Exhack
Inactive Member
Caal Faricce
Base of Orbital Elevator
Hlarai
Anhi 03, 935
15:13, Commonwealth Standard Time
The year of AR 935 is fondly remembered on Hlarai, the the Jov'at season of that year is often referred as the 'Summer of Love' by the local settlers and colonists because of the ideal spring that led up to a peaceful and mild summer. Festivals during that period were especially prosperous and income from tourism had reached a ten year high. This time, during an era of unrest in the far colonies and the early rumblings of rebellion on Hlarai's frozen neighbor Mazerin, was the ideal season of love.
In the early days of the month dedicated to the Saint Anhi, the elevator city of Caal Farice, a renowned tourist destination within easy access of the major spaceports situated all along the solar collection pillar, hosted a major festival for sky boarding. Professional athletes, fans and recreational sky surfers all came to the city at the base of a 'canal city of the sky' to participate in the ensuing games.
The winds blew lightly at the tails of Rahim il-Fadir's light grey coat, making it appear briefly as though a pair of grey wings had fluttered behind him. The Iroma scratched one of his horns, looking down at the launch he was going to take.
Why had he volunteered to do this again? He was no sky-boarder. By trade he was a merchant and pilot, and didn't specialise in throwing himself off buildings, tethered by a few lengths of rubber and plastic to a hovering board several hundred feet straight up in the air. He was about to turn back and go right down the elevator to the ground floor when he saw a few more men gathered behind him on the launch.
'Well,' he thought to himself, slowly dropping the board in front of him and tying down his black boots, 'No time like the present.' The front of the board hung over the edge of the drop, with a dizzying drop of several hundred feet of open air beneath him, giving him a bird's-eye view of the spectators below. He leaned forward slowly and felt the board's gravity kick in just as he began his fall. When he was airborne, it kicked in in full.
The merchant felt, suddenly, the dizzying sensation of floating on a magic carpet. Rahim shook his head, the adrenaline from his drop kicking in as he controlled his fall; clumsily at first, then with a bit more grace. A lazy downward spiral took Rahim towards the ground, where he skipped slowly to a stop, one foot slipping out of the board's toe-holds.
"Well," he said to no-one in particular, "That was easier than I thought it would be."
Nenetl didn't know much about skyboarding, but she did know the only thing she needed to know: her Other Mother had bought her many, many things, and paraphernalia for a sport she'd never tried before was included in that! And, considering the constant battles for Nenetl's affection within that family, it was only proper that she make a show of enjoying it at the festival, so as to ensure some retaliatory gift-giving was engaged in by her Biological Mother.
Nenetl had no fear, of course. Just because she'd never been on a board before didn't mean she couldn't ride one. Just by the grace of who she was, it was clear she was the best skyboarder present, all those professionals be damned. She took no precautions, had no sense of self-preservation, and certainly showed no butterflies: she simply hurled herself over the edge with a very loud (but probably inaudible, due to circumstances) squeal of delight, worrying about such things as how stable it would be, and what if it didn't work, later.
As it was still fairly early in the day, most of the sky boarders where fairly spread apart and numbered in the high dozens. A few groups of boarders were moving in formation, coasting between the sky-grasping pillar of the orbital elevator and the nearby maintance tower that it dwarfed. The aerospace imediately around the pillar was cordened off with aerial buoys that redirected hover traffic to the ground or nearby service stations, likely as a preventative measure.
"Easy? That's kind of a lazy why to fly, guy." Hearing the voice of a young woman, Rahim immediately felt a breeze at his back and the distinctive ringing of a liftsphere pass him by near the ground. The person that had called him out flew into view, stopping just short of a nearby wall and gave him a slightly annoyed look. "I mean. You're acting like falling is all there is." She was clearly one of the local Eyr Ranr, her hair tied back with a number of colorful ribbons and her body covered in a mess of dyed cloth wrappings and what appeared to be a two piece athletic swimsuit.
"That pretty much is all it is." Rahim grunted. He looked over the Eyn Ranr flier in front of him and scratched his chin, looking at his own garbs. He didn't look much like the Eyn Ranr that he actually was. The less-than-conservative dress worn by the woman before him floating on the surfboard was in stark contrast to his own.
He was dressed in a bright orange tunic and flared brown pants, and thrown over it was a gray cloth longcoat with a split tail. A red sash had been tied around his waist, and his hair had been cut down close to his scalp. His black boots shined in the limited sunlight. All in all, he didn't look anything like an Eyn Ranr's stereotypical "bold colors" image. But he was a tradesman - cultures outside had trickled down to him.
"At least, that's what I think it is in essence." The merchant shrugged. "You jump, you fall unassisted for a second, then the board kicks in and you just guide yourself down. I'm probably wrong, though." Rahim's head tilted off to one side, as if in thought.
The sensation of falling out of control was momentarily terrifying, but Nenetl was by and large immune to terror, and as the GE drive kicked and gradually halted her fall, she finally made about finding the board's footholds, pulling up with her hands on the nose of the board. This resulted in some wild amounts of instability, nearly saw Nenetl fall, and additionally saw her shriek some more in that delighted manner of hers. She was finding a single issue so far, Nenetl very much wished she'd thought to tie her hair back.
Few things could possibly have been more annoying than the hair whipping through her face like it was. She needed to cut it. Teach it a LESSON. She could worry about that later, though, when she had the board properly upright again. Down, down, down!
"It's not what you are doing, it's how you do it," murmured a tall Mazerinii. She had overheard the conversation between Rahim and the other girl as she made yet another modification to her board, which sported an odd assortment of GE Lifters of various sizes, some active, others not. She picked the board up and walked to the access that would take her to the launch point.
Afifa closed her eyes before taking the drop. The wind here was warm, as far from the chill of her homeland as she could imagine. She had been forced to discard her coat early on because of the warmth, and only the wind of the fall kept her cool enough to avoid discarding anything more. Still, a sheen of sweat was beading on her forehead as the young one leaned forward and began to fall. Moments later the whine of the Lifters kicked in and she drifted lazily away from the tower.
The wind alternated, tearing by her helmeted ears one second and then disappearing without a trace the next as she closed her eyes again and weaved back and forth, trying to make the flight last as long as she could, relying on an audio-cue rangefinder to warn of potential collisions. She was becoming better at flying on these boards; her latest drops a far cry from the heavy crashes she had endured at the start. After what felt like hours but probably was nowhere near that, she felt the bottom of the board cease to move downward as it came to a hovering rest over the ground. Opening her eyes, Afifa tilted the board until she slid off it and dropped to the ground and unlatched her helmet, setting it on the board and sitting down next to it to rest and cool down.
Base of Orbital Elevator
Hlarai
Anhi 03, 935
15:13, Commonwealth Standard Time
The year of AR 935 is fondly remembered on Hlarai, the the Jov'at season of that year is often referred as the 'Summer of Love' by the local settlers and colonists because of the ideal spring that led up to a peaceful and mild summer. Festivals during that period were especially prosperous and income from tourism had reached a ten year high. This time, during an era of unrest in the far colonies and the early rumblings of rebellion on Hlarai's frozen neighbor Mazerin, was the ideal season of love.
In the early days of the month dedicated to the Saint Anhi, the elevator city of Caal Farice, a renowned tourist destination within easy access of the major spaceports situated all along the solar collection pillar, hosted a major festival for sky boarding. Professional athletes, fans and recreational sky surfers all came to the city at the base of a 'canal city of the sky' to participate in the ensuing games.
The winds blew lightly at the tails of Rahim il-Fadir's light grey coat, making it appear briefly as though a pair of grey wings had fluttered behind him. The Iroma scratched one of his horns, looking down at the launch he was going to take.
Why had he volunteered to do this again? He was no sky-boarder. By trade he was a merchant and pilot, and didn't specialise in throwing himself off buildings, tethered by a few lengths of rubber and plastic to a hovering board several hundred feet straight up in the air. He was about to turn back and go right down the elevator to the ground floor when he saw a few more men gathered behind him on the launch.
'Well,' he thought to himself, slowly dropping the board in front of him and tying down his black boots, 'No time like the present.' The front of the board hung over the edge of the drop, with a dizzying drop of several hundred feet of open air beneath him, giving him a bird's-eye view of the spectators below. He leaned forward slowly and felt the board's gravity kick in just as he began his fall. When he was airborne, it kicked in in full.
The merchant felt, suddenly, the dizzying sensation of floating on a magic carpet. Rahim shook his head, the adrenaline from his drop kicking in as he controlled his fall; clumsily at first, then with a bit more grace. A lazy downward spiral took Rahim towards the ground, where he skipped slowly to a stop, one foot slipping out of the board's toe-holds.
"Well," he said to no-one in particular, "That was easier than I thought it would be."
Nenetl didn't know much about skyboarding, but she did know the only thing she needed to know: her Other Mother had bought her many, many things, and paraphernalia for a sport she'd never tried before was included in that! And, considering the constant battles for Nenetl's affection within that family, it was only proper that she make a show of enjoying it at the festival, so as to ensure some retaliatory gift-giving was engaged in by her Biological Mother.
Nenetl had no fear, of course. Just because she'd never been on a board before didn't mean she couldn't ride one. Just by the grace of who she was, it was clear she was the best skyboarder present, all those professionals be damned. She took no precautions, had no sense of self-preservation, and certainly showed no butterflies: she simply hurled herself over the edge with a very loud (but probably inaudible, due to circumstances) squeal of delight, worrying about such things as how stable it would be, and what if it didn't work, later.
As it was still fairly early in the day, most of the sky boarders where fairly spread apart and numbered in the high dozens. A few groups of boarders were moving in formation, coasting between the sky-grasping pillar of the orbital elevator and the nearby maintance tower that it dwarfed. The aerospace imediately around the pillar was cordened off with aerial buoys that redirected hover traffic to the ground or nearby service stations, likely as a preventative measure.
"Easy? That's kind of a lazy why to fly, guy." Hearing the voice of a young woman, Rahim immediately felt a breeze at his back and the distinctive ringing of a liftsphere pass him by near the ground. The person that had called him out flew into view, stopping just short of a nearby wall and gave him a slightly annoyed look. "I mean. You're acting like falling is all there is." She was clearly one of the local Eyr Ranr, her hair tied back with a number of colorful ribbons and her body covered in a mess of dyed cloth wrappings and what appeared to be a two piece athletic swimsuit.
"That pretty much is all it is." Rahim grunted. He looked over the Eyn Ranr flier in front of him and scratched his chin, looking at his own garbs. He didn't look much like the Eyn Ranr that he actually was. The less-than-conservative dress worn by the woman before him floating on the surfboard was in stark contrast to his own.
He was dressed in a bright orange tunic and flared brown pants, and thrown over it was a gray cloth longcoat with a split tail. A red sash had been tied around his waist, and his hair had been cut down close to his scalp. His black boots shined in the limited sunlight. All in all, he didn't look anything like an Eyn Ranr's stereotypical "bold colors" image. But he was a tradesman - cultures outside had trickled down to him.
"At least, that's what I think it is in essence." The merchant shrugged. "You jump, you fall unassisted for a second, then the board kicks in and you just guide yourself down. I'm probably wrong, though." Rahim's head tilted off to one side, as if in thought.
The sensation of falling out of control was momentarily terrifying, but Nenetl was by and large immune to terror, and as the GE drive kicked and gradually halted her fall, she finally made about finding the board's footholds, pulling up with her hands on the nose of the board. This resulted in some wild amounts of instability, nearly saw Nenetl fall, and additionally saw her shriek some more in that delighted manner of hers. She was finding a single issue so far, Nenetl very much wished she'd thought to tie her hair back.
Few things could possibly have been more annoying than the hair whipping through her face like it was. She needed to cut it. Teach it a LESSON. She could worry about that later, though, when she had the board properly upright again. Down, down, down!
"It's not what you are doing, it's how you do it," murmured a tall Mazerinii. She had overheard the conversation between Rahim and the other girl as she made yet another modification to her board, which sported an odd assortment of GE Lifters of various sizes, some active, others not. She picked the board up and walked to the access that would take her to the launch point.
Afifa closed her eyes before taking the drop. The wind here was warm, as far from the chill of her homeland as she could imagine. She had been forced to discard her coat early on because of the warmth, and only the wind of the fall kept her cool enough to avoid discarding anything more. Still, a sheen of sweat was beading on her forehead as the young one leaned forward and began to fall. Moments later the whine of the Lifters kicked in and she drifted lazily away from the tower.
The wind alternated, tearing by her helmeted ears one second and then disappearing without a trace the next as she closed her eyes again and weaved back and forth, trying to make the flight last as long as she could, relying on an audio-cue rangefinder to warn of potential collisions. She was becoming better at flying on these boards; her latest drops a far cry from the heavy crashes she had endured at the start. After what felt like hours but probably was nowhere near that, she felt the bottom of the board cease to move downward as it came to a hovering rest over the ground. Opening her eyes, Afifa tilted the board until she slid off it and dropped to the ground and unlatched her helmet, setting it on the board and sitting down next to it to rest and cool down.
