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Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>42029174

“That, and the entire planet. There would be traffic jams for miles if anyone tried to drive here. There’s a reason for the Inter-Continental-Rail, after all.”

“Then why didn’t we take that, instead of this thing?” you lamely try to kick the side of the craft, but the soft cushioning layering the inside deflects your blow.

“Because again, it would’ve been too slow. Millions of people are coming to see this race, Mikoto, and that number grows more and more every year. If you walked onto any one of these trains, I don’t think a single shred of your skin would survive to the end. Let’s keep you whole and healthy for now, yeah?”

“I guess. Are we at least going to have some time to get in our frames after the plane lands?”

“Oh, for sure, but you’re forgetting,” Digs grins, “at what point did we say anything about landing?”

---

”LADIES, GENTLEMEN, AND OTHER, NON-GENDER-SPECIFIC BEINGS! THANK YOU FOR JOINING US AT THE BEST EVER WORLD CUP!”

“Indeed, thanks everyone, and thank you Mr. Sakebu for the introduction. Indeed, this World Cup sees the entrance of many new super-stars to the racing pool, going from the incredible Arachnia, to the Morosa-wielding Mikoto!”

“AND CHECK THIS OUT NOW! I BELIEVE THE LATTER’S ABOUT TO MAKE A GRAND ENTRANCE!”

“That’s right! Mikoto seems to be jumping out of a cloud-hopper, to descend on all his loving fans in the coolest way possible. He must be pretty excited, right?”

“NO DOUBT.”

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>>42029174

jesusfuckingchristneveracceptanoffertoskydiveeveragain.

It’s not that you dislike flying. You’re completely comfortable with it. But even if the wonders of a random-process of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and phosphorus somehow became a sentient being several billion years down the line, capable of building incredible craft that could fly, that doesn’t necessarily mean that those sentient beings were ever meant to fly on their own without that help.

So you’re falling through the air, about five kilometres above the ground. And you’re trying to think about what to do.

>Play it cool, don’t look like a fool. Open your parachute at a safe height, descend and actually survive this day.
>Fuck this, there’s a reason your racing suit was built by Rench to survive crashes exactly like this. Wait until the right time, and let the ‘safety mechanisms’ take over
>Write In

Dice mean nothing, carry on with your days

>>42029211
>Play it cool, don’t look like a fool. Open your parachute at a safe height, descend and actually survive this day.

Lets save our suicide attempts for the race.

>>42029211
>Play it cool, don’t look like a fool. Open your parachute at a safe height, descend and actually survive this day.

Can't afford to break anything before the big race.

>>42029211
>Play it cool, don’t look like a fool. Open your parachute at a safe height, descend and actually survive this day.

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>>42029367
>>42029336
>>42029309
Writing for living to see your grandchildren!

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>>42029211

There’s no use in trying to look cool if you could just die shortly after. Besides, your mother would find wherever you reincarnated, and then crush you under her foot again. Definitely not worth the trouble.

As you approach the safe height to deply, you pull the tag and start drifting down towards the field, a roar comes up from the patrons who’ve already managed to find their ‘seats’ (that being a generous word, since it’s more like a five by five metre plot of ground where the millions of spectators would start setting up their tents and portable homes, waiting for the race to begin). You wave down at a few spots, who cheer you on ever louder. And eventually, you drop down onto the starting line, no problems at all. A few people come up to take your parachute away, and then you’re left to your own devices.

Thirty six hours until the World Cup begins.

>Go find Rench, and start working on the car
>Go find Arachnia, see if there’s a nice restaurant around here
>Go find Digs, see what the race route looks like.
>Write In

>>42029565
>Go find Digs, see what the race route looks like. We can drop in on Rench or Arachnia later.

First things first, planning how we can ignore half the course.

>>42029565
>>Go find Rench, and start working on the car
>>Go find Arachnia, see if there’s a nice restaurant around here
Sup Arte, about what time is it? Cause if it's midday find Rench then call Arachnia for dinner

>>42029565
>Write In
Play with the fans, sign shit and take photos, plug Morosa and Rench when applicable

>>42029641

Exactly midday. You're starting at 00:00 in two days time.

>>42029565
>>Go find Rench, and start working on the car
Can't ignore our best mechanic/friend

Shit, I need to walk my dog. I'll count votes when I get back.

>>42029647
This

>>42029565
>Go find Rench, and start working on the car

>>42029565
>Go find Rench, and start working on the car

>>42029983
>>42029833
>>42029670
>>42029641
Let's get down to business!

>>42029990
To defeat the Huns.

>>42030024
Thank you anon you get a gold star.

>>42029174
Art, can I just say how much I missed you?
It was a lot

>>42030055
Yeah, a bit unfortunate I was gone as long as I was. But hey, I'm back and I'm picking up the reigns from where I left them. Here's to continued writing!

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>>42029565

Well, it’s only thirty six hours till the race, and while you’ve definitely done a bunch of preparation leading up to the event, there are still those last few glitches and bugs that you need to work through before your frame finally appears on the starting line.

You walk off to the side, passing through the ‘seats’ (and waving back to the few people who say hi from their tents or ramshackle buildings) and start progressing through the maze over to where the audience starts to fade out, and industry starts to come back in again.

As you enter the industrial area, you can’t help but feel a little small at the scale of work going on around you. Gigantic freight containers, being tugged along by too-small trolleys that maneuvre them onto rails and send them on their way to whoever ordered them, seem to dominate the space, with people moving across the super-structures, looking like ants in both their size and coordination, navigating through the containers and buildings, hopping from pillar to walkway to the ground.

It was certainly impressive. And definitely where you would find Rench.

>Just wander around for a bit and take it in. You’ll find him on the walk.
>Call him, and head directly to where your frame is.
>Hey, maybe Nahar’s around. Let’s find him!
>Write In

Still getting back into the flow. A bit short

>>42030204
>Just wander around for a bit and take it in. You’ll find him on the walk.

>>42030204
>>Just wander around for a bit and take it in. You’ll find him on the walk.

>>42030204
>Just wander around for a bit and take it in. You’ll find him on the walk.

>>42030204
>>Just wander around for a bit and take it in. You’ll find him on the walk.

>>42030284
>>42030272
>>42030268
>>42030246
Writing.

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>>42030204

You decide to just walk around for a bit, and hop off the edge of the walkway you had been standing on, grabbing hold of the ‘mast’ of another freight, copying the countless other workers there. The freight container below you moves along on its own merry path, following the rail system for miles into the industrial core. As you move, you can see some older containers, hollowed out and refurbished, with beds and tables and chairs and entire homes inside them. You spot a few workers playing a hand of cards, who you wave at as you pass by, and some others having a barbeque in their yard, an actual bed of grass laid over the top of even more containers.

Eventually, you come to the very heart of it all, where the real preparation is going on for the race. Engineers run back and forth, taking freight-containers and either wheeling or floating them along to their own areas, gigantic spaces with one frame directly in the middle, tools and other parts and pieces sitting around it.

You do actually recognize a few of them as you look down. You see Nahar, smoking a cigar with one hand while his robotic one, equipped with a rather impressive looking screw-tip, drills away at some holes in the frame in front of him.

And finally, you see Rench, who, completely unlike Nahar, is just sitting in a circle with some other engineers, laughing as they knock back some swigs of a large brown bottle in front of them.

>Jump down and get Rench back to work
>Go see Nahar first, see how he’s doing
>Go check out the state of your frame, what you need to do.

>>42030467
>Go see Nahar first, see how he’s doing

>>42030467
>>Go see Nahar first, see how he’s doing

>>42030467
>>Go see Nahar first, see how he’s doing

>>42030539
>>42030512
>>42030494
Writing!

FUCK YEAH! REDLINE QUEST!

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>>42030467

Eh, Rench can fuck around for a little bit longer. You hop off the freight container you had rode (patting it a bit for its service to you), and land close enough to Nahar, who looks up from the hole he was working on, looking entirely unamused until he recognizes you. “Ah, Mikoto. How are ya?”

“Doing well, thanks. Yourself?”

“Perfect, just dealing with this,” he hits the side of the frame, “piece of junk. The driver’s been a real pain, insisting on using this specific model because it’s better for hover-based frames, some shit like that. Two problems, is that she knows jack about frames compared to me, and that this frame just happens to be one of seven on this planet. She probably just wants to race some classic car, and decided to use her papa’s money to buy it.”

“Ah, that’s harsh. Sorry.”

He shrugs. “Not your fault, unless you’re trying to apologize for all driver’s everywhere. And it’s kinda fun brutalizing this poor thing so I can get common components to work on it,” he grins at that, “oh, she’s gonna be so pissed when she sees it...”

He loses himself in the fantasy for a few seconds, before shaking his head and turning to you. “Anyway, what’re you hanging around here for? With your popularity I’d think you’d be hitting it off with however many chicks you can.”

“Not really my thing.”

“Ah, that Arachia’s your thing, then?”

You cough. “Well, I just came down here because I wanted to get some final work done on my frame, maybe see if there are any upgrades I can shove in. But then I saw Rench is being an idiot, so I figured I’d talk to the one engineer who knows what he’s doing.”

Nahar chuckles. “Fair enough. Well, let me help you with that.” he takes the drill-bit out of his arm and replaces it with his normal hand, and strides on across towards where the group of engineers seem to be playing a drinking game.

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>>42030794

With a majestic hoist, he lifts Rench from where he sits, turning to face him. Rench quickly goes pale at being so close to the man. “Y-y-yes?”

Nahar scowls. “Get back to work, shithead. Your driver needs you.”

“Y-y-y-YES SIR!” Rench attempts to salute, before pulling his way out of Nahar’s grip and racing over towards your frame, working faster than you’ve ever seen him work.

“Thanks, Nahar.”

“Anytime. I’m gonna get back to work. Have a nice day.” he walks on back, and you approach Rench.

>You learnt your lesson, Rench?
>Boo!
>So what upgrades can we make?

>>42030812
>Boo!

>>42030812
>>So what upgrades can we make?

>>42030812
>Boo!

>>42030812
>>Boo!

>>42030917
>>42030859
>>42030834
2spooky

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>>42030812

You come up behind Rench from behind as he works away on the frame, waiting for the right moment. Just as he reaches out to grab a screwdriver from off the table, you grab it as well. He slowly turns to look at you to find you grinning.

“Boo.”

“JESUS FUCKING-” he jumps backwards, sliding up and over the frame and landing on the ground on the other side. “Ow. Fuck. Christ. Why did you do that?”

“It was funny, seeing Nahar get you actually working for once. Didn’t even know you could work so fast.”

Rench grimaces, rubbing the back of his head. “Yeah yeah, real fucking funny. Anyway, what do you need?”

“I was thinking we could plan out what we’ve got so far, and see if there are any final improvements to make.”

Rench nods, taking a step back to look over the entire frame. “To be perfectly honest, I think it’s pretty damn good. When we went through that last set of upgrades, that was more than enough to put it into the WC class of frame. If you want to upgrade even further though, I can’t stop you.”

You nod, and look over your frame, thinking.

>Let’s leave as is. We know that this works.
>Fuck it, I want this entire world to be swamped in salt. What more can we put on this fucker?
>Call [insert name here. Anyone you’ve met who might have something].
>Write In.

>>42031226
>>Fuck it, I want this entire world to be swamped in salt. What more can we put on this fucker?
Remember bro the more impressive the win, the more rep you'll get for my frame.

>>42031226
>Fuck it, I want this entire world to be swamped in salt. What more can we put on this fucker?

>>42031226
>Fuck it, I want this entire world to be swamped in salt. What more can we put on this fucker?

>>42031226
>>Fuck it, I want this entire world to be swamped in salt. What more can we put on this fucker?
I now know what the planets new main export will be

>>42031226
Salt is an important part of any organic's diet.

>>42031226

After having thought for a bit, you turn to Rench. “Honestly, I think there just isn’t enough salt on this earth to do what I really want to, so I’m just going to have to create some more.”

Rench grins. “Oh, of course. Shall we?”

You crack your knuckles. “Of course.

---

Alright, so here’s how I’m going to organize this. Clearly, Rench is a good enough engineer that he doesn’t have to worry about only making your frame worse. So here’s how it’s gonna go:

You’ll get one free upgrade. You can choose from the following categories, and then I’ll roll a 1d10 to pick a free upgrade. It will be beneficial, but will be better the higher the roll.

>Handling
>Speed & Acceleration
>Misc (anything not specifically to do with the others)

You can also call Morosa, or any one of your various contacts (last thread had a few). That will also get you a free upgrade with no downsides, but you don’t have an unlimited number of contacts.

And finally, you can take a chance, similar to the last time you upgraded the frame. You’ll roll 2d20, with the first corresponding to a random upgrade, the second to a downgrade. 20 is the ‘highest’ for either, so the best roll is 20-1, worst is 1-20.

So, here are the various choices.

>What category for the free upgrade?
>Do you want to call somebody for an upgrade?
>Want to take a risk?

Rolled 1 (1d10)

>>42031443
>>Speed & Acceleration

Rolled 20, 11 = 31 (2d20)

>>42031443
>Handling

>>42031517
No rolls just yet. Be thankful.

>>42031443
>>Handling

>>42031533
>>42031517
I wanted to first establish what options you wanted.

Though it seems you're only going for the free option

>>42031553
>>42031533
>>42031517
Two votes for handling, one for S&A. Any others? Come on, lurkers.

>>42031443
>>Handling

So no rolling yet?

>>42031666
Just establishing first, because otherwise we get that >roll 20 for speed and >roll 1 for handling, so of course everyone picks speed.

>>42031443
>>Handling
Gotta hug the ground

>>42031517
>>42031533
Praise criticus!

>>42031443
>Handling
>nah
>Nah

>>42031443
>Handling
Our most ridiculous wins owe more to good control of our car than pure speed.

>>42031443
>Handling

>>42031781
>>42031724
>>42031712
>>42031709
>>42031666
Seems like Handling wins. Please roll 1d20. I'll take the first three rolls, best of, so make it count.

Rolled 18 (1d20)

>>42031812
RNG-SAMA

>>42031443
S&A, then we actually might try to risk on handling. If that is not possible, only S&A. Let's leave contacts for later.

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>42031812

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>42031812

>>42031812
fuck, damn I didn't make it with prev post

Redline Quest? FUCK YEAH! I'll wait until after this upgrade stuff gets resolved before casting votes.

>>42031822
18 wins!

And is that the final thing y'all want to do? Any more upgrades?

>>42031822
Nice

>>42031932

Handling and maybe Acceleration.

>TFW the routes is all high-speed stuff

>>42031932
LET'S RISK IT
SPEED AND ACCELERATION

>>42031932
I'd say leave it at that for now. Don't want to make too many changes until we know how that one works out.

>>42031932
Let's not risk it

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>>42031962
yeah here's the map of the race track. /s

>>42032003

So... The route is an Intergalactic Interstate?/s

>>42031990
>>42031982
Alright, no further upgrades.

Let me write./

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>>42031443

You spend the next few hours playing assistant to Rench, who completely dissembles the frame and rebuilds it from the ground up, adding plenty more wires to the entire system. He even re-routes to not just have the tailpipe, but also two more on either side of the car, embedded into the frame. From there, he starts to connect the rest of the system together, before rushing off and returning with an entire crate of Gold Nitro. You give him a glance, but he just grins and tips the entire thing into the retaining tank of your control system. Just as it starts to bubble and signal the end of the world, he seals it up tight and continues his process.

Finally, it sits before you, looking much the same as it originally did. The only new external parts that you notice are slightly thicker wheels with a better tread, and the side exhausts.

“Uh...so what did you do?”

He grins, and gestures to the front seat. “Why don’t you hop in?”

---

A few minutes later, you’re a mile out of the industrial core, in a more quiet parking lot. A few engineers are sitting around, drinking coffee and watching as you prepare yourself.

You gesture to the wheel in front of you. “Uh, so what have you done to this?”

“Check the paddles.”

Weird. Just on either side of the wheel, connected to the column itself are two paddles, similar to what some automatic cars would have for driving pseudo-manual. But the clutch is still down by your feet, as is the stick.

“So...what are these for?”

“Press one.”

You go for it, and then feel your entire body lurch to the side as the frame jumps to the right, sliding a good fifty metres along the ground before finally coming to a halt.

“Jesus...” You let go of the wheel and turn the car off, and peek your head out the frame. “What the hell was that?”

(1/2)

>>42032395

Rench grins and pops the bonnet, indicating for you to peek in. “I’ve re-engineered the nitro control. No longer does it just help spin your axle. I’ve got the nitro-exhaust also linked to those side pipes, and I upgraded your molecular breaks and power-steering so that the entire vehicle can run off of the gold nitro.”

“How does that even work?”

“Again, it uses that controlled release of the nitro so that you can direct it where you want.”

You peek around to look at the side exhausts again. They sit, ready to send your ass flying.

You grin. “It’ll work. Now, give me a few hours to practice.”

---

It’s a few hours later, and you’re exhausted. You’ve probably used up a whole cap at this point on your mere practice.

Looking at the sheer amount of engineers watch you seemingly pop one ever single second, probably worth it. If Rench ever gets around to selling his capsule loading module, he’d be a billionaire.

Either way, you know how to work this now. Hell, you could probably run this entire vehicle like it had thrusters and not wheels.

If only you could get some stormlight...

Your phone rings, and you rush to pull it out, checking the caller. It’s Kat.

>Answer smoothly
>YOU GOTTA TRY THIS
>Decline, go find her
>Decline, do something else.

>>42032446
>>Answer smoothly

>>42032446
>Answer smoothly

>>42032446
>>Answer smoothly

>>42032446
>YOU GOTTA TRY THIS
Give her some preview salt.

>>42032446
>Answer smoothly

>>42032569
>>42032531
>>42032526
>>42032513
Smooooooth. Writing.

>>42032539
All salt delivey will happen at the same time no one gets a preview no matter how hot we think they are.

>>42032446


“Hey, Kat. How are you this fine day?”

You can hear a sigh. “Hi Mikoto. I’m doing well, thanks. Yourself?”

You slide out of the frame and go to set on the bonnet. It seems some of the engineers are starting to approach, along with some other spectators. “I’m doing just wonderfully, thanks for asking. Preparing for the race to come.”

“Ooh, you got a new trick up your sleeve?”

You grin. “Your cup will runneth over with salt, Kat. I promise you that.”

“Ah, but I’ve got some of my own upgrades, Mikoto. I think this race is going to be mine, not yours.”

“Big words, Kat. Are you sure you can live up to them?”

“Why don’t you come see my frame? I promise, it’s quite incredible.”

“You know what, I think I will. Want to grab some dinner or something after that?”

“Sure! I’m in Lot 252B, in the north-east corner of the core. See you soon!”

“Seeya.” You end the call and hop back in your frame, and drive on over, taking advantage of the new control system to drift around a few corners, and drive on some walls here and there.

Eventually, you pull on up and slide out of your vehicle, entering the lot.

To see a monster.

You’re not sure what’s happened, but something absolutely definitely did. You’re not even sure if it’s real. It looks illusionary.

Your hopes are broken when Kat opens up a part of it and hops on out, landing next to you. “Hiya, Mikoto.”

“What is that thing,” you respond, reaching out a hand to touch it. It only feels like plain old steel and carbon fiber, but something’s so very wrong with it.

Kat grins. ‘Like it? We did a total overhaul. This time, I’m going fully to hover. The legs of the spider can increase or decrease gravity as needed, so I can continue climbing as well.

“What about thrust?”

She pulls you around the side of the thing, and shows you...

“That’s an anti-matter reactor.”

“Well, three of them.”

“All powering a single thruster.”

“Yessir.”

“How are you not already dead for even looking at something like this?”

(1/2

>>42032936

She laughs. “Well, either way, it looks like I’ve got this race in the bag. What upgrades have you done, hmm?”

You gesture to your frame, trying to keep a straight face. “Rench dumped a crate full of gold nitro capsules, maybe about fourty of them, into the Insertion Module. We think that’ll work.”

Kat takes one very noticeable step backwards. “I think the question you just asked is better directed at yourself.”

“Either way,” you change the subject, “want to get dinner? We can show off on the race itself.”

“Sure!” Where do you want to go?”

“Well...”

>My mom always wanted a food truck, and she managed to get one to come up here...
>Digs can get us a seat at the Spire, that real nice restaurant.
>Let’s grab some takeaway pizza and eat on the track.

>>42032951
>Let’s grab some takeaway pizza and eat on the track.

>>42032951
Digs, cover for us!

>>42032951
>>Let’s grab some takeaway pizza and eat on the track.

>>42032951
>Let’s grab some takeaway pizza and eat on the track.

>>42032951
>Let’s grab some takeaway pizza and eat on the track.

>>42032985
Oh, hey boss.

>>42033068
Who's Nero? Another Quest writer?

>>42033082
Sure is.

>>42033082
Yeah, I write a Desertpunk quest (Going to start about now) and Just started making a king of fighters quest

Was browsing through /tg/ when I saw this fine piece of work (Love the redline movie and have been wanting to make my sister watch it with me)

>>42033163
Well, nice to meet you! Glad that you're enjoying it. Maybe I'll pick up your threads some time.

Oh, forgot to say I left for some dinner. Writing for 'za

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>>42032951

Not too much longer afterwards, you find yourselves sitting a few kilometres into the race track, a large pizza container opened up on the ground in front of the both of you. You had managed to find some chairs somewhere, so you both sit back in comfort, looking at the lines that the World Cup track made.

As opposed to all the races that came before (well, apart from the ones that you utterly destroyed), this track was meant to be raced in three dimensions. Gigantic loops, floating ramps, looking more like a video game than an actual race track.

It was perfect. You were going to enjoy this.

“So, happy to be here?” you turn to Kat, eyebrows raised at the question. She frowns. “Well?”

“Of course I am. This is my dream, slowly coming together. This is just another stepping stone, though. Next is the Yellowline, and then the Redline, at the end of all this. That’s the point where I get to stop.”

“Did you ever want to do something other than racing?”

You shrug. “Not particularly. I enjoy racing, one hell of a lot. And I don’t think I ever will stop enjoying it.”

“So what do you have planned for after?”

You take another slice of pizza. “Maybe work at my mom’s restaurant. Make that bigger, better. That’d be fun. Or, you know, just keep racing.”

“Hmm.”

“And you? You got plans for after?”

She shakes her head. “Kinda focused on the now, like you. Maybe when I win...”

You grin. “Implying that you could possibly win when I exist.”

She punches you in the arm. “I’ll fucking wreck you, Mikoto. Nothing left but a stain on the ground.”

“I wish you luck in your attempts. But for now, as long as we both come first and second, we can keep moving up the ranks together.”

She smiles, taking another bite of pizza. “That’d be nice. So, I’ll see you at the starting line, then?”

You nod. “See you at the starting line.”

>>42033613
Unfortunately, I've now got some things to run to, and I don't think I'll be able to run for the rest of the night. It sucks, but I'd like to run the race properly, in a thread of its own.

And again, sorry for not being around recently. I don't think I'll be able to pull off my back to back threads again for a while, but I'll see.

Love you guys. Have a lovely night.

>>42033635
You too boss, thanks for running!

>>42033635
Thanks for running!

>>42033635
Great run Arte, next thread Best Dad?

>>42033635
I really like how you write! Keep it up!

Thanks for running!

>>42033709
I would like to, but I also really want to finish Redline. I want to be able to say that I've actually finished a quest. I'm also trying to work on where exactly I'm going with Best Dad (The Seven Sins seems to be the most obvious route) so that's some work as well.

>>42033725
Thanks, Nero! There wasn't a lot of action in this thread, but you must've read the past threads, especially the race ones. Those are my best, in terms of action.

>>42033763
>I want to finish Redline
I dont want Redline to finish.