The announcer’s voiced boomed over the recently installed speakers. “Hello Yuanming!”
The crowd that had set upon the closed streets of the Vizsla resort to see the first annual Kote Ky'ram swoop race cheered with excitement.
“My name is Gef Jordan and I’ll be your announcer for this years event! This year we have four contestants ready to duke it out on the track and make the others eat their exhaust!” Another roar of applause and cheering came from the crowd.
“Gentleman! Start your engines!”
TuQ sat in the pilots seat of his loaner swoop, looking around at the controls before him. He had ridden a swoop or two in his time but he had never raced one in an official capacity, at least he was pretty sure street racing a stolen swoop on the back streets of Nar Shadaa didn’t count as official…he’d have to check with the organizers after he won the race.
The roar of the gathered crowd washed over him, filling him with a level of excitement he hadn’t felt in quite some time. As the announcer’s voice came through the speakers he snapped his attention back to the controls before him, flicking the safety switches and checking dials before pushing the shiny red button in the centre of the console. The engines roared to life, a deep rumble reverberated through the swoop shaking the Kel Dor to his bones. He tested the throttle response, gingerly at first but as the crowd cheered louder he twisted harder and harder egging the onlookers on. It wasn’t the fanciest swoop he had ever seen, but it would do. Oh boy, would it do.
Looking around he got his first good look at his fellow racers, of the three competitors he recognized only one of them, his Plagueian friend Tahiri’s brother, Ro-Tahn. He revved his engine to get the attention of the two he did not recognize.
“Hey!” he shouted out while pointing behind him. “You’ll have to let me know what my swoop looks like from behind! You know…because that’s all you’ll be seeing through the race.”
He then locked eyes with Tahiri’s brother, pointing back and forth between Ro-Tahn and himself furiously nodding his head. Hopefully he got the message.
Ro-Tahn grinned while he enthusiastically waved to the roaring crowds. Taking a deep breath in, he could make out all of the different scents, mixing and creating the intoxicating euphoria that he loved, sweat, dust, and oil. The tall Togruta loved swoop racing, it gave a different sort of adrenaline than other races did.
He had already made a couple of exterior checks, to make sure all flaps were adjusted properly, no loose ones, and nothing was too out of place. After he was satisfied with it, although he really wished he had been able to go and get his swoop bike off of Nar Shaddaa, there simply wouldn’t have been enough time to retrieve it. So he would have to deal with the one he’d been assigned. As he sat down on the seat and made a quick check of where everything was on this model, his smile turned to a grin as he recognized the configuration of the controls. Deftly flipping switches and turning a few dials, he started the engine, revving it a few times, smiling as it got the crowd hyped up further.
Looking around to assess the other three racers, the only one he recognized was a friend of Tahiri’s, and the current Quaestor of House Tyranus, TuQ’uan Varick. Hearing the Mercenary’s shout out to the other racers, he met the man’s gaze, as the Kel Dor emphatically signaled to Ro-Tahn. Nodding his affirmation, he glanced at the other two, revving his engine along with TuQ, grinning from montral to montral.
What did Anders really know anyways? He’ll show him. Draca was more than capable of making his own choices without there being consequences to them.
Although, this did feel very different to his podracing hologames. The roar of the crowd, the sun beating down upon his flesh, the smell of exhaust from both his swoop bike and those around them. Nerves crept in, his heart pounding in his chest. What had he done?
No! No! No! No! No! No! No!
He was going to prove Anders wrong. The Force would be with him. He’d see it. They would all see it.
Looking around, he recognised absolutely nobody. There was a Kel Dor wearing the fanciest hat Draca had ever seen.
He wanted one. The guy clearly had style.
Then a small Togruta that Draca felt the presence of the Dark Side in. A Sith maybe? That complicated things. Then there was one more, another Force user from what he could gather.
He revved his engine alongside theirs. He had a plan.
Keep your head down, look forward, and win!
He couldn’t stop the small, excited smile that graced his face. He started bouncing in his seat. He was eager to get going.
This was going to be good…
Kah’ri couldn’t deny the guttural anticipation that rose up inside him as he walked out onto the track. The announcer’s voice echoed through the valley of onlookers and mixed incongruently with their cheers of excitement. The Savant lifted his head to see the holocams and watch towers, noting the wealthiest individuals in their own viewing areas. It reminded him of the events his parents would bring him to as a child - most of which were too boring for his liking. This, however, was always his thing. Fast-moving vehicles operated by pilots with no time for anything but sheer instinct and reflex. This was fun. The feeling in his stomach surged with excitement as his mind visualized the coming race.
Kah'ri inspected the swoop he was assigned to, checking the flaps and checking the thruster model. Climbing into the cockpit, he grabbed a helmet off of one of the steering arms, putting it on as he nodded at the swoop’s control scheme. There was uneasiness in the air, but it was difficult to place. The Firrerreo looked around for the source.
The engines of a swoop roared, drawing his attention to its Kel Dor pilot. He sensed no Force sensitivity in the driver, but there was definitely a confidence which posed real opposition. He looked at the other two pilots, a Togruta and a Zabrak, feeling strength in each that he recognized as the Force. They were opposites, though. Kah'ri’s time among the Sith of Scholae Palatinae made it very easy to tell the Togruta’s strength came from the Dark Side, but he sensed the Light in the Zabrak, which comforted the Savant. It was rare for him to see a Light Side user.
The Sith started his engine followed by the Zabrak, the crowd cheering each time. The Kel Dor said something, but he couldn’t understand anything over the engines. ‘This is it,’ he thought. He pressed the ignition and the swoop gave an aggressive roar, vibrating Kah'ri to his bones. Excitement rose in him and he pulled down his goggles.
“Lets do this.”
The idling of the swoop bikes rumbled, the crowd growing ever more excited as the moments passed by.
“Gentlemen. Let’s have a good, clean,” Gef chuckled as the crowed booed before adding more excitement to his voice, “entertaining race!” The boos shifted to cheers once more, the the start signal before the racers lighting its top light red.
Then yellow.
Then green.
“And off they go folks, Happy Kote Ky’ram and let’s hope we don’t have to scrape them off the pavement.” Another laugh insinuating his sarcasm followed.
Kah’ri closed his eyes, tuning out the sound of the crowd and the roar of the engine, his focus on where he was and what he was doing. He waited. Sensing a moment ahead, he opened his eyes and throttled the engines, taking off as the sound of the lap counter released his swoop from its captivity.
The path ahead was clear of other racers and no one rode next to him. He was in the lead. As quickly as he noticed, he banished the thought, seeing it only as a distraction and refused to let the fear of losing be the reason for his loss. He shifted the turbos into second position.
The road had several small turns before he was clear of the city limits. Something in the distance caught his attention. He couldn’t quite make out what it was, but it was a ways off and he was headed right for it. “Let’s see what this thing can do!” He shouted to the machine as he shifted the turbos to third position…
Even with the sun already high in the sky, Ro-Tahn instantly saw the flash of green as he stared down the race track, his reflexes kicking in, almost within the blink of an eye. His whole body tingled as he opened the throttle and raced down the track, keeping it tight as the streets were narrow and winding, he didn’t want to wreck right out of the gate. One of the other racers had already pulled ahead and another one was beside him on the left. Glancing over and seeing that the other racer wasn’t TuQ, and was in fact the young looking Zabrak, he grinned, watching how the racer ahead disappeared around the next turn. Now the fun begins.
Keeping as neck and neck as possible with the Zabrak, as the right hand turn was coming up fast. He kept pace, slowing just a little to go around the turn smoothly, he could tell that the other racer was probably going to use the straight away right after the turn to try and leap ahead. As they raced into the turn, Ro-Tahn on the inside, taking it tight, before hitting his second thruster suddenly. The sudden burst of speed caused him to lurch forward and took the other racer by surprise, as there was barely a straight away before the track took a left turn. The Togruta clenched his jaw as he hit a button and flipped switch, knowing that he was one wrong move and mere seconds away from a possible collision. Throttling it forward, he drifted into the turn and then immediately hit the thruster again, pulling ahead just as the track straightened out to beyond the city.
“Whoooo! Now that’s what I’m talking about! Let’s GO!” grinning, he looked ahead and spotted where the track was headed. “Alright, let’s see what this baby’s got.”
Draca went wide-eyed as he felt a sudden pump crash into his bikes thrusters. The Togruta was trying to run him off of the track! How dare he!
Draca was going to do that first!
The young Zabraki Jedi bit his bottom lip, remembering Anders’ teachings. He always said they applied everywhere.
‘Study your opponents. Discover their strengths and weaknesses, then exploit them.’
He took the turn at a wider angle than the Togruta did, but was faster on the throttle than they were. The two raced side by side as the track straightened out. Draca felt the rush of wind in his hair, the whooshing of engines. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling ear to ear.
“WOOHOO!” He wailed.
If only Anders could see him now.
TuQ held his breath. He hadn’t realized he had stopped breathing but the anticipation was killing him.
Red.
Yellow.
Green!!
TuQ opened the throttle wide and….the swoop coughed and lurched.
“Frak!!”
Frustration swelled. With his open palm, TuQ smacked the dash twice before the swoop launched forward pressing Varick back into his seat. He could see the racers ahead of him round the first corner, first place was no contest but second place was a heated battle as the swoops bashed up against one another. He was content to hold back and let those two eliminate each other from the race, but he had to catch up in order to seize his opportunity.
As he approached the first turn he had a plan. He knew it would be risky, but every millisecond would count here. Hugging the edge of the course on the inside of the curve TuQ cut the throttle as the track began its turn, slammed in the brakes and cranked the steering to the side and then, as the swoop began its arc around the corner he hammered on the throttle once more drifting the swoop through bend.
As the race progressed Korvis couldn’t help but smile. Not only had this been a long time in the planning the Kote Ky’ram was everything he had hoped. The track layout started off fairly tame.A straight stretch followed by a wide sweeping turn. Now however they would be entering a hairpin turn in the middle of the construction zone. Scaffolding, construction ramps and workers were everywhere. Hopefully more chaos ensued as he had already placed his wager on the young Draca.
And it turned out that it was faith well placed. Draca blew a raspberry to Ro-Tahn as he sped by. Perhaps it was begginers luck, nerves of steel, or foolhardy recklessness, but he put his foot down and accelerated past Kah'ri, right into first place.
“YEAH!” Draca wailed, pumping his fist into the air. He practically hopped on his seat from pure joy and excitement. “I’M WINNING! EAT MY SPACE DUST!”
Ro-Tahn was taken aback for just a moment, falling behind a couple meters before grinning and pushing the throttle forward, zooming after the young Zabrak.
“This kid’s got spunk,” flipping a switch, the Togruta nodded his head. “Now, this competition is getting interesting.”
Waiting for just the right second, and cutting the thrusters to save wear and overheating, he hit the first set of turbos. The kick back was a few seconds more than he’d like, and was thrown back in his seat for a moment as his swoop launched forward. Kark! That’s a little off than my swoop. But I shouldn’t have expected this swoop to be even anywhere close to the preciseness of mine. No time to think about that. Do what big sister said to always do, adapt to the situation, and learn from your surroundings.
Focusing, he kept a tight grip on the controls, swinging out to the right making sure he didn’t crash right into the back end of the lead racer, who just got passed by the young Zabrak. Knowing that the turbo thrusters had approximately 30 seconds of error on how long they lasted on his model, Ro-Tahn had to make sure he made the most of it. Glancing over at the other racer, he smiled as he sped by the astonished Human, and got ready to switch back to his thrusters a second or two before the turbos cut out. Heading into the construction zone, he had to be very careful, or else he’d never hear the end of it from Tahiri.
Pulling out of the first corner, TuQ brought up the rear of the pack, to his utter shock the positions had changed around completely. Instead of Ro-Tahn and the young Jedi battling it out he saw the rear end the Firrerreo who should be in first place was now in third.
Well that’s an unexpected surprise, he thought to himself. The Kel Dor didn’t have time to really dwell on that thought as the track curved back on itself into a hairpin turn. Scaffolding lined the track, construction workers paused their work to shout cheers for their favourite racers and obscenities at their least favourites.
Pushing his swoop to its limit, TuQ was gaining on Kah’ri quickly, the hairpin turn getting closer and closer. The Kel Dor did some quick calculations as he threw his swoop into the corner, attempting to pass his opponent on the inside of the turn. As the two racers came up side by side approaching the turn the swoops collided, metal scrapped on metal before TuQ hammered on the throttle once again pulling out just ahead of his opponent. He never had been very good at math.
Wind weighed down on Kah’ri’s face as his swoop cut through the cityscape. The buildings on either side of him smeared together as he past them, the only clear sight being the construction zone and hairpin corner he rapidly approached. Prepping for the turn, Kah’ri shifted the swoop back to second position. A loud pop came from the throttle arms, his controls going limp as the swoop slowed. Panic replaced the confidence he held moments ago and Kah’ri began frantically reaching for the disconnected cable.
ZOOM
A racer passed him with more speed than Kah’ri would have used for the upcoming turn. The turn. THE TURN! Realizing he had no steering the direness of the situation set in, the threat of his own mortality steadying his head. He reached out again, focusing his feelings and grasping the loose cable with the Force.
ZOOM
The second racer passed him. Kah’ri guided the cable back to its seating position, bending it in place as tension returned to the throttle controls. Without hesitation, he threw the controls forward and his swoop took off toward the turn. He felt the third racer approaching faster than Kah’ri could accelerate. As they entered the turn, the Kel Dor scraped Kah’ri’s bike, stealing the inside of the turn and taking his position in third.
Kah’ri caught laughing and distraught cries from onlookers in the scaffolding as he passed through the turn. Embarrassed by the display and angered by its cause, the Firrerreo held the control handles as if they were fused to his hands. He let out an animalistic growl that echoed above the volume of the swoop engines, his emerald eyes fixed on the racers ahead.
“That a boy,” Korvis cheered as Draca took over first place with a gutsy move. “Kid has some fight in him at least.”
Shimrah was standing next to Korvis watching the monitors as well. Their wager was not going well at the moment. “Still a long way to go in the race.” he replied through his helmet.
He was right and Korvis knew it. Still, it was worth something at least for Draca to put in a good showing early. He wasn’t two turns back running into everything.
Coming up onto turn 3 however there was a back alley short cut that Korvis was hoping Draca would see in time to take and increase his lead. Whoever was skilled enough or lucky enough to find it would be assured of taking over the top spot if he didn’t.
“Next drink is on me if Draca loses first place this turn.” the consul said.
“Bet!” was the only reply he got.
Ro-Tahn’s sharp eyes searched for anything that could, or would, be used as a trap or hazard, especially right before the hairpin turn. He knew all too well that some racers liked to pay off others to cause an accident, to keep their lead or to gain the lead. Credits were always a good driving force in these races, whether it was bets, the racer paying off debts, or just being plain ruthless. Even though the young Togruta gave his fellow Brotherhood members the benefit of the doubt, he didn’t want to take any chances of getting in a mishap on the track, and he would make this as fair a race as his fellow racers would.
As his eyes searched, he saw a larger than normal gap within the construction scaffolding to his left up ahead. Could that be an alleyway to the other side? Or is it just a gap in the buildings and just a dead end? There were only seconds for him to make a decision before he would be passing the gap. Setting his jaw, he engaged the brakes, and turned the bike sideways, leaning to his left as much as possible to keep from flipping over from the friction, as he drifted sideways down the track. Looking straight ahead, waiting till the moment just as the gap came into his peripheral vision, his heart thumped hard in his chest as he saw the sliver of light coming from the other side.
Disengaging the brakes, he threw himself upright and punched the thrusters forward, the back end of his swoop fishtailing slightly as it adjusted to being jerked around. He sped headlong down the gap, braking only slightly as he exited the shortcut, glancing to his right as he turned left back onto the track. Seeing all three of his fellow racers coming around the turn, he quickly realized that the gap was a shortcut, and that he was now in the lead. A wide grin crossed his face as he waved back at the others before speeding ahead towards the next turn.
Draca didn’t realise what had happened until he saw the Togrura directly in front of him. One moment he was confident that he was winning, and then the next he… wasn’t.
Worst still was the fact that his fellow competitors behind him were catching up. Even the Kel Dor with the oddly fashionable hat that had somehow not blown off in the wind.
Seriously, how had he not lost it yet?
He saw the Togruta mocking him as he beelined towards the next turn. Draca smirked.
Oh, it was on. It was on like famous podracer Don'kay C'ong.
He accelerated, determined to catch up to him. With any luck, maybe he could overtake at the next hairpin?
Kah’ri’s focus was dead ahead after the Kel Dor that passed him. There was NO way that former ‘Urram, the Swift’ was going to be outmatched by rookies, much less come in last. Swoops zoomed into the corner, one of them ducking into an alleyway clearly meant to be a shortcut. His pride wouldn’t let him take the shortcut; He’d win the old-fashioned way.
His swoop clearly wasn’t tuned for a straightaway advantage, but it might be better suited to turn-overtakes. He leaned into the turn, catching the racer ahead of him on the inside. The two looked at each other momentarily, Kah’ri shooting a stern look as he stole third place. They three on the track came out of the turn as the missing racer barreled out of the alleyway from earlier, now in the lead.
One down. Now for the boy.
His thoughts crossed in front of him like an obstacle on the track and they appalled him. He had actually let himself fall back into his old life. His mind flashed to a memory of a swoop on fire, the pain of it loosening his grip on the controls. He could win. He knew he could beat them. But the boy…
The Force Disciple looked across the track, catching the excitement on the kid’s face in the reflections of passing buildings. He was having fun. That’s what they were there for. Fun. The Firrerreo had forgotten how to do that in a race.
“Okay,” he muttered to himself, as a mature look laid on his face, “then let’s make it fun for them”
Kah’ri took a deep breath, as a sting of regret met the relief of not having to perform well.
TuQ’s calculations may have been a bit off, but at least it had worked. He had taken over third place, but something felt…off. He felt the swoop jerk and shake, was he slowing down? Looking to his side, he saw Kah’ri overtaking him again as they entered the hairpin turn. Kark!
As his speed diminished and the racer sped off ahead of him, TuQ leaned into the corner taking it at a much more slow and cautious pace than he would have normally. Furiously, he flicked the control switches shutting the swoop down just momentarily before reigniting the engines and rocketing out onto the straight stretch in front of him. No way was he going to lose this race.
.