The Grand Adventure

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He kept it close, as close as possible without winning. It was actually a lot harder than he thought it would be. He had thought that it would be easier, but apparently losing on purpose was just as difficult as winning. He could see every mistake they made, he could see every wrong move, and it took all of him not to exploit it.

Winning would have been easy, but...he couldn't.

His hands twisted around the throttle, his fingers tightening again and letting loose in perfect moments to keep at least one ahead of him at all times. They bucked and weaved, trying to ram him or overtake him. Kurt bit his lip, trying his best not to push the podracer past the two idiots and overtake them. It was hard, hard not to do what came so naturally to him. His eyes began to set on the finish line, just a few kilometers away. The race had gone by in moments...or perhaps it had just felt that way. His heart began to pound, his head felt light.

Was he really going to do this?

Lose?

Yes. Yes he would do it. He would do it so Kaile could be safe, so she would be alright. He was big enough for that...wasn't he? His hands tightened on the throttle again, his arms flexing as he tried not to push himself to do what came so naturally.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

Entering the frequency was easy. Flashing the Devaronian to keep the comm even easier. It was an odd mix of tying her shirt and trying to talk through the comm unit as she wove her way towards the front of the Podracing stands. The crowd was thick. Already folks were wondering what was going on. Why was Kurt in second place? Did he really lose his touch? There were already some groans and complaints, while others were insisting that just wait.

In hindsight, maybe Kaile shouldn't have simply barged and yelled out Kurt's name through the comm. But with the overhead announcer saying that the podracers were closing in on the last few kilometers and that Kurt was in third place, well.. made Kaile a bit overenthusiastic and desperate.

"KURT DON'T YOU DARE LOSE!"

She knew he would hear her through his ear bud, the one he constantly used to listen to music on his runs.

"I'm out! I got out! DON'T GORRAM LOSE THE RACE!"

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

The voice nearly made him jump out of his seat. The music that had been playing was replaced with Kaile's loud screaming voice in his ear, her urging and telling that she was safe. His eyes crossed for a moment, his brain stalled, he tried to make sense of what had just been said, tried to decode it.

Then it struck him.

She was okay.

She was out.

How?

For a brief moment Kurt found himself questioning, troubled, and even slightly confused. Then the second realization struck him, the fact that she had told him to win. The odd listless feeling in his chest drifted away, the strange thoughts of not being a champion anymore disappeared, and everything once again became clear. His lips turned up into a wide grin, his hands fastened on the throttles of the podracer, and his arms flexed as he pushed the levers forward.

He moved like a rocket again, bursting forward with a sudden burst of speed as he weaved about great columns of stone. The two men ahead of him seemed to see him coming, they tried to stop him, tried to get in front of him, but they had made too many mistakes. One over corrected on a turn, heading too far to the right and Kurt went sailing to the left. His podracer pushed forward and passed the other, leaving just the one. The other pilot looked back, gauging speed and distance, but he wasn't paying attention to his front. A boulder, not a large one struck out of the ground. His left engine pod struck it, the thrusters for it stalling for half a second.

It was all Kurt needed.

That half a second passed by, and Kurt pressed his pod forward and to the left. His engine pressed against the mans cockpit, pushing him further to the left and giving his podracer momentum in that direction. Almost instantly the man veered to the left, pulling off the circuit and into the rocky plains. Kurt grinned, then pressed the afterburners, his engines roaring loudly as he traveled the last few hundred meters and across the finish line.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

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Kurt Meyer kav boskven ghki prekae sol kae!! Nok dhuv heki mae plei! Ygi kav ghaini wokel...​

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The crowd was going wild, a great vast cheer blazing through the entire complex as Kurt's pod sped through the finish line, winning the race and setting the Bloodhound gang back several thousands of credits. Oh they were ticked!

However, if they were looking at getting revenge at Kurt via Kaile, they would find the girl missing and the window open. That would show them!

The winnings would be a combination of credits and a small stone box that had been given to the pool of winnings. The gang had assumed that they would get the artifact back with the race rigged. That wasn't the case any more.

So it was the ironies of ironies that the Holocron of Valkorian, The Emperor of the Sith, Darth Vitiate, would come into possession of one of the least touched by the Force individuals in the 'Verse.

Who, at Kaile's pleading urging, now had a very interesting paperweight to decorate the Mesa.