Voxx Vortex 5000

The Voxx Vortex 5000 was a race held during the First Order-Resistance War, involving members of the Colossus refueling station's Ace Squadron flying against racing droids owned by the Hutt casino owner Vranki the Blue, for the purpose of gaining the freedom of other members of the Aces and acquiring the Colossus credits so the station could purchase supplies.
==Prelude==
===Hype's proposal===
Prior to the First Order-Resistance War, Hype Fazon worked as a racing pilot for the Hutt Vranki, who owned a hotel and casino in the Voxx Cluster, an asteroid field. Hype became a racer before leaving to pursue a racing career at the Colossus space station on the planet Castilon, where he became the leader of the Ace Squadron. Over the years, Vranki developed a reputation for unscrupulous business practices including rigging hologames and races. Vranki owned a fleet of racing droid and service droid named TC-G3, who ran the races for him.
Following the Hosnian Cataclysm, Team Colossus led by Kazuda Xiono, Jarek Yeager and the station's Captain Imanuel Doza expelled First Order forces from the Colossus. They then took the station into space. In response, Captain Phasma ordered Commander Pyre and Agent Tierny to hunt down the Colossus due to its strategic importance to the First Order. The Colossus had several encounters with various First Order forces including the BB-series astromech droid MB-13A, the undercover spy Nenavakasa Nalor, and Pyre's Resurgent-class Star Destroyer in the Ileenium system and near a signal beacon. The Colossus escaped them on each of these occasions.
During the prolonged voyage through space, the Aces grew bored since they were unable to race due to the deprivations of war. The Colossus was also running short on funds due to the loss of its racing industry. Seeing an opportunity, Hype convinced a reluctant Captain Doza and Yeager to consider his plan to race at Vranki's circuit in order to raise much needed funds while allowing the Aces to have some "fun."
===Hutt entanglements===
The Aces, Captain Doza, Xiono, Yeager, Neeku Vozo and their droids traveled to the Voxx cluster. Vranki was happy to receive the Colossus delegation because his business had been experiencing a downturn in customers due to the First Order-Resistance war. Following negotiations between Vranki and Hype, Hype accepted Vranki's wager that if he won the race, he would win 25,000 Credits. However, if he lost the race, Hype would have to stay behind and become an indentured racer. The overconfident Hype accepted Vranki's offer to race against Team Vranki.
However, Vranki cheated during the race by using his racing droid to slow down Hype's race, causing him to lose the race. Vranki's dishonest conduct enraged both Hype and Captain Doza. Captain Doza announced his delegation was leaving but they were blocked by two of Vranki's Kowakian ape-lizards. Vranki warned his guests to play by his rules in the casino. Neeku subsequently discovered that the hologames in Vranki's casino were rigged. Kaz suggested that the hologames and racing droids' algorithms were linked. As the team's engineer and tech expert, Neeku agreed to investigate the matter and came up with a plan to beat Vranki at his game.
Meanwhile, Vranki proposed another wager. In order to get back Hype, Captain Doza and Yeager would have to send another racer to race his droids. If they won, they would get Hype back. If they lost, he would get to keep both Hype and that racer. While Yeager was opposed to the wager, Kaz managed to convince Captain Doza that Neeku had a plan to beat Vranki and convinced him to accept the wager. Following the second round of negotiations, Vranki ordered TC-G3 to begin preparations for the Voxx Vortex 5000.
==The race==
The other Ace pilots Freya Fenris, Bo Keevil, and Griff Halloran took turns to race against Vranki's racing droids. Though the racers and Yeager were skeptical about Kaz and Neeku's theory that the hologames and racer droids were linked, they decided to take the risk due to the lack of other options. However, Team Vranki used dishonest tactics including ship-ramming, magnetic mines, and hidden laser cannons to beat the Aces, turning them into indentured racers. Despite Neeku's efforts to guide the pilots, they were outmatched by Vranki's sophisticated droid algorithms. Though Vranki was clearly cheating, there was little that Captain Doza and his delegation could do since Vranki held a monopoly of power and force.
By now, the only remaining Aces were Torra Doza and Kazuda Xiono, who were determined to race in order to free their comrades. Kaz decided to raise the stakes by volunteering himself and Torra against Vranki's droids. Torra decided to raise the stakes even higher by using the Colossus as collateral. Captain Doza initially opposed the idea but Torra pointed out that the station was defenseless without the racers. Realizing his daughter was right, Doza relented but convinced Vranki to throw an addition 500,000 credits to match their wager. Seeking to acquire the space station and confident of victory, Vranki obliged. Vranki also agreed to free the other Aces if he lost the race.
Neeku agreed to help Kaz and Torra to win the final race. Torra and Kaz raced against Team Vranki. Neeku was harassed by several Kowakian monkey-lizards who climbed on him but struggled to guide Torra and Kaz. During the race, Torra's racer Blue Ace was hit by laser fire, preventing it from reaching the final hoop first. Meanwhile, Xiono managed to escape two magnetic mines by luring them into the asteroid field, destroying them.
As Kaz and Vranki's racing droid raced to the final hoop, Vranki activated the hoop's laser cannons. However, Kaz managed to outwit the racing droid by planting his ship beneath the racer, using it as a shield against the cannons. Meanwhile, Neeku managed to deactivate the final hoop's laser cannons, allowing Kaz to sail through the racing hoop and win the race.
==Aftermath==
Kaz's victory during the final leg of the Voxx Vortex 5000 allowed the Colossus delegation to get back their Ace pilots, saving them from indentured servitude under Vranki. Besides losing the wager on the Colossus, Vranki was also obliged to pay the 500,000 credits that he had wagered on the station. These credits would provide much needed funds for the cash-strapped space station. Vranki tried to entice Hype to race for him in return for a life of luxury. However, Hype wanted nothing to do with the dishonest Hutt businessman. Neeku also returned home with several new Kowakian monkey-lizard friends.
==Behind the scenes==
The Voxx Vortex 5000 first appeared in the Star Wars Resistance Season Two episode "The Voxx Vortex 5000," which premiered on Disney XD on December 1, 2019.
==Appearances==
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==Sources==
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*Star Wars: Timelines 
==Notes and references==
Category:Events during the First Order–Resistance war
Category:Sporting events