JX350 Racing League Pilot Profiles

[Light Buster]

Chapter 10


Identification/Statistics

Name: Setsuko Tanaka

Gender: Female

Birth: February 11, 2199

Birthplace: Osaka (Japan)

Age (Currently 2215): 15

Nationality: Japanese

Origin: Japan

Race: Asian

Languages Spoken: Japanese and English

Religion: N/A

Height: 5’4”

Hair Color: Indigo

Eye Color: Cyan

Appearance:
10.jpg

Occupation (Before AG-Pilot): Test Pilot

JX350 IDF: TANA0211.2199

Team: Auricom

Position: Secondary Pilot

Pilot Rank: Junior

Region Reputation: Global

Squad Teammates: Johnathan Hale (American), Hitomi Yamaguchi (Japanese), Eric Patterson (American), Ayaka Hamasaki (Japanese), Tyrrell Byron (American), Rachel Vega (American), Tara Shannon (Irish)

Team Loyalty: High

Allies: AG-Systems, Goteki 45, Mirage, Piranha, Buster Harding (American/Triakis)

Rivals: Polina Petrov (Bulgarian/Tigron)

Medals: Gold: 3, Silver: 11, Bronze: 9

Sponsors: Anti-Gravity Development, Auricom, Belmondo Foundation, Good Smile Company, Good Smile Racing, Mindcorp

Favorite Event: Time Trial

Favorite Track: Any

Leagues Completed: JX350

Character Traits: Friendly, Keen, Smart, and Thoughtful

Skills

Awareness: 8/10

Aggression: 7/10

Consistency: 10/10

Reaction/Reflexes: 8/10

Bio

Every racing team is going to need a test pilot or two. Whenever you need to test a new ship or a new tune-up, someone is going to be needed to ensure that the ships work properly and for safety purposes. AG-Systems’ Jason Croshaw is one such test pilot, who has been with the team since their reformation and is still a development pilot to this day, but others such as Malatya Radovan of Assegai and Lauren Taylor of Triakis are good examples of test pilots who recently stepped up into the professional series. While Auricom has run many tests on their ships, there was no official test pilot for the team. That is until a set of Auricom engineers just happened to turn up with one. Setsuko Tanaka is the test pilot of Auricom, as well as the junior pilot for the racing team, who has raced alongside the Miracle Eight of both AG-Systems and Auricom and has changed the latter forever.

Setsuko was born in Osaka of Japan. Her family are currently engineers working for Auricom Research Industries in Japan. The family was one of the few people responsible for working on Auricom’s newest craft, the ACM-9K0, with better thrust and handling abilities compared to their previous ship the ACM-8K. Despite making such a successful craft, there was no official test pilot for the team and many officials began to look for someone to test the craft. However, there was nobody willing to help the team to test the craft. However, the Tanaka family happened to turn up a test pilot to test the ship, their daughter Setsuko.

Setsuko began to use AG-technology at a young age, able to ride antigravity scooters with ease and was able to create simple pieces of AG-technology. The mother and father of the family soon brought their daughter to the Auricom facility in Japan and as they were working, she was found wandering about in the facility, eventually visiting the testing grounds for the ACM-9K0. After many visits, it was clear that she was interested in the ship. The family recommended to the Auricom officials to have her test the ship and they did. Setsuko got her piloting license at a young age and she was seen testing the ship whenever she can. It was also clear that she can fly the ship with such finesse, taking the ship past its limits. The family then decided to help her learn the art of racing.

Setsuko’s family learns that a new academy has opened up in Tokyo, the Good Smile Racing Academy, designed to help students learn the art of AG-racing at a young age. The family soon became interested in the new academy and with their recommendation they sent their daughter to the academy to help her learn the art of racing. When the first initial evaluation came about, Setsuko passed with flying colors, giving her a seat in the academy. She was quick to make a friend in the academy, Jessica Caluroso. The two soon took the second initial evaluation together and both passed with flying colors and the two became the top students of the academy along with eight other students who befriended them in the academy later on.

Setsuko then went on to pass her classes and exams in the Good Smile Racing Academy alongside Jessica. The two soon made friends with the other top students of the academy. The American students Michael Sanderson, Johnathan Hale, Alexis Anderson, and Eric Patterson. And the Japanese students Mizuki Nakajima, Hitomi Yamaguchi, Sora Akiyama, and Ayaka Hamasaki. The ten students were soon involved in a collaboration to bring down the school’s bully, Polina Petrov, who is responsible for stealing the valuables of the school’s students, including her friends. It was thanks to her that she was able to help them get their valuables back. She also helped them in getting their official piloting licenses so that they can fly in antigravity ships for racing and private purposes.

Setsuko graduated with excellent marks and top honors and soon earned the attention of Jessie Fairbank, team principle of Auricom, who knows her very well. Jessie, along with team principle of AG-Systems, Sakura Tanaku, made a one season partnership with the Good Smile Racing Academy to promote the new academy that opened up. In turn, the two teams would bring along the top ten students of the academy for their teams, five for each team. She immediately recruited Setsuko along with Johnathan, Hitomi, Eric, and Ayaka to round out her Auricom junior team, Auricom Academy. Sakura on the other hand recruited Michael, Mizuki, Alexis, Sora, and Jessica to round out her junior team, Friends in Speed. Setsuko returned to America to train up for the inaugural season of the JX350 junior racing league.

As Setsuko was a test pilot for the ACM-9K0, a lot of Auricom officials were expecting her to get used to the ACM-8K quickly. However, the ACM-8K was heavier than its successor and handled poorly than the newer ship. Getting used to the older ship would be a daunting task, however, she had just the right friend to help her with that. Ayaka Hamasaki just happened to have the same issue with the ACM-8K and she set out to make the ship better. Setsuko joined her and after many tune-ups and testing, courtesy of Setsuko’s prior experience of testing many of Auricom’s race craft, they were able to make the craft race ready and within regulations after running many tests on the ship. It was clear that their hard work paid off and the newly tuned ACM-8K was able to maneuver a lot more easily thanks to the tune-up when tested on the Belmondo Test Site, located in Nevada, astonishing many of the trainees and engineers that witnessed the five new recruits pilot the ship. The ACM-8K performed very well and with Ayaka running diagnostics and tune-ups on the ship and with Setsuko doing the testing, the two, along with their friends, became popular amongst the Auricom team, catching the attention of the professional pilots of the team, Tyrrell Barron, Rachel Vega, and Tara Shannon, who were impressed by her preseason performance. After running a special event at the Amphesium, located in Las Vegas, Nevada as an extension, Setsuko was placed as a wingman for the Auricom junior racing team.

Setsuko’s first event during the JX350 was a Zone Battle on Vineta K, located on the man-made island of Makana in the Pacific Islands, where she scored her first bronzed medal off the get-go, followed up by a silver and eventually a gold at Talon’s Junction, despite the Concordia Loop Accident that happened before her Time Trial run. She went on to win a variety of medals and a good amount of season points for her team throughout the season. While not racing, she took part in many ship tests for Auricom to test out some of their newest technology. Ayaka also collaborated with her to ensure that the new fleet of Auricom ships were able to be handled properly and are safe to fly. As a result, Setsuko did not take part in tournament events and the Virtual series to do various tests on the Auricom’s new fleet of ships. However, like Jessica of AG-Systems, she was able to experience Auricom’s new ships before anyone else did. Things were looking good for Setsuko and her team that is until a dark name reappeared.

When the Rapier series came about, Tigron made their entry back into the junior leagues, along with their sponsor, the BSV, who held a ceremony to celebrate the occasion and showed off their lead, and only, pilot of the junior team, Polina Petrov, who she clearly remembers back at the Good Smile Racing Academy, albeit not a very good one. Thankfully, she shared her relief with everyone else as Polina didn’t fare so well outside Single Race and Eliminator events, although it would be clear that she would be a threat in those events and the threat became clear during the race at Metropia Reverse when Polina eliminated half of the grid, resulting in many injured pilots and destroyed ships. In response to the escalating situation, Setsuko was able to redirect all emergency personnel to the functional Netika Ambulance Shuttles and redirected all air traffic to get the ambulances to many of the injured people around the city to hospitals. It was thanks to her and her band of friends that many people and pilots were saved on that day. Joes Peeters has said that many people on that day were saved thanks to their efforts. But Polina would still prove to be a troublesome person to deal with. With Polina and Tigron on the track, some of the Auricom team shifted their focus on combating the new threat. However, Setsuko and her friends kept doing what they did best and she was able to keep her focus during her races and was able to keep Polina away from the podium whenever she could.

During the junior leagues, Setsuko made many friends aside from the friends she made back at the academy. The Makanian Amazons of Goteki team, the MAGEC junior team of Mirage, the Amazon Fury of Piranha, Mercutian De Gautet of Van-Uber, and Buster Harding of Triakis’ professional team were the friends she made on the paddock, sharing piloting advice and helping other with maintaining their ships. She was also one of the very few people to help celebrate the Mirages Junior team and Mercutian De Gautet’s first podium finish during the junior series. The junior members of their respective teams also teamed up with her to combat Polina and Tigron on the track. It was thanks to their combined efforts that they were able to keep Polina away from the top step for the most part and discovered a weakness in the Tigron Bull ship. Setsuko soon managed to gather as much data as possible and relay them to the other junior team members when they met at an undisclosed location at Las Vegas, Nevada. Along with Jessica, the two sent data to each of the other members of their respective teams and coordinate the offensive on Tigron and Polina, and with Michael Sanderson landing the final blow on Tigron’s ship, the team and their sponsor, the BSV, were dismantled after their ban from the AG-racing sport. It was just like old times back at the academy.

Like Jessica, Setsuko did not take part in the Season Finale Tournament of the first JX350 season, but she did run many tests on the ACM-8K to help the Auricom team take one last gold medal of the season and lift the first ever JX350 cup. Auricom have been turning to Setsuko ever since she and Ayaka have been giving the team’s line of ships the attention it needed from combating the ‘banes’ of antigravity racing to a legitimate racing team. It was thanks to them that Auricom have been undergoing a lot of changes to better themselves and when it came to testing new ships. No longer just a mere test pilot, Setsuko has stepped up from being a test pilot to a junior pilot with a future in racing and looks to take it to the next level in future seasons and eventually the professional leagues.