Sanction

"Show your face, ass hole!" Sampson shouts as he stops in front of the tank. "Scared piece of shit!"

Ori cracks open the door and pops his head, "Don't be a sore loser, it's okay that you came in second, I'm sure your parents would be proud of you."

"Fuck you! You make a mockery of the sport, and I swear you won't see another fucking race!" Sampson angrily shouts, wagging a scolding and accusatory finger.

Ori just shrugs his shoulders, "We qualified, maybe you'll have a better shot next year?" he offers with an insincere smile.

"You think you're the only person who knows people!? Mark my words, you're out!" Sampson states before getting back in his car and driving off, leaving a trail of smoke.

Ori glances over at Dean and Claire who'd been watching the argument, "What about you two, wanna have a crack? Or do you wanna hold off until the next race?"

Claire just sniffs derisively, "Screw off rich boy, there's gold spoons, then there's you who has a military-spec spork!"

Dean nods, "Sampson weren't wrong, no one's happy about this. If there aren't changes we might not even bother to compete. I got no wishes to get gunned down by some big-headed ass hole." he shrugs before also leaving.

"Huh... Whatever, I guess?"

-----------------

Ori and the others had just dropped off the tank back at the workshop when he received a call from Quentin, expected given the recent race.

"Ori! Congrats on the win!" he greets with a sheepish smile via the holo call.

"Thanks, but it was pretty much all the tank... You saw how oppressive that thing was..."

Quentin rubs the back of his neck, "About that. Our contacts in the committee got some calls from Militech, 'someone' decided to have a tantrum and get them involved. That combined with the five percent of the audience asking for refunds forced some changes. Changes that have angered our backers..."

"Lemme guess, they're banning the tank." Ori questions, headed to the most obvious answer.

Quentin nods, "Got it in one. We're lucky though, we still have the chance to back up, refund our bets, whatever else. Of course, we still have the option to continue, you won't have the tank but I'm sure you'd manage without it, right?"

Ori just shrugs, "Not sure, again it wasn't a race but a massacre..."

"Don't be humble right now, I need to know if you want to continue. The reward'll be bigger since the odds are against you now, not one thinks you'll be any good without the tank... Not to mention that the next qualifier got cancelled since you knocked out a bit too many other drivers..."

"Why didn't we start with a crap car first then? Barely get through the qualifiers then pull out the tank at the end? Seems to me like that'd give your 'backers' the best odds?"

"Because you gotta keep one car through the races. Plus, the chance of you not making it through was too big a risk. Not to knock your skills, but it only takes a stray bullet." Quentin states.

"Yet you're trusting me to win the finals without tank? How's that work?" Ori inquires sceptically.

Quentin wets his lips, "To be honest, our backers still want to go ahead. Some of them have made investments based on winning this, they'd be out some big cash if we stop now. Not to mention the money placed into bets getting cut, they want to give you a chance... Mostly because I convinced 'em." he admits.

Ori sighs, "What would I even race in? My current ride ain't fast enough, even if it could shrug off a good amount of damage. I doubt you want to go buy another car, right?"

"Well, someone's offered their Mizutani for the job, even said he'd give it to you if managed to pull of a win." Quentin states, pulling up a picture of the car.

It was small, far smaller than his own car or the tank. Low to the ground like any classic sportscar with a lithe shape that would undoubtedly cut through the air like a knife through molten butter. There were some immediate problems Ori could see however... (Like this : https://www.gamesatlas.com/images/jch-optimize/ng/images_cyberpunk2077_vehicles_mizutani-shion.webp )

"That's great, but there's only two seats, and I doubt it will last against some vengeful racers."

"Yeah, but since the next qualifier got cancelled, we'll have enough time to modify it... If you wanna race, of course. As for the two-seat thing? You'll just have to bear with it, ain't exactly many other options here. If I'm honest, we're lucky you weren't banned with how mad people're getting."

...

"Give me a minute to talk with the others about it, I'll call you back."

"Got it, just be quick, we've got a lot to do in a short time."

*Beep!*

Ori glances over to the girls who'd been doing their own thing. Sasha watched as Rebecca laboriously cleans the scorch marks, dust, and other debris off of the tank, as if it were her child. "Girls, looks like we've been banned from using the tank."

"What!? Not Bessie!" Rebecca all but shrieks.

"Bessie...?" he parrots.

"The car." Sasha mutters, massaging her forehead. "I get naming it, but only if it's yours. Getting attached like that is stupid."

"You're stupid!" Rebecca childishly responds.

"Can we just concentrate for a minute? Apparently Quentin's got another car available, something called a Mizutani, looks good but needs some armour."

"Mizutani is the brand, what's the make?" Sasha inquires.

"Mizutani Shion or something." Ori shrugs, not really a car person.

"They're nice, but nothing near Bessie." Rebecca remarks as she lays across the tank's bonnet.

"Obviously, but we gotta decide if we still wanna race. The stakes are still high, but the rewards are much higher... I wanna do it, but it's up to you, I can't go without a gunner."

...