Race Day

"Better to die as a king than to live as a slave, Lord Captain." Moore mock-saluted as Macharius retreated inside, his expression unreadable behind his rebreather. If he had heard Echo's broadcast, he gave no indication of it. He gave a hand signal to the two gunners, and turned to watch as the starter flare shot into the sky.

Almost immediately, the Lumes shot out ahead on their bikes, tires squealing and throwing up plumes of dust. Moore had been ready for this, and the Russ' main gun boomed, hurling a shell across the track. It detonated in the middle of the three bikes, and the Lumes vanished behind a cloud of sand and fire. Two of them rode out the other side, trailing black smoke. The attack bike was gone, struck by a direct hit, and the secondary explosion sent shrapnel scything towards the other two riders. Both stayed on, however, pushing their engines hard to try and get away from the tank. Moore slammed a fist into the turret. "Mediocre!"

Then all the vehicles were moving, pulling out onto the course. Hannabel slewed the Salamander sideways, bringing it inside the range of the battlecannon. Moore wouldn't be able to hit them right behind him. He saw what they were doing and cursed, vanishing into his cupola. The two gunners on the back opened fire, a hail of rounds striking sparks off the salamander's front armour, but failing to find a soft target. Hannabel and Ravia returned fire; the autocannon's first shot glanced off the heavy armour on the battlecannon turret, but the second hit was sholid, shaking the Russ. Ravia's flamer barrage cooked the gunners a little, but had no further effect. Then the Hellhound barreled in from the side, its turret rotating to aim at the Russ as it passed. The hellhound was fast, and it easily pulled ahead of the heavier vehicle, and of the light scout tank following it. A wave of heat washed over the Salamander's passenger compartment as the Inferno Cannon fired. Both of the gunners on the rear platform were immolated in the blast, collapsing and sliding off the side, but worse for Moore was that when the jet of flame passed, his tank didn't stop burning. The tracks blazed as the Russ rolled forwards, and there was now a very real danger that the battlecannon's ammunition supply would cook off. If that happened, Hannabel didn't want to be anywhere nearby.

While the slower sentinel fell behind, the rest of the racers jockeyed for position. The two Interceptor groundcars pulled away from the main pack slightly, Max stone racing to catch up to the fleeing bikes. His companion vehicle was slightly slower, lagging behind even the Ruster's slower Chimera - or perhaps hanging back. The harpoon cannon on the rear looked like it had a tow cable attached, and the groundcar was close enough to the Smoker sentinel to take a stab at toppling it.

Infiltrators

Echo's broadcast appeared to have flustered the target. The palace was a rat's nest of activity, but with everyone hurrying about it was easy for the Rings to slip in unnoticed. They had to use the main gates, having been unable to locate a more suitable entryway, but these had opened to allow a convoy of vehicles to roll out, and they had managed to dash inside using the cover those vehicles provided. The mechanism to open the gates would be important to locate... as would their target. Using the gates had put them far from the main buildings, and they still had to cross the grounds to get to the palace.

Spoiler: OOC
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It'll be another concealment test, and a Search test


Anika

Anika hadn't been able to break into the secure channel, and not for lack of trying. Codebreaking was tedius, complicated work, though, and it would take longer than she had. Thus, as the race started, she had to satisfy herself by listening the the Immortans react on the unsecured channels. The response was predictable; a few asking whether the Star Clanlord would be able to carry through on those threats, some confident answers in the negative, some more concerned-sounding answers in the affirmative. Anika got the impression that none of these people had the slightest idea of what starship weapons were capable of, if directed at a ground-based target. Several of the vehicles leaving Moore's palace were military, but many were not, and they all appeared to be spreading throughout the city, rather than heading in any particular direction.