It’ll depend highly on how the hidden reliability cap shakes out.
I built it on Kyorg’s FTO body (which i think is the fatale iirc). All that’s left of it is the central cockpit area and roof. All the rest has been lengthened and rebuilt in 3D as is fitting for a Mitsuoka style rebody.
Judging from what I’ve seen of it, your entry is not based on either of the two largest versions of the '87 Fatale (which have a 2.67m or 2.69m wheelbase, but on one of the two smallest ones (2.25m or 2.51m wheelbases) - I reckon it’s the former, considering how light it is.
Yup. it’s on the 2.3 m one and has had the wheelbase stretched to 2.7 m. Most of that was to get the right hood proportions.
Less is More, Right?
Cunning Stunts returns
Hopefully for more cunning and stunting.
Last Year some refuse truck and an AWD Ute both with engine swaps and all sorts of adhock mods
This year a Motorbike that’s basically stock, aside from a wiring job because it needed a radio mount and to be dried off from the 2023 Sydney Christmas floods, which is how they even got a litre-bike for less than 3000 AUD.
The Motorbike is a 1996 Shuriken KRG1100. A formerly slightly more green and lighter Sports Naked bike with a tendency to 1 wheel, almost guaranteed to be one of the highest Power to Weight vehicles in the event. Lana White will be riding it the whole event
If the rulebook change allows for 'major spare parts' to not need to mounted on the vehicle, well...
Who said the support vehicle needed to be the train for a bike, or needed to be 2000 USD, or needed to be exclusive to your team. Meet Murray Harrison’s K78 Masakari Troopcarrier, his long suffering work van that’s been on a few too many adventures, but is more than happy to help out competition in need.
Other fun facts, Support vehicles don’t need to abide by the race route and thus would theoretically be able to take considerably more direct routes to broken down or impeded competitors.
6 Likes
POSTING THIS ON BEHALF OF NOCTURNE WHO IS NO FORUM MEMBER (Discord only)
in agreement with the hosts, I am the postman and only copy-pasting Nocturne´s texts. Nothing here is written by me and the team is not linked to the Rhino squad (just saying it extra “loud” to aviod confusion)
Company background:
Maxwell-Temple Company, founded in 1931, in Perth, Australia by Harold Maxwell and George Temple, has long been a frontrunner in four wheel drive vehicle technology. They got off to a successful start by procuring contracts for military trucks as well as 4x4 chassis for towing light weaponry. After playing an influential role in manufacturing military trucks the Australian armed forces would use once the Second World War broke out, MTC were left with a surplus of vehicles which it would quickly use to its advantage, becoming one of the largest worldwide manufacturers of off road four wheel drive light trucks designed for commercial, agricultural, and recreational uses.
In the 1960s, MTC would undergo a two pronged venture into the passenger car world. In 1963, they pioneered the dune buggy segment with the introduction of the Koala 1.3. More importantly, in 1967, they acquired a 50% stake in struggling South African conglomerate Vanguard Industries, with the other 50% being bought out a year later. Vanguard had long been known as a maker of utilitarian and economical but rather primitive family cars. The top brass at MTC, however, saw the unrealized potential for a market that would combine the go-anywhere nature of MTC’s Quadra four wheel drive system with the practical and economical nature of Vanguard’s existing automotive platforms.
The end result of this research and development was displayed at the 1971 Paris Auto Show as the 1971 MTC K-Type. Using the monocoque chassis of the Vanguard Capricorn compact sedan/liftback, the car featured the first generation of MTC’s all-new Quadra on-demand four wheel drive system. The success of the K Type line allowed MTC to expand its lineup in the late 70s to 3 separate all-terrain cars using Vanguard’s existing Capricorn, Scorpio, and Andromeda as bases. MTC was influential in helping Vanguard phase out its tried and true overhead valve engines in favor of the New Age series of overhead cam inline fours and sixes. Rising tensions in South Africa along with Vanguard’s continued plummet into irrelevancy lead MTC to controversially end production of vehicles under the long storied Vanguard nameplate after 1987. By the time MTC itself was bought out by Alliance Autotopia, the world’s largest automaker consisting of 9 brands with each their own storied past, in 1993, they were a blossoming manufacturer of offroad trucks/SUVs and all terrain focus passenger cars alike.
Car background
The 1999 MTC K Series was not a ground-up vehicle, but a holistic rework using the 1988-1998 K Series’s platform and chassis as a base, but more notably swapping the rear semi trailing arm layout for a double wishbone setup all around. This allowed for more precise handling compared to the previous generation. More importantly, the New Age Four got a second generation, now coming 16 valve double overhead cam layout. Variable valve timing was added in two different configurations, a first for an MTC vehicle.
The base model was the K18 Sport, starting from $14990, offering a 1.8L version of the New Age Gen II block with multi point fuel injection producing 120 hp at 5700 rpm and 127 lb ft of torque at 4200 rpm. Fuel economy was rated at 33/39/35 EPA rated city/highway/combined. Standard features included hydraulic rack and pinon power assisted steering, a four speaker sound system with a stereo AM/FM radio, driver’s side airbag system, and a cassette tape player, a five speed manual transmission with a four speed with overdrive button electronically controlled automatic being available as a $1200 option. Brakes are 250mm discs in the front and 290mm drums in the back, tires are P185/60R16 spec.
The next step up is the K22 X-Sport, at $17500, which added a more powerful 2.2L version of the New Age Four making 150 hp at 5500 rpm and 157 lb ft of torque at 4000 rpm. The variable valve timing on this engine is on all cams rather than just the intake. Along with the engine upgrades comes a Torsen based limited slip differential and Traction Aids I package which includes an anti lock braking system. Brakes are now 270mm discs all around, vented in front and solid at the back. Fuel economy for this model is 30/36/33 city/highway/combined.
At the top of the range sits the K22 Carbon hot hatchback, at $22500. The 2.2 is given a variable geometry turbocharger providing 10 psi of boost as well as individual throttle bodies. This allows the powerplant to make 230 hp at 5600 rpm and 270 lb ft of torque at 3800 rpm. Forged internals are used on this engine to accommodate for the higher torque it produces. Tires are summer compound P215/50R16 with alloy rims. Upgraded brakes and a Sony CD player are now standard.
A common rail diesel version with a 2.0 turbo making 105 hp at 3700 rpm and 172 lb ft of torque at 2600 rpm is available in selected markets in Europe and Asia.
Body styles offered include sedan, 3 door hatchback, 5 door hatchback, and 5 door estate.
Our Example
A 1999 K22 X-Sport with broken cassette player, needs new spark plugs, some rust on the underbody. Sold to Jacob for $2000 flat.
Our Team
Peak Performance
Jacob Kim, age 26, human, Korean-American, 5’7, 130 lbs, brown eyes, black hair
Amelia Ridgewell, 24, human, British, 5’4, 110 lbs, green eyes, blonde hair
3 Likes
A Tribute to my Grandpa who passed away earlier this week
I was originally going to enter the usual BetterDeals, but I've decided to enter a clone of my grandpa's car. He was a good man, I had a very special bond with him, and he was a car enthusiast.
It’s been a difficult week, but life goes on, and he was not in the best condition. I’m sure he’s in a better place now.
He had the nickname Fuist, so for this reason here is my team’s name.
Team Fuist
Of course, these are difficult times but that doesn't mean that we can have some fun.
The Drivers
- Louis Abingdon
36 Years Old
British
Notorious driver from the GTC, Louis Abingdon tries out something new. Rallying is new to the man, but he’s up for anything. He has enough experience going into the grass and gravel, after all. He’s used to it.
In the GTC he was seen as the next big guy, but severely underperformed. He kept getting seats with teams hoping that he would do better, but it only ever got worse. Even with the best teams he simply could not compete, besides a few podiums.
He is a paydriver, so he funded the car. Don’t ask him where he got the money, he won’t say anything.
“People call me Abingoat, must mean I’m a good driver! I remember when I was in the driving academy, everyone was talking about me, till I got signed. After a lot of sabotage from my team and bouncing around many teams, I eventually had no seat left. So I thought, maybe I can test my luck on Holsia.”
- Marceline Bond
39 Years Old
French
Another notorious driver from the GTC. The first female driver to ever compete in the series, she left many disappointed. A fan favorite, but she never picked up a win. A few podiums were there though.
The second woman to ever compete immediately outshined her by winning on her debut, proving that Bond simply was not fast.
After retiring, she struck a deal with BetterDeals to start up her own racing team, which has seen major success with a driver’s championship and a few results very close to one.
“When I was a kid I always had the dream to race, and eventually I got that dream. Unfortunately I simply didn’t have enough talent to compete with my competitors, I was always having fun. Eventually I noticed that my performances were simply not improving after many years, so I retired. Never regretted that decision. Thought it would be fun to get back behind the wheel though!”
They claim to not be in a relationship but rumors have been going around for a while now…
They will be driving at aggression 1.
The Car
Abingdon has dug up a car that may or may not be considered a sports car, but he hopes for it to work well enough.
The 1996 Mars Fuist is a car from Mars in quite a weird place. It’s not exactly fast since it’s the V6 version and is a convertible, but for some reason it was quite popular and sold well. Weird. They’re very common so they’re easy to find for very cheap.
This one isn’t in the greatest condition, but the body is in great condition. The previous owner reported some weird stuff going on with the suspension, but Bond and Abingdon have done their best to fix some problems. Some limiters have been removed and it produces about 30 more horsepower than it did before, so it can move. Hopefully.
Besides the previously mentioned engine modifications and a fire extinguisher, the car is essentially stock with some questionable quality fixes to the suspension.
Is that it? I think that’s it.
Ride on Opa, we miss you. Rest in peace.
8 Likes
GECA - Interstellar
Simply put, GECA (Gothenburg Express Cycling Association, pronounced “GeeSah”) is a loosely coordinated group of road cyclist based in Gothenburg, Sweden, in turn split into various sub-groups.
GECA - Interstellar is one of these sub-groups (the others being GECA - Speed and GECA - Social) coined by Valentin Schrant as a justification for the support train being used in such magnitude.
They plan to ride some stages on their bicycles in a group of 13, while others are spent resting aboard the train.
The Crew:
Valentin “Val” Schrant
- Age: 25
- Height: 7’3" (221cm)
- Weight: 292 lbs (132kg)
- Notable Features:
- qualifies as being Albino (though with light grey-ish blue eyes)
- hairdo that reaches all the way to his lower back
- generally slender, well-defined physique, in turn covered in a dense “map” of veins
- a metallic-looking strip of grey runs up from between the clavicles, up his neck to behind his left ear
His personality depends on how much trust he has in someone.
To unknown people, he generally is polite and friendly, though distant and rather defensive, possibly even stiff, having a hard time at casual banter until a level of trust is achieved.
Once trust is present, he loosens up considerably.
Still, he remains of the calmer type with seemingly infinite patience.
Vehemently refuses to do any drugs, including alcohol and cigarettes.
Njordal “Norse” Eikeland
- Age: 29
- Height: 6’1" (185cm)
- Weight: 183 lbs (83kg)
- Notable Features:
- Brown, short hair
- physically appears healthy, though not extraordinarily well built
Substantially more open to engagement with others socially, sometimes to the detriment of Valentin, with whom he has an intense bond formed over the years.
Lars Andersson
- Age: 43
- Height: 5’11" (180cm)
- Weight: 185 lbs (84kg)
- Notable Features:
- Thick, full beard
- more broad in physique, as he has some “dead weight” to lug around
The resident dickhead of the group with very little in the way of a filter.
Has ZERO issues blaring out his opinion on things and frequently gathers counter-fire as a result of it, making him generally unpopular.
Him being part of the group at all is a legal thing, since he did pay the entry fees to GECA - Interstellar on time and in full.
Hugh Jass
- Age: debatable. his ID claims 19 and he legally is of age and looks the part, but his “activity history” only really goes back about three months or so…
- Height: 6’3" (190cm)
- Weight: 144 lbs (65kg)
- Notable features:
- bright green, shoulder-length hair
- equally green eyes
- physically very much the “skin-and-bones” type
His demeanor is a mixed bag.
Socially, he generally is open to interaction and seen as friendly, but to others, it seems like he is stuck in his own little way of thinking as he constantly keeps talking using video-game related words, reinforced further by the occasional action of equally video-game-y looking awkwardness.
Bill Kerman
- Age: classified, appears mid 40s
- Height: 5’10" (178cm)
- Weight: 139lbs (73kg)
- Notable features:
- short, brown hair with receding hairline
- light blue eyes
- perpetually wearing some sort of sunglasses
- identical twin to Bob Kerman (below)
His outward impression can be summed up as “stay away from us”, which has multiple GECA members be suspicious of him. Stern look, talks only when needed and when he does, he uses as few words as possible to get out of the social engagement. Generally tries to avoid being drawn into one as well.
Bob Kerman
- Age: classified, appears mid 40s
- Height: 5’10" (178cm)
- Weight: 139lbs (73kg)
- Notable features:
- short, brown hair with receding hairline
- light blue eyes
- perpetually wearing some sort of sunglasses
- identical twin to Bill Kerman (above)
His outward impression can be summed up as “stay away from us”, which has multiple GECA members be suspicious of him. Stern look, talks only when needed and when he does, he uses as few words as possible to get out of the social engagement. Generally tries to avoid being drawn into one as well.
note: Below Characters largely act as filler and thus might not be as thoroughly established.
Sven Johansson
- Age: 23
- Height: 5’8" (173cm)
- Weight: 140 lbs (63kg)
- Notable Features:
- heavily crooked nose
In a sense a mix of Norse and Lars.
Outgoing and unfiltered, though not enough of an outright asshole to not apologize for any missteps.
Astrid Nilsson
- Age: 31
- Height: 6’0" (183cm)
- Weight: 132 lbs (60kg)
- Notable Features:
- bald (base color is black)
Recent breast cancer survivor with no intent of hiding the past. Generally calm, but daring when it comes to it. Joined GECA (especially GECA - Speed) for the thrill of speed with very little protection as it makes her feel alive as ever.
Ingrid “Bag of Holding” Ericsson
- Age: 38
- Height: 5’6" (167cm)
- Weight: unknown (she does not care)
- Notable Features
- the notable bit is the lack of notable features.
- about as generic of a woman you can find
Dragged into this by Astrid, she has issues opening up to people, instead retaining her defensive “better not tell anyone” stance for possibly longer than is reasonable. Generally seen upon favorably by others due to her somehow being prepared for every eventuality there could ever be.
Björn Olsen
- Age: 35
- Height: 5’10" (178cm)
- Weight: 174 lbs (79kg)
- Notable Features
- by far the most muscular-looking of the group, actually having upper-body strength
- reddish-brown army-buzzcut hair
- left eye somewhat squinted
The “all show and little go” person, relatively speaking. By far the richest person in the group (second only to Val), but has little idea as to what his fancy equipment even is capable of at times. Still, he vehemently refuses to accept guidance on any matter, claiming to be “above the others” in terms of skill and expertise. Got a face full of fist from Astrid for downplaying the severity of cancer.
Hiroshi Tanaka
- Age: 28
- Height: 6’0" (183cm)
- Weight: ~140 lbs (65kg)
- Notable Features
- google “Ryosuke Takahasi” from Initial D. I may or may not have plucked him out of his FC lol
The smart one. If there is a book-smarts thing to contribute to a given thing, he can provide. The only one to rival Val in performance because of a massive tactics advantage to him. Does not think fondly of his parents due to their authoritarian views regarding his future.
Apart from that, he generally is rather stoic and well-articulated.
Erik Jansen
- Age: 20
- Height: 5’11" (180cm)
- Weight: 170lbs (77kg)
- Notable Features:
- ginger
- dreadlocks
- obviously left-wing politically due to outfit styling (patches and such)
If there’s a topic, he is talking. Non-stop. Even if a given topic is not relevant to him or not in his field of “expertise”, chances are that he is adding his two cents to it.
Somehow still is able to listen to others, though him stepping onto them trying to talk is a strain to the way people think of him.
Jan Wagner
- Age: 23
- Height: 6’0" (184cm)
- Weight: 170lbs (73kg)
- Notable Features:
- dense, unkempt full beard
- hair to mid-back
Jan is a mixed bag. Sometimes, he absolutely refuses to engage in conversation, preferring the sidelines. Other times, he rivals Erik in the amount of talking he does.
The vehicles
HSR B15.01 #001 “Robert III”
(locomotive only)
Continuing with the tradition of using the (arguably superior 
) rails instead of roads, Valentin has organized a full train through his line of work as the chief mechanical engineer at the Holsian State Railways.
The train in question will serve as accommodation for GECA as well as some degree of support for other participants in case cars are irreparably damaged or otherwise in need of aid.
2004 MHI/AMCW City Shuttle
Rented off of Team Shift Happens, this example is identical in both technical specifications and backstory to the one in use there. The only difference: This one has NOT been fiddled with to make 10 feet tall people fit. It is a regular city bus.
13 bicycles
[no image]
This is the whole point of GECA being here to begin with.
They want to do some of the stages on their bikes as a group, others remain aboard the train for recovery, simple as that.
6 Likes
Anya Essinger
Arthur "Reggie "Reymond
Entries are now Closed!
To those who have a submitted car, please, do get your team posts in as quickly as possible. It helps the other teams who will be roleplaying.
I’ll be busy cooking up the starting area camp.
Pity, I designed a car, but didn’t have time to write. Good luck teams!
4 Likes
GECA - Pre-Race
March 29th 2024
Gothenburg Landvetter Airport; Landvetter; Sweden
Meetup of Valentin and the GECA - Interstellar participants only had minor disturbances. Jan Wagner, a member who flew out from Germany to partake reported having difficulties finding the remaining group, citing “lack of familiar environment” as the reason.
Outside of that, multiple questions were asked:Sven: “When is our plane going. And WHERE?”
Valentin: “Our aircraft is ready whenever we are. I… chartered one outside of typical commercial flights.”Lars: “Care to explain the reasoning behind FIVE pieces of luggage?”
Njordal: “Did you not bring whatever you need for the stage battle against Val?”
Valentin: “Bicycle, Guitar, Amplifier, Typical travel baggage there and cycling or music related ancillaries in this one.”His answer effectively silenced Lars and his latent aggression, himself having brought along three pieces of luggage compared to most others having brought two.
Within Valentin’s Aircraft; somewhere near the north pole
The passengers seem highly impressed at how Valentin “somehow” procured a futuristic-looking business jet capable of cruising at Mach 3.3. Other than that, the flight was uneventful.
LA Int. Airport; Los Angeles; California; United States
The stopover at KLAX was necessary for legal reasons, as the actual destination does not have a suitable customs office for a direct flight. The “apparently unnecessary” deboarding was met with remarkably little resistance.
At the security checks, 11 out of 13 people were processed without any holdups.
Hugh Jass displayed unusual behavior in trying to effectively interact with the local staff members, leading to quite the amusement for the remaining participants and mild annoyance to local staff.
Example being the apparent inability to accurately place relevant items in the scanning tray, either dropping it straight to the floor on the first attempt and violently throwing them into the tray on the second. How items such as his phone survived remains a mystery to everyone involved, including me.
The other person with difficulties was Valentin:
Even before he was fully underneath the metal detector, it registered the highest possible value to them. An attempt at resolving the issue via taking off minor articles of clothing such as rings, shoes and a non-existing belt yielded no change.TSA: “How the fuck do you peg the detector while being next to it?”
Valentin: “May I ask as to how detailed you want the answer to be?”
At this point, Valentin was already at work fishing out necessary documentation.
TSA: “Excuse me?”
Valentin: “In summary, I am part of a medical trial involving implants which as of now make up roughly 4% of my body weight.”
TSA: “Riiight… Let’s see what you have for alledged proof…”This proof was sufficiently convincing, though required Valentin to undergo more extensive manual searches, linked in part to his guitar case being mistaken for a poorly secured rifle case.
After security was dealt with, the group reboarded the plane for a short, subsonic flight to their final destination.
Twin Suns Aerodrome, Nevada, United States
Upon landing at Twin Suns Aerodrome, Valentin led the crew over to where they would be staying until departure to Holsia.
Initial reactions, especially after having seen the aircraft, were rather modest as they did not expect to be housed in a small “trailer park” full of RVs.
Regardless, as far as I can tell, crew morale was decent.
4 Likes
Team Shift Happens
Shitbox Rally Starting Area, Nevada
- March 31, 2024, 4 AM local time.
Kivenaal sighs as the bus crawls past the fences, beyond the Aerodrome, and into the outskirts of the Twin Suns Towing property, the primitive self-driving AI carefully weaving down the paved pathway and out into the dirt. The screens showed nothing out of the usual, with one showing :) and the other simply containing a bunch of “debug spew.”
He’d been up half the night making the rings for all of the teams. Language with an emergency teleport both to the start, and back to home, and a different ring marked with “SOS” designed to be used to call for help. He was tired, but at least the rings were done.
Behind him, he had the rest of the crew. Malavera hadn’t really helped when it came to why he was still tired - in fact, he might indeed be the reason Kivenaal hadn’t slept at all - but he was the reason Kivenaal was nervous right now. Or, at least, half the reason. The other half of the AI project came from Takaraya, who helped Malavera with the Self-Driving project. Also back there were Kaylie, Jayde, Kayden, Sariya, Manikihali, and Lauren, casually having an argument about who was the one responsible for squirting dish soap into the dishwasher, leading to a kitchen full of soap suds. Near them, Inaelus and Kasiya were just casually chatting about magic.
The bus parked itself at the waypoint, and Kivenaal shut it off.
“Right… Let’s get started,” Kaylie said, breaking the argument. “We’ve got a lot of mild renovations to do before people start showin’ up.”
The doors swing open, and the eleven aliens leave the bus, quickly swarming the campsite and getting it prepared for new arrivals.
Many hours later, the campsite was cleaned up, the grills were ready for cooking, the picnic tables had a fresh coating of paint, and the firing range now had a new set of targets to shoot at. More importantly, there were a line of cleaned-up RVs parked off to one side, intended for use by a friend and his group to rest the night, as well as the now-infamous sound-deadened portable toilets, and a bit of very basic camp lighting that was being powered by a cheap generator that Rukari had tinkered with so it’d run on used motor oil, something they had in relatively abundant supply.
“And now the waiting game begins,” Kayden quips.
Sariya shrugs. “Mani, don’t you go burning any of those steaks.”
Manikihali pauses in cooking only long enough to flip off Sariya with all four hands, then flips the steaks over.
Malavera, meanwhile, sets up his laptop and starts up his usual routine of ignoring everyone and playing an old arcade racing game, this time joined by Kivenaal on a near-identical machine, the two computers linked by a serial cable.
Kasiya and Inaelus both settle at one of the picnic tables, just enjoying the day. Soon, they’d be spending the night here in Jayde’s almost-infamous magic tent, and then the next day would be the drivers’ meeting and departure.
Takaraya, on the other hand, takes the time to unpack his new digital camera, putting a lens on it and taking a picture of the chaotic little group, catching a little moment as Lauren opens up a box labeled “snacks” and realizes it belonged to Kivenaal, as there was only one person who had a taste for honey-glazed, oven-roasted scorpions.
Jayde and Kaylie, in the middle of this chaos, were busy preparing more burgers and steaks for their group, just waiting for the first teams to arrive.
(OOC: Feel free to get team posts in if you haven’t already. This is just pre-race stuff in case people are interested in some interaction before the start.)
2 Likes
Team Highway Hooligans
SR Starting Area, Nevada
- March 31, 2024, 8 AM local time.
Jake slides into the driver’s seat of their heavily modified Ishu Astrion, watching as Trevor drops into the passenger seat, and then Cody settles into the back seat with a groan and a door slam. The keys jingle as Jake plugs them into the ignition switch, makes sure the gearbox is in neutral, puts his feet on the brake pedal and the clutch pedal, then turns the key.
The engine rasps to life, the snarling V6 waking up and settling into a rough idle, before Jake stuffs the Astrion into reverse and backs out of the hangar.
“God damn, I can’t see shit with this giant fucking box behind us,” Jake grumbles.
“That “giant fucking box” contains food, camping supplies, tools, and a couple spare parts,” Trevor replies. “And it’s a fuckload better than a trailer.”
“Do we really have to be up this early? I mean, I fucking get it, we missed the rally last year, but-”
Cody’s complaint gets cut off by a savage charlie horse from Trevor, and a pitiful yell of pain from Cody.
“Jesus fucking Christ, Trev!”
“Your idea of early,” Jake quips, “is 4:30 in the afternoon.”
Trevor chuckles, watching as Jake slowly cruises into the campsite. “Damn! They really do go all out, don’t they?” Trevor says, seeing the lights on, RVs parked up, grill smoking away, and the little fiberglass shit-houses all lined up ready for the undoubtedly dozens of dumps to be done in their brief stay in camp.
After the car is parked, Jake shuts down the engine, and everyone bails out.
“That thing still fuckin’ stinks,” Cody grumbles.
“Twelve air fresheners can mask a lot, but all it’s doing is covering up whatever got spilled in the carpet,” Jake replies.
Trevor shrugs. “It ain’t that bad. Seriously, Ma once left a package of burgers in the trunk and then went on vacation with the family for two weeks. By the time she got back, that poor Sinistra Traville stank so bad that we were wondering if some mob boss hid a body in her trunk.”
As Jake notices the steaks being cooked, he smiles. “You guys reckon they’ll give us any?”
Kaylie looks over at them and laughs. “Of course we will. Kinda camp tradition at this point.”
With that, the Hooligans take their places at a table, each chowing down on steaks and burgers, while watching for new arrivals.
3 Likes
Timeloss
Part Zero: Moving to Camp.
A couple goodbyes, a walk from one house to another, a hop through some mirrors, out the door, and over the road. Take the keys a bunch of them had, open the hangar door, find the Azreia, considerations.
“This thing’s loud. Should we really start it in here?”
“Well, Leo and Max have started their Wagon in here a few times.”
“Yeah, but Max is a pilot and Leo’s Leo.”
“And what does that mean?”
“You know what that means.” Selena shrugs at Ruuka’s comment, opening the driver-side door and slotting in. Technically, these three didn’t even need to do the overnight stay, but you might as well get into the mood of the event by not fucking around at home for the few hours before you really have to go. Ignoring Ruuka’s suggestion of not starting the V8 Monstrosity indoors, the Azreia bursts into life, they navigate around the tools as Ruuka opens the hangar’s door.
Now, the trio haven’t driven the new Azreia. They only brought it here from Vegas when it was a normal car. It’s a different beast, very much unlike anything either Selena or Ruuka own. Rather than a direct drive over the runway and down the trail to Camp, the vampire decided she didn’t want to be normal. No, no, no. She was going to see what this abomination could do, much to the dislike of Ruuka and the abject outrage of Mirage.
Bumping and Bursting around the nearby desert of Twin Suns, probably clearly to anyone around (sand and dust likes to hang around on a not-so-windy day after all), the Vampire, the Starpilot, and the Mage eventually roll their way into the Camp. The V8’s loud, and the suspension squeeks. It’s annoying to be around, but these three really do not care. The monster pulls up around 9am, pulling up near their friends of Shift Happens, as Mirage drags herself past Ruuka and out the passenger door. There, the mage pulls a book from her hip, drawing patterns in the air, as a door appears just behind the Azreia. She nods in approval, as she climbs onto the Sedan’s roof.
Selena and Ruuka, with not much else to do, grab a couple chairs from their storage, and set them up in front of the Azreia, watching with hats and sunglasses on for the other arrivals.
6 Likes
Somewhere in Wisconsin, United States of America
March 14th 2024. 11:00PM
The lamp toppled over limply. Brutally domed by a beach sandal flying across the room. It was collateral damage, because the intended target was the 6’ 3” hyceian, who ducked out of the way barely in time. The reason why such an attack was justified?
Choice of team name.
“Can we be less destructive, please?” It was Kate who spoke up. “I know you’re having a disagreement but can we cut back on the flying objects? But we don’t need someone breaking multi-thousand dollar equipment.”
Of course, also in the room was Landon. Deeply unhappy, and vocal about the choices made. His gruff voice, southern drawl with the sight hint of something eastern Euro hammered home the point. It was Alex to whom he spoke to. “What in the hell were you thinking?! It’s gonna make people think we’re crazy or something!”
Alex stood from his cover. A stark contrast in sound between the two, especially the accent that sounded faintly Brazilian for some reason. “It isn’t supposed to! There’s eight of us going on this trip, so I thought why not?”
“Still doesn’t justify you not going and talking to us.” Landon, still unamused.
“I didn’t? Not listening to anything I’ve said about CSX 8888, the incident, the way they stopped it and that the name the incident was given?”
The towering fox raised his brows. “I thought that was you blathering on about trains like you always are. I wouldn’t know, I always tune you out.”
Alex would have said something. But, it wasn’t a hill worth dying on, so the response was an exasperated sigh and a roll of the eyes.
“Crazy Eights?” Kate again, now sitting down on the sofa on the right side of the basement. “It’s the runaway train, isn’t it?”
“I thought we were not supposed to keep things from each other.” The voice came from Via. The female hyceian, and Alex’s significant other. The person walking over and picking up the slipper that had taken out the lamp. “You promised to talk this through with the input of other people.”
Alex tensed and his ears twitched when Via picked up the slipper again, although this tension was short lived. He placed his hands on his hips and glanced down at the ground, avoiding eye contact. A multitude of thoughts running through his mind.
There was a moment before he said anything. “I… uh… I’m sorry.”
“Why don’t we talk it through then?” A distinct South African sounding accent cut through the air. It was Karl, entering the room. “I have many ideas that are probably better than what you chose.”
“I couldn’t care less about the name.” This voice was the coldest in the room. Commanding, sharp and clear. Neil didn’t move from his spot on the couch that had been used as cover and he didn’t look up from the device he was sending messages on. “And it’s not worth the effort to talk it through either.”
Karl sighed. “Should we tell Hans about our decision? Might as well keep him in the loop.”
“Like he would get the reference.” It started to become more apparent that Landon was a lot more displeased with this than he’d let on. “Like, why would we choose a name that’s some sort of obscure reference? Why not try to come up with something mostly original?”
“It is original!” The protest came from Alex. “It’s just… I thought it was fun.”
“I’m not after you because of the name, Lex. I’m after you because you didn’t come to us first.” Via let her irritation fade. “The name is fine. But, next time just talk to us.”
Alex sighed. “Was the shoe attack really necessary?”
Landon scoffed and simply turned away. “I’m going home. Y’all can figure this out on your own.”
Karl agreed with the decision. “Yeah. I’m tired, and Aletta’s waiting for me.”
“So that means we’re The Crazy Eight now?” Neil looked at the three remaining people in the room.
Alex shrugged. “I guess so.”
“I have no objections.” Via sighed.
Neil stood and moved to leave the room. “It’s settled then.”
After he was gone, the three remaining people in the basement common area all exchanged glances. As chaotic as it was, they had managed to settle on a name that was somewhat witty. Of course, not everyone had to be happy about it. But since the name had more or less been already chosen, the vehicle sorted, and their journey to Nevada covered by private jet, all they had to worry about now was the gear and supplies they would bring and if the GPV would have the room with all eight seats occupied.
Preferably without incident.
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Team Firulais
A Rather Heated Discussion, and a Rather Rushed Flight PlanLate Night of March 25th, Ángel’s Apartment, Vladivostok, Russian Federation
Someone knocked right on Ángel’s Door… Guess what? The neighbor who owned the car Ana crashed into a few days ago is not exactly happy.
Sergey (Ángel’s neighbor):“Посмотрим, ты…”
Ángel:“Прежде чем вы начнете, нет, это не я повредил вашу машину.”
Sergey:“Тогда кто? В конце концов, это ты всегда создаешь здесь проблемы…”
Ángel (nervous):“Да ладно, господин Сергей, я ничего не делал…”
Sergey (clearly angry… besides, he’s 35cm taller than Ángel…):“…”
Ángel (this is when he admits the truth):“Эй, успокойся… Вообще, если хочешь, я бесплатно устраню поломку…”
This is what I can get of the conversation… Clearly, Ángel got rocked. But, to translate, Sergey asks Ángel if he damaged his car… Initially he says “no”, but later Sergey pressures Ángel, as he’s the troublemaker of the building. Later Ángel admits the truth, and offers to fix the damages for free… and, well…
Sometime later, Ángel has 25.000 Rubles less in his pocket, as well as having recieved a punch in the gut, which is agonizing for him (ouch).
So, in order to take revenge, and also, make it to the Starting Point in Nevada, he secretly got Ana’s Credit Card… Ángel was evil at times, but, for now, he’d use it only for the flights needed to take both the Team and the Aurora to Nevada.
After booking some flights on Japan Airlines, and paying roughly 3 times the car’s worth for it to be flown to L.A., he slept until 5 AM, when he got ready to wake everyone up with his Frying Pan.
Early morning of March 26th, Vladivostok International Airport, Vladivostok, Russia
To everyone’s displeasure, the Flight, or, should we say, the Flight Routes would be quite strange. Or, should we say, messy, as Ángel is not great at planning stuff. But they would have to take several planes… One which would take them to Beijing, as there were no flights which could get them to Tokyo (let alone L.A.), then another flight to Tokyo-Haneda, and then the flight across the Pacific to Los Angeles… Yeah, it was quite the air trip. Although, Ángel had programmed something well. See, he somehow managed to find a cargo flight from Vladivostok to L.A. straight ! The only problem was that it would take off a day after the Firulais would take off… But, seeing things in another way, that was actually good, as it would mean the Team and the car would arrive simultanously-ish to L.A…
…and so, the voyage began.
Noon of March 28th, Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California, United States
Ana:“Who knew the flight from Tokyo to here would delay due to the weather?”
Tomás:“Yeah, I know… At least we’ve arrived. I hope Emiliano will take care of my dog.”
Andrés:“I’m pretty sure he will.”
Josué:“It’s so good to be back… Wasn’t here where we met?”
Ana:“Yeah, we met here… but… anyone has seen my credit card? I haven’t found it yet…”
Before Ana could search further, Ángel arrived with the Aurora… while the car had a few problems passing thru customs, it got thru. For the team that was a win.
Ángel:“OK, Crew, are we ready?”
Josué:“Why aren’t we flying to Nevada?”
Ángel:“I wanted to test the car a little for a short trip. After all, we don’t want it to be the worst thing possible for the long journey in Aetherii, right?”
Ana:“I just hope I’ve left my credit card here… and that the Aircon works…”
It didn’t, but at least the car didn’t break down on the way to Nevada.
Past Midnight, March 29th, SR Starting Area, Nevada, United States
Team Firulais arrives with it’s morale thru the roof… That is, until they realize the need for somewhere to sleep other than the tents. So many questions and so few answers. But I guess those would eventually be solved across the rally.
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never done something like this before so here goes
Part 0: Pre-Rally-Post-Email-Prep
March 11th, 2024
alec’s laptop gets an email notification
Alec: “Hm? Oh, email.”
alec opens the notification and reads through the email
A: “…Shitbox Rally? The hell is this?”
he reads the last line
A: “Holsia? That’s not- that’s not a real place, is it? Hang on…”
he opens discord on his laptop and goes to the friend group chat
A (typing on discord): “Hey, can you two get on call rq? I’ve just gotten a weird email from someone”
Kiara (on discord): “Yeah sure ive got a minute”
Sienna (on discord): “alright will do”
alec starts a call, sienna and kiara join it
S: “Hey, so what’s up?”
A: “Yeah, I’ve just gotten this email from an address I don’t recognise, it says something about the ‘third annual Shitbox Rally’, whatever that is.”
K: “Oh, ok. Uhh- can you send it here?”
A: “Yeah, give me a sec.”
alec copy pastes the email into the group chat, sienna and kiara read through it
S: “Mmm… It says they’re going on April Fools’ Day. Could just be some kind of elaborate April Fools’ prank.”
A: “Yeah, entirely possible. Actually, hang on…”
he goes to google, searches up google maps and types ‘Holsia’ in the search bar
A: “That’s the name of a makeup artist in New York. I- okay. Are they planning to drive from Nevada to this specific shop in New York or something?”
K: “Might be? Considering the weirdness of some race events nowadays, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
the group is silent for a couple seconds
K: “…Actually, when was the last time we did something together? Like, in real life?”
sienna and alec are silent
(both at the same time):
A: “I… I don’t remember.”
S: “Yeah, I don’t-… I- I can’t remember.”
K: “Exactly. We haven’t done anything for god knows how long, so why shouldn’t we do this?”
S: “…Fair point. We’re- hold on…”
she looks through the email quickly
S: “Uhhhh- ‘Show up at our starting area in a vehicle costing $2000 or less’. I doubt any of our cars fall in that margin.”
A: “Yeah. Even if they did, I wouldn’t want to end up wrecking any of them.”
K: “So does that mean we’re gonna have to buy a new car?”
A: “Certainly seems like it.”
K: “Right… Give me a minute.”
she opens ebay
K: “Uhhhhmmmmmmm… Ah! Found something.”
S: “Yeah? What is it?”
K: “2003 Paladin Mace, on sale foooor… $900. This- ooh. Oh, no, that’s not good.”
A: “What’s not good?”
K: “Uh- Several things. One of the wheels just isn’t there, the boot’s rusted, says here one of the back doors is jammed… and probably a lot more they didn’t list.”
S: “Doubt you and Alec couldn’t fix it, though.”
K: “Fair enough. Are we buying it?”
S: “Yeah, better than nothing.”
A: “Yep, sure, go ahead.”
K: “Alrighty…”
March 13th 2024
the trio are all at alec’s house, currently in his garage. they’ve had the car delivered from the seller and are currently working on it
A: “…Aaaaaaaaand that is the hood… done. God, that took way longer than it should’ve. How’re you doing, Kiara?”
K (inside the car): “All good, just trying to get the steering wheel on.”
A: “Nice. Might as well start with the wheels. Sienna, can you help me with this?”
S (on her tablet, researching): “Uhh- Oh, sure.”
she walks over to alec and helps him fasten the wheels on the car
S: “Still can’t believe we got these for so cheap.”
A: “Yeah… probably gonna raise some questions when we get there, though.”
S: “Mmm… How many other people do you think are gonna be there?”
A: “Not many, probably only like 3 or 4 teams? Doubt that many people would willingly drive all the way out into the middle of Nevada to participate in a possibly not real rally.”
S: “Fair point.”
the two are silent for a couple seconds and then sienna hesitates
S: “…Wait, this is a team event, right?”
A: “…Yeah?”
S: “D’you think we- do we need a team name?”
A: “Oh. Oh, we probably do, don’t we?”
S: “God, uhh… hang on.”
she goes to her tablet, opens google, looks up name-generator.org and goes to ‘Team Name’
S: “Uhhhm… colour… animal… three random adjectives, whatever… right. None of these are good.”
A: “Hold on, let me see…”
he goes over to her tablet and looks at the generated names
A: “Yeah, these are all too generic. Uhm…”
he sits down on the floor next to the car and thinks for a while, only to be interrupted by kiara opening the door which hits him in the head
K: “Well, that’s the door unjammed- Oh.”
A: “Owww. Watch where y- Oh.”
K: “Oh god, sorry. What’re… What’re you doing?”
A: “Trying to come up with a name for our team.”
K: “Oh. Uh, do you have anything so far?”
S (still at her tablet): “Nope. Nothing.”
K: “Rrrright. Euhmmm… Give me… I don’t know, give me a chemical element.”
A: “Uhm- Argon?”
K: “Okay… We’ll call ourselves The Argonites then.”
A: “…Yeah, I like that. Got a nice ring to it.”
S: “Mmm, yeah, that sounds good.”
K: “Well, that’s settled then.”
March 14th 2024
the finishing touches are being applied to the car. sienna is currently applying a decal to the side of the car that says ‘the argonites’ in black text
S: “And that’s the car done, I think.”
S (shouting into the house): “Come look at this, guys. Decals are done.”
alec and kiara walk into the garage
A: “Wow. That’s… certainly something.”
K: “Ooh, very nice. Let’s just hope it starts, then.”
the three of them get into the car, sienna in the driver seat, alec in shotgun and kiara behind sienna
S: “Right, then.”
she presses the ignition button on the dashboard. the engine sputters slightly, but it runs. the three of them sigh with relief
A: “Well. Car’s working. Have we got the stuff?”
K (gesturing behind her): “Yep, already packed it.”
A: “Alright. Should we go, then?”
he gets out of the car and walks into the house, making sure everything is locked and then opens the garage door. sienna drives the car out of the garage, alec closes the door, gets back in, and they head off down the road
End of Part 0
4 Likes
Team Name: Honey I Bought a S#!tbox
Crew:
Clara Danver - Human - (21, F, Driver and Engineer)
Vivian Speed - Human - (22, NB, Navigator)
Yes im aware submissions closed already, but I had to enter via proxy because I had a new account, so this is just information for the public on my team. Unfortunately I can only upload one image at a time, so for now, you will just get the front of the car, and some team photos below (more info & pictures on the discord)
Car and lore:
The T4 Pablato was made as a low cost city car and commuter for Astral’s new range of affordable cars in the 70’s. Millions were produced, but being an astral, it wasn’t the most reliable car in the universe. Resultingly, they are incredibly cheap in todays market. The example modified for the teams rally was a first generation Pablato. Being a gen 1 comes with all the problems a T4 of this age would usually experience. Slipping belts, faulty alternators, and a horrible case of understeer. This vehicle particularly shows obvious signs of shoddy repair work to the rear left wheelcover, with plastic panels bolted on, and the boot catch being replaced with a door handle from some other make of car. The rear right light has also cracked, but is still road legal as it is functioning. All this damage and the problems that come with a 50 year old car means the car was priced at only $885.
Despite these shortcomings, due to it’s aluminium construction, the body panels are only suffering from some moderate surface rust, and the 80.7hp engine gives it enough oomph per kg to push it up most moderate inclines, as well as being spectacularly efficient at cruising speed (automation does not reflect this accurately, testing in Beam showed an MPG of 71)
The team have used the remaining budget of $1115 to fit off-road tires, attach a winch to the subframe, and add some general traversal equipment such as 2 jerry cans, some sand plates, 2 shovels and some spare tires that have been placed in the back seat. They were also given a spare belt from the pervious owner, who bought it in case the common issue did arise.
As a weight reduction measure, the backs of the rear seats have been removed, as has the
A CB radio kit has also been installed in the car, and is hooked up directly to the cars battery.
The team lore:
Clara has loved cars since she was a kid. Her dad was a delivery driver and would sometimes take her out with him to deliver parcels for his clients. When her dad got sick she had to step up and take over the business to keep the household afloat, and the better paying gigs were always to far and remote locations outside town, and the faster they were delivered the better. Her dad also drove an astral, and although this was a T5 van and not a T4, it still had the same basic design philosophy of “make it faster, make it cheaper”. Her father eventually recovered, and she moved on to Uni, but there was a part of her that always yearned to return to those long trips at speeds that definitely were not safe on the roads she was covering.
Vivian is much the opposite of Clara. They were always good at geography and cartography, and graduated with a bachelors degree in the latter. They never really had an interest in cars, but when word spread of a well funded rally thousands of km long, across a variety of terrains, with navigation hurdles and obstacles, they had to get in. Unfortunately they didn’t have the resources or connections to join a professional team, and the dream seemed dead in the water. However, not all was lost. Vivian’s friend Clara (whom they ha met in at Uni) had found out about another rally. A rally on the cheap. A rally, for s#!t boxes.
Soon, the pair began conspiring to ditch their studies, their responsibilities, for a trip like no other. They got a car, they got the paperwork, they got… married?
Yes, as it turns out the pair had fallen in love with the project, and eachother. But don’t think that they were giving up on the project, far from it. This was now their honeymoon, and what better way to relax, then a gruelling, thousand mile journey, across every kind of terrain imaginable, in a car literaly falling to peices.
3 Likes
