The Falon Games

Without a doubt, the Falon Games are the most popular sport on Chandria. They are the equivalent of the old Earth Olympics, mixed with a dose of the Gladiatorial Arenas, contestants who participate in the Games are on the fast track to fame and glory, if they aren't killed along the way. With several different leagues, it attracts a variety of hopefulls: from speed demons, to acrobats, to your typical street thugs. Watched by millions of people worldwide, the profits from these exclusive sports are in the hundreds of billions of credits. The Games are recorded, and can be bought on vid-disks almost anywhere. All of the Games employ the racing style hover disks. Any contestant (other than the prisoners in the Combat League) may enter more than one League, but this is a rarity.

The Falon games consist of four different leagues.

The Speed League
The Aerial League
The Versus League
The Combat League (also known as "The Death League" or simply "Blood Ball")


The Speed League - The speed league is probably the most straitforward of all the leagues. The first man to cross the finish line wins. However this is easier said than done, considering that this is a no holds barred race. Competitors are free to use any means necessary in order to finish first. There is a strict "no long range weapons" rule in effect, but SDC hand weapons are allowed. Most racers shun using them however since it slows them down. Most prefer spiked gauntlets and leather straps, and no other offensive weapons. It's not just the other racers that one has to worry about however. The course is often filled with obstacles that racers must pass through on their way to the finish line. Spinning fan blades, hydrolic pystons, chains across the track, almost anything goes as long as it doesn't actually shoot something at the racers. Sometimes even crowd participation is employed as one of the obstacles: with spectators given baseball sized spheres of lead to hurl at the racers. This is a favorite of the crowd as it gives you a chance to knock down a rival team member while letting your own racer past. The races are fast, furious, and sometimes downright brutal. Serious injuries are common, but the goal isn't to kill your opponent, it's to cross the finish line first. So deaths are avoided as much as possible, but accidents do happen. Betting on the races is allowed, and the house can cover any size bet as long as you can prove you have the money on hand. There are several different Speed Tracks worldwide. Most have an interchangable course layout, and so you're never really racing on the same track more than a few times.

The Aerial League - The simplest and least hostile of any other Leagues, the goal here is to score as many points as possible in the flashiest manner. Contestants are sent down courses featuring ramps, pipes, springboards, gridworks of bars, and other obstacles. All the while pulling as many stunts as possible using these objects within a set time limit. Everyone is graded on style, difficulty, originality, and crowd response. Head to head challenges are also very popular, with two or more contestants all hitting the course at the same time, trying to out-do everyone elses tricks. This is the only League with a "No contact" rule. Bumping and jostling happen occasionally, but purposefully going after another contestant results in immediate disqualification, a stiff fine, or outright banishment from the games if the offense resulted in a death. However, this is a very fine line, because some of the most popular and highest scoring tricks have involved another contestant without his consent. Such as briefly handstanding on another persons helmet.

The Versus League - teams for this league are made up of 7 people per team. Each arena has lights set throughout the course. A minimum of 3 is required, and 15 lights is the maximum allowed in a single arena. By pressing the light down, each light can turn the color for the corresponding team. A small sensor in the light reads a similar device built into the gloves of the team member who pushed it to determine the color. For every five seconds that a light is lit with a teams color, that team scores one point. The goal here is to score a set number of points (from 50 to 300) by keeping as many lights as possible on your teams color. All the while attempting to stop the other team from changing them. Some lights are built into areas that are nearly impossible to reach without some pretty inventive flying. This is another of the famous "No holds barred" competitions, but this is purely physical: no weapons aloud. Danger comes from the courses too, as many of them are filled with jumps, rails, bars for acrobatics, and the like. Spectacular crashes and collisions among racers are common. Deaths happen, but these racers are the best of the best at what they do, so they don't happen as often as one would think. Without a doubt the most popular Versus Arena is located within the Kralazon Kingdom's capitol. Entitled "Vertigo", this arena was not built on the concept of competitors going horizontally. It is a corkscrewing maze of obstacles that towers 80 stories straight up, with the majority of the scoring lights located high up in the course. Matches in this arena are fast, violent, and offer some of the best and inventive flying manouvers on the planet. Because of the layout of this course, there is no seating to watch the matches directly. The arena has viewing rooms built from top to bottom around the circumference where spectators can watch the matches on large screen TV's. Each room is built like a miniature club or bar, with the ritziest and largest being near the top of the arena.

The Combat League - well beyond any other, this is the most violent, bloody, fast paced, and popular out of any Falon League. Participants in these games are either criminals, or have a serious death wish. Anyone may enter, but the main "fodder" for these games are criminals on death row. Originally, the second moon of Chandria was mined until it was barely even a labyrinth of tunnels. Soon afterwards it was annexed by a mutual agreement between the world powers as a prison. It was soon flooded with the worst types of people imaginable, and reached it's maximum capacity within a year. A solution came from a representative for the Falon Games, who suggested putting criminals on death row in the games as a form of execution. This solved the inmate problem, while providing a new means of income (and a huge boost in popularity) for the Falon Games. In the Combat League, teams are made up of 5 members. Each team attempts to put a heavy metal ball into the opponents goal; a two ft. diameter metal dish. The rink is about the size of an old Earth football field, filled with many of the different obstacles found in the other Leagues, with an emphasis being more on deadly than difficult. Contestants are given colored (according to their team) suits, arm and shin guards, and helmets. Most of the surface of these are covered in spikes. The final piece of equipment is a scoop like glove meant for catching and hurling the ball. Despite those precausions however, this is a contest where violence is not only allowed, it is encouraged. It is meant as an option other than an unknown death for inmates. Anyone may enter, but most of the participants are death-row inmates who have nothing to lose, and are trying to go out with one last spurt of glory. Deaths and permanently crippling injuries happen in almost every match. Most injuries result not from the obstacles, but from the ball. Because of the scoop like shape, competitors are able to throw the ball in excess of 120 M.P.H. Hitting opponents with it is a good way of getting them out of your way, or simply ending their lives. Hordes of people pay extravigant amounts of money to be shipped out to the moon to watch a match. Spectators are allowed to watch in special seats and booths behind MDC glass. Inmates are not allowed to enter any other Leagues, unlike regular contestants in the Falon Games.