The Ballad of Team Black Egg
Team Black Egg never made a recovery after their fateful defeat in 2049 and to add insult to injury they became the mockery of the IGPX. Until Kale Ricarro showed up. Can the pilot rumored to be the daughter of two IGPX legends turn them around?
Disclaimage- I own IGPX… no wait... flips script over hmm… flips script over a few more times I… don't own IGPX…. Yes that looks right.
The rumble of an old-fashioned engine sounded down the street of a block of run-down warehouses. Even the nearby bay, so clear and blue did little to hide the dusty and undignified constructs. In the year 2069 a machines that used gasoline were nearly unheard of, but there one was, rolling past the bridge that was the only entrance to the block. The rider stopped the bike in front of a worn, dark building and pulled a leg over the side of the bike. A gloved hand pulled the helmet from the rider's head revealing a teenage girl. Her hair was spiky and dark and a pesky cowlick of dark hair hung off the side, blowing in the wind as if it were alive and filled with energy. She scratched her head and read the sign hanging from an ancient doorway.
Black Seed HQ – Home sweet home.
Kale Ricarro chuckled at the realization that soon this might become her "home sweet home" as well. She would have to get used to it.
She knocked at a rusty door and waited. After a few moments she pushed it open despite an ear-piercing metallic groan. She looked around; it was hard to believe the building was darker inside than it was out. The room was lit by about three hanging lamps and two of them seemed to be about to give way. The windows were filled with metal shutters which let in only a tiny bit of light and Kale guessed that one would need at least a thirty-foot ladder to adjust them. At the very least, once one's eyes adjusted to it, it wasn't so bad.
Most of the room's room, it seemed were used to house the three metallic behemoths. This made it seem more like a hangar than a foyer. Kale looked at the three machines which were all adorned with the insignia of the infamous team, Team Black Egg. They definitely weren't the kinds of mech you saw on the tracks nowadays; they still used the pressurized skate system and bulky engine blocks. A few decades ago these would have probably been the sleekest racing machines on the speedway, but now they were outdated, dilapidated and probably slow as snails. Kale guessed that they were the same mechs that were knocked from the IG-1 all those years ago, never to return.
Kale called out, she wasn't there to sightsee, no matter how much the place looked like a museum. A bespectacled head poked out from behind one of the mechs and looked Kale over curiously. She straightened herself up and ran over to the visitor clumsily. She was still holding the holoview reader that had probably been the reason she hadn't heard the knocking. She definitely looked the type to get heavily absorbed into a book.
The short girl didn't seem to be all quite there when she squeaked out a "yes?" to Kale. The spiky-haired girl introduced herself and the bookworm threw her hands over her mouth embarrassedly, "Oh, I'm sorry. Of course. You must be the new pilot." Kale nodded and wondered if the frail girl standing in front of her was a pilot as well. She didn't look the part, but with Black Egg it was definitely possible.
The small girl turned her head put her hand to the side of her mouth, "Pops! The new pilot is here!" A door burst open and a man in his thirties walked out, looking a bit flustered.
"Now!"
"I'm sorry. I know I'm a bit early; I'll come back later if you want." Kale called out to the man who the girl had called "Pops".
The man waved his hands out in front of him, "Nonono! Please don't do that!"
He ran over to where the two teenage girls were standing and panted a little when he got there. He didn't look it, but Kale recognized him from the tabloids as the man who had been the Forward and manager of Team Black Egg for years.
Pops looked down at the bespectacled girl and smiled, "Did you greet our guest all by yourself? I'm proud of you, Amelia…"
The girl named Amelia smiled and looked away slightly embarrassedly, "I knew you were busy, Pops…"
The older man ruffled his hair and groaned, "Augh! Why do you keep calling me Pops? I'm nobody's father!"
Amelia chuckled, "Yet…"
"Ah! I heard about that!" Kale said interrupted the two teammates, "I heard about your last Defender getting pregnant; it was in a lot of magazines." She thoughtfully neglected to mention exactly what magazines.
"Ah… right. And that's where you come in… miss…?" Pops inquired and held out his hand.
"Ricarro. Kale Ricarro," She said, took the older man's hand and shook it, "Sorry about being so short-notice."
"Ah! Not at all. You were a lifesaver. If this all goes without a hitch, we might be ready in time for the next race." Pops said cheerfully. Pops looked down at Amelia and gave her a fatherly "ahem". The young bookworm blushed and looked at Kale and finally outstretched her hand.
"I'm Amelia, the Midfielder." Amelia awkwardly squeaked as Kale took her hand, "Your… your name… Miss Ricarro… are you related… by any chance… to the legendary Liz Ricarro?"
Kale nodded proudly, "Liz Ricarro is my mother. She's the reason I wanted to become an IGPX pilot."
Pops looked shocked, "Legendary…? You've got to be kidding me. This is… no way. This is incredible!"
Amelia looked away, her face gave way to her next question building in her, "Does that mean… your father… your father is… Rocket T?"
Before Kale could even respond, Pops exploded with excitement in a way most unlikely of a man his age, "ROCKET T! HOLY MOTHER OF MOCASSINS! TELL ME I'M FCKING DREAMING!"
Amelia looked at Pops, her face red with embarrassment from his outburst. She looked back at Kale, waiting eagerly at Kale; she too was hoping that this woman who had appeared at their doorstep was their messiah, their Rocket-incarnate.
Kale shook her head, "I… don't know who my father is. I'm sorry."
Pops was hardly affected by the news and grabbed Kale's hands, "Well! One out of two ain't bad! Especially when you're talking about legendary pilots! Come on, let's run some tests!"
