ARTIFACT- The Malastare Open Pod Race!

Mah, you are getting a message from Gundark as you enter the Narrows...

"mah, if you could speed it up a bit...we don't have 20 laps to jockey position with. I know you can do this. Use the Force. Trust your instincts."

Mah replied. "But Master, speeding up in the Narrows, where it's impossible to pass anyone, is that a good idea?"

Galder trades paint with Speedy for a few seconds, and then slows down a bit. He begins rounding the turns in the Narrows to avoid crashing.

(It bends more than turns)

Ok, you guys race through the Narrows! You lose sight of a lot of other racers for a while until you come out of them...

Galder, Speedy was a little TOO fast going into the Narrows and had to break a bit, Yet he is still faster than you, and comes out ahead by the same margin.

Mah, Dodgy comes through your part much faster than you, and is getting out of sight! But he has to pull back before he hits quadro. You pull ahead of Boring.

Bashy gets his early problems sorted, but twisty guy is still slow and blocks his path! He gestures angrily, and will do something about it soon...

POSITIONS AND SCORES

1st: Speedy (15)
2nd: Galder (14)
3rd: Quadro (11)
4th: Dodgy (11)
5th: Mah (8)
6th: Boring (7)
7th: Orthodox (7)
8th: Twisty (2)
9th: Bashy (2)

NOW ENTERING: The Twists, lap 1.

Your plans please! And remember, now things turn nasty!

(I have a feeling Twisty will be meeting his end shortly...)

Galder growls to himself and quickly presses the synthesizer button on the Mogarian suit. "Outta my way slimeball!!!" he shouts to the Aleena in the speedy blue podracer. He goes as fast as possible to pull up alongside Speedy and pushes sideways a little to force Speedy away.

Mah uses all his skills and the advantage of the manouvrable pod to take the best paths in the turns. When he comes to an open area he uses the boost to try to gain places. He gives full throttle out of the turn into the open area, but breaks all down right before he gets to the turny part again.

Ok, EVERYTHING slows down as people enter the twists.

Galder, you speed at Speedy to try and bring him down. He is fast, but you are gaining, and gaining, and..

CRAP! WALL! WALL!

The two of you have to SLAM on the brakes to avoid a premature end, and virtually have to power up from scratch again! Both of you can only watch as Dodgy and Quadro go past!

Mah, the second sodding turn foxes you. You mis-judge the boost cut out and almost come a cropper, slowing drastically. However, youstill make good, efficient ground through the section.

Bashy and Twisty do much better this section, Bashy tail-gates Twisty all the way, before catching the corner of his pod nastily. Twisty starts to wobble all over the shop but recovers- but Bashy slips by!

POSITIONS AND SCORES

1st: Dodgy (20)
2nd: Quadro (16)
3rd: Speedy (15)
4th: Galder (15)
5th: Mah (14)
6th: Boring (13)
7th: Orthodox (13)
8th: Bashy (10)
9th: Twisty (9)

All jostling already resolved! Bashy is through; Galder and Speedy lost their chance to block!

NOW ENTERING: The Lake, lap 1.

Your plans please! And a LOT of nastiness is approaching!

Galder glares at Speedy and is tempted to bring out his blaster pistol, but thought better of it. He began to pick up speed again, and used his podracer's muscle to push past Speedy. He relied on the Force to guide his turns through the green mist and keep the pod from sliding on the slippery surface of the Lakes.

With the opposition in front closer, Mah drives aggresively until he comes up to the side of the other Mogarian, slows a bit down, positioning himself at the side of him. and with the bigger pod he has he tries to maybe bumb a little on the mogarian to get past.

Ah, geez, this stuff is a nightmare! Both of you slip badly at the first corner. You keep control, but in the mist you both completely lose sights of your targets for a few moments! You can hear the roars nearby as you push on...

In fact, many pods are slipping badly. There is a huge roar as many competitors boost on this final stretch but for many it is badly timed. Bashy has only just gotten past twisty, when he is completely outdriven and now Twisty is trying to force his way past him! Quadro's slippery pod is all over the shop and he nearly crashes, and even Dodgy is taking things easy.

It looks like the much overlooked Boring and Orthodox are the ones coming up fast... and they are both going to try and force their way past you guys!

POSITIONS AND SCORES- TEMPORARY!

1st: Dodgy (22)
2nd: Speedy (20)- +1
3rd: Quadro (17)- -1
4th: Boring (17)- +2
5th: Orthodox (17)- +2
6th: Galder (16)- -2
7th: Mah (16)- -2
8th: Twisty (16) +1
9th: Bashy (12) -1

FIGHT TIME!

Speedy is trying to beat a rather wobbly Quadro. Bashy is trying to fend off Twisty.

You guys get one each trying to pass you. As you try to pick the pace back up and race through the misty corners you both find yourselves side to side with these people who seem to be turning better! They have no intention of fighting and want to slmply slip by. You can try to block them or bash them (or even let them pass if you have cunning plans!)

Mah, you have the Dug (Orthodox) coming past you. He cackles evilly and gestures with his feet at you as he drives past.

Galder, the small alien in the small pod is shooting by. The pilot pays yoy no attention at all, eyes firmly fixed on the route...

Once these fights are resolved I will give the final placings for this section.

Mah decides to block the Dug; he don't want to do anything wild bashing cause of the slippery track, but he can't loose many more places now. He sneaks infront of the Dug, blocking its path and trying to stay ahead.

Galder pulls up alongside the small alien and delivers a powerful slam to his side, and quickly pulls out to maintain speed. "Stupid creatures...I'll blow them all up after the race!"

Galder, your shunt is well-timed. Although your opponent NEARLY gets by you, you manage to catch him with your shove, and he quickly backs off before he gets worse.

Mah, your pod is well-suited for this sort of thing. You completely block the angry Dug, who is soon shouting obscenities at you!

Meanwhile, Bashy gives Twisty another nasty shunt as he tries to overtake, while Galder's old friend 'Speedy' easily bypasses Quadro as he wobbles all over the place!

Soon the mists thin and you are approaching the straight again. You both now know the course. This time, however, the straight is being approached at speed rather than from a standing start, and there will be tussling this time!

The four pods in the middle, including you two, cross the line almost simultaneously. It's going to be quite a fight!

POSITIONS AND SCORES

1st: Dodgy (22)
2nd: Speedy (20)
3rd: Quadro (17)
4th: Galder (16)
5th: Mah (16)
6th: Orthodox (16)
7th: Boring (16)
8th: Bashy (14)
9th: Twisty (14)

NOW ENTERING: The Straight, Lap 2.

(BTW, Rex, don't be fazed by anything Dexx tells you at this point...)

Mah, not being blocked by any of the opponents near him, uses his boost on the wide open area it is.

(oooh, popped in to move things on, but no Galder yet! Be back later!)

A small accounting error has just been corrected; Bashy and Twisty have a couple more points than I said at first.

(Sorry, I went to Arizona for Thanksgiving)

Galder sees the other Mogarian racer use a boost, and quickly uses one of his. I don't know who this guy is, but I'm not going to let him win...

As you zoom past the starting line for the straight, the light goes on for the second round. Quadro takes the final corner of the last lap far too wide! As he comes in, he clips the edge of the structure built over the starting line, which puts him completely out of stride! By the he is recovered, the centre pack is upon him!

There is huge roar as all four middle racers put on every bit of speed they can to race forwards. Galder is JUST edging out ahead in his faster pod...

But all of you will have to pass Quadro to do so.

POSITIONS AND SCORES- TEMPORARY

1st: Dodgy (28)
2nd: Speedy (27)
3rd: Galder (23) +1
4th: Mah (22) +1
5th: Orthodox (22) +1
6th: Boring (22) +1
7th: Quadro (20) -4
8th: Bashy (17)
9th: Twisty (16)

Ok, both of you guys need to tell me how you plan to pass Quadro, who may have gone wobbly but is going fine again by the point you wish to pas him. He will attempt to passively block each of you in turn

Mah uses the manouvrability of the pod to swing left and right to get Quadro focused on only that, and when there's a turn in the track he swings out so that Quadro does the same and then takes the opportunity to get on the inside of Quadro through the last bit of the turn.