Ask Tatooine Need for Speed

[Maura Starwalk]

"HEL-LO FOLKS and welcome to the Krayt Circuit Race! We've got an interesting mix of fresh faces and seasoned racers in the line up for today!"​

The announcer's voice soared over the roar of the crowd. Maura, upon hearing this, immediately pocketed her datapad and eagerly threw her attention to the podracers lining up below. She'd never been to a podrace before, so she was absolutely stoked. The ticket gripped in her right hand had been won in a Switter raffle, and it was also the only reason she was able to go in the first place since the tickets were normally pretty expensive.

"Starting in front, we've got newbies Iaxic Kene and Pana Zapal— "​

Oh, right! "I've got to pick someone to cheer on!" Maura paid attention to skimboard tournaments and Huttball games, but podracing? She loved all things fast - the girl had a need for speed - but she actually knew nothing about the famous sport. "There's only six to choose from..." Did she pick based on who had the coolest name or the coolest ride? "I guess I could ask my seat neighbors..." That would probably be a better idea than arbitrarily choosing someone.

"Hey! Who are you cheering for?" she asked as she turned to the person on her left. Maybe they would know?

OOC: Ask after first post.

 

[Gunner Alesto]

Gunner had been a big fan of the Pod Races since he was a kid. He used to watch them on the televised airings of their races. The Nautolan had grown up to wanting to attend in person and now was his chance to do just that. Taking his seat he looked on at all the racers and noticed a certain racer he had always been a big fan of, Rikki Bawbee, and boy did his face light up. It was always a show when Rikki raced.

That was when he heard the voice of young girl next to him. "What? Is that even a question? Rikki Bawbee of course! The man is two Pod Racing Championships away from breaking the Galactic record." Gunner took another look at her then sighed with a smile, "I'm Gunner. And sorry bout that, just a big fan of the races. Who you rooting for?"

The Nautolan would look back forth from her and the pods while he took out his dataphone, lifted it up, zoomed in and took a photo of Rikki doing a prerace interview with a reporter. Then quickly placing his phone back into his pocket. A vendor had been walking by down the isles, and when he finally got close Gunner called out to him, "Hey boss, over here! Lemme get a couple pretzels and Emrycola's for me and the girl here wouldya!" Before Maura could refuse he would pass down a couple credits and look at her, "Don't sweat it kid, I assume it's your first race. Gotta enjoy it the right way." To be honest it was his first time as well, he just liked looking cool in front of people.

@lizziie

 

[Vaidas]

Vaidas doesn't remember the last time he actually went to a live event. He often watched them from the comfort of his own ship, however it often bored him. It was mostly due to the commentators, some of them grind his gears like there was no tomorrow. But he thought, maybe just this once he would attend the event in person. Nobody knows who he is anyway, so it's not like there's going to be any risks involved.

He packed his vibroblade just in case he got involved in any unwanted "accidents". He shoved his datapad into his bag and began the painfully slow process of shutting down his ship. I need a new ship damn it. The T-6 shuttle is gathering rust in places that shouldn't be. Maybe if he wins a bet or two during the pod racing, he could get a an upgrade.

It took him a while but he finally made it to the stands. Despite bringing snacks with him, he still bought two pretzels and a soda. He took off his helmet and ran his hand from his hair. He shoved the spare pretzel into his bag and dug out his datapad. His bets aren't looking that good, he placed one on the newcomer Iaxic Kene, the odds aren't exactly in his favour though with Rikki Bawbee in the race too. He pondered on whether to place a bet on Rikki. At least if he won, he could still walk out of here with a profit. He ripped a chunk of the pretzel and scanned the rest of the crowd. He heard somebody yell for one of the vendors and Vaidas looked to see who it was. A Nautolan and a Human sat together to the left of him. Interesting... He made a small note to keep an eye on them, and returned his attention to his pretzel.

@lizziie @Scoobert

 

[Maura Starwalk]

"—and last, but not least, racers Rikki Bawbee and Lysa Menall!"​

"Uh- " Since he was rooting for the racer, maybe she'd just root for him too! If he was really that close to breaking a Galactic record, then it sounded like a good bet to her! "I'm rooting for him too!" she answered with a decisive nod. "I also like races, but I only know a lot about skimboard racing," she went on to explain. "But I already knew who Rikki Bawbee was since he's pretty famous even outside of podracing," she lied, turning her attention back to the racers on the track as she did. The name sounded like it could be familiar to her. She just hoped he didn't prod her on her knowledge.

"Two pretzels, two colas," the vendor called out as he pocketed the credits and passed the food and drink items to Gunner. He then went off to continue advertising his wares to the rowdy crowd.

"Thank you!" Maura chirped, not one to ever turn down free food or drink. The pretzel was slightly warm and a little tough, but she happily chowed down anyways. "Yup! I won tickets here on a raffle," she explained in between bites of pretzel.

"Are you rooting for Rikki Bawbee too?" Maura turned around to the right to ask Vaidas, her other seat neighbor. She didn't seem intimidated by either of them, despite already having assumed they were twice her age.

tags: @Scoobert @Resonance

 

[Vaidas]

Vaidas decided to place a big bet on Rikki Bawbee. He needed the money and he knew Rikki would lay waste to the other racers, it was a guaranteed win. He'd be surprised if Rikki didn't win. He'd just finished his pretzel when the Human turned to him. It took him a few minutes to realize she'd asked him a question. "Hm? Oh. Uh... of course, who wouldn't be rooting for Rikki Bawbee?" He looked surprised at the girl.

He leaned back into his chair and resumed his attention to his data pad. The odds of Rikki winning the race kept rising and rising. The odds of Iaxic Kene kept falling. Although if Iaxic did win, it be one of the biggest upsets in pod racing history. He began to get excited about the race, he wasn't thrilled with attending the event in person but he had a good feeling something was going to happen.

@Scoobert @lizziie

 

[Gunner Alesto]

Gunner smiled when he heard Maura speak about skimboarding. It was an interesting sport, but he hadn't ever known a lot about the sport itself. She also mentioned getting here from raffle tickets. Gunner's face lit up as he laughed, he didn't realize those things actually worked, "Wait.. raffle tickets? Those things are real? Like they actually work? HUH.. what luck."

The Nautolan looked back to the track as the racers hopped in their pods and started their engines. The revving of the pods and the cheer of the crowd had filled the air, he was sure they could be heard from Mos Eisley. Gunner had been cheering as well, "YEA! GO RIKKI! I GOT 500 CREDITS ON THIS RACE!!" He began clapping and sat back down, then turned to the others, "Sorry about that! I always get excited about this stuff."

"LLLLLLLLLLADIES AND GENTLEMAAAAAAAANNNNNN!!!! LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEE! RACERS! ON YOUR MARK!" The engines of the pods began revving harder and louder, and the pod droids had ran off from their pods as they finished their maintenances, "GET SET!" Gunner leaned forward as the race was beginning, "GOOOO!" As soon as the flag was waved and the light turned green, the racers had hit their gas and began flying like lightning.

Gunner heard go and immediately popped right back up on his feet jumping and screaming "HELL YEA! WIN THIS RACE RIKKI!!" Rikki Bawbee's pod began flying as he stayed steady in third behind the rookie and another seasoned vet of the sport. It was all he cared about really, and then looking back everyone could see one pod stuck, with a blown engine. "Oh no! Seems Pana hasn't learned the dirty side of the racing scene yet." Gunner had said as he tilted his head to address the others while watching on.

@lizziie @Resonance