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.