"Everything is set, Ayr" a voice came clearly through his helmet audio system. Ayr had checked every system and sensor on the MAC. He adjusted on the seat, and prepared.
"MAC011 test start" he exhaled as he relayed the information to the engineering team. As soon as he started the engine the MAC responded, he was launched in an instant. His body tensed as the sudden force hit him.
He had reached the top speed in seconds, he was testing on the same track, Mercury had been assessed a few days ago. Ayr quickly reach the first pair of turns and took them as fast as he could. the MAC was responsive, the maneuverability on point.
He soon started with the obstacles, a pair of jumps, crosses and grav pulls. The track had been designed by Vaner and him. He knew it by heart, but that did not make running on it easier, they had discussed the layout for a long time, until the end result. It was a track that demanded, complete focus. MAC racing was fast, a loss of focus meant ending the race. Most pilots had to retire because they began losing reflexes, that made them slow, or dangerous.
"All systems look good; how does it feel?"
"The MAC is fast, and its response time incredible, I am not sure about the feel of the brakes, but they are responsive, we might have to check with the other drivers, overall, I think it is ready" Ayr answered, as he reached another straight. He had already done several laps, allowing the engineering team, to test every sensor and capture information "I am going to push it".
Ayr began racing, he was now going as fast as his reflexes and the MAC would allow. The MAC was ready, they had been extremely careful with the test, and he had done every run of it. He was confident in it, but still he had not push as he was now.
The MAC development had been an integral part of creating a team. He had spent a lot of time, and resources, in the development of the MACs for the team. The engineering team was made from several veteran engineers on the scene. Recruiting had been a pain; he had ended spending a lot more than the intended budget and used every resource he had available to manage to get them. These veterans were backed up, by a joint program with several universities in Beta Prime, that had been a brilliant move as it had eased up some of the expenses, and gave a lot of muscle to the team, and not less important allowed the students an incredible opportunity.
The result was the MAC he was now driving. He had worked with the team as close as he could, specially during the testing and the finesse detailing, keeping all the work a secret had been a pain, but somehow, they had managed to do it.
Ayr was cruising the track, the MAC was fast, incredible so, with each lap, he was pushing harder, breaking as late as he could, taking the curves as fast as possible.
"I think that is enough for the test run Ayr, we will began training soon" Vander voice startled Ayr. He had lost time of how many laps had he done already.
"Understood, see you in a moment… coach" Ayr could not help but smile. The MAC was ready, all that was left, was to adjust them for each pilot, and then they could present them for the official Circuit test and inspection. He finished the lap and turned off the MAC, he was covered in sweat, and felt his muscles aching, but he was smiling, he had never stopped feeling a rush, every time he drove a MAC.
As he went down the MAC the engineering team was coming, he could tell by their looks, the test had been a success. He saw Vander waving at him, from the observation post, he waved back. He would talk with the engineers later.
"It is ready" he said as the team came closer.
"We think so as well, we will check everything and double check, they will be ready for practice in day or two" the response came from a middle-aged man, William Mercer, Chief Mechanic of the team. He was one of the few not smiling, but he was not scowling, which was his usual, a straight face meant happiness in him, at least according to Ayr.
"Thank you, Chief William, I'll leave it to you" they nodded, and passed each other. Ayr continued to the observation post to talk with Vander. He saw his friend, former teammate, now coach, watching at a replay of his test.
"How does it feel?" that was the thing, for all the sensors and data collected from the MAC, everyone still asked about how it felt, Vander in particular being a pilot as well, knew how important it was.
"Solid, fast and responsive, I feel incredible comfortable with it, but I am biased, the thing was made with my output as the base"
"It is a pretty fine base Ayr, and it is fast" Vander was still watching the replay "Damn, I'll have to test the damn thing as well"
Ayr sighed but said nothing else, he looked at Vander reviewing his run. He had accepted coaching, he was a MAC pilot, and he knew one never stopped being one. One Vander said he was quitting MAC racing, Ayr had not pushed, it was a good decision, but and incredibly difficult one for Vander, there would come a time for Ayr to make the call as well… but it was not time to think about it.
"Let's go to the office, we have several things to discuss" Ayr said as they both finished watching his test run "How have you taken on moving to Beta Prime?"
"It is a big planet, a little bit more… calm to what I am used too, and it has a nice weather overall" Vander and Ayr walked fast as they talked "I used to spend a lot of time away from Dunedan while racing, I thought it would be harder for Sasha, but she had used to it faster than me to be honest"
"We are lucky she never wanted to become a pilot, otherwise, we might not have met" Ayr said grinning "I am still amazed you left Dunedan"
"I told you, we have thought about this a lot, we sold the main house, but kept one near the beach"
They continued talking as they entered the headquarters and headed for the team office. There they sat in front of each other. They had been talking lightly as they walked, but once they entered the office, they had become a lot more serious.
"Who would you like to join the team?" Ayr asked suddenly.
"Does it matter?, he won't join" Vander answered confused about the question.
"It does for me, I would like to know your idea, on who could be the best fit with Mercury and me as teammates"
"Kowalski or Ye"
"Really? I thought about Kowalski but I rather had Mykonos over Ye" Ayr replied surprised about Vander answer.
"Well it does not matter, so let's not waste our time on them, we need to start thinking on who we should try to get"
"Why not them, I think we could make an interesting enough offer"
"Because Mercury is on the team, for this season, they could help you achieve the championship but for next season, Mercury should be in a very different spot, we would need someone different perhaps, and they would not accept a one season deal, isn't it what we have discussed?" Vander replied upset but Ayr smiled.
"You are right, Vander, and that is what I wanted to talk to you about before we discuss the missing pilot. We need to talk about the kind of team we will be" Ayr was serious, as Vander noted that, he calmed down.
"A winning team, but a team that cares for its members" Vander said slowly "That is what you told me when I asked you about the team"
"I think the offer we proposed Mercury reflects that, does it not?"
"It does, but what happens if Mercury does not reach the potential, we expect of her?" Vander was calmed but his tone was on edge.
"We believe in her, support her, and push her; in the end if it's she really does not make it, we talk with her again, help her, and back her. She deservers a spot in the circuit and see that she gets it, but at the end of the second season, we part ways with her" Ayr replied.
"What will happen, when your results drop Ayr, you are the owner of the team, would you step down when asked too?, if I am truly to become the team coach, I need to be sure, my decisions will be respected" Vander was dead serious, Ayr regarded at his friend of for a while and then sighed.
"I understand Vander, I already gave a lot of thought about it, before finally deciding to create the team. I don't think I will be able to stay away from MAC racing Vander, I always respected when you decided to retire, I do not think any pilot would move away from racing if they could help it, I could have created the team once I retired, but, I wanted to race with you more" Ayr smiled as Vander was taken aback by his words "You made the right call, when you retired, but I wanted to race with you more, it took me some time to accept your decision, even though I understood it, accepting it was different, and then the last three seasons were… not as fun" Ayr stopped and Vander was still confused.
"With each season I began working on making the team possible, I had your promise Vander, and that made it more important to created it sooner. I finally understood what you said about skills, 'There will be a time, you feel certain of your skill, what you can and not do, that is the time, to push, to extend, for the next step it's the hardest, realizing you are dwindling', that it's what you told me Vander, and I am certain of my skills now" Ayr paused, Vander gave a small nod.
"I know there will come a time for me to stop, I had hope, you will be there to help me make the decision" Vander looked at Ayr who was calm, the same face he had when he was about to race "I want to establish as part of the guidelines for the team, how much weight your decisions as coach will have, I do wish to participate with you on them, and I also intend the other pilots to have a say, I told you, a different team" as Ayr finished explaining, Vander gave a long sigh.
"I know how much work and resources you have spent in making this possible Ayr, but when I told you I came to honor what we have talked, I also discussed about it with Sasha, we really talked about it. You startled me a bit, at the beginning of this conversation, but we are on the same page, I would also love to be part of a team like this, and so, I would like to formally ask if you would consider, Sasha and my as partners" Ayr was surprised for a moment, but then he smiled. Sasha and Vander had always made very calculated decisions, if he was saying this, they had surely think about it a lot.
"I would be honored Vander" Ayr replied without hesitation "Thank you"
"Dammit Ayr, stop being so formal" Vander replied smiling and Ayr laughed.
"Fine, we should talk with Sasha to discuss the details, you know part of the team actions are held by the Beta Prime Farming Association, those I cannot change, but I have thought the possibility of other partners. When do you think we could talk with Sasha about this, it is important to have these points finished before being announced in the MPC"
"Yeah, she said so as well, I will send her message, she could come in an hour or two if its alright" Vander replied, and Ayr nodded. He took his pcom, and send a message.
"Well, now that you are even more involved in this, and that we have the same picture of the kind of team we want to be, all that is left is to make the team into it" Ayr said smiling.
"How well prepared are we, as a team" Vander asked as they were walking.
"The engineering team, is incredible, you have seen the MAC's and we have enough experience and drive, honestly I think is the best part of the team" when he decided to create the team, he had started with the engineering team, it was the foundation of any team, but most new teams, built on a base, and reached other teams for tech and parts for their MAC's, the one he had just driving was designed and developed by the team from scratch.
"That's good, I knew you were going to be taking on that part, now that I seen the test run, I am certain we have a good chance with the MAC's" Vander replied
"I think we have enough experienced personnel in the team as well, to manage the logistics and every other detail that needs to be taken care, I was doing a lot of work there, but we just made recent additions to the team to fill those positions, and I believe, I found a valuable assistant, so I could focus on the season" Ayr smiled at the last remark, and Vander did not miss that, but said nothing on it.
"Well all we need is find the last pilot, give Mercury enough practice for her ascension to the MPC, and create some kind of team synergy" Vander said with a sigh "I commend how much work have you done Ayr, sorry, I truly felt we offering to become partners at this time is kind of taking advantage of you"
"Don't worry Vander, Sasha is fine in my book, you on the hand, I intend for you, to make up for it" Ayr said serious, and Vander sighed once more.
"Fine, now lets discuss about or last pilot" Vander began using the com, to display a list of the candidates he had think about them, after a quick glance, Ayr was surprised, once more he felt confident of having him as the team coach.