D1 Expecting LA - Does the Horse Drone On?

[Shinjo Suh-Hyun]

The soft purr of a tiny motor heralded the arrival of the First Rider of Unicorn, to visit the shop. With a clang the kickstand was dropped out and the rider in question stepped off. The removal of a helmet decorated with cartoon horse riding a rocket was followed quickly by the placement off a midnight blue beret.

Now presentable, Suh-Hyun stepped toward the building with all it's banners and posters. She pulled down her aviator's sunglasses and studied the various signage from over the mirrored lenses still resting on her nose. A few moments of silence, well relatively it was a busy street behind her, followed and then the Shinjo voiced her assessment of the store front:

"Huh."

[Yasuki Taraka]

The door chime rang as a customer hurried off with a box.

A young Yasuki woman saw her off.

"Enjoy your flights! Come again!" she called out.

She looked over at the quite new swatch of purple in front of her store and looked her over.

"That's a nicely decorated helmet, Unicorn-san. Your work?" she asked indicating the bike helmet, since she was pretty sure that the bike was a rental.

[Shinjo Suh-Hyun]

Suh-Hyun pushed up her sunglasses as she heard the chime and watched the departing customer. Even without knowing the intricacies of Unicorn uniforms, it was pretty obvious the Shinjo was a pilot of some sort.

"The helmet? Ah no, a friend drew it for me. I knew I would be renting some transportation and brought it along. Borrowing a bike is one thing, spending multiple days in someone else's helmet is another." She likewise looked over the Crab. Finally she pulled the glasses off completely, "Flying Battle Carps?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka smiled.

"That's what the sign says. It's....well, why don't you come inside the store, so you can see with your own eyes?" she invited.

[Shinjo Suh-Hyun]

Suh-Hyun shrugged, "Sure I was hoping to speak with a store representative anyway." Tucking away her sunglasses, she followed the Yasuki inside. The Shinjo laughed a little at the sight.

"Have you turned drone warfare into a game?" The question was largely rhetorical given the Unicorn wasn't blind. "That's a fun idea. Well depending on the warfare part. I assume you aren't shooting at each other."

She pulls off her beret and tucks it under a shoulder strap, "Well I suppose you could with low powered weapons and sensors."

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka chuckles at that.

"Well, you're half right, Unicorn-san. The original ones were designed by Kaiu Heavy Industries for military prototypes. These are a stripped down civilian grade model. If you buy out the store and try to storm the government center with this fleet, all you'll really accomplish is a record for the number of nuisance tickets you are handed by the magistrates." she joked.

She pointed out the banners hanging from the drones.

"And well, the government wasn't going to give us authorization for actual weapons, given the over competitive nature of some people. You know how it is with some people, you give them leave for an air gun and suddenly they're contemplating the feasibility of a flame thrower, 'if it's just a little one.'" she said with a dismissive shake of the head.

"So, we've taken inspiration from the tales of wandering duelists of old. Rather than a back banner, you hang a banner from the drone, and rather than the single slice of a blade, the goal is to cut the opponent's banner with the rotor while keeping your own. So moving quickly, but carefully lest you manage to snare a tree and defeat yourself."

[Shinjo Suh-Hyun]

"Ah, 'Unicorn-san', my apologies I let myself be distracted," Suh-Hyun's smile turned awkward, "Shinjo Suh-Hyun, 2nd Testing and Evaluation Squadron, Unicorn Navy."

The explanation of the nature of the drone combat brought a nod, "I see, the banners would alter flight characteristics though. Part of the fun I take it? You get a lot of business here? I assume the tournament running now is more for to draw us outsiders?"

She inspects one of the drones, "Surplus or is this some military contractor's side business?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

"Yasuki Taraka, manger of Flying Battle Carps." she reciprocates.

She considered the barrage of questions.

"True, it does alter the flight characteristics. Not to mention the changes you see when you fly so close to another drone, and especially when you hit the opponent's banner with the rotor. But to be fair, combat is rarely smooth, and it's quite the enjoyable challenge to pull off.

Business has been....well, not bad. But this sort of business is particularly susceptible to the currents of the market. When the economy is great, everyone's flying high, and when it's not, well it's hard to glide without wind.

The league leaderboard is my idea. Of course I want to draw outsiders, but I also wanted to provide a reason for people to gather and meet with strangers. I know some people would happily spend every night dancing at the club, but variety is good too I think."

She looked over at the drone the Unicorn was inspecting.

"Ah, no, Shinjo-san. The drones are all built specifically for this store, though my father was originally a designer for Kaiu Heavy Industries, and my mother secured the civilian rights for construction. The one you're looking at is a 'Battle Tested Veteran', though. Some people fall out of love with the hobby, hard as it might be to believe, and rather than have our carps end up in a landfill, we accept them back. They don't handle quite as smoothly as a Rookie Ace, and have a bit of cosmetic damage, but some people find that appealing."

[Shinjo Suh-Hyun]

She gave the drone a little pat, "Down but not out little fellow. Good hunting to you."

Her attention shifts fully back to the Crab, "I was wondering how many banner cables you've seen pulled from rotors. I suppose first banner down is the winner regardless of what comes after?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka nods.

"A few, to be certain. You can only make strings so thin, banners so lightweight and rotors so sharp before you run into issues of the banner coming off too soon, or the drone not flying properly. You'd see that issue more in the earliest days of the store when they were hammering out the finer details. Two drones getting entangled and crashing. Some people tended to refer to those as 'kharmic strikes'. Something we've worked to avoid because no one enjoys an outcome with no clear winner."

She motioned over to the leaderboard display which currently had Bayushi Senshuken's name at the top, along with the others who had entered the competition. There was even a Spider on the list, Susumu Sumiko.

"But yes, first banner dropped, whether it's through your opponent hitting it, or through your own pilot error loses." she adds.

[Shinjo Suh-Hyun]

Another soft laugh, "That must have been amusing to watch. Those early tests. And good tests for the operators involved. Do you ever introduce weird obstacles to your games? Maybe a forest of balloons and cables?"

She studies the leaderboard for a moment, "A Scorpion and a Spider, eh. Already have a favorite to win the whole thing?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka nods.

"Depends on the level of interest. The nice thing about the leaderboard league format is you can participate whenever is convenient for two pilots. But if people let us know that they wanna see a bigger event with multiple pilots, the store is happy to arrange bigger scale competitions." she explained.

"As for a favorite, it's pretty early to declare that. I thought that Susumu-san entering might bring out some more Crab competitors, and I was really hoping to see some Unicorn competitors because, well, they're pretty famous for their piloting skills, and I think it'd be pretty amazing to compete against them."

[Shinjo Suh-Hyun]

"Well I believe Utaku Itsuka might be known to you, she is a local pilot," Suh-Hyun rested her chin in a hand and nodded, "Moto Shiwahime also arrived around the same time as me, not sure of any other Unicorn." She oddly doesn't seem to consider herself when responding to the Yasuki's Unicorn comment, "Interesting that the potential for a Spider league champion didn't bring in more of your clan, maybe news hasn't spread yet."

She lifted her chin from her hand, "Ah if you don't mind me asking, with so many clans and groups now coming to your home here. What exactly do you, as a local business, want to help bring more folks to your venue?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka considered the omission of the Unicorn's own name. Perhaps she was being coy....or perhaps she was recently wed into the Unicorn.

"CBI, Shinjo-san: Customers, Boosters, and Investors. The more pilots we have participating, the more interesting the competition. The more people we have spreading the news about Flying Battle Carps, the more customers we get. And for truly sustainable growth, investors to send Flying Battle Carp across the stars. A big goal, to be sure, but what fun is life without big goals?" she explained.

[Shinjo Suh-Hyun]

"Well I can imagine it taking off in a lot of places." She nodded and rested her hand on her chin again, "Though my own kin might find it a bit tame." Suh-Hyun chuckled to herself, "Maybe put a big fan next to the operators so they get the rush of wind." Surely she wasn't being serious. "Still I wonder if there might be some firms you could partner with."

"Of course," She sighed, "I was hoping for something more specific. But I guess anything that helps draw tourists would increase exposure."

The Unicorn let out a small laugh, "Well! As we used to say aim for the moon and you still land among the stars! Maybe not all across the stars but a few franchises off world would be something neh?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka nodded.

"Oh definitely. We've got something in the works with Azure Dragon. You'll likely be hearing about it soon as we hammer out the details." she revealed.

She smiled a bit about what was surely a joke about the wind.

"Ah, I didn't realize that Unicorn pilots flew fighter craft with the top down to feel the void of space in their hair. Or do they just have a habit of always turning the air conditioning to max? While I definitely can't speak to what a Unicorn might find thrilling or not, Bayushi-san is a biker and she seemed quite entertained with our duel."

She took a moment to adjust one of the boxes on the shelf that was slightly off-center.

"Or as I've heard Shinjo-san, the journey to a financial empire begins with a single sale." offering a Yasuki twist on Shinsei.

[Shinjo Suh-Hyun]

"Oh I wasn't even talking about the fighter pilots." Suh-Hyun pointed back to the road, "I meant the bikers looking for a different thrill. If you want to capture the feeling of space combat you would need to alter gravity in violent bursts. And play a bunch of screeches while flashing lights." Her eyes turn wistfully skyward, "Not much like it...no offense meant."

She lets out a small laugh, "I suppose subjecting your customers to painful and physically taxing hardships as part of your game probably turns off a large part of a customer base."

"Still you impressed at least on thrill seeker it seems. Who won your duel?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Ah that old space jockey arrogance. It'd been a little bit since Taraka had had to be put up with being called a space bus driver by people who thought they were the only part of the military that actually mattered. But fail to bring supplies to the fleet, and they were just a bunch of pretty faces in shiny metal boxes.

"No offense taken at all," Taraka said with her brightest customer service smile. "I'm sure it won't surprise you to hear that Bayushi-san was the victor. She's got some serious moves both on the road and in the air. I only hope that she finds someone to offer her a decent challenge. Being the undisputed champion because no one was bold enough to try disputing you just isn't quite as sweet. Still impressive though, to cow people with just your name."

[Shinjo Suh-Hyun]

"Hmm?" She raised a brow, "No expectations really, unless you were holding back to keep a customer hooked," Her tone was teasing.

"Reputation can be a weapon, it can unnerve an opponent," Her smile waivers a bit, bad memory per chance, she recovers quickly enough, "Of course one has to earn that, but a first win against someone who is more experienced at the controls is a good start."

She waves of the undisputed part, "Not much of a champion if you never play, eh? My experience is usually the champion has to defend their title considerably more then someone on the lower brackets. I mean your own rules reflect that no? If I joined in then beating me wouldn't really move your position up as much as say beating the Scorpion racer. Their win against you has put a big target on them."

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka waved the accusation away lazily.

"Ah, I'd never do that, Shinjo-san. A competition is only fun if the competitors are giving it their all, ne? I'd no sooner hold back in a duel than you'd hold back in a race." she said, secure in that knowledge.

She considered the Shinjo's other words.

"But does a large target tempt you to shoot, Shinjo-san? Without a marksman, concentric circles are just an art project."