Round 6 of Formula Anti-Gravity
Sunday 21st May, 2094
Race Day
Lunar AGP
Mare Austral, nr the South Pole of the Moon
1700 Lunar Coordinated Time (LCT)
"Primed and ready. Let's go do this." Harriet Vine's words, his Kiwi race engineer were enough to fire up Harrison, looking at the two white and green ships in front, and the podium spots that sat waiting. Harrison had half a feeling Layla was on some sauce lately. Way she was flying, she was cooking, but then again, Harrison had a feeling from his last lap in practice, that hadn't come through in qualy, he had something too.
The media, from the L-Ball shenanigans, to the vlogging, the bouncing about sightseeing on the surface of another celestial body, all of that reverted back to a race that for the pilots, was what they were paid to be here to do, and wanted the glory of.
Four, Three, Two, One.
And the acceleration jolted, as the turn immediately faced towards Earth, dust skewering from ships in front and fading on the metallic sections of track, that then gave way to the magnetic MAG tracking that latched the ships through tighter corners, where drifting the ships didn't work, then that physically sent the ships through at full throttle, and at a camber.
With the ships away, Harrison left Ava on the start and immediately hopped past Kais, exploiting him on the first few corners and pushing a fairly aggressive move, by the kind that even Kais would unerstand that the title-chaser. Almost as if to say "I'm hunting a title" and well, it was obvious that from a crap qualifying Harrison had put his game face on. Gone was the curly-haired, chilled out half-Aboriginal Australian, in was the Aussie that wanted to just hunt and hunt and well, he was not giving an inch. No matter if Kais and Layla were pushing neural mods, Harrison wasn't needing a brain, he just knew how to channel his want and to see if Kais and Layla were willing to respond. And even for Layla, the Queen of Luna as some called her, Harrison was catching faster and faster.
"Lovely moves there." The cordial tune of Harriet in Harrison's ear was barely a fade, because he didn't need to worry too much about strategy. (Harriet and Harrison, well, it seemed too perfect a coincidence and Southern Cross played fun with that marketing). Going from 4th to nearly 2nd, Harrison waited and waited, and then in Section 3, through the hard cambered turns in the tight technical section, he made his move. Just Amy to go. Whatever it was, even in spite of the time he had spent with Nora, he was feeling alive here.
"Keep the chat down. Just tell me how many seconds to Amy." Harrison replied, another side of him coming out, the kind that felt like for this moment, he wasn't interested in anything else. He was like a lion roaring, and the ship's whining internals felt like for a moment, he was hitting perfection.
It was hard to explain, but that flow state, that mindset, it wasn't mechanical, no pilot mod working perfectly, it just felt like for a moment, it all came together. And Amy right there, and then, was for the taking. Sector 1's medium to fast corners, Sector 2's nearly blazing fast yet undulating plains sector, followed by Sector 3's tight, technical, partly-inverted turns that forced concentration were making Harrison work, yet he was perhaps rolled rather lucky today in the grand scheme of things. Much that Amy hated it, because that points deficit was being eaten into bit by bit.
And then came past Harrison. What the hell was he smoking today? The ship, her mind, her feeling, everything felt perfect, but through the twisty Section 3, through the barren canyon-like surface that inverted and then went 90-degree onto the wall, then back to level, a stomach-churning element, it felt odd.
From 2nd to 4th, this was becoming a nightmare, and she knew that Kais didn't have the pace either- the ship was skating far too much, it felt like whatever was in their pilot mods that should have put them on top here just wasn't working as it should have been, it felt like the adhesion in qualifying just wasn't there. Was it nerves? Layla wasn't sure, but something felt off, and even by her standards, and her mods that now seemed to bond her to the ship like nothing else, she could not find where Harrison was making his time up in the corners he was taking. It was strange looking at the
And then, of all people, Jamie managed to buzz by.
"How the f**k are they that fast?" Layla called to her race engineer, Marko Livakovic, who at this point was out of answers.
"Layla, your pace is good, they're just flying faster than they were in qualifying. We overplayed our hand, let's focus on the job and make up where they make mistakes. Come on. We can get good points here, let's not bin this. We can make it up in the second half, energy delta is very healthy as per our strategy on ELS, you are managing it extremely well, let's not be scared to pick up pace and put on the burner at the end when they have nothing to give. Yalla, Layla, Yalla!" The response was technical with a bit of fire to the end, which for Layla, was about exactly what she wanted to hear.
"Copy, I'll push." Layla replied, and with it, made sure to stick on Jamie's rear, seeing him bunch towards where Amy and Harrison were about to fight.
"What a race we are having so far, Jamie Hart is suddenly finding his feet with that Silver Apex ship, he's pushed all the way up to 3rd past the two Al-Saqr ships, and seems to be relishing in the opportunity. Al-Saqr are off pace, but I think Harrison just made them look silly, he looks like he has a point to prove!" Rory exclaimed, as Rosie noticed another.
"Wow, and what a result. We're noticing the Valkyrie ships seem to be off pace too, so Max has just passed into 8th, while Kofi Mensah has just passed Ulrich for 11th, my word what a race he is on! He looks possessed!"
"Speaking of battles, look at Kelly, she is fired up, she is going for Villarosa, she must know Makara is closing the gap to Stirling, and she does not want to miss out, she wants this title as much as anyone can in their rookie season..."
Nora Kelly and Ava Villarosa
Rushing through the incredibly fast Sector One, Ava was locked in, the nearly flat corners taken with barely any flinch in her from MAG-strip to MAG-strip with the ship nearly tilted over completely to let the thrusters do their thing, the latching grip like a long drift getting instantly cancelled and the ship whipped forwards across the Lunar surface. It was strange watching ships race here, so far from home. But focus was focus, and well, points were points for Carrera Condor. Ava was in her zone, the getaway quick and a quarter of the way into the race, holding 5th was a miracle. In her zone, even though Jamie had overtaken her.
And yet there she was. Right behind her, Nora Kelly, the distinct colour of the navy and yellow ship, tinged with a slight green hue, chasing after the slower, arguably out of place Carrera Condor ship in it’s splendid black, white and rainbow-Wipala coloured livery, tantalising across the surface, and in Sector 2, the harder one that demanded sharper hairpins and threw the ship aloft across the surface, before clattering hard into a MAG-stripped, almost completely inverted rock-face that then took the ships into a spiral and back out into the mine-sector of Sector 3, hard hairpins and sickening turns making this more tricky. And she was watching that rear camera, and the voice in her ear. Bit by bit, step by step. She had to defend. ELS was her friend here, but Nora was clearly on a mission. She’d left Paul behind no doubt wanted to make up positions, as they went onto the next lap, the heart inside of Ava clasping shut and open on corners, even without the gravity the forces still enough from how lateral the craft went enough to still tug away at her very fibrous heartstrings.
Nora was riding the track fast and loose, grasping for any edge to claw her way up in position as she looked for an opportunity to pass Ava with her sleds superior speed. Ava was more experienced and had an ELS advantage over the rookie, but Nora knew she could exploit even the smallest opening if she could just find one. Or make one. With that in mind she kept pushing, inch by inch, second by second, looking for her opportunity to strike. The forces acting on the still-mostly-fleshy pilot were intense, but that only drove her to push harder, faster, stronger. The pounding of her blood rushing through her heart and brain in sync with the beat of her engines, its guttural roar echoing her own emotions as she focused on the pursuit.
And it felt tense, corner after corner, Ava could just about feel Nora crawling along her side, the calm pilot even in this situation feeling like she was truly dogfighting, every sinew in her trying, the cameras picking it up, as the audio in Ava’s ear interrupted what was an epic show of two pilots going toe to toe. The crystal clear comms and the marker in her ship was instant, but the ship didn’t slow, given she had to select the limiter, like old times, she was waiting for the prompt on the track-side markers.
“Virtual Safety is out, Bjorn’s had a big….” Ava heard, able to do two things at once, her mind racing, and then, it felt like something just didn’t.
The pressure boiled and it was as if even for her, in that duel, extended as it was, relentless as it was, in that moment, she couldn’t stay in that zone. She was slowing down, yet nowhere near enough given she was side by side with Nora at that point, and well…..
Ava wasn’t quite there. She couldn’t, and wouldn’t be able to explain it at all, but it was like for even a few frames, she lost something, and she never, ever felt that before. Like her heart had jumped, skipped, thrown a beat, her focus on this moment burning out like a sudden rush of heat to her eyeballs, sinewing inside to make her face out. And in that moment, in between her heart and her head firing back up, it was far too late. It wasn’t even like a blur of forces coming together, it was like a blink and then it happened.
The crash was sizable, Ava recoiling in horror and trying to turn the craft but it was hopeless in how it understeered and just kept going, and in Sector 3, on the tight, hairpin-like inverted bends, there was no chance, and repulsors being too weak to hold the ships at top-speed and the walls so close, the shunt and damage was enough to overwhelm even the crafts typically sturdy repulsor fields of their own too, careering both of them out of circuit and into the rocky, alien-like regolith, Ava feeling the ship heap over in the lunar gravity, and over, and then, her frames of reference entirely disappear.
She could just hear her heartbeat, the ship upside down and an endless amount of alarms.
She opened her eyes.
And checked, everything, anything over again, the cockpit smashed to pieces with most of the ship worse than just written off, but splintered into almost a dozen chunks, as she put her hands out and checked herself over, watching extremely cautiously for broken reinforced nanite-enhanced glass that had sprinkled into the Lunar dust, and the ship that was now in tatters.
She hurt like she hadn’t in a decade, her helmet secure and the visor secure, no splinters in her suit, thankfully, but she was barely able to crawl out after pulling her harnesses loose, barely getting up before looking across at the other ship, going past the field generator on the ship itself that in the event of this would mean she wouldn’t die- a thankful failsafe given it created a pocket of air within the canopy itself, but outside, that was unpressurised and the feeling of void was a stark contrast to the field-generated positive pressure-like bubble that Ava passed through, breathing in heavy through her suit’s oxygen system. Her stand was a crooked stand, given her legs internally had been shaken about and she hadn’t yet entirely realised her prosthetics had dislodged from her hip, but still, the adrenaline override it. And her fighter-pilot grade mindset even to this, rattled, knowing full well it wasn’t her she was worried about, but the wreck she saw beyond her own ship. Why the hell were there no drones or marshalls out here? Well, there was Bjorn’s crash. And the radio was horrifically staticky, as Ava realised the blur that was this horror was a reality. This was a worst case scenario. A crash in a deadzone, and even if the stewards realised it after they dealt with Bjorn, they’d realise that altogether, that crash, whilst a nasty one, was nothing on this.
And worse still, she looked to the other ship, and realised it was even worse. That Southern Cross ship was a glass cannon, but here, it had fared even more terribly, recoiling off rock and the cockpit sideways, as Ava realised she would be first to arrive. And with a hobble, her legs physically feeling crooked in their joints to her hips, she made the bulky suit move, every part of her knowing that however bad it had been for her, she was going to have to help Nora. They weren’t on the same comms line, but Ava knew she had to do something, go beyond that tiny bubble of protection and cross the rocky surface towards her.
It happened in a matter of moments, at the speeds they were going even their own enhanced reflexes were barely enough to keep up. Her hands had begun to move on the control surfaces before her brain had processed that…
something had gone wrong with Ava for just a moment, but she was only fast enough to avoid smashing into the other pilots cockpit and went careening into one of the rock faces that made up that section of the track. The impact sprayed the shattered Southern Cross ship over a worrying length of track as the cockpit, in one piece by some mercy, slammed into the lunar regolith and skidded to a halt nearby, off kilter and with a shattered canopy, but generally in one crumpled piece. The next thing Nora knew was pain, immediate and intense as she felt her body get ripped to pieces in an agonizing, infinite moment before the emergency cut off ejected her from the ships dying computer systems and she woke back to the real world, and very real pain. She was alive, that was a start, but as she tried to free herself from the tattered remains of her harness she discovered that one of her arms had been shattered as the pain of trying to move it caused her to black out for a moment, even through the adrenaline coursing through her system. As she came back around, moving much more carefully, she discovered that her right arm, her dominant arm, had been smashed when the cockpit crash landed.
As the injured Australian finished coming to this series of revelations, she looked across the lunar surface to see Ava standing and moving jerkily towards her, leaving her own tiny bubble of air and safety and moving in Noras direction. Nora was trying to free herself, but with only her off hand she was making a poor show of it as she scrabbled at the clasps, having a hard time with the lack of feeling in her bulkier, space-capable race suit. Further complicating these attempts were the spikes of intense pain any time she moved her right arm, leading to her almost losing consciousness again as she managed to pull herself fully out of the remains of her cockpit and fall the remaining few feet to the lunar dust, falling to a sitting position as her right leg gave out under even the slightest pressure. It was at that moment that Nora realized that her right leg was nothing but pain, piercing, vibrant pain, similar in damage to her arm.
”Where the hell are the marshalls and drones?” She said into her helmet, thinking out loud to ward off the silence of the void outside her little bubble of air. She’d seen the notification of Bjorns accident moments before her own, but she couldn’t remember where on the track that was. Probably pretty far back, but that meant… They were alone until one of their crews got a rescue launched, or the marshalls returned after dealing with the other crash. Nora let out the breath she had been unconsciously holding in one long, heartfelt expression.
“Fuuuuuuuuck.”
Ava breathed half a sigh of relief watching Nora peel away, the sight of her arm and her leg injury making her wince inside, and would be enough to make most pilots that weren’t militarily trained want to freak the fuck out. But Ava was at least, somewhat, holding it together as she continued to clatter, the bruising inside and the damage to the panelled surface a frustrating one, but not stopping her at all as she just kept going, and going. And with a silence, Ava looked down, crumpling down uncomfortably on her knees, seeing her mouth the words that the Chilean could make out, nodding back from within her own visor, looking over her injuries, staying close and checking her spacesuit over for damage, pressure compromises or any further aspects to worry about, including the state of the ship and it's safety. With a tweak of the flickering holographic PDA on her SERE-kit styled chest-mounted rig, Ava switched into the immediate, Bluetooth-like frequency for short-range communications, hearing the static from Nora’s damaged headset. And in spite of everything, Ava knew she had to act quickly, but make sure Nora, who was no doubt losing her mind given it was her first time on Luna no less.
“Nora, don’t move at all, deep breaths, deep, deep breaths…..look at me, we’re gonna be ok, yeah? Just steady, no need to move on that leg. Let's not risk any more injuries, especially to your back.” Ava added, really taking in the look of her right leg and her right arm, wincing and noticing structural damage to the suit itself, almost without hesitation reaching into the ship and fumbling a little, clattering over to the floor as she pulled up a foam kit, located next to the extinguishing unit for the cockpit.
“Okay. This is going to hurt a lot, Nora, you need to look at me, I’m going to cover the damage on the suit and your crush with this expansion foam to stop the bleeding, and make sure your suit holds up, ok? They’ll get someone to us soon, but you need to breathe, and I need you to stay awake. Whatever you do, do not pass out. Your spinal column has taken a hit as well, so if we do anything it'll hurt a lot. Just stay with me, deep breaths, and we'll make it through. They’ll move you when we can safely, they're sending a team to us. Please, please, take it easy now. We’re okay. We’ll be okay, Nora….please hang on…..” Ava tried, tried to be reassuring, even though she was just about past hyperventilating, her suit’s O2 rebreather not enjoying any of what had just happened at all. Resting down by Nora, the navy and yellow coloured suit of the Aussie contrasting against Ava’s own black and white, and with that, duty just hit to make sure Nora would be at least stable.
Spraying the foam canister at her leg and her arm, the spray would have been ice-cold, but was stabilising foam, not made for something like this and more made to solidify a metal joint if needed, but in this instance, would at least lock her leg and any bleeding within, whilst also having the side effect of sealing up what looked like a very damaged element of Nora’s spacesuit, given it had been squished in impact. If that went, there was no guarantee if the repulsor failed that it would probably kill her very, very fast. Ava could tell that Nora was going to lose her arm and leg so knew the foam was the only choice to stop her from bleeding out, and no doubt require a significant amount of surgery to look over her, as well as her spine, where her hardware had been installed- because of the innate link it had to her ship. It was a grim scene, the kind that warfare had given her scenes of, yet to happen to Nora, this felt…..shit, it felt wrong.
Nora had been incredibly lucky to not break vertebrae, perhaps because of it preventing further damage in the immediate telemetry Ava had in her visor’s HUD that ran in emergency mode. It helped triage her yet even without instruction, or the ringing in her ears and the absolute panic that was the team, other ships stopped dead, Ava knew she had to only act and hope. In low-G, fractures were even more dangerous, things like this could easily cripple someone if not healed and dealt with properly, even despite advanced medicine. It was working for now to hold her straight but even so, Ava knew for this brief moment in time, the race didn’t matter, but making sure Nora didn’t hurt herself worse, and stayed conscious and in a state of mind that wouldn’t potentially lead to long-term nervous or neural damage, let alone the physical hit, that mattered. Passing out meant the wiring wasn’t there for her neural link to be reviewed properly, she needed to be here to avoid any risk and Ava knew that she had to talk. It felt like the Moon, everything else that Ava had taken in faded away for a second, and only in that very moment, Nora mattered.
Nora looked up at Ava, her eyes struggling to focus for a moment before snapping back as the other pilots voice came through her helmets speakers. “Well you’re a sight for sore… everything. Just give me a sanger n’ a smoko and she’ll be right.” Nora replied, perhaps a bit more rattled than she had originally realized. She was lucky that the emergency release had worked properly, the shear zones failing with the help of a small charge before everything else and shearing clean, causing possible spinal damage instead of the very real possibility of parts of her spine being shattered or removed entirely by a crash. Noras voice was slurred, but she seemed to be holding onto consciousness for the time being, her iron will helping keep unconsciousness and the worst parts of shock away as she focused on Ava, using the womans words and actions, and the pain that came with her help, as an anchor to stay in the waking world while they waited for rescue.
And the brunette Chilean, inside her visored helm, responded with a certain courage of her own, knowing this was not exactly how anyone wanted this race to go down. The shadow of an ambulance and recovery ship beckoned, and within barely 45 seconds, a drone had followed, very quickly assessing the ship itself and its integrity, as well as that of the two pilots, Ava sitting by Nora’s side and looking up to the medical staff that now flooded the area, and almost overwhelmed. One of the techs took Ava aside, with a stretcher brought out and diagnostics very quickly set into Nora’s suit, a couple of bipedal android-like bots assessing the damage to Nora’s spine before sliding the protector onto her back, helping reinforce it inside the suit, where her support had already broken out and off. A medic oversaw the process, staying close by Nora’s side throughout, the silence on the grid more deafening even more than that of the vacuum of space.
The one by Ava’s side eyed her up, and told her not to move, the Japanese FIAR member of staff ordering Ava to stay down, looking through her legs.
“Okay, Ava, careful now. Your prosthetic joints broke, the rest of the leg held together so you could move but it will hurt a lot later. You are very bruised. No neural damage, and your suit is okay, but scratched.” She seemed just as shocked as Ava was, as the Chilean anchored herself down in the low gravity, as best as she could, given small movements would move her away. The risk of the spinal injury, as well as the other injuries on the Moon were much harder to treat if they had complications- and Ava tried to stay calm, even her own ice-like piloting skills knowing that Nora was a civilian. She was no soldier, or pilot. She was not here to die, or get hurt. Yet she was possibly in a worse state.
“Is she going to be okay?” Ava asked, the medic preparing a second brace with another bot that came along, nodding for Ava to lean back.
“We aren’t sure. But she seems stable, and she is talking. And that is good. Thank you for making sure she did not move. Lean back, Villarosa, we’ll get you out too. That was a big one, let’s take it steady.” The medic’s words were not reassuring, as Ava only followed process, the support being mounted and Ava being awkwardly floated through low gravity on the specialist brace, being carried across to the medical rover that had Nora inside.
They’d already started stripping the spacesuit from Nora, inside the sealed chamber, with Ava instead on the outside as a non-priority casualty for the moment being looked over by the Japanese medic who was running a separate triage, given the rest of her was reading green- no concussions, spinal injuries, or anything to her neural link were found outside of damage to her leg stump and hip, which considering the crash, was a miracle. The race was over, any ships on circuit were halted, and no doubt hearing it in their radios about the incident. The pitwall was aghast, any footage had stopped and diverted to inside the pits and reaction was not on dramaticized this, but only on keeping Nora’s, and by extension, Ava’s dignity. This was not a time for media to make a storm. Maybe later, but now, this was about respect, and everyone on the circuit felt a certain kind of silence.
And in that silence, Ava felt horrific inside. It was slow, but as the adrenaline faded, and the pain amped up across all of her, raising and raising, nothing inside her head could keep it back. That happened because of her. She nearly killed Nora. Defending. Holding her line. And then losing focus. In a dogfight, she let go for barely a frame, and now, it was on her mind. Ava had plenty of confidence, she’d known what it was like to fire missiles, but this wasn’t that. This was someone who hadn’t done any evil, or even was trying to kill her. She was a fellow pilot, a racer, and now, she was below her in the buggy, being worked on and involuntarily having limbs she was born with about to be taken, best case, and the worst case horrified Ava worse. It did not want thinking about.
Clambered on, the medics inside, a mix of bots and a Norwegian doctor sealed the door behind. His badge on his chest and his specialist medical spacesuit in white and red denoted him as the Chief Medic of the FIAR delegation, and he got to looking after Nora as the internal pressure of the buggy resumed.
“Nora, I am Doctor Niels Jorgensen, me and these two bots will look after you, and we will get you back to the Paddock for medical attention and surgery. How are you feeling?” His reassuring voice was probably a bit more reasoned than Ava’s, who had performed some emergency triage, whereas he would be looking after her for now.
“Like I got worked over by a flock of Emu. All things considered, could be worse.” Noras voice cracked, the facade of humor she had used to keep her cracking for a moment as she was efficiently prepped for treatment. “When we meet on the other side of this, doc… I owe you and Ava a drink.”
Niels nodded, the good doctor setting up some gentle painkillers in a syrup-like capsule, routing it into her left wrist with an impulse-like clamp, the bots already cutting away any bits of the spacesuit for surgery that would come after this that would help get access to Nora’s systems- the main one being applying tourniquets to her limbs that had already been lost, and cutting the bleeding and internal bleeding inside her body with a smattering of nanite-infused dressings and gels- that would include the internal stuff where the nanites would hunt and help clot her internals, as well as manage any synthetic attachments she had inside her, such as at her spine, which thanks to the brace made sure she didn’t damage any vertabrae or her neck, where the neural link had thankfully, been undamaged, even if the person inside could have been. An emergency blood kit to transfuse her some more nanite-enhanced blood that would fill the gap and stop her from passing out, and oxygen was on her, not from the damaged spacesuit but from inside the buggy. That was supported by a range of gels, helping address the bruises, and other impacts across her body. The bots were busy on triage, and even on the Moon, it was clear FIAR’s medical response was not slouching in a moment like this, given internal bleeding or haemorrhage could easily kill, and the actions taken within what had actually, as it turned out to be, barely two minutes, had saved Nora’s life from what would be the next killer in this situation if blunt trauma didn't do it- the internal bleeding that a normal human body, even with implants, couldn't hold together. She was talking and cracking a joke, and that even cracked him in this moment, his visor open as the early 40-something Doctor smiled back.
“Your spirit is not broken at least, Nora. Ava could have gone easier with the foam. But she did well to help you. You were very close to your suit being ruptured. You are extremely lucky to be alive. I’ve given you some painkillers, and we’ll need to work quickly. Please keep as still as you can, and we’ll sort this out. We may need to put you under once we’re inside to keep your link safe.” Niels got one of the bots to brush some of said foam away where it had been in excess, Nora’s clamped down state inside the buggy not mirroring Niels’s gentle sway due to the lunar-like pull, but keeping his focus. This was not a quiet day at the races. This was probably one of the most difficult things to do for a Medic of his type, and no doubt, he was glad she was in high spirits because he’d need anything he could get to help her now. Losing a limb was never easy, even if it was seen by some as a voluntary procedure. But involuntary, as well as the other injuries Nora had suffered, as well as the break from flow and the neural pullout, would be quite something to follow. As the buggy crawled across the surface, it felt like for the rest of the grid, a limb had been pulled for them too.
The scene cut from the injury, to the look on Rory Andrews's face, on the Delta Hyper couch, a long time after this had happened, a sigh emanating as he thought back on what he had seen. This was reflective, rather than reactive.
"When something like that happens on a track happens....we all stop. We all realise that the sport is dangerous, but I think we forget who is piloting these ships. No matter how many prosthetics, or implants a pilot can have, they're still a person. And they have loved ones, friends, colleagues, and fans that care for them. And I think for that moment, I think we all thought the worst."
Amy chimed in, sitting there in her Silver Apex polo and jeans, the voice at the top of the sport one that maybe would catch more sight.
"I know we're all competitive, but that was.....yeah, that was difficult to watch." She added, keeping it short and plain.
Owen, TP at Southern Cross seemed to have the same view.
"It's not easy to deal with something like this. Nora has been.....not a stranger to risk, we'll put it lightly, but I think even she couldn't imagine this. I think none of us can. I've been doing this for fifteen years and nobody's seen a crash like this. Not since the early days."
The camera turned to Doctor Jorgensen.
"When she sat there, I really did expect the worst. Her spine was quite damaged, and given the connection to her Neural Link, could have been extremely dangerous for her, let alone her arm and leg which were damaged beyond repair. The material of the suit was damaged, even with the graphene weave, and we are only glad for Ava's first response."
Then it turned to Ava, new legs attached, gone were her old military ones and now on were her new sleek pale-grey coloured formed ones.
"It was just what you do. You see something like this, you have to try and help. And....I'm glad she's better. It was scary, and I know my parents called immediately after. And they never do normally!" Ava nodded back, feeling better after all of it, and in reflection over all of this.
Into the frame, entered each of the new pilots, each at a different angle, or cut. The question was the same from Aurora, who had come on beforehand. Three weeks after, a week after Monaco, the question was still pointed back at one, stuck in mind, event. Nora included.
@Enzayne@LadyAmber@MrSkimobile@Starlance@Sylvan"What was your reaction to the crash?"
“Jamie, we’re at Red Flag, bring the ship in. Race is not to be continued, repeat, not to be continued. We're done here today, that is P3."
“P3 locked in? Hell yeah!” Jamie replied, as Callum replied, sombre in tone.
“Jamie, calm down. It’s a serious incident. Pipe down for a second."
"That bad?"
"Jamie, we'll talk later. This one is bad, mate."
“Oh.”
Race Results
The mood was sombre inside of the paddock, and there were, understandably, no post-race interviews. Media had been told there was an incident, and given three-quarters of the race had been completed, full points were awarded.
After the race had been red-flagged, a podium had been undertaken informally but nobody, nobody felt like they were in a celebratory mood. The media had been told to cover nothing, and footage was playing of the wreck, going from a typical sports broadcast to almost like a news-styled one, the commentators silent for long stretches before having something to say, updates mostly on what had happened.
It was more than a shock to most that Jamie had come third, and Kofi had actually scored a point in one of the worst ships on the grid, but it felt like an echo in exchange for the roaring noise in zero-atmospheric Lunar pull that felt like what had happened in that crash. Those results felt like a hollow one, because whilst some thoughts had gone towards completing the race, none of the pilots were willing. In the paddock, they could talk a lot, and the consensus was that given the damage to the repulsor array, the condition of the pilots, and everything else that had conspired, nobody was happy to go out. FIAR agreed, realising it would be extremely bad optics wise to do anything in that situation. It was almost like they'd learned from incidents in the past decades, realising as important as racing was, continuing when a pilot's life was in danger was not a great idea.
The commentary team looked on from their virtual studio, after it had all been said and done, and faced the audience with a certain kind of disbelief, but at least, some reassurance. They needed that. Anyone at home was no doubt, hairs on back of shoulder, hoping, praying that Nora was okay, after the wreck showed two ships that in the cold, dark confine of space, had been splintered to bits.
"Well, we're hearing that Nora Kelly and Ava Villarosa are in a stable condition, which I imagine our viewers at home are of great relief to hear." Rory solemnly commented, Rosie nodding in acknowledgement.
"That is amazing news. We saw the wreckage earlier after the recovery rover brought it back to the paddock, and it's safe to say, we're all in amazement." Rosie's reply was affirming, and even her usually overexcited angle was certainly maturing fast in this climate.
"Yes, it's times like this that the sport stands still. We are incredibly grateful to the crews of Formula AG, especially the medical teams today, who no doubt played a vital role in their response to this incident. Delayed as it may have been due to Bjorn Waldgard's big off in Sector 1, it was reassuring to see them moved and into the rover so quickly."
"What about the investigation to follow? Do you think pilots will be scared?"
"I think everyone definitely wants answers, but it'll be too soon to say what the cause was. The sector of the crash has been known for being high speed and tight, but I think nobody expected a collision that fast. Perhaps the new ELS systems, or repulsors, or even pilot error led. We've not seen a crash like this since Dorian Hornfleur's in 2087, and many were still in shock he walked away from that one."
"And what about the rest of the race? It feels a moot point to discuss the results, but based on what we saw, are there any conclusions we can draw?"
"At the moment Rosie....I'm struggling for words. I think this'll leave a ripple in Formula AG for years to come. I think many of us were expecting the worst, so the result today seems to play little into what happened. But, I mean I'll try. Harrison managed to pick through Al-Saqr, who were looking like the team to beat, and he proved his talent, definitely showing he's able to pilot an incredibly drifty ship well from MAG-strip to MAG-strip. Even Jamie Hart was incredible, but I think he must have found the same setup that Amy did, and just managed to put up similar delta times. Still, nobody's in doubt that when Harrison passed Amy, it just shows that whatever Harrison is certainly chasing his title that he felt like last year, he couldn't get. Al-Saqr? I guess, we saw them perhaps go too conservative at the beginning of the race, but then double down towards the end in their energy strategy. I think Layla must have been thinking she would have the measure of Jamie and Amy at the end, a smart move but one that got compromised before it even began." Rory began, continuing onto the others with a pause for breath.
"Yes, it was a surprise to see- we thought a lot more would happen there, but, clearly Layla got it wrong. How about the others chasing podiums?" Rosie asked, almost as if she was cross-examining.
"Then as for the rest, the crash excluded, Bea Ward is putting up some lightening fast finishes this year. Perhaps it was luck because it looked like she was fighting with Wedge and Han all the way and it could have changed very quickly from section to section, given how much they were fighting over 6th and 7th, but she must be pleased with that result- and for Carrera, in spite of that horror crash, I think Bea has a lot to show for a ship that we all initially didn't think had the pace." Rory started, looking back towards the footage of the race playing back, giving analysis.
"As for Valkyrie, a disappointing weekend- they went backwards and regolith issues have plagued them, their attempts to fix it look like they didn't work. I think they can take some solace that the ship is doing what it needs to on the corners, but at Luna, with the team in legal hot water at home, I can't imagine the pilots are thinking straight. Kofi's first point of the season couldn't even be celebrated, which I think is sad because you can see how much it means to him, even with the circumstances going on. Then as for Zygon, they performed about what we would expect. They probably wanted more, but also, they're setting a reasonable benchmark for the next races and are waiting to pounce."
"What about the other players further back?"
"Well, Bjorn Waldgard's crash has certainly raised questions that he hasn't got what it takes at this level- the new ships don't look like they fit him, and it was just awful timing that it happened right as Kelly and Villarosa came together. Really bad luck, and I imagine FIAR are looking at that now. Fitzroy's done a good job, in fact, Henry might had the best race I've ever seen him have in that ship, but from 20th on the grid, it doesn't matter really. I think that ship is too floaty this season and if the rumours of purchase are true, I imagine we'll be seeing Fitzroy change hands and who knows what then."
"Thank you Rory, yes, I think we're in for an uncertain season to come, but I think we're all glad that Nora Kelly, as well as Ava Villarosa are recovering after that awful crash in Sector 3 of Mare Austral. We'll keep you updated as we know more."
Harrison walked through into the medical room, after getting through the screening and disinfectant, where he saw Cassie and Doctor Jorgensen by Nora’s side.
Nora’s right arm and leg were severed and wrapped up, and the punkish, normally confident pilot was sat there unconscious, tied down to the bed with a high-tech interface lining her head, keeping her neural interface contained given it was now working with a very different physiology- as well as repairing the damage to her spine, which had been stabilised for now. She was in almost a maintenance mode, the use of anaesthetic replaced by literally shutting out Nora’s mind, which came with advantages over the more traditional mode of knocking her out. It gave a lot more diagnostics to what the issues were, but, it was more safe to keep her this way than anything else. She’d be in that coma until she got back to Earth- and it was safer given the Lunar gravity to put her under.
Harrison stood by her side, looking down, visibly weeping as Cassie wrapped am arm around him, two friends, the only person Harrison in this moment could show himself like this to outside of Owen who had joined them, there to take it in.
“Harrison, I’m so, so sorry….” Cassie looked up, herself clearing the tears that had come down her own face. It had been clear this had melted her, even though she’d not been close to Nora, there was this feint feeling that through
"It's fine. She....she knew it's a risk we all take. Doesn't.....fuck.....doesn't make it easier." Harrison embraced her, knowing she was quite emotional over it too. Cassie had gone through her own fair share of bad crashes, more in the Junior category and one last year, and due to circumstance, was one of the first to come by. They looked on for a bit, before Cassie left Harrison to his own after they barely spoke, Cassie having nothing more but to leave Harrison to it to take that time with her.
Looking over at Nora, Harrison was left alone with her and the Doctor, having little to say, given he felt vulnerable. Winning felt pretty hollow after this.
"Nora, I don't think you can hear me but.....if you can, I'm....bloody hell, I'm sorry to see you this way. And I hope you can still keep going after this. You're bloody ripper out there, and with all these Kiwis, you remind them we're still fast, eh? That bloody hurt a lot to watch, and I can't imagine how it feels. But we're here for you. I promise that. We'll sort you with a new leg, a new arm....then some too. I always thought with you it would be a shark, you know, but....yeah. It'll be right. And you'll be back soon. But don't blame yourself. You did what you could. And we'll find out why in time." Harrison's words were all over the place, as he put his hands in his face, before taking a look.
"There's a lot of people who are coming by to leave their regards. But wherever you are, take your time. You'll be back home, they'll look at ya', and they'll mend you. I'm just glad you're alive. But we'll be back. I promise." Harrison added, peeling the Pounamu stone from the table across from her torn-up suit and belongings and placing it gently on her bedside table.
"Rest easy, Nora, I'll see you at home, yeah?" Harrison added, cracking a smile, at least, trying to as he walked away on that note, only giving a nod to the Doctor as he walked out of the room, his sigh heavy.
In time, the other pilots would come by. Words would not really give solace to the unconscious Nora, who was no doubt, by now, in a world of her own tangle till she came home. There’d be a chance for prosthetics fittings, and plenty of discussion about what came after such a big incident. The next race? Most wondered if she’d still be fine to race for Southern Cross at all, but for now, it was worth popping by, because soon enough, everyone would be back to Earth, quite literally.
Ava, who unlike Bea after her South African crash, was not drinking a can of pale ale. Instead, she sat conscious, given she’d had surgery on her legs, but was down to some 3D-printed prosthetics and leashed into the diagnostic machine for the moment. She'd had surgery on her stubs performed to fix the bone that had been bruised and hairline fractured, the prosthetics damage nearly twisting out her hip altogether, and as Doctor Fujiwara came around, at least her own injury wasn't amounting to getting her limbs cut off. That much Ava was happy with, given she had no legs to lose. In some ways, her own injuries were simpler to sort out- the kind that meant while she was still being monitored for any further developments, especially given her neural network had received quite the shock, she was just here for the time being till she was able to go home.
“Ava, sorry to bother you. But we had a visitor that really wanted to see you. She insists she needed to." The good Doctor was not even halfway through, when Bea quite literally had emerged, and quite literally soared through the room and right across to her bed. It was a solid few meters but that meant a foot if it came to Bea's energy that Ava was too used to, especially with lunar gravity tripling any jump.
Looking across at the end of the bed, Ava smiled, shaking her head. Of course she'd come to see her.
“Hey! I suppose you picked up what I couldn’t finish. Not bad for a points paying result." Ava replied, cracking a smile, shaking her head, leaning forwards, sitting up. There was half a thought that she'd probably hurt herself worse getting out of the ship and helping out Nora- an act of heroism, but until all the facts were gathered, it probably wouldn't be understood how close Nora had come to harm quite yet.
"Not often I get teary eyed but....but I'm really glad to be alive. Because that's the second time I've bottled a good qualifying, I can't let you take all the points if I'm dead." Ava quipped, the brunette giving a raspy chuckle as if she knew she was, despite literally nearly dying there, still willing to laugh about it, and keep going. It was clear there was some fear in her, the kind that came from leaving a life of flying fast jets to now this where she was nearly seeing someone innocent nearly die, that was different.
Putting her arms out, Ava seemed a lot more emotional than usual. A lot more, hugging Bea, glad to have a team-mate she trusted like her, and glad to be able to come back fighting.
"I'll be back in Monaco. I only apologise I wrote another ship off. But, silver linings....I heard they're going to make an exciting announcement internally? So expect me to be still in front of you." Ava added, knowing as much as things were normally her lead in the team, and Bea was following, for this moment being, she was happy to follow the British-American's lead.
Cassie meanwhile, in the Zygon section came through into Han's quarters, rather uninvited, but wanting to come by, after that encounter with Harrison. She hadn't had a heart to heart with Han for a while, but felt she may as well, given all that had gone down.
Setting herself by the table where she was, Cassie sighed, looking over.
"How are you feeling after that? I mean, that was really what the risk of this sport involves. Sure, we got points, but I can't lie, I'm feeling shit after that. I saw Nora. It was.....well, I had bad ones but nothing like that. Shit." Cassie asked, the tears wiped away, but the marks remaining. After everything Han had done, backing her, the spa day, the invite to the bet, well, she felt like she owed something back. Rather than a beef with Valkyrie, this opened her eyes to look forwards, and live for now rather than back into something she couldn't change.
"I thought to check you were doing okay. You've been doing really, really well of late and I've not really said thanks. Sorry I know you put your priority into me, and I couldn't deliver. And I know how much you're doing. But, I think we did what we could considering everything. There's Monaco to come. And I know you haven't been but....we can look at that at least. Though bloody hell, I'm struggling on this one." Cassie added, sitting down, knowing Han wasn't always the open-up type, but even after something like this, she knew that even Han's often political style would realise what was going on. After all, while she may have been more political, now she maybe understood the risk involved in the sport, and understood why Cassie was so emotive about it.
"I'll go talk to Kais when we're home. But, you need to put me back together if anything happens. I do not want to end up like Nora. Deal?" A bit of dark humour right there and then would have felt like a right hook to the Korean, but she would realise that with it, Cassie really did trust Han in that moment to pull such a brutal joke that from Cassie's own tears, came from a place of coping.
Layla sat inside the Al-Saqr quarters, and herself, sobbed. For someone so obsessed with changing herself into something else, she seemed so human in that moment. As she heard the door open, she saw Kais appear, the tablet put down from what she was looking at in terms of telemetry, that she had long since given up on trying to even understand.
“Kais. Hey.” She uttered, sighing as she floated over, and immediately wrapped her arms up against Kais, bringing whatever little energy she had to break away from having her head in her hands, yet the logical part of her playing out.
“I promise you, whatever it was, that wasn’t me. That wasn’t even a thought in my head. I….please, please tell me you believe me. I beg you. Kais, I couldn’t. I wouldn’t want this.” Layla uttered, struggling to exhale in fear.
"This might be a home race....but I would never. Never." Layla added, sighing as she rested her hand against her face, looking over.
"Is this what it comes to? This....thing? I have to ask myself that question?" Layla mused more as an open question, her nose running as she brushed her tears, looking back.
"Sorry, Kais. I'm so sorry. We were meant to do better, then that.....I don't understand it. The strategy was to deploy at the end, not the start. So I suppose I'm to blame for that too. I cost you with that." Layla added, her upset figure clearly not from underperforming but from that fear that lay inside of her control. There was no doubt going to be an investigation into this, and part of Layla was terrified they'd also find out what was going on.
But she was positive, almost certain this time, it couldn't have been her. She was ahead, after all, and Ava or Nora weren't catching. So who else would stand to benefit? She had no idea, and did not want to think. Jamie did not come across as wired to the gills. Amy? She was competitive, but that was a new low if she had done that, but even Layla couldn't stomach the thought of it, that made no sense and if revenge was what she wanted, she'd have done it to Layla directly. Or sabotage from anyone else? Who knew. She didn't want to be there. So, in that knowledge, Layla felt plenty bleak.
Dorian exhaled, looking over the race results inside the team's hub, then looking back up to Alexander, who no doubt, was sitting there with puzzlement on his face. Uncertainty, a certain kind of quiet after all that had happened, as he levelled his gaze, direct and straight back at the Team Principal, after their chat on the race and the debrief. Everyone had left, but he was still here, waiting behind.
Dorian seemed to be more direct, more personal in this moment, opened up perhaps a bit more than his professional self usually would be.
“Alex....look, I know it wasn’t a good one. And what happened with Nora has my stomach in knots. Paul, whatever, he needs to stay strong. Do you want me to talk to him? Trust me, I know what it was like, I had a big hit a few years ago....but nothing like that. And I know he can't be taking this well. Not after....we know.” He asked, shuffling across the tablet on the table after the debrief.
“The positives are, the telemetry for Monaco is good from my seat. Even if I went backwards, the setup compromise here, and then all the noise from what's going on isn't helping. But Monaco, from being here a while, that race matters a lot to this team. Felix may be gone, but he left us a ship that could win there, and I've won there twice. We both know this, so I'm saying we do what we can. Irrespective, and I mean this....me or him winning at Monaco might give us a bit more strength. For a classic pilot, it's the ultimate achievement. I know Florence wouldn't quit until she got a win there so she could chase the Triple Crown. I know you understand." Dorian replied, staying relatively logical, sighing, at this point, direct through to him, the Frenchman's reflection on this playing out bit by bit.
"I will follow what you say. But that crash, that is....part of why I'm quitting at the end of this season. I used to love risk, I still do, but....that incident goes slightly differently, both of them die, no?" Dorian's French accented point was still clear, as he sighed out.
"This is just the reality of it. You know this. FIAR will reinforce barriers there, and that will be that. But these are 600kph ships, not toys. Not much you can do about it without turning us into androids. Neither of us can do anything about it." Dorian added, knowing Alexander was not going to react well, as he looked over his shoulder, standing up, taking leave, giving Alexander a closing shot, firm in the way he spoke, using this particular moment knowing it would hit home.
"For what it's worth, Alex, back in 2076, I was younger and more stupid. We all were, with Audrick's crash being a wake up call. But every child on earth would pilot one of those ships right now despite that crash, as much as they would love to be astronauts or scientists. So whoever you find to replace me when the season is done, make sure they understand there is more than this dream than the good times. I love what we do, but it does not come without risk. If Paul's mother calls, she needs to understand you can't protect her son on every single corner to win, because I know you'll need to deal with that situation soon." Dorian on that note, left, and no doubt, left Alexander with plenty of questions to ask. And plenty of uncomfortable memories.
The scene was a difficult one. With no interviews, the situation had changed for most, as they packed up, and got ready to leave for home after debriefs and quarantine had been completed. Nora wouldn't be awake till she got home, back to Christchurch, and more likely than not, faced her own dilemmas when she did awake from this mess. Prosthetics and recovery were options to be presented, some of which she would chase, some she would not. As for the others, they had their own dilemmas to come back from.
Each shuttle was loaded, and one by one, the teams were getting ready to leave. They had their inventory to pack up, and then spaceports to return to, as well as their next race to prepare for.
For Southern Cross, their dilemma was no doubt, a tough one to stomach. A pilot with life-changing injuries coming back was perhaps more plausible than say, 70 years prior where that would have been certain death- but even so, a lot needed to be done to return Nora to her seat.
For Valkyrie, the rot needed to stop somewhere, and more decisions than answers were coming up, and Monaco was a must-score.
Zygon had more to do in consistency, but, had at least leapt past Valkyrie.
For Carrera, the cost of that crash, no doubt would put a pin in development for things to come, even with reorganisations happening within the team.
And for Al-Saqr, no doubt there was a feeling that more could have been done. The perfect strategy, the best setup and the right tailoring had been offset by extremely poor luck, and a Harrison Makara that was now staring down Amy Stirling in the championship.
Soundtrack: Moby- EverlongAurora wrapped up things as best as she could, as the studio team finished up, the more cinematic portrait of the race playing out, a little more nuanced given the incident on track.
"Thank you for tuning in, for what I am sure will be talked about in years to come as one of the more scary crashes we have had to cover. I think I speak for everyone when I say we're sending lots of love Nora Kelly and Ava Villarosa, who are still in treatment for the injuries sustained at the Lunar GP."
"We had a thrilling race, but if you were watching at home at the onboards, we apologise for the footage you watched, and hope you understand why the last 30 seconds onboard prior to the incident were censored. Whoever you are, wherever you are, please remember that our pilots are human, and whatever rivalry on the track we have stops when one of our pilots finds their life on the line. Whether you support Silver Apex, Al-Saqr, Carrera Condor or Southern Cross, I think I speak for everyone when we say we're with them all the way and wish them the best." Aurora began, the words from even an experienced sportscaster coming hard.
"As far as we understand, the FIAR has issued an update that we will be in Monaco in two weeks time, and we will see you there. I no doubt the news will be busy, and we'll be there every step of the way. Thank you all, and have a safe evening." The tone felt a lot more somber than usual, as the final montage played.
With the ships off line, from Harrison's charge through the pack, Kofi actually taking 10th and cheering inside his cockpit, to the drifting of Layla and Kais through Sector 3, blasting dust on exit, to the dogfight between Bea, Han, Max and Cassie that had raged most of the race, and then finally, a distant shot of the crash between Nora and Ava.
And lastly, of Ava by Nora's side in their spacesuits on the floor, the camera fading back in what must have been a near award-winning shot of them on the surface of Luna as the recovery rover came in, and the Earth in the far background.
