Event 1 - Grav Sprint

Posted on Tue Dec 30th, 2025 @ 11:34pm by Captain Akeno Misaki & Lieutenant JG Runa Suruga & Lieutenant JG Hime Wazumi & Commander Mashiro Munetani "Shiro" & Lieutenant Commander Mark Johnson & Lieutenant Luna Eclipse of the House of Martok & Lieutenant JG Patra Rommel

1,542 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Games
Location: Sports Stadium - Lolruna

"Our first event is the 'Grav Sprint'! Our competitors will be racing each other in an old fashioned foor race! However different parts of the track are set to different gravity factors! They will be facing anything from half gravity to double! Who will prevail in this mixture of not only stamina but also pure strength?!" The announcers voice boomed.

"The winner will get three points, two points for second, one point for third and zero points for past place! That's our scoring system for these events! So keep tabs on who's scored what, and root for the team you want to win!" The announcer added.

"Competitors, take your positions!"

"Looks like you're up Shiro-Chan." Akeno said turning to her exec. "Go get them! We need as many points as we can get!"

"I still can't believe you suckered me into this," Mashiro grumbled as she made her way out onto the track.

"Show them what Starfleet are all about!" Akeno smirked back at her.

"Whallop them, Commander!" Luna yelled, pumping her fist in the air.

Thurn actually rolled his eyes at the Halfling, not impressed with her enthusiasm.

---

Truthfully, Mashiro was out of her league on this one.

Not that she hadn't given it her best shot of course; while she felt she was better qualified for the Aquatic Lane Dash, she had made an effort to study up on the rules and regulations regarding Lolrunian Grav Sprints (information of which was fairly easy to come by, as the Lolrunians seemed all too eager to expound upon their athletic traditions), and had run a few simulations until her breathing was ragged and her muscles burned like fire. While she was noticing an overall improvement in her performance on heavier gravity settings, said improvement was also not a lot to write home about, for she could just barely hold her own against competitors of a similar body mass to herself. It certainly wasn't going to cut it against competitors of a much stronger build, which unfortunately seemed to be the case for all three of her competitors. Additionally, she always seemed to slip up on the transitions, as they came suddenly and without warning, and if she wasn't expecting it- which she usually wasn't- it most often cost her precious time as she tried to regain her bearings.

The doctor watched in anticipation the competition area and all the various athletes preparing for the the race.

He shook his head "I have lots of qualities but I'm sure I'm not built for this competition" he commented with a bit of humor. He then caressed the medikit he brought with him, hoping he never had to use it during the competitions.

Vorek, took off his long commanding vest to be more agile in the sprint. He wanted to kick off the games with his performance. Tall, strog and agile at the same time he seemed built for such a race. His muscolar green emerald body shone as he made himself ready for the competition while a small number of his crewmembers oiled his body and helped him out.

"Kinda surprised they're putting forth guys...Orion's usually have more FEMALES in the forefront," Luna commented, watching the proceedings.

As she took her place beside the Klingon and Romulan athletes, Mashiro figured she might as well keep within the spirit of competition and wish her opponents luck.

"Just wanna say," she began, glancing first at the Klingon to her left and then the Romulan to her right. "Whatever happens out there, I wanna wish the guys the best of luck."

"Are you patronizing me, round-ear?" the Romulan sneered. "A stiff breeze would get the best of you!"

"If you are anything like that Halfling, this should be entertaining," Thrun harumphed, not much into chit chat until he beat someone...THEN he would talk.

Mashiro frowned. "Welp, so much for being nice..." she grumbled as she shifted her attention over to the starting line.

Patra knew instinctively there would be no way the Wayfarer team could truly win without some help, she therefore started looking about to rectify the situation; then she spotted it.

Luna wished Eclipse had been able to come, but the chaos probably would have overwhelmed her, or she might have gotten separated from Luna and the rest of the group and been kidnapped...or worse. Luna shook the gloomy thoughts away and concentrated on the starting line, sizing up Shiro-Chan's opponents.

The crowd roared and cheered as the competitors lined up along the start line. "On the sound of the signal, you may begin!" The announcers voice boomed.

There was a brief pause, then a single loud short note from a horn sounded. The race was on...

...And unfortunately, Mashiro almost immediately fell behind.

Not from a lack of trying, of course, as all four of them were practically white hot off the starting line the moment the horn sounded, and within the first second they were all easily advancing at a steady clip of 5-7 meters a second. However, Mashiro was simply outclassed by the far surlier builds of her competitors, with Thurn easily taking an early lead.

Thrun quickly put some distance between him and the woman from Starfleet.

However, Mashiro soon realized early on that she could play this to her advantage, as being able to watch her opponents trip up at the first stage would give her an idea of when the gravity would transition to a heavier or lighter setting, and allow her to adequately adjust her body movements to compensate.

Patra wondered away from the group as they watched the Grav Sprint. She had noticed a power conduit panel just off the track and no guards around it. She stealthily made her way to it. ~Thank God for all those cloak and dagger ops I participated in~ she thought. Once near the conduit she quickly realized it controlled the track. She looked it over and with a smile knew what needed to be done. ~Engineers, same principals throughout the galaxy.~ She made slight adjustments. The Klingons and Romulans she adjusted the controls up by one factor, The Orions adjusted it up by half a factor. Finally for the Commander she made an adjustment of one down from the settings. Done in just a few seconds the last part was a bit more tricky, she set the settings to return back at the end of the race. Satisfied she glided back to the group like a wraith.

Akeno cupped her hands to her mouth. "Go Shiro-Chan! Go go go!" She called out loudly. "Beat them!"

"You got this, Shiro-Chan!" Luna hollered, bouncing on her toes.

“Put your feet and body into it Commander, I think you will find that if you trust in the system you will gain great speed and strength.” Shout Patra to Commander Munetani. She knew if the commander thought about what she had shouted she would realize her track was altered, as well as those of her opponents.

As if on cue, Mashiro (to everyone's surprise, even her own) shot ahead at full-tilt, quickly catching up with- and then subsequently overtaking- the rest of the field.

[What just happened!?] Thrun thought, trying to catch the suddenly fast human!

Vorek tilted his head at the sprint of the human, his eyes wide in surprise even if he tried hard not to show it and to maintain his usual composure and control
"That damn human" he whispered within his teeth, clenching his fist.

"Impossible!" the Romulan scowled as he doubled down on his efforts to try keep up with the scrawny round-eared twig. Pushing himself until his limbs began to burn from the lactic acid coursing through his muscles, he just barely managed to overtake Thurn for second place, and yet Mashiro was hardly breaking a sweat as the gap between them widened.

"How is she doing it?!"

Patra chuckled quietly to herself. Shouting out loud she encouraged Commander Munetani "See I told you, you're doing great." Patra smiled, her fix was working, and she was confident no one would know, after all the fix was already destroying its self.

"AWHOOO!!! GO SHIRO GO!" Luna howled, bouncing up and down excitedly.

It all seemed to go slowly, then it was all over. A loud cheer erupted from the crowd as the race ended.

The announcers voice filled the stadium.

"In first place... The Federation!"

"In second place... The Romulan Star Empire!"

"In third place... The Klingon Empire!"

"And in fourth place... The Orions!"

The crowd erupted again as the competitors began to make their way back to their teams.

"What..." Mashiro gasped as she stopped to catch her breath. "...the hell just happened?!?!"

The score board's in the stadium changed, now the Federation Logo had a big number 3 next to it, to indicate that three points had been won. Akeno looked up and smiled. "Maybe we can win this after all!" she said to herself.

The Competition Continues!

 

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