Faster Than Angels | Part 9.0
"Do you expect me to talk?"
"No Mr. Bovier, I expect you to die!"
...sorry, I had to... I'll let myself out now...
But not before giving you guys a little early present! Enjoy!
The referenced album title of Part 8.0 was Music Has the Right to Children by Boards of Canada
[s2_1.0: Part 9.0] Speed for the Racing Generation
<22100205>
Monday, February 5th, 2210
Vertica, Cayman Islands
09:18:36
The Angelus team were getting ready for their first race of the 2210 season. Kicking the season off was a simple race at Vertica.
"OK, First race of the season, of course they'd start off with one of the easiest tracks in the world!" Brandon told the team, "Still, we need a lot of preparations before we can race."
09:25:16
Taking the #2 position on the grid, Angelus and the rest of the 12 qualified racers took their place:
01. Wyvern
02. Angelus
03. Icaras
04. Jennter
05. Piranha
06. FEISAR
07. AG Systems
08. Triakis
09. Crinale
10. Auricom
11. Qirex
12. Assegai
"Heh, Crinale sure seem to be down on their luck!" Gareth said, seeing the grid, "Still, though, it can be anyone's race" He started up Angelus' valued craft, the Xygen4, finally ready to race...
>>ANGELUS AGR_OS v1.6
>>BOOTING...COMPLETE
>>INITIATING PRE-RACE CHECK...
>>SYSTEM... OK
>>THRUST... OK |ENABLED|
>>LIMITER... OK |VENOM ENABLED|
>>AIRBRAKES...OK |ENABLED|
>>SHIELDS...OK |ENABLED|
>>32X_B.M....OK |ENABLED|
>>WEAPONS... ERROR_482
>>DISABLE? y_
>>WEAPONS DISABLED.
"Damn it. Oi Smith!" Gareth informed him, "My weapons system spat out an Error 482, I've disabled them for now... WAIT, WHAT IS IT DOING?!"
The countdown started, prematurely, starting to count down from not 3, but 6.66. At that moment, Brandon thought "482? That's a weapons jam, why would... oh crap, THE COUNTDOWN!"
Thinking quick, he connected to the AGRC, "Brandon Smith, Angelus, why's it starting, it's too early!"
3...
"There's nothing we can do, we're not doing it!"
2...
He connected back to Gareth.
"...I'm sorry."
1...
Gareth grabbed the thruster, and yanked it to full power
GO!
<09:26:18_>
<vertica: white run_>
<venom class_>
<lap 01_>
<nitro witch | samplingmasters aya_>
The Xygen shot off at full acceleration, Gareth could not, and was not going to, back down from it.
"Smithy, I don't need weapons to win, I have a fast ship. I will win with the weapons disabled."
"HAH! That's the spirit!" Brandon replied back.
Due to the lack of weapons the Xygen had already, and his great racing skill, Gareth adapted to the complete absence of weapons fairly quickly and easily.
"[sigh], Venom is so slow." Gareth said in a bored manner, maxing the craft out at Venom speed, 462km/h.
As expected, the unmistakeable sight of Crinale's new 2210 FX400 racer, the F0-RG7.2 (aka Valkyrie), appeared behind Gareth. They kept their position, waiting at the ready to pounce...
And then they just raced past him, using a turbo.
"Well... that was unexpected." Gareth thought, who was just about to dodge whatever attack came from the dark matte-grey craft
Apart from the lack of weapons and the premature start, the race continued without a hitch, until the second to last lap.
<10:53:48_>
<vertica: white run_>
<venom class_>
<lap 29_>
Gareth flew past the Crinale ship after the horizontal loop, which had actually slowed down to let him past. The dark, aggressive looking ship tailed him, hunting him down.
"Rockets."
Gareth tried to sideshift out of the way, but instead caught his ship against the rightmost rocket, taking damage and slowing him down. Crinale were even so determined to eliminate him, they even slowed down to let Gareth past. As he did, however...
"Plasma."
BOOM.
"Energy Critical."
"How am I not eliminated?!" Gareth wondered.
At that point onwards, he raced more carefully, as he did not want to suffer further damage and cause a self-elimination.
"Gareth, this is urgent!" Brandon yelled quicky at him. "You were shot by Crinale with a Plasma, yes?!"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Have you suffered any unexpected shield loss? Any other loss in power?"
"No. Seriously, why the hell are you asking me this?"
"Do you remember the Fort Gale race last year? Crinale fired a Plasma equipped with the KX-SI virus. I do not want that happening again, especially to us!"
"Ah, gotcha. Well, nothing anomalous to report, except for 'I really need my shields restored, mate'!"
"Look, you're a good racer, a great one, in fact! You can do this, just one more lap!"
Gareth paused for a few seconds, before saying, "Alright Smithy, LET'S DO THIS!"
<lap 30_>
<final lap_>
Gareth was able to avoid every single wall, obstacle, weapon and ship he flew past, and that lap was seeming to be both a perfect lap and the fastest lap in the race, but just at the last corner, at the 3 speed pads, Wyvern's craft was at the wrong place at the wrong time, directly in the line of the speeding Angelus craft. Gareth pulled open his airbrakes and swerved away in order to clear both the ship and the wall to his left. After keeping the airbrakes open for the shortest time, he closed them and gave the ship full power, but even then, it was too late...
<11:02:37_>
<race complete_>
<second place_>
"Damn it! I almost had it!" Gareth yelled in frustration, then calmed down and thought about the situation logically, but Brandon talked to him before he could say anything.
"Gareth, calm down. See, it doesn't matter if you didn't come in fi-"
"I know." He cut Brandon off, "For one, I had no weapon use whatsoever, not even to restore my shields. It takes a great pilot to even come close to the end, and I did, even coming in the top 3. Second, no-one's perfect, we aren't going for a perfect 1st place victory, because that's impossible. Lastly, It's only the first race in the season! It's anyone's game!"
"At least you see why I don't care about a first place victory today. At least we're on the board" Brandon said.
"I have just one question though...
Who was that Crinale racer? I thought you told us their #2 had been killed?"
Insight: Jennter JAG-FX4.09
Faster Than Angels
Jennterista Racing Chronicles
Insights/2209
Jennter JAG-FX4.09
League: FX400 Anti-Gravity Racing League
Seasons: 2209 -
Speed: 9/10
Thrust: 6/10
Handling: 8/10
Shield: 6/10
The JAG-FX4.09 is Jennters first craft since their F9000 outing. While taking a generally conservative approach, it maintains the team’s tradition of aerodynamic innovation. This results in a fast and well handling craft outfitted with a relatively underpowered engine and mediocre shielding for weight reduction.
Apart from the final race of the season, company heir Nico Bovier piloted the craft throughout the 2209 season.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/Ms...7mfm57SFVyFDXG
Faster Than Angels | Part 10.0 (+Surprise)
OK, it's Friday, so it's time for a new part!
...aaand WE'VE HIT DOUBLE DIGITS!
The referenced album title of Part 9.0 was Music for the Jilted Generation by The Prodigy
[s2_2.0: Part 10.0] Initiate the Prototype
<22100206>
Tuesday, February 6th, 2210
Angelus R&D HQ
11:24:36
Brandon called a team meeting, after sitting in his office all night trying to uncover the identity of Crinale's new #2 pilot.
"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering who was piloting the new Crinale ship. I can safely say that it was not Gelorum, her racing style is different to the racer I observed yesterday. That means Crinale has replaced their #2 pilot, so I did some research into the situation. After some digging, I uncovered a pilot ID I had never seen before: ANTO127.1.0.329. Well, after that, everything else just fell apart!
"The second racer is Viktor Antonov, the son of an obscure, but talented AG racer. I hate to say it, but this guy knows what he's doing, and that makes him very dangerous. I've only analysed the Vertica race twice now, the second time being a replay, and that revealed quite a lot of information to me.
"First off, he actively tries to eliminate no other craft except us, unless that other craft gets in his way. He will even slow down in order to get behind us to fire a weapon. His general racing style is very aggressive, possibly even more aggressive than the racer he replaced.
"However, this does not mean that all hope is lost. If we focus hard on our work, we can get through, we can and will beat Crinale! I have faith in you all, so let's do this!"
At that point, the official FX400 announcement began...
"The AGRC has approved of a new class that will take place alongside the standard FX400. Known as the 'Prototype' class, this will be a chance for AG developers to show off the latest in their technology of AG racing crafts, outside the restrictions and regulations of the FX400. The first Prototype race will commence on the 2nd of March. I know I can speak for all of us when I say I am excited to see these new ships, void of the FX400's restrictions."
Brandon knew this day would come, he had been planning it for a long time. As the announcement ended, he spoke up, "Well, I was expecting that. I have something to show you."
<open_"ka-zx25"_>
<loading... complete_>
KA-ZX25
Speed
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓██████████ 150
Thrust
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓████ 120
Handling
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ 100
Shield
▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░ 075
Top Speed:1280km/h
Acceleration:0-1000km/h - 1.5 seconds
Lateral Stability:5%
Engine:Angelus KA-AGR:ZXX
Brakes:Angelus HyperForce XXV
Weapon:None
Shield:Angelus E01.s
Special:Angelus SRS Type-R
Brandon continued, "You thought all that research resulted in some small changes to the Xygen4? Heh, no. It was all for this, our new prototype class ship... the Xygen-R25, created to celebrate two anniversaries. The first being 25 years of the company, and the second being 10 years of the Angelus name.
"This ship is the physical embodiment of all we stand for: highly advanced technology developed through research, extremely fast speeds and handling so quick and smooth, you'd swear you're controlling it through mind power alone. Now, naturally, we have had some drawbacks. For instance, we have had to replace the computer system, as this thing is so fast, the computer system currently used in the Xygen4 could not cope. And then the major problem hit us. This new computer system is not compatible with our boost module or even our weapons system. I... hate to say this, but I already tested our pilots for this."
"Wait... YOU disabled my weapons on Vertica?!" Gareth piped up, realising what he meant.
"Unfortunately, yes. I did it in the first race, that way there'd be minimal risk."
"Minimal risk?! Why didn't you just put me in the simulator?"
"I could have. However, I also wanted to test your ability to adapt to unique situations. As that race proved us, it was a success. I'm sorry, I did that in order to make you better racers, the prototype class will be extremely daunting, as there will be unique, unrestricted and as yet unknown technologies in use.
"Anyway, more about the ship. I have added a shield restoration system, so we won't have the problems we had in the Vertica race. But the engine is what I'm most proud of. It's a new type of twin-engine. It's not two engines stuck together, it's... well, it's kinda hard to explain. It's like two engines, but it's also like one.
"The main thing is, it produces a massive amount of power, and because the R25 is so light, it accelerates like nothing we have ever seen before. Our testing grounds, we were able to max it out at 1280km/h, however, due to speed restrictions, it has been limited to 1188. This thing is more than ready to race, and believe me when I say, this beast will fly!"
Now, I have a real life announcement to make. You all know of a secret thing I was making. Well, I've completed it, and it now has been uploaded. Also, sorry about the URL, I made it before I though of it, and was originally solely for one of my web design courses. I think you can get what kind of surprise this is.
But, without further ado... Jonny, Snake, I present to you: The Faster Than Angels ship database!
I have had to fill in the blanks for some info, but I'm sure you'll still like it.
JRC26/VA3: Plans and Determination
Faster Than Angels
Jennterista Racing Chronicles
Virtual Aspirations
Chapter 26/3: Plans and Determination
27th December 2209
New Jennter Enterprises HQ, Düsseldorf, Germany
12:10.01
With most of the staff being sent into Christmas holidays until after New Year’s Eve, the three Boviers gathered in Jonathan's office to discuss the future structure of the company. Traditionally most of the power was exclusively in the hand of a single member of the Bovier family. This rule was never touched as ever since the company grew to its modern size, only Jonathan Bovier has been in charge.
“Jana has been in preparation for this position for several years now” he explained to his two decendants “I still intend to retire from this position. But I also want to revive the SFE.”
The Spezial-Forschungseinrichtung, Jennters semi-official branch for special research projects. Projects like Sublimation.
“You two know that my ultimate goal is to reunite with Rebekka” he said “So my proposal is that I step down from Presidency for Jennter, but take over charge of the SFE, with a maximum budget of ten percent.”
Jana nodden while Nico remained quiet.
“And of course I’ll always be around to help you. Both” he added.
“The proposal is fair” Jana agreed “But I want to know what Nico feels about it.”
He sighed “I am honestly not very keen on leading this company. So I am fine with Jana taking over the Presidency. But do you think your idea with the SFE is...right?”
Jonathan looked out of the window to his left and uttered “You are afraid of it, right?”
“I don’t really fully understand what happened these days...these years, but do you think you are doing just?” Nico returned “Really, I am just asking…”
“Madison” Jonathan said while returning to look at Nico “I don’t know how exactly she came to exist, but I will brief you on all relevant info.”
He stood up and went towards this window again, slight snow started to fall.
“Twenty-one years ago, we just relocated to Copenhagen around that time, I ran an experiment. You surely remember this highly secured area we had there. It was a resublimation experiment, because after finding ways to monitor the Electrosphere, I thought I had found her.”
He turned around to face the siblings again “We prepared a robotic body, almost a perfect copy of Rebekka’s appearance, the plans for this have dated back before the F9000 even came to be.”
“Well” he sighed “As you may have figured now, it wasn’t Rebekka, but a rogue AI that began to identify itself as ‘Madison Larough’ that got sublimated.”
“Is there a chance that Madison is Rebekka?” Nico bluntly asked.
“Unlikely” he strictly returned.
“I just thought about how Madison sometimes talked about Rebekka…” Nico tried to line out.
“Yeah, but no” Jonathan reinforced.
“Let me explain” he then continued “After Madison landed in the physical world, I still monitored the Electrosphere. But the signature of Rebekka weakened.”
“Doesn’t that mean that she may be part of Madison?” Nico returned again.
“It means that Rebekka is still around” Jonathan argued.
“It means she is still around…”
Suddenly he departed from his office.
“Where are you heading?” Jana shouted after him.
“I’ll see for myself!”
