HEY! JUST FINISH A RUN? CLICK HERE -> 
We're the [censored] artist! We get to do what we want. It's our party. You're invited. And we can destroy this thing if we want. I don't want you to destroy it.
-- CMDR Ulrich
Heavy Metal is on the home stretch, less than two days to go before a winner is crowned and the legal fees are settled. To celebrate, the Heavy Metal leaderboard now proudly displays each CMDR's PPS rating: Profit Per Second, a handy-dandy measurement of the pilot's profit for the run divided by the time in seconds. This is the gold (or palladium) standard by which we are measured. And now, you can each figure out how far ahead or behind you are from the competition as it draws to a close. The Big Ledger of Record closes at 23:59, 23 April so get those last runs in soon!
First off, in the Nines...
Uh oh. After receiving word that CMDR Polly's 500-ton capacity
Nos Subisto De Somethingorther had snatched first place from his grasp, CMDR Bruski did what any Buckyballer would have done. Damn the shields, full speed through the slot. The
Oversized Coffee Machine, uh, excuse me
Delectens Meum Cafeum (you scamps and your poorly translated latin names) was not going to be denied. But treachery was afoot! Someone, and we don't know who, dropped a dime on Bruski and the telemetry of his leaderboard-topping run was confiscated by port authorities at Banapityas on a trumped up musical copyright claim. Though it's impossible to determine who it was who snitched Bruski out to the Recording Industry Association of Achenar, without evidence to the contrary we must conclude it was Senator Denton Petraeus. That guy can suck it.
Unfortunately, that means Bruski's time is listed as "Under Review" as he locates data from his backup flight recorder, but as Bruski's reputation with the Club is impeccable (and he has great taste in music) there's little doubt he'll be able to come up with the necessary data.
Meanwhile, CMDR Stern Winter engaged in a tug of war with CMDR Aken B., with the
Majestic Møøse Cøw engaged in a life-or-third-pace struggle with the
Graceful Betty. In spite of a clean, uninterrupted run and higher profit by Stern, Aken B managed a better time on the clock and
Betty leads by a nose.
CMDR <-lightspeed-> made his debut in the
Golden Ticket, earning a solid 6th space finish, and CMDR Edelgard von Rhein in the
Extra Zero battled interdictions, cantankerous hyperspace jumps and a foreshortened cargo bay to stay out of reach of the Type-7s nipping at his thrusters.
The Sevens saw a little bit of action, with CMDR Alec Turner pushing his throttle and trade skills to propel the
Size of a Cow to first place in the Type-7 class. But as with the Nines, first place is fleeting, and Aken B. pulled into Treschov in the
Holy Cow with a buzzer-beater to sneak in for the lead. Still, with two days left, it's anybody's race. It's just a question of who wants it.
No movement in the Sixes, so for now Samwell Drakhyr's
Deep Blue Yonder sits in the front row. But will it last?
CMDR Jak still dominates the illegal Nerve Gas trade. With only two days left, has he already clinched a first-place finish?
And finally, I'm hearing a lot of talk about Cookiehole. Whispered fears of ungodly speed and inhuman piloting skills, of iron-clad first place times going up in a puff of heavenly, fresh-baked oven made cookie scented goodness. But we just haven't seen it in this race. All I know is that I'm in 8th place, and Cookiehole is languishing down in pre-flight staging, taking up three whole spaces. Anyone afraid of the big bad Cookie is just haulin' biowaste. Yep, a whoooole lot of talk, not a lot of action... 'Tis a shame.
Welp, guess there's nothing left for me to do but to crack this whole thing wide open. 7th place or bust. Furrycat, I'm coming for you!
