"LAAAAADIIIIIIES AND GENTLEMEN! Welcome to the first ever Fairhaven Airobatics JetRace! With the advent of personalized flying machinery, we have had several paths to take this miraculous new methods of transportation! Use it responsibly and refine it for the benefit of the wide masses, or..." the fennec's foot falls as sparks fly out from behind the platform he stood on "OVERCLOCK THE FUCK OUT OF THEM AND RACE AND SUPERSONIC SPEEDS, RISKING LIFE AND LIMB FOR THE HELL OF IT!" he'd scream out with vivid enthusiasm. The event seems to have gathered quite the crowd, and this was ofcourse a problem for the workers, who were down the road, doing their duties... for now.

"But ofcourse, there is a way to make use of this glorious, toe-curlingly, blood-bubblingly fantasma-astical mayhem! Today's event will ensure our good workers here are saved a hecking lot of effort, as your goal will be, in fact, to not only reach the other end of the track, but retrieve your individually assigned load of materials and tools needed for the work done here today. Crash? Well... you'll have more important things to worry about than failing your delivery. These things can be volatile." Magnus winks as his hand waves at the quartette of back-mounted boosters readied for the participants.

Hopping off of his platform, the fox looks between the four contestents and beckons them over to a table set a little off to the side. "The track is easy to follow, I mean it's marked with flags, stay between the red and the green, don't even think about cheating either, I have sentries stationed and they'll radio back if someone tries being a stinker. Additionally..." his fist strikes the hard wooden surface, causing it to open up wide and reveal a small tresure trove's worth of tools in a hidden compartment beneath. "You have thirty minutes to make adjustments to your pack, if you so wish. Mind, the heavier you are, the harder you'll turn. Momentum is a bitch. Once you reach the end of the track, you'll find what you need to pick up ready to lift on a platform just outside the lobby. Take one, and only one. I mean why would you take two? That makes no sense... any questions?"

Kalsouthpaw bounces and waves at the the gathering crowd, soaking up the host's words into his big swirly-tipped radar ears as well as the energy from all the attention of the audience. He cheers, "You're all in for the best airshow ever!~", working to drum up hype as he makes his way over to the toolbox - and of course, the boosters. "Oh yeah, how much do the loads weigh? I need to make sure I can actually lift it," he giggles.

Arriving on the scene to the race as almost definitely the heaviest racer Ebreus couldn't help but snicker at the Fennec announcer's performance. He'd stride up to the boosters and tool kits with a big smile on his face as it's explained that they'd be given time to modify the packs before the start. Grabbing one and a modification kit he says, "This should be fun... assuming nobody collapses a building or three." chuckling at his own comment. Carrying his chosen pack a few steps away from the supply table and sitting with his back to the other contestants opens up his pack and begins work amping up the power and routing a good deal of it to turning thrusters to counteract his weight.

Lilliana stood staring at the fox for a good few seconds in silence. Internally marvelling at the chance she had to flex her tinkering muscles here. Her vulpine tail twirled thoughtfully as she stepped up to the booster before her. She glances to the other competitors as they speak and nods in agreement with Kal, "Aye, how much are we going to be hauling?" She adds to the discussion, contemplating how she might get around carrying too heavy a load.

Arriving a little later than the others a neatly dressed snow leopard approaches the platform, her familiar latex form recognisable to those that know her as Kamryn. She gives a slightly nervous wave to the assembled crowd, not having expected quite so many observers for the event. She greets the enthusiastic fennec and the other contestants, in particular giving Ebreus a coy grin. "Weight's important, but it's not the only thing - Are we collecting bundles of loose parts, or something more like a large crate?" she asks, picking up the last of the jetpacks from the table to examine it. "The weight distribution might affect how I modify this thing, particularly if you've got some sharp turns planned". She takes her medical bag and rifle off, setting them down and retrieving some items from her own toolbelt to begin work on the pack's thrusters in an attempt to divert a little of their thrust sideways to improve their lateral stability.

"Dudes, it's a case of scap and wires, each case is the same weight, and it's like... nothing, it's 20kg." The fox shakes his head. "Relax, you can all lift it, and if you can't, then just attach a hook to your pack and let it do the weight carrying. This is a race, not a strength competition." he'd then hop onto the platform and let his voice boom once more. "Ladies and gentlemen, we need to give our contestants some time to apply the modifications they need, they have exactly..." he'd press down a button on the platform where he stood and a large countdown timer appears right behind him, glowing bright green neon digital numbers as it starts the second by second timer of "THIIIIIRTY MINUTES! I am so happy you were all able to come here today, please make sure to follow the action on our screen over HERE!" his finger flicks over towards the wall behind the crowd, where a large and expensive looking LCD screen resided. "Where a live feed from our stationed sentries will broadcast to you the race as it happens!"

The robed blue-furred rodent nods with enthusiasm, the small critter's lithe frame scampering between his toolkit and his jetpack the moment the timer starts, his question answered. From beneath Kal's gaudy yellow robe he pulls out a few wires and an additional capacitor, linking it to the reins of the booster. It was the closest thing to injecting nitrous oxide the critter could get without outright running to a store and buying actual nitrous! Every ounce of Kal's work goes into pushing the booster's limits: increasing flow rates and disabling any pesky limiters. Finally, he braces the load with some thick climbing gear hooks as tightly to the pack as he can to avoid losing it at potentially breakneck speeds!

Performing some preliminary modifications as the clock starts the Hellhound reaches the point where changing what's already there will take him all the further it will in just a few minutes and so with plenty of time to spare Ebreus calls out, "We allowed to add stuff to the packs?" as he plots out just how best to supercharge it if he's allowed to add another power source.

Lilliana looks down at the jetpack. She had truly never seen anything like it before. But thankfully it seemed like thrust came out of the one end, and then the backpack went the other way. She grabs some tools and begins opening the device up. If she could, she was planning to help her chances by increases the ease at which she could take those turns, after all, as the fennec said. Momentum was indeed a bitch. She starts with beefing up the system that directs the flow of exhaust, going slow was not as bad as flying full tilt into a wall. She looks over to her other competitors,Abovewho seemed to have a slightly better grasp on the workings of this odd contraption. "Well guys, may the best tinkerer win! Drink on me if nobody crashes." She says with a chuckle as she sets about attaching large misshapen chunks to direct the flow, her technique appearing far more improvised than calculated. She cut off chunks of the housing where she deemed it not imperative to aerodynamics or structural integrity to possibly save on weight. Finally she added a harness that would sit in front of her chest, leaving her hands free while she carried the load. She pauses intermittently to bash out a bend in the shell here and there as she turns the pack into an unsafe looking monstrosity encapsulating the phrase, "It ain't pretty but it works"

Raising a screwdriver in salute to Lilliana's fox enthusiasm with a smile, the snow leopard focusses mainly on the thrust nozzles of her pack, dividing the apertures in two and cannibalising some ducting from less essential parts of the device to create a source of lateral thrust in addition to the main lifting jets. Knowing Magnus this wasn't going to be a straightforward race, and with thoughts of the Loop of Kon Garat coming to mind, improving the ability to take corners and perhaps dodge around any unexpected obstacles seemed more useful than raw speed. She taps her comm, apparently causing an object that looks a little like a small metal backpack to fall from her back. Picking it up as a long tail uncoils from it, she opens a panel and removes a small microcontroller, adding it to the jetpack to act as both a method of controlling how much thrust is diverted to the new nozzles, and as a link to her comm. Checking the pack over and letting a brief low-intensity burst of thrust from each nozzle in turn, she checks the timer, relieved to find she'd completed her modifications with even a little time to spare. She picks up the backpack-like object, now revealed to be some sort of drone, and places it onto the jetpack where several spindly legs wrap themselves around various protrusions to secure itself in place. Standing up, she puts the jetpack on and adjusts the straps for comfort, looking like she's ready to race.

"I mean, sure?" the fennec answers with a shrug. "You use what you modify and you race as you were when the clock started." Hopping off of the platform, the fennec adds. "Also no burning, crashing, exploding, causing property damage or inflicting bodily harm to oneself or others." he then turns towards the crowd and sighs "I know folks, but this ain't Mad Max. Maybe the bandits out in the wasteland might be up for something more barbaric." With that, the fennec takes a seat on the platform from before and takes out a jar. "Dear audience, if I can have your attention for a moment, the good folks of Fairhaven have been working hard to make life easier and more pleasant for everyone, as I am sure many of you have done some of this work as well. If you wish to expedite the process of wiring reliable power to the city, well... we need donations." Behind them, on the screen from before, a large number lights up. "Simply send what you can spare to this bank account ID and we will make sure to put it to good use! No, it isn't my number, and to prove it, I will make the first donation." With this, he takes out his comm unit, and makes the hasty deposit of 1,000,000 creds. Once the freecred was sent, a small number appeared beneath, reading 1,000,000. Murmurs spread throughout the crowd, but thankfully the value started to gradually rise as the audience spares what they can. As the clock ticks down, the fennec would hop off of his platform and move over towards the intersection, where four identical circles were drawn. A loud *RING* was heard, announcing that tinker time was up. "TOOLS DOWN! Everyone grab your packs and take your places!"

Magnus spends 1000000 Freecred for RP reasons.

Kalsouthpaw drops his paintbrush with the ringing, having just finished up painting a pair of jagged red stripes across the sides of the pack for aesthetics. The paint was still fresh as the critter straps the jetpack onto and lugs himself to the starting line, grinning from ear to ear at Kamryn, Lilliana, and Ebreus. "Win or lose, what matters is we all put on a good show," he says, before typing a few numbers into his comm - donating some creds to the pool to show his own support.

Given the go ahead the hound opens up the power source and is just about to fuse two nanite batteries to the power supply when he looks up... five seconds on the clock. Ebreus was good but not add a whole new power source to an unfamiliar device in five seconds good and so he instead quickly closes up the pack for aerodynamics and stores the batteries for later. Grabbing the pack and quickly securing it to his back the hound take up position on one of the circles, crouched down and ready to use the fact of his digitigrade feet to his advantage to spring off the platform the moment the race begins.

Kalsouthpaw spends 500000 Freecred for RP reasons.

Lilliana spends 50000 Freecred for RP reasons.

Lilliana curses under her breath as the time runs out. Although, she knew she would have tinkered the day away if she had been given the time to. She grabbed her pack, glad to have stripped off some of the weight as she slipped it on her slender frame. The contraption was definitely not something you could sell in a public store at this point, exposed wiring jutted out, held together in bunches of hastily wrapped tape. Most of the remaining metal was dented from personal reshaping treatments and looked slightly scratched and abused. The fins she had attached to aid in turning stability and agility were clearly salvaged from various chunks of unrelated scrap, bolted together into a vaguely streamlined shape. She steps forward with her pack and squats slightly, taking a moment to strap her tail in to avoid any impending burns and donate a bit to the cause. She did work in power so it would have been a bit cold to not help out. With a wiggle of her rear she shouts, "Ready!"

Kamryn heads over to take her position in one of the free starting circles, adjusting the jetpack's fit a little as she walks. Nodding to herself she looks up, spotting Kal's paint job. "Well, you certainly seem to have a flair for putting on a show" she grins, "Let's hope I can match it in the air". As Ebreus takes up his place nearby, she again feels a little intimidation from his sheer size as he's still taller than her, despite being crouched down. The feeling is quickly overcome however, as she knows him better than that. "Either way, I'm sure there'll be... some kind of celebration afterwards" she adds, sounding a little distracted. Tapping at her comm as she watches the donation counter she joins the others in donating some freecred to the cause, then says "Ready here too. Incidentally, if anything goes wrong and you guys need some medical assistance during the race, comm me - I've got a drone loaded with medical supplies if you need it". With that, she nods to Magnus and focusses her attention on the first set of flags marking the course above them.

Kamryn spends 750000 Freecred for RP reasons.

"Alright ya listen up now, I want a clean race. You shove someone, that's a DQ. You manage to get them hurt, then you'll be in a mess of bullshit. The track is fairly short, just follow the flags. There are areas where the paths fork outward but so long as you keep within the marked trails the distance flown should be about the same. Your goal is to reach Zephyr HQ's rooftop. There you will pick up one, exactly one suitcase and carry it back here, following the flags once again. First one back wins. Simple, right?" His hands clasp together. "On three!" he'd raise his hand, then cast the audience a soft smile "THREE!" Cheeky fox...

Ebreus spends 1111111 Freecred for RP reasons.

"If I'm not putting on a show, you'd best think that I'm in need of a doctor," he replies to Kamryn with a toothy smirk. He could barely see himself beneath Ebreus's towering shadow, his short stature making it all the more important for him to make this a show - he'd vanish into the background otherwise! He tightens his grip, hears the coy 'Three' from the cheeky fox, and bolts off. "Whoop, here we go!" The boosters ignite, the tiny critter surging forward. He used his low mass to his advantage, weaving through street corners and buildings with glee, making it to Zephyr HQ in record time. The hard part was picking up the suitcase. He struggles to tug the suitcase up and latch it to the climbing hooks on his jetpack, costing him some precious time before he can bolt off again!

Seeing the numbers on the donation board rising as the race is about to begin Ebreus opens up his come, convenient that it's in his head, and as Magnus says they'll be going on three he begins to type out his donation and... "THREE!" he hears called. Fumbling with his donation he hits enter with only two more digits than intended and springs off the platform as he hits the gas.

The modifications to his pack being for agility instead of speed the hound spreads his great, leathery, wings and flaps to supplement booster power with muscle power. His size reducing his maneuverability the huge hound focuses on what's up ahead of him... if there were traps he'd just have to tank them as he preps for each turn well in advance, using his wings to turn him with drag or simply using momentum to 'land' on the wall and spring off again in the new direction. Ascending on each straightaway the hound arrives at the rooftop... certainly not first as Kal was impressively swift in the air but to him the suitcase was as light as a balloon and so he was off diving down the side of the tower to build back up momentum.

Lilliana giggles as she listens to Kal chattering about putting on a show. 'Three!' Shouts the other fox suddenly, causing Lilly to curse again and scramble as she ignites her pack with the press of a button, causing it to judder slightly before kicking to life and launching forward. The overcharged beast of a machine throwing the light fox through the air with ease as she clung on for dear life, wooping excitedly, her skirt fluttering aggressively as she regretted her wardrobe choices. She did her best to keep pace with the others but could easily see Kal making good headway upfront, easily darting through the street while Ebreus brutishly leaps off of a building every once in a while. Lilly herself was nowhere near as small as Kal or as large as Ebreus, preferring to stay out of the tighter turns but thankfully not having to do anything to strenuous as she reached the building, most definitely not in the lead. She strugggles with her case, hooking it hastily into the harness she made as she prepares to take off again. She pauses at the building's edge, admiring the breathtaking view before she kicks the pack into action once more to rejoin the course.

Kamryn thumbs the controls of her jetpack, carefully keeping her long tail out of the way of the plumes of thrust that result. Rising into the air with the full force of her pack directed into vertical lift she takes off with a speed that seems to surprise her, managing to keep pace with the others for a close start to the race. She heads for the city's rooftops as she follows the marked course, her feline reflexes coming in useful in operating the jetpack's controls as her quick reactions help her deftly adjust the thrust balance in response to her changing orientation at the tight turns. It doesn't take long to reach Zephyr HQ, towering above most of the city. She spirals around the remaining height of the structure, marvelling at the view from this height and slightly regretting her inability to fly, even in winged forms. Once at the top she takes aim at one of the remaining packs of supplies, seeing Ebreus's large form disappear over the side of the roof and knowing she has to pick up some speed to keep up with him and Kal, who was nowhere to be seen. Extending her tail, she slots it through the handle of the case, grabbing hold of it and pulling it into the air along with her without slowing down, aiming herself back onto the course to race back to the finishing line.

The blue fluffball moreso throws himself off the building as he finally locks the suitcase on, unable to heft the weight on his own - he had to use the jetpack and momentum to get going again. With the others having caught up soundly due to lost time, he makes his big move. Kal flips the switch he retrofitted to his booster, sending a potent electrical current in motion...come what may, it'd either blow him up or give him the speed he needed. Lady Luck was on his side this day, thankfully! The rockets flare with newfound strength, his robes nearly tearing off his body from rogue G-forces as he launches toward the finish line...able to see the others right on his tail until he passes the last flags at the power station!

Diving along the side of the Zephyr Tower, thrusting straight down even, Ebreus would only spread his wings at the last possible moment and adjust his course to blast forward just above the roads he's usually tasked with keeping paved. Rocketing along the hound follows the same rout back, trying his best to keep off the walls and maintain his speed until the finish line it in sight. Kal was already there but second place seemed within his grasp... the hound would again spread his great membranous wings as to slow down and avoid demolishing the finish line area with a great impact which would, sadly for him, allow Kamryn to zip past him in the final moments.

Zooming towards the finish line at full speed in an attempt to catch up with Kal's sudden burst of speed, Kamryn flips herself over to reverse thrust and bring herself to a stop before she crashes into the wall behind the platform. Slowing enough to brace against the wall with her feet to absorb the rest of her momentum, she pushes back off to land alongside the fluffball and release the case from her tail's grip. "Congratulations" she says, extending a hand to the winner. "Almost had you there, but not quite. Well done". She chuckles as Ebreus comes in to land heavily beside them, closely followed by Lilliana. "Close, but I think your size was against you there Eb" she says, slipping off her jetpack to give the two a hug. "How much did we raise then?" she asks the fennec that organised this whole thing and looking up at the display board.

Lilliana spirals rather inelegantly through the air, wooping loudly as she comes out of the barrel roll feeling slightly dizzy. She saw a pack with some red stripes and another pack with a feline attached to it, but couldn't make out the details between regaining control of her auto-cannibalised jetpack. She wasn't winning, she could see that much, but instead took pride in how well her modifications had performed during the race. And it was a lot of fun to swoosh through the sky at break-neck speeds she had to admit. She found herself giggling uncontrollably as she swooshed down low and then fwoomed up to the rooftops, the modified junker wings carrying her swiftly on as she continued. She could see the massive wings of Ebreus somewhere in her periphery as she careened recklessly through the skies towards her destination. She was as it stood a greyish bundle of foxy happiness strapped to a dangerously modified piece of already unsafe equipment, as she came in to land with the box of parts still secured in her harness, a little shaken but otherwise okay. She thudded into the landing zone, not expecting the force as she did, and came to a running stop before plopping down to massage her legs, giddy with adrenaline.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!" he'd pick up Kalsouthpaw's hand, and... arm... and whole body in fact. Kal was small, okay? "The winds of fate were with this one today, and I hope you all enjoyed the race! Please enjoy the complimentary buffet table being served... now." he'd snap his fingers as several drones fly down carrying a large snack and drink-covered table for the guests to enjoy, before zipping away. "Your donations were greatly appreciated, now let's have a round of applause for our winner and our contestants!" he'd gesture to the lot of the four, before handing Kal a small platinum chip worth several million creds. "Good work, lad. All of you please re-place your packs just there, and feel free to mingle with the crowd."

Kalsouthpaw lands roughly onto the pavement, the weight of the suitcase and the jetpack acting as the only real drag components to his tiny body. He takes a tumble, scratching himself up with a tiny racing heart beating a mile a minute. Despite that, the moment he unstraps himself he spreads his arms wide and exclaims, "TA-DA~!" Amidst the display, he feels the ground leaving him once more, legs staggering and flailing in the air before he realizes he's being hoisted up by the host. Needing a moment to recover once he gets put back down, he accepts the platinum chip and exhales. "That was AMAZING! AND we get food too! Best race ever! I've never seen a big guy move that fast or the fox's great corkscrews! Where'd you all learn that?"

Landing heavily as the lightweights finish first and second he'd smile and give the two of them each a firm pat on the back, "Gratz." he'd says before slipping the pack off and setting it down. "That was a great race." he says to the other racers before striding over to meet Magnus, "Clever idea for raising some money. Look forward to seeing the city glow from the Moon."

Lilliana grins as the competitors exchange congratulations. She places her pack down, almost sad to say goodbye to the modified machine as she turns to join the group. She moves over to Kal to shake his paw, small as it may be, "Well done! I really loved the stripes you added by the way, they were really magnificent!" She gushes, still riding the high of rocket powered flight as she skips over to the buffet table to load up a plate with all the food she could possibly cram into herself. Turning to Kal as he asks about their tricks, "Oh ... *snarf*" She begins, swallowing some food she had shovelled into her mouth already, "Well... It was basically making one side go up and the other go down, and then trying to hold on to my breakfast. Nothing too cool, not like your racing stripes or the big guy literally jumping off of walls." She says with a broad grin.