The Return of Vintage AGRC Ships
This fan-fiction is based on Youtube videos showing the glitch/exploit of being able to use 2048 ships in WipEout HD mode in the Omega Collection, so I decided to probably give it a fitting story. Examples are shown here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ozXA4QRtMM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsJkWEZPess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17o4IVF8oHU
In 2217, shortly after the FX400 season of that year ended, the A.G.F. (Anti-Gravity Federation), along with the Race Commission have announced plans a new racing series for amateur pilots to compete in a new championship featuring restored vintage ships that were once raced in the AGRC dating all the way back from 2048, in an effort to bring back the historical interest of anti-gravity motorsports and its rich history, more especially in the rebirth era where this could lead to an important development for the FX era and its future. This was held in a press conference somewhere in Kyoto, not very far from Metropia.
Originally an invitational-only series, this caught the public eye when it was announced that this new racing league would be called the Historic Anti-Gravity Motorsports Revival, a sub-division of the FX350/400, and as such, only the five teams that competed in the AGRC (AG Systems, F.E.I.S.A.R., Auricom, Qirex and Piranha) will be present with their restored vintage racers, and that the races share the same exact locations as the ongoing FX350/400 seasons, as the race tracks in New York City that were once the venue of the AGRC, were no longer available.
Back in the AGRC, the ships were accustomed to two weapon pads; one for offensive weapons and another for defensive/beneficiary weapons. The newly-restored craft had their weapons systems re-wired so that they can work on a single weapon pad, as seen on the current, modern-day circuits. Ship regulations were almost virtually the same as in the AGRC, with each ship based on its class (Speed, Fighter and Agility) having their separate weapon load-outs much like when they raced almost 170 years ago, and that the highly controversial prototype ships have also made a return. Any other such modifications to the ships were strictly forbidden in which this would lead to impurities and inauthenticity with their designs and technology.
Rumor had it that the AGRC ships were much faster than their descendant ships, with higher top speeds and faster track performance, but according to even the professional pilots currently competing in the FX350 and 400 leagues, flying the vintage ships were just as easy and effortless, just as much as their later counterparts. There were also worries that if the vintage ships ever get destroyed due to occasional elimination, the cost to replace them would be unimaginable, even far more than when it was said that the cost to replace destroyed Auricom and Tigron ships during the F9000 would be somewhere in the billions range. Thus, the A.G.F. and the Race Commission knew the possible risks, especially with timeless and historically important craft that would race once again.
During the only season of the Historic Anti-Gravity Motorsports Revival in 2218, apparently 170 years since the AGRC, the AG Systems Speed ship, notable for winning the inaugural AGRC season in 2048 by the late great John Dekka, was almost virtually unbeatable, dominating most of the races, becoming the popular favorite to win in the championship and taking a near-perfect season (21 out of 24 victories in a row, with the last three races won by the F.E.I.S.A.R. Prototype in the Amphiseum, Talon's Junction and Tech de Ra's reverse layouts, respectively). All of the races were set to A Class, the rough equivalent of the FX350/400 standard of Phantom class, as A+ Class, the rough equivalent of Super Phantom class, were deemed too unsafe for actual competition.
As such, AG Systems became the first (and only) constructors' champions of this newly-found racing discipline. However, due to the extremely high cost of running this championship (mostly because of the running and restoration of the vintage ships), and despite its popularity, die-hard fans were worried if this championship would ever continue into 2219 and beyond. The A.G.F. and the Race Commission had their own reasons, probably that they did not want to use this to distract racing fans from the actual FX350/400 championships.
As such, this championship was short-lived, only lasting one season, and that the vintage ships have been permanently re-located to anti-gravity automobile museums all over the world, to remain as either antiques or show pieces once again.
The year after, famous championship winning ships such as John Dekka's AG Systems Speed, Kel Solaar's Qirex Fighter and Stu Tille's Pir-hana Speed, which won in 2048, 2049 and 2050, respectively, were seen in an auction by RM Sotheby's, with each ship being as valuable as $300 million, theoretically beating out the price of the most expensive vehicle sold in an auction, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupe, which was sold for $143 million in 2022. The ships were sold to a collector whose name was undisclosed, but is about to open a new anti-gravity vehicle museum in Hong Kong, scheduled for opening in 2221.
However, the museum's opening was delayed to a year due to the incident in the Amphiseum, involving the K-pop girl group, "White Purple", which effectively canceled the 2219 season.
Even if the Historic Anti-Gravity Motorsports Revival was not to last for any longer, the legacy of the AGRC, as well as the competitive spirit of its champions, John Dekka, Kel Solaar, and Stu Tille, continues to be an inspiration of modern day AG racing, to which Natasha Belmondo claims has been her crowning achievement in her years of service as the Belmondo Foundation's chairwoman, something that would definitely make her great-great grandfather, Pierre Belmondo, proud of, to see the sport he created thriving and flourishing in a new era, leading to a bright future that is fast approaching.
