[color=gold][center][h1][i][b]Valkyrie AGR Headquarters[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color]

[color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Monday  March 13th, 2094[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color]

[b]Soundtrack: [url= https://youtu.be/DZyYapMZSec?feature=shared] Through the Fires and Flames - DragonForce[/url][/b]

[hr] 

Felix had slept in and was two hours late to work this morning. He wouldn’t be surprised if half his department had called out sick. Felix had suggested that the mechanics and engineers bury the hatchet by spending some time together. They had decided some alcohol to reduce tensions and get people talking wouldn’t be a bad thing. Then someone had started placing bets on the pool and darts and that became a team drinking game. By the end of the evening it had worked. They were all just team Valkyrie not engineers and mechanics. The team had gotten into a minor bar brawl but had been kind enough to take it outside. He wasn’t sure if the Drunken Dragon would be happy to see them again. Felix felt as if his head was going to explode and his mouth felt like a writing out dirty dish rag. He had managed to panic and shower and get to work. He still managed to look wrinkled and disheveled. Felix had grabbed pants and a shirt from the bedroom floor. He was wrinkled and his shirt was misbuttoned. His hair was only combed in place because he had showered. 

Felix had just swiped his card to enter the Engineering Department when Mabel showed up pushing a cart full of trays, coffee cups, and a thermos of coffee. 

Mabel gave Felix a wicked grin as she gave him a hearty loud good morning greeting. 

Felix winced and swayed as his head thumped in time with his heart beat. Felix's voice squeaked out in pain. 

[color=fff200]Felix: “Not so loud.. Please..”[/color] 

Mabel laughed uproariously at the pain in Felix’s voice. Mabel followed Felix as he pushed open the door and held it open for her. She pushed the cart into the room. She looked around and could see that the team that had made it into work so far were all in rough shape. Mabel noted that Helga had her hair up in a messy bun which looked stiff like something had been spilled in it. Inga had what looked like a magic marker mustache. Zane looked like he had just woken up in the corner. Christopher’s fly was down and his shirttail was pulled through the front of it. Isabella was asleep on a pile of tarps. Colton had his feet up on a chair and his head was on his jacket like a pillow. It looked like the evening had ended here. Mabel smiled as she looked around knowingly at the team. Mabel motioned all of them to come towards her. 

[color=f6989d]Mabel: “I come bearing gifts.” [/color]

Mabel lifted the covers off the piles of buttered toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, coffee, and donuts. Mabel smiled as she saw some eyes light up in pleasure. 

[color=f6989d]Mabel: “This should help your hangovers. I hope your libation excess experiments helped you solve some of those problems you were working on. I thought about letting you all suffer. But I was young once too.”[/color] 

Helga came over and hugged Mabel before pouring a cup of coffee for herself. 

[color=7bcdc8]Helga: “I will forgive you for bringing me the nectar of the gods that  I so richly need this morning. Bless you.”[/color] 

Felix almost pushed Helga out of his way as he helped himself to a cup. He sipped and sighed as the warmth seemed to trickle all the way to his toes. He closed his eyes and was hugging his cup. Felix told Mabel in an absent minded tone.

[color=fff200]Felix: “You are a goddess among women.” [/color]

The others began to help themselves to the food and coffee Mabel had brought them from the cafeteria. 

Felix finally opened his eyes and noticed that Mabel was still standing there staring at him. He smiled at her before speaking to her in an excited voice. 

[color=fff200]Felix: “We did have a breakthrough. Can you arrange a meeting with Alexander for….”[/color] 

[color=fff200]Felix turned to Helga and the team. “Can we get it done by Wednesday?” [/color]

Mabel was amused as some excited yeses and a few groans of maybe and a one only if they lived through today. 

[color=fff200]Felix: “For Wednesday afternoon. We have something we would like to show him.” [/color]

Mabel just grinned and nodded as she replied. 

[color=f6989d]Mabel: “Of course Felix. Please be sure to return the dishes and cart to the cafeteria for Jaques when you are done with it.”[/color] 

Felix remembered his manners and told her gratefully with an embarrassed look on his face. 

[color=fff200]Felix: “Thank you Mabel. We all appreciate it.”[/color] 

Mabel just nodded regally and turned to leave. 

[color=f6989d]Mabel: “I will send you a calendar invite for the meeting.”[/color]

Mabel deliberately paused in the doorway and turned around to smile at all the faces that were now awake and watching her. She cackled evilly with a wicked grin as she told them. 

[color=f6989d]Mabel: “You should know there is security footage of last night. “ She paused again before emphasizing, “Thank you all for the entertainment.”[/color] 

Mabel left to a room full of dropped jaws and open mouths. [color=f7941d]She was pretty sure it was Maximillian who said, “Oh great hairy balls of fire!” 
[/color]

[hr]

Alexander was working in his office. He was using the large viewscreen on the wall. He used the technology in the office to replay the footage from the Auckland Race. He was watching the race from different angles. Different channels had been following different racers for parts of it. He was working hard to analyze all the footage he could find. He wanted to get an idea of the competition. What were their strengths and their racing styles? Alexander’s job was to look at and see the big picture. There was so much more to a successful racing team than just winning pilots. There was more to it than good engineers. There were a lot of moving parts to a race team. This was where his experience on the track as a former racer might help his team. 

Yes there was AI and computers to put all this analysis through but they couldn’t provide gut instinct and intuition. If it was all about computers, then there would be no need for a pilot. There was still that mysterious human intuition and instinct that just couldn’t be duplicated. Augmentations might improve a human’s speed, strength, and ability to withstand more physical abuse but it augmentations couldn’t replace instinct. That bone deep almost precognitive choice to go right versus left. It is that part of the human psyche that ducks to avoid a blow you don’t see coming. Cops and soldiers saw it all the time in their line of work. Alexander had experienced that himself. It was hard to explain to anyone who had never seen it or experienced it. Racers all had to have that IT factor. That factor, that instinct that told them to save energy during this part of the race or to go outside or inside on a turn to make it around a competitor. 

Racing was like watching any great sports competition, there was an art form to it. When a team was having a good day, it was like they knew where each other was going to be before they needed to be there. Passes from one teammate to another were flawless, the game seemed effortless. Racers who had that instinct and talent knew when to hit the throttle, when to add the brakes, and when to conserve energy. Like all good artists, racers all had a distinctive style that was their own. 

Silver Apex sits at the top of the pack for good reason. They have a well rounded craft and pilots with augmentations that can handle it. Amy Stirling is not only good, she has the drive, augmentations, and ship to back her up. She has good instincts on the track. If Amy has one flaw, Alexander would say it is over confidence. She is almost arrogant about being at the top of the pack these days. If a few of the other teams manage to solve their issues with their ships, they will be real contenders. Amy will finally face some real challenges on the race course. Until that happens, Amy doesn’t really see anyone as true competition. Alexander can see her making good decisions on the track. She is good. There is no doubt about that. Amy is helped by augmentations. If there is ever a technical issue with her augmentations, that could be a fatal flaw for Amy. Unlike Amy her copilots can’t ever seem to measure up. Amy Stirling is the golden goose for Silver Apex. They seem to go through secondary pilots like a runner goes through shoes. Amy’s rough and hard to work with reputation are only sufferable because of her results. If she stops winning, Silver Apex sponsors may go elsewhere. Especially with the lackluster performance of the secondary pilots. They don’t seem to stick around long enough to really become a part of the team. Morale might be weaker inside the Silver Apex team that is known. Silver Apex was dominating and because of that sponsors were willing to throw their money at winning teams which means they are associated with results. What happens if Silver Apex gets knocked off that pedestal? 

Al Saqr Racing Team. Kais Zenix was a super aggressive driver. He attacked the course and everything on it as it is an obstacle in his way. Layla Al-Nadir is calculating and makes educated decisions. She is cool under pressure and driven to succeed. Where Kais is charging every corner and pushing his ship to get faster and faster, Layla is calculating energy needs, and where she can push the ship to get the most of its poor handling. Layla is very similar to Amy Stirling and they both have the same fatal flaw. If something happens to their augmentations during a race, they will be in trouble. The Al Saqr team doesn’t hide that it relies on pilot modifications to get the most out of their ships. If their team manages to solve their handling issues, they will be a top contender. Layla managed to get the podium with a ship that has poor handling. There was no doubt in Alexander’s mind that she was a match for Amy Stirling. Al Saqr was a solid team that, like Southern Cross, had the backing of the local population. They represented their culture and people and because of that had solid support from the fans in the Middle East. This made them attractive to Middle Eastern sponsors.


The Southern Cross Racing Team was another team to watch as Nora Kelly demonstrated at Auckland when she managed a podium finish. Southern Cross ships had good speed, handling, and energy systems. Their ships suffered with stability which made consistency difficult for pilots. Harrison’s style was very similar to Paul’s. It was very instinctual as he seemed to drive his ship as if he was surfing a wave. He seemed to know how to nudge his ship to get the most from it. He drove with an innate grace that was beautiful to watch. Nora had good instincts but he could tell she had gotten her start in street racing. She was used to having a ship that performed at a much lower level. It was no wonder that she came out of the gate with a podium finish in her debut pro race. Nora’s style was high energy with quick decisive moves. She lacked that grace that Harrison had. Her style was a little jerky, still used to overcorrecting for poor performing ships. Her skill and confidence would grow but the learning curve would flatten out as the season went on. Alexander predicted that she would just get better throughout the season if nothing set her back mentally. Southern Cross was probably the most loved AGR team that was recognized by the region they represented. The team was backed and beloved by the populace in the area. Their focus on environmental restoration and messaging made them attractive not just to corporations working in environmental restoration but activist groups as well. 

Alexander thought about his experiences in racing. There was a lot of strategy involved in different areas that had to come together for a professional team to be successful. Team sponsors were the financial support for the team. Teams needed the money to pay for salaries and equipment. Sponsors gave the team money in exchange for using their products and endorsement deals. You can have the best pilot in the world but if they couldn’t handle the marketing requirements for endorsement deals, sponsors are less likely to work with them or offer less money to do so. Endorsement deals required marketing photo shoots, commercials, and the sponsor was banking on the reputation and skill of the team they were associating their product with. If your pilot couldn’t act enough to star in a commercial, it was an issue. You can have the most charismatic pilot ever who was photogenic and had acting chops but if they were not winning races, they were a liability as well. Sponsors wanted to get their products and services in front of the fans. Some sponsors are seeking to enter new markets, or hoping to engage a new demographic, or maintain their share of an existing market. Racing was a sport and it didn’t happen without spectators who were willing to spend their money on the tickets and experiences. Fans were at the heart of racing. They were the true economic lynchpin that made any sport work. Some teams sought out sponsors who were hoping to share their equipment and technology. Engine manufacturers might sponsor a team to reflect and highlight to the public how fast their engines are. The research and development costs for that is then on the sponsor instead of the team. 

Racing teams like Southern Cross and Al Saqr had cultural ties to their fans and local connections. Those ties helped fund and connect them to sponsors that wanted to help them. Whereas Silver Apex had sponsors throwing themselves at their team because they had been a dominant team for some time. They wanted to be associated with proven winners. Racing teams had to decide what kind of sponsors they wanted. Some sponsors might push teams to win at any costs. Others might be more concerned with their public image and want to avoid any kind of scandal or gray morality or ethics. Some teams embraced that win by any means mentality. They will push their pilots into augmentations that might not really be ready for human implantation or come with serious side effects. They were willing to accept the gains that came on the track despite the personal cost or long term damage done to the pilot. Alexander had been a victim to a team like that when he left racing. They wanted to take out key competitors during races. They had asked him to target racers and deliberately crash them or knock them into the walls. They were willing to take a single disqualification to remove a team from competing for the rest of the season if their craft was destroyed or the pilot was killed. It was an acceptable risk to them. Some teams would try to hide clauses in the long legal contracts that favored them if they felt they couldn’t control a pilot. They might bury clauses to retain a lot of their winnings or promotional deals than was the standard. There was a serious darkside to racing that the naive were prey too. In order to have a fan base you had to fill the tracks and stadiums where the events took place. The tracks themselves wanted packed stands. They made their money on ticket sales and drinks and food sold at the track. The racing tracks work with the racing commission to regulate racing and to ensure a minimum of safety for their property and the crowds visiting the races. They would blackball a racer that constantly broke safety rules because it put their business liability at higher risk. For a professional team to be competitive they needed top notch equipment. Racing equipment was highly specialized and teams were constantly innovating and looking for an edge over the competition. That took skilled people such as engineers which were highly educated and trained. To attract the best and most skilled engineers, teams had to have competitive pay. Some engineers sought out racing teams as a stepping stone in their career. The notoriety and prestige was highly sought after. The highest pay in the world would not help a team that treated their engineers poorly. There was a balance that had to happen for a team to be successful. 

Some racing teams sought out young talent and invested in them to develop them into professional racers. Others tried to steal talent from other teams to avoid the costs of training and development. Some teams that might not have access to better augmentations might try to steal a pilot that already has the augmentations they don’t want to pay for. Some teams used strategies to steal sponsors. Others used the media to attack a team by attacking their integrity and reputation. Creating rumor and scandal to try and cost them sponsorships. Some teams used very dark strategies to kill or injure other pilots. Sabotage of other teams’ equipment was not unheard of either. Corporate espionage happens as teams send in spies to steal another team’s technological improvements. Some of these strategies take place in the shadows with little knowledge to  most of those who work on the team. Money and blackmail had been used to gather the information they wanted to know or to influence race outcomes. Racing strategies came in a wide array of areas and on a spectrum from competitive to deadly. It was all a question as to how dark you want to go and who would find out about it. 

Alexander knew that he would fight with everything in him to keep Valkyrie AGR Sport in the light end of things. He wanted to ensure the team had honor and integrity. He wanted to win races but he wanted them to win on their own and on their own merit. They would do it by all of them working together to find what works. They would find new innovations and strategies to help the team win. Valkyrie AGR Sport had some very intelligent and capable people working for them. All he had to do was show them the way and let them do what they knew how best. He just hoped it paid off. 

[hr] 

[color=gold][center][h1][i][b]Social Media[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color]

[hr]

[center][color=fff200][b]The Drunken Dragon Pub is announcing a new drink in honor of the Valkyrie AGR Sport Engineering Crew who partied hearty here last night. Come in and order Valkyrie Fuel. A new cocktail on our menu featuring honey mead, and Fireball.[/b] [/color]

([i]The announcement comes with a very nice picture of the golden cocktail with red swirls in a highball glass topped with a raspberry and an orange twist.[/i]) [/center]

[color=fff200]OfficeDrone#12:[/color] Hmmm looks good. 
[color=fff200]SuperfanAGR54:[/color] Interesting. I wonder if this will start a new trend?  
[color=fff200]DantheMan:[/color] Meh I don’t do girly looking cocktails. 
[color=fff200]Superfan2075:[/color] Smart of them to cash in on the free publicity.  
[color=fff200]DadBod89:[/color] Not interested. Let me know when they name a beer after them.  
[color=fff200]Hater101:[/color] The team gets trashed together and its positive news?
[color=fff200]Papabear34:[/color]  What happened to the beer?
[color=fff200]Nana2050:[/color] I might have to try that. 
[color=fff200]GeorgeFly:[/color] @Papabear34 I agree… What happened to the beer?
[color=fff200]ValkyrieFan56:[/color] Bookmarking the Drunken Dragon. I got to try that.  
[color=fff200]Weedhead81:[/color] That looks too expensive for my tastes.  
[color=fff200]SexyM@m@5:[/color] I wonder if Dorian drinks cocktails?
[color=fff200]Paulmulder4eva:[/color] Oh yummy! Just like Paul. 
[color=fff200]Britball12:[/color] Noooo what happened to the beer. 
[color=fff200]BatDave:[/color] I am Batman.  
[color=fff200]!YouSlow!:[/color] There are no dragons in racing.
[color=fff200]xImFasterthanUx:[/color] Well that is a new trend. Crew gets plastered and they name a drink after them. Nice.
[color=fff200]AGInthusiast: [/color] How is this news?