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| - The Selene Day Race was commencing, and the starfighters had pulled up to the starting line at KDY-SFS space station. Danik himself had come out to watch the race commence, watching from holomonitors inside the comforts of his Super Star Destroyer, where the finish line awaits, far far away from the space station. A small hub had been set up just ahead of the starting line, with a light attached to it; it was currently red, though it would not remain red for long. It was nothing but open space between the starting line and the first true obstacle to the racers: an asteroid field, a good thirty units away from the starting line. It would give the racers a chance to pick up some speed before entering into the dangers of the field. As the racers get ready, the start-off clock ticks down... Not clad in his normal spacesuit, Krieg takes to his fighter. He knows it is a race today, but after hearing about the opening ceremony he isn't about to let his guard down either. He sets up his ship and flies the unmarked vessel to the starting line, where he checks over all the flight instruments. He runs though a few checklists and prepares the craft for the incredible speeds and G forces it will undergo. Watching the red light, he focuses on the flying he is about to do, ready for what lies ahead. Before getting in his ship and doing pre-flight checks, Tyler Damion, today known as Anders Kain throws his cigar down to the ground crushing it under his boot. His flight suit was jet black with a logo of KDY-SFS on the back, perhaps a sponsor for his race today. His helmet was a traditional TIE pilot helmet that had flames airbrushed down the sides and the word "FOSSIL" stenciled on the back of it. Pre-flight checks for the /Ravager/ were pretty standard as all systems were showing themselves to be at optimal levels. The man grins underneath his helmet checking the grid the race would take place across once again, was he insane?!? Maybe, he'd find out provided he survives the end and he might just grab a prize. Talia, on the other hand, is clad in her usual space suit, a variant of the Tie Interceptor's suit. While the normal suit is all in black, hers is in a bright crimson. As she saunters her way to her Squint, she whistles a little ditty, before closing the hatch over her head. Going through the startup checklist, she finishes quickly, and with the others, pulls up to the starting box, prepared to fly. Just as she enters the box, though, she waggles her wings, a sign of respect. Apparently all the fighters were ready; excellent. "Pilots and spectators, welcome to the first Selene Day Race. On the course today we have the Imperial pilot and War Shrike executive officer, Krieg Inrokana... and two civilian pilots, Talia Andorn and Anders Kain. Good luck to all the racers, and let's begin!" the announcer says over the communications frequency. The light turns from red to yellow. And finally, after a few brief seconds... turns to green, initiating the race. Krieg just sits and watches with hands on the controls and prepares to blast his fighter at the first sign of green. His cockpit is dead quiet, and when the light flicks across his controls his fighter jumps to life, burning at the hottest temperatures and ripping off the line. He cranks up the radio and the announcer, not hearing the previous statement, but knowing he is representing the empire. At all out speed, the TIE Interceptor was quite the dart. Open space, for the first leg of the race meant the same for Tyler... err Anders. The old Corellian pilot greens watching as the light changes to green his hand already slamming the throttle control down to "all out speed", "Let's see what she can do." He grins, preparing to test the limits of this ship. He checks his sensor read outs and turns his HUD on as well as his com-system just incase he needs it. The ship's ion drive comes alive flashing as the vessel darts forward at amazing speed. Talia snarls as she sees the green light hit, and as she slams her throttle to the maximum, all out, speed she finds herself slammed into the pilot's couch, the inertial compensators not quite powerful enough to handle such an early boost to high speed right from the word 'go.' As she speeds up, her growl becomes a smile, and she aims to speed past her competitors, something not entirely likely in her slightly slower starfighter. "I should have taken a Mark One. Oh well, I needed the time in this one..." All three starfighters shoot off at blinding speeds - simply covering forty units in just a few seconds of time. And straight into the asteroid field that was the first obstacle against the racers - over sixty units across, the field was mostly artificial - brought in via tractor beams from a nearby asteroid field for the race. It was heavily dense, though nothing compared to the Hoth field. Still dangerous to those flying at all-out speed. For the three pilots, all at all-out speed, they could either continue at all-out and take the risk - or decelerate to high speed. Currently, both Krieg and Tyler are evenly matched - with Talia pulling up the rear a few units behind. Now that the race has begun and Krieg's focus isn't in the jump start, he flicks to life a few of the targeting mechanisms for the other racers, and then his main screens for the asteroid field that lies ahead. He knows that it will be a challenge, but for now he needs to feel out the other pilots. The asteroid field was the first place he's going to be able to see any of their talent. His initial run has blasted him right into the asteroid field, and upon entering he taxes the fighter through the high force maneuvers required to safely get about the rocks floating here and there. With no shields to bounce off of, he knows he'll have to put a lot more skill and focus into what he is doing. Knowing now is not the time to go all out he throttles back a bit in a tight turn from an asteroid, and then pours it on just to slow a bit at the next rock. Tyler views the Asteroid field as it approaches, the old Corellian nods to himself pondering if he would slow down or not. He reluctantly hits the throttle sending vessel down to high-speeds, the ship shuddering a bit from engine strain from the all out speed, it was a very taxing maneuver. He eyes the field with some awe, besides he didn't remember an Asteroid field in Selene space before, the Empire was very creative. The Corellian dives into the asteroid field with the same reckless abandon as he does in all of his races and battles, known as Anders today he wasn't worried about his reputation being tarnished in this, he was combat tested and approved. The throttle shakes a bit again but a steady hand, wanting whiskey keeps the vessel straight and apt to maneuver. As Talia slides into the asteroid field, she keeps going at the obscenely high speeds she's been going at, though she does have to weave a little more as she flies through. Continuing her path, she notes the two other pilots in front of her, and she sighs. "I REALLY should have taken a Mark 1." Apparently, though, she is confident enough in her piloting abilities that she's keeping that throttle cranked to the max... Corkscrewing around one asteroid, /THROUGH/ a hole in another one... Both Tyler and Krieg zip through the asteroid field like it was an afternoon cruise - weaving through asteroids at near impossible speeds. Perhaps they were the smart ones, though - as poor Talia, who decides to stay at all-out speed, hits against an asteroid and nearly spins out of control, though causes no real severe damage to the ship, fortunately. All three pilots are still in the asteroid field - with Tyler and Krieg amazingly right on top of each other, with Talia lagging behind some more. Knowing full well that the other racers are going to be going through some feats here in the asteroid field Krieg doesn't distract himself to analyze, as he has the computer programmed to do that for him. In the next straight stretch he'll have a chance to floor it and observe the data, but for now he maneuvers at varying speeds to the edge of the field, almost clear of it. He prepares to punch his fighter into all out speed once he is actually clear, but for now it was important to get through this part unharmed. He keeps his focus on the flight controls and flying, as that is where his success lies. It's not that he doesn't care about the thrill of flying or the excitement of the race, it is his style of flying to be cold and impassionate when being the best pilot there was out there. Though he is beginning to notice the pilots that were about his skill level... Tyler's eyes run over the controls as he and Krieg move neck and neck through the Asteroid Field his scanners signal one of the racers has fallen seriously behind. This could be his chance to take the lead. He kicks the throttle forward once again to all out speed, and aims to pass Krieg in this leg of the race. The Corellian grins to himself, "now or nothing, glory or death." He mutters as he steadies it as he goes. This was his chance to show himself for what he was one of the best in the galaxy. The man grits his teeth, "C'mon, c'mon!" he growls angling his controls for quick departure from the field and onto the next obstacle. Instinct kicking over after the crash, Talia's fighter quickly recovers, and presses onward at around the same speed as before, adrenaline overriding sense at a glancing blow that has no doubt knocked off a few precious seconds. And against Tyler, with his natural advantage against other pilots flying tonight, that's really all it takes. All three fighters finally clear the asteroid field at breath taking speeds - Tyler at first passes by Krieg, and soon after, Talia, who had been picking up the rear, finds her skill and zooms past the Imperial pilot. However, Krieg's carefulness starts to pay off; these were machines, after all, and even machines got tired. The all-out speed undergoing by both Talia and Tyler starts to take its wear on the two Interceptors - though how far it will affect them remains to be seen. Meanwhile, however, all three pilots - Tyler, Talia, and then Krieg - clear the asteroid field and right into their next obstacle, the wonderful mine field. Of course the mines were set to low power - they wouldn't kill. But they sure as hell could ruin someone's chances for first place. Watching the other fighter next to him kick in the power, Krieg knows full well it is better to follow him through some of the more dangerous events here in the race. It gives him a sort of "drone" that goes out and brings back data, but in this case real data that tells him how difficult the course may really be. One flier has probably already seen the error of their way, but it was too late for them. In the meantime Krieg keeps his hands light at the controls and continues to setup for the next obstacle. Imperial training did not go to waste on him, but certain other aspects of his Corellian heritage only added to his abilities. Wanting that first fighter in front of him he slows down from all out speed, and slows down from high as well to cruising speed. There is no reason to hit a mine and ruin things now; it is still too early in the race for all that. His computer gives him a heads up on the other pilots, and sees that either they are playing with him or they are slowing some... The sensors come alive as he begins to do readings on the space ahead of him, "Well blast, I think the Empire has it out for them." Tyler grits his teeth and grins as he eyes the space ahead of him keeping his speed up as far as it can go. The ship was shuttering he growls at it, "Hold together you piece of junk!" He checks the other ships, and grins the pilot behind him was a clever one matching his trajectory, basically he was using him to feel out the mine field for him. Perhaps Tyler could use this to his advantage if he could get a few of those mines to key after those following in his wake. Apparently still regretting not taking the 'Mark One', whatever that means, Talia's fighter survives the stress for the moment and continues to barrel forward, as though defying the mines to try anything funny. Of course, her fighter has no idea just what the hell she's thinking, all that matters to it is the fact that it still runs. If the fighter could actually think, no doubt it would consider ejecting the pilot, as clearly that would make it go much faster - for a while. It would also probably shoot Tyler. Freaking Damions. The race continues throughout the mine field - for Krieg at least, anyway, whose has fallen behind both Talia and Tyler, who still maintains the lead. No one impacts against a mine - yet - but both Talia and Tyler continue on to the next section of the race. Up ahead, the remains of a large Star Destroyer awaits, holes ripped into it large enough for the pilots to pass through. Of course mines were set up around the perimeter of the vessel, more or less preventing the pilots from choosing any other path -but- through the Star Destroyer's hull. Seeing his counterpart slow as well, Krieg is finding this is one cleaver pilot and very talented, as his ship wasn't favoring him that much. He keeps his craft at a slower speed, entering the minefield he had done some flips and spins making the whole thing look really easy. Though this pilot he was behind now was no fool. Seeing the mines activate he figures his nemesis was probably going to try and pull a fast one on him and have him hit by the very thing he was trying to avoid. Knowing full well that this was not going to be something he was going to be able to dodge for long he needs to do something. However, Tyler shoots straight through the minefield and that wasn't something Krieg needed to worry about anymore. He presses the accelerator up to high speed and keeps his awareness ahead of the fighter. Tyler slows his ship down to high speed as he approaches the cruiser, this wasn't a healthy exercise and the difficulty of these tasks was going up. His fingers move rapidly over his navigation controls as he begins to plot a course through the vessel and tries to pinpoint a very comfortable location for his vessel. The Corellian angles his ship toward the hollowed hull, "I wish Nate was here to see this, this could be some of my best flying yet." The man yawns as he approaches the massive hulk of twisted metal before him. Possibly not wanting to tear her ship apart, even in spite of the fact that it's a rental, Taria's fighter begins to slow a bit, though is still moving at fairly high speeds. Moving too fast to really have a chance at taking out the mines and flying through some kind of safe shortcut, the fighter is directed down the path that, it seems, the course wishes it to take. However, as Talia is not Dave, she is not ejected out into the stars as a droid version of her fighter would prefer, though it is important to note that her oxygen has been cut off since taking off, which does help in that smallest of ways with the speed. Whether it be luck, the Force, or pure skill, or perhaps all three, Tyler and Talia both maneuver through the Star Destroyer's hull and slide out the other side - but only into an awaiting space battle, where the "enemy" starfighters have no problems with opening fire on the two incoming starfighters. On the other hand, Krieg has just begun his move into the Star Destroyer - still behind the two leaders by fair margin. Clearing the minefield Krieg knows the star destroyer is next, and having slowed down it has given him an appreciation of what is ahead of him and the difficulty the pilots are having traveling through it. This determines his new speed, but seeing that things are getting to the end he decides to follow the one path that is the safest and that is to follow the lead ship. But being so far behind and this was the inside of a ship; he could only hit all out speed before he slowed down to cruising speed once again. This was not going as he expected, but with the obstacles that were presented here he was doing Operational Risk Management, and to him dying in a silly race wasn't something that he wished to have happen. Maybe he was getting bitter? No, there was too much race left to happen. Besides, they would be able to take on the space battle and he could zip through! Tyler's sensors went off, dozens and dozens of foes come up on his HUD, "Oh fark, you have to be kidding me!" He checks his displays once again and decides he'd better maintain speed if he wanted to survive this, the sooner he blasts through the mock battle the better, lingering was a bad thing. "Can't shoot back, now that is a bit unnerving." Tyler under the guise of Anders mutters as he drives his vessel through a path that he feels is best for this part of the course. If he can shadow himself under the battle and slip through mostly unnoticed he would be better for it. The ion engines maintain an unnaturally bright glow as he moves at high speed trying to drive through the enemies ahead of him. Suddenly, the laws of physics remember that Talia's fighter had a bit of a run-in with an asteroid, and so in spite of the fighters, it slows down yet another level, not wanting to tear itself apart by pushing the advantage. Slow and steady may not win the race, but surely it gets one farther than a more dangerous crash will. Krieg has a bit of a slip up inside the Star Destroyer - his TIE Interceptor bounces against the bulkhead, slowing him down slightly - but not deterring him from clearing the Star Destroyer out the other side - and into the waiting space battle. And, yet again, both Tyler and Talia manage to clear their way through the space battle - though Talia loses a lot of speed in the process. Tyler, however, keeps on moving ahead - on his way to the final section of the race. It looks like a moon. But it's really a battle station. Or it’s supposed to look like the battle station, the old Death Star. It's just a small portion of it - put together quickly and cheaply. A gaping hole along the side leads straight into the superstructure, into a harrowing and suicidal charge down into the Death Star. Slamming the port stabilizer against the bulkhead of the ISD, Krieg reacted too soon to a turn and incoming fire at the exit of the run to the space battle. Making like a wounded starfighter, he slowly exits and recovers, getting his bearings for this fight. Seeing that the lead ship has taken the fire and attention of the enemy craft, he kicks his fighter into full overdrive, blasting whatever hinting that he was a lame duck to the wind as he intends to pass through this like a knife through butter. He keeps tabs on the battle and stray fire, but for the most part keeps his craft on a straight line to the next objective, attempting to gain speed and bolt through here. The port stabilizer acts up some, but he works through the problem as best he can. A Death Star, now that was nostalgic, living in terror of three of these things makes a man nervous and having flown against two of them in his early days makes him very unnerved. Tyler bites down as he fast approaches lowering his speed to cruising not even he feels comfortable trying to navigate the interior of a Death Star. He dives his vessel into the opening well ahead of the others and confident of victory. His eyes flash as the Selene star reflects of the hull of the massive vessel giving it an almost ethereal feel, "This was the weapon of choice for an old Empire, not my Empire." The man mutters as he keeps his eyes on the course and keeps his vessel steady. "That's no moon...” is what Talia might well be saying, but as her fighter cannot hear or think, it really has no idea at all. Though this is the last portion of the race, the fighter does not speed up, knowing that in such a situation, more danger than all of the previous segments combined is probably involved. Or, well, presumably knowing, as the fighter doesn't know enough to know what the pilot is thinking. Though it would probably be confused about now, if it did. Krieg successfully weaves his way through the space battle, and he comes upon the Death Star - and the reactor shaft that was not covered, awaiting him. As for the two pilots already flying down the superstructure, they get lucky - very lucky. They manage not to crash or do anything stupid - yet. But the race still had a few more surprises in store for them. They're not clear of the Death Star yet, after all. For the final part of the race, Krieg figures he should go out with a bang. Knowing full well he probably can't navigate through the death star at the highest speed the TIE has to offer, he continues on at his own peril. He knows there are doctors are around and whatnot and he didn't want to risk it before, but why not do it all now. Keeping his straight line course high fighter accelerates through high speed to what some may call ludicrous speed inside a death star. His flight path calls for the most direct route, one that will take him to the heart of his objective or kill him almost instantly. As he enters the death star the engine wash lights up the small passage, something that is awe inspiring. He figures at this speed one of two things will happen. One, he dies instantly, or two, his stabilizers rip off and the eye of the fighter continues with enough speed to finish the race, and project him ahead to win, rather like crumpling a wad of paper and throwing it next to a paper plane. The Death Star was awe inspiring even this small portion of it. Tyler looks around the vessel as he continues forward at his Cruising speed. His sensors pick up another ship moving rapidly behind but he vanishes from the sensors, "That is a pity, trying to pick up the end of the race at its most dangerous turn." The man continues moving toward the reactor core this was going to be interesting the other pilot behind him, but his ship was faster and he felt confident the Mark 1 would overcome the Mark II this day. His piloting remains conservative for the time being. So close, and yet so far. This is hardly a time for heroics, however, as one wrong move could be Talia's fighter's last, to say nothing of the meat bag that's along for the ride and presumably the cash at the end of the tunnel. Sticking to a cruising speed, every effort is made to avoid crashing, no matter who might pass the fighter as it does so. One thing that is for certain, however, is that Talia is much too busy looking forward to notice what has happened to Krieg, and in such tight confines, the sensors aren't really reading much of anything that Talia can make sense of, for the moment. Poor Krieg. A rescue ship was on its way, however, to save the downed pilot inside the Death Star's superstructure. An unfortunate turn of events - after all, Krieg was the only pilot out there representing the Galactic Empire. A real damn shame! On the other hand, Talia and Tyler are still at it - nearly out of the Death Star, with Tyler still in the lead. However, the final moment was at hand; behind the two starfighters, a fire ball begins to chase after them. Apparently the reactor had been hit. At the last moment a critical failure happens and the port stabilizer comes unhinged, and at the speeds Krieg was flying at has the wing strike the shaft wall, blowing it off in a series of sparks and explosions. The lights glint, and go out in a few places, then the inevitable spin comes in, taking his craft in a 180 to have his right stabilizer rip off, the engines blowing out and the craft becoming a giant ball that encases Krieg. All the lights fall black inside and the world becomes dark as the ships safety systems go into effect. The ball of a ship pings down the shaft, losing momentum every time it hits a wall until it comes to a deathly cold stop, everything black now, no lights, nothing. In Krieg's mind he could see the wall approach his ship right before impact, the severity of which was lost to him as he impacts his head on the back of the headrest, sending him into dreams... The flight recorder, however, was able to capture the entire event, as well as the cameras in the makeshift death star shaft. All the alarms onboard his vessel goes off as Tyler glances down at his sensors; his faceless helmet hides his emotion of anger, rage, horror, and fear. His gloved hands slam into his throttle moving the vessel to high speeds, it was time to flee he had to outrun this fireball and survive the race. The old pilot was too old to die like this, he wasn't going out in a controlled exercise, "Let's party!" he growls grabbing hold of the controls and forcing the vessel up and out of the Death Star. Talia's fighter does not like fire. In fact, despite the fact that it's not actually alive or capable of thought, it loathes fire, and though it is impossible for it to tell if the pilot agrees or not, the fighter accelerates to high speeds, suggesting that Talia may well feel the same way. But, as the race is stacked against anyone not a Jedi, at least if the fighter crashes, the inertia may well take it into the clear. The rescue ship arrives at Krieg's fighter, and Zero-G troopers deploy to latch on to the damaged TIE Interceptor and to lift Krieg out of there, and into the safety of the rescue ship. Elsewhere, however, Tyler escapes from the Death Star's superstructure ahead of the fireball, and escapes towards the finish line - the nearby awaiting Malevolence. On the other hand, the fireball catches up to Talia's fighter... and, somehow, just passes over the fighter, doing nothing more than probably scaring the hell out of the pilot inside. It was just a nice simulation - intended to scare the hell out of the racers, and nothing more. Talia escapes from the structure intact, and races towards the Malevolence. Tyler watches as the person behind him survives the fireball as well. He chuckles, "Those dirty, Imperial.." his voice trails off as he grabs the controls of his fighter even more firmly now and kicks the accelerator up to all out speed for the last leg of the race, he has this one in the bag if he can survive just a little longer. He smiles to himself, "C'mon you piece of junk and this is for pride now. I won't loose this on skill!" he grumbles, but maybe a mechanical failure. His ship races on toward the Malevolence, a very unnerving and familiar sight for the former Warlord.
- The Selene Day Race was commencing, and the starfighters had pulled up to the starting line at KDY-SFS space station. Danik himself had come out to watch the race commence, watching from holomonitors inside the comforts of his Super Star Destroyer, where the finish line awaits, far far away from the space station. A small hub had been set up just ahead of the starting line, with a light attached to it; it was currently red, though it would not remain red for long. It was nothing but open space between the starting line and the first true obstacle to the racers: an asteroid field, a good thirty units away from the starting line. It would give the racers a chance to pick up some speed before entering into the dangers of the field. As the racers get ready, the start-off clock ticks down... Not clad in his normal spacesuit, Krieg takes to his fighter. He knows it is a race today, but after hearing about the opening ceremony he isn't about to let his guard down either. He sets up his ship and flies the unmarked vessel to the starting line, where he checks over all the flight instruments. He runs though a few checklists and prepares the craft for the incredible speeds and G forces it will undergo. Watching the red light, he focuses on the flying he is about to do, ready for what lies ahead. Before getting in his ship and doing pre-flight checks, Tyler Damion, today known as Anders Kain throws his cigar down to the ground crushing it under his boot. His flight suit was jet black with a logo of KDY-SFS on the back, perhaps a sponsor for his race today. His helmet was a traditional TIE pilot helmet that had flames airbrushed down the sides and the word "FOSSIL" stenciled on the back of it. Pre-flight checks for the /Ravager/ were pretty standard as all systems were showing themselves to be at optimal levels. The man grins underneath his helmet checking the grid the race would take place across once again, was he insane?!? Maybe, he'd find out provided he survives the end and he might just grab a prize. Talia, on the other hand, is clad in her usual space suit, a variant of the Tie Interceptor's suit. While the normal suit is all in black, hers is in a bright crimson. As she saunters her way to her Squint, she whistles a little ditty, before closing the hatch over her head. Going through the startup checklist, she finishes quickly, and with the others, pulls up to the starting box, prepared to fly. Just as she enters the box, though, she waggles her wings, a sign of respect. Apparently all the fighters were ready; excellent. "Pilots and spectators, welcome to the first Selene Day Race. On the course today we have the Imperial pilot and War Shrike executive officer, Krieg Inrokana... and two civilian pilots, Talia Andorn and Anders Kain. Good luck to all the racers, and let's begin!" the announcer says over the communications frequency. The light turns from red to yellow. And finally, after a few brief seconds... turns to green, initiating the race. Krieg just sits and watches with hands on the controls and prepares to blast his fighter at the first sign of green. His cockpit is dead quiet, and when the light flicks across his controls his fighter jumps to life, burning at the hottest temperatures and ripping off the line. He cranks up the radio and the announcer, not hearing the previous statement, but knowing he is representing the empire. At all out speed, the TIE Interceptor was quite the dart. Open space, for the first leg of the race meant the same for Tyler... err Anders. The old Corellian pilot greens watching as the light changes to green his hand already slamming the throttle control down to "all out speed", "Let's see what she can do." He grins, preparing to test the limits of this ship. He checks his sensor read outs and turns his HUD on as well as his com-system just incase he needs it. The ship's ion drive comes alive flashing as the vessel darts forward at amazing speed. Talia snarls as she sees the green light hit, and as she slams her throttle to the maximum, all out, speed she finds herself slammed into the pilot's couch, the inertial compensators not quite powerful enough to handle such an early boost to high speed right from the word 'go.' As she speeds up, her growl becomes a smile, and she aims to speed past her competitors, something not entirely likely in her slightly slower starfighter. "I should have taken a Mark One. Oh well, I needed the time in this one..." All three starfighters shoot off at blinding speeds - simply covering forty units in just a few seconds of time. And straight into the asteroid field that was the first obstacle against the racers - over sixty units across, the field was mostly artificial - brought in via tractor beams from a nearby asteroid field for the race. It was heavily dense, though nothing compared to the Hoth field. Still dangerous to those flying at all-out speed. For the three pilots, all at all-out speed, they could either continue at all-out and take the risk - or decelerate to high speed. Currently, both Krieg and Tyler are evenly matched - with Talia pulling up the rear a few units behind. Now that the race has begun and Krieg's focus isn't in the jump start, he flicks to life a few of the targeting mechanisms for the other racers, and then his main screens for the asteroid field that lies ahead. He knows that it will be a challenge, but for now he needs to feel out the other pilots. The asteroid field was the first place he's going to be able to see any of their talent. His initial run has blasted him right into the asteroid field, and upon entering he taxes the fighter through the high force maneuvers required to safely get about the rocks floating here and there. With no shields to bounce off of, he knows he'll have to put a lot more skill and focus into what he is doing. Knowing now is not the time to go all out he throttles back a bit in a tight turn from an asteroid, and then pours it on just to slow a bit at the next rock. Tyler views the Asteroid field as it approaches, the old Corellian nods to himself pondering if he would slow down or not. He reluctantly hits the throttle sending vessel down to high-speeds, the ship shuddering a bit from engine strain from the all out speed, it was a very taxing maneuver. He eyes the field with some awe, besides he didn't remember an Asteroid field in Selene space before, the Empire was very creative. The Corellian dives into the asteroid field with the same reckless abandon as he does in all of his races and battles, known as Anders today he wasn't worried about his reputation being tarnished in this, he was combat tested and approved. The throttle shakes a bit again but a steady hand, wanting whiskey keeps the vessel straight and apt to maneuver. As Talia slides into the asteroid field, she keeps going at the obscenely high speeds she's been going at, though she does have to weave a little more as she flies through. Continuing her path, she notes the two other pilots in front of her, and she sighs. "I REALLY should have taken a Mark 1." Apparently, though, she is confident enough in her piloting abilities that she's keeping that throttle cranked to the max... Corkscrewing around one asteroid, /THROUGH/ a hole in another one... Both Tyler and Krieg zip through the asteroid field like it was an afternoon cruise - weaving through asteroids at near impossible speeds. Perhaps they were the smart ones, though - as poor Talia, who decides to stay at all-out speed, hits against an asteroid and nearly spins out of control, though causes no real severe damage to the ship, fortunately. All three pilots are still in the asteroid field - with Tyler and Krieg amazingly right on top of each other, with Talia lagging behind some more. Knowing full well that the other racers are going to be going through some feats here in the asteroid field Krieg doesn't distract himself to analyze, as he has the computer programmed to do that for him. In the next straight stretch he'll have a chance to floor it and observe the data, but for now he maneuvers at varying speeds to the edge of the field, almost clear of it. He prepares to punch his fighter into all out speed once he is actually clear, but for now it was important to get through this part unharmed. He keeps his focus on the flight controls and flying, as that is where his success lies. It's not that he doesn't care about the thrill of flying or the excitement of the race, it is his style of flying to be cold and impassionate when being the best pilot there was out there. Though he is beginning to notice the pilots that were about his skill level... Tyler's eyes run over the controls as he and Krieg move neck and neck through the Asteroid Field his scanners signal one of the racers has fallen seriously behind. This could be his chance to take the lead. He kicks the throttle forward once again to all out speed, and aims to pass Krieg in this leg of the race. The Corellian grins to himself, "now or nothing, glory or death." He mutters as he steadies it as he goes. This was his chance to show himself for what he was one of the best in the galaxy. The man grits his teeth, "C'mon, c'mon!" he growls angling his controls for quick departure from the field and onto the next obstacle. Instinct kicking over after the crash, Talia's fighter quickly recovers, and presses onward at around the same speed as before, adrenaline overriding sense at a glancing blow that has no doubt knocked off a few precious seconds. And against Tyler, with his natural advantage against other pilots flying tonight, that's really all it takes. All three fighters finally clear the asteroid field at breath taking speeds - Tyler at first passes by Krieg, and soon after, Talia, who had been picking up the rear, finds her skill and zooms past the Imperial pilot. However, Krieg's carefulness starts to pay off; these were machines, after all, and even machines got tired. The all-out speed undergoing by both Talia and Tyler starts to take its wear on the two Interceptors - though how far it will affect them remains to be seen. Meanwhile, however, all three pilots - Tyler, Talia, and then Krieg - clear the asteroid field and right into their next obstacle, the wonderful mine field. Of course the mines were set to low power - they wouldn't kill. But they sure as hell could ruin someone's chances for first place. Watching the other fighter next to him kick in the power, Krieg knows full well it is better to follow him through some of the more dangerous events here in the race. It gives him a sort of "drone" that goes out and brings back data, but in this case real data that tells him how difficult the course may really be. One flier has probably already seen the error of their way, but it was too late for them. In the meantime Krieg keeps his hands light at the controls and continues to setup for the next obstacle. Imperial training did not go to waste on him, but certain other aspects of his Corellian heritage only added to his abilities. Wanting that first fighter in front of him he slows down from all out speed, and slows down from high as well to cruising speed. There is no reason to hit a mine and ruin things now; it is still too early in the race for all that. His computer gives him a heads up on the other pilots, and sees that either they are playing with him or they are slowing some... The sensors come alive as he begins to do readings on the space ahead of him, "Well blast, I think the Empire has it out for them." Tyler grits his teeth and grins as he eyes the space ahead of him keeping his speed up as far as it can go. The ship was shuttering he growls at it, "Hold together you piece of junk!" He checks the other ships, and grins the pilot behind him was a clever one matching his trajectory, basically he was using him to feel out the mine field for him. Perhaps Tyler could use this to his advantage if he could get a few of those mines to key after those following in his wake. Apparently still regretting not taking the 'Mark One', whatever that means, Talia's fighter survives the stress for the moment and continues to barrel forward, as though defying the mines to try anything funny. Of course, her fighter has no idea just what the hell she's thinking, all that matters to it is the fact that it still runs. If the fighter could actually think, no doubt it would consider ejecting the pilot, as clearly that would make it go much faster - for a while. It would also probably shoot Tyler. Freaking Damions. The race continues throughout the mine field - for Krieg at least, anyway, whose has fallen behind both Talia and Tyler, who still maintains the lead. No one impacts against a mine - yet - but both Talia and Tyler continue on to the next section of the race. Up ahead, the remains of a large Star Destroyer awaits, holes ripped into it large enough for the pilots to pass through. Of course mines were set up around the perimeter of the vessel, more or less preventing the pilots from choosing any other path -but- through the Star Destroyer's hull. Seeing his counterpart slow as well, Krieg is finding this is one cleaver pilot and very talented, as his ship wasn't favoring him that much. He keeps his craft at a slower speed, entering the minefield he had done some flips and spins making the whole thing look really easy. Though this pilot he was behind now was no fool. Seeing the mines activate he figures his nemesis was probably going to try and pull a fast one on him and have him hit by the very thing he was trying to avoid. Knowing full well that this was not going to be something he was going to be able to dodge for long he needs to do something. However, Tyler shoots straight through the minefield and that wasn't something Krieg needed to worry about anymore. He presses the accelerator up to high speed and keeps his awareness ahead of the fighter. Tyler slows his ship down to high speed as he approaches the cruiser, this wasn't a healthy exercise and the difficulty of these tasks was going up. His fingers move rapidly over his navigation controls as he begins to plot a course through the vessel and tries to pinpoint a very comfortable location for his vessel. The Corellian angles his ship toward the hollowed hull, "I wish Nate was here to see this, this could be some of my best flying yet." The man yawns as he approaches the massive hulk of twisted metal before him. Possibly not wanting to tear her ship apart, even in spite of the fact that it's a rental, Taria's fighter begins to slow a bit, though is still moving at fairly high speeds. Moving too fast to really have a chance at taking out the mines and flying through some kind of safe shortcut, the fighter is directed down the path that, it seems, the course wishes it to take. However, as Talia is not Dave, she is not ejected out into the stars as a droid version of her fighter would prefer, though it is important to note that her oxygen has been cut off since taking off, which does help in that smallest of ways with the speed. Whether it be luck, the Force, or pure skill, or perhaps all three, Tyler and Talia both maneuver through the Star Destroyer's hull and slide out the other side - but only into an awaiting space battle, where the "enemy" starfighters have no problems with opening fire on the two incoming starfighters. On the other hand, Krieg has just begun his move into the Star Destroyer - still behind the two leaders by fair margin. Clearing the minefield Krieg knows the star destroyer is next, and having slowed down it has given him an appreciation of what is ahead of him and the difficulty the pilots are having traveling through it. This determines his new speed, but seeing that things are getting to the end he decides to follow the one path that is the safest and that is to follow the lead ship. But being so far behind and this was the inside of a ship; he could only hit all out speed before he slowed down to cruising speed once again. This was not going as he expected, but with the obstacles that were presented here he was doing Operational Risk Management, and to him dying in a silly race wasn't something that he wished to have happen. Maybe he was getting bitter? No, there was too much race left to happen. Besides, they would be able to take on the space battle and he could zip through! Tyler's sensors went off, dozens and dozens of foes come up on his HUD, "Oh fark, you have to be kidding me!" He checks his displays once again and decides he'd better maintain speed if he wanted to survive this, the sooner he blasts through the mock battle the better, lingering was a bad thing. "Can't shoot back, now that is a bit unnerving." Tyler under the guise of Anders mutters as he drives his vessel through a path that he feels is best for this part of the course. If he can shadow himself under the battle and slip through mostly unnoticed he would be better for it. The ion engines maintain an unnaturally bright glow as he moves at high speed trying to drive through the enemies ahead of him. Suddenly, the laws of physics remember that Talia's fighter had a bit of a run-in with an asteroid, and so in spite of the fighters, it slows down yet another level, not wanting to tear itself apart by pushing the advantage. Slow and steady may not win the race, but surely it gets one farther than a more dangerous crash will. Krieg has a bit of a slip up inside the Star Destroyer - his TIE Interceptor bounces against the bulkhead, slowing him down slightly - but not deterring him from clearing the Star Destroyer out the other side - and into the waiting space battle. And, yet again, both Tyler and Talia manage to clear their way through the space battle - though Talia loses a lot of speed in the process. Tyler, however, keeps on moving ahead - on his way to the final section of the race. It looks like a moon. But it's really a battle station. Or it’s supposed to look like the battle station, the old Death Star. It's just a small portion of it - put together quickly and cheaply. A gaping hole along the side leads straight into the superstructure, into a harrowing and suicidal charge down into the Death Star. Slamming the port stabilizer against the bulkhead of the ISD, Krieg reacted too soon to a turn and incoming fire at the exit of the run to the space battle. Making like a wounded starfighter, he slowly exits and recovers, getting his bearings for this fight. Seeing that the lead ship has taken the fire and attention of the enemy craft, he kicks his fighter into full overdrive, blasting whatever hinting that he was a lame duck to the wind as he intends to pass through this like a knife through butter. He keeps tabs on the battle and stray fire, but for the most part keeps his craft on a straight line to the next objective, attempting to gain speed and bolt through here. The port stabilizer acts up some, but he works through the problem as best he can. A Death Star, now that was nostalgic, living in terror of three of these things makes a man nervous and having flown against two of them in his early days makes him very unnerved. Tyler bites down as he fast approaches lowering his speed to cruising not even he feels comfortable trying to navigate the interior of a Death Star. He dives his vessel into the opening well ahead of the others and confident of victory. His eyes flash as the Selene star reflects of the hull of the massive vessel giving it an almost ethereal feel, "This was the weapon of choice for an old Empire, not my Empire." The man mutters as he keeps his eyes on the course and keeps his vessel steady. "That's no moon...” is what Talia might well be saying, but as her fighter cannot hear or think, it really has no idea at all. Though this is the last portion of the race, the fighter does not speed up, knowing that in such a situation, more danger than all of the previous segments combined is probably involved. Or, well, presumably knowing, as the fighter doesn't know enough to know what the pilot is thinking. Though it would probably be confused about now, if it did. Krieg successfully weaves his way through the space battle, and he comes upon the Death Star - and the reactor shaft that was not covered, awaiting him. As for the two pilots already flying down the superstructure, they get lucky - very lucky. They manage not to crash or do anything stupid - yet. But the race still had a few more surprises in store for them. They're not clear of the Death Star yet, after all. For the final part of the race, Krieg figures he should go out with a bang. Knowing full well he probably can't navigate through the death star at the highest speed the TIE has to offer, he continues on at his own peril. He knows there are doctors are around and whatnot and he didn't want to risk it before, but why not do it all now. Keeping his straight line course high fighter accelerates through high speed to what some may call ludicrous speed inside a death star. His flight path calls for the most direct route, one that will take him to the heart of his objective or kill him almost instantly. As he enters the death star the engine wash lights up the small passage, something that is awe inspiring. He figures at this speed one of two things will happen. One, he dies instantly, or two, his stabilizers rip off and the eye of the fighter continues with enough speed to finish the race, and project him ahead to win, rather like crumpling a wad of paper and throwing it next to a paper plane. The Death Star was awe inspiring even this small portion of it. Tyler looks around the vessel as he continues forward at his Cruising speed. His sensors pick up another ship moving rapidly behind but he vanishes from the sensors, "That is a pity, trying to pick up the end of the race at its most dangerous turn." The man continues moving toward the reactor core this was going to be interesting the other pilot behind him, but his ship was faster and he felt confident the Mark 1 would overcome the Mark II this day. His piloting remains conservative for the time being. So close, and yet so far. This is hardly a time for heroics, however, as one wrong move could be Talia's fighter's last, to say nothing of the meat bag that's along for the ride and presumably the cash at the end of the tunnel. Sticking to a cruising speed, every effort is made to avoid crashing, no matter who might pass the fighter as it does so. One thing that is for certain, however, is that Talia is much too busy looking forward to notice what has happened to Krieg, and in such tight confines, the sensors aren't really reading much of anything that Talia can make sense of, for the moment. Poor Krieg. A rescue ship was on its way, however, to save the downed pilot inside the Death Star's superstructure. An unfortunate turn of events - after all, Krieg was the only pilot out there representing the Galactic Empire. A real damn shame! On the other hand, Talia and Tyler are still at it - nearly out of the Death Star, with Tyler still in the lead. However, the final moment was at hand; behind the two starfighters, a fire ball begins to chase after them. Apparently the reactor had been hit. At the last moment a critical failure happens and the port stabilizer comes unhinged, and at the speeds Krieg was flying at has the wing strike the shaft wall, blowing it off in a series of sparks and explosions. The lights glint, and go out in a few places, then the inevitable spin comes in, taking his craft in a 180 to have his right stabilizer rip off, the engines blowing out and the craft becoming a giant ball that encases Krieg. All the lights fall black inside and the world becomes dark as the ships safety systems go into effect. The ball of a ship pings down the shaft, losing momentum every time it hits a wall until it comes to a deathly cold stop, everything black now, no lights, nothing. In Krieg's mind he could see the wall approach his ship right before impact, the severity of which was lost to him as he impacts his head on the back of the headrest, sending him into dreams... The flight recorder, however, was able to capture the entire event, as well as the cameras in the makeshift death star shaft. All the alarms onboard his vessel goes off as Tyler glances down at his sensors; his faceless helmet hides his emotion of anger, rage, horror, and fear. His gloved hands slam into his throttle moving the vessel to high speeds, it was time to flee he had to outrun this fireball and survive the race. The old pilot was too old to die like this, he wasn't going out in a controlled exercise, "Let's party!" he growls grabbing hold of the controls and forcing the vessel up and out of the Death Star. Talia's fighter does not like fire. In fact, despite the fact that it's not actually alive or capable of thought, it loathes fire, and though it is impossible for it to tell if the pilot agrees or not, the fighter accelerates to high speeds, suggesting that Talia may well feel the same way. But, as the race is stacked against anyone not a Jedi, at least if the fighter crashes, the inertia may well take it into the clear. The rescue ship arrives at Krieg's fighter, and Zero-G troopers deploy to latch on to the damaged TIE Interceptor and to lift Krieg out of there, and into the safety of the rescue ship. Elsewhere, however, Tyler escapes from the Death Star's superstructure ahead of the fireball, and escapes towards the finish line - the nearby awaiting Malevolence. On the other hand, the fireball catches up to Talia's fighter... and, somehow, just passes over the fighter, doing nothing more than probably scaring the hell out of the pilot inside. It was just a nice simulation - intended to scare the hell out of the racers, and nothing more. Talia escapes from the structure intact, and races towards the Malevolence. Tyler watches as the person behind him survives the fireball as well. He chuckles, "Those dirty, Imperial.." his voice trails off as he grabs the controls of his fighter even more firmly now and kicks the accelerator up to all out speed for the last leg of the race, he has this one in the bag if he can survive just a little longer. He smiles to himself, "C'mon you piece of junk and this is for pride now. I won't loose this on skill!" he grumbles, but maybe a mechanical failure. His ship races on toward the Malevolence, a very unnerving and familiar sight for the former Warlord. From SW1ki, a Wikia wiki.
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