Hello Salvation City! Did you miss it? Yesterday was the inaugural Union Heights Air Derby, sponsored by Traverse! I arrived early to secure my spot. The same plaza once buzzed by General Ironjaw’s Valkyrie airships buzzed with excitement as the race was slated to begin.
The atmosphere was electric as the racers shot off and onlookers from all over the city cheered on their racers. Ships of all shapes and sizes representing sponsorships from every corporation as well as independents blazed round a floating ring track. Standing in the crowd, we had no idea what kind of a show we were in for. If you want to see how it all turned out for yourself, check out the full coverage on TridentLive!
The oddities started small, with a mysterious unregistered vehicle attempting to join the race, completing several laps before careening off into the lower city. This disruption didn’t put a damper on the fierce competition though, with Haru from Masaru making history as the inaugural victor of the Union Heights Air Derby, screaming into first past GEB sponsored Cerulian and a mysterious independent racer.
The celebratory mood was marred by a slight confusion. Hadn’t Trident’s Vivienne “Big Money” been in second? Where had she gone? Joy turned to horror as we spotted her ship careening off course. The usually graceful vessel lumbered away from the track and towards Trident Tower. In what must have taken a heroic effort, Vivienne managed to regain control, avoiding a collision with both the GEB and Trident Towers. With the adrenaline higher than at the photo finish, we were all left wondering. What the hell just happened?
The buffet tables and champagne at the top of Trident Tower felt a little at odds with the mood as we waited uneasily for our racers to safely land. After we checked in on Vivienne, who was, fortunately, along with all the other racers, safe and sound, we asked her for details. “The ship…I was doing well, and then it just started careening, there were electrical issues, the lights were flashing.” FL0UND3R suggested the malfunctions were timed right as she pulled into second place. Big Money seemed too shaken up to be certain, but added. “They should have at least done some final checks on the ships before I flew. I really thought that I would crash into a giant Orb.”
The surprises didn’t stop there. TraVerse security guards in gleaming armour appeared, carrying high powered weapons. The independent racer, who had won third place was swiftly arrested and escorted from the premises. The explanation given by the suited man leading them? “Crimes against TraVerse.” The racer, apparently, had a history of fixing races, one that had flown under the radar…until he flew too close to the sun. His backer, a man named Stax O’Munni, was openly distraught at the news, with the racer’s third place position having apparently been poised to earn him a large sum of money.
Between a rogue racer, a near miss tragedy and accusations of race fixing, I was starting to wonder if this was the Air Derby or Air Debacle. Yet to the ever affable silver-haired Ellek Myth of TraVerse, it would seem nothing at all was awry. He spoke breezily to our reporters of the work the Derby had taken to organise and how pleased he was with the inter-corporate co-operation that the event represented.
When it came to questions of race fixing or sabotage, he firmly denied any culpability for TraVerse. “We inspect every ship the day before. As per the contract signed with TraVerse, you leave the ship in our hangar, with all modifications, so we can check they are legal and safe. We do a background check, security check, and a test flight. Then we deliver the ship to every corporation. If there was an issue with the engine of the ship for Trident, there was maybe some tampering or modification after we delivered it.”
When I reviewed that answer on the tape, I was shocked by what I was hearing. Whatever happened on that ship, if it had crashed into a corporate building, we could have been talking about serious loss of life. This wasn’t the moment to discuss contracts or culpability.
Trident has called for a full and open investigation of what occurred on that ship, as well as confirmation if any other ships were tampered with, as well as a review of security processes and future prevention measures. I, for one, will be waiting eagerly for the results of any such review.