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Location: A06 (Guinevere) Tags: Piracy Science Land Vehicle It had been a pretty busy week on Guinevere for Scorpio and Elbow and Pitt, his two assigned SPIT (Special Police in Training). After dispatching the Octan spy, they discovered a few more Octan agents nearby—which with some efficient work from the SPIT quickly became a few less. They may be a bit dim-witted, but the SPIT sure knew their way around an assault blaster. Scorpio was still a bit bummed about that having given his grubs to them. Even more so because today—larvae Friday, course—he had missed lunch, due to an over-long briefing with his superiors. When he got back, the SPIT had seen to it there were no leftovers, except salad. Meh. The brief had been long because Kawashita troops had touched down on the other side of Guinevere a few days previous. The council was deliberating the best course of action, and had orders for Scorpio to not engage in a violent encounter. In the SPITs’ mind, that took all the fun out of it, and Scorpio had to agree. He had decided that even though being a scientist wasn’t bad, he enjoyed these more exciting kinds of missions. Scorpio and the SPIT went to the Kawas’ landing site. Although there weren’t many of them, clearly they had gotten right to work right after landing, as there were several crates already filled with gold. As the M.A.N.T.I.S craft was approaching, Scorpio saw them all stop to watch. He could see that although a few of them were carrying arms, they didn’t seem to be in any hurry to shoot. He imagined they had similar orders from their higher-ups to avoid armed conflict, which was somewhat reassuring. One of the Kawas, clearly their leader, emerged from the back and advanced toward Scorpio. “This is our claim,” he insisted. “You Mantite scum better get on outta here.” “Sorry, M.A.N.T.I.S. already claimed all of Guinevere. So, you’re the ones on our turf.” As he spoke, Scorpio suddenly realized that he had underestimated their numbers, and hoped his hunch about their orders was correct. “Ha!” the Kawa leader laughed. “It doesn’t matter. We have already extracted almost everything here, as you can see—” he motioned towards the crates. “But I’d like to see you try and make us leave, anyway.” “I’ll tell you what,” Scorpio replied. “Let’s make a deal, you and I, to see who leaves this spot, and who can stay.” The Kawa leader laughed again, followed by the rest of his team. “What kind of a deal? You can see, I have more men, more arms, and more gold! And I have my orders. What could you offer me?” “Oh, this is not an offer. This is a challenge. We challenge you to a contest—you win, we will leave you in peace to do whatever you please in this place. We win—” Scorpio paused to look around at all the Kawashita troops, “and you leave forever. Not just this spot—but the planet. You leave Guinevere for good.” “Ha ha! This insect is a joker! I will indulge you, what kind of contest did you have in mind?” “How about a race? Ah never mind, you wouldn’t stand a chance against us. Let’s pick something more fair…” In his mind, Scorpio counted to three. He only got as far as two. “You boast, Mantite! Kawashita engines are the fastest, and our drivers the most skilled! I accept your challenge, if only to teach you humility!” “Very well, then. Your fastest land craft against ours. You pick your racer, and Pitt here,” Scorpio motioned toward the more dim-witted of the SPIT, “will drive for M.A.N.T.I.S.” As Scorpio and the Kawa leader shook hands, Pitt leaned over toward Scorpio and whispered, “I don’t think I can. I’m not that good a driver—not as good as these Kawas, for sure—and I’m starting to feel a little sick. Like I’m going to…” but he never finished his sentence; the words were drowned out by awful wretching noises, and drowned in a pool of sick. “I feel sick, too, sir.” the SPIT leader, Elbow, intuned. Then, looking over at Pitt, said, “but I think I’ll be fine.” “Well good, because I need you to come with me.” “What about me, sir?” Pitt inquired. “You still have to drive,” Scorpio answered. “But don’t worry; it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, just as long as you drive for at least five minutes or so.” “Why doesn’t it matter?” Elbow asked. “Because,” Scorpio began, “while all these fools are cheering on the race, you and I are going to steal them blind and make a quick escape. Don’t worry, Pitt, we’ll pick you up in the ship. Elbow, come and help me set up some telesponders over here.” While the Kawa leader was explaining the course and rules to Pitt and the Kawa driver, Scorpio and Elbow set up the antenna-like devices around the crates of gold. As the start pistol fired, Scorpio summoned the teleporter crate and quickly rerouted it to the telesponders; before the dust had even settled, Scorpio, Elbow, and the gold were all gone. ********* Other weeks I have incorporated the story with the build, but this week the story is really just to build-up the, uh, build. With both teams landing on the same planet, it was fun to think up some way to bring conflict into the mix without any actual conflict. C&C welcome, as always! More pictures under the spoiler: See more on my Flickr page
