Features

The teams of Wipeout Fusion: Auricom Research Industries

USA/Canada
Feisar The US based Auricom team has a proud heritage of involvement in anti-grav racing dating back to the first league championship in 2050. Self-proclaimed "guardians" of the original spirit of anti-gravity racing, they have succeeded in alienating almost all the other teams over the years. Their insistence on holding the moral high-ground when it comes to matters of sporting policy has served as a powerful irritant, and there are constant rumours that their peacemaking stance is no more than a cover for industrial espionage on a vast scale.

This exchange between Auricom Director Gideon Oldfield and Xios International’s Didier Humeau at the end of last season is typical:

Oldfield: "It falls upon me to once again thank our founder, the late Pierre Belmondo, for his pioneering work in the field of anti-gravity research. We at Auricom are determined to carry on racing in his name, pushing back the boundaries?"

Humeau: "Here we go again! Pushing back the boundaries of your own big heads. You bunch of high and mighty LOSERS! Don’t you know you make the rest of us wanna PUKE?"

Whatever the politics, however, Auricom’s research and development has consistently resulted in classic race craft, as seen in the excellent weapon and shield capabilities of their current model. The craft are heavy thanks to the use of strong condensed alloys rather than the more usual ’honeycomb’ metals, but they benefit from a high level of co-operation between their 2 key pilots, Pascale Rouser and Franco Gonzalez. Even this fact serves to annoy other teams whose pilots behave as if they are mortal enemies rather than colleagues.

Auricom are currently attempting to have the Tigron team suspended from competition due to their violent race methods, though the popularity of Tigron’s lead pilot, Omarr Khumala, is causing the Race Commission to delay the investigation. There are fears in some quarters, anticipation in others, that the mistrust between the 2 teams may explode during the coming season. Both teams’ craft are certainly built for confrontation.

Team Auricom Pilots

PASCALE ROUSER - Lead Pilot
PASCALE ROUSER
 PASCALE ROUSER
 Nationality:
 German
Sex:
 Female
Age:
28
Height:
 1.65 m
Weight:
 58 kg
CMGFL:
 13.0 G
League ID:
 ROUS319.0.1.526
Grid rating:
 7
Auricom Research are known for their careful vetting of all pilots and technical staff - the image they project is one of ethically sound sportsmanship with a commitment to furthering the performance of anti-gravity technology for the public good. In many ways, Pascale Rouser personifies this corporate philosophy, as she is intensely competitive within the rules of the sport while being generous in defeat.

Rouser is not frequently moved to make public statements on any issue, preferring to let her racing prowess speak for her. She has made an excellent lead pilot for Auricom over recent seasons, but there are signs that perhaps the ’ice maiden’, as she has been dubbed, is beginning to feel the heat of an inner fire. During one press conference last year, she stood on the platform at the end of the race and declared,

"I have a statement to make to Mr. Omarr Khumala of the Tigron team."

She then screamed for 7 minutes.

While Rouser is certainly not the only F9000 pilot with objections to the racing strategy of Omarr Khumala, the manner of her protest and the contrast with her usual cool demeanour made for headline news across the globe. Trained in anger suppression techniques by her charismatic trainer, Dieter Kohl, Rouser was rumoured to be distraught at the example she had set her team’s second pilot, Franco Gonzalez. What effect the outburst may have on him has yet to be seen.

FRANCO GONZALEZ - Second Pilot
FRANCO GONZALEZ
 FRANCO GONZALEZ
 Nationality:
 Spanish
Sex:
 Male
Age:
25
Height:
 1.70 m
Weight:
 71 kg
CMGFL:
 13.2 G
League ID:
 GONZ421.1.0.526
Grid rating:
 11
Gonzalez met his lead pilot, Pascale Rouser, while she was touring the back streets of Barcelona with her trainer in the early 2150’s. He was using government surplus anti-grav buggies to organise informal street challenges, attempting to keep anti-social youth from destroying the city’s increasingly fragile tourist economy. The youths were entering tourist zones and spreading rumours of an outbreak of so-called ’Tapas Plague’, leading to panic and subsequent financial chaos.

Rouser was impressed not only by Gonzalez’s public spirit, but also by his considerable racing ability. She approached him, offering him professional training facilities at Auricom and finally asked him to join the team officially in 2154. They have since become one of the closest pilot partnerships in the F9000 league and there are constant rumours of romantic involvement between the two. They protest that they are ’just good friends’, though a movie file circulating the college campuses of the USA, allegedly stolen from them on a recent ’training tour’ aboard a private yacht, would suggest otherwise.

Gonzalez is yet to make a significant impact on the F9000 league as he has only recently moved up from the Auricom reserve list. However, his financial position has obviously considerably improved since his days as a voluntary youth leader. Nevertheless, he still finds time to visit the Barcelona back streets where he used to work, though most of the kids he knew were executed in the Tourist Protection Program of 2155.