PIRANHA ADVANCEMENTS (Racing) / PIRANHAA

Pir-hana was formed in 2044 as a result of a merger between two smaller Brazilian companies, Pir and Hana. Despite the subtle and mysterious appearance of the team, they had played an important role in the history of Anti-Gravity Racing by establishing both the Anti-Gravity Federation and the Anti-Gravity Racing Championship.

Mysteriously, the team pulled out of AG racing entirely before the F3600 League was announced in 2050. They were bought out by an unknown entity and relocated to China. From then, they produced airbrakes for AG Systems and Auricom craft before returning to craft development in 2060 under the new name of Piranha Advancements.

Since then, the team started to gain a reputation as fierce perfectionists. The team brought this reputation to a craft of their own for the first time in 47 years in the F5000 League, entering an unarmed prototype ship that was literally perfect in every statistical area. In spite of its lack of weapon capabilities, its speed and maneuverability was mind-blowing. However, the cost to build such powerful machines was very high, and finding pilots skilled enough to fly them was difficult, especially in the face of Qirex’s financial superiority.

In the F7200 League, with the team having returned to Brazil, their craft was no longer godlike in all stats, but still a strong performer overall. Their perfectionism was consistent throughout the team’s journey, as Aries Piermont, the company owner at the time of the F9000 League, always emphasized on aiming as high as possible. This was further evident with Piranha’s acqusition of Assegai in 2150. As a result, the Piranha team’s Swiftkiller craft was one of the best in the F9000 League thanks to Assegai’s stabilization technologies. Even with this passing, Piranha continued to believe in his vision, although around this time the team changed in terms of performance.

Through the great recession, Piranha withdrew from the public eye before the F9000 League was abolished, but continued operations at their secure factory base in Brazil. Images captured by covert surveillance over the years showed that Piranha employees were busy indeed, with constant activity being recorded at their wind tunnels and fabrication facilities. However, with no outlook for their development, Piranha faced a major financial meltdown. As a result, the Piranha company sold the Assegai name back to the United African Nations in 2181, and was soon acquired by the Brazilian government.

Secretive as ever, a surprise appearance at the Anti-Gravity Rebirth Festival in 2185 confirmed that Piranha were most certainly continuing to develop their trademark style of sleek and agile craft. Although they took a limited role in the development of the FX150 League, Piranha made a prominent contribution to demanding the League Commission to organize a professional series, resulting in the announcement of the FX300 League in 2195.

The Piranha ship in the FX300 League had shown such superior top speed, making it untouchable at the straights. However, the ship’s lack of thrust and handling proved the problem for the Piranha team, given the technical nature of racetracks in Makana. As they struggled with this, the team were unable to score as many wins as they did in the far past, although in the end they did manage to make into a mid-pack runner.

Disappointed at the final results, Piranha decided to move on to join the FX400 League. They had created a new ship, which they claimed to be the fastest since their return to AG racing. Nobody even dared to argue about this, but perhaps Icaras would. Nevertheless, the Piranha team would see themselves as they tried to repeat their early success from the front of the grid.