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canon:ace14:horizon:chapter7 [16/03/2026 17:43] – poistettu - ulkoinen muokkaus (Unknown date) 127.0.0.1canon:ace14:horizon:chapter7 [16/03/2026 17:43] (current) – ↷ Page name changed from canon:ace14:horizon:horizon_ch7 to canon:ace14:horizon:chapter7 kkurzex
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 +HORIZON PROTOCOL\\ Chapter 7 — Dead Freight
 +
 +Night returned to the valley like a switch being flipped.
 +
 +Festival lights roared back to life, brighter than the stars above them. The desert that had been quiet all afternoon now vibrated again with engines, bass, and thousands of voices.
 +
 +Horizon never really rested.
 +
 +It simply reloaded.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace stood beside the Nismo while a Horizon mechanic pretended to inspect the car.
 +
 +The man ran a scanner over the chassis, nodded to himself, then looked slightly confused.
 +
 +“Suspension looks perfect.”
 +
 +Ace glanced at the dent in the side panel from the Furnace Pass race.
 +
 +“Yeah.”
 +
 +“That shouldn’t be perfect.”
 +
 +Ace shrugged.
 +
 +“Welcome to Horizon.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +The loudspeakers boomed again.
 +
 +“Event Four!”
 +
 +The crowd screamed.
 +
 +“DEAD FREIGHT!”
 +
 +Drone cameras lifted into the sky as the course map flashed across massive LED screens around the valley.
 +
 +A long straight.
 +
 +A rail yard.
 +
 +Then a brutal series of tight industrial roads winding through abandoned warehouses.
 +
 +Ace’s grin returned.
 +
 +“That looks fun.”
 +
 +Mai studied the map.
 +
 +“Dangerous.”
 +
 +“Same thing.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +When the grid assembled again the air felt different.
 +
 +More electricity.
 +
 +More risk.
 +
 +The drivers had started believing in Horizon now.
 +
 +They trusted the anomaly.
 +
 +That was dangerous.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Grouse arrived last.
 +
 +His car still carried dents from Furnace Pass.
 +
 +He didn’t care.
 +
 +The man leaned out of the window as his engine idled loudly.
 +
 +“You ready for round four, Ace?”
 +
 +Ace rolled the Nismo forward a few centimeters.
 +
 +“Always.”
 +
 +Grouse laughed.
 +
 +“Good.”
 +
 +His eyes gleamed under the festival lights.
 +
 +“Let’s see what Horizon does tonight.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +The lights ignited.
 +
 +Red.
 +
 +Red.
 +
 +Red.
 +
 +The engines screamed louder than ever.
 +
 +Then the lights vanished.
 +
 +And the pack launched into the darkness.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The opening stretch blasted across a long desert highway.
 +
 +Cars surged forward again.
 +
 +But this time nobody held back.
 +
 +Drivers had learned something from the earlier races.
 +
 +The festival wouldn’t let them die.
 +
 +So they drove like it.
 +
 +Ace weaved through traffic immediately.
 +
 +The Nismo darted between larger machines like a knife slipping between ribs.
 +
 +Mai’s DB11 stayed further back, building speed patiently.
 +
 +Shammy watched the road ahead.
 +
 +“…something heavy is moving near the rail yard.”
 +
 +Mai frowned slightly.
 +
 +“What kind of heavy?”
 +
 +“…steel.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +The course plunged off the highway and into the freight district.
 +
 +Floodlights illuminated rusting train cars and long rows of industrial warehouses.
 +
 +Tracks crossed the road at sharp angles.
 +
 +The asphalt was broken.
 +
 +Uneven.
 +
 +Perfect for chaos.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace hit the first rail crossing at full speed.
 +
 +The Nismo launched briefly into the air.
 +
 +The suspension slammed down again.
 +
 +The car stayed stable.
 +
 +Barely.
 +
 +Behind her several drivers hit the same crossing harder.
 +
 +One car bounced violently and slammed into a parked freight wagon.
 +
 +Metal exploded.
 +
 +The vehicle spun across the road.
 +
 +Then corrected itself again.
 +
 +Still racing.
 +
 +Ace laughed over the radio.
 +
 +“Yeah.”
 +
 +“Definitely cheating.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +The road twisted between towering warehouse walls now.
 +
 +Headlights flashed across rusted steel and shattered windows.
 +
 +Grouse charged into the industrial maze like a wrecking ball again.
 +
 +He clipped a stack of shipping crates.
 +
 +Wood shattered.
 +
 +Debris flew everywhere.
 +
 +The car never slowed.
 +
 +“HORIZON!” he shouted into the night.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Ace closed the gap quickly.
 +
 +The Nismo slipped through the narrow turns faster than the heavier machines ahead of her.
 +
 +The road curved sharply between two freight trains parked on parallel tracks.
 +
 +The gap between them barely fit a single car.
 +
 +Grouse went through first.
 +
 +His car clipped the side of one train hard enough to send sparks flying down the entire length of the wagon.
 +
 +Ace followed immediately.
 +
 +The Nismo slid through the gap like a bullet.
 +
 +Metal screamed against metal.
 +
 +But the car emerged clean.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Behind them the DB11 approached the same obstacle.
 +
 +Mai slowed slightly.
 +
 +Not out of fear.
 +
 +Calculation.
 +
 +The Aston Martin threaded between the train cars with centimeters to spare.
 +
 +Shammy leaned forward again.
 +
 +“…probability field is fluctuating.”
 +
 +Mai glanced at the telemetry.
 +
 +The curve spiked again.
 +
 +Higher than before.
 +
 +“That’s not good.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +The industrial maze ended in a wide open freight yard.
 +
 +Hundreds of train cars sat parked across multiple tracks.
 +
 +The race route cut directly through them.
 +
 +The only path forward zigzagged between moving cargo trains slowly crossing the yard.
 +
 +Ace’s grin widened.
 +
 +“Oh that’s just mean.”
 +
 +----
 +
 +A freight train rolled across the first crossing.
 +
 +Grouse didn’t slow.
 +
 +He slammed the accelerator and launched his car over the small ramp built into the crossing barrier.
 +
 +The vehicle cleared the train by less than a meter.
 +
 +The crowd watching from drone feeds exploded in cheers.
 +
 +Ace followed seconds later.
 +
 +The Nismo jumped cleanly over the moving wagons.
 +
 +For a moment the car flew above the train.
 +
 +Then landed hard on the other side.
 +
 +Still racing.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Mai reached the same crossing just as the next train approached.
 +
 +Shammy spoke quietly.
 +
 +“…jump window is three seconds.”
 +
 +Mai accelerated.
 +
 +The DB11 surged forward.
 +
 +The ramp rushed toward them.
 +
 +The Aston Martin lifted into the air.
 +
 +For a second the car hung above the moving train like a black shadow.
 +
 +Then gravity reclaimed it.
 +
 +The car landed perfectly.
 +
 +Mai didn’t even blink.
 +
 +----
 +
 +The finish line appeared beyond the rail yard.
 +
 +Ace pushed the Nismo harder.
 +
 +The engine screamed in protest.
 +
 +Grouse remained just ahead.
 +
 +The man was driving completely without restraint now.
 +
 +Too confident.
 +
 +Too fearless.
 +
 +The next corner approached fast.
 +
 +Grouse took it sideways.
 +
 +The car slammed into a stack of steel containers.
 +
 +Hard.
 +
 +The containers shifted.
 +
 +One toppled.
 +
 +Ace shot past before the debris finished falling.
 +
 +In the mirror she saw the impossible again.
 +
 +The container stopped halfway through the fall.
 +
 +Just long enough.
 +
 +Grouse’s car slipped free.
 +
 +Still running.
 +
 +Still racing.
 +
 +Ace crossed the finish line first again.
 +
 +Grouse followed seconds later, laughing like a man who had just cheated death and enjoyed it.
 +
 +The DB11 rolled across the line moments after that.
 +
 +Another impossible race.
 +
 +Another escalation.
 +
 +----
 +
 +Back in the paddock Mai stepped out slowly.
 +
 +Shammy looked toward the rail yard behind them.
 +
 +“…the anomaly just corrected multiple collisions simultaneously.”
 +
 +Mai nodded.
 +
 +“Yes.”
 +
 +“That means the probability load is increasing.”
 +
 +Ace leaned against the Nismo again.
 +
 +“So what happens when it overloads?”
 +
 +Mai didn’t answer immediately.
 +
 +Across the valley the festival speakers roared again.
 +
 +“Event Five begins tomorrow!”
 +
 +Fireworks exploded overhead.
 +
 +Drivers celebrated.
 +
 +The crowd screamed with excitement.
 +
 +And somewhere in the desert darkness beyond the rail yard, Skulker finally reached the outskirts of the Horizon valley again.
 +
 +He parked his car and watched the distant lights for a long moment.
 +
 +Then he said quietly to himself:
 +
 +“…yeah.”
 +
 +“This is much bigger than a race.”
 +