Following behind the Security Vessel, Robin and all the other pilots passed one checkpoint after another. This first track was set in a completely plain area. No mountains, no obstacles, no competitors - everything was about you and the fastest lap you could manage.
Robin had studied the route before, but only now did he get a good feeling for what he could expect: 28,2 km long, 12 turns with two being 180°. There were four long high speed sections and four short ones. In his preparations Robin made some test runs and calculations. He estimated the average lap time should be around 2:50min.
All in all nothing crazy, but the absence of any distractions on the track made sure this race was heavily focused on optimizing your flight.
After they finished the introduction lap, every ship returned to their waiting area. Robin soon got a notification that his turn would start in ten minutes and he had to prepare at the starting line. He became more nervous as the minutes ticked by. Doing one last check of all his systems and starting his Interface in pilot-mode, he saw the track and the distance to the next gate as well as indicators for the next turn projected into his vision.
***
Niu watched as the Melody was positioned in front of the fancy gate, a red light with a timer hanging above it, slowly counting down.
01:16… 01:15… 01:14…
She was on the top deck of the Nova, which gave her a good view over the track and especially on the start/finish line.
“He will totally mess this up, won’t he?” she chuckled as the counter fell to 50 seconds. Moments later the ship’s main thrusters were powered up.
“They seem more powerful than what you normally encounter on a racetrack. What the hell did he install in that ship? And what is his strategy? Speed is all fine and dandy, but this is more about mobility and stability, he will not be able to use much of that propulsion power without drifting off track in the first curve or knocking himself out with the huge g-forces.” Happy knew her stuff and had taken part in more than a few tournaments. This newbie however - he came here with a completely different approach than everyone else.
“I wish you good luck, Scrappy!” Niu mumbled as the timer hit zero and the red light finally turned green.
The track began with one of its high speed parts, nearly 4 km long and straight ahead. Robin’s ship gained speed like a bullet and shot forward.
Happy could hear murmurs all around, many pilots watched this first participant and were astounded by the ship’s acceleration, just like her. Not only did the overfitting of the thrusters pay off, the person aboard had to withstand enormous g-forces and that was no easy feat.
As Niu watched on, she began to contemplate.
‘He won’t just shoot straight ahead when the first bend comes, will he?’
Moments later, the ship decelerated and prepared to turn left. Even from this distance, she could feel how hard the ship and its pilot were fighting to stay on track. They somewhat managed and moved in for a short straight.
She heard the people around discuss his recklessness and had to agree with them. Robin lost more time in the curve because of his high speed, than he gained in the straight before.
The next sections were just as clumsy and when he flew along the last straight before the curve into the finish line, she saw him finally mess up.
A bend to the left at the end of a 6,5 km high speed section would take him to the start/finish line, completing his lap. Instead, Robin shot straight ahead, totally overestimating his ability to slow down. He had to come to a halt and turn to get back on track. His lap time was ruined, not that it was great even before that misstep.
“3:22…” Happy sighed, “That’s not even bad anymore. Only people that crash will have a worse lap time.”
She took a look at the display and a small smile returned to her face. ‘361m/s top speed, what a crazy bastard, that’s nearly 60m/s faster than any sane pilot would dare…’
“Come on, you can do it!” she loudly cheered for him, earning a few strange looks.
That was only the test round, even if he had a good run it wouldn’t be counted. The next three laps were what mattered.
***
“Fuck, that was stupid!” Robin cursed as he returned to the track. His nerves were all over the place, his concentration severely lacking. The gateways in the curves stood closer together than he had expected and trained, giving him less leeway for errors and high speeds.
‘I have to calm down and do one relaxed lap now. From there I’ll work on my time in the next two laps.’ He thought and accelerated again, beginning his first ranked lap.
He still took the high speed sections too fast, but slowly got more used to the track.
In the curves he rolled the Melody to the side more smoothly and got better traction from the vents when he pulled back his right joystick to let her nose follow the turn.
When he came into the last section this time, he firmly concentrated on keeping it slow to not fuck up again.
‘Not faster than 320m/s, braking 1.000m before the turn. Come on, I can do it!’
He flew along the straight and managed to get the curve in the end, finishing his lap somewhat alright.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
After crossing the finish line, his results popped up in his Interface for just a second.
Lap Time - 02:52
Top Speed - 318m/s
He was pressed into his seat, fighting against the enormous g-forces before he could form a clear thought. Only when he decelerated moments later, could he process the information.
‘Not too bad, but the speed is a bit too low. I have to go faster. The professionals will probably hit 380m/s or more…’ Robin evaluated his last lap, not realizing he had no idea how other pilots were flying their races.
He never bothered to check - they just would give it their all, wouldn’t they? Maximum speed and then throwing yourself into the next curve with everything your ship could tolerate without breaking apart.
What Robin failed to understand was that he withstood the g-forces much better than most other people and as such could push the Melody in the high speed sections much further.
Today every planetary ship had force-reduction measures on board, but there was not much difference between the systems. They had varying origins and diverse forms, but ultimately every module could reduce the strain on the ship’s occupants by roughly 25%, give or take. Robin’s body wasn’t changed and his mutation in another theme. However, his brain once got that massive overload and adapted to a higher burden. So even when he sat on a rocket, getting a full brunt of g-forces, his mind could remain clear for a bit longer.
Oblivious to that, he planned his next lap.
‘02:45 should be my target this round, 02:42 for the last one… Hopefully that will be enough!’
***
Niu still stood on the Nova’s top deck. She had the time of her life and was loudly cheering for Robin each time he pushed the speed to its limits.
He had just finished his next ranked lap, getting quite the good time.
‘02:46 and 331m/s, that’s actually pretty good. He is compensating his lack of skill with recklessness and his ship’s stupid sturdiness in the speeding sections. Everyone else's head would long be mushy from all the strong accelerations.’
It wasn’t that the ships of the other pilots won’t be able to reach those speeds, but finishing a race takes time and each strain on one's mind through the g-forces would cloud your head and slow your reaction. Because of that, most pilots were accelerating slower and braking earlier because one small misjudgment would kick you out, like it happened to Robin in his first lap.
The people around were in dismay and excitedly discussed his approach. The racing community was an established one with old, unwritten rules and teachings. Robin threw all that into the winds.
“02:46 is pretty good for a rookie, but he would need a faster lap by at least 5 seconds to have a shot at the top 25!” one of the pilots in the crowd just said and Happy had to agree. He lost too much time in the curves, his lacking skill will probably cost him the qualification. But he should be proud, he is doing well for his first race.
“Wohoooo!” She once again cheered for him when he neared the last section of his final lap. His lap time right now was looking even slightly better than last round.
***
“Too slow…too clumsy…too rough. Burn in plasma!” Robin cursed once more. He knew his weaknesses and could see them clearly in every move he did.
“I’m too inexperienced, one or two tournaments more and I could achieve something. But right now? I make too many mistakes.”
He was angry, he should have trained more. Get more data on the track, get more data from other races. He messed up and this was his only chance.
He finished the turn and entered the last straight. With his hand on the throttle, he ramped it up once more and prepared to accelerate.
‘340m/s, 950m to brake’ he set a plan in his mind.
‘This will never be enough, will it? I fucked up so much in the turns, those lost seconds cannot be regained.’ He shook his head as he pushed the joystick forward and let the thrusters roar loudly.
Just before his mind faded because of the incoming g-forces, he clenched his teeth.
‘No! I only have this one shot. I need to get in the top 25 today. I cannot wait for next year - what happens if someone else finds the outpost? I decided to change my life and today I’ll take the next necessary step. I’ll win this shit!’
Decisively he pushed the throttle further up, his vision narrowed more than ever, nearly knocking him out. Flashbacks of the chase with the smugglers sneaked into his mind, tormenting him.
When his senses finally returned, he saw that Melody had already hit 375m/s. Faster than even in his first attempt. He only had seconds in the straight to make new calculations for the braking sequence.
Once again he felt the Sentinel behind him, trying to shoot him out of the sky. He shook his head to clear his mind and narrowed his eyes.
‘I’ve done it before, I can do it again!’
He didn’t stop the acceleration and pushed the Melody even further to her limits. The gate came in faster than ever before.
‘1.600m…’
‘1.400m…’
‘1.200m…’
When only 1.000m remained, he yanked the throttle back, cutting off the power from his thrusters…
***
Happy, every pilot on the Nova’s deck and even some Apex staff members watched with shock and amazement as Robin zipped along the last high speed section. His ship was only a blur - how fast is he going?
“He doesn’t slow down, how will he…” someone exclaimed among the crowd, but before he could finish his sentence, the ship’s thruster suddenly went off.
Niu felt elated, that was exciting, that was fun.
For her, these tournaments were a way to flee the pressure and responsibilities of daily life. Robin raised that to a whole new level.
When she saw the thrusters die out, her eyes went wide. The Melody, shooting along the track with insane speed, rotated midair and changed front and rear in the blink of an eye. The ship’s thrusters came back to life and screamed so loud, the windows of the Nova began to vibrate.
The ship still shot backwards, but slowed down rapidly. Happy couldn’t even imagine the forces Robin had to withstand right now. But it didn’t matter, when he neared the gateway after which the curve came, she knew he would overshoot.
He indeed flew through the first one and passed the other gate on the finish line to his side. However, as he was passing by, his ship realigned its nose and only a second later the roaring thrusters finally overcame the momentum and pushed the Melody forward, catapulting her over the finish line.
The room was deadly silent after seeing someone doing a Flip and Burn maneuver. Only when the display viewed his latest results, did the people wake up from their stupor. Niu didn’t even check the time, her eyes glued to the number in the second row.
Top Speed - 432 m/s - New Record!