Hey everyone, I’m still kickin! I’ve been wanting to update this story for a while now, and I have been working on it for the last few months when I grab spare time…And I have a moment right now, so here’s a new chapter.

Thanks for reading as always, and for putting up with my lateness and sporadic updating.

Disclaimer: Oban Star Racers belongs to Savin Yeatman-Eiffel, genius man that he is.

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Episode 3

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Aikka awoke early the next morning, but upon finding the outside world to still be dark as night, he tried to urge himself back to sleep. Lying in his bed, the Nourasian simply listened to the world, his eyes lightly shut against the dark, strange room that was his bunk. Somewhere outside, there was a distant rumble of thunder, from the storm that had began late last night and was now rolling away. It was this calm time after such weather that Aikka enjoyed. Calm, peaceful; when nature was alive with the rejuvenation brought by the rain.

His eyes sliding open and staring above, and unfortunately not finding himself tired, the prince sighed, removing his sheets and taking a few steps to his circular window. He took a few moments to look outside, his exceptional sense of sight adapting quickly to the darkness, before quietly working the lock and maneuvering the thing open.

Letting the sweet scent of rain, the pungent scent of wet stone and dirt waft in through the threshold, Aikka smiled. At least one thing was much the same as it was at home. He was already blaming the difference between the lengths of Alwas’ and Nourasia’s days for the fact that he was up so early that it would still be some time before Alwas’ star made an appearance. But at least he could still enjoy the remnants of last night’s tempest.

He leaned onto the sill and watched the world just start come to life. The birds of Alwas had only just started to come to life…No doubt getting an early start themselves on gathering insects that got caught in the rain. His eyes scanned from the scenery, towards the racing arena.

It was still a little hard to believe that he was really there, at the largest, most important race in the entire galaxy. He smiled, though, remembering that he’d already made it into the second round of the races. So far, so good, as they say. He was one step closer to his prize, his people’s salvation, and he had an entire day to prepare and study the other racers while the rest of the first round finished up.

Though, looking now at the arena, he couldn’t help but be bothered by the images of yesterday, that horrible crash involving the Earth team. He was beginning to seriously consider the chance of foul play.

And, running his hands through his loose hair, Aikka knew who the key enemy of the Earth team was. It had bothered him that on the very first night of the races, the Earth team had already, possibly, been sabotaged in some way. It was more than a little suspicious that the Crogs had declared Earth as their personal enemy in this race, meanwhile this happened.

His eyes narrowed in consideration as he recalled the previous evening;

Once again, he had shown up, in that dank place at the edge of the usually cheerful Skrub village that served as host to the races. And stealing away into the alleyway in the tail end of the twilight, Aikka had inwardly cursed this meeting; the second private meeting in as many days. And the race had only just begun. How he hoped that this would not become a nightly occurrence.

He ventured further into the dark alley, which of course was even more shrouded than normal, given the sunset and the heavy cloud cover that was beginning to move in. There, in his usual spot, was Colonel Toros, leaning against one wall, waiting for the Nourasian. Yellow eyes pierced the descending darkness and turned to face the prince, who frowned in the cover of darkness and behind the high, plentiful collar of his cloak.

“Prince Aikka. Wonderful, as always. Come, let’s walk.” Toros said, then turning and walking in the other direction, into what looked like a tunnel. Where it went, Aikka didn’t know, but followed nonetheless. He strode behind Toros, as there was hardly room on either side of the great creature. Toros probably did this purposefully; to have them walking side by side would be to suggest them as equals. “I quite enjoyed your race with Hartlam. It may be soon to say, but I have indeed chosen the correct ally,” Toros continued as they walked, Aikka being kept in darkness for any light from ahead being blocked by the massive Crog. He merely followed and said nothing, listening to their footsteps reverberating dully off the close walls.

The two emerged from the end of the tunnel onto what looked to be a small dock, with a rickety wooden path leading up and around to landmass surrounding a body of water; Aikka had to guess this was the nearby ocean. Across the water and up a hill, were several more of the pits used for the racers, their silhouettes against the dusk. Further out towards the sea, was what looked to be the docks that they had arrived on.

“And how unfortunate to see what happened to the Earth team,” Toros mused, barely bothering to hide his relish. Aikka’s eyes flashed at the larger being.

“And that was…your doing, Colonel?” he asked cautiously. Toros’ large yellow eyes looked at the Nourasian briefly, before laughing darkly.

“Pathetic Nourasian; as if I would need to sabotage their team so early in the races. I do not need to cheat to defeat them. And that time will come.” Toros said in a rumble of a voice, lifting a great arm to grasp a piece of the crumbling Skrub wall next to them on the dock. Prying it easily from its place, he gripped it tightly while Aikka quickly contemplated what its purpose would be. “And when your time comes, you will do as you are told. Especially if you wish to make it to that point,” he pointed to the large, space docks. “If you want to make it to Oban, you’ll keep in line.” He suddenly held his enormous hand, the brick he tore from the wall, out and above the water.

“The Earth Team…” He released the piece, and it hit the water with a heavy ‘plunk’, “Will fall.”

Aikka still watched the stone sink quickly, its shape through colors of the deeper water, the small bubbles rising around it, the chaotic waves around its point of entry on the surface. His face bore no expression for Toros’ little demonstration.

How odd, he found, that this was bothering him. The Earth Team was, after all, the supposed enemy. The one who the Crogs had forced him into alliance against. Even omitting the Crogs from the equation, The Nourasians had their own views and wariness regarding the planet Earth and its people.

Yet at the same time, Aikka felt that even so, enemy or not, the Earth team deserved a fair fight in this battle. And yet already that honor, that right had been betrayed. If not by Toros, then by someone else.

But this was ridiculous; after all, he had no proof that any onedid sabotage the race, it could have all been an accident. Those mechanical ships were probably just as prone to accidents as live mounts were to injury or illness. He didn’t really feel the need to be so suspicious. Things were going to happen in this race that would likely be very unfair, it was a stroke of bad luck that such a thing had happened in their first race, but it couldn’t be helped. He briefly wondered if Earth would be able to continue in the races; he hadn’t caught the official outcome of the race, for having to attend the meeting with the Colonel.

Sighing and pushing himself up from his spot against the wall and the window sill, he decided to ponder it later. At last the sky was starting to light up, and this was probably the best time to meditate and prepare for his day off. There was no race for him, however, with the free time, Canaan would likely drill him on his fighting techniques in the great room downstairs, where they’d already set up the traditional arena for such practices.

Aikka also decided somewhere during his preparation of his hair that he’d like to work on his archery, to keep in shape for the upcoming races. He’d do that as a relaxing activity between his lessons with Canaan and going to see the rest of the preliminaries, which would likely take up the entire afternoon. He smiled, happy to have his entire day filled with activity.

Pulling on his thick leather armor and strapping it on, Aikka did a once over of himself in a mirror he’d brought from home, before smiling at his reflection. Luckily his hair looked reasonable for doing it on his own, as he didn’t normally where it in its three-topknot form but for races back home, in which case it was a bit ceremonial to have a fellow knight assist him. But it had been decided that Aikka would only be accompanied by Canaan for his experience and for more ease of transportation. The small pit would definitely be better off without servants milling about. This suited Aikka just fine anyway, even though he was royalty, he was perfectly self-sufficient, just as his father. In Nourasian royalty traditions, the possession of servants was a luxury, but not essential, and for Aikka, he actually preferred to not have maids bothering over him, as the idea alone made him feel confined.

Opening his door, he emerged into the hallway, finding all to be quiet. Perhaps Canaan was not yet up. He made certain that he was silent as he walked through the darkness and down the stairway. Turning into the great room, he found it to be just as quiet, and dark. The light from outside would come in soon enough, but Aikka continued into the room, lighting some of the candles to supply him with some calming atmosphere, perfect for his meditation.

Walking ahead to stand before the traditional shield at the head of the room, Aikka drew a deep breath and let it back out. Folding his legs beneath him in a smooth, practiced motion, he closed his eyes and kept a straight posture, sinking into a free but lucid state, his focus trained on the day ahead.

And as always, obtaining the prize.

--

Gleaming metal flew through the air, while nimble feet danced across the hard floor, battling and charging each other in quick succession. Constantly tricking each other and jumping, taking a multitude of stances in any given minute, from light and quick to staunch and supported. All the while, cries of battle and clashes of metal rang and echoed through the large room.

Elder and pupil fought fiercely, locked on each other, turning, jumping and twirling around each other locking blades and locking eyes with every advance. Even with the shorter blade, the younger Nourasian held his own well in the battle, but both were beginning to tire as sweat had gathered lightly on both of their faces.

Canaan made a solid charge at the prince after their latest split, but Aikka met it just as forcefully, blocking a quick succession of Canaan’s swings with his dagger. With another twirl while he was on the offensive, the mentor brought his sword across his opponent. Aikka blocked the swing, but the force of it nearly upset his stance, and before he knew it, Canaan had continued the sweep straight into another advance; this next shot was coming from above.

Acting fast, Aikka gripped his dagger with both hands, raising it in a block against the assault. The force pressed the prince down into a lower stance, but the prince grinned, and maneuvering himself forward while shoving the sword off of his blade, spun himself around, his dagger transferring itself around in his hand. Suddenly he’d turned the tables and his dagger was at his master’s side, hovering several inches from his exposed side.

Aikka found his master’s surprised gaze, and grinned in a clear victory. Canaan put on a grin of his own, and lowered his sword.

“Excellent work, Prince Aikka. You have made noticeable improvement.” The two separated, and promptly after sheathing their swords, bowed to each other. “Just be sure to work on perfecting your stances. A strong stance is the first key to defending oneself in a battle of blades.”

“Yes, Canaan. I will certainly practice.” Aikka said, bowing a second time.

“That will be all for your fencing practice, you may do as you desire for the rest of the day, my prince.”

Aikka smiled and excused himself, announcing that he would be out, practicing his archery. Grabbing his quiver and elegant bow, he exited the great room and made for the stairs in the garage that had become G’dar’s stable. All the bronze dressings and traditional decorations around the beetle glistened and caught light as he strode confidently down the stairs. Stepping over the swirling metal that surrounded G’dar like a pen, Aikka greeted the large bug, who gave a cry to express his own hellos. After stroking his companion contently for a few moments, Aikka gave the creature one last pat and walked out of the open hangar door, bow and quiver shouldered.

He wasn’t quite sure where to do his work, so for a while, he just followed the shore of the lake.

Looking around, he found it to be an enjoyable day, even with slight bits of evidence that the storm had hit the night before. Every now and then he would step over a small branch that had been separated from its tree host somewhere else. Looking out across the water, he paused in his tracks, noticing that there were several natural stone pillars rising from the lake. Those would serve well as a target, he decided, and so he sat in the grass, performing his usual meditation ritual. Getting back to his feet, Aikka readied his bow, pulling an arrow from his quiver. All was quiet as he concentrated on the stone. He pulled back on the string until…

“Woooo- HOO!”

Aikka threw himself into a duck just in time as the source flew over the embankment behind him. He looked up as it flew over him, finding what seemed to be a board with a slight curvature, and amazing range of colors to it. He heard the hum of it as it passed over, swooping just over the grass in front of him, and he saw the rider standing upon the board, gripping a bar attached to a shapely wind sail, which was also gleaming in color as the bottom of the board was.

She moved her whole body to swerve the almond shaped board around above the ground, and from where he was, Aikka could see the air moving and glowing below it, just as the air waved above any source of fire…He figured it must have been that hover technology he’d heard vaguely about.

The girl herself, looked a bit older than him, and he instantly recognized that he’d seen her somewhere in the bleachers while watching the races. He could hear her laughter as she careened and swerved down, and over the lake, causing a disturbance in the water as she went. She seemed to have fun as she wove designs into the surface of the water with her board, but it was when she started doing tricks above the water that Aikka became intrigued with her skill.

She started out just doing some hops and mid-air turns, but soon she progressed to much more complicated feats. In a few instances, she flipped forward in the air, leaping high enough above the water in a graceful arc that could even accommodate her tall sail, before landing with perfection to a level position.

The alien girl seemed to glance his way and wave. Aikka wondered at this, but then saw the girl seem to defy gravity itself, and, approaching the very pillar he was going to use as target practice, gave a jump, turned in midair, and rode up the pillar. Just before reaching the top, she pushed off with the force emanating from the bottom of her board, and went into a series of flips and tricks, straight up through midair, seeming to fly even beyond the normal restraints of gravity.

She, at the distance between her and Aikka, had become a twisting, gleaming shape, and finally, she seemed to emerge, ready to touch down again, causing a great wind around her to crash down and scatter the surface of the water beneath her in a wave on either side. The Nourasian on the banks stared in awe at the technology, the power, her seeming kinship with the wind and water. This, this had to be her method of racing, and Aikka had to wonder if it was magic she was using.

The figure on the board then began weaving her way back towards the shore of the lake, still creating waves as she went along. As she came closer, Aikka could notice her body straining and flexing adeptly to direct her sail, as well as how her legs controlled her board beneath her, moving fluidly around each other to create her weaving motion.

Her unique features were, as he had predicted, indeed belonging to someone he’d already seen in the audience at the races; a white, skin-hugging jumpsuit and gloves, with grey sleeves underneath, and what appeared to be ears similar to his own underneath a head of round, platinum hair and a large pair of red goggles. Her face was pale compared to his, but her eyes were a shade of brown, and were glinting as she sped towards him.

As she leapt with her board, using the embankment as a ramp, she twisted the entire thing in the air, and landed, gliding to a stop just before the wide-eyed prince. For a moment, all Aikka could see was the luminescent, colorful material of the sail, standing at about two and a half times his height.

“Bonjau!” said her feminine voice as her round head popped around the edge of the sail so suddenly it nearly gave Aikka a start. He looked confused for a moment, at the strange word that the girl had used. It must have been her planet’s dialect instead of the Common everyone was using during the races. Behind the sail blocking his view, the racer did something, and the sail itself seemed to vanish, and the bars that gave it structure folded and buckled, seeming to stow into the board itself. How that kind of technology worked, Aikka would never know. Kneeling down, the owner picked up the board, and carried it under an arm. She looked to Aikka with bright eyes.

“Uh, Hello?” Aikka guessed that the word had been a greeting of some sort. The other racer smiled at this.

“You were watching me practice, no?” she said, her Common heavily accented.

“Yes, I suppose I was, I apologize,” Aikka said hospitably, going to bow.

“Nonsense, nonsense, I do love a good audience.” She told him, waving a hand casually. “I in fact have seen you practice as well, that is a talented bow you have there. And your racing skills are going to be tough to beat!”

Aikka felt slightly embarrassed; this was the first time anyone besides his Fencing Master had praised him since he came to this planet. “Thank you, miss…ah..?” Aikka began. The girl’s almond eyes widened a bit, and she became a little frazzled.

“Oh, do forgive me, I am Lio, of the planet Ombre’laa. It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Prince Aikka of Nourasia!” Her smile was wide, and a bit infectious, as Aikka himself felt a smile coming on.

“It is also a pleasure,” Aikka said delightedly. Just then they heard in the distance, the cries of an audience coming from the racing arena; the races must have already begun.

“You two had better get down there,” the crackled voice of Satis came from beside them, as the alien stared up at them with a goofy smile. “The winners of today’s races are your challengers tomorrow!”

“Shall we go to the races? It would be beneficial to our strategies to see the competition.” Lio suggested lightly. Aikka was about to decline gracefully for the time being in favor of his archery practice that had been interrupted, but Satis continued.

“I’ve also heard that the Earth team has been granted a reprieve, and will be fighting Grooor in a rematch this afternoon, which should be very exciting indeed!” Satis hissed, as if it were some secret. “Such tension will they both have, especially after yesterday’s…disaster…”

Aikka paused, instantly intrigued. So their pilot was alright, after being carried off in such a state? And they could race after the explosion had ripped apart their vessel?

These humans were indeed fascinating things. Either way, Aikka guessed that Toros would have wanted him watching the team like a hawk anyway. If not to prepare for a future match against them, then to be aware of how pitifully they would have lost, as Toros would have probably said.

So Aikka nodded in agreement to Lio, and turned to thank Satis for the information, only to find that he’d disappeared.

--

Most of the seats had already been filled by the time the Ombreian and Nourasian reached the stadium, but the two found a spot about halfway down the bleachers, squeezed past other strange beings, and claimed them, getting ready to watch the races. Lio took a casual position, straight postured and leaning back on straight arms, while Aikka placed his palms on his knees, a habit of his upbringing. And by the looks of things, they’d arrived just in time to see the end of the current race. A large, clunky looking machine pulled into the gateway, signifying a win. Aikka could hear a great, triumphant cry coming from the burly racer.

“The winner of this race is Rush, of the planet Byrus!” The Skrub announcers cried to the audience, who then let out a rumble of respect for the victor, who waved while turning off the course.

“An interesting looking creature….I wonder how that enormous ship flies,” Lio observed next to Aikka. Aikka glanced at her, and back to the Byrusian…Byrus…Wasn’t that another planet that the Crog armies had taken over?

“For the next race, I call forth the representatives from the planet Porcela,” A sleek, smoothly gliding ship of metal emerged from the chute, and settled neatly onto the rotating disc starting point, “and their challenger, Ceres, of the Mung!”

Aikka looked towards the chute for the second contender, and felt unease. The thing that slid slowly out of the portal was an eerie looking thing, even in the bright daylight. His ship looked like nothing more than a series of geometrically angled bars, floating by some technology that Aikka could not begin to grasp. He could sense some sort of magic about it, but it was so foreign to him, he could not place what it was. The racer himself emerged, a strange looking figure that looked more like some alien relief come to life from an ancient wall. The flat figure had what seemed to be an expression locked in fury on his face.

“There are all sorts of beings in this wide galaxy, it seems,” Lio commented, leaning forward, her head in a hand as her elbow propped against her knee.

Aikka turned his attention back to the race, as the first two marks fell, Porcela revving their engine in a gentle thrum. Ceres was still, so much so that Aikka had to wonder if the creature had just become a sculpture.

As the gateway dropped, both racers were on their way, Porcela taking an early lead, and Ceres drifting behind them in that same creepy fashion that they’d entered the race with. Aikka found himself fascinated by the creature’s movement when Ceres began darting around, trying to upset Porcela’s lead. The way he moved made Aikka compare him to the Nourasian Drak Fly, agilely flitting around, a ploy to confuse their predators.

It was when Ceres began edging forward that Porcela opened fire, but Aikka gasped to see how the attack was handled by the Mung. At first the Nourasian thought that the Porcelans had some sort of odd ammunition that allowed the shots to wrap and orbit their opponents, perhaps building up to a later, deadlier strike…But he gaped to discover that Ceres seemed to be the one in control of the laser shots, and with his staff, guiding them and manipulating them to orbit him instead of striking him.

The crowd gasped, then, when Ceres sent the lasers off in a return volley to their origin ship, causing Porcela’s ship to shudder and at last smoke as one of the engines was caught in the fire. They weren’t bested, however, and swerved away and ahead, hoping to lose their aggressive opponent. As they raced around turns, the Mung ship still gliding with a ghostly levelness, Porcela gliding ahead with only a slight offset from their injury, Aikka saw Ceres do something that was even more peculiar yet; Porcela raced ahead, their lesson in weapon-fire learned, their focus now obviously upon a sprint to the finish. However, Ceres, it seemed, was slowing down.

On the screen, it was visible that Ceres placed something to his oddly shaped mouth, and then the audience could faintly hear a tune beginning to play. As flat fingers waggled on the body of the flute, a haunting tale of a tune was heard, and while the audience was stunned into a fascinated silence, the reaction of Porcela was highly different.

“Look, look what’s happened to the other racer!” Lio exclaimed, pointing to the screen and the emerging view of Porcela’s ship. “They are faltering, even more than what damage they’ve already taken!”

Aikka looked there, just in time to see Porcela’s lead fall apart, their steady waver deteriorating into a reckless stagger.

“I know this magic, Ceres has Porcela in an illusion!” Aikka said, blue eyes trained on the weary path of the ship. The flute music continued to play, as suddenly, Ceres’ ship emitted a bright, yellow-orange scroll of light and runes that wrapped around his vessel, just before Ceres’ tune took a more deadly verse, evidently sending the end of the scroll straight towards Porcela. The crowd again gasped as the light pierced effortlessly through one of the other ship’s short, sleek wings, immediately disabling the thing and sending it careening into the floor of the canyon, only just before the tunnel of the course. Porcela’s ship smoked and tumbled to a stop, as Ceres flew on above, the hum of his song disappearing, leaving the silence almost as unnatural as the song had been.

“The winner of this match is Ceres, of the Mung!”

The crowd then gave some applause for the victor, while at the same time acknowledging that the Mung would be a difficult potential opponent. Aikka himself gave a steady clap out of respect, his narrowed eyes watching as Ceres pulled into the gateway, completing his victory. This creature, he knew, would be a dangerous adversary if one was caught off guard by his illusionary magic.

“Well, I’m creeped out,” Lio scoffed from next to Aikka.

The next race was a rather uneventful one, with the Alwas’s home team winning by a mere lucky chance. Aikka even could tell that in comparison to the other contenders, the Skrub technology was somewhat primitive. Though he gave a respectful round of applause amongst the roar of ‘Flint, Flint, Flint’ from the Alwasians who’d showed up for the match, he thought it unlikely that Flint’s team would pose much of a threat.

The great score wheel on the wall let Flint’s icon go ahead one notch, and then began turning once more.

“The next race is a rematch!” one of the Skrub leaders called over the continuing chants of the crowd. “I now call forth, Grooor!”

Aikka perked up in his seat a bit, as the familiar ship of Grooor swerved and glided out of the chute and onto the starting ring. His eyes then went back to the portal, knowing this was the moment of truth for the Earth Team, his ‘enemy.’ If they didn’t make it to this race, then they would not be seen for the rest of the Great Race. At least Toros would be delighted, he thought darkly.

“I now call forth, the Earth Team!” The audience was silent for a moment, as everyone waited, eyes trained on the chute.

Suddenly, Aikka could hear scraping, and the thrum of the team’s mechanical ship, before the Star Racer flew haphazardly out of the doorway, and nearly into Grooor’s ship, before catching itself and making a wide arc against the floor of the arena, scraping dust and smoke up into the air around it. The motor steadily died down where the racer had landed, and Aikka felt his eyes widen in surprise; yesterday the pilot had seemed to have better control than this...Perhaps he was still injured; should the man really have been racing?

Aikka watched as the glass of the cockpit opened, exposing the driver, and felt his breath hitch at who it was.

“Pilot Molly, reporting for the Earth Team!” came the girl’s declaration, her stance erect, and her hand in a human gesture of a salute.

Aikka couldn’t help but laugh quietly; this was the same girl he’d run into yesterday! So then, she must have been the team’s back-up pilot. But as the girl was accepted as the new pilot by the Skrub mediators, she got her racer up in the air, only to falter into the side of her opponent’s ship. Perhaps she wasn’t the back-up pilot, then.

Either way, at least he now knew her name.

“What a funny little creature,” Lio giggled next to Aikka. The Nourasian had his eyes trained on the star racer, however, intent on seeing Molly’s next move, how she would fare in this race.

The gate dropped, and the rematch was under way, putting the Earth team to a bad start when Molly clipped the bottom of the gate, sending her into a wild spiral. Lio laughed.

“This poor girl doesn’t stand a chance!” Aikka glanced at the worried Ombreian but paid no mind to her comment. Already, Molly had regained control of the ship. A few more curves and collisions with the wall put the Earth team suddenly even with Grooor, pinned between the massive ship and the stone wall.

But Molly quickly became much more nimble in the ship, and also opened fire on Grooor with laser cannons. Laser cannons; Aikka made a note of that being something to look out for with this team. He noted furthermore how reckless the gunner in the ship appeared to be.

Straight out of the tunnel of the course, though, The Earth team was roughly pinned into the ground, earning a rise of suspense from the crowd. But all too soon, Grooor released.

“What is he doing?” Aikka murmured, watching the screen.

“He had them right where he would have an advantage…” Lio observed as well, gleaming brown eyes focused on the screen.

Aikka watched as Grooor pulled slightly back, allowing Molly the lead, and was even more surprised by the sudden burst of energy emitted from the thrusters just moments later. The rest of the crowd gasped, some cheering, as the Earth team was flung forward, and well into the lead against Grooor.

Overshooting the turn onto the beach, the race suddenly drew more tension from the audience, as the star racer began to sputter over the ocean water, leaving the team on nothing but their landing wheels. Grooor finally rounded the corner himself, apparently out for revenge upon the Earth Team. The ship began its slow rate of fire, hammering the beach around the Earth Team. Aikka could feel himself leaning out of his seat as Grooor fired, and as, oddly enough, Molly turned the ship around, so the gunner’s turret faced and shot directly at Grooor’s ship.

The crowd was silent and in awe as the Earthlings took what looked to be their last stand, firing at an enemy that was heading straight for them at break-neck speed, unable to move in time if their plan went awry. Many people, Aikka included, were not watching the screen anymore, but the action unfolding just beyond the gate.

It seemed hopeless, but then, just in the very last second, all the shooting paid off; Grooor’s vessel split in two, each piece careening to the ground on either side of the Earth Team, leaving them untouched. The race had reached such heights that the crowd had actually gone deathly silent; Aikka himself hardly drew in breath.

Slowly but surely, the new pilot pushed along, intent on victory. The last of the ship’s wheels brought it heavily over the threshold of the gate, and somewhere, the gong rang in conclusion to the race. The crowd then came alive again, roaring in satisfaction of the Earth girl’s stirring performance and victory.

Aikka found a smile and clapped heartily himself; the human, Molly, certainly proved that she might have the guts to make it quite far in the races. She was reckless and a bit clumsy, but he could see, but she also had resilience that won her the event.

And that would get her somewhere, he thought as the glass atop the ship pulled back, revealing the girl slouched, exhausted, over her controls.

-----

Notes:

Drak Fly: basically the Nourasian version of a dragonfly

Lio: I based her off of the one background character you can often see throughout the show. If you watch Silent Like Spirit, when Aikka and Rush are talking in the bleachers, you can see her on the other side of Aikka, one tier up. That’s probably the closest view of her that I know of. I have a picture of her on her wind board…somewhere…it kind of fluttered off before I could color it, so I’m going to have to find it.

More on her later. We haven’t seen the last of her! ;)