Starlance

Raven Squad: Second Storm (Military/Spy-Fi RP)

Boraro
Fireteam Poseidon

---

”I’ve never even met this one.” He verbally shrugged at Chuck’s comment. He never met her and she never met him, but they both knew the other. Okay, maybe she knew less than he thought since she mispronounced his callsign. But it was generally sound thinking to keep track of the competition in their line of work. He knew she was ruthless, he knew she was brutal for brutality’s sake, he knew she saw people as resources rather than a team, but he also knew she had a short fuse and an ego the size of Manhattan and durability of a soggy paper tissue.”Wasn’t worth my time or good enough money. She’s just jealous of my reputation and record, that’s all.” He added, loud enough for Luisa to hear.

If the indignant Spanish screech was of any indication, it worked.

Luisa knew Ebrima was a mean son of a bitch in close quarters. She knew trying to tire him out was suicide. She knew he fought dirty and liked to keep his opponents off-balance and that he was used to being outgunned. But Artemis had eyes and ears everywhere, and through them she knew things few did. Not the whole story, but more than most, even if in disjointed pieces that were still sure to get him off balance when used at the right time.

The shoulder mount indeed kept the Cameroonian moving, from small dashes to leaping between catwalks, the micro missiles blasting them apart and sending them down below, hopefully away from the other two Raven operatives. Not like Chuck would even notice something like a piece of grating falling on his head, but Ban might struggle with that. He took a few pot shots back at her with his shotgun, the AP slugs harmlessly deflected away. Fortunately her gizmo wouldn’t protect her from one of mankind’s first scientific advancements as Ebrima switched to the M 25 - no, not an automatic grenade launcher, fire - launching two grenades at the apex of a flying cartwheel between an adjacent catwalk and the one Luisa was on. Luisa expected frags which she thought would be caught by the field generator, but some sixth sense compelled her to move anyway, however, and it ended up saving her life as the fireball didn’t engulf her unprotected face and respiratory system, but suddenly finding parts of herself on fire was enough to allow Ebrima to close in. Kukri drawn, Luisa just barely withstood a flurry of attacks against her face, shoulders and hands, her still-smoldering BDUs leaving faint smoke trails as she moved and only realizing many of his attacks were feints when the blade smacked the fingers of her right hand. The armored glove made sure she kept her fingers, but it hurt enough to make her drop her Pecheneg, the sling severed by one of the preceding attacks, Ebrima immediately sending the weapon clattering down among the catwalks with a kick. Luisa took advantage of that brief drop in his guard, grabbing a hold of the hand that wielded the curved blade. “That will make for a nice souvenir.” She hissed. Seeing the open-faced helmet Luisa wore, he smiled, ever so slightly, under his helmet and pulled the pin of one of his flashbangs while it was still in the pouch.

Ebrima patted out the burning grenade pouch, unaffected by the flashbang inside his armor, except a little sore under it where the grenade exploded, taking further advantage of proper choice of equipment and headbutting Luisa in the face. “Hijo de puta!” she growled through her now broken nose, intercepting the kukri clawing at her throat as her vision cleared up from the flashbang. She kicked the Cameroonian in the chest and stepped back to get enough distance between them to launch a micro missile volley and end it right there and then...

LNCHR ERR
CHCK SNSR

Both of the targeting cameras on her shoulders and the backup one on the side of her helmet had a spiderweb of cracks running across them, crippling the system. By the time she realized what he had done, she had just enough time to draw her machete before the relentless albino was upon her once again. Her blade was bigger and had a nasty spike on it, allowing for a nice bit of versatility with false edge strikes, but his was faster and more nimble. An external observer might have seen two figures in exosuits dueling with cold weapons and assumed two knights have warped into the future, even their fighting style matching that of people trying to deal with full plate armor. Realizing their weapons couldn’t penetrate directly, the fight devolved into trying to wrestle their opponent into a position where they could ram their knife into a weak spot, Ebrima’s weapon better suited to the task against Luisa’s roid rage and brute power. “I’m gonna make a fortune selling parts of you.” She hissed, “I wonder how much people made from your sister?”

It worked just as well as she thought. In that moment, the Cameroonian saw red. His attacks increased in frequency, but the execution suffered. Luisa did get hit, a strike drawing blood from her left arm, but it was well worth the opening she found. Feinting low to set herself up, Luisa switched back mid-swing, the spike finding its target in the shoulder joint of Ebrima’s exoskeleton, disabling that entire arm. This was starting to go South, somewhere around DRC, and although Ebrima had a brief excursion up to Sudan as he managed to nick her armpit and draw blood, Luisa quickly sent him back down to Antarctica when she stuck her machete between the exoskeleton and his right arm, physically immobilizing it for the time being and before he could wrench it free, she drew her sidearm, leveled it at his head and fired.

It felt like sticking his head into a metal bucket and having someone hit it with a bat. His HUD disappeared, there was a spider web of cracks across his field of view, something smelled like an electrical fire in the helmet and he found himself on the ground on his back all of a sudden with a killer headache. At least the machete fell out of his armor, a saving grace as the Colombian woman stood over him, his kukri in one hand, her Mateba Model 6 in the other ready for a Coup de grâce.

Bang, bang.

Two shots rang out. The knife and revolver fell to the ground as Luisa stumbled backwards, holding onto her stomach where a blood stain was growing with both hands.

Ebrima held his Origin in one hand, pointing up from where he lay. Shooting at that range, the deflector field simply didn’t have enough time to alter the slugs’ trajectory in a meaningful way, and at less than two feet between the muzzle and the target she would have had to be wearing a hippo for a ballistic plate to withstand a double tap.

The Cameroonian picked himself up, disconnecting the shoulder servo to regain the use of his left arm. He was hoping the mission would wrap up fast, carrying the weight of the now-dead part of his exoskeleton on his arm would get tiresome quick and his head wasn’t feeling right either. At least he could consider the fact his face would have the color it was supposed to for a few hours a silver lining, until the bruise decided to change color from black to blue, green or some other color it fancied.

But first there was something else that had to be taken care of. Picking his knife back up, he caught up to Luisa who was stumbling along the catwalk, trying to get away. One swift kick that could have won the FIFA world cup downed the bleeding Colombian. “¡Eres un pedazo de mier-” A stomp on her neck cut her off, making a sound like breaking a few days old baguette.
Throwing his destroyed helmet aside, he hauled her body over to one of the others, using them as macabre sandbags as he switched to his rifle to provide covering fire to whoever needed it the most, taking a few seconds to steal a regular kevlar helmet from the dead Artemis rando and plug its headset into his radio. ”Boomer, Shimura, say status when able.”

DELTΔ HYPER (An F1 Drive to Survive inspired Anti-Gravity, Slice of Life, Cyberpunkish/Solarpunkish RP)

Sunday March 19th, 2094, 14:00
Cape Town, South Africa

SCENE

”Green green green!”
The ship shot forward so fast Layla’s ship was pretty much a blur as she shot past the Jordanian racer. ’WOO! Goodbye!’ Despite the subvocalization usually being more subdued and monotone than actual speech, it still conveyed pure excitement.
”Nice move, keep them going.”
She stuck close to Jamie’s rear, probing the defenses with a few feints, all the while aware of the engine running hot. Unlike non-neural linked ships, there was no Nagging Nora going ‘Engine temps: high!’ instead she felt it like one felt the sun on their skin.
”We need to get out of their engine wash. Get past or find a clean line.”
Then it came: Jamie made a slight mistake. Bea found the culvert in the proverbial Deeping Wall. Sticking her nose in before the next corner, she forced him to give up the ideal line for the next corner, entering it side-by-side with the Canuck. Hart ended up half boxed in - Bea on his right, Kais in front, wall on his left - leaving her free to get her foot in the door on Kais without Jamie being able to do much about it.

And then Kais jinked right. Too close to do anything about it. It was an unthinkable move until one noticed the presence of Jamie’s ship on the outside of the corner forcing the supersoldier’s hand. Kais’ ship tagged hers, sending her into the inside barrier. She cut the throttle and deployed all air brakes in a doomed attempt to slow the ship, flinching at the jolt of the neural link automatically disconnecting when the ship’s AI realized a crash was imminent. Teeth clenched, feet braced against the pedals, arms crossed on her chest out of reflex…

Bang!

The ship’s nose disintegrated upon impact. The high repulse, weak magnet setup meant the ship bounced high - if it even would have mattered as both systems died almost immediately, the repulsors shutting down for safety when the magnets failed - and struck the track-side repulsor boundary rear-on, ripping the engine and fuel cell off and throwing the ship back to the ground, rolling over a few times before finally coming to a stop, the tumbling and repulsors gradually absorbing the ship’s kinetic energy. Terrifying to look at, but about a thousand percent more survivable than stopping abruptly.

For a few seconds there was silence as the last few ships went past, Bea still tensed up in anticipation of another impact as she collects someone else, an impact which fortunately never came. She raised her arms straight forward in front of her, both hands slightly yet visibly trembling despite the thick gloves until she flexed her fingers and rolled her wrists a few times to get rid of the tremors, then held one finger in front of her face and moved it side to side and close and far to check her vision.
’Fucking maple twat….’ She thought, seeming almost calm to the uninitiated.
”I’m here. Think I’m good. *BEEEP*.” She tried to let Allistair know how she was doing, feint gurgling of the breathing liquid heard through the radio as she breathed rapidly, unaware the antenna was in two pieces some 30 meters apart. Another thing that wasn’t working was the canopy, but she didn’t even bother with that one. Undoing her straps, she reached for a pair of levers in the front corners of the cockpit, pulling them back to jettison the canopy and pushing it aside to climb out. Standing on the seat, legs wobbling a bit from the impact and standing on the soft gel seat, she turned to the nearest camera drone and gave it a thumbs up before climbing down and starting toward the medical craft parked nearby.

In the garage, Alistair raced over to where the team heads were sitting and all but knocked the phone out of Alonso’s hand. ”No,” He didn’t let the team principal speak, ”She’s alright, let her make the call herself. If it’s anyone but her calling, you’ll just needlessly scare her.”

---

Later that day

The call connected on the first ring.
”Hi mum! Before you ask, I am alright.”
”Bea! I knew you were calling early! What happened?”
”Since when do you want to know?”
”I don’t, you’re right. Just as long as you aren’t hurt.”
”Really, I’m fine. The safety features are designed to handle worse, and with the liquid immersion I have the safest ship out there.”
”I know, but you-”
”...know that you’d rather I wasn’t out there at all, but you won’t dissuade your children-”
”...from pursuing your dreams because I will not repeat my mother’s mistakes. Do not interrupt me, Beatrix Viola. You may be an adult but you’re never escaping the title of my little girl.” A smile returned to Mrs. Ward’s voice.
”Wouldn’t dream of it. I’ll see you at dinner on Tuesday.”
”Remember to drink enough water when it’s that hot out.”
”I’ve got Bridget in my ear about it all the time. I’ll bring you some post stamps.”
”Thank you. Look after yourself. See you soon.”
”I am. Say hi to Eva for me if you speak to her before I can. Love you, bye. And dad sends a kiss.”
A voice came from further away from the phone. ”And hoping for a big return on the investment.”
”DAD! Call mum yourself or take the phone, but I don’t need to be here for this.”
In response, the dignified businessman let out the most ‘dad’ laugh imaginable.
”Take me back to the hospital, let me out of this Hell.”
The call ended with laughter on both sides of the line.

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode Two: Hunting Apex

---

With the interview taking place later, Bea showed up in her civvies with a can of Good Hope Pale Ale and half a dozen of Mosbolletjies’ - she basically got a sick day, by God she was gonna use it - offering one to Rory as soon as the camera started rolling.

"Bea, thanks for joining us. How did you feel after that collision? It looked like a really big one, so we are all really glad to see you're okay."

”Yeah, thanks, I’m happy to be here. Still a little sore in places, you can tell it was a rough one because I was stunned instead of raging after it, but all things considered that could’ve been a lot worse. The Pridwen Solutions Liquid Immersion Suit clearly works, available to the defence sector and a slightly different version is coming to the public sector soon if you’re in need of peerless acceleration protection for all land, air and space applications.” Bea said with a grin, ”Definitely one of those that look scarier looking at it from the outside, for me everything outside of the cockpit was a blur.Didn’t really know what happened until I saw the replays.”

”Is there any silver lining to your race from your positive moves in the opening laps do you think, and any lessons learned?”

”Lessons learned, yeah. ‘Just because they’re in a top team doesn’t mean their bloody eyes work.’ Last time I checked it’s up to the passing driver to make the pass safe and clean, and Kais has a hole in his ship and I have about 3000 pieces of carbon fibre and aluminium that have something to say about Jamie’s stunt. Lad came in like diarrhoea: unexpected, lightning fast and at the worst moment possible.” Bea shrugged, ”Unless you’re trying to tell me Kais got scared of something appearing next to him suddenly, to which I say it’s Kais we’re talking about, is that word even in his vocabulary?” She shrugged with a smile.
”But the team knows who’s to blame and I’m in one piece so it’s a reference for the future and little more. Next time I’ll know Jamie does stupid stuff when he’s struggling.
Over and above that, we also know the upgrade works and Ava pulled off a stellar recovery drive for the team’s first points of the season, so even with the crash this weekend has been a big boost to morale and confidence, both mine and the team as a whole.”

Rory took a moment to come back to Bea, letting her spill it out, her response clearly not very happy at all with what had just occurred. But, well, she was in better shape.

“Well, we’re happy to see you all in one piece….and on that note, I thought I’d surprise you a little. There’s someone here who did want to catch up with you though, so we’ll let her by.” Rory replied as Ava came into frame, a smirk on her face, running over and hugging Bea. The usually contained, focussed, militarised Ava even had to give into her weakness here, Bea being wholesome and probably feeling very shaken after that being something Ava understood well enough. Her team-mate may be a rival, but after that, it was important to come by and see her. And it made a good bit of marketing, according to the team, apparently, to have Ava drop on by during this interview in particular. Socials were blowing up for Carrera Condor even more than Bea’s initial pre-Auckland content had, to some shock.

”Thank God you’re okay! Crap, you had me worried! And pressers before? They got you good!” Ava smiled, Rory inviting her onto the sofa, after all had been said.
“Well, good to see you’re fine. And with a beer in hand. So, definitely fine.” Ava chuckled, barbing back, as she sat down, Rory clearing his throat, looking over at the two Carrera Condor pilots, the contrast between the two more striking in person.

“For a first major crash, we’ve never seen a pilot this positive after, Ava probably hasn’t either! Bea, do you think that’s down to your background and approach, or something else?” Rory asked, Ava even smirking at that, her usually calm demeanour broken by just how positive Bea was. Like it was infectious or something.

”I would’ve brought you some had I known you’d be here.” Bea returned the hug, careful not to headbutt Ava in the chin on account of their height difference. ”Great job out there, picking up the torch where I dropped it.”
”See, I promised Aurora I’d get her to smile.” She turned to Rory, pointing at Ava with her thumb, ”Not the way I had it planned, but results are results, eh?” The salt seemingly forgotten or at least shuffled off to a far away corner.
“Well, we have points, so we got something!” Ava was even a little excited by the prospect, considering that yes, while Bea had just had a pretty awful day,

”I’d say down to the background, yes. I’ve wrapped a car around a tree before, with fewer safety features and just me and Gazza to sort it out afterwards. Like you said, no one was hurt, that’s the important part, and the lost points blow, but you have to draw a line somewhere and not waste energy on what you can’t control. You’ll live a happier life.” That being said, revenge was one Hell of a motivator, but she kept that to herself for now.

Rory listened and paid mind to her thoughts, given it was relatively considered for what she could have said. Media training helped, yes, but a good response should have felt natural, easy even, and Bea had that in hand based on just life experiences, less a robot, still actually a person.
“That sounds like quite a mature way to take things on, and no doubt it’s a positive attitude to keep for races going forward.”

”Wow, I’m used to being called a lot of things, but ‘mature’ is a new one.” Bea snickered.

“I am not so sure I was this calm after my first crash. It’s a difficult thing to deal with. But, importantly, safety has come a long, long way. And for that, I am glad to see Bea is her usual self.” Ava smiled, albeit the low key, Rory chuckled in response, looking back to the shorter Brit on the sofa, knowing this was probably quite a series of events coming through now.

“She seems so! Okay, perhaps it’s a little too soon to ask, but it seems like you were cutting through the field, both of you. What do you expect going forward for the team?” Rory added, knowing it was a pretty splitting question, and Ava sat up first, answering it before Bea did.

“Well, we need to regroup, figure out what we can maximise in Tokyo, and we’ll be back to it. The craft is fast. We know that now. Just how fast on the highways, we don’t know yet. And well, getting some more points would always be helpful. Two of us to do it this time, and we’ll certainly make the most of the next race.” Ava replied, professional as usual, perhaps removed a bit more now the emotion had faded away, as she took her hat off, the Chilean placing it on her lap, the rainbow and black coloured hat an interesting combo, considering it was all the colour, yet none of it in the team’s apparel at times.

”Plus I've had a few hours to get the mental sommersaults of ‘Damn, I could’ve died then.’ out of the way.
When you say your first crash, I assume that includes the Air Force? Seems like that would’ve prepared you for some of this.” Bea deflected some of the spotlight onto Ava, aware her teammate could use some PR boost.

”As for Japan, well… Speed is nice to have there, yes, but it is still an energy-heavy track that also demands stability. The ship’s about as stable as a high-strung mountain goat and although Ava might as well have written a book on it, I am still pretty bad at ELS use so I’m going in with tempered expectations.” Bea explained her side, happily letting Ava go first. ”And a lot of sim time. Let’s not break it this time.” She shot a cheeky sideways glance at Ava.

Ava didn’t blush, given what she knew what Bea was doing, but well, it was an area she could at least poke back at.
“Ah, well, you just kinda deal with it. In your own way. Beats punching out of a hypersonic jet out of control. But it’s probably worse knowing you got hit by another pilot.” Ava gave a small chuckle, shrugging, looking back at the Brit.
“We’ll need to keep it running or else you’ll be drawing again!” She set Bea back up again, in her characteristic way.

“Well, sounds like you have a game plan and we look forward to seeing you again in two weeks. Any last comments for the viewers at home?”

There was a short pause as Bea thought about an answer, a rare sight. ”Drive safe.” She deadpanned, just a slight hint of a smile shining through.

---

News

SkySportsFA: “Carrera Condor rumoured in talks with Al-Saqr regarding a protest against Silver Apex driver.”

PlanetAG: “Carrera Condor launch a formal protest with FIAR against the Jamie Hart decision.”

AGFans: “Carrera Condor protest denied. ‘Regretful misstep by the stewards.’ says team principal Alonso.”

---

Bea Ward @MadBea:
Ow.
Thank you to everyone who sent kind words and well wishes. I am completely fine and will be back on track in two weeks time.
[Image showing the medical report with personal information blurred out, clearing her for release with no injuries noted]

Not what we were after here, but data was gathered and lessons learned. Probably won’t be as close in Japan, because energy circuit, but I’m looking forward to a proper rematch in Italy, @ASZenix.

I don’t expect this to be necessary, but just in case: Please nobody go bother Hart about this. For one, as much as I appreciate your support, leave it between us and the teams and two, I already spoke to him in person and I know brick walls more receptive to arguments.

#CarreraCondorFA #FormulaAG #AGRacing #CapeTownAGP

Richie: I don’t know who’s more deluded: The people who still think the Earth is flat or those who think that move was on.
DohnJoe: words cant describe how much i wanna punch hart rn. “Im here to get points” get these knuckles shithead
ZenixRIsing: As a Kais fan, I’ll hold him for you.
ChesterFromChester: As a Silver Apex fan, I’ll be your alibi.
HotStuff: Dont know why they bothered to protest, this shits clearly rigged
Zero: Clearly having a fast ship isn't a substitute for talent or skill.
GaryFromIndiana: Did she do a fucking ad read in the interview?
Shel1: “Drive safe.”? What? How?
DadManWalking: Glad she’s OK. Can’t imagine having to explain to my daughter that she just watched her idol get seriously hurt or killed on live TV.

Superfan2075: Hart should be fined for that stunt he pulled.
MadBea: IMO punish off-track infringements with off-track penalties (fines, development time…) and on-track incidents with on-track penalties (time, drive through, stop&go…). A fine doesn’t really hurt Hart and getting grid dropped because a team member forgot to wear PPE in the pit lane during qualifying doesn’t seem fair either.
Papabear34: Paul did better but even he admitted he screwed up by letting Villarosa get past him.
MadBea: You also have to take the ship and the track profile into consideration. If a Valkyrie ship had been in Kais’ place it likely would've shrugged the dirty air off where the less-stable Al-Saqr stood no chance, but your lad did pretty well today considering what he's driving.
GeorgeFly: That crash was scary to watch in person. If the repeller field had not been there, that debris would have hit spectators.
MadBea: A thing to note is that the repulsor fields allowed track designers to put grandstands into places where they couldn’t before due to safety reasons. On the flip side, this way you don’t get to bring a souvenir home.
Nobody404: Why was the crash ruled an accident? Corruption in the Racing Commission?
MadBea: Occam’s Razor says ‘no’, but the last time I said something about AG racing stewards I got fined £5’000.

Briat77: Bring! Back! Joaquin! Then this wouldn't have happened.
Richie: Because the ship wouldn’t have gotten an upgrade and the Condors would’ve been nowhere near Hart or any points.
Javi: go drown in some tea!!
Mate0: Nah, I agree with the Limey on this, there was nothing anyone could have done in her place, nor in Kais’ place without a more stable ship.

Timothy Hill @TruckerTim:
@FIAR So when Hart does it it's ‘hard racing’ and ‘a racing incident’, but when I do it it's ‘reckless endangerment’ and ‘$650 and 35 demerit points to my license.’ Fucking mental, mate?

#FormulaAG #WhatTheFuckIsUpWithThat?

---

Carrera Condor NPCs

DELTΔ HYPER (An F1 Drive to Survive inspired Anti-Gravity, Slice of Life, Cyberpunkish/Solarpunkish RP)

Saturday March 18th, 2094, 13:00
Cape Town, South Africa

Carrera Condor contracted hotel

An inspirational orchestral track played to a backdrop of scenes of South African nature and important moments from its history. ”Officially the Republic of South Africa, it is the Southernmost country of the mainland Old World, home to over 70 million people, 1500 known animal and 23000 plant species across over 1 221 000 square kilometres. Historically an important navigational landmark in the form of the Cape of Good Hope, the world’s largest producer of gold for nearly a century until 2006 and current third largest exporter chrome and iron ore, it has always been a keystone nation to Humanity.”

The music fell silent as the video cut to Bea wringing water out of a towel before wrapping it around her head. ”Who in their right mind chooses to live here?” She groaned.

The music swelled again, the voiceover returning. ”South Africa has had its ups and downs across the years, and between apartheid, crime rates through the roof, ANC mismanagement and the resulting energy crisis, it was about time this beautiful piece of land caught a break. After decades, South Africa has finally capitalised on its potential, becoming a vibrant place and the beer… the beer here is to die for.”

The music fell silent again, cutting to Bea with her head in the fridge. ”I mean, there’s Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Canada… and you choose to live here, where you can tell it’s lunch time because the road surface starts to boil?” The British woman definitely a winter enjoyer rather than a summer fan.
”Well, we’re here, at least the food is great and the views are spectacular.” She pulled her head out of the fridge, picked up the camera and moved to the balcony to demonstrate the latter, ”But I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the upgrades we brought for this race since they were announced and why I haven’t covered them yet. Simply put, there isn’t anything to show off because it’s just ECU software. There aren’t any new parts, we’re just using what we had a lot more efficiently, and bloody Hell were we doing something wrong, because going by the data we have we’re suddenly the second fastest thing under the Sun alongside Al-Saqr. And right on time, too, because this track demands it.
That being said,” She grabbed a backpack and a straw sun hat, ”Let’s see what we can do with it.”

---

Saturday March 18th, 2094, 14:22
Cape Town, South Africa

Qualifying

”And as Fitzroy pulls into the pits, we’re watching Ward about to start her hot lap.”
The rainbow-on-black livery caught the sun’s rays as the ship straightened out, shooting out of the final corner notably faster than it ever did in Auckland.
“489 kilometers per hour at the speed trap, that is night and day from Mensah!”
“Those upgrades they brought are already paying off.” The pundits noted as Bea pulled back on the throttle, thrust reverser flaps flaring out at the back to help the air brakes slow the ship for the stadium section.

”Heavy tailwind expected when you reach the summit.” Bea’s engineer cautioned over the radio.
There was no response as the ship climbed the mountain, but eagle-eyed viewers watching the onboard would note a quick flick of the stick to the other side mid-corner as she reached the top to keep the ship pointed where it was supposed to be as the wind tried to rotate the rear of the ship.

“Purple sector one for Ward.”

”Engine mode ‘high’ please, and full deploy.”
”Mode high, full send.” Bea read back, slightly changing the fuel mixture and angle of fan blades to better work at higher altitude as the ship tore across the flat mountain top.

“That’s sector two purple as well, she’s on an absolute flyer!”
“She’s three tenths up on Mensah already.”
“Well, she did say she wanted to make it a proper fight with SuperCat here.”

”Mode ‘low’ and do not charge.”
”Mode low.” Bea confirmed the setting as she seemingly fell rather than drove off the mountain toward the sea level.

“And that’s Ward’s lap, over six tenths ahead of provisional P2.”
“Where did they find that form?”
“Maybe the Highlanders sent some nice whisky as thanks for Bea’s promotion to pour into the tank? Anyway, here’s the radio.”
”Nice job, you’ve beaten them all.” Alistair said in reference to the five that had their runs before Bea as she slowed down and moved aside to let Lowry past her on her outlap. ”Mode ‘slow’ as usual, and radiator to ‘auto’.”
”That was *BEEEEP*ing spectacular.” She cheered as several flaps opened on at back of the ship to help cool the engine in the hot African air, ”Mode slow, radiator automatic.”

---

Lowry was exactly where Carrera Condor expected her to be. But then went Mulder. Then Kovalenko. And then Ava, and then Neves and with each one, cheers could be heard from the Carrera Condor garage and Bea’s side in particular. Zenix couldn’t put a damper on the mood, especially since Hornfleur, Wedgewood and Han put the smiles back on.

---

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode 2: Hunting Apex

---

”How does it feel? The team had to make me wear diving weights to stop me from bouncing off the walls, that’s how!” Bea was indeed one big, wide grin, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees and bouncing on the balls of her feet. ”When you and I were talking after the race in Auckland, I almost said I expected this to be worse because I know where I’m strong and where I’m not and this track has the latter in spades, so you can imagine my surprise.”
”As to where it came from, you’ll have to take a rain check and I’ll tell you once I know, because I have no clue.” She shrugged, leaning back again. ”I don’t even think there’s that much to be brave about on this circuit, there’s less proper corners than cheat days in a meal plan, you take half of them either flat out or just with a lift.“ ‘Lift’ wasn’t an entirely accurate term for AG ships with their HOTAS control scheme, but why change things that work? ”I think the difference between us is down to the setup. I’m running my ship with stronger repulsion and weaker magnets - less stable, but riding higher lets me push harder in the bankings without worrying about bottoming out.
But with where the ships are now and what this track demands, we’re definitely looking forward, not back.”

---

GalwayGirl: >“I expected this to be worse because I know where I’m strong and where I’m not and this track has the latter in spades.”
>Qualifies 7th.
TruckerTim:

CarreraCarmen: Now that was a LAP! Double points tomorrow, let’s go!.
AndesAG: right? that was clinical
Sol_de_Mayo: She was pretty cocky in that interview, let’s see her actually capitalise.
Richie: Finally some fire. Get your elbows out, let’s gooo!
Mate0: “If all you have is one flash in the pan it means nothing, doesn’t matter who you beat.”
Laugh_Ness: hate to say it, but the argie’s git a point.
Zero: If you look at the ships only, she only got beaten by Southern Cross and Al-Saqr, both of which are better than Carrera Condor at this track. And Silver Apex, because Silver Apex.
DohnJoe: lmao i see it now, kitties dead last at their home track on ship performance. rip
Hotstuff: just me or was Villarosa not happy about being outqualified
Javi: just u
DadManWalking: “I don’t think there’s much to be brave about here.” 600 km/h top speeds. These fucking people.
Crossfit_Crusader: #RallyBrave!
GalwayGirl: Built. Different. :D

---

Carrera Condor NPCs

Mechwarrior: Disposable Heroes

Marit nodded along Ingrid’s realization with a mostly-suppressed grin. ”Cover your approach, clear the road as needed. Got it.” She read back, taking solace in knowing it was possible to stay beyond medium range of all of the turrets at the same time and hide behind a hill as they traded fire. Given the possible mine-clearing duties, it looked like lasers would get to do some talking. Running right up to LRM turrets and giving them what’s what was probably the smart thing to do anyway. ”But since we’re all being gloomy and you brought it up, what’s the line of succession after you if it all goes to Hel? Rivers, Ziska, then Tarak?”

”I’ve trained extensively for that exact model as a kid, know my way around the cockpit blindfolded.” Marit turned to Dinah, not really trusting the scrapper in a fight but maintaining a genuine, friendly tone. Who knew, maybe she had experience. ”Need help with anything, let me know and don’t be afraid to use me for cover. Archie can take a hit or two.” But having more guns on the field was nice, especially since the Marauder got sent elsewhere, and the Catapult was a competent machine. She just hoped everyone could understand her over the radio. It’s been a while since Marit heard her father’s native tongue, much less a heavy accent like that.

---

Coming out of the briefing, Marit had a thought. ”What kind of a weapon are you that Ingrid is trusted with a nuke, but not you?” She turned to Jon with a chuckle. ”Bring all three of you back in one piece, yeah? Enough empty chairs here as is.”

DELTΔ HYPER (An F1 Drive to Survive inspired Anti-Gravity, Slice of Life, Cyberpunkish/Solarpunkish RP)

Tuesday March 16th, 2094, 10:28 local
Buenos Aires, AR

”The Ranch” (Carrera Condor Formula AG Team headquarters)

Ava and Bea sat on a couch in team-branded polos and capris, a window with a view of the actual ranch near the team’s facility and the loops of the city’s AG circuit as their backdrop.
”Hello. I am Ava Villarosa.” They both waved to the camera.
”Hi, I’m Bea Ward, and we’re doing this, because… long story short, we broke the sim.”
”You broke the sim.”
”It was your idea.”
”You were driving.”
”You’re supposed to be the wise, level-headed one here.”
”They can’t pay me enough to keep you under control.”
Throughout the exchange, both drivers were cracking up, Bea finally losing it.
”That’s fair. Long story told in full, we wanted to see how fast the ship can go with some of the new upgrades we’ve got cooking, that meant no braking for turn one, wall… and we broke the sim.” She explained after calming down.
”It ran out of memory computing the physics of the impact and crashed.” Ava clarified.
”And in the meantime, PR had an idea to pass the time while it gets reset.”
Bea turned to someone off camera. ”You didn’t just google ‘is driver name’ and ‘does driver name’ five minutes ago and copy whatever it suggested, did you?”
“No… Not quite.” Came a Spanish-accented man’s voice off-camera.

“First question: Would you rather drive a ship that oversteers or understeers?”
”Oversteer is faster.”
”Oversteer is more fun.” Both replied without a pause to think.

“Permanent course or street track?”
”Permanent course, they tend to flow better, street tracks like to get awkward because you have to work with the corners you have.”
”Permanent course. I like space on the outside.”
”I need to get you in a Rally car for a stage one day.” Bea smiled at Ava.
”No.” The Chilean replied unamused by the offer.

“Beat the reigning champion once, or beat your teammate consistently throughout the season?”
”Beat my teammate.”
”Betrayal…” Bea shook her head with a gasp, ”No, same answer. If all you have is one flash in the pan it means nothing, doesn’t matter who you beat.” She gave the serious answer.

“Win from first or win from last?”
”Win from last.”
”Really?”
”The end result is the same, but the journey to get there is more fun both for me and the fans.”
”I’ll take win from first. A win’s a win, and from first is less stressful.”

“Win by a large margin or by last lap overtake?”
”Large margin. Same reason as previous question.”
”Last lap overtake. Also the same reason.”

“Give up your favorite meal for life or have to eat it every day for a year?”
”Ooooh, that’s diabolical… But I’ll take eating it every day.”
”I’d give it up. You’d get sick of it in the first few months.”
”Yeah, but it’s only a year, I can look forward to it ending, not eating it for a year and then it’s all back to normal.”
”True.”
”What is your favourite meal?”
”Tomates rellenos. Stuffed tomatoes, best with sweetcorn, tuna and hardboiled egg. Yours is definitely going to be something sweet.”
”Stargazy pie.”
”What?!” Ava almost gagged at the thought.
”Got you.” Bea snickered. ”Battenberg cake. It’s an almond sponge cake with jam, covered in marzipan.”

“Be a scientist or an artist?”
”Scientist. Or engineer, that’s just applied science.”
”Already am an artist, so that’s that. I don’t have the brains for the smart stuff.”
“Leadership might not be happy to hear that.” The off-camera team member joked.
”They knew what they were getting into.” She grinned in response.

“These last two are from Bea’s social media comments-”
”Oh no, it’s going off the rails.” Bea laughed, only half-joking.

“Hold a snake or a large spider?”
”The only way to win is to not play.”
“You have to choose one.”
”Uuuhh… If it’s a constrictor, the snake, otherwise the spider.”
”The spider. They’re adorable.” Bea shot Ava a puzzled glance, shaking her head in disbelief.

“And the final one: Would you prefer a tall or short partner?”
”Is this something you’re asked regularly?”
”I get worse.” Bea shrugged, ”You don’t?”
”You’re the social media creature, there’s a reason I’m not too active there.” Ava shook her head
”Maybe Matías wants to know but is scared to ask you directly?” She pointed at someone off-screen, almost immediately breaking out into giggles, accompanied by a few off-screen chuckles. ”Shame there’s no camera on you, mate, that was quite a face.”
”Someone my height I guess.”
”If that was what it came down to, tall. Those high shelves in my kitchen can be a battle.”

“And we’ll end this with a challenge.” Hands appeared from each side of the screen, handing each of the racers a sheet of A4 paper. “Each of you will have 60 seconds to make a paper plane. Whichever one flies farther wins.”
”Already won.”
”Confident. I know you were a test pilot, but I’ll have you know I have recent and extensive practice in making paper planes.”
”From where?”
”Physics and maths class.”
”Should’ve guessed.”
Both drivers turned to face away from each other, Bea immediately getting to work while Ava just sat there, reading the paper she was given. ”I like how this is just notes for organizing yesterday’s meeting.”
“We reuse and recycle here at Carrera Condor AG.”

Bea spent the minute working, Ava simply throwing something together in 20 seconds.
“Time’s up. Let’s see how you did. Since Ava answered the last question first, Bea, you’re up.”
It was a respectable effort at just shy of four couch lengths, or so it seemed until Ava stepped up to the line, scrunched up her plane into a ball and launched it clean across the room like a baseball pitcher to a chorus of laughter.
”You win.” Bea shook Ava’s hand while still wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

Raven Squad: Second Storm (Military/Spy-Fi RP)

Boraro
Fireteam Poseidon

---

”Get a room, you two. One without bioweapons in it.” The Cameroonian chuckled with an audible roll of his eyes at the flirtatious giants as he, Ban and Chuck peeled off from Adam and Freya to do their thing.

That was when the floodlights flickered on and the PA crackled to life. He really hoped it would take longer to go loud. ”Over the loudspeaker? At least the mercs I worked with had class.” Ebrima groaned. He would have to give some good-natured grief to Purna later, with the whole Ghukra-Kukri mythos and meanwhile this Jap is here stopping bullets with his sword like a real-life cartoon protagonist. Where and how did Skye keep finding these people, it was a superpower at this point. Good thing that was a thing of hers that Rose didn’t share.

But he thrived in environments like this, was molded to it by his uncle Monday - and no small amounts of unkind fate - and even though the algae farm was a far cry from the jungles of Northern Cameroon where Ebrima was trained or Eastern Nigeria where Monday cut his teeth before that, there were enough similarities to make it count. Close quarters, obstructed sight lines and no need to take the other side’s lives into consideration. A few leaps and jump pack boosts and he was on the top deck following Chuck’s plan, cutting off the option of getting attacked from above as a bonus.

Up on the catwalks with no cover to speak of, speed would mean survival. Speed, or making his own cover. Ebrima took off running toward the nearest hostile, the USP barking twice to make room for the Kukri in the other hand. The PDW clattered on the grated floor along with the hand holding it, the same arm that did it wrapping itself around the freshly-minted pirate like a hydraulically-powered constrictor snake, holding him close to Ebrima while the knife found a gap between the kevlar collar and ballistic mask. Ebrima felt the rounds impact his plates harmlessly, losing enough oomph going through the Artemis merc to be a non-issue for the Raven merc. More rounds continued striking as he ran forward, holding the dead body like a shield until he reached the two others, throwing the body at one and launching himself at the other with the jump pack.

Ebrima’s boot slammed into the left merc’s stomach like a forging press, ducking under a left hook while swiping the knife to his left to knock a pointed weapon away and following up with another side kick to reinforce the lesson that the guy should stay. Fucking. Down, the Artemis operative’s head leaving a dent in the railing it got slammed into. He followed up with a jump pack-assisted roundhouse kick to unsettle the man on the left and a likewise boosted shoulder barge sending him clean through the railing and tumbling down toward where Ban was no doubt slicing up bad guys like a Teppanyaki chef; Ebrima keeping the momentum from the charge to keep moving because speed? Speed meant survival.

Enri Uemura
Fireteam Viking

---

She didn’t even look up from her work, merely raising her voice over the clattering of the keyboard. Touch screens and AR were good for the civilian sector, but defense needed simple, reliable and, if possible, fixable with a screwdriver and a fourth-grade education. ”I don’t need you to like me, and if I want your opinion of me, I’ll just read your emails.” She still wasn’t discounting infecting Raph’s personal computer with some particularly annoying adware for his meddling in Colombia, but despite the harsh words she sounded happier than before, her mind in her own world, one of ones and zeroes where death was an abstract concept. About as true as weight loss commercials, but at least it was an effective coping strategy her mind cooked up to compartmentalize this end-of-the-world, action movie shitshow she’d been thrust in. Worse, one she went into voluntarily.

Kicking off the wall and covering half of the distance between herself and Raph on the office chair with what was definitely a practiced move, Enri gestured for him to turn his back to her. ”Don’t move.” She opened up his backpack, trying to reach in and having to tap his shoulder to get him to bend down slightly. Reaching in, she shoved a spool of cable into his hands. ”Hold this.” She pulled out the toolkit she needed, putting the spool Raph was holding back in and zipping the bag back up. ”You’re free.” Up until she got talking to Shalev’s warehouse manager once, she had no idea how much something as stupid as packing a bag could be optimized. Old German guy had a point, otherwise she would’ve put the heavy stuff low and light stuff high and now would’ve had to throw out half of the bag to get what she needed.

She disappeared in the server room with an impressed whistle, coming back out a few minutes later. ”If he wasn’t a genocidal asshole, I’d suggest hiring their network tech. Everything in there’s neat and labeled down to the last cable, beautiful.” She sat back in the chair, double-checking everything once more. ”It’s ready, on your go.”

Wizard Mafia (Harry Potter Organized Crime RP)

I'm still here if you lot are.

DELTΔ HYPER (An F1 Drive to Survive inspired Anti-Gravity, Slice of Life, Cyberpunkish/Solarpunkish RP)

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode One: Finding Their Feet

---

"So, last question for Auckland. After your first race in the championship, is there anyone you would like to say thanks to?"

”Obviously that starts with my dad for always being behind me one hundred percent ever since I got this wild hair and my mum for never trying to pull the plug even though she hates that I do this.
Next of course, everyone at Carrera Condor, those in charge for taking the leap of faith, the rank-and-file for working ‘til their fingers are sore to give us the best shot and Ava for being super helpful the entire time since I signed up.
Can’t forget my physical coach, they don’t get enough credit, even if I sometimes think mine might secretly be a sadist.” Bea jested.
”And last but not least, you.” Bea turned her head from talking to Aurora to speaking directly to the camera, ”The people watching at home or in person, since without you none of this would be happening. Cheers, you legends, you’re paying our bills.” She raised the water bottle she had beside the couch for a toast.

---

Monday March 8th, 2094, 08:15 UTC (11:15 local)
Buenos Aires, AR

Carrera Condor HQ

The conference room offered a stunning view of the Río de la Plata, the expanded Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve and the rainforest beyond from a corner window on the 23rd floor. A U-shaped table lorded over the room, locally produced bamboo and brushed aluminium, backs toward the window depriving everyone of the gorgeous view and keeping them focused on the task at hand, far away from the praying eyes of Delta Hyper or other cameras.

At the peak of the table sat Léon Alonso, the team principal. Racing was in the 57 year old Spaniard’s blood, having inherited it - as well as his eyebrows - from his grandfather, a triple-crown holder and three time world champion in the sport that could be considered a grandfather to Formula AG. Himself a double 24 hours of Le Mans winner in the Unlimited category, Léon hung up his helmet with the birth of his first child, but quickly found a way back onto the scene with zero risk to his person and his knack for pushing people to the peak of their ability made him a natural team principal.

To Alonso’s right sat a portly Colombian woman, practically never seen without a long, brightly colored skirt. Flávia Flores de Costa, the team’s head of communications, was practically born for the role. Despite being only in her early 30s, she exuded ‘Grandma’ energy as not even a pathological liar could claim they ever saw her angry, but if you ever disappointed ‘Abuelita Flávia’, it stung to the depths of your soul. She was half of the driving force behind Bea’s signing, recognizing the advertising potential the young woman had and fully intending to capitalize upon it.

The last person on that side of the table was the familiar face of Ava Villarosa, sitting up straight and attentive. If one squinted, it wasn’t hard to imagine the military flight suit and preflight briefing room instead of the business casual blouse and pants and corporate conference room.

By Alonso’s left sat a tall, wiry Brazilian man who looked at least 500 years old and seemingly carried wisdom appropriate to that age. Ronaldo Suárez, Carrera Condor AG Team’s technical director, had been there from the very beginning of the team, cutting his teeth in the aerospace manufacturing sector and holding several patents in the fields of additive manufacturing and composite materials engineering. Widely considered overqualified for a team such as Carrera Condor, held down by their budget, but fierce patriotism and desire for stability in his last few years before retirement turned him into a white whale among the midfield teams. Suárez was the other half of Ward’s signing, dialling Alonso pretty much immediately after seeing the Pridwen tech on offer.

Two holograms made up the rest of the table. Frederick Ward was the picture definition of an old school businessman. A bespoke suit and slightly wrinkled face with a neatly trimmed goatee, hiding an analytical mind that accurately judged where the defense sector was going a few decades prior and kept the company out of the dire straits many others became mired in. A real ‘swords into ploughs’ story, Pridwen Solutions may have lacked the wide market reach of Fitzroy Orbital in the aerospace sector, but they were the first choice for specialized farming, mining and heavy haul equipment both on the ground and in space, rightfully flying slogans proclaiming the battle-tested heritage of their equipment.

Lastly Bea, who looked like death. Jet-lagged to yesterday by the Auckland-London flight and then finished off by having gone long dissecting the race with Alistair as well as transcribing the shuttle conversation with Amy into an email for Flávia to read before the meeting, her hologram looking like she’d fallen asleep in whatever seat she’d been sitting in right after the debriefing and only woke up a few minutes ago - because that was pretty much what happened - and including a sizable mug, more of a pot really, of tea to keep her awake.

“The start of the season was a mixed bag, but we take the good with the bad, roll with the punches and make what we can work work.“ Alonso began before turning to the technical director, ”Ronaldo, how are the upgrades coming?”
Suárez leaned forward to speak. “Engineers from Pridwen’s Porton Dawn site have finished the first prototype of the new control moment gyroscope and accompanying redesign of the control surfaces.”
“We’re putting a CMG from an agricultural craft into a racing ship with a fraction of its mass, how will this impact the craft’s stability?” Flávia wanted to know.
“Our racers are a fighter pilot and a rally driver. They can handle an unstable ship.” The team principal said, looking at both pilots as he spoke. ”We’re third from the end on craft performance, we need to get something right as opposed to everything okay.”
On both wings of the table, the racers in question nodded. And even if they thought they couldn’t handle it, they’d nod anyway for their pride alone and come up with excuses later.
”Simulations show the gyro will be able to completely replace control surfaces for steering and stability. We will be keeping them on as backups of course, as mandated by the regulations, but they will primarily function as air brakes now that they aren’t needed for attitude control. We expect this upgrade package to be ready no later than Italy.”
“Very good. That will be right in time.” Alonso nodded, pleased with the situation. “And the other project?”
“Unfortunately, the Alicorn propulsion unit has encountered some issues. Simply put, it’s a Pegasus-II engine you may know from Pridwen’s Antares line of interceptors, lightened and brought in line with Formula AG regulations. Unfortunately, the ships’ current cooling system is not sufficient. If deployed in its current state, we would be looking at a 19% chance of total engine failure and another 32% chance of partial failure that would nonetheless severely impact performance, and those figures are per ship, every race.” Suárez added some hard data to the explanation.
”Ask Nordic Call how that went.” Bea quipped from behind her tea pot to a few chuckles.
”Given the calendar order, it’s better this way than if the control upgrade suffered delays. But presently, I can’t say when the new cooling system will be ready.”
“That leaves the question of driver augments in the technological segment. Frederick, do you have something in your portfolio?”
“We are a vehicle manufacturer, not a biomechanical company.“ Ward shook his head apologetically, ”There were some military aviation neural modifications that were being developed some time ago by one of our more recent acquisitions, but they were never fielded beyond ground tests. The development was halted due to persistent headaches from prolonged use.” He explained reluctantly.
“Surely that could be tolerated while the problem gets corrected.” There was a notable shift in Frederick Ward’s stance when those words were spoken.
”That research was also only legal in wartime Russia, if even that.” Suárez interjected, ”I believe we’re better off keeping with the original plan of hiring specialists and subsequent in-house development. The only ones who bungled that department like we did are Valkyrie. Get it right and tailor-made for our needs while growing the team for the future and not exposing ourselves to risk of sporting or legal penalties.” With Pridwen Solutions basically giving the team propulsion and control tech for free as well as signing over several engineers, the budget suddenly had room for expansion where the team had always been third rate.
”Not to mention the media fallout of having not just illegal, but potentially unsafe equipment.” Flávia added her two cents.
“Very well.” Alonso conceded, seeing the points being made. ”Next, driver time management before we go to Cape Town next Thursday.“
”I think simulator time is in order.“ Suárez said with a sideways glance at Bea, ”Both to improve with the current ship as well as start getting used to the new parts, depending on the expected deployment schedule.”
”Actually, Bea sent me something a few hours ago that I think would be worth pursuing.” Flávia interjected, Stirling’s proposal appearing on the holographic displays in front of the attendees. ”It is an opportunity that plays into Bea’s unique strengths, is sure to bring good press and if we play our cards right, we will make friends who will be useful down the line.“
Alonso nodded after skimming the proposal. ”I like this. That tech could be a vital step forward if we can secure it.” In more ways than one. It could be tech, it could be know-how, could be a line for potential new hires or a combination of any.
”Since we’re talking about driver time management, I think we should ask the drivers.” Ward turned to the drivers in question.
The two looked at each other, an unspoken ‘After you.’ coming from each side of the table. ”After you, superstar.” Ava beat Bea to the punch, cracking a smile at the last word and mimicking the same joking tone Bea used to call her by her old rank before the race.
”I’m biassed, but there will always be time for simulators.“ Bea spoke up, aware she was pretty much arguing in favor of tooting her own horn. Even if the tech deal fell through, she’d still get exposure for her own brand. ”Like Flávia said, we have a limited-time offer that doesn’t occur every day. I think we should seize the opportunity while we still have it.”
And maybe drawing some new fans to the team by proxy would offset her performance in Auckland.
”You’re going into a lion’s den.” Ava cautioned the younger driver.
”I know, but you can’t tell me we’re considered a threat.” Bea countered, ”I’m looking out, but I also don’t want to bite a feeding hand. That hand of all of them.”
”I wasn’t disagreeing with you, just checking that you know what you’re doing.” Ava clarified.
”We’ll handle the big picture. Beatrix is just the foot we need to get in the door. Make it happen, Ronaldo. Whatever tech we can get out of this, if using it can’t be legal, at least let it be hard to find on the ship.” Alonso summarised.
”We still expect both you and your race engineers here on the 16th to start sim runs of the Cape Town AGP.” Alonso turned back to the pilots before removing the meeting to administrative matters.

As the meeting ended and the attendees cleared out or disconnected, Frederick asked León for a few seconds in private.
“Let me be perfectly clear, Mr. Alonso,” Ward began unusually coldly despite his polite words, “I am grateful that you’ve given Beatrix this chance at the cost of another, popular pilot. But it will be cold in Hell and sunny in Scotland before I allow you to force harmful augments onto my daughter. That is not a line drawn in the sand, it is hewn into the bedrock of this partnership. Have a pleasant day.” He ended with a perfectly cordial tone before disconnecting.

---

Wednesday March 10th, 2094, 21:52
London, GB

Highgate, Fitzroy Close

Perhaps it was a little ironic that the current CEO of Pridwen Solutions lived on a street that shared the name with his company’s competitor. In one of the mansion’s ground floor reception rooms recently upgraded to a 360 degree cinema - a circle of couches around a central holographic projector displaying the movie as an actual three-dimensional hologram as opposed of the sorry excuse for 3D from the start of the century, although each always had an indicated ‘intended viewing angle' - two people watched a frightened young man carefully rummage around a long-abandoned archive, the old filing cabinets loudly squealing every time he opened one, the homemade armored vest rattling with every motion regardless of how careful he was, his fear conveyed with nothing more but the wide-eyes seen through his gas mask’s lenses and loud, labored, rapid breaths. No wonder that performance won the actor an Oscar.
He finally found what he was after, steeled his resolve and slowly opened the door, the beam of his headlamp anxiously scanning the ruined library for threats. Seeing nothing, he started running, every step and every rattle of his magazines against his breastplate echoing through the dark hallways until the scene faded out into credits.
”Jesus Christ…” Bea sighed in relief as the episode ended, having been unknowingly holding her breath the past 20 seconds.
”It will never cease to amaze me how you can make jokes while racing down a forest road at a hundred kilometres per hour, but fictional monsters still scare you.” Frederick Ward chuckled.
”Do you remember how on Eva’s tenth birthday, she found ‘Aliens’ in your collection and demanded to watch it because ‘she was big enough’?”
”Yes?” He nodded, already seeing where this was going.
”That’s why.”
”And yet you sat through it.”
”I saw Ripley with Newt on the box and wanted to see their happy ending. In hindsight, I wasn’t the smartest kid, was I?”
”Evangeline must have inherited the brains, yes.” Frederick joined Bea in laughing at their collective mistake, ”And speaking of your sister and family, would you happen to know anything about the young lad she’s been meeting with every Friday the past two months?”
”I do, but snitches get stitches, I’m not saying shite.” Bea flashed her prying dad a toothy grin.
”We’ve raised you well, even if it’s sometimes frustrating.” He patted her on the back, ”But you know the monsters aren’t real whereas the trees are, surely?”
”They’re not real as far as we know.” She stabbed a finger in his direction, ”And one, I’m in control of my fate when racing and the trees aren’t actively trying to kill me and two, I can see the trees.“ She counted on her fingers in a fruitless attempt to defend her honor, ”Fear of the unknown and the dark is an evolutionary trait that enabled our ancestors’ survival. If it was a night race and I had no headlights you bet I’d be scared of the trees.”
”Speaking of braving the unknown, how is the charity deal with Miss Stirling going?”
”Good. I reached out to some people who’ve been to that area and they sent over a whole mountain of pictures for reference. She’ll come over on Friday to do her painting and I’ve already got all the templates and two paintings done, I reckon we could get six, maybe eight pieces in time including the one from her.” Bea leaned against her dad and rested her head on his shoulder, ”But I keep running it through my head, wondering where, how and why she could pull a fast one. She’ll ride the wave too, obviously, that’s how collaborations like this work. When Hubert Stigler asked for helmet art a few years ago, I wasn’t just doing that out of the goodness of my heart either.” Having a double RedBull Air Race champion fly with a helmet of your design was great advertising. ”But she inherently stands to gain less.”
”I wouldn’t concern myself with that if I were you. You’ve bounced back from worse than anything she could do with this, and she’ll know that since she clearly did her research.“ Frederick put his arm around her shoulders, ”Remember when you called Demetrio Ambrogi inbred over team radio?”
”I stand by what I said, he sent three of us into the wall and that fine I got for ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’ was utter bollocks.” ‘And this is why siblings aren’t allowed to procreate.’ A few people had taken objection to those words back then, and saying that about an Italian driver in Italy didn’t help.
”It’s Alonso and Suárez who have to worry. The latter doubly so: Not only does he have to score from this pass, but then his people will have to mate whatever they get to the team’s current technology properly.
But enough serious talk, we still have an episode left. Unless you’re scared?” Frederick teased.
”Very funny.” Bea stood up, grabbing their mugs from the cup holders, ”Queue it up, I’ll get more tea.”

---

Thursday March 11th, 2094, 12:00
London, GB

Richmond, Lauderdale Drive

”Welcome back to my abode!” Bea walked through her garage as she recorded, a lime green and red 2088 Honda Civic Type R to the left and a road legal Audi Quattro A2 kit car in Walter Röhrl’s 1984 Portugal livery on the right; phone in one hand and a bucket of cleaning supplies in the other. ”This time with the usual invitation for an unusual stream at Bea Draws Stuff tomorrow, a few hours earlier than we normally meet because we’re having a guest! Some of you have figured this out already - I see you, Zero, you Security Service LARPer - but we’re having Amy Stirling over! You might have heard of her, unless you’re one of my purely artistic followers; yes, that Amy Stirling, three-time Formula AG world champion. Once again, I appear to be failing upwards, it’s a talent at this point.“ Bea grinned, her natural charm meaning she pulled it off without looking like the age-old ‘Hide the Pain Harold’ meme despite feeling a little like that on the inside.
”Which unfortunately means that I have to clean, I hate this, whose idea was to host this here?” She stopped in the hallway and set down the bucket, standing in such a way the camera was looking into a mirror over her shoulder in which she was pointing at herself behind her own back with her free hand. ”It’s a good thing I don’t have to tidy up the studio, because that’s an artist’s space, that’s never going to be organised on the best of days, nevermind when being used. Tidy individu-” She paused for a second before sneezing, ”Bloody Hell, that’s the physical labour allergy. Tidy individuals in the audience might have an actual aneurysm if they saw what the stream doesn’t show, although if you do want a glimpse of the art cave beyond what the cameras normally pick up and more, join us tomorrow at three thirty PM. Fair warning, even though normally I let you guys run wild I’ll have modbot and the moderators policing chat a bit harder for this stint.“ Bea leaned in closer to the camera with a devilish smile, ”We wouldn’t want to scare Amy, would we? I’ll see you then.” She winked at the camera before cutting.

---

MissedApex: Lmaooo, Bea drawing a picture of Amy painting while she was working to give her at the end was such little sister energy. XD Fuck it, I’m following, I understand the hype now.
UrbanMaverick: Welcome to the fold. ;)
NineIron: Wouldn’t mind this as a full British lineup at Silver Apex when Ward gets her bearings around FA machinery.
Zero: Make the Empire Great Again! :p
GaryFromIndiana: Hard pass.

Sol_de_Mayo: Just me or was it weird to see Stirling acting, I don’t know, human? Wasn’t a half-bad picture she made either on just an hour-long crash course.
Richie: Being at the top does that to people. Why I’m glad Kelly, Ward and Falkner are on the grid. Makara can only carry it so far.
DadManWalking: Stirling used to be a lot like that. Wondering how long these three will last.
Laugh_Ness: yea, always bit sad to see someone forget how to have fun, innit?
Crossfit_Crusader: I think she’s got a few spare notes laying around to dry her tears. :D
CloroxEnjoyer: @MadBea Any chance we can get the rest of the grid too?
MadBea: Go ask politely, but I won’t say no.
Hotstuff: pretty sure we get a skewed view of the lot cause we mostly see them trackside
DohnJoe: reason why bea draws crowds like she does even without amazing results or bikini pics are the behind the scenes and keeping it unsanitized, even if some cunts fuck it up every now and then.
Cats4Life: WYM?
UrbanMaverick: Last year someone on stream asked her why she stopped doing pedal cams during her WRC run and she said one of the reasons was a fan once told her he found the footage on a foot fetish site.
CloroxEnjoyer: Fuck is wrong with people?
Zero: She also kicked the camera loose during a rollover once and it hit Gazza in the face.
Shel1: That’s wild. Anyone got a link?
Shel1: To the interview. TO THE INTERVIEW!!
IronBeer: Not saving that mate. XDD
TruckerTim: Here ya go: youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?t=43

Timothy Hill @TruckerTim:
"All y’all nonbelievers owe my cuz an apology.”
#FormulaAG #JusticeForCuzBrian

Mechwarrior: Disposable Heroes

Of course it made sense in hindsight, there were Star League tunnels used to build up the planet when it was first settled all over the continent, why wouldn’t there be one under the fort? And clearly neither the NPDRE nor the Crimson Fists knew about them, why would they know about that one? And neither would the Knights if Cassandra hadn’t told them. It was extremely lucky someone in the fort found it when they did. She briefly entertained herself with the thought of breaching the prison through the tunnel with their ‘Mechs directly, a smirk creeping up to her face and tugging on the bruise on her cheek that has changed colors at least four times since the brawl, before returning to the real world quickly for the briefing.

”Assuming I had a shot at everything, what’s my target priority order between the barracks, power plant, comms tower, hostile air and ‘Mechs?” Marit turned to Ingrid as the one who’ll be making decisions in the field, though the question could just as well be answered by the Colonel. From looking at the map, they’d have to get rid of a decent amount of the turrets to have a good shot on anything in the first place, making her wonder just how useful hitting the generator would be.
”You also mentioned minefields, do we know where?” She turned back to the Colonel specifically.

Marit didn’t share Raven’s enthusiasm for what she saw as the Colonel’s audition to Valhalla. ”Colonel, is there even a remote chance this diversion will work, given your… Uhh…” She wiggled the fingers of her left hand to illustrate what she meant, trying to avoid the word ‘disability’. That, and putting on a show didn’t mean it would be above board, as Keahi has clearly demonstrated. If the Crimson King wouldn’t bring at least a second ‘Mech to sit in the treeline and snipe at the Colonel’s with a five- or ten-class autocannon or two - cheating while making it look like an actual duel to most outside observers - Marit would be officially surprised.

But this was good. They had a good plan, a dirty trick or two up their sleeve, a Raven with just the right type of madwoman at the stick, a Lance Leader who could see it through, three PPCs between the upgraded Shadow Hawk and Marauder - she subconsciously glanced at the latter ‘Mech’s pilot at the thought - outranging the large lasers.. An actual chance.

DELTΔ HYPER (An F1 Drive to Survive inspired Anti-Gravity, Slice of Life, Cyberpunkish/Solarpunkish RP)

DELTΔ HYPER

Episode One: Finding their Feet

---

"Ava has smiled just once!" Aurora chuckled, smiling, as Bea continued to respond, the literal Aurora in hologram chuckling.

"Well, I'll hold you to that, Bea. #RallyBrave! Any last words for the crew before you get started?"

”Why ‘last words’, I don’t plan on leaving this early.” Bea shrugged with a cheeky smile, ”On a slightly more serious note the team did a bang up job not only with setup and preparation but also adapting the ship to tech they’ve never worked with before. They’ve done all they could, up to me to deliver now.”

---

Sunday March 5th, 2094, 13:15
Auckland, NZ

Grid photo

With the photoshoot done, Bea was eager to get back to the paddock and get out of the suit for a few more hours. Without the immersion liquid, it was getting toasty in it. Hearing her name called out by a voice she couldn’t readily assign to a face she turned around, in no small amount of disbelief at who she saw waving her down. Walking backwards and slowing down to allow Amy to catch up, Bea didn’t know what she expected from the ensuing exchange, but definitely not that.
”Flustered? Who, me?” She pointed to herself with a smile, perfectly timed as she went slightly red in the face. She turned around to walk forward again when Amy caught up, not feeling Amy’s hand much through her suit while her own probably weighed down on the other Brit’s shoulder. ”I’m all ears.” She replied when Amy said she’d be in touch, not getting another sentence in before the three time champion slinked away.

Nearing the team area in the paddock, Bea caught up to Ava. ”Good luck today, Comandante.” She gave her teammate a light-hearted salute before the two parted ways.

---

Sunday March 5th, 2094, 17:00
Auckland, NZ

Paddock

The interview might have been over, but the Delta Hyper cameras were still rolling. In one of the Carrera Condor garages, a ritual was taking place. Bea stood in the back of the garage, arms held out to the sides, a crew member working on her suit. Noticing the lurking camera, she beckoned it closer with her hand, the camera remaining outside the garage to be out of the way, yet close enough to pick up audio.

“Aight, should be solid.” Larry, a 72 years old and 108 kilogram Pridwen employee in charge of the liquid immersion tech said after rechecking the fit of her suit.
Bea took a step back and did a series of stretches and jumps to run the suit through its range of motion and make sure it was settled properly and not shifting. ”Feels good.”
He handed her a rubber cap that held her headset, head cam and kept her hair dry and in check inside the helmet, attaching four laryngophones contained in patches about the size of a post stamp to her throat - defense sector equipment from a few decades back made available to the public maybe 30 years ago - as she fastened the cap and connected the comms.
”Radio check?” Alistair’s voice came over the radio after getting a thumbs up from Larry.
She moved her head and jaw around to make sure the laryngophones were secure. ”Good check.” Bea answered without moving her lips, her voice coming through the team radio and the suit’s built-in speaker. Speaking with the helmet, mouth and lungs full of liquid would’ve been a tough ask, requiring subvocal recognition to circumvent the problem. Using the neural link was initially suggested but quickly discounted as unnecessary, and since Bea’s headcam was recording mic input as opposed to the radio itself, her inner monologue would be audible in the recording as an added benefit for the fans.
Next came the breathing mask that helped move the liquid in and out of her lungs before she put on the helmet and the suit was pressurized to verify the seals held tight. “Seals aight, good for the liquid?”
”Am I ever?” A mix of unease and disgust apparent in her voice despite the attempt at humor.

The suit filling was never pleasant, but it was tolerable. Yet no matter how many times she’d done it, her heart always started racing as the liquid started rising past her shoulders and her brain had to confront the fact that she was about to inhale something that felt like water and smelled like rotting apples. Good thing Larry had been in charge of that program since the first flight tests and knew how to talk people through it.
All in all pretty good. The first time they’d done this four months ago, she had a full-blown panic attack.

Final checks complete, she approached the ship, the typical Carrera Condor eight-bit rainbow with the name “Akela” airbrushed under the canopy on the left side in Bea’s handwriting, and took her seat in the cockpit, wiggling around to sink into the gel-like crash couch almost like sitting on a beanbag chair. Doing up the safety harness, Larry disconnected the portable liquid circulation unit, connected the immersion liquid hoses to the ship and rechecked her straps. The HUD came on; track map, lap counter, start lights and current flags, a compressed 360° view around the ship and proximity indicators among others supplementing the neural feedback. “Good luck today.” Larry patted Bea’s shoulder, returning her fistbump.

---

The race

”Mulder point oh nine behind, point one five per lap faster.”
”Are we racing him or not?”
”Our fight is elsewhere.”
She moved off the line on the next straight, the video and eye tracker showing she checked to see if he waved like they joked before the race, unlikely as it was. Taking a hand off the controls at that speed was closer to her levels of insanity.

”Yellow yellow, sector two.”
”Who? They alright?”
”Falkner. Don’t know yet.”
Bea glanced at the wreck as she passed it a few seconds later. ’Come on, man, get out.’ The recording voiced her thoughts.
”He’s out and walking.” Alistair informed her not 20 seconds later.
”Good.”

”Lowry point three behind.”
”Power?”
”Charged.”
Bea took an early apex, narrow-exit line through the next corner to set her up for the ELS charging passthrough on the next straight. At the same time, Lowry braked early and went for a pass down the inside, allowing her to get on the power early and shoot out of the corner like a kicked football with Fitzroy taking advantage of the opportunity and following her through.
”Fuuuuh!”
”Head down, he’s slow in tight corners.”
’And I’m in the head.’
She ended up having to use the energy to close the gap she created by wasting her time charging. She had a look down the inside into the next turn, a right-left chicane on and off Domain Drive, Henry covering his back in the first kink but the move compromised his line through the following left-hander and allowed Bea to switch over, stick her nose in before he turned into the corner and slip through with maybe three centimeters between her ship and the wall, but by that point Lowry had expended her ELS charge and was too far ahead to catch in the remaining two laps.

---

Post-race interviews

"Hey Bea, a nice and steady race for you there and tangling with the back of the mid-pack, with lots of cut and thrust. Looks like lots of lessons learned in your first round on strategy and ELS, but you showed some promising pace and I imagine with more underneath you, you'd do better! What do you think you've learned the most from that race?"

”You’re too kind. I don’t know what race you were watching, but that was everything but nice, I drove like a complete bellend. Take away the technical failures and poor Ulrich’s incident and I’d be P19. Yeah, you could say ‘that’s racing, it still counts’ but we all know that’s not the case outside of the leaderboard. I’ve got work to do.” Bea took the brutally honest route, ”Definitely lessons learned today, some stupid mistakes that could’ve been easily avoided, figuring out when charging is and isn’t worth it…
Congratulations to Ava, an amazing result given the machinery we’re working with. Clearly there is some pace in the ship, it’s just a matter of figuring out how to get it out.
And shoutout to Nora, obviously. Even if their ship is second best on the grid, beating an experienced teammate on debut is nothing to sneeze at.”

---

Bea Ward @MadBea:
"Not the result I was hoping for today, but the past is to be learned from and the future to be looked toward.
Shoutout to @FlyingAva for a stellar performance today, keeping the Kittens looking over their shoulder. Looking forward to making that a proper 2v2 next race!”
#CarreraCondorFA #FormulaAG #AGRacing #AucklandAGP

CarreraCarmen: P11? Could it be? Could this be hope? After all these years? O.O

Zero: With Ava P11, I can’t wait to see what you’ll do once you get familiar with the ship.
Xinny: Don’t forget the upgrades. Imagine what the Pridwen tech will bring!
MadBea: Can’t talk about that, but it will be big!
DohnJoe: they finna roll up with a whole fighter jet
Xinny: Imagine an Ikeya or an Antares-B pulling up on the grid.
GalwayGirl: Oh she’d do it if it was legal.
User420: Ain’t cheating, ain’t trying ;)
MrSmooth: That Silver Apex grindset :D

Mate0: We really lost Joaquin for this?
IronBeer: He had twice the JFA time, half the points to show for it, the media presence and charisma of a dead fish and the best sponsor he brought was a catering company.
Javi: shut ur bitch ass up, nobody asked u
Briat77: Dude she’s not gonna do you no need to suck up.
Mate0: Pirata copium.
UrbanMaverick: Seethe, Argie.
Sol_de_Mayo: Agree it was quite sad. Maybe should stick to painting, she’s actually good at that.

UrbanMaverick: All you haters need to seek grass. You’re chatting shite about someone whose art helped pull me through depression. The hell did Ibanez ever do for anyone but himself?
MadBea: Glad to know you’re doing better and I appreciate your support, but try to keep things civil, please.

Richie: Tad disappointed with Bea honestly. She’s cute and all and we still stan our national goofball in this house, but she needs a few good ones if she wants to prove she belongs in FA, otherwise she should go back to rallying and get that Driver’s WRC.
AndesAG: wouldnt mind if she did, she and burns were comedy gold. That polish stage without power steering sends me everytime
DohnJoe: bro imagine the team radio if he was her race engineer :D please make it happen @CarreraCondorFA

Hotstuff: pretty shitty of villarosa to fuck off into the distance like that, literally starting behind one another FFS
TheMassive: It’s called a motor race, they went motor racing
MadBea: A bit of help would’ve been nice, or we might’ve both ended up in the depths of Hell. Remember that in the end, all 20 of us are there to do the best for ourselves.

Timothy Hill @TruckerTim:
"YOOOOO! My cuz is a cargo handler at the Auckland airport and he just saw @SilverStirling and @MadBea boarding Stirling’s shuttle together!”
#Auckland #FormulaAG #ConspiracyTime