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In DELTΔ HYPER (Anti-Gravity Racing, Cyberpunk/Solarpunk RP) → 5 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Sun 24/10 07:18 CASSIE [Batt: 99%]

———— Today ————
> So I was just told we’re not going to be teammates.
> Yeah, heard yesterday. If you’re trying to guilt trip me about it, waking me up isn’t doing you any favors.
> You’re still in bed?
> You’re lucky I remember how nouns work at this hour.
> Something I can actually do for you?
> Just figured I’d ask my Carrera insider how it went down.
> I’ll take insider. Half expected “(in)side chick” 😛
> Hah!
> From what I was told, you asked for everything except half the kingdom and the princess’ hand in marriage.
> On top of buying you out from that corporate Hell people call a team.
> I thought I was lowballing myself.
> Wasn’t meant to be I guess. Don’t worry, I’ll be saving you champagne next season.
> Fighting words.
[You reacted with 😀]

Sunday October 24th, 2094, 13:00
Muller Cay, Australia
The Race
Bea got off the line quickly, right on Nora’s tail from the first corner. Southern Cross had them on stability, but between better handling and Bea’s brain practically counting as a flight control computer by now when it came to the Carrera Condor ship’s bucking and twitching, she sent it down - or rather up - a fast corner without much trouble on lap five.

Bea was visibly more careful than in Brazil. SHe still sent absolute launchers down every corner that allowed it, but she didn’t actually commit, instead seeking to keep Jen off balance. In hindsight, she should’ve known that wouldn’t work in this case, and soon she had bigger problems.
”Defend two to nine.” Alistair’s voice came over the radio.
Bea instinctively swung the ship to the right, letting Jen be Jen and blocking Nora’s attempt at regaining P2, letting her ship drift to the nine o’clock position to position herself for the next corner.
”Low.”
Bea crossed back over the top of the tunnel to the five o’clock position while Nora went low to avoid a collision risk, setting up for a rising left-hander.
”At three, ignore.”
Just as he predicted, the overtake couldn’t stick through the next corner. Nora kept trying and doing a stressfully good job of it, the clock indicators turning from neutral blue to green and then red based on where along the tunnel wall a ship was approaching from the back, Jen meanwhile walking away into the distance.
Suddenly, an indicator on the other side of the tunnel lit up and when Bea glanced that way, she was met with the sight of Cassie’s ship. ”Sod off, Cass, we’re having a moment here.” She muttered, the Scots-Portugese pilot running out of momentum alongside, just on the opposite wall, having to back out of the next turn due to being out of position for entry and falling back behind Nora as both rookies accelerated away under ELS with a better exit. ”That was optimistic.”

”Slow ship behind, Hornfleur, looks like PU failure.”
”SC?”
”Doesn’t look like it.”
That apparently sent the midfield into a meltdown, Alistair radioing in any changes that might be relevant to them and making bea deeply regret the lack of big screens around the track she could watch this on. Oh well, later.

The fight with Nora dragged on, the Aussie managing to regain position a few times, Bea finding a gap to slip past every time. ”Stop trying. You’re third today. Stay!” Bea muttered to no one in particular.
”Contact between Makara and Stirling, looks like damage on Makara. No flags, might hold up the mid pack.”
”Got it.”
”Coming upon backmarkers in 40 seconds.”
For some reason that got a genuine laugh out of Bea. ”That’s not something you hear every day in this sport.”
But it did give her an idea. Jenny was in the next time zone anyway, so when Bea made it past Hamid who was having an uncharacteristically sodden race, she let off the throttle just a little bit and gave him a tow. Hamid, to his credit, realized what was happening and, knowing she’d just leave if he tried to leech, took the free speed boost. For Nora, that meant that in order to get past Bea, she now had to get past two ships in one maneuver, even though Hamid was technically supposed to let Nora go, Bea actively positioned her ship in a way that meant Hamid was always in the way. It didn’t work for long, but long enough to charge and give her the leg up on Nora for the next ten minutes.

In the end, whatever Nora had tried, it wasn’t enough.
”That’s P2 Bea, fantastic job!”
”YEEES! Fuck me, I’m sweating into the sauce here.”
”Having type two fun?”
”Type one point five, one point six at most. Imagine being fully submerged in a clean liquid and still needing a shower.” She laughed, the breathing liquid gurgling in her throat. ”You know what you are, Al? A fucking legend! With those defensive callouts, bloody Hell. Like having another pair of eyes on the back of my head like Voldemort.”
”You’re saying I can be your wingman anytime?”
”Good one, but that’s a RIO. You can’t be a wingman, you retired.” She laughed, a combination of having a movie nut and a weapons manufacturer for a dad dredging up random trivia she learned by osmosis from the depths of her memory.
”Just had to remind me, didn’t you?” Alistair grumbled, ”Dinner on you tonight?”
”Like always, if you can all agree on a place.”
”We’ll drink you down a tax bracket.” After successes earlier in the season, she knew they could and they would. ”Ava is up two places, ahead of Stirling.”
”Nice! Han?”
”P11.”
”Even nicer. No points, bad Zygon.”
”Radio, Bea…” Alistair tried to reign her in through chuckles, knowing no floodgate could hold that river of adrenaline and endorphins.

Sunday October 24th, 2094, 14:00
Muller Cay, Australia
Cooldown Room
It was fortunate she only started getting podiums after her lung replacement, allowing her to drain her suit and lungs easily before the podium ceremony. Having to attend it suited up and helmeted like a mermaid trying to function on land would take a lot of joy out of the moment. Unlike Belgium where the nearly 40 minute, seemingly nonstop duel with Paul left her barely mobile, Bea was vibrating with excitement she might have phased through solid matter.

You’re only as good as your last race. And this one was pretty damn good for a track that didn’t suit them that well.

”Well.....okay, you got me there. Proper.....yeah.”

”It’s not like you gave it up for free or anything, you made me work for it. But Cassie’s lunge on lap 48 was interesting. ‘Where did you come from- oh, okay, bye.’ ” Bea mimed glancing at the overtaking ship and then following it as it fell back again.

”Look at us now, eh? Told you we'd be fighting at the top someday! And it looks like you got your second podium at last. Proves it wasn't a fluke!”

”Fluke?” Bea seized her heart with her hand, grinning wide. ”How dare you? Don’t look at the previous two races. But I couldn’t make it stick, and then you just walked away. Still too wobbly in places, wherever I hit a crest, the ship didn’t know if it wanted to be an AG ship or a shitty aeroplane. Swear I saw myself lawn darting into the ceiling on lap five.” She laughed.
”I’m staying here tomorrow to do some more reef diving and meant to ask if you wanted to come along, but It looks like you’ll be too busy celebrating this, eh?”

She had to ditch the suit, the solid shell not very buoyant before going in, intending to spend half of tomorrow in the sea anyway and seeing nothing wrong with getting a head start.

DELTΔ HYPER
Episode 16: Diving Deep


Having been fished out of the sea by sea killjoy to answer interview questions, Bea threw some team merch over the undersuit before taking her turn.

”Bea, what an epic fight you and Nora gave us. It seems like you're so much smoother out there, you seem to be. It seems you might have upset a local comeback, but, how does it feel to be scoring a podium again, especially next to someone you're best friends with?”

”Fucking finally. Of course I’d prefer to be looking down at Jen from the top step as opposed to looking up from the lower ones, but baby steps. She earned it today.” Bea laughed, ”Nelly also fought hard. Sorry to the Aussie fans, but I have a debt to ours to start settling, I have to prioritize.”


Carrera Condor @CarreraCondorFA:
[Group image of Bea and her mechanics at a long table in a beach bar, arranged like the Last Supper painting with Alistair in Jesus’ place and Bea in Judas’]

“Oh, we missed these. ¡Los cóndores siguen volando!”

#BarrierReefAGP #CarreraCondorFA #FormulaAG #AGRacing #CondorsKeepFlying

Sol_de_Mayo: You’ll need to pay those lost points back with interest, young lady!
MadBea: Working on it, just don’t break my kneecaps.
GalwayGirl: We won’t. But if you fuck up again, you might wake up with a cylinder head on your pillow.
ForzaGl0ria: HeyheyHEY! That’s our thing. You stick to car bombs. 😀
MadBea: Children, please! (but make the cylinder head fit my Civic please)
Xinny: No cylinder head. Points! 😀
GaryFromIndiana: Big L not signing Cassie IMO.
CarreraCarmen: Team going with the budget option because Ward broke too many ships. 😀
AndesAG: Ava’s washed.
MissedApex: Unlike the average Zygon fan. 😀
mel_er: Imagine using the phrase “big L” in 2094…
TruckerTim: Imagine wasting entire seconds of your life writing a comment like that. Oh, wait, you don’t have to…

Monday October 25th, 2094, 21:12
London, United Kingdom
Highgate, Fitzroy Close
The home cinema at the Wards’ home was playing the race replay. Bea was draped over Frederick’s side, holding a bowl of salt and vinegar chips while a small bowl of unflavored rice chips sat in front of her. God damned food plans.
”So, back on your game?” Fred asked with a teasing tone when the replay showed her fending off three overtake attempts by Nora in three consecutive corners.
”Implying I wasn’t?” She asked with mock indignation.
”Are you genuinely asking that question?”
”Hey, Argentina wasn’t my fault and I’m allowed a mistake every now and then. Unlike half the bloody grid, I’m still just a human being.” She poked a finger in his direction with a laugh.
They kept watching in silence for a little bit. When he next spoke, his voice was serious.
”Your mother was extremely worried because of Argentina.”
”I know. I apologized at least four times.” She sobered up instantly.
”Never to me, can you imagine what living with her was like? All those questions I had to answer, reassurances I had to make…” He continued the joke, voice still as serious like he was discussing a contract for manufacturing ICBMs.
”I’m sorry. You can hold my trophy when the copy arrives.”
”Deal.” He answered immediately with a grin.
The cameras cut to a fight in the midfield, where Ava had just made a beautiful double overtake on Amy held up by the damaged Harrison.
”So…” He started more carefully, ”Ava used your contract clause.”
”It is what it is.”
”Is that your official statement?”
”My official statement is a resounding ‘Meh.’ I don’t have a choice in the matter either way.”
”And your private opinion?”
”I can’t listen to Elise talk for more than 30 seconds without popping a blood vessel, Cassie would have gotten priority from the team on experience and better the Devil you sort of know, so I won anyway.” Bea shrugged.
”That’s definitely a way to look at it.”
”Like I told Rory in Africa: I don’t waste energy on things I can’t control.” She shrugged, ”Let it never be said I learned nothing from you.”


Carrera Condor NPCs
In Tactical Breach Wizards: Fireteam Hex (Military, Modern, Fantasy, Action-Thriller) → 5 mos ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Day 2: 06:15:42
Polavian Standard Vodka Distillery,
Novy Jork,
Capital Province,
Republic of Polavia
Borys Skala

“The biggest mystery of this country is how this place hasn’t been tunneled out to oblivion.” Borys noted as they walked through the silent factory. Between the former secret police integrating into the mob, the military becoming- continuing to be a weapons market for the mob but not hiding it anymore and supposedly ‘privatized’ state enterprises’ CEOs looking remarkably similar to former party officials, just with nicer suits. “The biggest crime being committed here is that they’re only running two shifts instead of three.”

Soft contact happened eventually, inevitably. Because it would appear the team couldn’t have nice things. Aside from babushka’s cooking. And a trip to the Polavian Standard factory. But aside from that, it was pretty bad.

”Any way to route around them?”

“Yes, please, let’s not break anything here.” He supplied with utmost seriousness.

”Silas, on me, we'll take the high road. Borys, Rowan, Roxie, take the cabin ahead.”

“Hm, what?” Borys glanced up when his name was mentioned, having been loading up his vest and pack with vodka and having absolutely zero clue what was being discussed. “Right, on you.”


He waited for Roxie to do her thing, preferring to not think about how she was seeing what she was seeing but having an uncomfortable idea anyway. “Well?”

”Guy with an armoured helm left, he's got a shotgun.”

“So in five minutes, one of us will have a shotgun.” And one could tell he meant it, his mental operating system running on foolproof Polavian math - you have a 50/50 chance of success, you either make it or you don’t. And he was stone cold sober, too.

”Every scenario I see though, this drunk fuck doesn't die though. Recommend we use him as a pointman. And fill him with enough booze to take on a tank.”

He already had a bottle in his hand. Because of course he did. “Say no more.” He actually grinned at Oksana, slamming the equivalent of five-odd shots in one pull. “Give it a minute, then tell me if shooting me in the chest works or not.” He wasn’t even kidding when he said that.

Borys listened to Rowan lay out her plan. “I’ll take the door, get them to look at me, you make a door, mop them up. I like that. I mean, I don’t, but I’ve made peace with my Craft long ago. Alternatively…” He tapped the gas mask case he carried and held up one of his tear gas grenades, “You take a breather and I commit assault and battery.”

”There might be some collateral damage though. You wouldn’t hold that against me, right?”

“I can and I will.” He grinned, standing up with a slight wobble, his left hand hovering near the door handle. “Ready on you.”
In DELTΔ HYPER (Anti-Gravity Racing, Cyberpunk/Solarpunk RP) → 6 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Saturday October 23rd, 2094, 11:45
Muller Cay, Australia
Qualifying
The track was a weird thing. At every other circuit, the limit was dictated by the ability to turn without getting thrown off the racing surface. Even in banked corners, there was a top lip one could go over if they screamed in too fast.

Not the barrier Reef.

Here, with most of the track in tunnels with MAG tracking all 360 degrees around, the limit wasn’t understeer, but what the repulsor packs could handle without bottoming out on the wall.

Having to wait for recovery in the tunnel was a very good psychological motivation to not overcook it.

”Anti-glare is getting its arse kicked today.” Bea noted as the canopy’s tint - an upgrade over helmet tint to make everything in the cockpit more readable - reacted to the rapid changes in ambient light as her ship ducked in and out of the tunnels on her outlap, the tunnel lighting creating an annoying stroboscopic effect as she rushed past that she barely even registered.
”Radiators are getting a workout as well. Hot air outside, cooler inside.”

The circuit was a wild one, the tunnels a nightmare to defend at and making for an additional dimension - literally - to consider when positioning the ship for the next corner.
”Three.” Alistair called out, Bea aligning the ship on the tunnel wall according to the three o’clock marker on the ‘clock face’ projected onto her HUD - a software modification developed just for this track, using the ship’s accelerometers to figure out tilt and keep the floor guide in the tunnel always at the 6 o’clock position. Yes, she could have simply known which way she was turned through the neural link. ”Exit 12, toward six.” He kept calling out directions, corner by corner. Carrera Condor was bringing rally-style pace notes into Formula AG, and they would argue ‘til their throats were sore that it was legal because it was the race engineer passing information, not a driving assist.

”Sector one time is good.”
”Temps within limits.”
”Closing radiator cowl is available.”

”Sector two purple.” The small aerodynamic improvement paying off. Same gamble as Singapore, but with less risk.
A double-tap of the mic in reply, the ship winding through a difficult section.

”Nice one, Bea. Looking like P3.”
”Nice. Oh, I think my head will be spinning tomorrow night.”
”Ivan can do a rush job of implanting a gyro.”
”No.” She snapped back without any heat.

DELTΔ HYPER
Episode 16: Diving Deep


”Beatrix, a solid P3 effort, and while stability may not be Carrera's strong suit, do you think you can hang onto another podium?”

”I bloody hope so.” Bea laughed, ”Stability is one thing, but the track also doesn’t mesh too well with my driving style.” It was one thing to make snap defensive movements on a normal circuit. Harder on a track where competition could literally go over her head. ”It’s amazing to run through, but I’ve got my work cut out for me tomorrow.”

Saturday October 23rd, 2094, 15:30
Muller Cay, Australia
Carrera Condor Fan Zone
Compared to the first half of the season, León or Felix seated between Ava and Bea had become the new normal of Carrera Condor press conferences.

“Bea, Australia is one of the less forgiving circuits for stability, yet you’ve put the ship on the second row. Was that a case of adapting your driving, or do you feel the ship is finally meeting you halfway?”
”The ship's definitely improved, I don't even want to imagine trying to do this with what we started with. If I ever feel masochistic tendencies, I might try it in a sim.“ She grinned, ”With the upgrades over the season, I don't have to spend as much time keeping it pointing in the right direction-“ She caught herself, raising a finger. ”Poor choice of words after Brazil. I don't have to spend as much time keeping it steady and can actually focus on racing.”

“Ava, P8 puts you right on the edge of the midfield again. Do you feel you’re extracting everything from the ship in qualifying, or is there still something missing on low-stability tracks like this?”
”One small mistake in qualifying has big impact, one small mistake in a 45 minute race is barely a footnote. That's it.” Ava shrugged.

“Bea, after the last two races, did you approach this qualifying with a more conservative mindset, or was this still about extracting everything regardless of risk?”
”We tried to be conservative in Brazil, didn't work.” She shook her head. Behind his water bottle, León’s knuckles went white.

“Question for Bea: You’ve now qualified ahead of ships that, on paper, should be stronger here. Do you see this as proof that Carrera Condor’s upgrade path is working, or was this more about execution than raw pace?”
”I think it's execution across the board. No offense intended to my teammate,“ She quickly clarified, sounding honest but detached. ”But if it was ship pace, we'd be closer together. If you look at the qualifying order, the only team where both drivers are close together are SuperCat and that's because they're P19 and P20, because Kofi and Vladimir are driving actual rubbish bins.”

“There have been concerns about funding if further accidents occur. Does that affect how aggressively you allow your drivers to race?”
”As if Bea would ease up if ordered.”
Bea snickered at that. ”Never have I been more offended by something I agree with this much.”
”This is something we've addressed after Argentina, and trust our pilots to stay on top of it. Brazil was by no means insignificant, but Bea kept the ship in one piece.”

“Ava, with the second seat still officially undecided, do weekends like this feel like auditions, even if the team says otherwise?”
”Every race is an audition. You're only as good as the last one.”

“Bea, given the ship’s known weaknesses, how confident are you that P3 is defendable over a full race distance?”
”Pfff... I don't even know how I put it into third in the first place to be honest.“ She shook her head and León’s peace of mind. ”This place is Hell to defend at, it's not like Monaco where you can drive the speed limit and people will still struggle to pass you, your biggest asset here is the person behind the person behind you. I guess I've shown the ship does have the single-lap pace here, add Ava's better consistency over the race duration and a good result definitely seems possible here.”

“Cassie Neves was spotted touring the Carrera Condor factory this week. Can you clarify the nature of that visit? Furthermore, with Elise’s Junior Series performance exceeding expectations, is the team prepared to promote from within?”
”We're still weighing our options. Our PR department will likely have more for you in the next weeks.”

“Looking ahead to high-speed circuits like Bonneville and Wadi Rum, do you see those races as opportunities to reset the narrative around this team?”
”That's three races where we have a leg up on Zygon. We hoped for that to be where we break away from them and secure P5, but at least we can use them to close the gap.”
”Unless they try a Montreal again...” Bea murmured loud enough for the mic to pick up.

“For Ava: Your race pace has often been stronger than your qualifying this season. Is that something you’re consciously leaning into, given the characteristics of this circuit?”
”Same answer as the first question.”

“There’s been a lot of talk about mistakes lately. Bea, does a result like this change the internal mood, or is the pressure still very much on going into the race?”
”Pressure's always on. The only time there isn't is when you're driving a shitebox.” She shrugged.

“Ava, you’ve been praised internally for consistency. Is consistency enough right now, or do you feel you need a standout result before the end of the season?”
”I would prefer a standout result.”
”She doesn't cost the team money, that's a pretty big plus in her favor right now.”

“For the whole team, how did the wall callouts come about?”
“They have to babysit Ward because she keeps fucking up!” Someone yelled in the back.
”Argentina happened because of a communication breakdown. Now we’re communicating and you’re still whining.” Bea shrugged, ”You’re such a woman, make up your mind.”

As everyone packed up, Ava lingered. ”If other teams start pushing us because they think we’ll back out rather than risk damage, I’m blaming you.” She said to León, Bea nodding along in agreement as she passed.


ChadJPete: Bro, she didn’t have to call the cats out like that.
Xinny: [link]
Cookiesaurus: poor TP looked in mental pain the entire time. 😀
Sol_de_Mayo: You could see a piece of his soul die when Bea said she doesn’t know how she put it in P3.
Mate0: That’s either a flex or a call for help and I have no fucking idea which it is.
Briat77: If she wants masochism, she should try being a CC fan.
Xinny: [link]
Briat77: [link] This guy didn’t need it.
AndesAG: That doesn’t count, that was a robot. 😀
Javi: “Every race is an audition. You're only as good as the last one.” Shots. Fired.
CloroxEnjoyer: I am SO fucking confused by the relationships in this team, someone please explain.
User420: A love-hate relationship? They love to hate each other? 😀
Hotstuff: not leon having neves over to get villarosa to get her ass in gear
SuperCatUnofficial: @MadBea A wheelie bin can still finish a race without incidents. 😛
MadBea: That’s fair, you get this one.


Carrera Condor NPCs
In DELTΔ HYPER (Anti-Gravity Racing, Cyberpunk/Solarpunk RP) → 6 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Thursday October 21st, 2094, 13:00
Muller Cay, Australia
Diving In
The recovery effort done already was incredible, but in the moment, surrounded by the colorful beauty illuminated by the sunshafts from the ripples on the surface and the lightness of the water, moving through which felt as easy as walking to her, Bea didn’t care. With a GoPro on her mask, she suspected this 30 minute dive would lead to dozens of hours of art streams and a stack of paintings big enough to make it hard to walk through the hallway in her house, and a quiet vow to be back next year.

She waited her turn when they surfaced. She was going to keep an eye out on the other pilots just in case someone decided to be funny and push her back in, but instead found herself glancing to Kais, trying to read anything she might find in his face despite knowing it was a fool’s errand.

”Welcome to the Great Barrier Reef! How did you find that?”

”I’ve been looking forward to this since the team signed me last August.” Bea shrugged, still grinning. It was a shame Aurora was only present in holographic spirit, but that only meant she wouldn’t have to feel bad about flicking water off her hands at her mid-shot. ”Yeah, just absolutely stunning. Have to look now so we don’t get distracted by the scenery during the race.”

Friday October 22nd, 2094, 11:00
Muller Cay, Australia
Leave a Trace
”Morning Bea! So, instead of a question, we'd like you to do something a little different.”

”The last time you said that, Kais and Layla set my face on fire with poutine.” Bea deadpanned, calling back to a simpler time.

”Have a look on the table for what we'd like you to do. Leave a message in this bottle you'd like for future generations.”

”You’re not actually about to toss that into the sea, are you?” She chuckled as she picked up the provided pen, continuing with a grin. ”I thought the whole message of this leg of the season is to leave as little behind as possible?” She wrote slowly, the quasi-armored gloves of her g-suit designed to keep shape under load and deal with the throttle and stick, not fine motor control.

”What did you write?”

”Call me captain obvious...” Bea said, her shrug barely a lift of the suit’s shoulders as she stuck the sticky note to the outside of the bottle and turned it to face the camera as she left.

Fri 22/10 19:58 Alejandra (HR) [Batt: 32%]

———— Today ————
> So how did we survive Cassie’s visit?
> She seemed keen, but demanding.
> Can I ask or would that be inappropriate?
> Juan doesn’t like the amount of money it would cost to buy her out on top of the pay. Pablo has been beating the 5th place drum even louder ever since she asked for the tour. León and abuelita went pale when Juan told them how many of Ava’s sponsors would go with her since they are actually hers, not the team’s. Made him look at yours as well.
> Guilty.
> Can’t blame you.
> So you’re telling me I need to learn to coexist with Elise?
> You should do that either way, but we’re talking to Ava.
> She’s making demands, but if we’re going to have pilots who can’t get along, might as well not be two rookies.


Carrera Condor NPCs
In Tactical Breach Wizards: Fireteam Hex (Military, Modern, Fantasy, Action-Thriller) → 6 mos ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Day 2: 05:37:52
Somewhere near Novy Jork
Krumov Province,
Republic of Polavia
Borys Skala
He took the water bottle and downed the whole thing with the speed and efficiency of a man who had grown used to downing five shots in one go as a response to getting ambushed by gunfire.

“It's called being a seer, darling. In the same way…” She poked hard at his skin with a nail, “You seem to rely on being an alcoholic to be invulnerable,”

“I’m not an alcoholic.” Borys growled, carefully holding the soup tin to not spill any when she poked at him before his voice softened for the punchline. “I’m a drunk. Alcoholics go to meetings.”

”A gift and a curse. You saw one dream. I live with it all the time.”

“Blin, maybe you should start drinking too. Ten. fifteen swigs of the good stuff and I don’t dream at all.” He said with the utter seriousness of a medical diagnosis.

”If I end up in one of yours and found out you were beaten as a child, would that help me understand why you're so fucked up?”

“No, but I’d give up a kidney to see your face if you lived through how I unlocked through one.” He shot right back, his brain actually working properly enough for wit when 15% of his blood wasn’t ethanol and the rest small man’s anger - and somehow doing so despite that state being a semi-regular occurrence for him for the past 12 years.

Sometimes he wondered to what extent his Craft protected him from alcohol induced brain damage, but then he always got tired of thinking and had a drink instead.


Borys recognized the building immediately even without the sign on the wall.

“Leave me, I’ll hold them off.” Borys pretended to brace himself against Oksana’s shoulder as she shoved him, a dumb grin on his face. “Tell babushka I love her. If you don’t know which one, tell all of them.”

“I’m walking out of here clinking like a glass recycling bin.” He turned to Rowan, “And it’s not even my birthday. Maybe Felix isn’t so bad after all.”

Borys slipped Felix’ ring back on again as they dismounted, the smell of wheat grain hitting his nose from across the factory as he scanned the parking lot for something similar to the ancient Ladas he used to break into, old enough to be started and driven without a key.

”You want us to go right where a group of PSA are having a factory tour of the nation's best vodka manufacturer?”

“You mean the world’s…” Borys snorted, “But they don’t yet know we’re here and the enemy never expects an insane plan.”

”Borys, keep point. We'll push through the loading bay and their warehouses, move into the bottling plant. See if you can break inside, and we'll follow on you. Silas, back up Borys, both of you need to break in. Oksana, keep guard on rear.”

“Davai.” Borys acknowledged, making sure Svetlana was primed and ready and Silas was behind before setting out, bounding cover to cover in what might have been a jarring display of sense and competence to the operators who only knew the ‘drunk’ part of the Polavian merc.

”Let's get moving then. Push comes to shove I can always blast a lock."

“Let’s not go loud until we have to, I hate fighting sober if I don’t have to and I will definitely need to be drunk if something catches strays here.” Borys said, probably the first time in his life that he’s been worried about collateral damage.

Entering the loading bay was easy through one of the open gates, but the bottling plant was separated by a door - locked, obviously, vodka was no trifling matter in Polavia - a row of windows allowing one to see from the warehouse into the bottling plant and vice versa. A small office sat on the other side, its own window facing where the team stood. Borys unstrapped the mirror from his backpack, leaving the latter aside to streamline his profile and setting the former on a nearby crate. He climbed up onto the box, stepped onto the mirror and fell into it like it was an open manhole, coming out of the office window feet-first, face-down on the other side with a hollow thud as he hit the ground followed by Polavian grumbling.

“Suka blyat, idi na khui…”

He picked himself up after checking his surroundings, dusting himself off and checking that the wine bottle hadn’t broken in the fall before walking over to the door, placing a hand on the crash bar and pushing the door open, hoping it wasn’t wired to an alarm. “You said something about entering my dreams, Butterfly?” He shot Oksana a grin, gesturing into the bottling plant as he waited for the rest of the team to enter. “Step right in, don’t be shy.”

”Are we passing through or stopping here?"

He carefully packed up his mirror again. “We keep moving.” The short Polavian said as he was rifling through nearby crates, visibly annoyed to find flat packed cardboard boxes instead of full bottles.
In DELTΔ HYPER (Anti-Gravity Racing, Cyberpunk/Solarpunk RP) → 6 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Sunday October 10th, 2094, 14:00
São Paulo, Brazil
The Race
Uncharacteristically, and contrary to what she said in the interview, Bea actually kept it patient. She spent the first few laps just probing the defenses. She made her move through Descida do Lago, her brand of deep lunge driven more by guts than conscious thought, unfortunately lasting just two corners until Amy came back. The weather turned foul, a tap of a programmable button on the control stick switching her HUD to the LIDAR-based wireframes that had worked so well in Japan.

”We’re gaining on the straights.”
”Overtake between Junção to Senna?”
”Seems best. Right now, focus on closing the gap, you’ll need to be close to keep her back through Senna.”
”I’ll be wide. Just need to get ahead.”
”And mind the visibility, please.”
”I can see that I can’t see, yes.” She chuckled.
”What is this, ‘I know that I know nothing?’ ” Alistair joked back.

Bea tried to keep the fight going, but she kept her charge in reserve for the long straight coming up just a few corners away, hopefully passing and using it there to put some distance between herself and Amy.
Of course Amy came back, powered by God knew what space magic.
”Gah. Fell for that.”

And just like planned, coming into Junção, Bea struck. And it didn’t work. Going wide, Bea felt the repulsors’ tug on the ship and as she tried to get out of it, the ship tore off from under her, suddenly facing the wrong way.

”Hold! Hold…” Alistair raised his voice preemptively to get through the red haze he’d learned to anticipate.
”FUCK!” She smacked the side of the canopy.
”Clear, go.” Alistair finally gave the all clear by the time 12 ships had gone past.
”Oh come on! She pushed me off.” Bea groaned.
”Copy, we’re pushing it to the stewards.”
”Don’t bother.” She snapped back, ”They did nothing in Africa, what makes you think this will be different? Steward’s room needs to grow a bloody spine fir-.”
”Red flag, red flag, turn nine.”
”Oh, come ooooon…”
”Kelly is in the repulsors, keep to the inside. Pull into the garage, we’ll check for damage while we have the chance.”
”Fans must be loving this part of the season.” She sighed, ”Not our fans, but everyone else, oh my. I don’t think there’s any damage, I have no warnings and the handling feels alright.”

The rest of the race passed without any excitement in the Carrera garage. No, that would likely come after.
”Damn it.” She sighed as she passed the finish line just outside fo points, ”Sorry, lads. Today was free points.”
”It is what it is. Ship’s in one piece at least, we’ll talk more during the debrief.”

DELTΔ HYPER
Episode 15: The Art of Racing


”Bea, two from two races to forget, that move looked like such a close call in the stewards.”

“Yeah, we had a failure in the throttle-stick linkage.” Bea sighed. ”This one’s all on me. From the cockpit, it looked doable in the moment, but after seeing the replays…” She shook her head, ”It wasn’t, this one’s inexcusable. I owe a bunch of apologies to people this time around, Amy and stewards included.
Big props to Ava for trying to pick up what I dropped, good recovery drive, and passing Jen is nothing to sneeze at either.”

”Your recovery from 14th was admirable, it looks like the mid-table of the grid are putting up more and more competitive performances. Do you still think Zygon can be caught in the constructors?”

”Well, Flo would eat any one of us for breakfast in a competitive ship and I wouldn’t call Jen in a Silver Apex ship ‘mid-table’ either.” Bea shook her head, ”But honestly, that ‘Zygon fight’ ship sailed, wrecked and sank to the bottom of the ocean when I fucked it at Hawaii. Not that you can convince the suits, they don’t see the sport, they just smell money and have a meltdown when reality disagrees with them. But that’s life.” She shrugged with a tired smile after a brief pause.
”Now, if you’ll excuse me,” She pointed over her shoulder, the usual pep returning. ”I have a well-deserved bollocking to attend.”


Bea Ward @MadBea:
"The past two races were not something anyone deserved. Not the lads and lasses at the factory, not the fans and certainly not the mechanics who had to piece the ships back together over the week and who’ll spend two days going over every square millimeter of mine. Today was a Hawaii-level cockup on my part that should not have happened. No bad luck, no external factors, just an idiot moment.

My apologies to everyone who showed up or got up early on a Sunday to watch. You did not come for this. But words don’t mean shit, so if this persists, per South American tradition, I will not press charges for getting sandals thrown at me unless an injury occurs.”

#CarreraCondorFA #FormulaAG #AGRacing SaoPauloAGP

Mate0: I’m tired, boss. Finally admitting it doesn’t score points.
ForzaGl0ria: [link]
DohnJoe: yo, dude, chill
TruckerTim: What do you expect from Italians, they have pasta water for cerebrospinal fluid.
Sol_de_Mayo: Sandals at the ready, don’t make us throw.
Briat77: Shoes flying through the air at the next race like: [link]
MissedApex: Not Bea not breaking the ship because she still hasn’t figured out the name of the next one.
GalwayGirl: Our scatterbrained bean willing a crash out of existence with indecision.
MadBea: I don’t care how hard you throw a shoe just as long as you never use those words in my vicinity ever again.
IronBeer: Sandals are cheaper than composites, maybe threats by ballistic footwear is the economical answer.
GaryFromIndiana: Don’t aim for the limbs to make sure the message gets across.
NorthWest: WALDGAARD GONE FUCK YEEEEEEES!
SmolNjol: Who hurt you?
NorthWest: He did. Me and my sanity.


Beatrix. Bellatrix. Wanna see commentators do this one.
Zero: I guess she uses the shorthand for a reason. What did she say, “Only boring people call her ‘Beatrix’ ” ?
MadBea: And Kais.
GalwayGirl: i love the implication of you being too scared to call Kais boring.
MadBea: Yes 😛

Pilots’ Group Chat

Bea Welcome to the madhouse, Bella.

Bea @Astrid Do we get told why switch now or are you sticking up for Bjorn like a good teammate?

Sunday October 10th, 2094, 23:20
London, GB
Richmond, Lauderdale Drive
Bea sat in her living room, race replay playing on the TV for the last five hours. External shots, internal shots, helmet cam, telemetry…

She should have seen that.

She would have seen it if she used the neural link like it was meant to be.

But she didn’t.

She toned it down to barebones, driving the ship like the AG equivalent of regional rally and relying on her eyes when the ship could have told her there wasn’t enough space there. León had been right to be furious this time, and unlike Pablo’s tantrum, this one came from someone who actually understood what he was talking about.

She almost picked up the phone to call Lúcio to expect changing of link parameters on Wednesday morning twice that evening. She’d just picked it up again when she received a message. From Kais…

What?

She read the messages several times, her argument with Ava replaying in her mind before replying.
> No, even went through the logs in depth with my neural link specialist. But I never trusted a lot of this tech in the first place, it’s hard to get burnt when you hardly turn the stove on.
> Let me know the time and place.

Technically she wasn’t lying. Her problem wasn’t experienced with the ship, which is what Kais asked about. Hers was more of a ’pilot issue,’ in a way. She felt like she had a lot to say to Kais, but at the same time didn’t know if she trusted him with it.

But that was a problem for future Bea to deal with. Present Bea just closed the messaging app instead of messaging Lúcio.

She’d rather race shopping trolleys than end up like Amy or Layla.


Carrera Condor NPCs
In Tactical Breach Wizards: Fireteam Hex (Military, Modern, Fantasy, Action-Thriller) → 7 mos ago Forum: Advanced Roleplay
Day 2: 00:51:20
Outside of Koley Railyard, Koley,
Libor Province,
Republic of Polavia
Borys Skala

Borys watched Felix go around the team, acting like a dog greeting its owners coming back home. “Try to lick me, Puss in Ballistic Vest, and I’ll punt you back out like a football.” He threatened the lion, the ethanol in his system and sheer Polavian levels of ‘fuck you’ making it genuinely unclear if he was being serious or not.

”The train takes about six hours. The lines are shitty. But with any luck, we can make it to Novy Jork. Worst case, we dump his ass in a zoo.”

“Maybe that’s a group retirement plan. Felix and I put together a ‘trained lion’ routine, Sana can do four second ‘Is this your card?’ tricks... We’re already a traveling fucking circus, blyat, might as well make money on it.” Borys grumbled as he made the mistake of donning the ring that Felix had given him. The train car lit up in shades of black and white like grayscale night vision goggles, he began hearing the rush of air around the box car, his stubble started to itch and he realized he had a pebble in his boot that he hadn’t been aware of before. Then he immediately took it off when he smelled his own breath, subconsciously shuffling further away from the other operators.

He was the first non-injured one to conk out, his sudden snore interrupting Oksana as she spoke, the alcohol feeling like a blanket had been pulled over his brain once the adrenaline crash arrived.


Borys woke to a grenade being tossed at his chest. The gears in his head started spinning. Grenade, Oksana, grenade, Rowan, grenade, no train, grenade. He rolled over on his stomach, grenade under his chest, yanking the wine bottle out of the pouch to protect it as he did.

…three, four, five, six, seven…

He looked at the grenade, spoon in place, pin unpulled. “Are you fucking retarded, Spoiler Alert?! Get over here, I’m gonna turn your face into fucking cheburek filling!” He thundered in the harshest Polavian prison slang imaginable, looking like he was actually about to try to beat Oksana senseless when a burst of machinegun fire from somewhere far off forced him back into the ditch.

In the moment he did as told, following a Seer’s advice and heading for the indicated exit despite that same seer being the reason he was seeing red.

Day 2: 05:35:52
Somewhere near Novy Jork
Krumov Province,
Republic of Polavia
Borys Skala

Borys woke - for real this time - late, his drunken snoring loud enough to be heard over the clatter of the train car the entire night. He disentangled himself from his robe he’d slept wrapped up in like a bedroll, greasy hair sticking out in all directions like it was trying to escape his head. “Anyone have water? I’ll suck it out of radiators, no problem, just point me to water.” The Polavian rasped, bleary eyes at half mast looking around the space, clearly looking for something - the vodka bottle Silas had found, Oksana having preemptively hidden it long before the snoring dwarf came to - before giving up and taking a sip from the wine bottle in his vest.

He shuffled over to the open side door, the cold wind helping him wake up. “Your dreams are bullshit, you know that?” He uttered in Oksana’s direction between sips of cold cabbage soup from babushka’s care package without any trace of the dream’s fury, “Seriously, who has invasive nightmares?”
In Discovery: A Broken Galaxy → 7 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
September 24, 2190
Polaris System
USF Arcadian, Bridge

After hours in hyperspace, the time to return to the real world had finally come. The transition had never been a comfortable sensation - something about crossing the boundary between dimensions always rattled her teeth - and it only got worse after her accident with the addition of the mercifully brief sensation of ice cubes being forced into every single severed nerve in Astrid’s stump. “Jump complete. Drift 89 meters port, 28 meters fore, 56 meters up.” Astrid rattled off the standard callout as she made a face. For a ship the Arcadian’s size, being 90 meters off the intended exit point was just within the margin.

Navigation computer calibrations could wait though, as Leino announced a contact almost immediately after arrival. Finding an alien ship this early felt strange at first. But then again, humanity found maybe two pieces of alien technology in the last century, so from that point of reference? It was about damn time they did.

"Weiss, make course for this ship, but be careful with it."

“Aye, sir!” She called back

She quickly plotted an in-system jump to place them within a thousand kilometers of the unknown ship. “All hands, standby for microjump.” She announced over the PA and gave a five second countdown. The Arcadian emerged from the jump with engines burning steady, its approach slow and predictable - if anyone was home, hopefully they’d see the Arcadian as unthreatening that way. But as they approached, Astrid instinctively angled the Arcadian for maximum turret coverage on the unknown ship, holding station 50 klicks from the derelict.
“Manuever complete, captain.”

As Astrid watched the Rangers depart through a camera feed, her fingers were itching to be in one of those dropships. To do stuff. To fly, for real. Instead, she opened the duty roster on her PDA and quickly checked who was in those seats she coveted.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Delphine Pelletier.
Known to the other pilots as ‘Fish’ since the minute she introduced herself, of course.
A military transport pilot who spent her entire life on Earth and in its orbit. A competent one. Never had to deal with a real emergency, but did well in sims. Extremely thorough in pre-flight checks. Bit of a pushover, though. Not command material.
If Major Sadek felt like flying, she wouldn’t have to ask twice on this trip.

The XO’s drop was flown by Lieutenant Gerhard Hauer.
But his helmet flew the callsign ‘DASH’ - Dumb Ass Stabbed Himself. Because he did.
Rock solid, former bomber pilot and later wing leader from Pomona who got a posting on Mars straight out of the Tharsis Rise Flight Academy. Hauer was Astrid’s number two on the Arcadian despite being two years her senior, Astrid having put them on the same rotation to keep a more steady hand alongside a greener pilot in case something went wrong.
Being hewn from the same slab of rock as Astrid was, Gertie would no doubt enjoy having to bus Vance around.

But not being in the flight seat didn’t mean she couldn’t do anything to help, and trusting didn’t mean she couldn’t look out for her pilots.
“Sector control, Helm. Can you clear out bay two for landing?”
“That’s on the far side of the ship, Lieutenant.” The sector controller - effectively the ship’s ATC - on duty replied.
“I’m aware. We don’t know what kind of automation the target has, if the away teams have to leave under fire, bay two would allow them to approach and land while hidden behind the Arcadian.”
“Understood, Lieutenant. We’ll notify the pilots. Sector out.”
In DELTΔ HYPER (Anti-Gravity Racing, Cyberpunk/Solarpunk RP) → 7 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
Mon 04/10 10:37 PAUL [Batt: 91%]

———— Yesterday ————
> Hey Bea! Not gonna ask what happened. Just gonna say I am here for you and I am glad you are alright. I hope things get better.
———— Today ————
> Appreciate it.
> What’s that I heard about equipment damaged in transit and why do I feel a bit responsible? 😛

Saturday October 9th, 2094, 15:35
São Paulo, Brazil
Qualifying
The ‘Evangeline’ chassis was back in use after Ava executed the one bearing Frederick’s name, HUD set to keep the floor of her ship and her legs transparent and projecting the outline of the ship on the ground so she could keep an eye out on track limits in the latter sectors more easily, FA rules disagreeing with the rally brain that demanded corner cutting whenever possible. She made good time, the ship slicing through the pouring rain to put her on provisional pole position, where she stayed until Amy happened.
”Where the bloody hell did she find that?”
”Like Thanos, she’s inevitable.”
”Two hundredths, fuck me…”
”Almost a minute over the race duration, but she doesn’t have you behind her in qualifying. You said it, she’s mortal this year. She’ll blink. We just need to be patient, no rash moves.”
”Rash moves? Me? Neveeeeer.”

DELTΔ HYPER
Episode 15: The Art of Racing


”Bea, 2nd place. How are you feeling, sandwiched between a Cassie Neves that is hunting Valkyrie in the points, and an Amy Stirling, who is going to fight hard to keep first? It seems like she set that lap as a marker, how do you think you'll respond tomorrow?”

”I like how you put articles in front of their names like they’re not even people but obstacles to deal with. Amy I’ve fought already, easy,” Bea snickered, ”It’s Cassie who’s the variable here. But this circuit handles very similarly to Silverstone, so we like our chances tomorrow. Amy’s getting put in a pressure cooker tomorrow, and the only thing that can save her is giving up or the checkered flag.” She grinned, contrary to what was discussed with Alistair.


Bea Ward @MadBea:
"[An image of three pieces of carbon from the Carrera Condor ship, two bearing the word ‘Akela’ when put together, the other featuring the scratched remains of the word ‘Frederick’]

Not that I intend to need one anytime soon, but I’m running out of names for replacement chassis’ if anyone’s got any good suggestions.”

#CarreraCondorFA #FormulaAG #AGRacing

Xinny: At this point go with stars like PS fighters were named after because at this point that’s what you’re racing.
Zero: Or elements, after Pridwen tractors.
MadBea: I’ll do that next year if the ship is garbage.
Shel1: Name the next one ‘extended warranty’ and see if it survives longer.
CrossfitCrusader: ‘Untitled,’ ‘TBD.’
Mate0: Just number them at this rate.
_PsychoFish_: Mythological figures? Just skip ‘Icarus.’
TruckerTime: First ‘Akela,’ now ‘Frederick.’ Name the next one ‘Inheritance’
MadBea: That is awful. 😀
GalwayGirl: And you still laughed. What about naming one after your grandma? Or someone who inspired you to race? (Also please stop crashing them, we’re emotionally invested now)
MadBea: 'Walter,' 'Colin...' that could work. (Also, I'm not doing it on purpose! 😀)
AndesAG: It does not escape my spying eye that one CC ship is not where the other one is.
Briat77: if you say it enough times, you’ll believe it yourself.
HotStuff: Carrera Condor. Fired. The wrong. Pilot.
MadBea: Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves there.


Carrera Condor NPCs
In Discovery: A Broken Galaxy → 7 mos ago Forum: Casual Roleplay
September 24, 2190
On Route to Polaris System - Mid Jump
USF Arcadian, Bridge

Astrid was still thinking about the brief exchange with the engineering department, having just set several custom alarms to alert her if the jump parameters deviated by half the standard margins when her PDA pinged her with a deadline reminder.

The shrink’s pop quiz.

Astrid looked over her instruments - all within limits. She glanced back at the command deck - no one paying attention to her after the Captain’s acknowledgment. It was not going away, might as well get it over with now, she thought as she opened the mental fitness questionnaire on her PDA and started skimming the questions.

3. After a high-stress shift, how quickly do you return to emotional baseline?
“Minutes with coffee, hours with a nap?” She thought with a chuckle.

6. During extended duty cycles, your ability to make complex decisions is:
“Well, gee, I wonder what human beings in general function like when not resting enough?”

9. In emergency simulations, your thinking tends to be:
Loud bang. Shuddering. Loss of power. Blood. Impact. “Pff, simulations.” She scoffed.

“You say something, LT?” Lieutenant Commander Collins leaned over from the Master Gunner’s station next to her.
“Just swearing.” Astrid answered quietly, “Fucking brain scratcher doesn’t have anything to poke, so she’s bothering us.”
“The mental fitness thing?”
“Got it in one.” She nodded.
“She’s just doing her job.” He countered.
“At the worst possible time. How hard would it have been to request our files and selection process materials before we launched?”
“She’s probably testing honesty.”
“That’s what’s pissing me off.”
“Also, she sent these out nearly a week ago.” He continued, “Why did you not do it then?”
“I was busy. Where did you find the time?”
“Did the gunnery tests, took just two days, work done. What were you doing?” He chuckled.
“Right, you only have military personnel in your department. I had to pull civvies up to standard, kicking and screaming.” She groaned, “Feels like I lived in the sim for a week.”

Astrid continued working through it. Read a question, check instruments, think of an answer, mark down the answer, move on.

12. When confined with the same individuals for long periods, you feel:
She glanced over her shoulder in the XO’s direction before answering that one.

14. When another crew member is distressed, you typically:
“That’s your job.” Astrid thought as she selected ‘Offer Limited Support’ “I’m just supposed to notice and point them to you.”

22. How open are you to unfamiliar cultures, ideas, or forms of intelligence?
“‘Suffer not the alien to live.’ Said the humans in that ridiculous ancient sci fi.” She thought with an amused grin as she put down ‘Cautious.’


FROM: LT Weiss
TO: Dr. Sorens
SUBJECT: Re: Arcadian Mental Fitness Assessment

ATTACHMENTS:
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