The ultimate gamble

[Vendrick]

Slowly the sun was setting on the horizon of Zonju V, leaving a beautiful red and orange tint to the landscape of the vast desert lands and dunes that covered the planet. In an outpost setup away from civilization was a large, makeshift race track which could be tore down and put into caravans for transport to keep away unwanted eyes....Sahad'ra's track: A gamblers paradise. The attraction was impossible for gamblers in that section of the galaxy, all around the underground, word was spreading of this specific race, 4 new racers were coming out of the underground and by winning this race, they would be put against the current champion of this local track : A well known Zabrak of this region named Tae'Bek and the winner would not only get the champs title, but also a prize of fifteen thousand credits and any bets placed upon them.

Above ground, the concession stands were booming with people buying refreshments, merchandise and placing their bets, but below ground, something sinister was happening. A droid was going through the racers rest area as they prepared their pods and came upon the pod owned by a young chiss named Dretth . It was painted and designed to look like the rest of the droids who were programmed to be the officials of the races. It carried in its left hand a datapad which had all the information on all the racers. It quickly made itself known to the racer as it spoke. " Racer number 2: Dretth , you are needed at the registration booth to finish up all required documents before the race can begin." The young chiss quietly looked up to the droid and without a second thought stood up, nodded and took off toward the registration booth. As soon as the racer left view, the droid quietly began to due what he was actually there to do: Sabotage the pod, it quickly planted a remote bomb under the control panel and then quickly made way from this area before anyone noticed.

The starting bell sounded just as Dretth got back from the registration booth, he had been confused as he was told all documents were filled out and he was not needed, but gave no thought as to why he was sent, only thing that he could think of was that the droid was malfunctioning. The four racers came out to the starting line and lined up in order from 1-4, #1 the human: Hrano sebolg, #2 The twi'lek: Leworzucrak, #3: The chiss: Dretth and #4 the rodian: Tanton. Each had their specific number panted upon the side of their pods and each one sat in the pods while waiting for the word to go. The stands were packed with species of all kinds, and most were just about finished with their betting, and standing in line, in his duster, cowboy hat and roughed up boots was Boroco Hans, he knew he had little left in ways of credits but could not resist betting on such a fast paced sport. The announcer came onto the intercom and gave the final call for all bets, before stating the race was to begin in five minutes.

 

[Zay]

Zaylos took a seat in the crowd and sipped his drink. It was hot, but it was always hot in the city of bones. He was looking to enjoy a day off for once. He sat in the crowd a black ball cap covered his face facial features from most as the shadow from the brim obscured his features. He was wearing clothing that could be found anywhere on Sathad'ra and nothing about his attire stuck out. A grayish blue long sleeve t-shirt covered his torso and arms. He had the sleeves pushed up to the three quarter point which was how he wore all of his shirts. He had forgone his regular hip holster for a chest holster and his vibro knife and Ole' Trusty sat in plain view to dissuade random beings from talking to him or looking at him for to long. Zaylos wasn't here to be recognized and sign autographs he was hear to relax and watch some good ole' fashioned Pod Racing.

As the announcer called for the racers to get ready a bit of excitement crept into the Rangers chest. There was something about the sound of the Pods and the roar of the crowd that made his pulse quicken. Kartan was comfortable on credits and didn't need anymore but part of the fun was rooting for the racer you'd bet on. Zaylos had put a little money on the Rodian. He had simply assumed the rodian would do anything he could to win. It was in the beings blood. Zaylos was banking on that.

 

[Vendrick]

After placing the minimum bet of 100 credits on the twi'lek, he moved over to the steps which led down toward a few rows of empty seats in the stands, quickly made way to the seats and took a corner seat. He gave a long stretch before kicking his feet out and resting his heels on the back of the seat in front of him, his eyes moved to the starting line and he crossed his arms over his chest which caused the lower part of his duster to drift downward slightly to reveal Daisy and May, his twin blaster pistols.

The racers awaited word of the race start, all four watched the banner above which stated to start their engines and had since they came out onto the track. The announcer was talking about the sponsors of the race today before quickly changing subjects. " Alright ladies and gentlemen, the time has come, lets get the race underway.... Racers, ready.... Steady...... GO!!" The sound in the stands came to an uproar as the racers took off and were quickly away from the line, and into the canyons outside, a video could be seen on a jumbo screen in the center of the race field for viewing pleasure when the racers where outside of the track. The race was going great for the rodian as he quickly had taken first place right after the start, followed closely by the chiss, twi'lek and human. The chiss was coming up close to the back of the rodian as they grew close to the start/finish line and then a loud explosion came from the chiss' pod before a piece of his right turbine flew off into the stands but luckily hit a section with no one sitting in it.

As the explosion happened, Boroco sprang upwards from his seat and like the rest of the crowd, took off toward the security rail, the announcer came onto the speakers as the race was quickly stopped by officials and the other racers quickly came and pulled over to the side of the track and awaited for word. The smoke began to clear but there was no sign of the chiss, then a woman screamed in horror at the sight of the chiss sprawled out yards away from his destroyed pod, he was missing his left leg and was dead for sure. Boroco stared in disbelief at what had happened, but quickly came to the thought that foul play had to be involved, he had seen many pod racing accidents in his day, but the size of the explosion was beyond simply malfunction.

 

[Zay]

Kartan lounged in his chair, bored. The restless ranger had become accustomed to the hustle and bustle of life as a Waste Ranger. He'd snuck off early this morning to shirk his duties and now he was starting to regret it. The race was getting ready to start and the anticipation in the crowd was palpable.

"I guess I'll watch the race and then get back to the Saloon." he thought. The ranger had planned on a day of drinking and teasing Lexi, but it didn't seem like he was going to get that chance. His desire to work was starting to get in the way of his desire to do nothing. "What have I become?" he thought with a wry smile as the announcer queued up the start of the race.

The crowd seemed to inch to the edge of their seats as the lights on the floating display began to flash. "...GO!!" and just like that the racers shot off. Pod Racing was incredibly dangerous and required incredible skill and reflexes to pull off. Most humans we're able to race because of the mental and physical strain it put on the body. The racers were off to a great start when they entered the ravine. The huge floating screen went black as the holocam lost sight of the racers. That's when the explosion was heard.

"What the hell?" thought the ranger. "That seems a little more then suspicious." he said in a low voice. Zaylos scanned the horizon looking for anything out of the ordinary. It was then that his eyes chanced across the human pod racers crew. On the face of the crew chief he could see a dastardly smile splitting the mans face. The crew chief's expression was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. "Well, looks like this was foul play then. I think I'm gonna have to have a talk with the crew chief there." Kartan rose from his spot and with his gaze locked on to the human's crew chief he made his way to the race track.

"Looks like I'm gonna get the excitement I was looking for after all." he thought with a smile.