Podrace Fifth Coruscant Open!

[Tyrion]

Coruscant Undercity, 2300 Hours​

Ahh Coruscant, the best place in the galaxy to be loved upon. Everything was bigger, which a lot of Tyrion's fellow small sapients found to their displeasure. To the Kushiban that just meant they weren't up high enough. Things were great where he was. The little lagomorph was lounging around a Zeltron's neck as she held a whiskey glass steady for him while he drank deeply from it and she ran her fingers through his luscious fur. This was the good life and soon he'd be in the spotlight he loved so much again. "Ty baby, the race is starting. You're going to be too watered to make the announcement." She crooned at him and he pulled his face from the glass to lick at the golden drops around his muzzle. "Nah I've got it," he patted her nose reassuringly as his comm began to beep the hour. It was time to start. He keyed the mic looped over his ear and took a deep breath...

"LADIES AND GENTLEBEINGS!!!!" His excited voice boomed out into the crowd packed into the platform and surrounding walks from speakers set up on the back of a few speeders set up just for tonight. "I'm proud to announce the Fifth Coruscant Open! You know the route, you know we run by modified Hoth Rules! No race-side help, no shooting!" Of course that wouldn't stop racers from finding other ways to frack with the other riders. But it would keep the undercity police off the organizer's backs. For everything else, they'd be on the honor rules. "Five legs through the city ending back here at the start line! First across walks away with fame, bragging rights, and Five... Thousand... CREDITS!" From his perch half on the scantly dressed Zeltron's head Tyrion surveyed the swoop racers on the street below. He could make out another Zelton, a few humans, a Twi'lex that somehow had even more real-estate than the woman who's shoulders he was standing on, a Cathar lashing her tail with poorly concealed anticipation, as well as near a dozen others wearing concealing riding gear or blocked from view by the people crowding the sidelines. On the walls of the surrounding buildings the projected image of the little Kushiban swapped to the starting line as one of the probe droids set up along the route for the spectators was set active.

"NOW!" He tapped a hind paw on her shoulder. "On your marks!" She drew a remote, finger on the trigger. "RACE!" She pulled it, a buzzer rang out, and synth smoke jetted into the air over the onlookers as the speakers cut over to pump loud party music that was immediately drowned out by the roaring whine of over a dozen swoop and speeder turbothrusters as the pack shot off .

Nero Drake I Kivah I SF-3335 I Damien Dooku I Atrix I Glade
((I tagged everyone I thought may be interested from the ooc thread, feel free to join even if you aren't tagged or pass if you aren't interested))​

 

[Glade]

Distinctively deep purple and pink neon coated her speeder, painted in an incredibly artistic graphic design, which probably took her the better half a week. Natoline smirkled, half a satisfied smirk with her paint finish and half a happy smile betraying her mood. Race day! Call her a dingle'swat'zipberry burning a Hutt's first marriage dress; every part of her was coming alive. She made excited little waves to anyone watching, floating along in her hoverchair. Her smile beamed from ear to ear like a cat who had found the milk before the race started; just getting to race again was sweet music.

Music she loved, starting the speeder's sound system, her head was already moving in time. A core drive, electro-trash symphony filled her ears. This was the life. The circular chair's outer door opened and let her in; she scooted her butt over to the new seat, grabbing Fyor-bot's mobile memory core and plugging him into the side of her craft. Before Mr. Buzzkill came online, she took an 'easy-stim' package and injected herself, a euphoric sensation settling in. An unsteady feeling in her arm settled down because, no sir, no way, was her body freaking out and losing it today.

Fyor beeped online on cue; the supped-up Furrow speeder she was on looked like a curved four-pointed star shape, with extra support around her body to support her lower half in the centre and an oversized custom engine job.

"Five thousand credits, Fyor, we'll be able to eat for a year," or shop for a week, or get those stupid expensive dresses she saw last Wednesday; she wondered if they still had those hidden folding blades in the sleeves, they were nifty.

"Most assuredly, miss Natoline, or more likely, pay back the loan for this speeder."

"Hmm? Oh shaaadup about the loans. Live a little." She scrunched her nose up. He always worried; she figured if five guys were hunting her, why would it matter if twenty were hunting her? Until she found her daughter again, she'd spend a moon's worth of credits and ask for more. She had to keep going until her daughter was safe if she lived that long.

"Shaaaduping about the loans, Miss Natoline. Processing. Standby. All systems are nominal, engaging transverse thrusters in 3, 2, and 1."

Pulling a translucent orange visor over her eyes and ears to protect her from dust and freakishly loud engine noises, she bobbed up and down to the music. Right here in this chair, she was as mobile as anyone and buzzed with excitement, the stim kicking in properly. Off one Kiffar went zipping off like—like a zip berry dingle whatsit—oh, you get the point.

Muse Music

Tags: Tyrion

 

[Kivah]

Kivah straddled her swoop, working her fingers deeper into her tight synth leather gloves. Her tail lashed against the side of the bike as she regarded the cleared road ahead. Coruscant was far from her favorite place with its perpetual darkness in the undercity and expenses everywhere. It's littered streets had been one of the first places she'd been drawn to when she'd left Cathar and had almost become the last despite the fun to be had in the bars and clubs. Still, the draw of a race with five thousand credits at the end of it was enough to bring her back. Sure there would be an array of other prizes for those coming in after first, but why think about those?

Maia's turbothruster purred under her and she checked the diagnostic again, already knowing it'd come back all clear. After stealing the prototype swoop she was paranoid about some flaw or glitch persisting, but she and Das had apparently done a decent job on it. Certainly got all the trackers out of it. Now as some fluffy alien on a Zeltron began broadcasting from the start line's speakers, she folded her body into the grey and black contours of the bike as if the two of them were melding into one.

The bike began to whine past its sound dampening as she eased it into a high rev, the little furball had reached his crescendo, her toe rested against the clutch paddle. Without a 'mark' he jumped straight to 'RACE!' sending her foot down to drop the clutch and the sleek Maia was off! Zipping between slower racers on the starting line as she wove through them looking for space before she really opened the taps with a twist of her wrist on the throttle.

Nero Drake SF-3335 Damien Dooku Atrix Glade

 

[Glade]

Coredrive music beat drops coincided with her injection change, propelling her to a near-perfect start, swiftly pulling ahead of two-thirds of the pack to the side of Kivah. Dust and asphalt kicked up by those with repulsor lifts too low or overburdened flew into the air, but her visor shielded her eyes, keeping them clear.

Exhaling a misty breath of easy-stim, her eyes were hyper-focused, a beautifully terrible blend of sharp attention and relaxed nerves. Good thing, too, because the two-bit-space-jockey, wannabe nerf-head, doing the custom engine job had closed the second engine port.

Her speeder nearly ripped off its rear with the building pressure from the blocked port, spiraling the speeder into a light spin; she got shunted by someone behind her but didn't take too much damage.

"This is why I advise thorough pre-flight checks Miss Natoline. We most assuredly didn't need to spend time arranging three different musical compilations." Fyor reminded her of his concern like always; it made her smile; her friend once did the same, and her mother.

"Gotta have the beats." She prodded the controls into reverse, pushing the thrust the opposite way, then quickly forward to shake the latch open. Hopefully, that would do it. Getting out to check wasn't exactly an option for her, and Fyor wouldn't grow wings either. Pushing the throttle down, she was in dead last. Blowing the hair out of her face, she had to think fast.

"Plan B Fyor-kins." Being last, she had plenty of room. Nato nudged the speeder dangerously close to the edge of the track to get the tightest possible line.

"I calculate the collision probability as high, might I suggest a more gradual strategy."

"Yeppers, tomorrow, when we're way outta here." On the next planet, drinking two-meter-tall green cocktails and relaxing to bad renditions of sentimental old holomovies, fueled by cheap chocolate ice cream. Oh, and before the loan sharks nipped at her butt.

Roll:

Spoiler

D12 Roll – Result 2.
I used this if you need a dice: https://rolladie.net/roll-a-d12-die

Tag: Kivah

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

Void, yeah! A race!

Not that the Beskar clad slender Lepi in Mandalorian armor needed the prize money. It was for just for her need for speed. She had not raced for a long time now and needed this reminder of her wild childhood days in the gang her foster dad had annihilated.

The small lagomorph seemed tiny in the seat of her heavily modified Flare-S swoop in shiny black color like her armor.

She synchronized her helmet sensors and the advanced computer systems of her armor with the swoop's maneuvering systems. The Lepi let her engines roar and the air around the turbines flirred with exhaustion heat. The telltale yellow glow of Mandalorian plasma illuminated the thrusters.

Adi'ka's hair triggered reflexes kicked the engine into motion the moment the curious tiny monkeylizard version of a Lepi gave the signal.

RACE!

With howling engines, she raced.

Tags: Tyrion Glade Kivah

 

[Kivah]

The wind pulled at the little bit of Kivah's body that stuck out past the swoop's faring and windscreen and she pulled herself in tighter to minimize the drag it caused. The Maia was performing well and the Cathar quickly heard the whine of the turbothrusters peak past the sound muffling baffles as the bike thrummed under her. Beside her someone in a quad job pulled up and immediately spun out, she waited for the boom of delicate machinery exploding behind her as a cautionary tale to others, but nothing came. Either the rider had recovered or the accident had been followed by a minor miracle.

Putting the incident as far behind her as the pack sped through closed off roads, Kivah checked to her side, others were slowing down for the upcoming turn. Instead of following suit she kept the throttle high, turning into the turn and breaking as the stopping thruster lifted her bike through the turn. The maneuver wasn't the tightest, but without having lost much speed, she'd pulled ahead of those around her, freeing her up of having to worry about maintaining spacing and instead just focusing on the closed off roads and corners ahead.

Glade Adi'ka Awaud
Roll =10

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

Adi'ka's 360 degree sensors highlighted the near crash and dangerous maneuvers the bold pilot of the Furrow tried to get back to the pole position.
Crazy furless monkey-girl! She could never make this stunt! Not with this tremendous acceleration. The Furrow would be as maneuverable as a drunken bantha at this speed!

Her sleek own black bike was in line with the modified one of the catgirl. The start was super-duper and the Lepi had good chances to win this game.
Wasn't everybody responsible for her own deeds and consequences?

Flashback. A small Lepi child staring at the burning wreckage of her friend dying at the wall of an illegal racetrack, because he was too cocky and overcofident.

"Kark, Hutt Poodoo! Kark!"

She kicked hard the braces and felt her stomach rise, as she fell back and rode beside the speeding Furrow.
The Lepi Mandalorian kicked hard and with the thruster backup of her rocket boot into the side of the Furrow. Hard enough to bring the heavy machine back on track ... and hard enough to bring herself off track!

Only her lightning reflexes as a lagomorph species - hare triggered so to speak - let her survive the mad slalom between obstacles, before she boosted back on the track with roaring engines.
She was shaken hard and thanked the Manda for her high-tech armor, not to lose her consciousness.

Onlookers would perhaps assume the Lepi wanted to kick the rival out of the race. Should they! She would ever again stand helplessly by, when she could prevent an accident.

Now she had to make up for the time lost and follow the Cathar who was just a spot in the distance.
"Oya! Who cares?"

Adi'ka ignited the secondary thrusters for a neck breaking sprint.


Muse Music:
Glade ] Kivah
Roll =10

 

[Glade]

D12 Current Roll = 9 | Last Place​

The crowd's roar drowned out all other sounds as her craft balanced on the edge of calamity and success. Lights turned into blurs, and the road seemed to warp with her speed, determined to catch up to those ahead. Squinting her eyes into tiny slits she tried to make out the fine details of the speeder ahead.

"Distance to collision: 30 meters, 20, 10, 5, 2…." The droid across her visor seemed increasingly urgent in its warnings; she zipped along the vehicle's slipstream ahead of her and used the saved momentum to soar past.

"Jus 'nother coruscant party trip. Ready ya dancin' boots Fyor-face."

"As you are aware Miss Natoline, dancing is an ill use of my considerable resources."

Inches away from the wall and competitor combined into a Kiffar-Speeder-Sandwich, she squeezed on by. Living high, she exhaled another cold breath of easy-stim, her secondary engine port holding stable for now despite a slight shake from the exhaust. She made the turn after the pack ahead and put it into a clean glide to maintain her speed.

"'Cause you be vibin' like a Gungan space-jockey"

Success tasted sweet, like goldenberry jam, or rather, like the jam-flavored gum she was chewing, all the rage in the core last year; she had boxes of it left. Kivah and the others still led the race, but she had found her pace to close the gap, moving closer in their rearview. Take that space elves!

Kivah | Adi'ka Awaud

 

[Kivah]

Another competitor pulled back, intentionally? Kivah didn't know and wasn't going to slow down to find out. Instead she continued pushing her swoop through the turns, only coming off the accelerator when a falling piece of flimsy plastic kicked up in the air currents of the Coruscanti undercity plastered itself across the Maia's viewscreen. That caused her to brake a little and she swore viciously before realizing the swoop's sensors were still projecting onto the screen and her helmet's visor. Then she was back on the power, her head peaking into the air stream as she reached a hand forward to drag the shredded bag from where it was stuck and toss it to the streets flashing past bellow.

She swore again as she realized that even the temporary slow-down had cost her several positions, dropping her back in the race. Instantly she was back on the throttle harder than ever, focused and determined on winning her place back.

Glade Adi'ka Awaud
Roll = 3

 

[Adi'ka Awaud]

All were so good and had so fast swoops, it seemed to Adi'ka like riding a senile Hutt uphill, so slow she closed in on the leading kitty.

She had to move faster to make it to the pole position. Much faster!

And the mad monkey girl was back in the race too! Good deeds the dark side of the force punished instantly, it seemed.

Adi'ka grinned. To be so fast without the protective shields and armor plates of a gunboat was thrilling.
Only an engine and she on it, no safety, no gadgets, only her reflexes and skills.

She made a barrel roll. It may cost her a few nanoseconds, but she felt like it was the right thing to do to show off her joy.
"Yippee-ki-yay!

Roll = 5
Kivah Glade

 

[Glade]

Current D12 Roll = 5
Position: Closing on the Front Runners.

Adi'ka Awaud's craft side by side, performing a barrel roll that shook her up. Distracted and impressed by the move, she didn't get past Adi'ka. Was that the speeder that shunted her to safety? She blinked her lights in thanks and offered a wave for the acrobatics, determined to pay the racer back.

Pushing hard, Natoline shot toward Kivah but still had a few cars ahead. So she did a very Nato-like thing, deciding to make another risky play.

"Fyors, set me up'a drift-knock thing'a'me'bob."
"I have to advise you against that particular—"
"No backchat, Mr!" She concentrated hard enough almost to pop her nose from the scrunched face and exhaled another ice-blue breath of her stim.

Pushing hard into the next corner, she accelerated instead of slowing down! All or nothing. The thrill-seeker got very close to the craft ahead, aiming not at Adi'ka because she owed her one but at the nearest competitor, whoever that was. She cut her thrust at the last minute and aimed at the speeder sideways, turning to glide and hitch a ride, first in their slipstream, then on them!

Aiming to ride the turn using the other craft and time the reignition just right, or she might spin out in flames. The air resistance jittered her as the side of the craft almost flipped, and then contact came with the edge of her competitor's craft.

So many things could go wrong here, but wasn't that the fun?

Kivah | Adi'ka Awaud
OOC:

Spoiler

Trying the dice for the next post.