Sep 07 23:36:59 109 PA - Lessons on Rough and Tricky Driving
From Chronicles
Sep 07 23:36:59 109 PA.
OLD HIGHWAY AND WILDERNESS
There's no time like the morning to get out before sunrise and prepare to tear up a tract of land. Having been practicing for a long time and even using the basics of what he knows to get around town, Gabriel has managed to get the stretched Diplodicus of his - that he got for a bargain-basement price - outside of the grand gates of Kingsdale and safely off to the side of the road south of the local permanent circus. A man accustomed to training unusual skills under unusual circumstances, he's caught on reasonably well to driving a car. Should be easy, since he used to know how, and simply had it somehow wiped from his mind during time travel, which is a bitch on the system. Besides, he remembered how to drive large tracked military vehicle, and what is a car but a large tracked military vehicle up on rolling chocks? For now, he has called his friend and instructor, hoping to clear out some of the more interesting skills of barreling a vehicle around for combat, since this thing is armored stronger than a tank of his era. Though he's dressed once more neatly in uniform, he's just now shoving the last bit of armor and jet pack into the rear area of the vehicle.
Fizzlesnoot hooks up with his friend, looking forward to having some fun with the old man's new toy. The early morning isn't too bad for him, he's just remained up since closing, not a big deal when it's only once and awhile. "You all set to see what this baby can do?"
Gabriel bangs the top of the vehicle - a slight reach - and grins, "Sure am, Fizz. You ready to strap in?" With that ominous question, he pops the door and slips behind the wheel, making sure the five-point harness is on tighter than... well, any number of colorful sexual metaphors could go here. The ignition is turned, as he allows the engine to wind up and his friend to prepare to do battle with sanity.
Fizzlesnoot climbs on up, tucking his bag away in a snug spot inside and then buckles up snugly into his seat, "All set. Let's see what she can do. Why don't you top her out down the road and then we'll go off road and see if ya can't kill us."
Smiling widely, Gabriel simply gives nod and then mashes the gas like he learned he wasn't supposed to when first being taught. However, since a lot has changed since then - namely the ability to control the car - it's even more amusing than the imminent death of those early lessons. The ten-cylinder engine torques up and shoots the Diplodicus north along the highway like a bullet, impressive for a vehicle. After a few minutes of driving, Gabriel slows, having passed Ren's Revelry, most of the traffic on the highway and located a nice big area bereft of trees and larger holes. "So," he asks, turning to look at Fizzlesnoot, "You know combat driving and stuff, right? Staying alive in that van all the way from Tolkeen? Because I think I have the simple driving part down."
Fizzlesnoot gives a shrug, "I don't know about combat driving per se, what I do know is drive as fast as this bugger'll go through the densest stuff you can drive through. Don't give'm something to hit. So get this baby going and get into the trees and keep going. Remember, turn into your skids for better control. This thing should also take the trees fairly well, you can use that to your advantage in making sharper turns, just downshift quick when you come to that stop. Just something to think about."
Listening intently, Gabriel slips out of the amused part of his mind and into the serious learning mode. A few nods are given with Fizzlesnoot's instructions, and he pulls a U-turn to head for the trees, giving it gas but by no means going fast. "Think I'll just try to tool around the forest for a while before turning... into the skid? Um... yeah, I guess that makes sense. Hold on." The brief instruction is given as they pass the tree line. He spends a good deal of time simply making wavy paths and loops around the obstacles. "I guess it's not much different than traffic, except that no one's blowing their horns and cursing at me." He winds deeper into the trees, then makes a wide loop to head back to the meadow and avoid potential dangers of the interior.
Fizzlesnoot chuckles, "Yeah it's easy when you're not getting shot at and going at a girl's speed. Step on it, worst that can happen is you scuff the paint a bit. Act like you got ten SAMAS on your tail."
The accelerator is depressed more as the Diplodicus shoots out of the treeline and into the clear. Gabriel gives the wheel a good yank to the right - another no-no during the first lesson - creating a sharp turn and a few rooster tails of dirt from the last- and mid-rear tires on the left. Moving into the trees at a greater speed is definitely more than he can immediately handle well, and a number of trees take blows that will require decades of recovery growth. "Oops." He looks out the windshield a bit more carefully, hand on the shifter. "So I'm supposed to shift down faster, right? When?"
Fizzlesnoot giggles as Gabriel finally gives the big off road vehicle a punch, "There ya go! As you go into your slide downshift too, then soon as you feel the tires start to grip again, punch it. Just remember, if you stop, you're a target, and BOOM! You're dead. NOW GO GO GO!" sounding as if there really is ten SAMAS on their tail.
A small grin creeps onto Gabriel's face at the hurried cry, and he ramps up their velocity even more, changing vectors by the second. Wheel left, wheel right, wheel left, wheel right, wheel left, wheel left-er, wheel left-er-er. A few large trees are slalomed semi-succesfully, only a few large bangs when the aft end fishtails and his correction overshoots. Those six wheels do supply good grip, though. There are a few dangerously loud grinding noises as his dexterity with shifting and maneuvering that quickly at the same time don't immediately synch. "If we're being chased, why aren't you leaning out the window and shooting back?" he manages to joke as he rounds a healthy dogwood.
Fizzlesnoot shakes his head excitedly, "Oh, no, not me. I'm not the shooting type. An it's not about the shootin back, it's all about the driving. So hit that sharp left up there an gun it."
Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeft! The old soldier yanks the wheel and holds it there, as instructed while simultaneously flooring the accelerator. Gabriel gives a grunt as even the steady Diplodicus offers a significant lean to the right. Nothing near flipping, but the human balance system always cries 'emergency' before things get near danger level, thus the grunt. The rear of the vehicle manages to smash completely through a couple of saplings, and as the beast spins, he lets up on the gas, bringing them to a halt inches before hitting a large but dead trunk. A swift sigh is let out, and the engine idles. "Probably not like that?"
Fizzlesnoot's straps strain to hold the little bugger in place as it wants to keep going right out the door, hands grip the straps as if that would help should they fail. Chuckling at the question, some of it sheer amusement with the hot doggin fun, "Not bad, just don't let it stop ya. See the obstacle, overcome. Hit reverse as they fly past ya on that turn and get going again in the opposite direction. Remember, you want to gain ground, but you don't want to go in a straight line, and don't be afraid to go down in the gullies."
"Okay, but what do I do if the thing really does start to flip? You know, if I can look out the window and the tires on one side aren't touching anything but air?" Gabriel's eyebrow perks up as he idles and shifts the transmission back down to first gear in preparation for moving again once his safety question is answered. He gives the engine a few extra revs now and then.
Fizzlesnoot grins, "That’s gonna take practice to keep that from happening. Turn into your slide and no brake and no gas, that should right it, but you gotta get right back on it when you correct it. Like I said, will take practice. Even I can mess it up now and then, but it beats gettin shot up."
Gabriel nods, offering an affirmative, "Okay," before starting up once more. As their speed increases, he takes perhaps an entire half mile right along the treeline, slaloming in and out. At the end, the wheel gets yanked right - out of the trees - and the Diplodicus skids in the expected direction. This time, he actually *applies* gas into the skid, which does a partial job of making the spin worse. Not actually lifting the wheels, but a bit of contact is certainly lost. His forehead is saved by the five-point harness from hitting the side window when his boot mashes the brake and he turns as directed. The raised side slams to the ground with a three-wheeled bounce, with him managing to simply mash the accelerator before the vehicle comes to a complete halt. Once carefully traveling in a straight line, he asks, "Um... like that?"
Fizzlesnoot hoots loudly with the success, "Good job!" the whole time hanging on for dear life. "All right, go find us a deep gully. A rough one. There's a few tricks to off-roading ya need to get down when not running from SAMAS bots."
With a slight smile on his lips, Gabriel concentrates on taking in the necessary knowledge that may save his life some day. He pulls onto the highway and drives south on what passes for a paved road these days. The best, roughest gully that he can locate is just outside of Ren's, fifty-feet wide or more, and at least as deep, with good rubble at the bottom. The vehicle pulls off onto the dirt and is brought to a halt. A finger is pointed out over the hood as he asks Fizzlesnoot, "That one?"
Fizzlesnoot gives it a good look see, nodding, "Yeah, that should do fine. Ya want to take it slow getting down there. Put it in first and keep it there and inch down the steep slope, an don't panic if ya start to slide, just hold the brake and keep it straight."
Gabriel nods, giving the Diplodicus some gas. It leans out over thin air for a moment only because of its length, before tilting downward and continuing to the bottom. In this vehicle at least, such a trek isn't a problem, with the six large wheels meant for exactly this kind of rough terrain. Even a couple of deliberate yanks made to try and release its hold are basically unsuccessful. At the bottom, "Okay, now?"
Fizzlesnoot smiles, "Go along the bottom here where its all rough and rocky, and this ain't like the trees. A big enough rock'll still hurt, so take it easy. It would suck to break a tie rod or suspension spring."
Gabriel nods again, maneuvering the sextuple-wheeled vehicle into the bottom. He gears it up slowly, not passing second gear as the big tires grip, dodging boulders and not trying anything nearly as fast as he did inside the trees. Still, lucky for him the guys at NTI actually came out with a decent product for once; the suspension holds well, at least across the rocks around the larger and insurmountable boulders.
Fizzlesnoot keeps his eyes out on the terrain looking for a good obstacle to challenge the old man, "Just keep going along the bottom here, something tough is bound to pop up here. Might be too close to the city for an real obstacles." But wait, he does spot something, "Over there, to the left, get up on the small trail up there." The climb sure to be difficult with larger boulders jutting out along the steep hill with a lot of loose stone to challenge any traction. There are places available to get around the larger rocks to get to the trail, but it won't be easy while trying to get up the hill. "First things first, look where you want to get to and figure out the route you want to take."
"Got it," Gabriel confirms before pulling off of the first literally rocky road. He pulls the Diplodicus into another stopped idle at the base of the trail, commenting rhetorically to no one, "Why would I go up here when I could go up over there?" Eyes glace to any number of other places, but he offers no complaint, rather, he stars at the path and lets the engine continue to softly turn over as he studies the trail. Perhaps not 'softly' for the famously loud internal combustion engine, but at least softly when it comes to vibration. After a long while, his head nods slightly, and the shifter is pulled from park and into first gear. "Here we go," he offers quietly as they start off. At first, the grip continues to be terrifically controllable, but there does come a time when the path becomes more lose gravel than packed dirt, and small stones start to fly behind the tires, a good reminder of places not to stand. He slows, but doesn't stop as they approach one large boulder that nearly blocks the trail. Around to the left, a steep uphill. Around to the right, a steep downhill. "So... which way would you suggest?"
Fizzlesnoot points over to one boulder, to the right, "See how that boulder comes out, kinda forms a little lip, like a little ramp. If ya turn it just right you can use the top of that boulder to maneuver up the rest of the hill. If you get the second wheel up there it should level us out a bit to make that turn up. Keep her in low gear."
"Got it," Gabriel repeats. He keeps the vehicle in the proper gear, edging slowly toward the giant rock and the little platform that its brothers create. Carefully bending the steering column to the right, he slows to a crawl, waiting for the big off-road tire to find some kind of grip on the higher surface, then a little gas to get the second one up. Anyone looking might see his face cringe a little as the Diplodicus leans even farther than it had during the earlier semi-spectacular spin. It does work basically as suggested; not perfectly, but with plenty of stability remaining. "Just bring it back onto the trail, right?"
Fizzlesnoot nods with a smile despite hanging oddly in his harness, "Yup. You got it. There might be times you'll have to get out to prep a spot to get out of a gully like this. You should carry with you, a couple a strong 2x4's, or a hatchet to chop down a tree. Sometimes you just need to add a little traction. These gullies make good cover to keep from being seen, but you take the risk of getting stuck, either by sheer walls, mud, loose earth or boulders. But usually they narrow at the ends, and a few well placed rocks, or tree trunks, you can work your way out."
As he begins to finish the suggested maneuver, Gabriel is monetarily comfortable enough to wonder aloud, "Maybe I could get a winch and stick it on the front. And one for the back, too." There are a few tricky moments, but with a little assistance and cues, both he and Fizzlesnoot make their way back onto the trail alive. "Whew. Okay, not the kind of thing I look forward to, but good to know it can be done. Lemme try it again, there's another one up ahead," he comments, waving a loose finger about fifty yards up the trail.
Fizzlesnoot smiles with Gabriel getting into the fun of it, "Go for it. A shovel is another good thing to keep handy. And certainly not the funnest of tasks having to dig out your vehicle. Trust me. Make sure you keep an eye on the shape of the rocks, like before, it can help, but it can hurt too. Don't want your tire wedged between two boulders, definitely need a winch for that."
Gabriel offers a nod, and a comment about having a shovel already as he approaches the next boulder, this time taking the left side where the hill leads sharply up and away. After a couple of stops, stars, repositioning and aborted attempts, he seems to decide that keeping his own left side high is the best option. It does work, but there's a long, loud scraping noise as the boulder draws a long kiss along the roof. "Oops." Lucky that NTI built it as an armored vehicle. Eventually, the six tires are once more on essentially the same level, the front end pointed up the trail toward milder terrain. "Okay. I'll keep coming out here near the circus until I don't feel like I'm going to get stuck between a rock and a hard place. Get it?" Eyebrows wiggle. "Where to next?"
Fizzlesnoot thinks about that a bit, finally giving a shrug, "Dunno really. The speed thing I think is the most important thing to get the hang of. The hard terrain stuff ends up a gimme if you make frequent trips anywhere really. I don't suggest taking this thing airborne if you can help it. It almost always ends bad. Just have fun with it for a bit, no rush getting back or anything."
With a smile, Gabriel nods and gives the vehicle enough gas to make it safely back up the side of the little gorge and onto level ground. He points the nose south toward Kingsdale. "So what if I get caught out in the open by a SAMAS or something, and there isn't a helpful area of trees nearby?" His eyes shift, and while he waits for information, attempts another high-speed slalom through the nearby forest. It's largely successful, but clearly he's going to need far more practice before calling himself a real driver.
Fizzlesnoot thinks about it, gives a wag of his finger, "Well, I would find a good spot and start doing donuts, throw as much shit in the air as I could and then run in a random direction as fast and hard as I could. Ya still want to change directions if you can, but if all you can do is do a straight line, better go as hard as you can."
Gabriel listens and nods again. "Okay. How about this, I always bring along someone to lean out the window and shoot," he offers with a grin as the city gates loom before them. "Thanks for everything, Fizz. If you personally ever need a ride somewhere, I'll be here for you. Just get me on the comm or call Gracie. Worst case, I can have one of the other guys drive you, if I'm busy." That said, he mashes the accelerator and charges south until the speedometer reaches one-hundred and the tachometer tops out. Then, with a swift grab of the hand-brake, the wheel is yanked around to the right, throwing the Diplodicus into a fishtailing spin. After some fancy work with two independent hands, two separate feet and absolutely God-awful noises coming from the engine and transmission, he ends up skidding through a full circle and continues south just barely before coming to a stop. He offers a wide grin. "That would *never* work a second time!" It won't be long until they're passing through traffic on Main Street again.
Fizzlesnoot is thrown about in his harness, taken by surprise on the maneuver, eyes wider than usual. Not saying anything at first, catching his breath from the sudden stopping of it. "I think you'll do just fine out there," he says with a grin, "An I didn't say not to have a shooter, just not me. You can drop me in the market if you don't mind, I'm looking for a nice cart."
"No problem," Gabriel says to his friend. It's a good twenty minutes before he pulls up to the cart vendors in the Merchant's Plaza, mainly due to thick traffic finally starting to back up. Plenty of time to bore Fizzlesnoot with a few stories of what life was like growing up in Kentucky in the 1920s.
