Features

The teams of Wipeout Fusion: Piranha Advancements

November 1st 2001

Country: Brazil

Until recently, it was assumed that Piranha, the most advanced and secretive of all the anti-gravity racing teams, was controlled by a military organisation. Even members of the Race Commission believed that Piranha’s racing activities were a means of testing anti-gravity technology for military use.

However, a book published by businessman Aries Piermont turned this belief on its head. The book was his autobiography, ’The Fish That Bites", and in it he revealed how he had bought Piranha from an unknown seller in 2130, determined to create "not only the ultimate race craft, but a physical manifestation of perfection".

Piranha may well have begun as a military project - we will probably never know for sure. But we can be certain that Piranha Advancements is now focussed on realising the vision of this one man.

Piermont rarely speaks in public. He appears at the trackside in his smoked eye-protectors, hands thrust deep in his overcoat pockets, and as soon as the race is over, he leaves by private air tram. The few things we know about Piermont and his team were revealed in his book; for example, it is here that we learn,

"I do not separate out the parts. I do not believe in craft and pilot, weapons and shields, attack and defence. Everything is part of the whole, and that whole is the pursuit of magnificence. And I admit, I am at the heart of it. It is my vision. My hand that makes the final adjustment. My mind that conceives the plan. My pilots and myself, we are not separate. We work as one. One team. Piranha."

It is difficult to discover just what the team believes its prospects to be over the coming season. However, true to Piermont’s vision, the Piranha craft combine breathtaking speed with a lightweight build that confounds other teams. Piermont has also displayed tactical genius in his choice of pilots. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine any other pilots operating in the F9000 league who could tame the power of Piranha as effectively as Tsarong and Shlaudecker.

In the absence of further information, we can only refer once again to That Book.

"I am not a happy man. It gives me no great joy to win. Only when we reach perfection will I finally allow myself the luxury of a smile."

Team Piranha Advancements Pilots

MYIMA TSARONG - Lead Pilot

MYIMA TSARONG
Nationality:	Tibetan
Sex:	Female
Age:	Unknown
Height:	1.52 m
Weight:	52 kg
CMGFL:	15.4 G
League ID:	TSAR036.2.1.800
Grid rating:	1

It is hard to imagine Miyama Tsarong racing for any team other than Piranha or any team leader other than Aries Piermont. Little is known about the enigmatic Piermont, but we do know that he considers himself an anti-grav visionary and it is likely that he was the only person in F9000 racing aware of her dazzling talent.

Myima Tsarong was previously piloting craft in the arcane world of Tibetan anti-grav racing, a strange variant on conventional racing with an emphasis on concentration, calmness and non-violence. Tsarong herself was resident in a Himalayan monastery where she perfected her technique of mental preparation, known as ’silent conquest’, and developed a balletic, graceful racing style with no use of aggressive manoeuvres. In addition, she has the highest CMGFL rating in the League, allowing her to sustain the massive G-forces exerted by Piranha’s craft.

Aries Piermont is known for his encyclopaedic knowledge of anti-gravity racing, and as an admirer both of Tsarong’s unique style and the Tibetan race code, he persuaded her to join Piranha in 2058. Unable to accept the millions of dollars paid to other anti-grav pilots due to her beliefs, Tsarong flies simply for the joy of controlling one of the greatest anti-gravity craft ever developed. She has clearly managed to reconcile her peaceful ideals with the fact that her craft is known as SwiftKiller.

JANN SHLAUDECKER - Second Pilot

JANN SHLAUDECKER
Nationality:	German
Sex:	Male
Age:	22
Height:	1.85 m
Weight:	90 kg
CMGFL:	14.5 G
League ID:	SHLA789.1.0.800
Grid rating:	3

In a private letter to his mother written shortly before his arrival at Piranha, Shlaudecker had this to say about his F9000 racing prospects:

"I sometimes despair of the clowns who force me to fly these abominable machines. They are so slow! They barely crawl! How am I supposed to prove myself in these donkey carts mother? How am I supposed to break out of this FEISAR prison?"

It is clear that Shlaudecker believed himself to be held back by the limitations of the FEISAR technology, but in the opinion of the Float Nation ’zine,

"Once a squad boy, always a squad boy. Big heart, big head, big ego, but this guy won’t ever be more than supporting cast."

It was something of a surprise then when Aries Piermont signed Shlaudecker to be his second pilot in the Piranha team. He was mocked by the sport’s commentators for putting an untried talent in a sublime racing machine like the SwiftKiller, but his instinct appears to have been vindicated. Like a gifted child whose talents had previously gone unrecognised, Shlaudecker has emerged as one of the most intelligent pilots on the circuit. He is reportedly in awe of Tsarong’s almost mystical ability and has suggested in some circles that he might move to Tibet for a while, "...so I can see some of this monk stuff for myself."