Podrace Skool's Out! [Darkwire]

[Das]

​

With Corporate eyes fixed on the chaos in District Seven, cracks in the glass have begun to form. Where some may see the ecumenopolis as a tinderbox ready to burn, Denon's underworld elements see little more than ample opportunity. In the aftermath of the lockdown, they take advantage of lapses in CorpSec's scrutiny however they can. Security forces are never far, but their grip is conveniently weakened. If there was ever a time to live it up without CorpSec bringing down the hammer, it's now.

Already, the downtrodden of District 11 are stirring. Old blood pumps steady in the Gemini Strand, and the cyberjockies are eager for a change of pace. Shifty elements are making their way to the bottom, ready for what might just be the craziest night in weeks. Word on the street is, "Skool's out in the Double Down."

- OBJECTIVE I
Drifters, dragsters, and all manner of adrenaline junkies have been waiting for this race for weeks. Bribes were made, favors called in, and now it's time for a good old-fashioned podrace! With a crate-load of speeder mods and a cash prize of cold, hard Credits, you'd be a fool not to put your name on the list. Outrace your friends, tear up the Double Down, and avoid the Seccers in a high-speed street race through District 11.

Spoiler: OOC Rules

What's the fun of a high-speed street race without a little risk? For each post you make, roll 1d6 to see how it will affect your next post! Your roll results will determine whether you gain or lose points, which are tracked below. Be sure to tag Das so I can record for you!
- DARKWIRE + FREELANCE RACERS

• (1) "Kark it all!" The worst happens. You crash your speeder, CorpSec catches you - whatever your worst scenario is! (Two strikes, and you're out!) (-2)
• (2) "Uh-oh! That isn't good!" A wrench in the plan, but nothing too serious. CorpSec is gaining on you, or a racer is ready to pass you. (-1)
• (3-4) "Skin in the game!" You're doing well enough for yourself. You hold your own against the racers and Seccers. (+0)
• (5) "Here I come!" Either this isn't your first race, or you're just lucky. You gain some footing over the competition. (+1)
• (6) "Gotta be quicker than that!" You're doing great! Don't let it get to your head. (+2)

Driver​	Round 1​	Round 2​	Round 3​	Round 4​	Round 5​
Hex​	4​	2 (-1)​	-	-	-
Das​	4​	5 (+1)​	-	-	-
-	-	-	-	-	-

- OBJECTIVE II
The Gemini Strand is one of the Double Down's oldest neighborhoods, with a long, hard history to match. It's a melting pot of black-market dealers, gunrunners, and cyberjunkies just itching to peel away your Creds in exchange for the best illegal tech you can find on Denon. If the races aren't your thing, you can certainly find what you're looking for in the Strand. Enjoy a social evening in the underbelly of the Double Down.

​

 

[Hex]

Tag: OPEN
Location: District 11
Objective: Race

Spoiler: Equipment

• Neon Lady suit
• ap-25i SIMP pistol
• 'Candles' Heavy particle blaster
• 'confetti' Rocket launcher
• Party Poppers (3 explosive, 3 gas)
• Chewing gum
• Lucky Girl Single engine pod racer
• Jade Void Amulet
• Dervish Knife

Spoiler: Hex dialogue colors

Poor Hex hears voices in her head

Hex speech to others
Hex speech to herself

Hexes inner voices
'...Neutral...'
'...Doubt...'
'...Anger...'
Coloured '.....' are also words that Hex can hear , but I decided not to write them to reduce clutter

This was Hex's first race in a little while and she was excited. She wore her Neon Lady Suit but currently had her helmet off as she walked down the strand looking at the different racers and listening to a myriad of different powerful engines running. Her own pod Lucky Girl had had to be repaired heavily by herself and Under Foot over the past few days, her most recent crash had ripped out several important parts. But it had been nice to work with her slightly akward friend and admirer.

'...Keep an eye out for bounty hunters...'

Hex felt a little chill downher spine, would the Jedi be looking for her still after that stuff with their leader? Perhaps? But they probably had other things to worry about.

'...Keep telling yourself that...'

She put her fingers to her lips.

Eventually she got to her pod and climbed on to it. She clipped her helmet on and checked her comms. As usual she kept the comms one an open frequency, the trash talk was too much fun to pass up, but she had the option to switch to a secure network as she wanted. Her pod was ready to go, the smaller starter engine had kept the main jet hot enough to easily ignite and she flipped the switch to do so, feeling thwg wonderful sensation between her legs of a stolen military jet engine spinning up to power.

Should be a good race, district eleven was miles from seven so it was a different route to run than she was used to on her board. She watched as the lights counted down and she prepared herself for launch. Very soon she would be moving too fast to even think about vengeful jedi wanting their pound of teenage flesh.

"Let's goooooo!"

Das

 

[Jude + Rhys]

Free. Jude was finally free.

From his brother, from their father and his machinations. From CorpSec.

Free.

He couldn't help but smile at the thought. He'd spent weeks in the Tombs beneath District Seven, hiding like a rat with the Amavikkan and the rest of Darkwire's luckier shadowrunners. If you could call that sort of life lucky. He supposed it could be worse, though. He'd lost friends in the lockdown - was still losing friends. He could have been like them. Dead, or worse.

Rhys seemed unbothered by the situation, but Jude couldn't tell if his brother's stoicism was a mask or genuine apathy. It didn't matter right now, though. All Jude could do was smile like a fool as he walked through the crowded marketplace. It was loud. Uncomfortably noisy. But he didn't care.

He was free.

- Cinder​

 

[Cinder]

Tag: Jude + Rhys

​

It felt strange to be back on Denon.

To be out and about on the streets of Denon. Cinder was doing her part to try and blend in, to hide in plain sight. Wearing a baggy hooded-sweatshirt, with said hood up, she could be anyone. Just another inky-dark figure against the neon lights. After she'd escaped the lab, she never thought this kind of freedom was possible. Her guardians, Impulse and Binary, had impressed upon her the importance of staying out of sight. At the time, it made sense; there were people after her. If she was found...

Game over.

She didn't have Pulse or Binary now. But Cinder didn't feel quite as lonely as she'd thought she'd be -- she had friends now. She even had a roommate! Das had been kind enough to take her in and let her live with her in an apartment. It felt normal, like something a regular teen would do. And there were days when Cinder almost forgot that she was not a normal teen.

Tonight, however, Cinder remembered that she was different.

As she rounded a corner, she spotted a young man. He was smiling wide. Odd.

"Why are you smiling like that?" she asked, her tone might have been slightly reproachful. People shouldn't smile like that here. Others might think they are... deranged. Though she was out in public, warning sounds went off in her mind when she thought of drawing too much attention. Cinder realized her question might have sounded strange. "Did... something good happen?"

​

 

[Jude + Rhys]

"Why are you smiling like that?"

The words snapped him out of his own mind. Was he smiling? He startled a bit at the forwardness of the question, but regained his composure quick enough to answer the girl's follow-up.

"U-uh, yeah, actually. Something good did happen." His brain told him to play it cool, stay calm and collected, but he reminded himself that he wasn't Rhys tonight. He didn't have to wear that mask. He could be as awkward and nervous as he wanted to be. Not that he wanted to be either, he just didn't have to mask his social tics.

He could be Jude.

"I'm just glad to get out for a while, see the city and stuff. W-what about you? You seem... not mad? Most people here seem pretty mad."

- Cinder​

 

[Das]

Soundtrack: Lane Boy (Instrumental)

Das' eyes were locked on the red light ahead of her, shining ominously though the windshield of her Fathier GT, but her mind was honestly drifting elsewhere. She was thinking of Cinder and what she may be up to in the Strand. Das knew her friend could handle herself if something were to happen, or if CorpSec came crashing in to ruin the fun. But still... she worried.

The crackle of the live comms channel pulled her back into focus, though. She was patched into the open network, listening for crude remarks and funny obscenities to come flying her way when she left these sleamos in the dust. All except for Hex that is. She'd play nice with her. For the most part. Das glanced over to her friend's pod, flashing her a sly smirk. This was gonna be fun!

She looked to the light again when it flashed to yellow. Her foot was nursing the pedal, the GT's engines ready to go. She spent a good bit of time tuning them up with Sam's help.

When the light turned green, she floored it.

Tags: Hex
​

 

[Neryx Vaelyr]

Neryx shifted the controls on the speeder, slowly moving from the neighborhoods titular feature and into the nearby side streets. The glow from neon lights highlighting the various parlors and shops of the Gemini Strand shifted their green skin to various shades of shadow, until they left the commercial sections and pulled into a block of tenement structures. They brought the speeder to ground level as they passed between tenements in a darkened alley, flipping the lights of their speeder off and idling for a moment.

Traffic moved higher up, but nothing seemed to be drawn towards the alley they sat in for several long moments. Satisfied (mildly) that they weren’t being followed, Neryx pulled out of the alley, remaining on the ground level. They waited a block and a half before turning the speeder’s lights back on and turning into a higher traffic street.

A few turns later, after a wide double back along their path, Neryx settled the speeder and shut it off near a closed up shop. People moved past on the ground-level walks, as well as along paths higher up. Speeders and bikes moved past at various levels as well, and the blue neon light of a nearby noodle shop shone wanly into a nearby alley.

They took a moment to check themselves out in the mirror, then slid out of the speeder and approached the alley. A meter back from the mouth of the alley was a doorway, the door seemed rusted shut, and the access pad next to it looked equally decrepit. Neryx tapped a quick sequence on the pad, then turned without waiting and sat on the hood of the speeder.

Carrying low mass cargo from point A to point B wasn’t always the most fun, but it tended to pay well when the goods got handed off simply. Very little on Denon was simple, however, so now they waited to see if the next step in the hand off would go well.

[OOC: Open for any interactions]

 

[Cinder]

Cinder continued to watch Jude + Rhys as he spoke. Satisfied with his answer, this was normally the part of the conversation where she would say something like, 'okay, goodbye,' but he asked her a question, too.

It was true, the people of Denon did have a certain 'chill.' They glared and scowled and avoided glances... or they would be quick to try and intimidate. In most cases, the outcome was the same: people just wanted to be left alone.

There was a reason for that, even if it might be different for everyone.

"Not mad," Cinder confirmed. "Just... normal."

She attempted a small smile as if to say, 'yes, completely normal.' And it wasn't like she could say she was happy. After all, what was it like to be happy, anyway? The cyborg girl blinked, unsure what to do next. As her friends knew very well... she was awkward. She moved to step past the boy one way, bumped into a passerby, and then moved to step the other way.

"I am going this way," added, motioning down the alley way towards the marketplace.

​

 

[Hex]

Tag: OPEN Das Cinder Jude + Rhys Neryx Vaelyr
Location: District 11
Objective: Race

Spoiler: Equipment

• Neon Lady suit
• ap-25i SIMP pistol
• 'Candles' Heavy particle blaster
• 'confetti' Rocket launcher
• Party Poppers (3 explosive, 3 gas)
• Chewing gum
• Lucky Girl Single engine pod racer
• Jade Void Amulet
• Dervish Knife

Spoiler: Hex dialogue colors

Poor Hex hears voices in her head

Hex speech to others
Hex speech to herself

Hexes inner voices
'...Neutral...'
'...Doubt...'
'...Anger...'
Coloured '.....' are also words that Hex can hear , but I decided not to write them to reduce clutter

Hex caught the eye of her friend Das As they both blasted off of the starting line, Hex swooped in close to the other girl and made a friendly finger gun at her, mimicking shooting her pod out. This was that kind of race, but it didn't mean Hex couldn't tease one of her nearest and dearest a little.

She probably shouldn't have took her attention off of the road though as the blue haired girl narrowly avoided a head on impact with something, perhaps a truck, maybe a shed, she was moving too fast to really notice. Her pod was performing well today, her little squib friend had done and excellent job so Hex decided to risk a bit of fun. She pulled a leaver that dumped a reactive chemical into her exhaust, leaving a glowing and sparkling trail for a few seconds behind her as she went. The other riders might not appreciate the show, bug she had a friend with a holocam nearby that would try and take some awesome shots of her.

 

[Jude + Rhys]

Jude gave her an equally awkward smile. Not that he was uncomfortable, just… unfamiliar. When he was Rhys, he felt so much confidence. He’d spoken with Corpos like they were old friends, sat through security meetings and offered his opinions, but now? He wasn’t so sure of himself. All he really knew in this moment was that Cinder seemed normal, and normal was what he wanted to be.

His half-smile grew into a full one as she tried to navigate the flow of people.

“I could go with with. I-if you want,” he added, shifting his weight from one foot to the next.

His eyes turned to the alleyway that she motioned to. He wondered if she was looking for something to buy, or just exploring the district. Tonight seemed perfect for either, even with all the commotion from the race.

- Cinder​

 

[Das]

Soundtrack: Lane Boy (Instrumental)

"Oh-ho!! Look at you, Hexy!" Das cooed into the comms. Several other racers added a few quips and jabs as the blue-haired teen boosted her pod ahead of the crowd.

Das had her own tricks, though they were much less flashy than Hex's. She reached for the after-market switch beneath the dashboard and gave it a flick. Her GT lunged forward, thrusted ahead by what was definitely an illegal amount of speed that helped close the gap between her and her friend. The tail lights glowed brightly as excess energy surged through the speeder's systems, and for a moment, Das thought the Fathier might overload.

She mashed the emergency dampener, trying to force the energy levels to even out.

"I knew I should've tested this before the race..."

Tags: Hex
​