[center][h1][b] Hakone Izakaya Bar 2100 Hours [/b][/h1][/center] [quote][color=#1EFF24] ”Oh, and regarding that: You’re on.” She jabbed a finger in his direction, referring to the drifting challenge he proposed. ”Manager at the Brooklands Mercedes World in London owes me a favor, I could get us a few hours on the attached test track.”[/color] [color=fff200]Paul: “Bea why would we go to England? You do know that Japan is the birthplace of drifting, right? Drifting tracks are still very popular here in Japan. I am sure we could rent a track for an hour or two to have some fun while we are here in Tokyo. If you have the time? I will be here after the race for a few days taking care of some sponsorship commitments.” [/color] Paul threw the challenge out to the rest of the group. [color=fff200]Paul: “Would anyone else be interested in some time racing at a drifting track? Nora would you be interested? I know you are skilled if you were a street racer.”[/color][/quote] “Reckon I could make that work. Just don’t whinge too hard when you lose, eh?” Nora’s smile split her face ear to ear, belying the cool tone she had replied in. In truth, drifting was only part of what she did, it wasn’t her specialty like road control and raw speed were, but like hell was she going to reveal that. Or lose, if she had anything to say about it. [quote][color=fff200]“Bea why would we go to England? You do know that Japan is the birthplace of drifting, right? Drifting tracks are still very popular here in Japan. I am sure we could rent a track for an hour or two to have some fun while we are here in Tokyo. If you have the time? I will be here after the race for a few days taking care of some sponsorship commitments.”[/color] [color=#1EFF24]”Because just because it’s from here doesn’t mean it’s special. Hamburgers are from Germany, yet it’s the Yanks you think of when you hear the word.”[/color] She shrugged, [color=#1EFF24]”And if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right, with enough time, proper car for the occasion and everything.”[/color] She was also working a bit of an angle with it, because living with an older sister taught her it wasn’t a friendly competition if you weren’t tilting the field a little. Paul laughed and tsked at her, shaking his finger. “Now Bea, there is something to be said for tradition. I know for a fact the track I have in mind has cars specifically set up for drifting. It is also a neutral track where neither one of us could call foul play or find unfavorable advantage. There is something to be said for neutral territory.” Paul sighed and smiled at Bea. “My calendar is pretty full for a bit. I don’t know when I can get to England. Maybe we can arrange that when I am in England for the English Grand Prix in June?”[/quote] “Much as I’d love to do it while we’re here in Japan I think we’ve all got commitments, but keep me in mind for this in England, right? We can hit it one arvo, or make a day of it.” Nora put in as she listened to the negotiations between the two rookies. [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Qualifiers[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] “Just run it like a sim run, Nora.” The voice of Southern Cross's team principal came in over her headset as she was settling into the crafts systems. “Keep an eye on your energy levels and it’ll be a piece of piss.” “Yes, Owen…” Nora said, internally rolling her eyes. She wasn’t as ready for the ELS-heavy track as she [i]wanted[/i] to be, but she was as ready as she was [i]going[/i] to be at this point. The rest of the track didn’t look to cause additional problems, and she was experienced flying by instruments from the sand-covered wastes the Interior made their homes on and the hash the sandstorms made of both visual sightlines and radar signals. That said, her strategy going in was simple, take the corners as best she could and eke out as much speed as possible where she could, and it showed in her results. P6, her worst qualifying position so far and a difficult spot to come back from if she wanted a shot at the podium. It was the stability going into turns, she told herself, but she knew just as well it was her inexperience with the ELS system that was holding her back, and it stuck in her craw. It might not help in tomorrow's race, but she was going to put as much time into familiarizing herself with the systems intricacies as she could before they came back with a vengeance in the Lunar AGP. [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Post Qualifying Interviews[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [quote]After the qualifying session, the pilots were back again at the Delta Hyper booth within the paddock after various interviews and catch-ups with their teams, Rory back in presence, full body rather than just a head in the distance. The British commentator kept his mic set, catching each of the pilots as they came in. "Nora, a shame about not making podium today, but it seems you're still getting to grips with the Formula AG energy system after making the switch from the Interior Circuit. How does Tokyo stack up as a street circuit for a former underground racer?"[/quote] Nora was still in her racing suit, excitement evident in her stance and expression. She may have only qualified P6, but this was Tokyo. “It’s… I don’t want to call it a religious experience, but Tokyo is a historic part of the sport, and one of the most publicized at that. I know I wasn’t the only one riding the Interior who dreamed of racing on the streets of Tokyo. It’s a shame I won’t be starting in a podium position, but I knew going into this one that my inexperience with the ELS system would cause problems. I’ve been practicing since South Africa, but two weeks will only go so far against some of the other racers on the grid. That said, Southern Cross makes the fastest ship on the course and it's a long race tomorrow, so we’ll see what happens on the track.” [hr] [center][b]Nora Kelly @NitroNora[/b]: [i]”Qualed P6, not my best showing yet but that just means I’ve gotta put in some hard yakka on race day. Watch your back [b]@ASZenix[/b]!” #SCRacing #DeltaHyper #TokyoAGP[/i][/center] [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]An Underground Racers Day Out[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] It was race day once again, and once again rain had chosen to fill the skies. On one hand at least the AGs wouldn’t slide in the rain, but it also meant visibility was shit and she’d have to rely on her instruments. Not that it was a problem, but she’d hoped to have as few issues as possible with what she was already working with. She’d just have to make the best of it in the high-speed knife fight to come, and hope she’d come out on top. As the countdown began, she patted the Pounamu stone, held in a special pocket in her suit, and dove deep into her sled. Into the race, and immediately Nora poured on the speed, trying to put early pressure on Layla and take the position before the other driver was ready to counter her. Just as she was pulling ahead she felt something grab her ship, and the ELS system started screaming about a lock. Layla snagged the lead again, and Nora just had to smile. This wouldn’t be her first win, not with her ELS experience holding her back, but it was on. The knife fight had begun in earnest. Throughout the race Nora and Layla traded P5 and P6 back and forth, but Nora had Layla beat on pace, and each lap saw her grabbing just a little more space each time, until the final overtake, during the turning coming into the last straight and the final meters of the race. Here, Nora's speed and aggression won the day, and she pulled ahead one final time, crossing the finish line mere moments before Layla and grabbing a P5 finish for herself. It might not be a podium finish, but with the setup going into the race, and the fierce competition from Layla, she was proud of how she had raced that day. [hr] Nora found Kais during the podium ceremony, after they had all gotten off the podium. After Beatrix had left, she walked up to Kais. “That was damn good racing, Kais, and congratulations on your win. I hope you can keep it up in Italy though, or winning against you won’t be nearly so satisfying.” Nora smiled as she said this, but there was a hard edge to it. He had taken something she had, perhaps wrongly, already thought of as her own. Both the first rookie this season to beat Amy, and the first rookie to finish in pole position. While she was genuinely happy for him, her pride also wouldn’t let a challenge like that go unanswered. [hr] [center][b]Nora Kelly @NitroNora[/b]: [i]”A P5 finish after a well fought battle throughout the race with [b]@ASYalla[/b]. And a spectacular P1 finish by [b]@ASZenix[/b]? Guess I’ll just have to reintroduce you to my dust in Italy!” #SCRacing #DeltaHyper #TokyoAGP[/i][/center] [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]Delta Hyper Post Race Interviews: Sponsored by the Anti-Social Social Club[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [quote]"Nelly, you and Layla were fighting the entire way, it looks like you certainly have your way with ! Even though you didn't have your ELS down, how did you feel about keeping Layla behind you and taking the P5?[/quote] Nora was smiling as she sat down for her interview, and leaned forwards before she answered the question. “It was a hard fought battle the whole way, Aurora. Layla kept me on my toes the whole time, can’t knock her racing or her skill. What I’m getting at is, it felt good. Very good, to beat someone of her caliber where she should have an advantage. And speaking of advantages… Kais Zenix, I’m coming for you in Italy.” [Insert follow-up here] [hr] [center][h2][color=gold]The Promised Party[/color] A Nightclub in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan[/h2][/center] Nora arrived a bit later than intended to the promised party and started at the bar. After, beer in hand, she spent most of the party watching others and thinking, occasionally chatting with anyone who drifted over. [hr] [color=gold][center][h2][i][b]The Ecstasy of Gold[/b][/i][/h2][/center][/color] [center] [h2][b] Christchurch, New Zealand, Southern Cross HQ [/b] [/h2] [/center] [quote]Pulling out of it, Harrison grabbed his reusable cup, filling it with water from a nearby tap, looking across to Nora, also sharing a break. "You feeling good for this? It's a difficult circuit to learn, no amount of neural training will truly prepare you, but, trust me. I adore it. Genuinely the most amount of fun you're ever gonna have in an AG ship." Harrison seemed pensive, but well, he had to be. There was a lot on the line. P1. And they were going to have to take it. He knew Nora was perhaps not as used to long, long tracks like these with this much undulation, but, if she could fly fast and handle well, she'd hold her own. "I gotta admit though, I hope we break the duck here. Silver Apex feels so close in reach. And we should dominate this. But, I gotta say. We have a lot to prove."[/quote] “Bloody hell it’s a pretty course, and I’m feeling good about it.” After losing out on a spot on the podium in Tokyo, Nora had been training like a woman possessed. While she had been careful to get enough food and sleep, she had been spending most of her waking hours strategizing or in the simulators, trying to study past the trap of preparing for the last race, not the next one. “You’re right, we should dominate here. We have the speed and the handling, and even with my inexperience our energy systems are aces. We’ve shown them we can hang with the big dogs, so let’s see how they like it when they’re nipping at our heels for a change.” Nora's regular aggression had an extra edge to it, but it wasn’t directed at Harrison today. She knew the stakes, if they won here they’d take the lead in the Constructors, and they’d both make big strides toward dethroning Amy in the Pilots ranking. None of that changed the cause of her excess aggression, though. Not that she had told anyone just yet. When they had gotten back from Tokyo, Nora had entered her apartment to find an envelope on her desk, made of fine paper and unmarked except for an old-fashioned wax seal made of swirled blue and green wax with gold flakes suspended within, and impressed with the symbol of a steering wheel. She’d opened the envelope, unable to deny what it meant even though she had grown to hate what it represented. As she cracked the seal and opened the envelope, the scent of very expensive cigars mixed with petrol hit her nose, shoving her violently back in time for a moment as she vividly remembered her first time smelling that exact combination. The head of Australia's largest mining syndicate and one of the owners of Australia's underground racing scene, and her [b]former[/b] sponsor, Harold Keene. [quote][i]Hello Nora, I am glad to see you well after leaving our humble family. We were worried when you left unannounced, and without even leaving a forwarding address… But, it seems you have found a place of your own, racing among the stars. We are cheering for you from the sidelines. But I [b]do[/b] hope that you haven’t forgotten what you owe the family, yes? I expect you already know, especially with the money you cost the family by disappearing just before an important race. We hope to see you again soon, Nora Kelly. Until Then, H. Keene[/i][/quote] Nora wasn’t sure why he was reaching out now of all times, but the way he had reached out left no room for interpretation. [i]I can reach you anywhere[/i], it said. And it scared her. [hr] Amongst the panic and the training regimes, one thing remained at pace throughout the chaos, suffering a remarkably small amount of overruns and delays. That is, the construction and finalization of Southern Crosses facility upgrades, which looked to be mere weeks from completion. The newly upgraded facilities were slated to bring in the best the team had been able to get their hands on, with up-to-date workspaces and equipment for each department and more, all within a carbon neutral footprint and designed and decorated by a team of local artists and architects to blend in with the natural beauty of the area. And who knows, perhaps with even more funding, especially with new sponsors pulled in by taking the lead from Silver Apex, it could be improved even further! [hr] [center] [h1][b] Round 4 of Formula Anti-Gravity Racing Friday 14th April, 2094 Post-Practice Italian AGP[/b][/h1][/center] Nora had been looking forward to this race ever since Principle Keating had gone over the schedule pre-season during her initial onboarding with the team. Part of it was for the utterly amazing natural beauty on display, true, but the biggest excitement? This was the kind of track that was practically [i]made[/i] for her! It had been race footage from the Marmolada AG Race Circuit in Italy and the Tokyo Expressway Circuit that had originally sparked her interest in racing as a young girl after all. And with her performance in Tokyo, she desperately wanted to win here of all places. [hr] [color=gold][center][h1][i][b]A Couch in the Sky[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color] [quote]"Nelly, a pleasure for you to join us! Whilst a little different to Tokyo, do you think the pundits have got it right that Southern Apex are the hot favorites for Italy?"[/quote] “It’s a pleasure to be here Aurora, Rory!” Nora replied, her entire body practically radiating excitement. Her usual punk attire was, this time, covered by a large, fluffy coat in the Southern Cross colors, the young woman clearly being unused to the penetrating, bone-chilling cold of a glacial mountain range, even with the off-screen heater. “This is one of the circuits that inspired me to become a racer in the first place, and it feels like it was designed for our sleds! The speeds we can get up to with the straights, it's just… it’s bloody ace is what it is! I think the pundits are right, we’re the team to beat here!” As she finished waxing enthusiastically, she caught sight of Paul, and his shenanigan with the signs, and almost managed to control her snort. Almost. [hr] [center][h1][b]Round 4 of Formula Anti-Gravity Racing Saturday 15th April, 2094 Qualifying Italian AGP Strada Alpina Marmolada, Dolomiti, Italia 1400 CET[/b][/h1][/center] [color=gold][center][h1][i][b]La Forza[/b][/i][/h1][/center][/color] It was almost time to put her mettle to the test. One lap, one push to see where she would start. Once again Nora sank into her sleds systems and settled into the vibrating heartbeat of her waka, the electrical impulses of its circuitry like the blood pumping through her veins, barely contained and ready to [i]fly[/i]. And fly she did, running one of the best laps of her life, not just her career so far with Formula AG. Sector one flashed by as Nora threw herself into the series of hairpins and curves that made up the early portion of the sector before absolutely sending it down the slope and then up and off the ramp that was the track along Rifugio Forcella Pordoi. As she landed and entered sector two, her landing jarring even through the special dampening that had been put into place. Leaning into the Southern Cross wakas superior handling, she worked to keep as much speed as she could during the hairpins and switchbacks that made up much of the sector, but only so much speed could be kept through those sections. Sector three then, starting with a perfect alpine road. Passo Fedaia let her take her beast of a rocketship up to full throttle, and the roaring this created was nothing short of spectacular, driving her to even greater heights of speed and daring as she came around the left hander and out onto the Terazza Marmolada itself. The single best part of this race, the feeling of racing along the roof, the very peak of the Dolomites themselves! And a perfect place to overtake any who dared take this from her. [hr] “Bring ‘er in for cooldown Nelly, damn good run!” “Got it Long, thanks for the tips on the energy collection systems during practice, felt like they paid dividends!” “Bloody oath they did, Nelly. Your time puts you at Provisional Pole with that, and only Al-Saqr and Apex are left to run.” “Fuckin’ ace!” [hr] “I told you there wouldn’t be issues, even with her… inconsiderate departure.” a gravelly voice said, almost purring with how pleased its owner was. “Mm. You were right, Keene. Like always.” A younger voice, this one cold and emotionless, spoke in reply. The two men returned to silence, watching the coverage as a historic rookie took pole position in the qualifiers and the three time running champion didn’t even start on the podium. A faint clink came from the glasses as the two toasted, the details known to them alone. [hr] [url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EbIchskAahiC6yJkzGJX61Xeq6K9JWvhuTHMY2feZbc/edit?usp=sharing]Sylvans Characters[/url]