Story:

„So, you think you got what it takes to screw around with the big boys? The F9000 is not a kindergarten-trip kid, remember that.“

Spire exhaled sharply as his craft shot around the exit of the corner he just took, that hairpin turn on the current track he raced on being well-renowned for being downright nasty to the pilots. Just as he took his next breath, the shark's FEISAR-craft zoomed right across a blue triangle being marked on the racetrack below, a speedpad as it was commonly dubbed by the community.

The shark got pushed back into his seat a bit further when the force of the sudden spike in speed hit him, a short gaze on his speedometer revealing that he was currently approaching 977 kilometers per hour.

Spire is the first pilot for FEISAR in this season, the European team being one of the first competitors since the very beginning days of worldwide anti-gravity racing. Due to the team's philosophy of trading topspeed for better shield defenses and greatly improved maneuverability, the team is usually regarded by critics and enthusiasts of the scene as a steppingstone. Especially for younger pilots that eventually leave FEISAR for other competitors like Piranha, once they sufficiently sharpened their piloting skills in these more 'forgiving' crafts.

Not so in Spire's case however. He raced for the money of course, but also for the rush. Anti-gravity league racing being one thing, the F9000 being something entirely different. With a bit of patriotism and his personal beliefs sprinkled in, proudly branding the team's motto 'The future is Euro' FEISAR and Spire seemed like a match made in heaven, if one can believe the mainstream media.

And there was nothing forgiving out here on the track. Aside from the dampened roaring and thundering noise of the high powered engine as the shark tackled another set of corners, there was a second of complete silence. No messages over a radio, those days were long gone. With an entirely automated pit, there was nothing besides the pilot themself and their craft, facing off against the track, nature, and anybody else that was hungry for a pole position that day…

„WARNING: INCOMING.“

Just as he entered a long, drawn-out spiral portion of the track, the shark heard the all to familiar oh the computer system warning him about the impending danger. Without hardly any time to react, Spire's craft shook and tilted off-balance as he got hit in the rear, the dampened noise of an explosion still loud enough to make the marine's ears ring whilst he struggled to keep the command over his ship.

„WARNING: SHIELD ENERGY LOW.“

Luckily, the shield still had enough juice left to tank the explosion, and a second of wall-scraping Spire had to do to get his craft back under control, whilst avoiding two more projectiles.

Followed by the explosion was a massive slowdown in speed for a moment, a system designed around the competitiveness of the races. And to not let pilots loose control of their ships whilst doing mach 2.

Letting his AG-machine build up thrust again, even the hit of just a singular rocket, which were always activated and fired in a series of three dumbfire projectiles flying forward in a straight line, it slowed the shark down enough for two ships to whizz past him. A black hunk of metal with a very prominent flame pattern sprayed to the side of it, and another twin engine craft.

Being catapuled back to fith place in the pack, the shark's best way of catching up again was a narrow series of S-turns in combination with some dips and bumps, requiring very fine management with the airbrakes in order to not get flung off the racetrack and into the nearest wall. Entering this segment of the racetrack required a jump over open sea, and straight down into a clear tunnel which, not only for the technical difficulty, but also for the excitement and viewing pleasure for the audience and fan's at home, had been built underneath the water's surface.

Sporting no light what so ever, aside from what little blue shine managed to shine trough the water onto the track to illuminate it, the FEISAR-ship's own custom-built 'Tru-Fly' Enhanced stability core helped the shark immensely in gaining back the lost time the rocket hit earlier had cost him, as he had to make no use of his brakes at all, before he found himself at the tail of one the ships that overtook him. Truly, the stability core was a little marvel for the team, as one popular reviewer mentioned „It almost appears like FEISAR are able to fly circles around the less maneuverable ships on the circuit.“

It was a weird harmony that worked out for Spire, piloting what was supposedly a beginner craft by the armchair experts, yet flown properly, it shined around the more narrow and technical circuits with ease, as our orange-skinned marine slipped past the twin-engined Auricom ship. Just as he was slotting into fourth and getting ready to hit the next speed pad, a white glow emitted from the tailend of hiss opponent ahead, followed by the prompt warning of his ship's computer.

„GRAV STINGER“

Gasping sharply, with the shark's pupils widening, he slammed on the airbrakes of his craft, but not both at the same time. Rather he performed a sideslip manoeuver, an old airplane technique which had been adopted and used by some pilots in the field before. Forcefully steering his craft to the right to get the nose away from the devensive weapon the pilot in third place had launched behind themself, the marine then turned left again whilst opening with the brake on his right wing, to eliminate sending his craft against the circuits wall and enter a controlled, smooth drift past the munition before Spire straightened his ship out again with hardly any loss in speed.

Looking down at the screen which was embedded in the dashbord right below the speedometer and various other gauges, he was presented with the smooth, real-time image of his rear view cam. The Auricom pilot behind him didn't had the same luck as Spire did however. Although the heavier craft behind him began turning, it caught the weapon, displaying to the thresher-shark once again how the Grav-Stinger worked.

In is bare essentials it was a mine being deployed on the circuit. But rather than delivering an explosive solution to a potentional follower upon impact, the munition disabled both engine and anti-gravity core of the hit ship, redering the pilot completely unable to control for a few valuable seconds, as not only the shark himself, but thousands of people were able to witness over their screens at home as the Auricom ship just fell onto the track below with the horrible sound of metal grinding, sliding along the surface of the racing track and crashing into the outside wall of the next corner.

Heading out of the underwater section and over another jump, Spire left the ideal racing line to catch a spot of the track which had a glowing, color-changing marked X on it, a pad which did not increase his speed, but depending on what color the spot displayed when passed, activated the weapon's systems of his ship for one use.

A devilish grin appeared on Spire's face when he realized that the pad activated his team's super-weapon, a set of three heat seeking missiles. Sure, along with rockets, missiles had always been a part of the anti-gravity racing league, but as far as FEISAR's superweapon was concerned, it fired a set of missiles, with more range, speed, and explosive load than the standard munitions every craft was carrying regularly during the race. Before even dreaming about using such destructive devices in the race, pilots had to absolve a series of tests which both tested their skill and constant performance under extreme conditions. The best of them were awarded with the patch which our shark proudly wore on the shoulder of his racing-suit, the official F9000 class superweapon-license.

As a constant, high-pitched beeping noise echoed within the shark's ears, letting him now that the weapon had locked on to the Tigris ship in front of him, Spire waited on pulling the trigger for the moment. Just after hitting the apex of another wide turn, which was leading the racers into the section with the finish line, Spire fired his munition, all locked onto the craft in front. This surely would buy him enough time to slip past and at least finish third this race.

Three white smoke trails followed the pull of his trigger and the activation of the missiles, which accelerated promptly and with surgical precision all exploded one after another as they hit the black Tigris craft if front, the Shark's own ship rumbled in response to a fourth explosion when he whizzed past, with the burning wreckage of the ship disappearing in the distance.

With our marine opening the left airbrake a little in order to slip comfortably with around 800 km/h into the last corner which lead to the finishing line straight, the rough, synthesized voice of a male announcer blared over the circuit's speakers, much to the cheer and amusement of the crowd on the rostrum whilst Spire crossed the finish.

„CONTENDER ELIMINATED.“

Spire the Shark belongs to me  FoxHound1710