Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 458: Waterways Circuit: Catching Up
As his hoverbike whistled his interface showed some damage that had been done to the underside of his hoverbike. It must have happened earlier. There was nothing he could have done aside from preparing more. Fortunately all the hoverplates necessary for staying afloat are all made of chemi-metal.
The hoverplates that had been damaged were all ones for speed. Even then they were not damaged to the point of inoperation. They were just damaged such that any more damage would put them either out of operation or cause them to malfunction.
He had plenty of replacements underneath if it just needed to be replaced. But malfunctioning could cause problems for the race. But he would risk it because chances were that the other racers would stop at their pits for a quick repair.
He pushed forward on the handles as he started going up and to the right up the tunnel that was shaped like a corkscrew. He started climbing following the two vehicles that were already in front of him. Falling in behind him. As they picked up speed he slowly veered to the side until he was riding on the wall and then began overtaking the one in the back.
As he passed them he noticed the driver do a double take and then heard the loud honking noise as he went to warn the racer in front of him. The other vehicle veered to the side in front of him as the one next to him moved up slightly.
He was blocked in as he rode the wall up the corkscrew with him setting the pace and keeping a high speed. Jace kept hitting the side of the racer that was trying to push him up the wall. As they approached the top the car in front began slowing down until Jace’s hoverbike ran into the back of him and started forcing him forward.
He could hear the panic in the honking as the light of the end of the tunnel came into view and they were still riding the wall. But Jace just pushed the speed, noticing that even the damaged hoverplates started giving warnings.
Then they were out of the tunnel and the car in front of him was flying through the air while the one next to him managed to adjust and slowed down. Only swaying slightly as he came out of the corkscrew tunnel.
The race car that was in front of him came out of the tunnel and fell right into a honking fit as it spun and then slammed into its side before it began rolling. Jace on his hoverbike flew right over it and left behind the honking wreck as it rolled until slamming into the obstacle in the next part of the circuit.
The pillars. Several narrow and massive pillars were littered throughout this area of the circuit. Littering and covering the side of the pillars were a number of scratches and paint left behind of vehicles that had crashed into the pillars.
Jace kept up his speed but moved forward and stood up slightly as he swayed just past several pillars. He kept going, not slowing his speed as he caught up to the fourth place. The next four vehicles would likely be the most difficult to pass as they were the constant contenders for this race.
As he veered around another wall he tilted his head slightly as a bullet just missed him and ricocheted off a wall. He looked at the direction of the bullet and saw it came from where a gun that the fourth place driver was sticking out the window of his vehicle. Jace narrowed his eyes as he realized that he was not being called out and he immediately hid it. A quick check with his electrical vision was that the fourth place used a blindspot in the race’s cameras.
Jace sped up as he decided to teach this person a lesson. He came out of the field of pillars and could see the checkered line in the distance. While just in front of him was the fourth place vehicle. It had six wheels and was lightly armored. But Jace could already pick up on several dirty tricks he had in store.
Including an oil slick that would not affect Jace in the slightest bit. Then there were the air cannons that were hidden on the sides of the vehicle. Disguised to look like additional exhausts. As well as several weapons hidden throughout the vehicle including a front most ramp that could be used to flip vehicles he caught up to.
"GOING BACK WE HAVE FOUND THAT JACE IS CATCHING UP TO THE EDWARD IN THE JACKAL! NOW WHAT IS HE GOING TO DO TO GET PAST THE INFAMOUS FOURTH PLACE RANK HOLDER?"
Jace sped forward towards this Edward in the Jackal. Just as he came up behind him he pulled the handles back and then forward quickly. Climbing up over the back of Edward’s vehicle. Jace waved at him as he looked out his window. Turning on his external speaker as he moved to the hood of his vehicle. "You should play nice from now on!" Jace announced before firing his boosters for a second.
A burst of fire shot out of his boosters and right onto the hood of the Jackal. It scorched the wind shield and the hood, as well as the grill of the car and he shot forward. He glanced behind him as he shot through the starting area and past the cheering crowd that was deafening.
The front of the Jackal burst into flames while the windshield was covered in scorch marks. Then it began swaying back and forth before it suddenly veered off the road and the pit crew came out into the field to retrieve it.
"I DO NOT BELIEVE IT! JACE WENT RIGHT OVER HIM, DOING A SAME MANEUVER AS THE ONE AT THE START OF THE RACE! HE ALSO USED HIS BOOSTER FOR A SECOND TO SCORCH THE FRONT OF HIS VEHICLE- WHAT? OH? IT LOOKS LIKE EDWARD AND THE CREW OF THE JACKAL WANT TO CONTEST JACE’S MANEUVER AS ILLEGAL!"
Jace smirked as he approached the next part of the race as his speed decreased to a constant lower one. But one that was faster than any of the other vehicles. As he did he pulled the video of Edward shooting at him as he received a call from the officials of the race and sent them the video. "This is Jace." He heard his voice over the circuit wide intercom that the announcer was using as they broadcast his voice.
"Jace... I see you just sent us a video. But we are considering your move illegal and will be creating rules in the future to prevent it because it currently falls in a gray area and because of the video evidence you just sent us we will just let you off with a warning." The rule announcer seemed to quickly switch gears after saying his name.
The call then ended and the circuit wide intercom continued as a moment later another voice spoke up. "What?! This is Edward! Why are you talking to me!? You should be banning that new kid!"
"Edward, the rule officials have received video evidence of you violating the rules. You are prohibited from leaving the pit. Security and inspectors are on the way down to your pit now. Do not resist." The call then ended.
"WELL FOLKS THAT SEEMS TO HAVE TAKEN A DRAMATIC CHANGE! SPEAKING OF A CHANGE! THIRD PLACE HAS CAUGHT UP TO FIRST AND SECOND WHILE WE WERE FOCUSED ON JACE! THEY JUST ENTERED INTO THE DOWNWARD TURN INTO THE LOWER LAYER FOR THEIR SECOND LAP! JACE HAS PLENTY OF DISTANCE TO COVER TO CATCH UP TO THEM!"
Jace sighed as he leaned forward and the hoverbike began speeding up. As he sped up there was a light beeping followed by a gold shield in an aerodynamic shape appearing around his hoverbike as he sped forward. He could now hear a loud whistle as he passed by the first obstacle of the switching tunnels.
"OH? IT LOOKS LIKE NOW THAT JACE DOES NOT HAVE TO WORRY OTHER VEHICLES IN THE WAY HE IS SPEEDING UP! WITH THE SPEED HE IS GOING HE SHOULD CATCH UP TO THEM AT THE CORKSCREW!"
Jace could hear and feel the celebration as he sped up. He looked at the status of his vehicle. Specifically checking the situation of the hoverplates on the bottom of his hoverbike. One of them was disabled completely, it looks like the built-in safety functions worked on it. But the other one was functioning but still damaged. He would check on it later.
The rest of his hoverbike was still fine, especially now that he was using the shielding system. It would not be damaged unless there was a hostile attack. He came up to the downward turn and disabled the shielding so he could slow down. Then as he arrived at it, he spun around and let gravity pull him down. He had noticed a heavy gravity well in the center that he could exploit, which is what he was doing. While he let the hover plates which had been heating up, cool down for a moment.
