[center][h2][b]Before the AG Qualifiers
Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia[/b][/h2][/center]

Two figures were sitting in a corner booth at a dive bar late at night, a beer in front of each and paperwork strewn between them.  One was Nora Kelly, recognized by the bar's regular mix of crooks and bored locals, and the other was unknown to them even though he bore a strong familial resemblance.

“Alright, we just gotta make sure it doesn’t turn into a dog's breakfast this time, eh Nelly?” The older man said, a wry smile on his lips as he set the final page of the contract down in front of Nora.  

“She’ll be right, uncle Flynn.  I’m a different woman now, better driver and everything.” Nora replied, rolling her eyes at the childhood nickname as she signed on the dotted line, rejoining a world she’d thought would never want her back.

She spent the rest of the night wondering what she’d just gotten herself into, and then was too busy being brought to speed to think an idle thought.

[hr]
[center][b]Nora Kelly @NitroNora:[/b]
[i][Picture: Nora standing in front of the Southern Cross AG Ships, leaning back with arms raised like she’s shouting victory into the sky]
“In it to win it with @SouthernCrossAG, let’s make this season a ripper!”
#SouthernCrossAG #WinnersCircle #FormulaAG[/i][/center]

[hr]
[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Pre-Qualifiers: Final Checks[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

Nora was unseen by the public during the leadup to the qualifier runs, instead laying on a slab going through a series of last-minute calibration tests.  For these tests Nora was connected to a computer with enough wires to make a cyberpunk cosplayer blush, dressed in her race suit with the helmet off. As she lay face down on the table, her body twitching as the implant was tested, the Southern Cross principle, a balding man in his mid-forties by the name of Owen Keating, who’d managed to maintain a fit figure, walked in.

“If I didn’t know better I’d ask if you were fully charged.” Owen said, smiling at his own joke as he glanced over the readouts along the console.  “If I’m reading this right we can get you unhooked soon, just in time to go over the track one last time before your Qual run.”

Nora sighed, but there was a hint of excitement in it.  Go time.  Ever since her first run in her sled, she’d been addicted to the huge rush of speed.  Now she just had to make good on all the work they’d put into her.

[hr]
[color=gold][center][h1][i][b]DELTΔ HYPER[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color]

[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Episode One: Finding their Feet[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

[hr]
[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Meet the Pilots[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

[quote]Hey Nora, welcome to Delta Hyper! Can I call you Nelly? Your addition to Southern Cross has everyone talking- a former underground racer now at a top team, how are you feeling and how are you finding the top level so far?[/quote]

Nora is dressed in a tech punk outfit, the camera catching her on a water break as the young woman did her best to look comfortable and confident in front of the camera and its holographic interviewer and [i]mostly[/i] succeeding. Her voice was firm and confident, but anyone who was looking for it could spot the nerves in the way her hand tightened on the bottle and fidgeted with the cap.

“I-” Nora coughed to clear her throat before starting again. “It’s unlike anything I’d expected, nothing like my brief stint in the Rookie League, or even anything I saw in the Interior.  The competitors up here are on another level entirely. I’m stoked to see where I measure up, and who I leave in the dust!”

[quote]Whilst on the wrong side of the Tasman Strait from home, this is Southern Cross's unofficial home GP. How are you feeling about it, and what do you think you can do later today?[/quote]

“Somehow I never managed to get out to this side of the Strait for a visit before joining Southern Cross, but now?  Wish I’d come out here sooner! The mountains are magnificent, not that I’ll have time to visit them with race weekend and everything. Won’t even get a chance to look on the track with how fast I’ll be going.” Nora finished, her confidence solidifying as her thoughts returned to the racing ahead. 

[hr]
[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Qualifiers[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

“Those neural linkages were solid, felt like flying the raft was as natural as breathing!”

[i]later[/i]

“Third position, hell of a run for my first qual! Lets see if I can keep up the pace.”

[hr]
[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Pre-Race Party[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

Nora, in the same tech punk outfit from earlier, stood around the Southern Cross VIP area, trying to relax in a party bigger than any she’d seen and star-studded to boot.  She’d read the contract and knew these events were important for both exposure and fundraising, but she just wasn’t yet used to the reach and influence of the Formula AG fanbase and organization. After a fairly short time, Nora made her way back to the rooms she was staying in, intent to get a good night’s sleep and be in top shape for the race the next day.

[hr]
[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Grid Photo[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

The Southern Cross rookie was leaning against the side of her Ship, her suit decorated with bands of sand blowing in the wind, evoking the chaos of a sandstorm with bands of glittering yellow-gold accenting the Southern Cross colors that made up most of the suit. Her helmet, held under one arm, was fully the glittering sandstorm in color, except for the visor she had to see out of. As she turned to look down the racing line, noting each rider and the lines of their ships, the sun reflected off of the locking rings going down Nora's spine where her Ships systems would be plugged into her body.

[hr]
[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]To Be Continued…[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]