Episode 1
Anti-gravity racing is a billion dollar industry not just a sport. Money has a power all its own and many. Power, money, and corruption hide in the shadows of the sport. Alexander has taken over as the Team Principal for Valkyrie AGR Sport. His arrival at Headquarters was dramatic. His first day was particularly trying as he uncovered serious issues that were undermining the Team’s morale and were just plain illegal. Alexander wasted no time in correcting the most egregious wrongdoings happening. He upset a lot of powerful people when he did it. While Alexander’s goals are more altruistic, those who lost minions and power inside the powerful organization that is Valkyrie AGR were not happy to lose some of their control and power. This earned him some enemies while he managed to remove the more obvious ones. There are still those working in the shadows to reduce his influence and remove him so that they can continue enjoying the power he removed from them.
Alexander has reviewed what’s happening with the Team. He has restructured the team which previously had been very siloed into their specialties. The Engineers and Mechanics were merged into one team The Engineering Team is now Co-led by Felix and Helga. The head of the Medical Team was fired and brought up on charges Dr. Zimmerman. Dr. Montgomery has been selected to take over the Medical Team. The head of the Human Resources department was fired and is being investigated for Corporate Espionage and embezzlement. The training personnel and everyone else who works for the racing giant have been moved to a Support Personnel category. Alexander has brought his executive assistant from his previous engineering job to Valkyrie with him. Mabel Brown is now Alexander’s executive assistant. Her appointment has caused some waves at Valkyrie since she had been hired from outside the company jumping over personnel who were already there. Forces inside the team tried to oppose and stop Mabel’s hiring.
Alexander went so far as to make physical interior changes to bring the mechanical and engineering departments together, consolidating resources, tools, materials, and personnel. They now have one larger space where they work collaboratively. This move has already shown benefits in advances and smoother communication between mechanics and engineers. The Engineering team has now bonded together into a new whole. A local bar created a drink and named it after them after a team night out. The results were ideas for a new ship design. The new design focuses on supporting the pilot with faster, more energy efficient engines and new cockpit design to reduce the physical stresses on the pilot.
Alexander restructured how the Medical department worked. They now worked under an elected head who guides and reports back to Alexander. They now have a more open and collaborative work structure. They are also now making use of their talented interns which were being ignored by the previous team lead. The new direction for the Medical department has led to some new ideas in Pilot training and a focus on natural pilot performance enhancement protocols. Only time will show if they are working.
Alexander called in a favor from the European Union Space Agency and has built a new simulator that not only puts his pilots into a race virtually but also simulates the actual g forces and inertia that their bodies experience in a cockpit. This allows them to use the simulator to measure how the physical stresses that the pilots are going through in a more solid and meaningful way. It also allows them to train experiencing those physical forces and how that will impair their performance.
Episode 2
Alexander has the pilots focused on training for each race. The engineering team is making and tweaking the ships as best they can to get the most out of them for each race. They used strategy to finally get some points. They are hoping to do better in Tokyo which is a race their craft should do well on.
Alexander joined the team and came back to racing for his daughter’s sake. Alexander has very mixed feelings about it. He had loved racing but he sure didn’t miss the politics. Alexander is tormented by a crash that killed his best friend. His experience with being pushed into more dangerous and questionable tactics on the racetrack. His belief that his best friend’s death was not accidental and that he somehow was responsible for it haunted his dreams. He had sworn he would never return to racing. Arianna, his daughter, was hit by a car and almost died. She came out of the accident paralyzed from the neck down. Alexander was offered an opportunity to get her experimental state of the art prosthetics that would allow her to have a better quality of life. Standard prosthetics would have allowed her to regain mobility but she would have had to give up being able to feel sensations or have all her limbs amputated replaced by cybernetic ones. This option allowed her to have the option of being able to move her organic body. Rebuilding her nervous system replacing her organic one. Alicia Mulder, Paul Mulder’s mother, agreed to procure and pay for Arianna’s treatment and cybernetics if Alexander would return to racing to mentor and safeguard her son. Alexander agreed as it was the best option for Arianna.
Alexander is divorced. His ex-wife left him because she told him that she couldn’t handle him losing his arms. That his prosthetic arms were like being touched by a robot. Alexander had co-parented his daughter but had no further dealings with his ex-wife. Alexander had always kept this from his daughter. He had not wanted his daughter to resent her mother. Arianna’s mother has shown her true nature. Arianna overheard her mother’s comments to doctors and on the phone. Arianna overhead her mother saying she should have died if she couldn't take care of herself. Her mother was only bringing her home to recover because it would make her look bad since her story had been in the media because of her father. Arianna had asked Alexander to bring her home with him.
Alexander made the arrangements even though it will make him look bad and push back his long term plans for the team by at least 6 months. Alexander has the finished ship design proposals and costs for building them. The Board of Directors have given their okay to move forward but it takes time to build new ship designs. Prototypes had to be built and tested. Designs had to be filed with the Racing Commission. The new ships had to be approved by the league and meet their rules. Not to mention any government regulations as well. Alexander has started sourcing material and is gearing up to recruit the personnel he needs. He has also been making a push for endorsements to bring in the money necessary to pay for new designs. He needs to keep Valkyrie in a positive relationship with the media. Alexander’s decision to bring his daughter back with him and utilize team resources to help her is jeopardizing his reputation.
Episode 3
Alexander confronted Dorian about his lack of performance and poor attitude in Tokyo. He hoped they were both on the same page now. He had completed the contract work necessary to get the endorsement money for the contract so he could begin to hire more engineers. Alexander is grateful to have an influx of capital to work with but he is also dealing with his own emotional turmoil after being in the public's eye again. He has sifted through applications and dossiers and done initial interviews with Dakota Ellis a jet engineer with Pratt & Whitney, Bastijin Velnaar, a Dutch electrical engineer that worked for one of the world’s leading wind turbine manufacturers, and Stephanie Mitsuyo a third generation Japanese American college graduate student who is studying electrical engineering with a specialty in super conductors. Alexander had a visit from Johanna Lipusz, the EU Special Representative for Anti-Gravity Research. She pretty much demanded progress in the form of podiums and wins or else. He was very worried about the or else. He found out that she had the power to threaten Leopold, even he answered to her. They are bringing the top three engineering candidates to Valkyrie Headquarters for a practical skills demonstration. Alexander is hoping that they will find some magic to help them do better in Italy.
Episode 4
After the Italian GP, Alexander heard a rumor that his head engineer Felix Burkhardt was planning on leaving Valkyrie after Luna. Alexander straight up confronted him about it. Felix confirmed it and Alexander let him go. He even wrote him a letter of recognition. He made the decision not to keep him until after later because he felt that was the best tactical decision. He liked Felix and had trusted him. He trusted Felix's integrity but not enough to keep him knowing he was planning to leave. That left Alexander scrambling for a new head engineer. He would have promoted from in house but he didn't have anyone with the right experience to lead that could step up. He had reviewed dossiers on his top three choices and decided to offer the head engineer's position to Cavan Mitchell from England. Cavan started with Silver Apex and had just resigned as the head engineer for Fitzroy. Arianna ran into an issue where she was cornered by press at the Italian GP and was saved by Harrison. Alexander began wooing a new sponsor Quantinium Computers.
Episode 5
Alexander covered the role of head engineer at the Portugal Race. Cavan was in the process of moving his family to Germany. His first official day will be the Monday after the Portugal race. That Monday Alexander is informed that Wulfric's investigation into the CEO has uncovered yet more corporate corruption, embezzlement, fraud, and harassment from the very top. There is a hint that there are ties between the CEO and the former board president but no proof. There is definitive proof that the CEO and Maier were working together to defraud the team. Alexander makes the decision to bring the corruption into the light. Unfortunately it means yet more corruption and chaos for the team. There is a sting set up with authorities to arrest the CEO Peter Brendel. Alexander releases a video to the public asking for their patience and forgiveness. He feels strongly that those injured by the two men deserve some kind of justice even though he knows he is going to face all kinds of backlash from the board of directors, sponsors, and the public. He feels strongly that coming clean now will prevent greater scandal if it were to come out later as the press gets ahold of the court proceedings. He is hoping that the team will weather this latest trauma. He was worried that Cavan would quit over the issue. After expressing his displeasure about being left out of the loop on it, and a strong right hook, he got on with the work of taking over the engineering department. Alexander is slated to go to the moon with the team and will be leaving for training for the journey. Leopold is not happy with some board members. He sent full video of the last board meeting to higher powers wanting them to understand the constraints the team is working under.
Episode 6
Alexander received a very private encrypted message from Johanna Lipusv, the European Space Agency's Special Rep for Anti-Gravity Technology. Johanna has informed Alexander that the team would be facing not just the German Government's investigation into the CEO's crimes, but an international. Because some of the money that was stolen included public funds invested by several different countries. So when those bonuses and sponsorship money was appropriated, the former CEO broke international laws. This opened the team up to much harsher scrutiny. They are facing a forced and very thorough forensic audit of all Team Valkyrie records. Johanna also insisted that he send Arianna away. She didn't want Arianna's treatment to be a bone of contention and trouble for Alexander. Alexander had been as open and honest and above board as he could with that issue, however he agreed with Johanna. He didn't want Arianna in the middle of the media and investigative shit storm he was going to have to deal with. So he sent Arianna back to UCLA to finish her education. Arianna is currently living in the dorms at UCLA. Onsite investigators would be disruptive to the team. Alexander had no choice but to trust his team as he was needed on the trip to the moon for the Lunar Race. The team needed some positive press badly. However the team was plagued with equipment issues on the moon. Paul placed decently since it was his first time racing on the moon. Dorian's performance was shockingly bad. Alexander understood it was not all his fault. The team had been plagued with clogging thrusters making handling difficult on the moon. Paul had seemed to adjust better to the issues than Dorian. Alexander was facing a shit storm when he got back to the office. On the way back from the moon, Paul requested to use his father's livery at the Monaco race. Alexander enjoyed speaking to Paul about memories he had of his father. Alexander had already ordered Cavan to take the ships back to the chassis and rebuild them from the ground up testing every component. He had already filed the change in livery for Paul with FIAR. He would get his wish to race in his father's colors.
Episode 7
Alexander had the ships rebuilt from the ground up and all systems double checked and verified before Monaco. He had Cavan focus on a build specifically for Monaco. The trial against Brendel and Maier was ongoing. The fact that they had broken international laws as well had drawn the trial out. It was taking some time even though the court had taken an almost unprecedented step of trying them before an international tribunal in order to save them all time and money. Otherwise the trials could be dragged out as they were tried in each country's jurisdiction. Brendel and Maier were being tried together and had hired some very expensive and good criminal lawyers to defend them. The rhetoric they were using in the press was that they had been framed by Alexander. Both men were considered flight risks and had their passports and funds taken and frozen pending the outcome of the trial. Alexander's decision to rebuild the ships had been a good one. Cavan had led a collaborative engineering team to an impressive build that helped Valkyrie dominate at Monaco. Dorian had taken first with Paul taken P3. Alexander had launched a positive PR campaign highlighting Dorian's career and the past of Team Valkyrie and the strength of their Junior AG team. He was using it as a testing ground to see how Scarlett held up to the public scrutiny. He had Katherine give the young pilot some advanced media training since she was going to be the boots on the ground celebrity at the in-person events. There was also a VR Tour accessible from anywhere in the world. He hoped to connect with new and old fans of the team during the positive press. He wanted to keep positive headlines about the team in the news. He wanted to capitalize on a feeling and excitement about a positive future. Alexander had checked in with the sponsors. Most of them were happy with the win at Monaco and were optimistic that once the trial was over that things would improve. The wins had reassured those that were considering pulling their contracts with the Team. They had lost some potential endorsement deals due to all the bad press around the indictment of the former CEO. Alexander was grateful that he had Lipusv on his side.
Episode 8
Alexander was working the media for all the positive press he could as the trial continued but was getting close to ending. Sponsors were rebounding after the team's win. Support and trust for the team was rebounding. The team were part of the Formula 1 exhibition at Silverstone which had made Paul happy. The team struggled at Silverstone. Paul crashed after obtaining a P7 in qualifying and totaling his ship. Dorian rallied and managed to get the team some points but it was a disappointing set back for them. Paul sustained minor injuries and was recovering. Alexander moved forward with long term plans for designing new ships for next season. He had begun talks with Banshee Microsystems and Shinichi Bionics about research and development collaboration contracts. Alexander was feeling out the interests and viability of these two companies as partners. Once he had determined the preliminary interests he would take this opportunity to Leopold and Lipusv. Alexander had ordered Cavan to rebuild Paul's ship to keep the handling and stability and try to eke out a little more speed. They might as well tweak since they had to rebuild the ship anyway. Alexander had accepted that his love life was media fodder as Katherine sent out a formal announcement of his dating status announcing Lena and him in a confirmed relationship.
Episode 9
Alexander had a busy two weeks in between the Silverstone and Montreal races. He ensured that Paul didn't rush his recovery and had the time off he needed to heal and recover. Paul and Dorian went through a battery of medical and neural interface testing to set a baseline before they both underwent surgeries to upgrade their neural interface to Shinichi Bionics new bio-cybernetic technology that used nanites and the body's own processes to interlink biological and technological systems together. The technology was state of the art and ground breaking. It had reached human trial stages and was the technology that had given his own daughter Arianna the ability to walk and move again. Shinichi Bionics had entered into a research and development agreement with Team Valkyrie sponsored by one of their owners the European Union Space Agency who had hopes of applying the technology to humans living and working in space. The technology had been proven for basic cybernetic needs but now the testing began to see how far they could push the limits and what kind of rigors it could withstand. After a short period of healing, integration, and calibration of the new systems both pilots were showing increased neural interface speeds and activity. It would take some time for the initial programming to complete. The system was well on its way to synching into their biological neural networks. The research and development contract with Banshee Microsystems was with the legal department for review. Banshee Microsystems would develop and implement a new team wide computer systems replacing the current systems at the team. Alexander didn't trust the current systems since they had discovered the backdoors into the system and the hidden server used by the former CEO Peter Brendel. The owner and developer of Banshee Microsystems was in the process of testing a new quantum crystalline matrix central processing chip and unit. She wants to test it against the most rigorous conditions possible. Her target market was manufacturing and government that worked with space mining and space ship building. It was her dream to see her computer systems installed on the new colonial ships being developed. She had to prove that her systems were better and could withstand the extremes brought about in those conditions. Alexander had made Jenny Lowry an offer and brought her to headquarters and showed her around. He knew that his offer was a good one but he didn't believe it would compete with Silver Apex's offer. He was hoping familiar friendly faces, good food, and nice facilities would weigh into her consideration. Paul had to be a better teammate than Amy. Alexander had begun laying the groundwork for his long term plans. He had reviewed his plans to overhaul Team Valkyrie's Junior League and Academy. He had already approached existing sponsors to seek their investment in the academy and junior league team. He was trying to get them to invest in the long term growth of the team with the idea they were playing a role in developing champions of the future. Those early connections even if the pilots didn't come to Team Valkyrie would benefit them no matter where their future pilots went. Paul won the Montreal Grand Prix pressuring Amy Stirling to make a rare mistake. Dorian didn't finish and struggled at Montreal after hitting another ship.
Summer Break
Alexander rolled out a new endorsement and sponsorship package targeting smaller businesses. Katherine and her team were a huge help in solidifying the idea and making it work. Alexander began implementing some of his more long term changes to the team as he overhauled the Junior Academy and hired Sami Lipponen to head up the Junior Academy and mentor their Junior League pilots. He also hired Tocho Lister away from MMR to help mentor and train the junior team. Tocho would be based at headquarters and work closely with the research and development team on a new ship design for next year. Tocho would mentor the younger pilots and help train them in his remaining time. He hired another physical trainer that would work in partnership with Agnes Poulsen to ensure the Junior Team maintained proper physical fitness when away from campus. He promoted someone from within Valkyrie to take over the new position of Executive Assistant to help Sami Lipponen out with administration tasks. Valkyrie interns were being pulled into active roles with the changes being overseen by Valkyrie personnel. Alexander put a call out to Max Wedgewood to come in for an interview and tour of the campus. After interviewing Max Wedgewood Alexander offered him a contract. They were in negotiations with Max. He had offered a job to Dorian for when he retired. He didn't know if the pilot was interested at all but he wanted to make the offer. He had gone to Los Angeles to see his daughter who had interrogated him about his relationship with Lena. Alexander felt the revised bootcamp was a success.
Episode 10
Alexander saw a lot of his work finally paying off as things began to come together. The Junior Team Bootcamp was a smashing success. The inside look of Team Valkyrie from the documentary helped heal and resolve a lot of the distrust and bad feelings from all the scandal earlier in the season. It gave fans a new insight into the scenes behind racing. Fans had loved the Delta Hyper Special and were already calling for next year's special. The pilots that joined them from other teams had mixed reviews of their experiences but it had been beneficial to Alexander and the team. Scarlett and Anna got to know their competitors better and learn more about their racing style. They got some practice against them as well. The Junior Team sponsors were very happy with the exposure from the Delta Hyper special. Then Paul went and had an epic racing battle with Beatrix Ward placing in second at Spa after overtaking Amy Stirling again. Their fight for the podium had been epic and would become a classic race to view in no time. The Board of Directors were happy, their sponsors were happy, Lipsuv was happy. Things were looking up for the team. They had been swamped with calls for interviews for Paul and Dorian. Alexander expected the press wanted to ask Dorian why he wasn't doing as well as his teammate. Dorian had some idea about altering the air brake system for more speed for the German Grand Prix. He was working on it with Paul and Cavan. Cavan was not convinced it was worth it but Paul had backed Dorian's play when he made it back to headquarters after the fundraiser. Cavan had done his best to support their idea. They would know if they were successful after the German Grand Prix.
Episode 11
The German Grand Prix had not been good for the main Formula AG team. The Junior Team did well and sponsors and fans alike were giving them more attention. The Drunken Dragon was a hit in the Valkyrie Fan Zone. Alexander locked in three new sponsorships (Radian Security Systems, Wizard Technologies, and Immersia Entertainment) and one new research and development contract with Meridian Aerospace to help them design new ship engines. Radian Security Systems was going to consult with their security department and upgrade their security systems and cybersecurity. Banshee Microsystems would be updated and installing all new computer systems at headquarters the weekend after the German race. Alexander was promised some engineers from the Lipusv from the European Space Agency on antigravity systems. Alexander was in the process of interviewing 4 engineers to join the team as engine specialists and general ship system specialists. Dorian's race engineer Remy Deschamps would be taking a promotion and joining the development team when Dorian retired. He would work with the team in his spare time as they got closer to finishing the design. Carl Mathews was Max's engineer had been offered an interview with no guarantees. Alexander was willing to bring him on board pending his background check and fit for the team.
Episode 12 Hawaii
Alexander had signed a research and development contract with Meridian Aerospace. They were partnering with the company to help build a new engine design for the next year and to improve their current ship engine. They had been loaned some engineers from the European Union Space Agency. This gave Alexander time to hire more permanent engineers to support the team. Alexander had two new engineers joining the team. He had approved moving Remy Deschamps to the HQ engineering team after Dorian retired. Carl Mathews would be joining the team and coming with Max Wedgewood at the beginning of the year. Team Valkyrie Headquarters and ship systems were getting completely new computer systems and upgrades. The team was also undergoing security upgrades by a new sponsor, Radian Security Systems. Alexander called Paul out on his poor performance in Hawaii and reminded him that others would be happy to take his seat.
Episode 13 Singapore
Alexander had ordered Paul into therapy and hired Dr. Ingold a Sports Psychologist to help him work out his issues. Paul seemed to settle down and was finally taking feedback as it was intended constructive criticism. Dorian had signed a contract with Delta Hyper to be a consultant and talking head for them after he retired. Dorian was moving forward into a longer term relationship with his partner as well. Paul had been withdrawn and had been isolating himself since Hawaii. Dr. Ingold was giving him regular progress updates without compromising Paul's privacy. Alexander wrapped up a lot of sponsorship work. The security updates and new computer systems were in the final stages of installation and being wrapped. The construction happening at headquarters was wrapping up as well. Alexander had been informed that his staff needed to release some stress and anxiety and he needed to bring the new folks in and introduce them to new staff so they felt welcome. He ordered nap pods to be installed throughout headquarters. Mabel sent out a company wide survey asking them what changes they would like to see at headquarters. The survey included Alexander's company picnic proposal at the Zoo with the team staff and family. Mabel had also been asked to find Alexander some prospective neural circuitry specialists to add to the team roster.
Episode 14 Buenos Aires, Argentina
There was trouble in the Fan Zone. Security had to shut it down after violence among fans spread into their fan zone from Carrera Condor's fan zone. Expecting further security issues with the atmosphere at the track, Wulfric sends additional security from HQ and comes with them. The atmosphere at the track is intense after both Carrera Condor ships crash and DNF angering fans. Paul manages to take P2 behind Jenny Lowry. Riots break out after the race. Alexander makes the risky decision to evacuate all his personnel and to team up with some of the other teams, pooling their resources to get their equipment out. Alexander knew it was going to be a risk but he felt sheltering in place held more risk. In the end the risk only partially paid off. They got most of their personnel out safely but their ships took damage from rioters on the way to the airport and 4 security guards were injured getting the equipment through the violent streets.
Episode 15 Sao Paulo Brazil
Brazil was nerve wracking. The mechanics and engineers worked around the clock with the pilots to repair what damage they could in the field. In the end Dorian had to leave the race early but Paul managed to take P2. Alexander spent his time helping out and providing what resources he could to help his team perform the best they could. He ordered Paul to protect his position rather than push it and risk his ship failing.
Episode 16 Australia Great Barrier Reef
Alexander had a talk with Paul about how tense he had been since the riots in Argentina. He had been working on improving the team's security when they were traveling. The strategy for Australia worked out somewhat. Paul managed to stay in the top 5 but Dorian had engine trouble and had to retire early. Alexander was angry about Dorian's ship having engine failure. He would be investigating exactly what happened.
Episode 17 Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah
Alexander was pleased at how things went in Bonneville. George Haffner from Transolar Industries was pleased with what he saw. The two teams of lawyers were hammering out the details but it was looking like Transolar Industries would be the team’s next large sponsor. His relationship with Lena was getting more serious. The team was definitely a contender for top three in the constructors and Paul had managed to move into contention for third in the pilot’s championship. Katherine and her team were working on a new local small business sponsorship package for races. Sami was looking to expand the Junior Academy lessons for paying students to a select number to attend along with the team selected talented.
Ground was being broken on the new Research and Development Building with specialty labs for materials development and testing. Transolar Industries was in negotiations for a becoming a major sponsor. Enigma Lux had approached Alexander for a new wedding line endorsement deal. Dorian's engine had failed during the race in Australia. There was an internal investigation underway as to how Dorian's engine had failed. They knew a part had failed under stress but the part was one that should have been caught during quality control. Wulfric was investigating to find the culprit. Alexander had planned to put Dorian in the middle of the points fight with a strategy to have him lock up Atlassi while Paul made a run for points. Dorian managed to come in 9th place and Paul managed to come in 7th after an epic battle with newcomer Bellatrix Olympus. Paul had tried to be kind to the newcomer and fellow rookie and the press already had them dating. He had to issue a statement to get them to back off.
A week before the next race Alexander is contacted and sent evidence of neural interface tampering by Silver Apex. Alexander did his best to verify the information and corroborate it before making the difficult decision to report it to FIAR. He also sent a copy of the evidence to Johanna, secured and hand delivered by Valkyrie's security chief Wulfric. Alexander agreed to let Royston Pearce handle the issue his way as long as it was addressed. Pearce wanted Paul to be a face for Formula AG and wanted him to do some advertising promotional work for FIAR. Alexander agreed but only if he included all the rookie pilots so that Paul was not singled out. He didn't want any claims of favoritism once the investigation got deeper.
Episode 18 Wadi Rum, Jordan
Alexander was a wreck waiting to hear about FIAR's investigation and decision about the neural interface tampering. He struggled to focus worried about how this would impact his pilots and team. Paul and Dorian both did well in the desert race. They placed better than expected. Dorian took P6 and Paul took P8. After the race, only the first and second place pilots were honored on the podium. Amy Stirling and Jenny Lowry were scrutinized and had their neural interfaces checked after the race. They were both disqualified from Jordan's race pending further investigation. Silver Apex had been banned and disqualified from the constructor's championship after investigations proved the team had tampered with the pilot's neural interface. Alexander was furious to receive a message from Johanna that hinted he would be thrown under the bus by her for not allowing her to handle the issue. He had warned her at the same time he had reported it to FIAR. It damaged the little trust he had in her. Alexander called and warned his daughter that she might face additional scrutiny by government regulators over her own augmentations and the press. Alexander explained what had happened to Dorian and Paul as he told them they would also have to undergo scrutiny and testing on their neural interfaces. The testing was painful and invasive. Paul had flown directly home and had not yet returned to headquarters.