The Race

[childofrebellion]

The stands are a mixture of good quality and finding seats where you can. Thanks to the help of Pan, Cassian was able to get Barry, Cisco and Gabe seats with a good view of what's visible of the track and then the screens showing the other sections.

Cassian's down with the ships with Yamato, Pan came by to help them but is now up in the stands.

Comments

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"I'm a little bit of a fraud," Yamato says dubiously. "How's the ship? And do we know anything new about the other pilots?"

[childofrebellion]

"The ship's in the best condition it can be, you'll see when you do your own walk around. Nothing new, but I have the dossier on all of them here."

He hands over the datapad with all the info he could find.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"All right," Yamato says, looking over the datapad. "Who's the favourite to win? There's got to be someone, right, bookies must be having a field day taking bets for the race."

[childofrebellion]

"This one, Altax flying for someone without a lot of details which means either Imps or Hutts. Fastest and newest ship that probably has some hidden modifications."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Altax, huh?" Yamato says, flicking to the appropriate part of the datapad. "If he's got a faster ship than us with hidden modifications, and he's good enough to fly it, beating him is going to be tough. Good thing I like a challenge, I guess."

He glances around the garage.

"Is he in this garage or another one? Seems like I should at least say hi to him before the race starts."

After all, that's just common courtesy between rivals.

[childofrebellion]

Cassian glances at the datapad and then pulls up a quick map of the garages, "He's two over and behind one."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Okay, be back in a few."

Yamato doesn't necessarily plan on standing around chatting with Altax, but a little friendliness between competitors never hurt. Or a little bit of unfriendliness, depending on how this goes.

He follows Cassian's directions, keeping an eye out for whoever's face matches the one on Altax's datapad entry or, failing that, whichever ship looks the shiniest and newest.

[childofrebellion]

When he finds the garage, its not the shiniest one, there's a sense of secrecy about it and a few men near the door who might be off duty 'troopers. A Weequay looks up from doing something to the engine and says, "You looking for something?"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Just Altax. Figured I'd wish him luck in the race," Yamato says, giving the Weequay a quick nod.

[childofrebellion]

A human in a similar flying suit looks over from behind the ladder, "Luck, luck's for fools."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Well, the coin toss seems to have come down on 'jerk.' That's fine, Yamato can be a jerk too. He has practice.

"You might be right," he grins, taking a few steps towards the ladder. "But I figured it was nicer than saying 'sorry that you're going to be eating my dust when I beat you out there.'"

[childofrebellion]

When Yamato approaches, the guards move closer as Altax laughs,

"You won't be close enough to see my exhaust."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato notes the guards, and keeps his hands clearly visible to show he's not a threat as he swaggers straight over to the bottom of the ladder.

"Man, it's going to sting that ego of yours when you come in second place. Don't feel too humiliated, okay?"

[childofrebellion]

Altax mutters a curse in Huttese before nodding to the guards,

"You're not even worth my time."

They come closer to Yamato with smiles, they've been wanting someone to throw out all day.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato eyes the guards, but the last thing anyone needs right now is him getting into an actual fight with another pilot's bodyguards.

"Don't worry, I just stopped by to say hi," he says, stepping away from the ladder and heading back the way he came. "See you on the course. And good luck! You're going to need it."

[childofrebellion]

Once they see that he's leaving, they don't purse just watch him warily. Walking back, he'll pass other garages, none are as guarded as that one. Back in the garage, Cassian's going over all the comm equipment and the ship.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Well, I think I got my burning need to be an asshole to people out of my system," Yamato says as he approaches Cassian. "Everything ready here?"

[childofrebellion]

Cassian laughs as she stretches his shoulders,

"Oh good, need to mete out your asshole moments at only the best times. Yes, all set."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Yeah, they're a precious commodity."

Yamato glances at the ship, taking a deep breath.

"Okay. Let's do this, then."

[childofrebellion]

There's a call from the speakers as the race gets ready to start. Cassian nods, "See you at the end."

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Assuming I don't crash on the way there," Yamato replies, giving Cassian a wink. Taking another deep breath, he clambers up the ladder and into the cockpit, starting it up and shutting the glass over himself.

With that done, he starts running through quick pre-flight checks.

[childofrebellion]

Cassian runs through them as well, doublechecking that every bit of data that Yamato needs is on the ship. The crowd cheers as ships star to emerge from garages.

[angry_friendship_wolf]

"Okay. Let's get into position."

Starting up the ship and getting it out of the garage is easy enough. Once he's out there, Yamato settles at the starting line, ready to hit the accelerator as soon as the starting horn sounds.

There's an unpleasant, gnawing anxiety in his chest, less because of any danger and more because of the idea of failing in front of a crowd -- and a crowd that has people he cares about in it, too. He tries to keep it down, taking a few deep breaths, listening out for the sound of the race starting.

[childofrebellion]

There aren't stalls or anything for the ships so there's some jockeying for position as they reach the line. The crowd yells as they see their favorites until there's a shout from the loudspeakers, "Go!"

[angry_friendship_wolf]

Yamato avoids most of the jockeying, settling in the least favourable position, furthest back and behind all the other ships. It's only fair, after all: He's the latecomer who only signed up at the last minute, so if anybody has to start from disadvantageous position, it's him.

As soon as he hears the shout, he hits the accelerator, picking up speed as he heads down the first section of the course. Despite starting in last place, he starts overtaking ships quickly, weaving gracefully (if a little recklessly, dodging each ship he encounters by only a couple of feet) around them, going from sixteenth place to fifteenth, fourteenth, thirteenth, twelfth ...

By the time he starts drawing up on the first obstacles section of the course, he's just about hit ninth place.