"On your marks!"
Red One
"Ready?"
Red Two
"Get set!"
Red THREE
"GO!"
GREEN!
In the cockpit of the Lilin, Naqi'a slammed down the throttle. Her crimson dagger bucked forward with a sudden flare of its fusion drive, scorching the tarmac and sending her hurtling alongside the other racers into the void. Slender fingers danced across her control console as though she were playing an old-Ophon piano, calculating the route to CASSIOPE space and settling back to relish the acceleration and the anticipation of the first obstacle.
Approaching CASSIOPE's kelp maze, Naqi'a shook herself from her fugue and gripped Lilin's manual controls. The welcoming embrace of the first marker sped past in a blur, and as a weapons discharge warning blared beneath her notice, she opened a channel to the other racers.
"GLORY IN FLIGHT!"
Her maneuvering thrusters spun, hammering her into a high-G turn that even her inertial harness strained to compensate for. As the breath was forced from her lungs, she launched into a battle song in Old Imperial, broadcasting through the vibrating strands of kelp until an anthem of her forefathers was racing along with her. Through the dizzying maze, she saw that she had fallen behind two racers, but it didn't concern her - she would have her time in open space.
Parrot's Perch
Free of the kelp cluster, Naqi'a wasted little time before rocketing back into the pack, vectored for the Glic Blue Zone. One by one, the other racers spun into a deceleration burn, but Naqi'a kept pace with the maniac from Veehra until the last possible moment. The sudden blast from her emergency deceleration would have broken her spine if not for the inertial harness and her flight suit, but she still tasted copper as she sailed majestically through the open air. Far to starboard, she watched the stardust folly of Alud Soom's abrupt re-entry, and idly wondered if the dust-eater had saved any weapons' charge for the actual hostiles lurking ahead. Putting her Lilin into a delicate spin, Naqi'a caught a passing cloud and spun it into a long double helix before punching out of the atmosphere.
"Mad Dash racers, this is Naqi'a of the House of Fire. I am transmitting the Ducal IFF frequency of the fleet action taking place ahead. You should be safe from the Tiamat and the Bull of Heaven so long as your flight computers are repeating the signal. I make no promises for the rock-hoppers."
The VIP Platform
As the drive flare of the Lilin faded into Mekhala's innumerable stars, the Duke and Duchess finally turned to greet their hosts. As they approached her, Ambassador Donce noticed the gifted crystal weave scarf tied around the Duke's waist as a sash, the sole piece of incongruity in Esarhaddon's starkly militant regalia.
"Ambassador, a pleasure to see you again. Allow me to introduce my beloved, Ana-Tashmetum-taklak."
The Duchess favored the ambassador with a slight, polite curtsey within the billowing folds of her diaphanous gown.
"Truly, Ambassador, the Protectorate has outdone themselves with the splendor of this contest."