talons still in the race shot forward into the next stretch of the race.  Through the numerous twist, turns and straight stretches, the three soon had closed on one another.  A bad power setting by Devon, who was still becoming familiar with the 'Su Shift' had him applying full power as he entered a tight bed where he had wanted maneuvarability.  The end result had him forced to slam on his brakes or hit a wall.  By the time he got back on track, a few bikes had passed him.

By the time they approached the second danger area, the pipes, Arin was now the lead Talon in overall fifth place.  His eagerness to finish and check on Mika was pushing him to excel.  Close behind him in sixth was Flash.  Further back and cursing to himself was Devon in seventh, several hundred metres behind the others.


OOC:  So to take the tunnel or not take the tunnel?  The tunnel does shave significant time off, but if the pilot is in there too long, they get hit with an EMP barrage that will render their bike inert and possibly kill the rider (as they'll lose all repulsors and brakes, turning their bike into a ballistic rock).  A lot of swoop riders avoid the challenge as the risk is moderate to high.  Up to you (though I've got a good idea what most of the riders will do).

Kimy finds the voices of the race pfficial and the doc only adding to the throbbing headache.  "Where's the med center?  Can you haul the swoop in your speeder?". Kimy wasn't all that interested in trying to drive the swoop if there wasn't another option, but she'd risk driving it before she'd abandon it or let it out of her sight.

The race official grumbled something about not being a taxi service but went and grabbed a tow cable.  The swoop's repulsorlift was working so a simple tow would not be a problem.

"Wonderful", the Kel Dor electronically amplified voice exclaimed. "Now we can all get the hell away from here before someone else tries to become Masher number 2. Novastar got closer than you, but fortunately you'll both live to see another day." Having said that, Dohr couldn't help but return to the events that had taken place earlier in the day in his mind. He really hoped he and Dorank would see the next morning too.

The doctor walked surprisingly fast to the speeder despite his bad leg. Obviously he'd been using the cain for a very long time to help him move almost completely without the limp. It was apparent he really really wanted to get away track before the next race started. As he passed the official, Dohr nodded his thanks to the man. He knew it was fairly uncommon for anyone, official or not, to help a stranger in the Claws without some kind of an agreement on a compensation.

Climbing aboard the speeder, the doc hoped Dorank had gotten off to a good start with Novastar in the meanwhile. He felt the anxiety growing stronger within him every minute. They needed to get away from the medtent and fast before the rest of the day turned into a hell too.

Arin crouched deeper on his swoop. There was two alternatives to choose from. The other one sported a rather clear risk but was far faster to fly through while the other one was safer but also far slower. He was in a hurry to get to check on Mika - he felt, he was sort of responsible for her crash, even though he had not contributed to it to his knowledge.

It was a risky alternative, but he chose the pipes. He felt himself focus on flying through the narrow space at the highest speed he could handle inside - Flash would most likely follow him there and perhaps a few other racers, but most would choose to fly the safer route.

Cursing his misfortune, Rian worked hard to make up lost ground.  He'd been rushing, not thinking and his lack of experience with his new bike had caught him out.
In all the time before he joined the Talons - back when he had been a 'professional' vehicle thief, haste had been the enemy.  When you hurried, acted hastily, you made mistakes.  You made mistakes, you got caught.

The same principles applied here, he realized - speed wasnt what won these races... anyone could have a fast bike; it was the riders skill that made the difference.  And back in the day, Rian had been skilled enough to reliably outrun police pursuit when required.  Hell, his last job had involved stealing an Imperial speeder - almost out from under its owner - getting to a spaceport, jacking a ship and getting off world before the local Imps could catch him.  If he could do that...

Suddenly much calmer, Rian grinned to himself as he he began his approach to the tunnel.  He forgot all about the taunting he would face from the other Talons if he lost - Instead he set himself a simple goal: get through the race the best he could - show what a bike like this, with a good rider on it, was capable of.

Flash couldn't help but be impressed with Arin's flying. Getting that hunk or crap he was riding into such a commanding position took skill.

Without hesitation Flash aimed for a pipe. It had nothing to do with winning, everything to do with pushing the envelope.

As the Talons approached the second danger point, two of the riders ahead off them veered off and went the long way while three aimed for the pipes.  None of the Talons hesitated taking the more dangerous route, each choosing a pipe and pushing the throttles to full.  Each knew if they were careless in their flying they were dead.  If they were too slow they were disabled or dead.  The tunnels swallowed the bikes in inky blackness.

Back at the med-centre, Sheila was wondering what to do.  When she heard the Talon's names mentioned she pulled out her datapad and noticed that all three were taking the 'danger route'.  The commentators were having a field day talking about how many newbies had met their death in those tubes.  They were particularly scornful of Rathon, on his older bike.  She was so focused on the datapad she initially missed Mika's arrival at the med-centre.

The official's speeder touched down, Mika's swoop attached via a tow cable to the back.  Once it touched down Mika climbed out of the back whilst been fussed over by a Kel Dor with a cane.  To Sheila's trained eye she didn't look badly hurt.

Back on the track, Arin shot out of the pipe network first, well ahead of any intruder response.  Flash was close behind him.  Devon came out third.  Of the three riders who'd gone in before them only one had emerged.  Now Arin was in second place with Flash and Devon close on his heels in third and fourth.  What had started as a friendly race now had the Talon in a position where one of them might actually win!  The race leader was several hundred metres in front but it was still anyone's race.


OOC:  That shortcut combined with some good pilot rolls has all three Talons in leading positions and all with a possibility of actually winning this thing.

Sheila and Mika are outside the med-centre.
This message was last edited by the GM at 10:43, Mon 29 July 2013.

Looking worried, Sheila will walk up to Mika as she watches the medic fuss, at least she assumes he's a medic.  Sheila looks like she's spent all of the day so far in a spa and has been attended by a professional stylist and makeup artist, which she has.   Not quite Princess Diaries difference, but still a good difference.

(obviously the four's adventures took longer than it seemed. )

She forces herself to slow down before she asks Mika if she;s ok.

"Kimi, that was nasty, are you alright?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:52, Mon 29 July 2013.

Flash let out a whoop of joy.  The speed, the danger, the competition.  It was all a major rush and the Duros was enjoying every second of it.

Smelling the chance at victory, Flash gunned his engine and pushed the accelerator to the stops.  All or nothing.

Flash wasn't the only one, who set his swoop in to full speed. Arin crouched low on his older bike - it might have been slower than some, but the way he rode it, it did not matter. He didn't care much about wining nor whether Flash sped past him or not, but regardless, he was a potential winner and he did his best to reach the finish line as quickly as possible.

Kimy is taking to the medical treatment much like a bantha takes to swimming, which is to say poorly.  She'd never liked getting poked and prodded, especially by strangers.  And of course there's the shame of having been taken out of the race so soon.

She finally breaks free as the medic let's her go.  She's a bit dizzy and moves a little unsteadily.  Noting a friendly face, she moves over towards Janine.  She shakes her head and instantly regrets it, the regret written plainly on her face.

"I'm fine.  If a swoop gets crunched and you can still walk afterwards, you got no call to complain.  Damn swoop's in worse shape though."  Apparently, Kimy's worst injury is her pride.

She moves over to the swoop to start figuring out how bad it fared.  As she'd seen on the track, the main thing was the steering fin.

Rian hurtled along, squinting against the slipstream - was that Flash ahead of him???  Didn't matter, he decided.  Focus on the race - last obstacle coming up.

Don't get stupid he told himself and grinned a feral grin.  Don't screw this up now - you're having too much fun to ruin it.
Hot on Flash's tail, Rian chased the Duros into the final hazard, trusting to his own skill and growing mastery of his bike to get him through.

On the way to the MedTent, Dohr could see the human girl was not too happy about going there for a thorough check out. He could also see she probably wasn't really hurt at all if one didn't count the bruises here and there and the headache that would certainly still be there when the painkillers wore off. But she was her patient now and he took no chances. He needed to take a couple of scans to be 100% sure.

As the speeder slowed down, the doc noticed another human female waiting for them. This one too, at least to human standards, was young and pretty, but had an air of experience to her as well. It was clear to Dohr they weren't locals. These girls had seen some action elsewhere before their arrival to Det Akari.  K's misfortune at the tracks already proved as much. But that wasn't anything extraordinary. The planet was a fairly popular stop for a lot of people from all walks of life.

Doctor Veen ushered K towards the tent and nodded his greetings to taller woman as she approached. He asked for a medic to pass him a bioscanner. He did have a handheld mediscanner in his bag, but it wasn't quite as powerful as the one at the med-centre. The bioscanner required more power and wasn't quite as easy to carry around, but it paid to use one whenever possible. Noting K's squirming, Dohr ran the scans as quickly as possible. Nodding again, he was satisfied with the results. No ruptures, internal bleeding or infection.

Looking up from the scanner, the Kel Dor offered his free hand to Sheila. The Kel Dor smiled as much as his kind ever did and spoke to her as a doctor might to an elder sister or even mother. "Doctor Dohr Veen, a pleasure to meet you. There is no need for you to worry about your friend K here. She has had a concussion due to a fairly heavy blow to her head and suffered some bruising, but otherwise K is in excellent condition. I have already given her an injection to take away the pain, but I would advice her to take a pill or put on a patch for the night."

Before Doctor Veen had a chance to say anything to K, she'd already headed over to her swoop. As the traces of oil under her fingernails and her worry over the bike had already told him, K had to be a techie - an engineer. And her apparent discomfort near strangers and words to her friend made Dohr pretty sure. It made him smile. At least she wouldn't get herself killed in combat.

The race continued, the announcers devoting most of their time to talking about the three Talons.  Newcomers usually didn't fare well in these races, but these three were in the top four.  As they worked through the straights, Arin's slower bike caused him to lose some ground, but that was before the final obstacles.

The 'building obstacle course' proved no challenge as he manoeuvred his swoop around like a TIE in a training simulation.  The grace and skill with which he wove his bike effortlessly through the buildings left the announcers and many of the spectators jaws agape.

By the end of the final challenge, Arin had actually pulled well into the lead.  The former leader slammed on the power and began catching Arin in the final straight, but at the finish line it was Arin in first position. Devon came in third, his customised bike outdoing Flash who came in fourth.  The bike in fifth place was more than thirty seconds behind.

Back at the medtent, Sheila had seen the finish as she'd heard Arin's false ID name being used and had caught his amazing ride through the buildings and overall victory.  Mika who knew there was nothing she could really do for her bike until she got it in a workshop also caught the final part of the race.


OOC:  Congratulations Arin.  Showed the others what a 'classic' can do!

Mika, your bike is rideable at low speeds.  You could either arrange to have it towed somewhere, or you could ride it a short distance.  Su, for example isn't far and would likely repair your damage for a price.

Flash pulls up his bike next to the others.  "That was awesome fun.  Have to try that again."

He looks around and then back down the track at racers flying in.  "Where's Kimy?  She's gonna be last in if she's not careful!"

As Arin stopped and landed his swoop after the finish, he simply shut down the engines and leaped off his ride, heading towards the MedTent at best possible speed. "Kimy crashed - could not stop to check on her", he said charging forward. There was a deep worry audible in his words and if one could catch a glimpse of his face, it was contorted by fear of what he might find out in the tent. If Mika was killed, Arin would take the blame on himself - he had been an instigator for the whole racing thing and regardless of the fact, they were all of equal rank, Arin felt he was responsible.

'Age before beauty' called Rian cheerfully as he pulled in next to the others, revving the engine a few times before shutting down fully.
'Yeah, where is Kimy?' he asked no-one in particular, pulled out his datapad and started looking up the race standings on it.



'She what?' he yelled and shoved his datapad back into bikes bikes cargo compartment.  Pausing only long enough to activate the bikes security, he sprinted after Rathon.

Flash cursed Arin's retreating form loudly.  Why hadn't he stopped to check on Mika instead of finishing the race.  Was winning that important to him.

Instead of rushing off, Flash pulled out his comm.

"Kimy?  Kimy this is Flash.  Are you hurt?  Please respond."

Kimy pulls out the chirping comlink.  "Kimy here.  I'm okay, I'm at a med tent.  Janine's here too.  My swoop's in worse shape.  Stupid jock knocked me into a wall in the warehouse."

She grits her teeth, thinking that she should try to find those dumb asses that caused this.  The one who got chicken and wobbled his bike and the one behind him that panicked and clipped her bike.  Bastards!

Kimy's starting to feel a bit of the pain creeping in as she shakes off the shock of the event and that only fuels her anger.  She'd have to figure out where she could set up the swoop for repairs.

Flash let out an audible whistle of relief.  "Okay.  Good.  Damn, girl, you came off a swoop and you're not even in traction?  You're made of some kinda rock-tough stuff.  Remind me never to piss you off!"  The admiration in his voice isn't feigned.  By all rights coming off her swoop like that, without even serious protective gear, should have killed any of them.  Flash was totally willing to risk his own life but the others, that was a different story.

Arin, meanwhile, finds he has a slightly different problem.  Walking through a crowd as the victorious winner of a swoop race on a worn-out relic that should barely have been able to limp past the starting line isn't easy.  People cluster about him, admirers slapping him on the shoulder, spectators offering congratulations, gangers demanding rematches, some of them even offering to buy his swoop.  Within moments he can barely move.  Pushing his way through the crowd would require some outright aggression at this point.

Devon, on the other hand, gets a few pats on the back but is otherwise left on his own.

It didn't take very long for Arin to realize, he wasn't going to get through, so he opted to pull out the comlink. "Good that you are okay, Kimy. I saw you crash, but at that point I had no way of pulling over and heading back to check on you, even if I wanted to", he said, resigningly. He replied to the inquiries on the swoop, he wasn't going to sell the swoop and that the race was one time occurrence. "Someone, anyone - could you keep an eye on my ride", he said in to the comlink. "It would seem, I've made a number of fans."

'Even if I wanted to?' mouthed Flash silently.  Clearly the human hadn't wanted to or he would have turned around as soon as he got out of the warehouse.  Shaking his head Flash decided to swoop on over to the med tent.  Gunning his engine he went straight past the crowd of sycophants surrounding Arin and off to find Kimy.

In reply to Mika Trake (msg # 149):

Janine looks at the Kel Dor and at Kimi.  "I'm not sure you're ok."  THen she stops a moment. "Where were you all going to keep these things, you each bought one, right?"  then she gets back to the important thing. "Maybe you should lie down for a bit.  Let them check you over better.  I'll sit on your bike if need be, to make sure nothing happens to it.  If necessary, I'll fly it whereever for you if it can.  But you not being hurt is more important."

Kimy gives a is of irritation, still more annoyed at her own poor showing than at anything else.  "They checked me out already, bump on the head, bumps and bruises, not much beyond that.  Can't see much anyone wanting to steal a busted up swoop. I figured a couple of good swoops would be a benefit the group and the boss would make allowances."

She didn't care much for Arin's comment about not wanting to circle around to check on her, but she didn't blame him at all.  If their roles were reversed, she'd pushed on too.  There's not much a non-medical type could do for a crashed swoop rider.

In reply to Mika Trake (msg # 155):

"He said you have a concussion.  That's serious.  You need to take it easy for awhile.  You in excellent shape for having crashed nearly at speed."  Janine is serious.  Kimi bears watching for a bit.

Kimy takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, "That's what I said, a bump on the head.  I'll find a place with some peace and quiet and keep myself busy fixing the swoop.  That's about as much taking it easy as I know how to do."

Giving up on shouldering his way through the crowd gathering around Rathon, Rian turned and headed back to his speeder.  Having mounted up, he responded with friendly grins and banter to the few who paused to congratulate him whilst he clipped on the earpiece for his Talon commlink and tuned in.

Rians grin froze as he heard Rathons 'even if I wanted to' comment.
Forcing himself to keep his voice level, Rian switched his commlink to transmit.
'Flash - I couldn't get through the crowd on foot.  I'm back at the bikes and sitting tight till we know what's happening.  Lemme know when you got some news about Kimy, ok?'

Janine was listening in to the comms. "I'm here with her, she has a concussion, but she's awake and moving.  I'm not sure she should drive her thing, if it can really get anywhere on it's own power until it's fixed."

Arin was growing weary of the crowd after two standard minutes and begun working his way back to his bike. He knew how the things he had said on the comms must have sounded like and wanted to have a chat with Mika at the first opportunity. Sithspawn, he had to explain her the situation he had been in and how it he had perceived it - he had enough bad blood between himself and the other members of the crew already.

"Glad she's OK."  The relief in Rians voice was obvious.  "If the bike's not gonna move under its own power, I'm sure we can get something worked out.  If Kimy hasnt already, I'll have a look at it soon as I can get over there."

Rians voice took on a more bantering tone.  "Hey Flash, you wanna bet Kimy is already looking at her bike?  You know what they say about engineers - "
The rest of the sentence was untranslatable, unless you spoke Duros - but from the sound of it, it was probably rude.

As soon as Rathon was back in sight of his bike, Rian gunned his own slowly forward and up - using its limited flight ceiling to get above the crowd to give him a clear run to the medtent.

"Yeah," Flash says with a half-chuckle.  "They say that about Imperials, too." 

Flash reaches the med tent swiftly, thanks to being on a bike, and hops off to find Kimy immediately.

Kimi had already comm'd Flash, had spoken to Janine.  She'd done her bit to pass the word that she was okay and she'd let them pass the word around further.  Her headache was starting to gain momentum, her swoop wouldn't need a whole hell of a lot of work to be flyable, at least with care.  She just needed to figure out a quiet place she could take it too and get to work on it.

While Arin was swarmed by fans, admirers and race officials, Flash and Devon quickly mounted their bikes and slipped away.  Nobody cared about who came third and fourth it seems.

They reached the medtent quickly and found Mika and Sheila outside with a Kel Dor.  Mika was fussing over her bike while Sheila and the Kel Dor seemed to be fussing over Mika.

While Devon moved to look over the bike, Flash moved towards Sheila and the Kel Dor.

"Well doc, what's the prognosis?" the Duros asked.




OOC: Poor Arin, fame is such hard work.  You manage to get over to your bike, hell the crowd helps you so they can take holos of you on it/next to it, but you can't move it.  Too many people packed tightly around you.  Firing up the engines would cause injuries.  Guess you'll have to either wait it out or come up with a cunning plan!

Dohr stood quietly a meter or two from the women and went through K's  scans once more. He didn't wish to intrude on their private... well... conversation. It seemed like his assumption hadn't been too far off. The older woman was behaving much  like an old sister would. She was clearly more worried about K than she was herself. The Kel Dor felt like a chuckle would be in place or at least a smile, but he wasn't an expert when it came to showing one's feelings the way the humans did. And his mask would've shaved off much off the effect anyway.

As the two argued about whether the bike or the girl should be taken care off first, Dohr's goggled eyes noticed two more strangers arrive at the scene. They were males this time, a human and a Duros, both on speeder bikes and dusty from driving fast not so long ago. Probably from the race too. Friend's of K, they and the first time winner were all probably part of the same group. And the worry was written on both their faces. This time the doctor did smile. He was happy to see people still genuinely cared about each other. On Det Akari it didn't happen as a matter of course.

The Duros nearly ran the few meters from his bike to K and the older woman. His question caught Dohr by surprise. Not because of the question itself, but the fact that wasn't aimed at him, but rather K's "big sister" instead. He was so surprised that he'd already began to reply before he noticed the Duros wasn't speaking to him. "Ah.. Don'..."

Dohr paused for a second and then bowed apologetically slightly at the man. "I'm sorry.", he said in Duros with an accent that clearly revealed he wasn't fluent in the language. And he wasn't. He didn't really speak the language at all. It was just part of the little he'd caught in his travels.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:53, Sat 03 Aug 2013.

When the Kel Dor began to speak then stopped, Flash turned his attention to him.  He noted the cane in one hand, sized up it's effectiveness as a weapon, then eyed the machine in his other hand.  Some sort of scanner he guessed.

"Uh, who are you?" he asked since nobody seemed about to explain the stranger's presence.

The Kel Dor bowed again and offered is hand in greeting. "Please forgive me for not introducing myself. Doctor Dohr Veen, at your service. I was called to the tracks to take care of another crashed racer's injuries, but then an official informed me of your friends accident as well. Fortunately I was able to look into her situation right away and more fortunately I found her in fairly good shape."

"So she's okay?" he asked to both Sheila and Doctor Veen, genuine relief in his voice.

He calls over to those gathered around the bike.  "Kimy, is the bike rideable or do we need to arrange a cargo hauler to get her back to the ship?"

Kimy winces a bit at the volume.  Eyes closed and voice a bit on the quiet side, "Steering vane's bent to hell.  I can drive it, slow and straight, but not all that far.  I'll fix it, I just need a quiet place to work.  You wanna help, go see if Su knows a good place I could rent for a couple of days."

Arin looked around the fans for a moment. He was looking for something to get him out of the crowd without hurting or killing anyone. Then it occurred him - find the prettiest female of any humanoid species and ask if she wants a quick spin on the swoop. Sure, the JR-4 had little in the way of seating for two, but Arin was certain, he could do it in a pinch and fly her (and more pressingly, himself) away from the crowd.

Flash shrugs.  "Or, y'know, you could take 'er back to the ship.  Plenty of space to work on 'er in the hold.  And that creepy doctor droid's there if y'need more painkillers.  Work through the pain, all that."

In reply to Mika Trake (msg # 169):

'Hell,' added Rian, peering over Kimy's shoulder. 'We can practically fix it right here - but back to the ship might be a good idea.'

He nudged Kimy in the side, reasonably gently.  'Probably be for the best if you didnt ride it back though.  And do me a favour?  It's good to see you on your feet, but please don't go doing the whole crashing thing again, OK?'

Flash snorts slightly.  "She came off a swoop and she's barely wobbling.  She's no fragile doll," the Duros grins.  "This one's tough.  I'll comm Su, see if she can tow it back to the starport, yeah?"  He looks to Mika for confirmation, hand hovering over his comm.

Mika sighs.  "If there's no place around here, I guess the star port'll be okay.  I just want some place I can work on it without a lot of distractions."

When Rian voiced his opinion that kimy shouldn't drive the speeder back herself, she was quick to jump in.  "As the group medic, i expect both of you to support me on this, speeder gets towed, Kimy takes taxi. At least til tomorrow."  She turned to the kel dor.  "Unless the real doctor here thinks it should be longer, in which case I stand with his opinion.  If rathon disagrees, I'll deal with him."

Flash shrugged.  "Probably could hire some workshop, or at least some space.  Doubt it would be quiet, or cheap.  Back at the spaceport you have plenty of hangar space, all the tools we brought with us, access to several mechanics, Sola's droids, peace and quiet and best of all, you're not paying for it.  Up to you."

Flash moved off to comm Su about towing and query about costs of hiring a workshop.  He trusted Sheila to find out about Mika's medical condition.  She was the medic after all.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:19, Mon 05 Aug 2013.

Standing in the background and letting the group have their privacy, Dohr is only listening to their conversation with half an ear. He's very much surprised to notice the woman the Duros called "Doc" address him. The words "real doctor" make the Kel Dorian smile behind his mask and he turns to face Sheila thanking her with a bow. "Your advice is sound, good doctor. Young K here is not injured internally and will bear no permanent physical reminders of the crash. However the hit on her head was a heavy one and I agree with your opinion. Driving a speeder for a day or two should be definitely avoided."

The Kel Dor looked at Mika and opened his arms as if saying "I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do." He then turned back to Sheila "Doctor, might a trouble you for a short moment?" Dohr beckoned her to join him a beside the medtent a few meters away. Assuming she followed him, Dohr lowered his voice just a bit in order not to intrude more on the conversation the others might have. There was no obvious attempt to stop anyone else from hearing what he had to say however.

"Let me start by apologizing for all the fuss I may have caused while examining K. She seems like a headstrong young woman who apparently doesn't wish to show any signs of weakness even to her friends, let alone a stranger - doctor or not. But as you've already noted yourself her state is still fairly unstable. As I mentioned before, in order to keep her from blacking out, I've given her a shot of Pharma as a nerve-blocker.  Obviously it will not keep the pain away for very long however. "

There is a pause as the doctor considers his next words. "Forgive me for overhearing your conversation, but it is apparent your group is not from Det Akari as you seem to hold your base on a ship. And I mean no disrespect, but I was wondering whether you have the required medication with you now? Bacta from a medpac will do the trick of course, but in order keep her senses sharp I would like to prescribe a course of Comaren instead. Should you be staying in the Claws when the sun goes down, being in ones senses is… well… vital. If needed, the track medics can provide the drugs for a fairly low price."

Another pause and smile followed. "But your call of course, dear colleague. I am sure you know what's best for your friend. However, should you wish to discuss more on the matter or need assistance on some other medical or meditational issue later on, I would like to give you my personal comm code. Please do not hesitate to give me a call at any time... or place. I am very mobile nowadays."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:19, Mon 05 Aug 2013.

Flash finished his commlink call and walked over to Mika.

"Su says she'll transport your bike to the spaceport for 100 credits.  Said she'll take all four of our bikes if we like.  Slso said she's happy to look over your bike and give you a quote to fix it but she has no room for you to work on your own.  If you wanna do that you'll have to find a place yourself."

He looks at Mika expectantly.  "Whadya wanna do?"

Mika shrugs.  "I'll pay for her to haul it back to the space port, but I'll handle the repairs myself, no need for her to look it over.  Thanks."

In reply to Dohr Veen (msg # 177):

"Yes, give me the info, I'll make sure she takes it.  And your contact info. Here's mine..  Janine Carstairs.   pleased to meet you."  She gave him the throwaway address that she had given the other guy.  It was taking forever for rathon to get out of the crowd.  She looked at the bike, yeah it did sort of look like fun, but she'd have to buy her own and then there was the bugs thing.  .  Nah.  the question bugging her now was could she still go out tonight and trust any of these guys to keep a good eye on Mika. SHe'd have to think about that.

Finally the crowd parts to let Rathon through - but in the opposite direction.  This is in response to an announcement over the loudspeaker system calling Rathon back to the pavilion to collect his winnings for a race brilliantly run.  Such masterful flying, such smooth control of his 'antique' swoop!  The announcers go on like that for some time.  They seem pretty excited.

Flash makes the call.  Su is coming out very shortly, leaving Zee in charge of her shop, and estimates only a couple of minutes to get there and load the swoop up for transport.

Arin, on the other hand, will probably be anywhere between five and fifteen minutes just collecting his winnings and the adoration of the crowd.  On the bright side if he's feeling lonely he thinks he could have his pick from the crowd of admirers will little effort for a night-time romp.

Even if the idea of dragging some lady to his hotel room for a night of fun was tempting, Arin had other concerns. He knew, things would be awkward enough with the other Talons already and there was no way, he'd be making them even more awkward. No, he'd just get the prize and join the others, trying to explain what had happened. Flash would probably ride his ass about the whole thing and the others might too. But that was something he had to fix.

When the crowd finally gave him enough clearance to launch off, Arin did so without delay, not to be surrounded again. He swooped down to the pavillion and after activating the security on his swoop, slipped in to fetch his prize. At least he'd get back some of the credits he had spent on his ride.

After the exchange of contact informations the Kel Dor bowed again to Janine as a farewell as their semi-private conversation seemed to be over. With young K now in good, professional hands, doctor Veen could concentrate on the job he was originally called to the tracks for. He politely waited until the other doctor turned away and walked to her companions before heading inside the MedTent. Dorank had had plenty of time to have a look at Novastar's injuries in the meanwhile, but the process of fixing the hotheaded racer was probably still on going. He didn't really expect the Zabrak to need his assistance in such a basic case and even if he did, Dorank would've already given him a call. But at least inside the tent, he'd be out of sight.

All Dohr now wanted was to get out of the MedCenter and fast. He along with his remaining assistant had already been too long out in the open. The doctor wasn't really afraid about his own health. He was a soldier and had been living on the edge most of his adult life. But he'd already lost one assistant to whomever it was behind the recent incident and had no wish to endanger Dorank as well. After Nova's injuries had been looked after, he was going to transfer some money on the kid's account and send him away into hiding. Separately they'd be harder to locate unless of course the responsible party was a professional and not one of the local gangs. Although it was probably not visible to anyone who wasn't keenly knowledgeable on Kel Dorian physiology or emotions, Dohr Veen was very, very worried.

Not long after the Kel Dor doctor returns to the medtent, Su turns up with a small cargo hauler.  It's more than big enough to take up to six swoop bikes.

"All aboard!" Su calls as she jumps down from the main cabin to help load and secure bikes.


OOC:  Up to each of you if you want to load your bikes up and head back to the spaceport, hang around and find Arin, enter another race or do whatever else you want to do!"

Kimy is very insistent about moving her own swoop up on the cargo hauler.  "Thanks Su.  Good swoop that, else they'd still be cleaning me up with a sponge out there."  She gives Su a slight smile and nod, about the most positive behavior she's shown since the incident.

Despite Mika's desire to move her own swoop, Flash was there beside her, assisting to the point of being annoying.  Once hers was aboard, he rode his own speeder up onto the hauler.  He was going to ensure Mika took it easy for a while.  Besides, it was probably best he didn't see Arin right now.  His opinion of the ex-Imperial was a lot lower then it normally was.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:34, Sat 10 Aug 2013.

Rian hovered around Kimy as she loaded her bike too - the only reason he didnt actually get involved with pushing the bike up the ramp and into Su's cargo hauler was probably because Flash had beaten him to it.  For Kimy, it must have been like having a pair of over-protective older brothers hovering around her.

With the bike (and Kimy) safely aboard the hauler, Rian greeted Su with a cheerful grin.
"That bike" he said, gesturing behind him at his pride and joy "is incredible.  Still getting used to it, but... wow."

Mika does her best to take Devon's and Flash's assistance with good grace, in the spirit she assumes it's intended.  But she really finds it just a bother and the pain in her head makes it that much more difficult to handle.  She mutters things like, "I can do it." and "Just get out of the way."

But at least it's finally done and she can just sit back and wait on their arrival at the spaceport.  Then she could find some nice, quiet, out of the way place to work on the swoop, hopefully in private.

Mika works quickly to load her bike on the cargo hauler.  Fortunately she didn't have a blaster handy or she may have been attempted to shoot, or at least stun Devon and Flash who annoyingly clucked over her and tried to help her do every single thing.  Finally the bike was loaded and she climbed into the cab next to Su.

Flash wisely sensing Mika's mood, realising the young mechanic would not be happy to share the cabin with him, quickly unloaded his bike.  Besides, Sheila, who had no bike and wanted to keep on Mika, needed a seat.

When the hauler took off, Devon and Flash fell into an escort pattern.  As they left, Arin arrived.  He'd finally escaped his fans, received his winnings in the form of a certified credit chip and arrived just in time to see the departing speeder.  Recognising Flash and Devon on their bikes, he followed after them.

The trip back to the spaceport took less than ten minutes.  Su accepted payment from Flash, waved and took off.  After a quick bit of datawork with customs, the Talons and their bikes were back in the hangar were the Ghtroc sat quietly.  They found Cor was aboard and most of her droids were missung.  2-1B-D3 was onboard but CC9, A9 and most of the PK droids were nowhere to be found.



OOC:  I've assumed (since she hasn't posted) Sheila will want to stay with her patient.

Arin you have a certified credit chip (essentially cash) for 500 credits.  Add it to your balance.  Don't forget to deduct 50 credits for the entry fee if you haven't already (that goes for all racers).

Well you're all back in the hangar.  Cor is here (so feel free to join in Cor) but Zyra, Mark, Heigren and most of the droids are not here.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:59, Sun 11 Aug 2013.

(( OOC: Thread closed for housekeeping. ))

(( OOC: Update: Housekeeping complete.  Please post in Act 5.3.1. ))
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:57, Sun 11 Aug 2013.