EVENT #1: The Survival of the Fastest

[space_aces]

Dropping a set of coordinates in the logs of every Privateer space ship with no further elaboration or explanation is a way of delivering a lead that only SUPERBIA would do. What awaits at the site of the coordinates is not a civilization, nor an unpopulated rock, but a planet-sized tourist trap: The Dayton Entertainment Platform, the host of the biggest space ship race in the tri-galaxy area, the Mobius Prix.

For a place where everything is happening, none of it seems to matter for a treasure-hunting Privateer. The coordinates may seem like a total non sequitur, or a passive aggressive suggestion from SUPERBIA to take it easy. Until one starts hearing the rumors that the prize for winning the race was carved from a piece of Fortuna itself...

Now This Is Podracing
The Möbius Prix is an utterly ruthless affair. Anything goes, with the only rule of the race being no weapons. If a Privateer wants a closer look at that trophy, they can consider entering the race and winning it for themself. Fast space ships have an advantage (advice that could have come from the mouth of Herlock Sholmes.) But speed isn't the only factor that matters here...

Space ships don't worry about terrain per se, but the race track passes through difficult space with a claustrophobic amount of obstructions that require an ace pilot's skills and intuition to traverse. The track also goes through the territory of nasty creatures, including a pack of Triple Helix Hammerjaws during their mating season. Good luck dealing with an aggressive male Hammerjaw that thinks you're what's between him and getting laid. On top of all that, the racers will start to notice some less than natural obstacles. Mines that blow up passing vehicles, tripwires that can catch a speeding space ship, and laser turrets aimed at the track, it seems some racers don't heed the No Weapons rule as long as it isn't on the ship itself.

A top-level to enter the race with your ship will go up with the Event Post, with placements and winners being drawn on Nov 30.

Changing Hands
It's not just the competitors that have a vested interest in the outcome of this race. Intermingled with the spectators are gamblers, sweating while watching the results of their bets. No matter who wins, a lot of money is going to be exchanged in the end. Maybe try to cash out on a bet yourself, if one has a lot of faith in your fellow crewmate.

Just like on the track, people play dirty here as well. In the shadows, one might catch some suspicious looking characters lurking around. Following them will lead to one finding some tough looking guys conspiring together, with race fixing being an especially alarming keyword. Those death traps on the race track are not so inexplicable now.

It's common knowledge (to the point that locals will find you a bit naive for not knowing) that the race is a front for vast transactions of money among the local criminal empires. Investigating a bit deeper will reveal the involvement of a specific organized crime family, The Belladahlias. A lot of snooping around (whether through intelligence or arm-twisting) will disclose that the winner is rigged to be a certain ship, the Polar Star. That last tidbit will come at the cost of attracting the attention of large, suspicious followers dressed in black. Ruh-roh! Let's hope you're as fast on your feet as behind the wheel.

Fast Food
Those with less of a need for speed are free to leisurely enjoy the splendors of Dayton. Attractions include rides, entertainers, and plenty of the Largest in the Tri-Galaxy Area and Smallest in the Tri-Galaxy Area of miscellaneous objects.

Dayton is practically half-shopping mall half-race course, with countless sellers attracted to the planet with dreams of extracting money from tourists. Omnipresent is the amount of merchandise centering around the Mobius Prix, each vendor promoting their racer of choice. T-shirts, water bottles, fans, balloons, anything you can slap a face on, it's being sold. When in Rome, why not do as the Romans do, and sell merchandise with a crewmate's face on it? Supportive AND profitable!

If any of the goods catches your eye, however, prepare to have to open your wallet wide. The Rat Race might be as brutal as the space ship tournament. Everything on Dayton is sold with massive price gouging, including the most overpriced hotdog you will ever see. If it's just food SUPERBIA will probably allow you to write it down as a living expense, but it's the principle of the thing.

Comments

Hermes v1 | Fortuna | Plotting

[somuchshipping]

Hermes is all about speed and has one of the fastest ships if not THE fastest ship in his computer game and will definitely be entering the race. If anyone wants to try and stop him, you can try.

[funnylittleclown]

If Hermes is entering then I'm sure he would be interested to hear about the rigged winner.

Adela Pérez | Plotting

[futuradelita]

While Adela herself is not that much of a pilot, she would potentially offer her skills as a repairwoman during a race. Given the risks involved, and how she'll immediately realize everything is shady as all hell, she'll be of the vocal opinion that they should arm the ship... and in turn, have herself as a gunner (or even a boarder) if necessary.

That said, she'll be the most attracted to the gambling circles and the bars, getting people drunk to either bet more or bring out information... and slowly investigate what is happening. If she's not participating in the race, Adela would still want to keep her friends safe by investigating the truth behind the organization, as well as the rigging. And of course, once the truth comes out, she'll be ready to both run and fight.

When time allows, though, Adela may want to go towards attractions to have fun with friends, since she hasn't got a chance to have this much fun in, like... ever. Given bullets cost money, though, I'm wondering if Adela would Sell food and stuff for her team... and if they face people from opposing stands, have her as the (small) muscle.

[wresting]

i'm intrigued by adela using gambling to play people, but i don't have any immediate ideas atm... would adela be interested in investigating or sharing information with mcgillis?

[funnylittleclown]

With her gun skills she might actually be able to beat one of those rigged carnival games. Shoot the asteroid and get a giant plushie space octopus.

[heeroics]

so here's my pitch: heero wants to do some information gathering among the adults, but he still looks baby, so Adela could find him strugglebussing/getting kicked out of a casino bar?

then(/or), they could notice she's being tailed by the shady goons she's trying to investigate...

mcgillis fareed | ms gundam: iron blooded orphans

[wresting]

for extra info/ideas, mcgillis's post on the CR meme is here.

now this is podracing
mcg will not be competing! he doubts the veracity of the prize, but he is interested in chatting with any competitors both to form professional relationships and to confirm his suspicions. he'll politely root for a privateer! threads set before or after the race would be ideal for this prompt, but he'll likely keep a close eye on the race regardless.

changing hands
mcg is a gjallarhorn inspection officer, so this prompt is tailored to him and his skillset!! i would like him to do a lot of snooping, potentially alerting some privateers the race is fixed (to do with the knowledge as they see fit) and evading or outright tousling with his new stalkers. mcg doesn't at all mind investigation partners and the general exchange of information. he may want to press further into the belladahlias as a potential point of interest RE fortuna.

fast food
as he is a very rich bastard, mcg is immune to price gouging. he has a sweet tooth and will enjoy some mall desserts and maybe even a few other ridiculous things for the funsies, likely in the middle of or as a front to his investigations. feel free to call him a cringelord dweeb for it because he is. 😌

[heeroics]

ahem, so i would love it if heero and mcg got up to some snooping misadventures... maybe incidentally running into each other and forced to hide out with each other? (so heero can't just leave! lol)

[somuchshipping]

Hermes is up to talk before or after the race. It can be like a little interview.

[freearcadia]

Harlock can go either way on joining the race or not, but if he does - he'd definitely be interest in making sure the attempts to rig it does not work as planned or gathering intel on that end to share, but otherwise he's likely going to be snooping around as well.

Harlock | Space Pirate Captain Harlock

[freearcadia]

While Harlock does have a slight competitive streak, he also is confident enough not feel like he needs to enter - And he detests cheaters, so likely he will be investigating the race, and not caring if he causes problems.

So he's either straight up Investigating, or Perhaps he's collaborating with other investigators by Joining the race to unfix it and keeping in communication with them to keep things fair, or to prevent a bigger issue.

[funnylittleclown]

Up for plotting a trap for the people plotting a trap to help save some racers? If its a rigged race there must be boundless traps around ala Wacky Racers.

Gaelio Bauduin | Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans

[retributing]

Gaelio is not entirely convinced Fortuna is real at all yet, so SUPERBIA sending them coordinates to a space race while already in... a space race... is very suspect. Gaelio will be snooping around, and probably getting in a lil over his head. Please someone stop him from initiating a shootout.

As far as the race itself, Gaelio will be participating! Of course he knows it's rigged, but it just sounds like a challenge to him! And once he realizes that weapons are tacitly allowed (so long as they're not attached to the ship of course), he will be out in his Gundam should anyone be unwise enough to target him. Also he might take a peek at the Polar Star for himself. 😇 Just some friendly interest in the favorite to win, nothing to see here.

Gaelio, unfortunately, is also a rich bastard and will be partaking of the outrageously priced food. He might raise an eyebrow at it but won't try to haggle.

If anyone would like Gaelio somewhere specific, I'm always down for plotting, hit me up here or plurk @ ricorori !

[wresting]

bestie, ur gonna tell him all about the polar star over something really disgusting like fried oreos or funnel cake with the works, right??

(also, i think he will bet on gaelio for the funsies. mb smth to thread after the event...)

Pioneer Ten

[pioneer10]

While Ten will not be able to participate in the race directly, for obvious reasons, she will absolutely be commentating on the goings-on, including anyone doing any sneaking around anywhere they might be seen from a low orbit— perhaps she could participate in sussing out the spooks behind the Polar Star?

So who wants to get talked about publicly?

Re: Pioneer Ten

[somuchshipping]

Hermes Hermes Hermes Hermes Hermes Hermes Hermes Hermes Hermes Hermes

In all seriousness, Hermes will find the commentary amusing and will enjoy it.

[wresting]

i would love for these two to gossip and also for mcg to rely on her for some information! depending on the situation, i'd be interested in her reporting his goingon's, too. (will be waiting to see what my threads look like exactly!)

[funnylittleclown]

I feel like Ten needs a gig as the race's main commentator.

[mech_and_mutt]

Talk up/praise/poke fun at Red and his exploits all you want. He'll definitely be tuning in to what she has to say, either way.

Re: Pioneer Ten

[freearcadia]

I'm open to having Harlock get talked about,

Chang Wufei ✦ Gundam Wing

[zerofive]

Wufei won't be competing directly, but he *will* be looking around and snooping. Unfortunately, he's not the stealthiest, so when he gets spotted by the Polar Star's thug brigade, he's inevitably going to get into a kung fu fight.

You're shocked, I know. Maybe you'd like to snoop alongside him, meet up by chance at some point, or join him in the punch-up?

Regardless, at that point, he'll probably decide that sabotaging or just straight-up rigging the Polar Star with explosives will be the way to go. (pending moderator approval, of course) He's all for competition, you see, but if we're not going to abide by the rules then we're not going to abide by the rules.

The Doctor | Doctor Who

[funnylittleclown]

The Doctor is the very sort of person who would end up investigating the race and ending up with a big burly fellow chasing after him... He is also the sort of fellow who might try to loose said burly ruffian in a fun faire dressed as a fortune teller.

If he gets the chance he is going onto some of those rides too! Might be a good Scooby-doo-like chase scene in there some where for any who would like to get involved.

gundam wing | heero yuy

[heeroics]

FULL DISCLOSURE: Heero & I are both really bad at smalltalk and threads without a clear goal in mind, so probably no open or general starters from me, at least for now! Just lmk if you've got an idea you want me to write a starter for!

Podracing:

Heero will not be participating in the race directly, because I figure His Ship is probably the BFG that houses his esteemed colleagues' Gundams. It is not fast.

But he does have plans to use SUPERBIA's resources to modify Duo's Deathscythe into one fast m**********r. With cloaking and hyperjamming tech.

He is VERY interested in getting a look at "a piece of Fortuna," either through winning the race or (ahem) other means...

Investigation:

He will also get up to snooping and investigating, because he has a pretty good sixth sense of when shady workings are afoot. Unfortunately, Heero is extremely reckless and doesn't always think his plans through, so he's bound to get noticed/tailed/potentially trapped while hiding out!! Note that he isn't inclined to share information easily, but he might tell you what he knows if he feels he owes you something, or if he can be convinced that collaboration is the right thing to do for the mission.

SABOTAGE?:

Pending mod approval, of course.

Once Heero has even a vague idea of what's going on - what with the rigged race, the booby traps placed on the track, the crime family, etc. - he'll want to fight back, by sabotaging either the Polar Star or their supply of booby traps.

Heero's Wing Cast Picnic Mash-up?

Just an idea I had as a bouncing-off point for miscellaneous IC cast threads: Heero has no concept of the value of money, and Superbia will just print him any cash he needs, so price gouging is meaningless to him. Paralyzed by choice/not being familiar with any of the foods on offer, he just buys one of everything available, and then they all meet in the same room (just like the fanfics!!!) to go over their plans for the race while nomming popcorn and corn dogs.

> Also Duo has stolen entire bags of fruit for the cause

[freearcadia]

Harlock is honestly planning on fucking with the crime family once he got a sense the race's rigged and would be more than happy to assist (he may be a criminal but he has standards) either on the investigative end or on the race track itself.

Eddie Bloomberg | DC Comics

[kid_devil_you_dont_know]

Eddie's immediate response to "dangerous space ship race" is "sign me up" and even the news that people aren't following the rules and the winner is probably rigged ahead of time won't stop him.

Besides, all of you who want to sabotage the crap out of The Polar Star will need some kind of cover, right? Consider this an open invitation to be his "pit crew" (wink wink) that just absolutely needs to be wandering around the common facilities and might get lost and stumble upon a particular ship...

Though Eddie won't say no to soaking up some rampant capitalism gone mad AKA the local culture before the race. And he can probably think up merchandise ideas, too, if you want to make a quick buck around the race.

Red Savarin | Solatorobo

[mech_and_mutt]

First, let's just drop a quick link to Red's CR meme. With that done:

Red is definitely off to the races, and it's not his first time doing so either. Granted, he's more used to atmospheric flight, but racing in a spacecraft? How hard can it be? Feel free to be the poor sod flying along with him or having to tend to his craft as it struggles to withstand what he'll be putting it through. The Frisbee to his Sweet JP, as it were.

And speaking of race fixing scandals: if there's suspicious activity afoot- especially if there's a chance it'll prevent him from winning in a fair race- then he just might to take a heavier hand in dealing with the problem, even if it means he'll have to let one of his crewmates take the wheel for the big race instead of him. So if you need someone to back you up when you're jumped by thugs, you've found him.

I'm also toying with the thought that his spaceship might have a set of articulated wing-arms, much like his mech the DAHAK. They're not weapons, but they'll suffice to heave an asteroid or two at the Polar Star if things come to blows. They're not technically weapons, right?

Finally, you bet he's always wanted merch of his own. He won't even care if it's a bootleg. And he'll especially be keen on loading up his ship with junk food while he has the chance and before they all set off on their big adventure.

[heeroics]

Dumb question: would Red have any merchandise cute enough to entice a secretly dog-loving linefaced anime protag to buy it