I think you used the D-segment-sized version (whose wheelbase is ~2.6m) of the E36/405 body set. It looks a lot sleeker in photos from some angles now after the latest update - that’s why I confused it with the Kee-era A4 body set of similar size.
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is it possible to influence the list?
for example if my car has a swapped engine, would that influence it
e.g. “The new engine is a reliable model, lowering the chance of a breakdown”
or “The new engine is heavier than standard, increasing the strain on the front suspension”
Well, I will try to explain this without overcomplicating things then…
To start with, the actual in game reliability stat of the car, that will be affected by having a reliable engine, will ALSO matter. So, you can absolutely minimize the risk of having a breakdown by building a reliable engine.
One could see it like this. If we take one car that has a reputation for being very reliable (we can take a Toyota Hilux) and one that is known to not be as reliable (without wanting to hurt someones feelings, we can take the Maserati Biturbo, even if “italian cars breaking down stereotypes are getting old yadda yadda”). The reliability stat is about the actual reliability while the RNG rolls will affect the condition of different systems the car. So, if your car has a high reliability stat but gets crappy RNG rolls it could be compared to a clapped out Hilux while a car with mediocre reliability stats but great RNG rolls it is closer to a mint Biturbo.
What you can’t affect is the RNG rolls. Even if your engine is reliable it can still be a very worn out example. But let’s say that the car is known to have trouble with the oil pump, if you state that and the car gets a bad roll on the engine related components, I can absolutely have that in mind when deciding which engine components that are bad. That won’t affect the risk for an engine breakdown to either the better or the worse though, it might change what happens for RP reasons and that is all.
But just because the oil pump is bad, it doesn’t guarantee that it is what breaks down in the event of an engine failure either.
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Team Oxracers, Ep. 2: How have we rolled?
“Hello everyone, my name is Corazon de Carrera, and you can rely on me being fast.”
“Hello everyone, I am Michael Egbert, and you can rely on me bringing it home in one piece in a race.”
“Hello, I am Lucas Dobberstonehaugh, and you can rely on me learning something new every time on the track.”
“Hello, I am Jane Warlock, and you can rely on me making everything go fast.”
“Hello, I am Mary Small, and you can rely on me.” Mary has to suppress her laughter.
“That’s it?” Corazon inquires.
“That’s it”, Mary replies deadpan, but with a hint if amusement . “I am a thoroughly reliable person.”
“And now we need to rely on you to get us a good deal for the Kando. Think we should bring a third one of us along - shall we roll for it, guys?” asks Jane.
“Alright.” Corazon shuffles over to the table with the dice, grabs one nonchalantly and rolls. “Three.”
Next is Michael’s turn. “Five.”
And then Lucas. He takes a second to process the result. “I rolled a critical 1 - so do I go back to bed?” he asks with a hopeful voice.
“No, that means you have to sweep the garage instead”, Jane helpfully explains. “I’ll have to get cracking modifying the car right after we are back.”
With a disappointed face, Lucas shuffles away through one of the back doors. He leaves the door open, and after a while, faint sweeping noises are heard.
Meanwhile, Corazon has made himself comfortable on a couch and starts leafing through a F1 history book. Jane, Mary and Michael make their way towards the exit.
Having arrived at their destination, Jane parks her Saarland Siegel Pilger station wagon on the curb, next to where the 1993 Seongu Kando II they rolled for as the base of their 24h race car is parked in a driveway.
“It looked better on your laptop”, Mary commented, slightly disappointed, as they approach the parked Kando.
Jane explained: “That was the manufacturer’s picture from back in the 1990s…”
“Look how tiny the rear seats are. I remember them being larger”, is Michael’s first comment.
“That’s only for the 5-door model”, Jane replies. “This one has only three doors… and smaller rear seats.”
“I can fit in there”, Mary says with suppressed laughter.
“You’d be the only one of us.” Michael walks around the car and reads the rear badge. “At least it’s the 1.3i - not the ancient 1.2l carburetted pushrod they sold until the bitter end.”
Jane opens the hood and has a look around. “Single overhead cam alright. And the simplest engine management system they could possibly get their hands on. But I am happy for any day where I don’t have to make a carburettor sing.”
In the meantime, Michael has opened the driver door, sits down and turns the key which is already in the ignition. He listens and then comments: “This is more like croaking, if you ask me.”
“It’s a 3-cylinder.” Jane shrugs. “Get used to it. Shakes like a bag o’ nails because of course they did not put balance shafts on it in 1982. And 1.3 litres is a bit on the hefty side for a three pot anyway.”
“You mean teapot?” Mike retorts and turns the engine off again in disgust.
“Come on!” Jane closes the hood with a loud clank. “See the possibilities!”
“Possibility to be dead last after 24 hours”, Mike replies.
Mary decides to step in. “Have some confidence, let Jane work her magic, and first, let’s close the deal.”
“Magic? Wrong setting - but at least someone who appreciates my craft.” Jane puts her hands on the hips and shoots a disapproving look at Michael.
Michael shakes his head and, after a moment, follows the other two into the seller’s house to formalise the transfer of ownership.
As they leave the house again after a short while with some papers in hand, Michael wonders: “What did he mean - we don’t roll on the price?”
“You don’t roll when it is time for shrewd negotiations.” From the smug expression on Mary’s face, one can deduce that she believes they got a pretty good deal on the Kando.
Michael reluctantly gets behind the wheel of the Kando while Jane and Mary take Jane’s Saarland for their short trip home.
To Michael’s surprise, the Kando starts on his first attempt.
OOC: Let me know if I should post a link or two to those folks who I am shamelessly ripping off heavily inspired by for my five-man band. Again, it’s probably funnier when you know.
Edit: As requested, it’s those folks from the outside xbox and outside xtra channels who enjoy a good RPG on the side in their time (with the first full complement of all five appearing from S1E7 onwards):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoid6oOAGqMcZ3YWFqABFXbx9l5edm6XK , Oxventure in Space! The Oxventurers Guild Plays RPG Lasers & Feelings - YouTube
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I must say I don’t have a clue…maybe it becomes obvious when I see it but at the moment…no idea about the inspiration.
Team Shift Happens
(As expected, thank you to @Elizipeazie for collaborating with me here.)
Prologue
(Sorry, but you knew this would be a bit long. Thankfully, most of this is backstory and setup for how two teams come together at the track.)
“On this episode of Kaylie’s Garage, we recap what we’ve done to our rusty racecar, mention where we’re going, and make some last minute preparations for 24 hours of Clunkers!” Kaylie said enthusiastically, standing in front of a somewhat worn-out and well-used video camera.
In the background, the Grand Warden sat there, looking somewhat menacing and ominous courtesy of being a well-known police vehicle.
Meanwhile, the whole crew was watching the premiere of this episode, live with their fans, after a long build to get there.
“In the last bundle of weeks, we’ve taken this battered Bricksley from a target…”
Kivenaal grimaced as the clip of him taking shots at the rear of the car was played, followed by Kaylie yelling at him for shooting up a functioning car that had been bought, then forgotten about, a while ago.
“… into a functioning racing vehicle. First, we ripped out the interior,”
Kayden smirked as the clip of him pulling seats out of the car and literally throwing them into the building’s dumpster played. Those seats had reeked and there was no way in hell they were staying in the car.
“… figured out how to make the lights flash and the sirens scream,”
Rukari grinned as the clip of him turning the lights and siren on at two in the morning played, remembering the chaos of that morning quite well.
“… discovered a few problems,”
Takaraya groaned as he watched the clip of him trying his best to straighten out the body panels with a hammer, followed by Kivenaal pointing out that the front body subframe was about “as straight as a tree snake.” This was followed by a clip of the first road test, where they discovered the engine ran well, but the suspension was a bit off and the brakes weren’t great.
“… and fixed one of them.”
Malavera felt proud as he was the one who had welded up their specialized rollcage, and the clip was of his rather clean-looking welds.
“We then put a seat back in with some difficulty,” Kaylie-on-screen continued, now showing a clip of Rukari in the racing seat, supported off the floor by a bit of wood to take up the space of the seat rails, with the crew trying their best to make sure there was at least one position where he fit in it. This was followed by a clip of the fabrication of their low-profile custom seat rails, the installation of the seat, and a test to see how fast they could change between Rukari and Kaylie, followed by Kaylie to Kayden, and then Kayden to Rukari.
“… and got ourselves a bunch of spare parts.”
The clip showed Kivenaal carrying two toolboxes and pushing a third one on wheels, followed by Jayde carrying a box of brake and suspension pieces, Takaraya carrying two spare tires, Malavera carrying the other two, Kayden rolling a pair of tires into the shop for the car, Kaylie rolling the other pair in, and Rukari carrying a box of miscellaneous parts.
“We’re out of time to do more repairs on it now. We’ve got to book two flights to Sweden, one for our car, and the other for the seven of us,” Kaylie-on-screen said. “So we’ll be back next time with the results, and after that, a return to the Highwayman project.”
In Sweden, a small message popped up on Valentin’s phone:
Hey, Val, got a bit of a question. Any ideas on how to get a car from the US to Sweden? I know you did that with Robert, so, we’re looking for some options. Last year we took some risks we probably shouldn’t have, we’d like to be a little more sensible this year
– Kaylie
His reply was rather simple, but promising:
Cannot help you much with getting it across the pond. Look for whatever company that gets a 20’ shipping container across the sea and go from there. Once on Swedish soil, i can get it to wherever you need it. I’ll send you the formalities via E-Mail.
– Valentin
Thank you! We’ll look into some shipping options.
– Kaylie
Afterwards, he directly phoned his father, Rüdiger, with whom he communicated the upcoming contract, ending rather quickly as Rüdiger simply requested Val follow usual procedure just like with any other customer.
Easily said and done, as less than half an hour later, another message went back to Kaylie:
Need an E-Mail address to send you the details. In there, you’ll find everything from the transit itself (read: where shit is going), what is being transported and when it needs to be where.
Storage will be assigned as needed depending on the delivery time between pick-up and drop-off.
– Valentin
Yeah, not a problem. Send it to Malavera, I know you have his email, I’ll get it quickly enough. I’d send you mine, but Kayden tried to log into my account with his password and now it’s locked out until I contact tech support.
– Kaylie
A few minutes later, the E-Mails were sent off to Malavera’s address, containing a good 45 pages worth of attachments detailing the contract between Rüdiger Schrant Transport AB and Shift Happens. A second copy was attached as well, but in English instead.
E-Mails with the info are out.
– Valentin
Malavera had just gotten ready for bed when his computer chimed at him with a pleasant, if archaic “You’ve got Mail!” He groaned and walked over to the desktop, logged into his account and opened the e-mail he’d received.
Two attachments were there, one in English, one in Swedish. “Hunter, begin translating the Swedish document into English,” Malavera said, opening the English one and grabbing his reading glasses.
45 minutes later, Malavera picked up his phone and called Kaylie.
“Hello?” Kaylie asked.
“It’s Malavera. Got an interesting email from Valentin.”
“Oh, our shipping contract for the car. Yeah, set that up with Valentin earlier. If we get the car to Sweden, he’ll make sure it gets to the track,” Kaylie replied.
“I see. So, we just have to get the car there, then. I know someone who still owes me a favor, I’ll make a call. If he can’t help, I’ll make a few more,” Malavera replied.
“Okay. You do that,” Kaylie said, before hanging up.
Malavera stared at his phone for a moment, then shook his right head. His AI assistant, Hunter, then said, “Within 99.5% accuracy, the English copy of the Swedish document is identical. The discrepancies could be related to grammar or sentence syntax.”
Malavera sighed. “Sorry to waste your time, then.”
“I was finished before you made your phone call to Kaylie. I did not interrupt because you have told me before,” Hunter said, before switching from the crisp, unnatural semi-monotone voice he used to Malavera’s own, “It is fucking rude to interrupt someone’s phone call.”
Malavera shook his head and dialed another number on his phone. “Hey, John, it’s Mal. Remember when I got that ransomware off your work network so you could get cargo moving again? Yeah, I’m cashing in that favor you owe. I need to move a package from here to Sweden. A 1987 Bricksley Grand Warden police car. It’s going into a clunkers race over there. Yes, plane from here to California, shipping container from California to Sweden. Pickup is already arranged. Yeah, you’ll know where to send it once you give me some paperwork. I’m not going to try to play “name that port” because I can’t speak Swedish and you know it! Thank you, it’s good to know we’ve got shipping covered. Yeah, I’ll talk with you later. Goodbye.”
Malavera ended the call and sighed. “Hunter, when that paperwork gets emailed to me, fill out the information and send it, please. I am going to bed.”
A week before the race, the time has come for the car to be picked up from port. With little involvement from Val directly, The shipping container holding the Bricksley Grand Warden and a slew of tools and parts was loaded up onto a Euro-style 40-ton lorry, which then headed off to temporarily store the cargo until it needed delivery to the racetrack in the middle of nowhere.
Meanwhile, Val himself went to collect Shift Happens at the airport. Lacking a registered car to drive in (and that he fits into), he resorted to public transit, even though the distance would’ve been doable by bicycle if he had been healthy.
Still, he entered the terminal, not really going far in to avoid unnecessarily straining his still-recovering legs.
The flight from Nevada to Sweden was rather uneventful, with the only minor interruption to the card game going on inside being when the tires screeched on touchdown, followed by the roar of the turbofan engines under reverse thrust.
The cards were packed up, leaving their game inconclusive on that occasion, and each of them stepped off of the aircraft and into the terminal.
Kaylie was the first to really see Val, waving to him with her chrome left hand followed by leading the group toward him. Kayden and Rukari followed closely behind, while Kivenaal and Malavera lagged a bit behind, followed by Jayde walking with his new oak cane and Takaraya taking cautious and careful strides, making sure not to bump into anyone or step on any feet.
“Hello! Weren’t quite expecting to see you, Val!” Kaylie said. She had to fight her instinct to want to hug him, knowing he was still pretty damn sore after his ordeal and also knowing that Val wasn’t one for the whole “touchy-feely crap” as Malavera often called it.
“We’ve got most of the crew here. Our older brother,” Kayden said, “is keeping an eye on the phones back home.”
“Oh, speaking of the crew,” Kaylie said, “I know you’ve talked with him a couple of times, but… The big guy is Takaraya. I know, I know, he’s probably scaring the hell out of you, and we’ll try to keep some distance between the two of you, but, well, quite honestly it just didn’t feel right to make him sit this one out.”
Takaraya was about to greet Valentin when someone said something in Swedish, and judging by Kivenaal’s reaction, it wasn’t polite.
Kivenaal smirked at the insult, then fired back in not-exactly perfect Swedish, “
We might be ‘freaks,’ yes. You just have an elephant’s fart for a brain.” At that moment, the person trading insults with Kivenaal happened to notice Takaraya, went whiter than Valentin, and ran.
Takaraya sighed and shook his head. “I am not that scary,” he said with a light grimace.
“Uhm… not scary… sure…”, Val mumbled, trying to keep calm to the best of his abilities as he looked way up to the almost 9 foot tall half-mechanical werewolf.
As the insults came raining, he looked over at them, unsure on if he was part of the insult or not, either case being equally possible in his mind.
“Yeah… uhm… welcome to Gothenburg, i guess… Car should be off the boat already. Not sure on if it’s on our truck yet, though…”, he continues as he ‘subtly’ shuffles away from Takaraya in an effort to do exactly what Kaylie just said.
Kaylie looked over to Takaraya, then back to Val and said, “You’ll get used to him eventually. You handled Jayde.”
Jayde countered in his own way, “Sure, he did, but it took a long time, and rightfully so.”
“Meeting someone new for some people can be scary,” Takaraya said. “I’ll keep my distance.”
“So, what’s the plan?” Kayden asked.
“Well…” Kivenaal said, “Kaylie did mention she wanted to go to a park first, before we find a hotel with room for all of us.”
“Really would like to show you around, but i am still in physical therapy to recover mobility and strength and all that. They did rip apart one knee to un-fuck the other, after all… not sure how far i can walk before they start to give way…”, Valentin said, despite not having a medically ordered limitation on how far he is allowed or recommended to walk.
“Also you haven’t booked anything in advance?”, Valentin inquired, as spontaneous entry into a hotel with a crew of seven could lead to not getting enough rooms.
Takaraya nodded, then said, “You are right to be cautious. It’s all too easy to overdo something in your physical therapy and end up either in a lot of pain, or worse, set yourself back again.”
Kaylie chuckled, however, when Valentin asked if they really hadn’t booked anything in advance. “Even when we do, most of us end up sharing a room and throwing all the covers on the floor anyway. What’s the point in trying to get seven rooms when we know that it’ll be Kayden, Jayde and myself, Malavera and Kivenaal, and Rukari and Takaraya? Worst case scenario, we have to put Rukari in with us and Takaraya in with Mal and Kiva.”
Takaraya grimaced at that, though didn’t protest out loud. However, Kivenaal spoke up, “Is that really necessary? You have no idea how much space he takes up. Seriously, all of you curl up, he spreads out and covers an entire room.”
Jayde, however, came to Takaraya’s defense with, “Kivenaal, you’ve seen his back. If the scars were any rougher, they’d show through his fur.”
Kayden smirked. “Admit it, Kiva, the real reason you don’t want Takaraya in your room is because-”
“Not one more word,” Malavera said, glaring at Kayden, who clearly realized then that he’d crossed a boundary.
“Sorry, Mal. Didn’t mean to tease you and Kiva quite like that,” Kayden replied.
“I mean you do you… i would’ve secured the rooms at least somewhat ahead of time. I cannot have all seven of you sleep in my flat unless you can all do it standing up.”, Valentin said, half jokingly.
“In either case the bus to town is in the same direction for all of us, unless you managed to procure a chartered bus to ferry you there.”
Valentin then just looks to where he was coming from to catch whichever next bus is heading into town.
“Well, none of us thought to hire a bus,” Kaylie said, glancing at Malavera for confirmation.
“Yeah, sorry, I was trying to get the flight locked in,” Malavera replied.
Kayden, on the other hand, had spotted Valentin’s rather quite tall sock poking out from under a rolled-up pant leg. “If I might ask, Valentin, what’s with the tall socks? I mean, I know your kind wear them for protection and insulation, but, I’ve not seen them that tall before.”
Jayde grimaced slightly, balancing on his mechanical left leg and his cane so he could rub a sore right ankle. When Kaylie looked at him, Jayde shook his head. “It’s just sore, Kaylie. I’m probably putting too much weight on it because my left leg always hurts.”
Takaraya looked far off into the distance, spotting a bus on the road. “Don’t know if it’s coming here, but there’s a bus,” he said, pointing at it.
“Good luck finding a room, then.” Valentin spoke as he turned back around to face the group.
As Kayden asked about the socks he was wearing, he looked down at the one exposed one for a brief moment.
“Those? Compression stockings. I’m about the tallest guy in Sweden as far as i know. Being tall isn’t ideal for your cardiovascular system and all that due to the added load. Those socks help a bit in getting the blood back to my heart against gravity.”, he explained, swaying a bit from side to side to loosen up his joints.
“Yep. Painful ankle. Been there, done that.”, he commented as Jayde complained about a sore right biological ankle.
“Also. Every bus that goes round the terminal road stops here. No point in detouring across an airport lot with the highway next door going straight on.”
“I don’t envy you,” Takaraya said when Valentin mentioned compression stockings. “Putting on a pair of those used to be my least favorite part of getting ready in the morning.”
Kayden glanced back at Takaraya, then for a moment at both Kivenaal and Jayde. Kivenaal grimaced. “Great, I know that look from Kayden. When the lot of us get home, I know at least two of us that just earned ourselves a checkup.”
“To be fair, Kivenaal, between yourself and Rukari, it’s like a normal person and Val. Then there’s myself, Kaylie, and Jayde. Our older brother is normal height at about 6 feet and 7 inches tall. I’m 7 feet, 8 inches tall, which puts me in Val’s territory. What does that mean for Jayde?” Kayden said.
“I don’t understand why you hate doctor’s visits so much, Kivenaal,” Jayde said.
“Bad history,” Malavera replied. “Believe me, I’m surprised he can use a shower with a glass door without panicking.”
Kaylie shook her head, then said, “Anyway, not much of that is important right now. One, it looks like Takaraya was right and our bus is coming, and, two, I have a somewhat important question to ask.” She looked to Valentin with a light smile, then asked, “Would you be interested in coming to our wedding?” Kaylie asked, as Jayde gently grabbed her hand, knowing she was a bit nervous.
“Wait what? I wasn’t aware that you… were this close to each other… i mean… sure… if i can get that inbetween my therapy sessions…”, Valentin stammered as the group went out of the terminal towards the bus bays out front. It was obvious that Val had very little experience in such things both from third parties as well as himself.
“I’ll text you my schedule sometime, i guess… Not that it’ll have an impact on your marriage date and time or anything…”
Kaylie smiled. “We haven’t exactly been keeping it a secret. Though, I suppose it is reasonable that you weren’t aware of it.”
“Kaylie, don’t tease him. He’s seen us for maybe an hour or two at a time,” Jayde replied.
“I’m not teasing him, Jayde. As you said, between his accident and recovery, and then only seeing the two of us for brief bits of time, he’s not seen us often enough to know that we’re close,” Kaylie mentioned. “Anyway, as you said, Valentin, text us your schedule and we’ll let you know if it might be possible.”
As they got onboard the bus, it was obvious that all eyes were on the large, animalistic members of Shift Happens, with most of them having to deal with finding seats that offered at least some minimal amount of space.
In the bus, Valentin pulls out an almost brand-spanking new phone, apparently going through his calendar. A few moments later, the screen displays just the current week, fairly easily seen by those around him.
“Well i have a critical appointment in two days. Most of the other stuff in here can probably be shuffled around if need be…”, Valentin mumbles half aloud as he swipes from one day in his calendar to the next.
“Leg Day. Leg day… Shoulders. Mixing things up, is he?”
At this point he remembers that he is looking because Kaylie asked for it.
“Yeah depending on when you plan to do that i may be able to attend. Might need to make some calls and/ or not be able to stay for too long. But it should be possible.”, Valentin said, this time directly addressing Kaylie instead of mumbling into his beard.
Kaylie smiled, then said, “Well, it was always going to be a semi-private deal, just in a park or by a lake, somewhere with a nice view. But…”
Jayde spoke up, “Kaylie put my last name as hers on our entry form, so… It’s within the week.”
Kaylie lightly swatted Jayde’s arm. “Really? You had to mention that?”
“Well, Valentin needs to know what day to be at the wedding, Kaylie. He can’t do that if even we don’t fully know,” Jayde admitted. “Personally, I’m of the mindset that earlier is better in general.”
Kaylie chuckled. “Well, Valentin, seeing as the wedding is this week, how do you feel about tomorrow? Casual wear is quite fine, I think about the only one who actually has a suit is Kivenaal, and that’s because, well…”
“Kaylie wouldn’t let me be my usual self at the wedding,” Kivenaal said.
“Isn’t that a bit spontaneous? Like… at minimum, you need a priest to actually pull of the bond between you two… unless you have drastically different wedding traditions…”, Valentin responded, surprised at how quickly they wanted to do it, seemingly ignoring the planning needed even for a small-scale wedding.
“I can try to free up tomorrow if you somehow got that sorted already. I’d be very surprised if you did, though…”, he added as he pocketed his phone for the time being.
Nova spoke up from within Kayden’s pocket, “No problem, Valentin. I did a bit of calling around, found a priest who’s willing and able to perform the ceremony in four days time. Would be a lot better if the two lovebirds would have thought ahead of time on this, admittedly, but at least that crisis is settled.”
“Thank you, Nova,” Jayde replied. “Admittedly, I’m still learning.”
“Yeah, the other morning, he was trying to make phone calls with his phone upside down. I still don’t know how you do that, either,” Kayden added.
“Still better than Rukari,” Kaylie said. “I’m not sure he’ll ever quite learn that just because you can’t see the person on the other end of the line doesn’t mean they can’t hear you.”
Takaraya watched through the windows of the bus, seeing a stop coming up soon, and tightened his grip - just a little - on the railing he was holding onto in case their stop was less-than-graceful.
“Four days also is more than enough ahead notice that i should be able to attend as well. With proper clothing and all.”, Valentin commented as he checked the display showing the stop the bus was approaching.
“Next one is mine. Flats are way cheaper at the edge of town.”, he added as the bus came to a silky-smooth stop at the station.
Takaraya led the group off of the bus, taking care not to shake the vehicle too much as he walked down the steps and out onto the sidewalk. The others followed behind, with Jayde bringing up the rear of the group, and Nova already providing directions to the hotel she had, mercifully, booked mid-flight for the group.
Four Days Later, 10 AM
Even though it had all been planned and was as simple as it could be for a wedding, Kaylie had to admit she was nervous. She stood in the open air of the park, wearing a light, almost-practical dress compared to most brides at their own wedding. She looked over at Jayde, almost surprised at how well he turned out when dressed up in a nice suit.
What surprised her the most, though, was that the others had at least tried to show up in proper formal clothing. Kivenaal was dressed up quite well in a suit, dress shirt, tie, slacks, and even dress shoes, and her brother, Kayden, at least had the shirt, tie, slacks, and had polished up his good pair of boots. Takaraya towered over everyone there in his dark blue military dress uniform, a handful of medals on display, and Rukari likewise had his dark, royal-purple military dress uniform on, displaying far more medals. The only odd-one-out of the crowd was Malavera, who at least made an effort to not look like he’d just walked up off of the street, though his slacks, combat boots, and white long-sleeved shirt left a lot to be desired regarding a ‘formal’ attire.
She looked around for Valentin, though couldn’t see him right away. She knew, however, that it was a large area, Val was on foot, and even though he was tall, she might not see him past the taller people there.
It also could very well have been his clothing that caused Kaylie to miss Valentin, as he was wearing a full on set of formal clothing complete with double-breasted suit jacket, tie and a white dress shirt underneath. A pair of slacks and dress shoes hide his compression socks with surprising effectiveness.
“Just saying that you are ‘in the park’ isn’t exactly descriptive.”, Valentin commented as he approached the group, albeit slower than usual.
“Well, at least i made it. Had to move today’s therapy to the evening, but it’ll do.”
He then took a vague look around the general area, spotting most of Shift Happens in clothing that he wasn’t exactly used to, but also had little issue with.
“Seems like you all dressed up for the occasion as well.”, Valentin remarked, motioning to all the others present at the wedding.
“Sorry, Val. We weren’t entirely sure where we’d be either. Avoiding being too close to other groups was, well, a priority,” Kaylie said. “Have to say, that suit looks really good on you.”
When Val mentioned all of them had dressed up for the occasion, Kayden smirked. “Most of us did. Malavera missed the mark a bit, but then again, I suppose it is a bit hard to find suits made for him.”
Kivenaal’s response was to cross both sets of arms and glare at Kayden, who immediately put his hands up and said, “Hey, I get it, don’t tease Malavera around you.”
“He tried,” Kivenaal responded. “On the other hand, you had four days and more than enough opportunities to get a fitted suit.”
“Hey, no starting fights out here, Kayden,” Jayde warned. “I don’t care if it’s just verbal sparring, don’t do it today.”
Takaraya glanced over at Valentin, then admitted, “To be fair, I feel more than a little out of place in my uniform.”
“Thanks, i guess… haven’t worn it in years, so it’s a little loose now that i am a bit lighter than last time i wore it.”, he replied, trying to stay low and avoid being praised too much.
As the verbal gunfight unfolded regarding Malavera’s choice of clothing, he was somewhat confused as he didn’t see an issue with what Malavera was wearing.
“I think he looks fine as-is. Yes, he’s not a penguin, but i think it qualifies a ‘formal’ attire.”, he commented, though any reply was stepped onto by the priest starting the marriage ceremony.
After that it was the usual affair of a very drawn-out speech from the priest before Kaylie and Jayde exchanged vows, before Kivenaal handed the rings to the newlywed couple.
Valentin actually enjoyed the process and calmly watched it go it’s way, even if the view of two massive (even for him) humanoid animals covered head-to-toe in fur was a little jarring at a human-style wedding.
Still, a round of applause followed after the process was completed and the couple seemed to be having the time of their life judging by the width of their respective smiles.
Takaraya smiled, holding his camera as he took various pictures of Kaylie and Jayde at their wedding. Even though he wouldn’t be able to see the same beauty in the colors his camera was capturing today, he would still be able to appreciate the moment in his own way. After the ceremony, however, Takaraya made one polite request.
“Could everyone who is here please stand to either side of Kaylie and Jayde, please?” Takaraya asked. He checked through the viewfinder as people moved around, occasionally motioning for people to squeeze in a little more. Once he felt satisfied that everyone was in place, Takaraya took the picture, then did a follow-up one for good measure.
Kaylie smiled, tears of joy in her eyes as she held Jayde’s hand. She knew that while things weren’t perfect, she also knew as a mechanic that it was never a good idea to let perfect be the enemy of a good plan. Sure, if she’d planned this out better, she’d have had the perfect venue, a priest she may actually have known by name, a proper list of guests and fancy invitations, and a photographer who could see colors, but on the other hand, she might not have had all of her friends here, may have missed out on a great view, and would have had to find a photographer who wouldn’t panic at first sight of the group. No matter what happened at the track in a few days, she’d remember this trip fondly for the rest of her life.
4 Likes
You are right about the body set - it’s a new one for LCV 4.2.23 and up, one that I haven’t even discovered yet until now.
Can the two of you please use PM if you want to discuss Automation bodies instead of cluttering the thread? Thanks.
7 Likes
The Rogue Traders
Four Morons, Eight Cylinders, and a Skid Plate
The Team
Estelle van Maserin
(She/Her)
Driver #1
Good driver, not very attentive, prone to over driving
Luci Wightson
(She/They)
Driver #2
Likes Cars, Bought the Car, Thought this was a good idea.
Claudi Amarello
(He/Him)
Driver #3
Misunderstood the Assignment, Was in charge of Aesthetics
Axell O’brian
(She/Her)
Mechanic
Handy, Can fix some things, Likes hammers.
The Car
1987 WRK Constellation
V8 Powered, 4x4 Pick-up truck. Handles like a fucking boat. This wasn’t the best idea.
I’ll do some more fleshed out character info and rp when it’s not half-past midnight.
2 Likes
Team Mravolinski-Chitco
Prologue: Preparation…in many different areas
Platform. Also clearing up naming confusions
(Obligatory Everything is written in English even if its spoken in other language)
Mat: Who decided that its good idea to send us a lot of junk here? Like cmon, this blue seems nice, but its all heavily beaten up.
Aydar: We will partially use that to make platform for our car. Its our junk, obtained from competing in 24h Clunkers. Used to be part of camper add-on.
This might serve as part of roof, as it was case earlier.
We also took note of some old platform used for transporting cars, and decided that should be our basic structure for our platform.
(Here is link that shows what is this platform thing i had in mind. That will be on top of Gromadon and would usually store cars.
This time, one of areas is indeed going to be occupied by car, while the other would have some place for team, spares and other equipment.
Car carrier trailer - Wikipedia)
Mat: Upper part is all rusty, like look: im not supposed to punch through this and yet here we are.
Wait, is this why you hauled that blue stuff?
(Nodding confirmed this)
Ok then, i see. Still, this might be too much load for that 6th member.
Klimentol: I doubt…Aydar, come here.
Aydar: Im right beside you moron.
(Gromadon came, bcos this is also his nickname: i already explained that both have same name and nickname.
As you can see, they didnt think this through until now)
Mat, shocked by Gromadon’s presence: Is this…
Aydar: Yup, my dad and our 6th member of team. Hopefully it becomes clear how he could easily carry us all.
(He explained to his father what was reason for calling him, since big guy knows no other human languages besides Serbian. Still being technicaly a dog he can definitely communicate like one.)
Quint: This leads us to tad bit of problem since we will call both at same time and that would end up badly. (Repeated in Serbian for Gromadon)
Gromadon: I will respond upon being called. As far as i understand, that would be bad.
Quint: Well, yes, most of ppl there arent used to seeing such a big dog.
Gromadon: You dont say? Im perfectly aware of that myself, attracting attention everywhere i go.
Klimentol: Thats why we plan on enclosing area below carrying part of platform, so he cant be seen. As per limit in terms of how much he can carry…dont worry about it, he can handle a lot.
I guess we will need to find some cameras and monitors so he can see.
(Translated to Serb too)
Gromadon: While you are at it, pls install so i could see all around me. I get that my part will be completely closed off.
Klimentol, in Serb: It will.
Omega: I have few ideas
- Why we dont use name for one of these and nickname for other during the event?
And ofc - We can utilise some…connections regarding video surveilance.
Gromadon: I shall be Gromadon then. It fits my size better than in case of any other bearers anyway.
Aydar: Agreed.
Quint: Regarding what Omega likely suggested in 2) i shall note that we need recording device: DVR would be enough and also would prob need someone to handle what would be shown on monitors. While he is on move front cameras would be enough.
Im thinking maybe 8 cameras would be enough, which implies DVR that can support that much.
All will be physically connected via cable, so i dont think we need any IP ones.
Will contact Mr. Megavolt and then get back to you
(As it turns out, Madrias-controlled-Elizipeazie-owned Valentin isnt only one with useful dad.
Mr. Megavolt also happens to be dad. My dad.
Ofc that would be nickname he kinda brought up to himself; tbf one part of his job DOES require playing with such a high voltage
Granted, i dont find myself very likely to actually install security cameras and appropriate installations but i did acompany him enough times to know very basics.
Lets just say that China runs very strong in these sectors: Hikvision and Dahua are both very known brands for a good reason and both hail from said country.
Quint would also see him as father, as he is derivate of one of Mr. Megavolt’s actual sons)
Klimentol: Speaking of which, there is another thing. We need to strap entire platform onto him, but would need to be able to easily unstrap it so he can lie down in his cell
Gromadon: Very funny. But yes, that would be nice.
Also would need to provide me with food and water.
Klimentol: Will be handled, dont worry.
Car
Aydar: Now onto main star of the show…
How to approach preparations on it?
Mat: Just so you know, repairs are going to be very primitive, no bringing extensive amount of spares around. Also rebuild of entire car would be against the point.
Klimentol: We are aware of that. It doesnt feel particularly trustworthy atm but what can we do.
Omega: Why not checking it out better?
Klimentol: We could do that atleast. So me and Aydar can come up with ideas on fixing up whatever happens
Gromadon: What about me?..Oh sorry, force of habit…
Klimentol: We already know this doesnt seem trustworthy…tires are very old…might explain troublesome handling.
Aydar: This steering seems inprecise, there is quite the play in it.
Also i might as well take a look under car, since i can lift it off the ground and that results in…well, there is fair bit of rust here.
Klimentol: Ye steering was sketchy, but nothing i couldnt deal with.
However, im not going to be driver here soo ye, good luck.
Aydar: Me neither. We are by far best drivers in this group…tbf Gromadon cant really drive anything due to his…size…but, ye we may be much more useful in pit.
Driving for 12h and being mechanic for other 12h? Possible, but we may want to enjoy this journey…maybe we would meet someone we met in SR and would definitely meet new ppl.
I dont think anyone would get to hosts faster than Mat, so i guess there is that.
Quint: Bcos good part of team seems scary, i advise humans approaching first in case of some other team not overly familiar with either Shift Happens or us.
Mat: I dont recall the part where you have been participating in that SR.
Quint: Both me and Omega did our homework. Granted, neither of us participated there, but we are duplicates of two ppl that did.
This means we shouldnt be surprized at them approaching us, mistaking us for those two…which they will, since we look exactly the same as Mrdja and VerBanka.
Those two told us enough to intrigue: Shift Happens crew sounds like lovely bunch of ppl, despite their scary appearance.
Klimentol: Bcos they are. Seeing that there have been fair bit of time since SR is finished, they arent likely to expect perfect recollection of their names, appearance and interactions between our teams.
Omega: We would be upfront about it from beggining: we know one has two heads and one has four arms. All are very big humanoids with animalistic features. Mentioning such distinctive bunch tends to be easily remembered.
Thanks to power of being in or atleast near service center, stripping car of its unecessary features was easy. Said features were sold and quickly prepared to get a second home in some other cars.
Electrical contacts with some rust were found and acknowledged.
Some money gotten from this sale would go into other areas.
Getting "spares", food, drinks...
Five out of six members had packed into a car, mostly resulting in sitting on floor and (not) enjoying it.
Trip into supermarket was interesting: Klimentol and Aydar started arguing with employees about “No dogs allowed” sign stated on front door.
Ofc both decided to go with it in two ways: Aydar decided to play on card of how his costume defines him to such extent that he cant imagine moment of taking it off (ofc him being dog means that he cant indeed take it off, but he tried to pretend to be cosplayer of sorts).
Klimentol decided to behave like your normal big fun-loving doggo: ignored the sign and employee and just yeeted himself into store within shopping cart. That meant Mat and Quint needed to stop said cart by standing behind their cart that was put in way.
Klimentol jumped away and decided to run on all four legs, straight towards Aydar and employee.
Aydar caught his speedy relative.
Employee was too stunned to speak. She did called manager of store, who was already on his way due to seeing Klimentol’s antics.
Klimentol was gently barking upon seeing him. He wasnt amused.
Manager decided to note that animals arent allowed in store.
Aydar: But our friends are weak and our shopping is big. We should help them. You may think that this costume would stop me, but im still very skilled and useful.
Also im naked below it.
Manager: You should atleast remove the head piece.
At that point, Klimentol farted right in Aydar’s face, prompting him to yeet him out of his person into shop, right in front of family with some kids.
-Kids, step away. That dog seems big and dangerous.
-He is big enough to be ridden.
-You are big enough to know why getting on back of unknown animal isnt good idea.
-Can we adopt him?
-NO. We already have 5 cats and 3 dogs bcos you literally tend to adopt every single stray animal you encounter.
Fair enough, those were all small but this fella is strong enough to tear us all apart in a minute.
We dont know how he is trained if he is trained, so lets just roll away.
-But he is sooo cute.
-FOR ABOUT GOD-KNOWS WHICH TIME, NO.
HE IS NOT CUTE! He is danger. DANGER.
-NO
-Dont you dare to counter wisdom of your father.
At that point, Klimentol decided to chime in
-Im flattered by proposition of being cute, little girl. Also seems you have quite a bit of heart, seeing you are so lovely towards animals and willing to help.
-You can talk?!?
-…Yes? My granpa was also able to talk, that ability being of yet to be known origin.
Little girl decided to pet him
-You are biggest dog i had ever seen.
-Color me surprized. Dad has a point: animals, just like humans, tend to sometimes behave based on instinct.
Problem with dogs is that you humans would not be able to really speak to it like you can with other humans, which makes us less predictable.
OUCH!
WHO TF DECIDED THAT THROWING CABBAGE IS GOOD IDEA.
(Turning towards girl) Pardon the language
Aydar: Me, fight me.
Klimentol: With pleasure.
Girl: There is another talking dog?
Aydar: We happen to be cousins…well, more like he is my granpa to some extent but will spare you lot the details. Klimentol, we should go and help those friends of us buy stuff.
-I could pet you both, i have two hands.
Aydar: You are absolute sweetheart, but we have job to do. Not to mention same likely goes to your parents.
Quintet was quickly fully assembled and it became sextet, since someone decided to join…
-A-ha. Now i gained knowledge that you could understand that sign of no dogs allowed.
And yet, you entered.
Aydar: We came to shop big here and decided our human friends would be greatly helped by some more manpower.
Ok, technically dogpower, but you get the point.
Manager: I technically dont care.
Quint: Whatever, lets concentrate on shopping.
What followed was them just going around the supermarket, slowly but surely filling their carts
Dogs ofc used rear legs in manner of legs, while handling items and cart was done by fronts.
When being near cash registers, Mat caught unused shopping cart and rolled it over to unofficial member of group.
At that point, manager decided that getting back in his office is preferable option.
Unfortunately, some granma on aisle 6 decided to argue with cashier about how certain item was cheaper a week ago, which prompted him to relocate to that aisle.
Few hours later, five full shopping carts had arranged themselves at one of aisles.
Cashiers had seen everyone enough times during their shopping to not be startled by looks of two members.
That being dealt with, said carts were refilled and brought to car, then emptied into Saguaro.
Manager had seen them. Well atleast they havent caused any actual trouble.
He heard about Clunkers run while they were talking…seems thats what they are preparing for.
“Atleast wouldnt be first inhuman team in there” he thought to himself, then decided to proceed to aisle 13 where kid opened every single item in cart and proceeded to hit cashier with one of packages.
Next stop would be for more technical stuff, intended to fix the car and modify platform further.
First they visited some small shop for zipties, bolts, duct tape and other useful things for repairing car.
Interestingly, mother of family that dogs encountered in supermarket was working here. Good, atleast they wouldnt need to explain themselves: still quite the surprize for both sides.
Certain someone had been informed about furry customers and helped herself into shop.
Bcos they could, it was talked about reason for them buying all of this…also some reccomendation on where to get more needed things was welcome.
Girl was excited to hear that these guys will be on video of sorts, courtesy of Mat telling her.
“Great, now she will not sleep at all that day. And night.”
“Oh, prob shouldnt have said that then…Look, its just one-time situation, you lot will be fine.
Im 27 now and for as long as i can remember was super excited about this event.
My parents got used to me wanting to keep up with all things Trafikjournalen.”
Klimentol: “Im sure those 5 cats and 3 dogs will be happy to have some representatives of their kind. Ok iirc, we may not even be only team with non-human members, but ye its not like that would greatly matter”
Some more visits to more places were done and group barely managed to get to Mat’s house, since that was closest location they had avaiable for sleeping.
Mat’s dad offered to take old Saguaro to the job so it will be under surveilance of cameras installed there.
Dogs to no surprize were perfectly happy with some carpeted floor area.
Quint and Omega got on couch and snuggled together, partially bcos they prefered it that way and partially bcos it was tad bit too cold for Omega’s taste.
Upon waking up, group decided to get to Saguaro again.
Car was stolen by some joyriders during night, leading to them driving said car and ending their driving session by landing in a shallow ditch.
One of them had eaten tad bit of dog food. He isnt a dog, however.
Another one had also eaten some dog food. As you can imagine, isnt a dog either.
It wasnt that they hadnt contributed to our resources tho: on top of what was already in car team found full crate of beer and several big sandwiches.
Gromadon, main reason for bought dog food, had deemed this as fair enough of a trade.
Encounter with said duo will however need to wait another occassion…as they were yet to be found.
1 Like
Team SCS
phone ringing
Crackle - Hello?
Spanners - Guys, I’ve found the car.
Crackle - What car?
Spanners - You know, the Clunker challenge car. WhatsApping a photo over!
phone pings
phone pings
Snap - HOLY SHIT SPANNERS…We got an '85 HiWay GTX! Niiiiiice.
Spanners - Actually…we have an '89 StreetSport Xtreme.
Crackle - Huh?
Spanners - The other car in the pics.
Snap - WHAT THE ACTUAL FU…
Spanners - I’ll fancy it up a bit…still goes OKish…I’m sure everything will be fiiiiine…
Crackle - You got a picture of this thing when it was new?
Spanners - Incoming.
phone pings
Crackle - Well it’s better than it looks now! How “original” spec is it.
Spanners - It’s a bit low on power…wheels, brakes, suspension are non-standard but a coat of paint will do it the world of good.
Snap - So will it last 24 hours?
Spanners - Definitely…possibly. So, any choice of colour?
Crackle - Anything other than rust would be nice.
phone disconnects
Spanners - Well, I think that went quite well actually…
3 Likes
A VERY PRE-PROLOGUE PROLOGUE AND MAYBE SORT OF DISCONNECTED FROM EVERYTHING
The death of former chief editor Arvid Åkerlund had been like a wet blanket over the Trafikjournalen office for a while. After all, when he arrived at the magazine in the late 60s, he slowly transformed it from being just a consumer oriented automotive magazine with dry reviews to actually being fun to read. His interest in vintage cars spawned lots of articles about them, but there was never any snobbery involved. Then, there was all the cheap project cars - also his idea, because “if we aren’t supposed to learn our readers how to fix and take care of their car - who are?”, yet they were all written with a great sense of humor.
And then there was his passion for…absolutely every car. If you read the magazine in the mid 90s, you might remember his test drive of a Secranes Durham CS-RS for one thing - the Mara Tovarich he found and absolutely had to take pictures with, standing next to the Secranes. “Well, that thing was mint, when did you see one last time?”. Sure, he was right. And it seems like he just had to own every car there was (if you remember the “the good old days” column from 1991, you know what we are talking about). It seemed like there was only two cars he could keep forever. His 1930 Ford Model A that he had owned like the 60s, now in the hands of the magazine as a kind of a museum piece. And the ghost grey Erin Lomaron he bought new in 1990.
“It’s not a real Erin, it is a Saminda”, the critics said. That didn’t bite on him, despite being the huge british car enthusiast that he was. Instead, despite buying newer “dailies”, he kept the Lomaron all the way until his death. “If I can accept this as an Erin, everybody can”, he said.
But most of all, he was the man behind the 24 hour clunker challenge, originally starting as a fun idea in 1982 to get some of the last life out of cheap c…
“Quiet, narrator in my head!”, Hansen thought. “Yeah, it’s kind of a shame that it never seems to come back to the roots with just some cheap car fun…”, he said.
Filip Andersson was browsing through the issue from 1982 with the report from the first race. His eyes fell on a picture of a 1959 Wraith hearse T-boning a Mayster Triumf hard enough to almost make it flip over.
"Cheap car fun? Do you realize what those two cars would be worth today?", he answered.
"Uhm, yes, but they were cheap back then…", Hansen excused himself.
The 40th anniversary race would be the first one without the involvement of Arvid Åkerlund, and it had to be moved to october for different reasons, but yeah, the dates had never been fixed anyway. But despite Åkerlund not being among us anymore, everyone did their best to make his spirit live on. This 40th anniversary race should be the best one ever.
At least that promise was what came in print in the april 2022 issue, with the announcement of this year’s race…
END OF PRE-PROLOGUE
5 Likes
Please tell me Mopey is at least going make an appearance.
Team Shift Happens
(Again, thank you to @Elizipeazie for collaborating with me on this one. Here, we get the car to the track, and the whole team is together for the first time.)
About four hours before race start; Höljes Rallycross Track; Sweden
A massive, orange, fully articulated Container Truck rolls up to the track’s parking lot. A small, stylized truck is printed onto either door with white background, it’s small cargo area reading “Rüdiger Schrant Transport AB”. At just about walking pace, it makes it’s way over to the far end of the parking lot, followed by it maneuvering about for a few minutes before the driver, a grumpy-looking middle-aged man, shuts the truck off.
“Thank fuck that this area has no traffic. Would’ve overrun on my hours if we had… Time for a 45 minute break!”, he remarks as he reaches to an overhead console containing a device making sure that truck drivers adhere to their maximum driving hours, where he presses a few buttons before leaving the truck in a haste, disappearing behind a nearby bush.
Also in that truck were Valentin and Norse, who made their way out as well.
Now stood on a largely empty parking lot, neither of them knew what to do. They couldn’t unload the truck because that would count as working hours for the driver and they cannot really talk to anyone by virtue of nobody of not being present (yet).
After another good look across the parking lot, they climbed back into the truck and pulled out their respective phones, dabbling in whatever social media app they prefer.
A little over 3 hours before race start
The sound of a V6 engine roaring announced the arrival of the remaining seven crew members, courtesy of a rented Moover V1400 Platoon van and Malavera’s admittedly bad habit of using all of the available power band with the manual gearbox.
The light gray van rolled into a parking spot, where Malavera shut off the engine, stuffed the gearbox into first gear, and put the parking brake on. However, Kaylie was the first to get out of the van, hopping out of the passenger seat basically the instant the engine had stopped running, letting the others get out on their own.
Malavera slowly got out of the van as well, taking the keys and clipping them to his belt. As he was the only one licensed among the group to drive a vehicle of that size on this side of the pond, it was his responsibility to keep the van safe.
Kayden and Rukari climbed out next, both carrying backpacks they’d picked up, packed with supplies to make various meals throughout the day. They were followed by Jayde, moving a little slowly as he carried a propane tank and a gas burner, along with a few pans. Kivenaal made an appearance next, carrying several jugs of drinking water, a stack of plates, and a box of assorted cutlery to use later for eating.
Then Takaraya got out, half-crawling, half crouching until he got out of the van. He stood up and stretched, then carefully closed the door behind him.
“I wonder who’s team that is,” Jayde asked, pointing to the truck in the parking lot.
“Probably ours,” Kaylie replied.
“Did we order two containers?” Kayden inquired, looking to Malavera.
Malavera checked his phone, then said, “No, we ordered a single 20 foot cargo container, with the purpose of shipping one automobile to Sweden.”
The three people in the truck simply did their separate things while quite literally being sat next to each other until a distinct V6 could be heard, somewhat screaming as Malavera extracted a lot of power out of it.
Norse leant forwards to take a look out of the passenger window past Valentin, spotting said Moover van as it came to a stop somewhere on the lot.
“Wonder who those people are… Mind letting me out?”, Norse inquired as he kept looking at that van.
“Sure…”, Valentin mumbled, opening the door and calmly making his way out. Once the path was clear, Norse followed suit, though much more eagerly, almost barging his way past Valentin, who had little issue in spotting the twin-headed Malavera in the driver seat and Kaylie, who seemingly was already out of the car before it even stopped.
“Have fun with them. Imma wait here and see if and when they claim their cargo.”, Valentin said, leaning against the B-Pillar of the truck’s cabin.
Norse briskly approached Kaylie and the others as they disembarked the heavily laden van, realizing that none of them looked even remotely human.
“Good morning, peo… wait… what? You’re a curious bunch of… uhm… yeah… things.”, Norse stammered, not wanting to insult the remaining team members, but also unsure as to how to introduce himself to a group of humanoid animals.
Kaylie seemed a little surprised as Norse walked up to them, then chuckled. “Well… Yeah, I suppose we are a bit different than the usual, aren’t we?” Kaylie said.
“One moment,” Malavera said. “Someone probably has to sign off for the car, if it’s here,” he said, walking toward Valentin.
“That is one vibrant shade of orange,” Kayden said, staring at the truck.
Kivenaal rolled his eyes. “It’s meant to be visible, Kayden.”
Takaraya smiled. “Good morning,” he replied to Norse. “I’m Takaraya.”
Jayde looked back at Takaraya, then shook his head. “Bad form on our part. My name is Jayde,” he said, leaning a bit on his cane.
“I’m Kaylie,” she said, putting her right arm loosely around Jayde’s waist.
Kayden looked away from the truck for a moment, then said, “I’m Kaylie’s brother, Kayden. May not look like it, but we’re twins. And… I guess as of a few days ago, I’m Jayde’s brother in law.”
Kivenaal smiled lightly, making little effort to keep the southwestern US accent out of his voice as he said, “My name’s Kivenaal. The big bundle of grumpy with two heads in a sweatshirt is Malavera. And if he’d stop staring at the truck and introduce himself,” Kivenaal added, lightly smacking Rukari over the back of the head, “my brother here is Rukari.”
“Ai! Skadu di. Was trying to figure out why two containers on truck,” Rukari replied, the bit of Valraadi profanity getting Malavera’s attention.
“We’ve been here for less than 5 minutes, Rukari, and you’re already swearing in front of new people. There’s two containers because there are two different vehicles in them,” Malavera replied.
“I will add five dollar to swear jar later, then,” Rukari responded.
Norse was a bit overwhelmed by the crew of seven introducing themselves and each other. He simply stared at them with a blank face, trying to soak up as much information about them as he could.
“Uhm… Njordal. Pleased to meet you.”, he eventually mutters, still not done wrapping his head around it all.
“Sooo… Takaraya, Kaylie, Kayden, Kivenaal, Rukari and Malavera…”, Norse mumbled as he vaguely pointed at the respective team members, throwing a thumb over his shoulder for Malavera.
“I’ll probably have to ask a few times. Memorizing seven names at ones ain’t easy, hehe.”
Meanwhile, Malavera approached Valentin with the intent of claiming his container worth of cargo.
“Mornin’. Gotta forward you to the driver there. He has the paperwork.”, Valentin says as he sort-of turns around, giving the passenger seat a slap to alert the driver that the ‘customer’ is here.
The driver then sets his device to register working time, followed by him taking out a clipboard containing various pieces of paperwork and handing it to Val.
“Here you go. Need you to sign here, here… errmmmmm there… aand here.”, the driver proclaimed, holding up the clipboard in one hand and a generic pen in the other.
Malavera quietly obliges, after which a copy is handed to him for documentation on his side.
“Then i shall get to work getting those containers off.”, he said, walking to the trailer tongue to undo the air hoses and light connectors first.
“Don’t forget about Jayde,” Kaylie said with a light smile, motioning to him. “And it’s okay, as you said, a lot of names, a lot of faces. Some easier to remember than others.”
Jayde chuckled. “It is good to meet you, Njordal,” he replied, pronouncing Norse’s name a little slowly, though it clearly showed he was trying his best to not mispronounce it.
Malavera carefully folded up his copy of the paperwork and tucked it into a pocket before walking over. “Making friends?” he asked the group.
“Yeah, this is Noodle,” Kayden said, accidentally brutally butchering Norse’s name.
“Somehow I don’t think that’s right,” Malavera said with a grimace.
Kivenaal sighed. “Njordal, Kayden.”
Takaraya admitted, “I’m sorry if I butcher your name, Nordial, but I’ll try to get it right.”
“To be fair, he is not only one with difficult name,” Rukari said. “We will get right eventually, Njordal. Just take time.”
Norse could not stop himself from chuckling at the attempts of pronouncing his name, some of which more successful than others.
“Yeah the noodle is back there.”, he said while motioning towards Valentin, who took note and also started to head over to the group.
“People always butcher my name and default to some nickname. Most of them choose ‘Norse’, for simplicity.”, he explained, thereby offering said Nickname to avoid unnecessary killing of the name-animals in the slaughterhouse.
“Shift Happens at it butchering your name, i see?”, Valentin chimed in, arriving at the group and picking his spot next to Norse, who now looked like a middle-school child next to Valentin despite being 6’1" himself.
Meanwhile, the trailer was unhitched and the driver went back into the truck, starting it’s engine to move it over to the adjacent spots to place the first container onto via a rollback frame assembly.
After hearing the nickname, it was Jayde who responded first. “Thank you, by the way, for saving Valentin,” he said.
Kaylie, on the other hand, ended up giving Norse a light hug, then said, “Sorry about that, but… We were worried about our friend, and, well… We heard about what happened from both of you. Just… Didn’t quite click that Norse was, well… You!”
Malavera grimaced. “Yeah, I have to apologize for my question during the phone call. I spent… A very long time isolated from others. About 36 years, give-or-take a bit.”
“Mal over there is a bit rough around the edges, but… Well… When he cares about a friend, he worries,” Kivenaal admitted. “That and he tends to ask what’s on his mind without thinking about how that might affect the people he’s talking to.”
“Yeah, and I got the shit slapped out of the back of my head by Kaylie, and Kiva here didn’t help matters, either, by bringing it up for a week,” Malavera replied.
“Because I was trying to get you to apologize to him!” Kivenaal said.
“Perhaps we don’t air dirty laundry in public?” Rukari said, elbowing Kivenaal in the ribs. He ducked under the first attempted swat, only to yowl as Kivenaal brought his other right hand down squarely on the back of his head. “Not fair!”
“Don’t duck, the second one’s always worse,” Kivenaal quipped.
Takaraya sighed. “I’m not even the true youngest one here and I already feel old,” he said. “Must we fight in front of Val and Norse? Because, if so, I’m sure we can find a spot far away from the two of them for the two of you to get this out of your system. Otherwise, quit it.”
“You can take the soldier off the battlefield,” Kaylie quipped, “but he’ll still give orders.”
“Guys i’m right here. No need to talk about me as if i was still comatose or something…”, Valentin commented, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.
“At face-value i was just obeying current law. Not helping would’ve been illegal here. That said, it isn’t in everyone’s interest to die or see a close one dying… Wouldn’t wanna hand the top spot as the tallest guy around to someone else, right?”, Norse said once the flood of thanks from the fur-covered humanoids died down.
“As if it was my fault for being sideswiped by a military van…”, Valentin grumbled.
Behind the two, the first container found it’s way to the floor, now being ready for unloading. Soon after, the truck driver got to work transferring the second container from the trailer to the truck up front in order to place it next to the first one.
Kaylie looked in the direction of the truck, her curiosity getting the better of her.
“Might be a stupid question, but what’s in the other container? I mean, we know one of those is our car and supplies, but, I know we only needed the one container for that. Hell, we packed our supplies into the car to avoid paying for a 40-foot container,” Kaylie inquired.
This, surprisingly enough, stopped the minor arguments among the non-human members of Shift Happens, save for a sudden smack as Rukari slapped the back of Kivenaal’s head. This, of course, got a disapproving glare from Kaylie, followed by a moment of surprise as Takaraya grabbed both of the Valraadii by a shoulder and pulled them to either side of him. When Rukari tried to turn his head to say something to Kivenaal, Takaraya grabbed one of the horns on his head instead of his shoulder, and kept him looking straight ahead.
“Guess that’s one way to stop those two from fighting,” Jayde quipped.
“Yeah that one’s mine, actually. I’ve been working on a car for uni and i haven’t been able to register it yet. So i had it shipped out here to see if it works. After all, a racetrack is private property.”, Valentin explained, not really willing to spill the beans on his project just yet.
Though keeping it in for much longer would prove difficult as the driver just finished placing the second container next to the first one. He rolls up to the group and rolls down his window, saying:
“Alright here are your containers. I’ll be back tomorrow to pick them up again.”, he says, followed by him driving off of the lot and out of view.
“There you go. Your car is here. And so is mine.”, Valentin blankly stated, turning around and heading over to his container to open it.
As Valentin walked over to his container, Kaylie followed long enough to get to the one containing the Grand Warden.
“Which one of us has the keys?” Kayden asked.
Kaylie laughed, sliding one of the covers off of her left forearm and retrieving the car keys from where she’d secured them. “I do. Just made sense to put them somewhere where I wouldn’t lose them.”
“Last time I did something like that, it took a mechanic three hours to extract the bent wrench from my left foot,” Takaraya said, walking over with Kivenaal and Rukari in tow, both following him on their own, though keeping a bit of distance between them.
Jayde watched as the doors were opened on the container, revealing the Grand Warden in all of its faded and rusty glory.
Kaylie used the key to unlock the trunk, getting out a set of towing chains. “Hey, Takaraya, got a bit of a job for you,” she called out. When he walked over, Kaylie handed him the midpoint of both chains, then coupled the other ends to the rear towing hooks. “Think you can pull the car out gently without taking the mirrors off?”
“I can try,” Takaraya admitted. “But I’ll be the first to admit I brought the wrong footwear for this. My combat boots have better grip.”
The chains rattled as Takaraya pulled the car free, trying his best not to either scrape up the already damaged paint or smash the mirrors in the process, while also trying his hardest to not overdo it and break the chains or potentially end up falling. After the car slid free of the great metal coffin, he let the chains go slack, watching as Kaylie unhooked them from the car. He bundled them up and handed them casually to Rukari, who nearly ended up on the ground courtesy of being given 80 pounds of chain unexpectedly.
With the car now free of the container, Kaylie was able to open the doors and remove all of the supplies that had been packed into it. Kivenaal, Kayden, and Jayde worked to move the supplies out of Kaylie’s way, making sure nothing went into Valentin’s path. Malavera wheeled the oxy-acetylene welding cart out of the way, watching as Kivenaal sat a few hand-portable toolboxes down. Rukari helped by grabbing one end of the wheeled toolbox while Kayden moved the other, getting it out of the car.
Takaraya saw Rukari and Kayden moving the wheeled toolbox in his way and stepped back to get out of the way. Unfortunately, in the process, he found one of Kivenaal’s portable toolboxes with his foot, and there was a rather heavy thud as he went to the ground.
“Oh, shit!” Kivenaal said, grimacing as he figured out what happened. “Sorry about that. Are you okay?”
Takaraya sat up with a pained groan, then replied, “I will be. Glad I’m not driving, though, because my back’s going to hurt for hours after that.”
Valentin likewise opened up his container, swinging the two halves of the end open to take a look inside. Sure enough, his hands-on diploma thesis was still in there, not having moved an inch courtesy of the stellar securing job. Though getting it out quickly proved challenging.
“I may have not thought this through to the end…”, Valentin muttered, staring into the dark chasm of ocean blue container, the middle of which filled by a familiar sight of orange brick.
“We could push it…”, Norse commented, also looking into the container.
“If you can push 2.4 metric tons alone, then go ahead. I ain’t tearing both knees to bits over some field testing…”, Valentin countered, heading in and taking pictures of the car and more importantly how it was secured to the container.
Norse gave a quick glance at the other crew, already having extracted their car from their container.
Before he could ask for help, though, Takaraya took a tumble across Kivenaal’s toolbox.
Asking if he was okay proved redundant, as Kivenaal did it first, ending in him going back to procuring some help.
“Uhm… mind helping us a bit to get the car out?”, Norse inquired, somewhat sheepishly as he barely met them up to this point.
“No point. I’m not racing this thing here. I’ll wait until the track is empty afterwards to take it for a few laps. We have all the time in the world to get it out.”, Valentin countered from within, his voice more metallic due to the container reflecting some of it.
“Nevermind, guess it’s staying in there,” Norse corrected toward Kaylie and the others.
“We could get it out of there for you, Valentin,” Kaylie admitted. “Granted, we might have to improvise a bit.”
“I could still pull it free, just… Give me a few hours first. Every scar on my back is screaming right now,” Takaraya admitted.
“Val’s made up his mind, Takaraya. You won’t convince him at this point,” Kayden said. “Kaylie, you’ve got the keys, so get into the hot seat and get it started.”
Kaylie chuckled, then opened the driver’s door, climbing over the roll cage and sitting in the seat. She put the key in the ignition, then cranked over 400 cubic inches of angry, American pushrod V8.
From Takaraya’s perspective, it sounded as if the air had exploded as the engine roared to life. He noticed that Malavera, Jayde, and Kivenaal, likewise, seemed to dislike the bellowing growl resonating from the car’s exhaust, and he yelled over the noise, “Really? Was it completely necessary to take the mufflers off!?”
“You know, I like the sound of a good V8,” Kivenaal said, “but this is a little much!”
Thankfully, as Kaylie put the car into gear and aimed it toward their pit area, it wasn’t that much louder… Until she put her foot down, squealing the tires and unleashing the fury under the hood.
“Some days, I truly wonder what goes through her head,” Malavera quipped. “That car is obnoxious.”
“I still need to see if i am even allowed to use the track after the event. No point in getting it out earlier.”, Valentin explained and managed to finish just before being nearly deafened by the V8 of the Grand Warden.
Both him and Norse plugged their ears in reaction to the blaring noise coming from the V8, made even worse by Kaylie flooring it toward the pit area.
“There’s those Japanese hatchback poser guys with stovepipes for mufflers and then there’s that thing.”, Valentin noted, clearly not amused by the sheer noise levels of it.
“I like it. Sounds mean as hell,” Norse added.
Valentin turned around to close his container up again, hiding his university project within.
“Well… i’ll see if i can find some officials to ask about putting Robert the second out there…”, Valentin said, leaving the group for the pit area in search for the race officials.
With the car in the pit area and Kaylie continuing the unloading process, now removing the tires and spare parts from the trunk, the others were left to get the rest of the toolboxes, cooking gear, and welding supplies over to their pit area.
Norse grabbed the toolbox that Takaraya had fallen over, seeing the dent in the lid as he followed the others, with Kayden dragging the heavy wheeled toolbox, Rukari carrying the portable gas burner and propane bottle, Malavera grabbing a toolbox and a bag of canned food, Kivenaal carrying the pans, cutlery, and plates again, Jayde picking up the bag of fruits and vegetables, and Takaraya, not really thinking about it, picking up the heavy welding cart to carry it.
Kivenaal spotted Takaraya, thankfully still behind Norse and not near Valentin, and said to him, “Hey, that has wheels for a reason.”
Takaraya grimaced and set the welding cart back down and dragged it along, though it showed that of all of them there, he was the least appropriate to deal with it, as the wheels were barely touching the ground with him in a rough half-crouch.
“Hey, Jayde, trade Takaraya your load for his, please,” Kivenaal said.
Jayde shrugged off the backpack and held it out for Takaraya, who picked it up like it weighed nothing, then set the welding cart back down properly. Jayde dragged it the rest of the way to the pit box, followed by Kivenaal and Takaraya.
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He will…Gran may too… 
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Team Desert Scavengers
Yes, I am joining in on the extraterrestrial animals train as well. and Yes, I am going with a group of caracals, I expect there to be lots of references to internet memes.
The Team
Marcel Von Heislingburg:
Age: 29Gender: Male
General Description: 6’ 3”, (6’ 6” if counting the ear tufts) 190lbs, powerful muscular build, deep green eyes, and reddish gold pelt. General appearance of a bipedal caracal. A polite, but short tempered person, Marcel is considered the muscle of the team. He follows a go big or go home attitude that usually lands him in trouble. Nonetheless, he always wants to make everyone happy and thankful for his help.
Species: Caracalian (Caracalia, Solaris V System)
Rocco Von Heislingburg:
Age: 28Gender: Male
Appearance/Personality: 6’ 1” (6’ 3” if counting ear tufts), 188lbs, strong athletic build, pale green eyes, and reddish gold pelt. General appearance of a bipedal caracal. Rocco is a brilliant genius, and he claims to be clairvoyant, but no one takes him seriously. Still, Rocco is an asset to the team because he has impeccable math skills, and he wants them to succeed in their goals.
Species: Caracalian (Caracalia, Solaris V System)
Harlow Von Heislingburg:
Age: 26Gender: Male
Appearance/Personality: Stands 6’ 1”(6’ 4” if counting the ear tufts), 183lbs, strong athletic build more but more so than rocco, green eyes, and reddish gold pelt. General appearance of a bipedal caracal. Harlow is not really a social butterfly, but he does enjoy being out in public and meeting new people. That being said, he’s often going to avoid small talk whenever he can because he thinks he won’t be able to lead a competent conversation.
Species: Caracalian (Caracalia, Solaris V System)
Camile Von Heislingburg and Cheyenne Von Heislingburg:
Age: 24Gender: female
Appearance/Personality: Both stand 5’ 8” (6’ if counting the ear tufts) 175lbs, athletic build, green eyes, and reddish gold pelt. General appearance of a bipedal caracal. Camile and Cheyenne are twins, both are very friendly and outgoing, and are extremely ambitious. But, when it comes to reaching a common goal, they become very competitive, often leading to them sabotaging one another, usually resulting in injury. Despite this, they still deeply care about each other and they always reconcile after they fight.
Species: Caracalian (Caracalia, Solaris V System)
The Car
1987 Union Magistrate GTB
While the Bricksley Grand Warden was the main hero, The Union Magistrate was the trusty sidekick. Despite this, neither car overshadowed the other, instead becoming an iconic crime fighting duo. If there was any high speed chase happening, chances are there’d be a Grand Warden and a Magistrate, working side by side.
Available as a five door liftback (the IVERA designed Magistrate GTB), or the standard 4 door sedan. Powered by a 5.8L V8, turning the rear wheels through a 4 speed automatic, The Magistrate lives up to its name quite well. This one, however was not a patrol car, it was an unmarked LE-58 model commonly used by detectives, this example being among the last to be retired in 1996. (No, the spotlight does not work.)
Normally, the Von Heislingburgs, being a very wealthy family with a vast intergalactic influence, wouldn’t even want to be within 500 feet of a rusty police car like this one, but somehow, the five siblings put that aside, and purchased this magnificence on wheels to do something with. But, with Rocco demanding he try motorsports and the Twins wanting to go offworld, Marcel managed to decrypt a message about some kind of 24 hour endurance race that a Von Heislingburg owned freighter passing through the Sol system intercepted.
One can only hope if the Magistrate lasts the 24 hours and makes it to the finish line in one piece
Only time will tell…
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Does this mean we can’t go above -2 or below -2? im confuzzled
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least = lowest permitted
→ slider has to be above -2
Exactly. Might sound strange in a shitbox challenge but negative quality where it does not matter is unfortunately a way many people are using to be able to put way more expensive stuff in where it counts.
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