Beta Angels(0x07) >Phase_03<
>>FX350 Anti-Gravity League: Pre-Season Testing
<22061024>

Saturday, October 24th, 2206

Talon's Junction, Wales

<immunize (ft. liam howlett) | pendulum_>

As Brandon and Xavier were conversing, giving all their attention on the telemetry and not the track itself, one other craft had risen from the start grid and taken off, that of a tri-hull variety, bearing Tigron's name in large yellow letters on the side. It flew across the track at a speed that Brandon had only seen the likes of Piranha and Icaras achieve.

Despite the prototype Angelus craft being able to accelerate and turn every so slightly quicker, the longer straight sections of Talon's Junction meant that it had more than enough time to catch up to it, and...

CRUNCH

...ram right into it as it took the turn onto the end straight.

When the Tigron craft rammed into her, a couple of systems let out some shrill warning beeps, a side-effect of the less-than-complete shielding system. Regaining her composure and control, she made an attempt to get away from or otherwise avoid the craft's further attacks on her.

After regaining his composure, Brandon had a dilemma on his hands.

'This would be a perfect time to conduct a test against that... but the craft is far from complete. Mmh, if only it were in a more stable state... argh, what do I do?!'

At that moment, Tarah contacted the control room through her communications system.

"Brandon! What do I do?! This guy is all over me!"

"I know!" Brandon replied, "I'm thinking. You know what the team's philosophies are, but that craft is far from complete."

The Tigron craft had caught up to her on the straight before the final corner. It moved alongside her, then turned away from her, to prepare for another attack. Tarah had seen this and, just as it turned towards her to launch the ramming attack, she engaged the airbrakes, slowing down enough for the craft to miss her. However, the pilot had seen her move, and had turned out of the attack to avoid hitting the wall. It wasn't over like that, though. It too had applied its airbrakes, but in addition, it had manoeuvred itself so that when Tarah entered the corner to the final straight, she had no other choice but to hit the craft as she navigated the turn.

"Agh, sh*t... Brandon, please, can you hurry up and make a decision?! What should I do?"

As the two craft flew across the start line for another lap, past the point where she could safely return, Brandon made his decision.

"I'm not risking it, get back now."

"I wish you could have said that earlier, but fine. I need to make another lap, though."

"Would you be able to hold them off?"

"I hope so."

------------

Meanwhile, as that great battle was taking place, a certain Angelus employee was watching on, viewing the datacast on a massive screen for spectators. She was looking on intently, absolutely beaming at the clashing of racing styles, violent and non-violent, placid and aggressive.

"...wow... so this is what that was like..." She spoke quietly, her eyes glowing slightly. "this is... beautiful."

------------

Back on the track, Tarah made every attempt to avoid the Tigron's attacks, some were successful, others had her getting shunted sideways. Soon, though she was nearing the end. She allowed herself to come side to side with the craft. This time, instead of preparing a hard hit from side-on, it just moved directly at her. Once again, she attempted to brake out of the way, but the dark craft was able to get an attack in, hitting the front corner of the craft. That skewed the craft's position.

Tarah was able to use it to her advantage, however. Keeping the skewed position held, she was able to drift into and around the final corner, keeping the aggressive craft ahead of her. As she entered the final straight, she applied the brakes again, this time to come to a complete halt over her pits. As soon as she was over them, she was pulled down into it, bringing both her and the prototype craft back to safety, the latter getting a complete post-test check-up.

"What the hell was that?!" Tarah exclaimed. "They were seriously aiming for me! And another thing, aren't those ramming techniques illegal?!"

"They are." The Personnel Manager explained. "The Race Commission is up in arms about this. No-one knows anything about them, or even how they keep getting allowed in."

"What? Not even the Race Commission knows?"

"Par for the course, really. Hope they get it sorted soon, though. Definitely not keen on Tigron returning."

"Are they really that bad?" She asked sincerely.

The Personnel Manager blinked for a second, "Ah, that's right, you're too young to know. Tigron were one of the main teams that made the F9000 as corrupt as it was. Trust me, they are really that bad."

At the same time, Brandon, Xavier and several others were inspecting the damage done to their prototype craft. The shielding systems were critically damaged, causing some of the bodywork to become physically dented in some places, outright broken in others.

"Tch, this is going to take a while to fix. Do you think it's worth it, or should we move on to upgrading it again?"

"Upgrade it, of course. This isn't the final body design anyway." Brandon spoke, deciding to go through all the aspects of the aftermath. "Like I said before, I'll figure something out regarding the shields, but this system is just shot. The rest of the fixes would just come naturally with the upgrades the craft will get."

He looked back to Tarah, conversing with the Personnel Manager about Tigron and the F9000.

"She did a good job though, this outcome could have been a whole lot worse. Although, this would not have lasted another lap against that thing."