Off to the Races

[Kartor Neonburn]

MANAAN-Swoop Bike Circuit, Ahto City​

​

Kartor tinkered with his swoop bike. This wasn't the first race he'd participated in and it certainly wasn't going to be the last. A hobby that he loved to hate, swoop racing was a large source of income for Kartor. Having achieved national fame on Fondor for his victories in swoop racing, he'd taken to dumping a portion of his winnings into enhancing his speeder bike. Swoop racing was dangerous, but it was the adrenaline rush that kept Neonburn coming back for more.

Living life on the edge was the only life worth living, in Kartor's opinion. He sought out the most dangerous activities in hopes of getting a high. Firefights, bar fights, swoop races--even dangerous animal hunts, were all things he partook of. He loved the mercenary lifestyle and he wouldn't trade it for the world...okay, maybe a whole world.

"Racers, please report to your starting positions," the commentator's voice boomed over the loudspeaker.

Kartor idled his bike over to the starting line, slid on his visor and helmet, and mounted the bike. People stood in the stands, shouting and clapping, as the excitement swelled over the crowd. Loud revving of engines, contestants shouting insults at one another, even the food vendors in the stands all contributed to the ambient noise. All the noise seemed to fade away as he focused on the start signals. The flag dropped and he was away...

 

[Cryax Bane]

Cryax Bane lounged in the stands, his feet resting on the back of seats in front of him much to the annoyance of a Sullustan couple who chittered at him angrily. He had a foolish amount of credits riding on this Ahto swoop bike race, as well as an impatient Hutt who wanted his cut of the winnings. He had made a straight wager on one racer, [member="Kartor Neonburn"] this kid with a flashy name, and he was pretty certain he was going to beat the Oddsmaker. The same analytical part of his brain that made him a skilled slicer also served him well in statistics. The Chiss had a mind like a machine and he had a really good feeling about this up-and-coming rider.

As the flag dropped, he rose to his feet along with the crowd, peering around a Wookie who suddenly popped up in his way. As he watched the bikes roar through the first part of the course he muttered, "C'mon kid. Today's your day to help make this Chiss a rich man."

 

[Kartor Neonburn]

Kartor gunned it down the straightaway. He was in the middle of the pack with several swoops gaining on him. There was a bottleneck up ahead that would funnel everyone into a near straight line for the next few kilometers. Kartor's crimson paint job shone brightly against the lighting as he streaked through a tunnel. It was cramped, maybe only enough for 2 swoops side by side. Many racers were badly injured or killed in tunnels like these. One wrong move and you could easily get caught off balance and end up in a fiery explosion or pile up. The bikes soared out of the tunnel at high speeds. There was about a 10 meter drop off between the tunnel and the closed off streets below. He crashed down onto the surface, sparks flying from the rear of his bike. One racer in the back had lost control and drove off a ledge into the murky depths of Manaan.

"Poor fella..." Kartor muttered under his breath.

A couple quick turns throughout the dense streets allowed Kartor to ascend in the group. They were nearing the end of the first lap and he could hear the screaming from the stands. However, as he crossed through the gate, one man imparticular crossed his field of vision... a Chiss...

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

The crowd went "oooooooooh" and Cryax winced along with them as the racer in last place bit the dust. He shook his head sadly. He had known that pilot wasn't going to place at all, but it was pretty sickening to see him die a fiery death right in front of his glowing red eyes. Thrill-seekers. It definitely wasn't a trait he understood too well.

He moved his eyes back to his racer who had just manevered deftly through a tunnel. "Thatta a boy, Neon." Cryax smiled, still pleased with his pick. The race wasn't done yet, but he allowed himself to fantasize about some of the new cybernetic implants he could afford if he won big today.

[member="Kartor Neonburn"]

 

[Kartor Neonburn]

Darting back into the choke point, Kartor was now in 2nd. The lead swoop glared in the light. The pilot turned around and glanced at Kartor, and for the slightest second, it looked like he grinned. Jetting out from the opening, he landed with the same THUD! as before. Kartor sped forward slipping ahead of the pack leader as they past through the checkpoint again. One more lap and Kartor would be announced the winner. Nothing could go wrong right?

"Cakewalk..." Kartor said to himself.

The racer in 2nd pulled up beside him, "I heard you have a Chiss betting on you." He shouted over the roar of the repulsor lifts, "You're about to make him a VERY unhappy man."

As Kartor tried to make sense of this, a small compartment on the dash of the other man's swoop opened. He pulled out a slender, spike-shaped object, and slammed it into the power core of Kartor's swoop bike. The speeder spat and sputtered but ultimately skidded to a stop as the other races flew past him.

Well, it could've been worse...

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

What in the eternal blue blazes! His rider was down! The Chiss let out an angry string of Cheunh curse words, pretty much the only kind of words he knew in his race's language and threw down his half-eaten bag of Frag Chips. The whole thing reeked of sabotage. Neonburn was too good of a racer to choke like that on his own.

A message popped up on his Datapad and he patiently received a Huttese berating. Cryax shut it down before it was finished. The Hutt was going to have to keep his panties on. The race wasn't over and Neon wasn't down and out yet.

"Come on kid. Get the Frell up."

[member="Kartor Neonburn"]

 

[Avenix Wulfsorrow]

"Well obviously something's wrong with the pod, it's crawling like a hutt on a day off." Shouted Sebastion as his Pod racer inched along slowly, it shouldn't have been that surprising to him he bought it for only 300 credits. "Well maybe if you kick it sir, will go faster." Replied his assistant repair droid dryly. So Sebastion kicked the Pod and it started picking up speed and eventually he could see the other racers. "All right let's see how fast this thing can go." he caught up to the others passing a few even. Then suddenly he heard a loud clunk, and his pod-racer started falling to pieces. Eventually he was sitting in what was essentially a glorified chair. "Well that could've gone better." Sebastion leapt out of the cockpit and started his way back to the arena, on his way he noticed a wrecked pod-racer with a man inside of it and he made his way over. Sebastion shouted at him asking if he was alright.

[member="Kartor Neonburn"]

 

[Kartor Neonburn]

Kartor cursed and muttered under his breath. He was a semi-pro swoop racer on Fondor, this should have been a cakewalk. And now, he was stranded on a platform next to some joker in a piece of crap pod racer.

"What the feth happened to my bike," Kartor yelled loudly just as the man came over to him, "Yes, I'm fine, how about you?"

He stepped off of his bike to inspect the damages. Neonburn could tell right off the bat that his powercore was trashed. He knew that he was making a very impatient Chiss, a very unhappy Chiss. Kartor flipped down his sun visor and pulled out a laser cutter, slicing a portion of the plating off so he could extract the sharp piece of metal from the power block without causing more damage to the swoop. Carefully, he pulled the piece out, casting it to the side.

"You gonna use that battery from the turbine on your pod," Kartor asked as he walked over to the man, "Or do you mind if I take it?"

He had to make it across the finish line or he'd be the laughing stock of the racing community. Neonburn knew there was funny business, and he fully intended to take revenge and make him pay.

[member="Sebastion Wulfsorrow"] [member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Avenix Wulfsorrow]

"If I give I it to you I want 20% of the reward."

[member="Kartor Neonburn"]

 

[Kartor Neonburn]

Kartor almost belly laughed, "Twenty percent? Yeah, and I want to be a Grandmaster Jedi."

He walked over and snatched the powercore off of one of the pod's turbines. It wasn't the right size, but he'd make it fit. Kartor welded the battery onto his bike, gave it a kick, and it powered on. Now to finish this race before he was the newest face of failure.

"Sorry, mate. Duty calls," Kartor shrugged and stepped onto his swoop.

[member="Sebastion Wulfsorrow"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

When Neonburn got back on his swoop, the Chiss started to feel cautiously optimistic. "C'mon, Neon. You can do it, buddy."

He squinted his glowing red eyes. Was that a familiar face he saw near the wipeout? He couldn't be sure but it looked like [member="Sebastion Wulfsorrow"]. Although that was impossible because he saw no drink in the guy's hand.

The Datapad pinged again and he accepted the message with an epic eyeroll. He placed it on the seat next to him and promptly ignored it, letting the tiny blue Hologram of the Hutt blather on and on as he watched the race.

[member="Kartor Neonburn"] [member="Sebastion Wulfsorrow"]

 

[Avenix Wulfsorrow]

"Well Shark I guess I'm done." Sebastion pulled a bottle of rum out from his clothes and began to drink from it, he began to saunter towards the finish line, drinking with every step.

 

[Jace Beleren]

Jace exited one of the private rooms in the back of the Arena, suckers, he thought to himself as he fondled his new found 200 credits, which he had just won from some people who thought that luck was smiling on them today, but fortunately for Jace, luck was always on his side in a gamble, and if it wasn't he always found ways to persuade it. He looked up from his money and found a familiar looking Chiss near the gates. " Hey is that you, Cryax" he called out.

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

He jumped as he heard his name being called through the crowd. Frell, had the Hutt already sent people to Ahto City to rough him up? How did they get here so fast? He did the navigation in his head and realized that it was impossible unless Hutts learned how to bend space and time. That was a relief. Must be someone else.

He scanned the area with his fluorescent red eyes and saw a familiar face, a fellow Red Raven. He didn't know the kid that well, but had seen him around the casino. Seemed like a decent fellow for, you know, a criminal.

He hopped down from the stands and smiled at the kid. "Hey, I've seen you around the Palace. What's your name again?"

[member="Jace Beleren"] [member="Kartor Neonburn"] [member="Sebastion Wulfsorrow"]

 

[Jace Beleren]

"Jace." he said, slightly irritated the Chiss didn't know his name, " In any case look what I just won." Jace pulled out his winnings and showed them to the Chiss man. "There all always some optimists thinking no one will get hurt." He said with a chuckle.

[member="Cryax Bane"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

So the kid was the betting type. That they shared in common. He smiled at [member="Jace Beleren"] and chuckled, "Don't spend it all in one place."

"I've got a wager on that young upstart, Neonburn." He pointed at the racer [member="Kartor Neonburn"] who fortunately seemed to be gaining some ground even in light of his devastating wipe. The Chiss shook his head and sighed an edge of worry in his voice. "Unfortunately, I don't think he's going to place. And if that's the case, you might not want to be seen with me unless you want a Hutt on your tail."

[member="Jace Beleren"]

 

[Kartor Neonburn]

Kartor surpassed several racers and was now in the spot he was in before he crashed. He had made up a lot of ground and was now in 3rd place. There was still a chance to win first, but if he was going to make a move it would have to be soon. Neonburn pushed the swoop, with its jury-rigged powercore, to the max, coming alongside the man who sabotaged his swoop. In one fell swoop, he jerked his speeder over, effectively sending the masked man into a tailspin and out of the race.

"Good riddance," Kartor shouted as he proceeded past the finish line.

Well, he had won the race, and hopefully made that Chiss a wealthy man.

[member="Cryax Bane"] [member="Jace Beleren"]

 

[Cryax Bane]

All of a sudden, the crowd went wild, and Cryax turned just in time to see his racer cross the finish line with dramatic flair. "Yesssssss!" the Chiss exclaimed, his face awash with jubilation and relief. "That racer just saved me from being chained up in some lady Hutt's basement somewhere." He laughed.

"Come on Jace, old buddy. Let's go celebrate at the Dragon Palace. The next round of drinks is on me." He chuckled giddily.

He paused. Thinking maybe he'd invite Neonburn to come, too. Hell, why not? It could be good for PR to have the racer make an appearance there.

[member="Kartor Neonburn"] [member="Jace Beleren"]