[RFC][Story]It's not the speed....

[Dartz]

Alright. A little more

The best part about having her visor down, Jet figured, was that it kept the flashes from bothering her eyes. While true fans could spot the differences from an AU away -with some padding hiding the markings on her shoulder - she could pass for Sylia Stingray

It was all in body language. Look confident. Look strong.

The Highway Star was the last record holder built in the era of hardtech machinery. The 1907 Curtiss V8 Sora Hasegawa sat astride beside her was the first. Or a replica at least.

Both machines had two wheels and spat out a wall of noise when running, and this was about the limit of what they had in common.

“Any chance you could start it them up?”

Jet flipped her visor up.

“Sorry. Ran out of petrol.”

3600cc’s of turbocharged rotary engine did not equal a winning formula for fuel economy. It emptied its tank just getting down to the car park.

“I’ll need a bumpstart. And a 4 litre V-8 is tough to bumpstart,” answered Sora, offfering a conciliatory smile.

“We’ll be moving them when the event is over anyway,” added Jet “That’s 43 minutes from now,”

“I’ll be back!” the fan offered with a grin.

And after that, it was across the carpark to where the anime replicas were hanging out, prior to a panel on anime vehicle design. Ford’s GT500 restore had been parked there, with the expectation that Rally Vincent would show up. Lebia Maverick was lurking, along with the Third Highway Star and a few Tachikoma.

The event centred on the carpark, set in the bottom of an old excavation pit deep in the core of the asteroid.

It was where attendees gathered in their vehicles, just to show them off, or offer rides. A StellOil outlet provided fuel at fair rates for those that needed it, while a few chargepoints had been provided for the BEV’s to slurp.

At both ends of the carpark were gates allowing access to the tunnels of Frigga. The general idea was that it could form one full loop around, with various routes branching off. And a few secrets hidden in the dark areas.

The T-72 parked in the middle acted as a showpiece for its crew. And a nice chicane to keep morons from screaming through at full throttle - inspite of the limits and pass gates. A speed limit of 50kph was enforced near public areas. And the con rules left people in no doubt exactly who was responsible if someone got injured because those limits were broken.

Jet’d already personally escorted one fool to the landing bay after he was banned for dangerous driving, then got uppity about being treated unfairly. Joining him was a groper who groped the wrong person and got a black-eye and lifetime ban for the trouble.

Three other Kunstler from the Kammer Gruppe provided some real hard muscle to back the security. Nobody was going to try rip off some of the expensive machinery on show with them watching.

The trade hall and panel rooms were up in the accommodation block, a short drive - or lift ride - away.

She could see Vulpin Fury down by the Batmobile collection. Star of the show was a Barris Batmobile, along with an original Tumbler in camo, parked next to a blue replica. A few mundane celebrities mingled with the BNF’s, and a film crew from England who were getting in the way while trying to film a show about the ultimate evolution of the petrol engine.

The Highway Star was slated to participate in a showpiece later.

Effectively, a century of vehicular evolution was displayed on one stand. And now the world had changed, and the internal combustion engine was rapidly going the way of the dinosaurs that once fueled its mighty roar.

There was a certain pride in being the last velociraptor standing.

"Hey, big sis, I like what you've done with your body!"

Jet was snapped out of her momentary melancholy by a voice. The crowd parted around Kohran Li.

"Thanks. You're still wearing that one?" Sora answered, with a mischievous grin.

Kohran folded her arms defensively "It suits me. Have you met Yuu's boyfriend yet?"

Unsubtle change of subject there.... thought Jet.

“No..... Ikari right?”

“One of Jet’s,” said Kohran, completing the redirection of attention.

“I know the story. Some of it anyway.”

Sora’s eyes asked for more information from the cyber.

“They’re in his apartment together,” Jet answered, feeling painfully like a third wheel dragged into a family conversation. “I’m glad he found someone.”

“They’re perfect for each other!” Kohran announced. “And you know Yuu deserves it, considering...”

“Yeah,” Sora nodded.

Jet kept quiet, only knowing the truth through Great Justice reports. She’d been assigned to other duties at the time.

“So, Jet, Isn’t that pushing it?”

“What?”

“Anime replica panel.” she pointed right at the image in the conbook on her datapad. “The Highway Star, and a Griffon replica? In the one room? It’s just begging for the laws of drama to intervene.”

Jet offered her an almost mischievous grin “Why do you think it wasn’t waved? It exists outside the laws of drama, in the real world.”

"I'm an engineer, I solve practical problems. I hate the laws of drama sooo much." Sora sighed, leaning forward on the handlebars of the Curtiss replica, checking the messages on her wrist-com.

“So? What about you and Mackie?” Kohran continued. “Last I checked your spec, there’s more wave in you than a motoroid.”

Jet shook her head slowly. “All I’m saying is, I’m not going to be chasing a homicidal cyber-car on this.” She knocked on the tank with her knuckles. “Because if that breaks down, it’ll break down like any other car. ”

Which meant it’d come slowly coasting or grinding to a halt, either smoking, non-smoking or blazing on fire. And the Star was out of fuel.

“Looks like the network reached its limit. It just booted me off," said Sora, not really sounding like she was bothered by it.

Kohran checked her own wrist-com. “Me too.“ She struggled to hide an amused giggle.

It was well known that Frigga’s network architecture was a little bit.... creaky.

The vanes on Jet’s back adjusted themselves silently, searching. “My signal’s fine.” Better than fine. The realisation struck her like a train. “It’s gone to emergency.”

“On behalf of operations we have an emergency announcement. There is a high speed runaway vehicle in Tunnel B-4. All drivers in all locations are to stop in the next refuge area and wait in their vehicles. Pedestrians on foot should not cross tunnels. Vehicles in the parking area are to remain where they are parked unless directed to move by security. ”

Jet’s blood ran cold.

“Told you so,” Kohran grinned.

Sora was staring. As were maybe fifty other people who’d gathered to take pictures. It wasn’t long before they began to speculate.

Jet could feel her face go cold and pale.

“If it’s coming from B4 at full speed, it won’t be able to make turn. It’s going to come straight in through there. And that tank’s in the way.”

------

“Miss Sierra. We have a problem.”

“It’s coming through the Tunnel at speed. It’s not going to be able to make this turn here, at the gates to the carpark. It’s already going too fast for the trap barriers.”

“How long to clear a path?”

“That’s the problem. The T-72’s parked right in the centre. ”

“When that gets moved, it can go through and through the exit gate, then back around the loop.”

“Jake. I need the tank moved off to one side. I need a safe path straight through the carpark from gate to gate. And I need it in one minute or we’re going to have a real disaster on our hands.”

------

Myk looked at the Stig to his right. Then at the strobing lights ahead marking the refuge. A few cars had already parked up their headlights ablaze.

The tension was crushing. Both stared at the rear view mirrors, waiting for a flash of light behind. The Stig had gone stoney silent. It was an unsettling change from the chatty man who’d been waxing lyrical about the perfect balance of the Mclaren F1 they both shared.

They were a few kilometres short of the exit into the carpark.

Myk didn’t want to think about what’d happen if that thing reached the carpark at full speed. They had barriers... he’d seen them. He had to hope they’d be enough to stop some runaway.

He had to hope they’d make it to the rest stop

The alternatives made goosebumps prickle across his skin.

“This is Ray, your Safety Director. Vehicles in B-Tunnels should immediately pull in to the left hand side of the course. Vehicles in B-Tunnels should immediately pull in to the left hand side of the course. Turn rear foglights on. Make yourselves visible, this thing will be coming up fast.”

Stig had been hugging the wall as close as he dared. He wasn’t travelling slow... not by a long shot. He was doing his level best to get the Mclaren to safety as soon as humanely possible. It was going top speed.

Easily 360kph.

The V12 strained to push it faster.

Myk saw the flash of blue light in the mirrors a moment before it blasted past with a scream from its engines. The very real possibility that the Mclaren could be punched against the wall and wrecked by the slipstream trailing behind danced through his mind for a few sickening seconds. The Stig sawed at the wheel, keeping the car under control.

It was gone a moment later, trailing a dull roar and a red glow, far ahead in the tunnel.

“Mother of God....”

It was all the Stig managed to say.

They were travelling at maybe a hundred metres a second. A kilometre every ten seconds. And it had screamed past them so fast they might as well have been standing still.

Myk felt himself seethe inside with white, hot anger for a moment. It faded, dissolving into a sickening horror as he realised where exactly this tunnel opened out into.

It was yet another reminder of just how dangerous handwavium was, when mixed with a fool. And this was about to be demonstrated in the most horrific manner possible.

-------

Mackie knew about the tank.

Through the fog of terror, the thought occured to him to just wreck the car and be done with it... with the slim hope of them picking something salvageable out of the remains.

He pondered on it for what felt like an age, weighing the relative merits of sacrificing himself on the altar of Murphy, against letting the Griffon slam into the tank, against hoping they’d gotten the thing moving.

He looked up a moment later.

It was already too late.

------

Lifting a car isn’t hard, once you’ve got the knack of it.

Moving them was even easier. Lift up the back wheels, then push. If the car was in gear, smash the window and knock it into neutral. It took ten seconds to move one car. The Tachikoma had been drafted... a pir of them lifting a Subaru at both ends before carefully placing it out of the way.

A third towed a black Darth-Vader Buick.

2 Motoroids got in on the act, the owners directed by con-staff to where they were needed.

Most cars were quickly moved by the owners themselves. There was no real scheme to it... just getting as much space in the middle was the aim.

Despite being told not to, people darted across the centre of the room, gambling that they’d see the runaway in time. A few were grabbed by any nearby Dorsai.... most made it across and back.

It was almost chaos. It was noisy. It was on the edge of being a panic. But it was just about under control. And for that, Jet was most thankful. She boosted up above the melee of vehicles for a moment, landing at the back of a Mustang II.

She pushed it back out of the way, and kept pushing until it was forced to stop by the door of a black Testarossa. Big deal.

Another fender bender interrupted the flow of things with a hollow bang, as both drivers decided they had to get out and sort things out immediately, rather than just get out of the way. They were quickly encouraged to move on by the threat of having their vehicles moved instead.

Except for the tank.

She landed on top of the drivers compartment,

“Hey, What’s the holdup?”

“It needs thirty seconds after cranking or it’ll overheat the starter,” answered the driver with a yawn. Jet could sees her own hard gaze reflected in the black lenses of the driver’s goggles. He had three days worth of stubble on a bony chin, liberally smeared with grime and soot.

“You don’t have thirty seconds. You don’t have twenty. Get it spinning and get it moving or a lot of people are going to die!”

“Right, right, keep your armour on,” he waved her off.

Jet jumped down again, getting clear of the tank. The starter motor whined and struggled, cranking the engine lazily over. It popped and clattered a moment, belching a puffball or two of white smoke before dying.

“Can we get anything to tow this?” she broadcast on an open channel.

“Nothing in the time we have,” the answer came back.

The driver’s head popped out from the hatch.

“Lady... I’m not sticking around in here to die...”

Jet snapped back. “Either get it moving, or get people killed!”

If in doubt. Make them feel responsible. Inside, she was shaking.

“Alright. we’re not going to make this. Lets try and get as many people out of it as we can.”

The local security commander had decided to bow to the inevitable. Jet watched as the message went around the floor crew. They kept it professional to the end. A lot of people were about to die....

One of the Dorsa, in full uniform, was herding the crowd back away from the Griffon’s path. “Get back! Everybody get back towards the walls.”

If it did come screaming in and hit the tank - or plough through the parked cars - the debris and fire would keep moving forwards. By moving as many people as they could in the direction of the entry gate... they’d get as many of them as they could out of the line of fire.

It’d still be a horrific mess.

Ten seconds.

The tank’s engine thundered to life, belching thick blue clouds of smoke from its twin exhausts.

“Back! Back! Back!” yelled Jet, desperately hoping. A space had been cleared for it. She glanced to her left, just in time to see a flash of blue light spark into view.

------

Lime spotted Eljay at about the same moment Eljay spotted Lime. Both of them had found themselves on separate sides of the carpark in the confusion. The tank thundered to life a heartbeat later, belching blue oilsmoke from its exhausts. The asteroid itself shuddered as it clanked backwards.

Lime knew nothing more than that she wanted to be with Eljay. She glanced right. Saw nothing. And started to walk.

“Daddy!” she called out, waving.

“Stay there!” Eljay yelled over to her, gesticulating with his arms for her to go back.

“I’m scared!” And that was far moment important to her.

Eljay froze for a moment... took a quick glance in the direction of the tank. Dim blue light glowered through the smoke. He took a second to consider, glancing back at Lime.

Somebody had to stop Lime. Everyone standing there despite the best efforts of the Dorsai seemed to be watching for the car. The ignored instructions to run. Their own risk. Lime took another step. The decision was made by instinct. If the car was there, it was far enough away.

Eljay bolted, running as hard as he could.

The red form of the car loomed through the smoke, headlights ablaze, throwing a lengthening shadow down the corridor. He could almost feel the heat on his skin.

It hit hard in his lower back, tackling him forwards. The shock of it caused him to yell out as he was carried forward, before being unceremoniously dumped on the ground with a dizzying tumble.

His mind stopped spinning long enough to recognise Lime standing over him with tears in her eyes... and the full armoured form of a cyborg looming over him with an expression somewhere between regret and relief.

The pressure in his chest was crushing.

“Oh.... my...” he managed to stay, before concluding that those are pretty stupid final words. It got worse, burning down his arm, draining his strength as he tried to move.

He was aware of cold metal fingers touching his neck. There was an electric tingle to the touch that seemed to flow through his body.

“He’s asystole,” the cyber announced, almost dispassionately. “Do you want emergency biomodification? Do you want to live?”

There was something about the cyborg’s glassy grey eyes that made disagreeing impossible. Like it was his right.

It took all his effort just to say. “Do it.”

Lime loomed over him. “Think happy thoughts Daddy.... happy thoughts.”

Her hand was warm as it closed around his. The cyber removed something from a compartment on his leg. It was a fat needle - practically a nail - with a big fat shot of green wave on top, mixed with a cocktail adrenaline and stimulants to kick the body into overdrive. It had to be tough to go through the breastbone and hit the heart to work.

“Sha-zam...”

It hurt like all hell going through with a nauseating crunch, before lighting his chest on fire. It rolled through his body, filling him entirely before swallowing his mind whole, leaving him with the final idea that some of the greatest superheroes gained their powers in a moment of desperation and the certainty that ultimately, everything would be okay.

------

It took less than a second for the Griffon the blast through the carpark.

A blur of noise, light and terror that left him clinging white-knuckled to the steering wheel in the hope somehow he’d be able Mackie saw his sister standing in front of him for the briefest instant before she disappeared. He saw a man getting tackled from behind by a cyborg. He saw the T-72 with its lights ablaze. He saw camera flashes and video cameras and a single Tachikoma standing above the blur.

He saw darkness as the Griffon plunged into the tunnel beyond once more.

Mackie offered a desperate prayer to our lady of blessed acceleration....

But she didn’t deign to intervene.

-------

Jet saw Mackie in the driver’s seat.

Terrified beyond mortal comprehension. She looked right into his eyes and knew she’d never seen someone that frightened.... none that lived to tell about it anyway. His eyes had bulged out of their sockets... staring right through her.

Begging for help.

She boosted up over the top of it at the last possible moment, landing on her feet just in time to watch it disappear into the dark once more.

Disaster number one averted. But she couldn’t feel relieved.

“Code Scramble 08. Code Scramble 08.”

It burst into her mind through her radio. Scramble 08. A Panzer Kunst code. Ordinary Human. Lethal Injury. Consent to emergency biomodification given. Whoever that was was in for an interesting ride, if they made it through the other end.

Still. It was one near fatality. And probably a whole clutch of minor injuries amongst the crowd.

And everyone was looking at her now...

“Damn it Mackie,” she whispered to herself.

-------

The Dorsai commander highlighted the Griffon’s target on the map. “It’s hamster-wheeled for now. It’ll keep running around that loop until it runs out of gas”

Ford stared at the marker, almost hoping the force of her gaze alone would bring it to a halt.. Dozens of others were stopped in refuge areas all along the route. If the Griffon crashed near any one of them....

“If that thing runs out of gas, it’ll crash. We can’t risk it crashing into one of those refuges. We have to stop it. Anybody who has a plan.... listen to them,” she said, her voice hardening as she spoke. “Get as many people as far away from the B-Tunnels and car park as you can. Use the fire evacuation routes.”

She’d be damned is this event went down in history as the next Kaboomite. Not a chance in hell. She still had to talk to the Committee and make sure they were on the same page. This wasn’t a time for arguments.

One disaster avoided.

A dozen more to go.

---------

What happens to VF afterwards.... is up to his writer to write. I just went with the suggestion on offer. It can be tweaked if needs be... had to make it fit with what I already had. The same goes for anything really. There's a lot of 'other people's stuff' here

Everything else.... I'm doing my best.
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?