sith_happened: (Anakin: total badass)
Anakin Skywalker ([personal profile] sith_happened) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2007-05-17 11:29 pm
Entry tags:

Flight & Flying [Friday, May 18, 2nd period]

Anakin stood in front of the door of the miraculously unscathed flight shed and waited for the workshop students to arrive, his hands tucked into the sleeves of his dark robes.

"Welcome," he said, giving them a nod. "I'm Master Skywalker, and I'll be your instructor for flight this session. I'm from a space-based culture, so my expertise is primarily in those sorts of aircraft, but we'll also be working with the way people fly on this planet. We'll begin with simulators and if you convince me of your attention to detail and your ability not to die in stupid ways, you'll eventually be allowed to fly the real things." He pointed at Aeryn with a small smile. "This is Aeryn Sun, and she'll be the TA for this workshop. Listen to her instructions and recommendations just as carefully as you do mine--she's one hell of a pilot."

He waved a hand lazily at the doors and they slid open to reveal two podracing simulators sitting side-by-side.

"All right," he said, pointing at the controls, "everything you need to fly a podracer is located on the handlebars. You push them forward to go faster, pull back to slow down, and pull one or the other towards you to turn." He pointed at the buttons in the center of the console. "That controls the engines," he said. "You push the big button to light them up, and on these two models, you can push it again for an extra burst of speed." He looked at the class. "Which burns your fuel very, very quickly, so save that until you need it."

He raised an eyebrow. "Normally, these are attached to enormous engines--6 or 7 meter long engines--but these aren't real, and the simulator won't really give you the noise that's normally associated with the podracer. But the simulator has been programmed to go very, very quickly." He pointed to the simulator on the left-hand side. "This one, properly piloted, can get up to 950 kilometers an hour. The other can get up to 900. To fly a podracer at those kinds of speed requires iron nerves and split-second reflexes."

He clasped his hands in front of him. "Today you can take a turn learning how the simulators work, then pair up to fly against each other." He gave them a slightly predatory smile. "If you choose, you can fly against me. I built the real version of this podracer," he patted the left-hand simulator, "and used it to win a race when I was nine years old. And I won't give you a head start."
solo_sword: (i kinda rule)

Re: Individual flight

[personal profile] solo_sword 2007-05-18 07:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Jaina got into the simulator wordlessly, started it up correctly, and got it going. Amazingly, she kept the glare in check. Good girl.
solo_sword: (flight suit [book])

Re: Individual flight

[personal profile] solo_sword 2007-05-19 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
She could do this. She'd already figured out how in the belt, and that had posed the threat of her actually beind hurt. This wasn't even real, and there were no asteroids hurling at her.

Jaina took a deep breath and started forward, trying very hard to resist the urge to try and show her grandfather up, concentrating instead on instinct and going with the course instead of trying to beat it.

Which worked fine until she got too close to the wall and clipped the side of the podracer.
solo_sword: (window)

Re: Individual flight

[personal profile] solo_sword 2007-05-19 05:17 am (UTC)(link)
"I was going to," she said immediately, determined to get it right this time, having learned her lesson from the first try. She really would try until she got it right.

Good thing the second run went better, or they'd be here all day.
solo_sword: (quietly pleased)

Re: Individual flight

[personal profile] solo_sword 2007-05-19 05:51 am (UTC)(link)
She might have been a little proud of herself there. And proud enough that she didn't even think twice about getting complimented by Darth Vader. We'll call that progress. "Glad you think so."