TSAR (Tri-State Auto Rally) held a Div 20 duel on Sunday, July 28th, 2052. The Division 20 event was played in the Aspen Octagon Arena.

Players in attendance included: Eric Freeman, Helen Mitchell, David "Stee1 Cobra" McGee, Joe "Irish Hammer" Barlow, Bryon Gray, Curt Lindmark, and Jeff Dodge.

As an experiment, the Miles Messervy targeting modifier rules were to be tested. Details of the rules can be found at http://home.earthlink.net/~mfal/rmada/.

Victory conditions were normal: 80 points starts the 5 second clock, with an instant win at 100 (2.5 full kills).

The cars were as follows:

Gate 1: Jeff: Rockets of Fun MK IV: Luxury, Ext Hvy Chassis, Hvy Suspension, large electric with SCs, 4 PR SB tires, driver only. Targeting laser in 1 space turret with 10 pts CA, 2 BTC LGL HRs front, 3 BTC LGL HRs left with 10 pts CA, 3 BTC LGL HRs right with 10 pts CA, sand discharger front, flame cloud discharger under, stickyfoam discharger right, oil discharger left, ice discharger back. SWC, 2 10 pt wheelhubs front, 2 10 pt wheelguards back, fake ramplate, 5 links, 4 bumper triggers, HTMs. Driver wears normal body armor and carries a PFE. Armor: M/P: F 5/15, B 5/15, L 5/15, R 5/15, T 3/11, U 0/5. Accel 5, TS 90. HC 3 $19,920, 6,600 lbs.

Gate 2: Dave: Micron: Sloped Subcompact, CA Frame, Hvy Chassis, Hvy Suspension, 100 CID engine with VP Turbo, 4 gallon economy tank (full), 4 standard racing slicks, driver only. VMG front (15 HD shots). HD Shocks, spoiler, airdam, HRSWC, HD Brakes, Anti-Lock Brakes, 2 fake wheel hubs front, 2 fake wheelguards back. 123 pts normal plastic armor. Accel 15, TS 92.5 HC 6/7@60 $19,989, 2,422 lbs

Gate 3: Joe: Irish Hammer (AKA Desperado '51): Sedan, Ext Hvy Chassis, Hvy Suspension, Large electric with PCs, 2 SB Solids front, 2 SB PR back, driver only. ATG with extra mag (10 shots sabot, 7 shots HEAT), FCGS left (2 shots), ice discharger back, stickyfoam discharger left. FE, HD Shocks, HRSWC, 3 bumper triggers, HTMs. 2 10 pt wheelhubs front, 2 10 pt wheelguards back. 10 pts CA on PP, driver. Armor (M/P): F6/31, B 6/31, L 0/30, R 0/30, T 0/1, U /10. Accel 5, TS 90. HC 3 $19,976, 6,118 lbs.

Gate 4: Empty

Gate 5: Curt: Kahuna: Mid-sized, Ext Hvy Chassis, Hvy Suspension, Large electric, 4 SB PR Radials, driver only. 2 rocket launchers with incend ammo front, sand discharger front, ice discharger left, smoke discharger left, stickyfoam discharger right, smoke discharger right, flame cloud discharger under, smoke discharger under, flaming oil discharger back. HD Shocks, spoiler, airdam, 4 bumper triggers, HTMs, 4 10 pt wheelhubs, 2 10 pt wheelguards back, ramplate, 5 links, SWC, 3 LRW (right, left, back, linked to smoke dischargers). Driver wears normal body armor. Armor F40(ram), B30, L35, R35, T10, U12. Accel 5, TS 90, HC 4/5@60 19,877, 5,754 lbs.

Gate 6: Bryon: Sniper: Sloped Compact, Ext Hvy Chassis, Hvy Suspension, 150 CID engine blueprinted with VP Turbo, 5 gallon economy tank (full), 4 FP standard radials, driver only. BTC OPG back (10 shots FO ammo), ice discharger left, ice discharger right, smoke discharger back, sand discharger front, sand discharger under. 2 bumper triggers, spoiler, 4 10 pt wheel hubs, 2 10 pt wheel guards back, HRSWC. 10 pts CA on driver. Armor (M/P): F 4/31, B 7/50, L 4/31, R 4/41, T 0/4, U 1/5. Accel 15, TS 90, HC 4/5@60 $19,991.60, 4,251 lbs.

Gate 7: Helen: Usagi Yojimbo II: Mid-sized, Ext Hvy Chassis, Hvy Suspension, Large electric, 4 SB PR tires, driver only. Turreted VMG (18 normal shots), FOJ back (25 normal shots), ice discharger right, stickyfoam discharger left, sand discharger front, flame cloud discharger under. FE, HRSWC, 5 links, 4 bumper triggers, HTM, spoiler, airdam, ramplate. Armor (P) F 60(ram), B 25, R 25, L 25, T 25, U 5. Accel 5, TS 90, HC 3/4@60 $19,960, 5,760 lbs.

Gate 8: Eric: Lucky Deis: Compact, Ext Hvy Chassis, Hvy Suspension, 100 CID engine with Turbo, 4 gallon racing tank (full), 4 PRSB tires, driver only. ATG front (10 sabot shots), sand discharger front, 2 ice dischargers, 2 flaming oil dischargers, 2 flame cloud dischargers, one stickyfoam discharger, HRSWC, HD Shocks, FE, 7 links, 4 bumper triggers, 2 10 pt wheelhubs front, 2 10 pt wheelguards back, spoiler, airdam, ramplate. 10 pts CA driver, 10 pts CA engine. Driver wears normal body armor. 141 pts normal plastic armor. Accel 10/15, TS 65, HC 3/4@60 $19,984, 4,439 lbs.

As the flag comes down, seven metal machines of mayhem come screaming out of their gates, hungry for speed, the squeal of a tire and the smell of victory. While Jeff heads for the center of the octagon, Eric turns sharply to the left heading for Helen. Helen starts a trail of flaming oil a fraction of a second too late, and leaves a hole big enough for Eric to drive through. Bryon heads for the center, but turns sharply to his left, bring his flaming oil gun to bear on the area Eric will have to drive through. He leaves two shots placed just far enough for Eric to squeeze through unscathed. Curt heads for the center, turning slightly to the left with his eyes on Dave's Micron. Dave has turned sharply to the right and jousts with Joe (as usual). They trade shots scuffing the armor, and pass by each other. On his way past, Joe lets off a FC shot that rocks Dave, stripping the top armor and leaving him vulnerable. Joe, however, has not the time to capitalize on this, and Dave zooms off into another dangers.

As Curt sets his sights on Dave, Jeff and Helen trade fire in the middle of the arena. Jeff lets off a horrendous volley of laser-guided rocket fire, breaching Helen's right side. Helen returns the favor by T-boning the hapless Jeff, caving in his left side and scratching the well-engineered component armor. Just before Dave veers hard to the left, he scathes Curt's front armor with a VMG burst, while Curt's rockets go wide. With Helen severely slowed down by the collision, Dave screams by at 80 mph, with Curt hot on his heels, tires squealing, turning sharply to try to get a bead on Dave. Changing tactics, sadly, Curt opts for a ram on what he thinks is a severely dilapidated Helen. He thinks wrong, and pays for his mistake with his life. On a positive note, he takes Helen out as well, becoming the obligatory head-on ram double kill of the game.

Circling out in the outer edge of the arena are Joe and Eric, eyeing the carnage in the middle with anticipation.

Bryon skims around the outer edge as Jeff, damaged but far from out, homes in on Bryon with his targeting laser, preparing yet another rocket barrage. Bryon makes a difficult target of himself, dropping behind buildings to spoil Jeff's aim. Bryon also leaves flaming oil in his wake for Jeff to maneuver around.

As Joe circles around the far edge of the arena, Dave slides in behind him and starts peppering him from behind. As a second to last ditch effort, Joe slams on the brakes, hoping Dave will zoom past him, or failing that, force a collision with the much smaller car. And collide they do. [See Editor's Note] Dave's momentum forces the slower moving Joe out of the way, taking Joe half way around of where he wants to be: to bring his FC streamer to bear on the still vulnerable Dave. Joe tried to take himself the rest of the way there with a sharp turn, and sadly pays for his bravado by rolling his car into the wall! During his roll, both the nearby Dave and the not-so-nearby Eric see a chance to capitalize on Joe's misfortune, and both open fire, hoping for a kill before the referee will rule Joe a self-kill. Both, however, miss, and Joe is taken out of the match.

This leaves the much slower Dave being pursued by the much faster Eric. Dave guns the engine for all it's worth, hoping to dive behind cover, but Eric catches him in time and T-bones him. The carbon-aluminum frame buckles under the pressure, and Dave is cut nearly in half by the tremendous force.

Meanwhile, Bryon is outpacing Jeff, and Jeff finds himself in the middle of the arena squarely in the sights of Eric's ramplate. The slower Jeff cannot outrun Eric, and is hit head-on. Only then do we all know that Jeff's ramplate is fake, and he takes enough damage to be killed. This starts the five second clock.

Bryon, still at speed, fires his last flaming oil shot in Eric's path, but Eric is slow enough to maneuver around it. Having run out of ammo, Bryon declares his intent not to pursue the match further, and Eric is declared the winner.

Final standings:

1st Eric 81 points: killed Jeff, killed Dave, 1 checkpoint

2nd Bryon 4 - no kills, 4 checkpoints

3rd Curt 2.5 points: killed Helen, killed by Helen, 2.5 checkpoints

4th Helen 1 point: killed Curt, killed by Curt, 1 checkpoint

5th Jeff -37.5 - killed - 2.5 checkpoints

5th Dave -37.5 - killed -2.5 checkpoints

7th Joe -38 - killed self, 2 checkpoints

[Editor's Note: It was not noticed until after the match that Dave was driving a subcompact (DM 2/3) and Joe was driving a sedan (DM 1). Cars with a lower DM automatically conform to cars of a higher DM, regardless of the type of collision. Dave should have conformed to Joe, and not vice versa. We apologize for the error. The person governing the laws of physics has been sacked.]