Faster Than Angels

Dang Jonny your parts are getting good :D

-I just wanted to clear some things up right now, firstly regarding when I post I don't have a "strict" day when they will be posted. However it will be one part per week from Friday-Sunday. If I miss this then I will upload two parts in the next week. Btw new Wyvern AR part should be up soon.
-Lastly a lot of my friends who read FWD always ask me "what's your obsession with the F-14D tomcats", I told them why but I thought I let you guys know to for those who are curious ;)

It boils down to three things:
-I'm an aviation nut and F-14 tomcats are my favourite jet fighters of all time. Simple as that
-F-14's to me bear resemblance to the Wipeout 2048 speed ships, think about it all the speed ships share a similar shape being a elongated triangle/diamond shape. F-14's share a similar shape so that's why I think they would look cool as a AG racer. So all Wyvern Tomcats have their wings permanently swept in to make a arrow shape similar to a speed ship.
-The sweep wing feature on tomcats remind of Arwings from Star Fox which is my favourite series of all time alongside Wipeout. So its like a win-win for me

So yeah, I love F-14's ^_^

Here's an example of what I mean by the shape of the crafts, they share a fairly similar look in regards to the design:

They do indeed look very similar.

Regarding FTA, the series is gonna take its darkest turn yet, so dark, that I doubt any of you are going to be able to guess!

You know I have plans for a 5th World War? :P

Woah! I guess you could tie it in with the dark turn I have planned!

WOW what about my dark turn in the future ;) (no spoilers)

Its late this part so expect this and another part coming soon, since AVALON is happening this weekend the part after this one "should" be up earlier than normal.

But here we go:

FWD S2 PART 2: Initiation

Monday, February 5th, 2210

Vertica, Cayman Islands

09:15:24

Wyvern AR garage

Its the day, the first race with the new XAF-10.

David walks into the Wyvern garage, he sees a very nervous team scrambling around laptops and equipment performing last minute checks on Little Wyvern. Its very hectic and Razgriz is also in what seems to be a very nervous mood. David walks over to check on him:

"You Okay Razgriz? you look nervous."

"David, this is a very dangerous moment. Little Wyverns shield are so thin I'm scared that Crinale may take a likening to me"

"Hang on a minute. *David shouts at the top of his lungs* EVERYBODY! front and centre at the main board!"
As everyone scrambles to the main board David calmly walks to the raised platform with a smug look on his face, he has good news it seems.

"Apologies for the raised voice, it was the best way to get your attention.
I can see that you're all nervous and scared, the XAF-10 has not been used in a race environment before and obviously the lack lustre shields are of concern with Crinale. But we have an advantage.

The Little Wyvern is faster, more agile and has better thrust than that of Crinale. The likely chances of them ever catching up are not high and so we don't need to worry, we have the tide on our terms.

*People realising that the specs of the new XAF were superior, there is a grumble in the team but in a confident tone of voice*

Now I like to bring up some great news, we're building a second! XAF-10!

*there's an uproar in the team "WHAT ARE YOU SERIOUS?! THAT ONE XAF-10 COST US $4.1BILLION!!"*

Yes I know, creating the Little Wyvern was our most expensive project to date: the cost of the tomcat, creating the glass and so forth....
But! When we created the Little Wyvern and tested it out, I got a call from Iceland's AG commission and they were astounded by the technological achievement with the Zone Fibre Glass. So if we win this race they will offer us a research grant of $25billion!! That's enough for six more ships!!

*Faces brighten and become excited and people start cheering at the thought of a grant for the team*

Its now or never guys, are you ready?

*YEAAAAAAAAH*

Lets go then!!"

09:18:36

Little Wyvern is placed on the track in the first place position ahead of the others
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

Razgriz takes long deep breaths, confident with his ability and training with the XAF-10

*Czzzt are you ready?* says David over the comm
"More than ever, I'm ready"
*Good luck, David out czzt*

<09:26:18_>
<vertica: white run_>
<venom class_>
<lap 01_>


3....2....1....

GO!

Razgriz hits the throttle, the XAF explodes ahead of the pack and reaches its top speed in no time and gains a 3 second lead almost instantly. David is in awe to see his prized racer finally proving that racing pure is possible now. Razgriz calls back:

"This is incredible!"

"I know, I am just.... wow"

David then instantly turns his attention to Crinale, monitoring their every move to ensure that they don't attack Razgriz in a violent manner. If the XAF-10 is destroyed in this race then Wyvern will no longer have a machine to race and set back billions of dollars. Meanwhile the team of engineers constantly the data feedback from Little Wyverns central computer, all components are at 100% functionality and the ship flies graciously for the whole race.

<10:53:48_>
<vertica: white run_>
<venom class_>
<lap 29_>

As the race continues David grows concerned about the fact that Crinale showed little activity in terms of weapon use, Razgriz was still far ahead of the competition but Angelus with their amazing ship slowly started to catch up. It turned into a nail-biting moment until...

BOOM.

Angelus took a crippling blow from Crinale via a plasma but the determination in the new pilot Gareth showed and raced on.
David instantly shouted to one of his engineers:

"SOMEONE DO A SCAN OF ANGELUS! scan for any KX-SI virus activity"
*No anomalies sir!*
"Okay, that's good then"

With a sigh of relief his attention turned to Razgriz who was still losing his lead for the Angelus ship was still catching up. But David was confident in a 1st place victory.

<lap 30_>
<final lap_>

A smooth lap with no hiccups for any of the competitors but Angelus are only 1 second behind Razgriz, but just at the last corner....
"Sorry Gareth"

Razgriz positioned himself in a awkward place, Angelus cannot take the corner and forcefully slow down due to their low energy. Razgriz takes the lead and wins the race!

"CONGRATULATIONS TO WYVERN AR" shouts the announcer, the team explode into celebration for they have won. Razgriz brings the Wyvern to a halt and jumps to the garage and celebrates. Several moments later David gets a phone call.

"Hello"
"Congrats David, we invite you to our HQ to discuss the transaction of the grant"
"Yes thank you! thank you!"

"Guys we got the grant!!!"

Celebration intensifies and Wyvern AR go home a victorious team.


Two weeks later...

"Wyvern AR please go to the lecture theatre"

13:47pm

Engineers gather and grow excited ready to hear the news. David enters in a excited tone...

"Hello team!
We have the money and construction of a second XAF-10 is now underway, but with the rise of the new Prototype league our new Wyvern will be our prototype. So I present:

XAF-X mk I

Specs:
Speed - Infinite
Acceleration - 95%
Handling - 95%
Shield - 35%
(No weapons use)

This XAF-10 Model has a experimental Zone booster installed. Near enough the same as a Zone Battle booster this one behaves differently. The booster receives a charge from hitting speed pads. But instead of increasing Zone, it increases the ships top speed. For every speed pad hit the boost gauge displays a charge, one speed pad will give a +12.5km/h and a +12.5 to shield energy from absorbing the charge. Hitting 8 speed pads fills the gauge for +100 km/h and +100 shield.

The XAF-X has no proper weapons system, but performing a boost from the charge leaves behind a Wyvern Barrier.
Wyvern barriers differ from Zone barriers, they are less damaging (80% shield rating = 20 damage) but have a greater slowing effect on the hit craft (3 second slow down). Also the XAF-X is impervious to its own barriers, Wyvern barriers are finite though and have a life span of 2x the time of a bomb.
The XAF-X at top speed is almost unmatched in its performance, but the speed could mean bombs/mines can become a pilots nightmare.

For league rules the engine on the X has a limiter similar to Little Wyvern but has a higher cap of 1188km/h.
It is obvious that Wyvern AR are going for a Zone themed approach this year, the purity of Zone is now their goal, the XAF-X

"So is this the ultimate prototype or what? The project does stand at $12.2billion per unit but that's why we have the grant. Lets make it worth it!"

The team cheer... raring to go, the XAF-X production begins!



A long part but its actually two parts I recently had condensed into one. Hope you enjoy it :D
Part 3 will be up soon hopefully before AVALON, get ready for the new XAF-X ;)

-EDIT-
@Jonny - well Wyvern have a stockpile of F-14D Tomcats, we have the air dominated for that war ;)

Nice part! I may take a while to update the website with both of your new prototype ships, as there are more issues to do with my web design class, including me having to change servers, because certain things can't work on the existing one. Apart from that, however nothing will be affected, except for maybe a slight delay in the uploading of FTA parts, as I have a whole lot of work I need to hand in for said class.

EDIT: Oh, so the XAF-X is basically a Zone Battle ship? Cause that's what it seems like.

Wait, hold on, 1152 km/h? The max of prototype class is 1188. Is that intentional? And is the unlimited speed literally infinite, like an actual Zone ship?

Also, Jonny, what are the ratings of your prototype ship (in terms of the percentage stats)?

Oh the league top speed is 1188, then I need to change it then for 1152 is not intentional. But yes the XAF-X uses core mechanics of zone battle but with some balancing alterations. But if Wyvern AR hadn't put the limiter on it then the XAF-X does have infinite speed, the effects from the boosts means the speed would just keep stacking. 2000+km/h is unfair though.

-EDIT- I just added one more thing to my prototype, when at max speed I think bombs and what not can become deadly to the new Wyvern, how?
High Max Speed + Bombs or mines = likely collision + 35% shield = My worst nightmare ;)

TopSpeed: 1150 kph (9/10)
Acc. 0-1000: 3 sec (7/10)
Shield: 75 cpu (7.5/10)
Lateral Stability: 41% (8/10)

The TopSpeed of the P11122 is not that high (it doesn´t even reaches it´s limits), neither it accelerates like a Wyvern. But the shields and handling are still good. It tends to be a all-rounder. The thing is, it doesn´t needs to uses it´s air-brakes that much, so it can go quick through corners. This is probably a big adventage.

Alright! Thanks a bunch

I'll give you guys the choice: Where do you want the first Prototype race to take place? Keeping in mind you are, of course, limited to the Pulse tracks. But you can also choose from the Pulse DLC tracks.

It'll take place on the Friday, the 2nd of March, and I have massive plans for it. Yes, it involves the dark turn I was talking about.

Oh no! D:

I´m for Orcus Black ^^

That war was actually "planned for 2211" :P
Anyway, as you can see I have 3 characters with their own function: Jonny Bovier - for things about the "past", Nico Bovier - controls Jennter Enterprises and Jana Bovier - governor of the German-Danish Federalrepublik, later President of the German-Danish Confederation.
I have so much power MUHAHAHA! :P

I also plan to create a manga-exclusive episode of FTA, probably an extended version of part one - but I don't promise anything ;)

Ooh, a manga, I'd love to see that!

I also made a thing relating to a future thing in FTA! Can't let you guys see it, however, as it contains spoilers.

[part removed]

There may be a bit of a hiatus from me for next Friday, I have work to finish for my course and I want Part 12 to be the best it can be. But I can upload Part 11!

Hey Jonny, see if you can spot a reference to an awesome series I've snuck in! ;)

There is a character that also returns, see if you can spot him (Hint: he was a character in Season 1, Part 1.0)

The referenced album title of Part 10.0 was Initiate by an obscure local (Perth) band called LYTS. (Sorry about that, I'm running out of album titles. ;))

[s2_3.0: Part 11.0] Zonecadet

---

<22100213>

Tuesday, February 13th, 2210

Angelus R&D HQ

13:13:13

"Alright team," Brandon began his usual start of race pep talk, "Race 2 of the season, and we don't need to go anywhere! This is a Zone event, so we will be using the simulator. So who wants to race?"

Gareth spoke up, "Zone mode is my speciality, I never cared for weapons, and even though I don't do the fastest laps, I can keep my cool even at extremely high speeds. I'll take one for the team."

"Alrighty then, you're up!"

When Gareth was seated, the simulator booted up.

>loading zone... OK
>loading ship <"angelus">... OK
>loading track <"de konstruct">... OK
>loading custom playlist <"ga-zone">... OK
>loading graphic equalizers... OK

Initiating...... GO!

<13:25:00_>
<de konstruct: white run_>
<zone_>
<lap 01 / zone 00: sub-venom_>
<wipeout zone 02 - venom | sacred virgo_>

"Ooh, de Konstruct, this is my track of choice! I have a record on this." Gareth proudly exclaimed

"No you don't." Brandon said. "It was beaten... today in fact."

"WHAT?! By whom?!"

"Viktor Antonov." Brandon said stiffly. "He got up to Zone 158, beating your record by 4 zones."

"Oh, he is gonna get wrecked!"

As he got faster, so did the music, as Gareth specifically made the playlist for zone mode.

<lap 13 / zone 20: phantom_>

So far Gareth had obtained nothing but perfect laps, he was extremely calm, rather than his usual racing state, it seemed like the lack of weapons and other racers kept him at ease.

"Alright, it's out of the main speed classes, let's go... beyond Phantom!" he said, psyching himself up.

<lap 39 / zone 41: zen_>

"Mmphh, no!" Gareth mumbled, he had scraped against the wall, making it his first error in the race. "I can make it to the 70s before making crappy mistakes like that."

He was right, after the 41st lap, and entering Super-Zen, zone 42, he did not make one mistake, until...

<lap 52 / zone 79: supersonic_>

Once again, he invalidated a perfect lap and a perfect zone, but even then, he just scraped against the wall for a fraction of a second.

"Argh... Wow, a new personal perfect best!"

---

Tuesday, February 13th, 2210

Anti-Gravity Racing Commission HQ

13:45:39

<jungle is on fire | j-stark_>

"Zone Eighty-Five... clear."

<lap 59 / zone 86: fujiwara_>

"Damn. This guy is good," Chris Scarbrough said "I haven't seen anyone get to this zone and be this calm... it's like the faster he gets, the calmer he is... and the better he races! This guy is the next Jonny Bovier!"

"Huh? Who's this?" Natasha Belmondo asked him

"Uhhh... let's see.... Gareth Ardos, racer ID ARDO889.0.1.194. Huh, one-nine-four... that's Angelus' ID."

"Ah, Ardos, the second pilot of Angelus. I never knew he was this good at Zone."

"Well, evidently he is!"

---

Finally, on the 68th lap, Gareth hit the century...

<lap 68 / zone 100: zeus_>

Due to the high zones being reached, most zone scores being above 100, the AGRC defined new speed classes after Supersonic, Zone 75. In order, the new classes were:

086 - Fujiwara
100 - Zeus
125 - Aether
150 - Erebus
175 - Gaia
200 - Chaos

So far, there was only one person in the world who had beaten Gaia: Jonny Bovier, who had set a world record at Zone 346 on Moa Therma White.

Even at zone 100, Gareth was still obtaining perfect zones, and every few laps or so was a perfect one. To Gareth, time seemed to get slower the faster he went. To someone just watching him, it seemed like he was moving the wheel and airbrakes at a speed that a human should not be able to do. Faster and faster, Gareth's ice cool demeanour started to melt and break, and for good reason...

"EREBUS!"
<lap 112 / zone 150: erebus_>

He was nearly at his limits, or so he thought. Erebus meant that he was getting close to his personal limit of 154, and the record of 158. He had to push on, however, and push on he did...

"Zone 155... clear!"

He beat his record, now for the FX400 record of 158...

"Energy Critical"

His breath became heavy and short, as the music continued to pump through his ears, as he barely kept in control of the speeding craft. Eventually, he became so focused, he had effectively drowned out all sound, all feeling and even his sense of time. This had become extremely dangerous for his health. However, he had now become one with the simulator, as the ship continued to gain speed, as time passed by and as everyone watched, stunned in awe, until...

"GAIA!!"
<lap 137 / zone 175: gaia_>

"DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!" Came the sound of the simulator, as Gareth's ship was at 10% shield. However, thanks to him blocking out the sound, he was not affected by the constant dinging. But even then, even though he was more focused as ever, it was not enough for him.

<SHIP DESTROYED_>
<zone complete_>

>Total Zones: 182_
>Perfect Zones: 97_
>Total Laps: 141_
>Perfect Laps: 74_
>Top speed: 2317.05km/h_

<first place_>

Gareth's arms were visibly shaking after that. Suddenly, he muttered, "Ow.", then winced and collapsed, passing out from what seemed to be the extreme pressure he put his body in trying to beat the record...

That reference, isn´t obvious *irony* XD
Soo, the returning character is...Gareth?

Nope, it's Chris Scarbrough, that obscure character in Season 1 Part 1.0. He will have a larger role in Season 2.

1. I'm going to upload some concept drawings of my characters this evening.
2. I'll give all my parts a correct number, correct spelling mistakes and use a new format for conversations. (A combination of the current format and that of Snake).

Nice! I'm in the middle of writing Part 12. I can safely say that this is going to be a multi-parter, kinda like the Omega Harbour race.

I alsready fixed the parts (and plot) on page 1 (I guess).
The first picture is (once again) Jonny Bovier.
The secound picture is Nico, the third one is Jana and the last is Madison Larough (I bet you know her^^).
I also added the F400 :P

I'm doing my part to make Part 12 as accurate as possible: I'm racing on Orcus Black to get a feel of the track so I can understand what to write in Part 12!

Yeah, I chose Orcus Black, only because you were he only one who suggested a track to me... Where are you Snake?