fandomhigh | Flight & Flying [Friday, June 22, 2nd period]

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flight and flying

Flight & Flying [Friday, June 22, 2nd period]

Anakin was waiting for the students on the top of the apartment building in town, leaning up against a Lambda-class Imperial shuttle.

"Welcome to the Virgo," he said with a small smile before giving them a quick rundown of the general specifications of the ship. "It's twenty meters long and is generally used to ferry soldiers or cargo back home," he said. "It's also equipped with a hyperdrive--which we will not be using--as well as two forward-facing double laser cannons, two wing-mounted double cannons, and a rear-facing double laser cannon." He met each student's eyes. "Which we will definitely not be using. We're going to do a quick swing around the system here--we won't go out as far as Pluto, but since it's not a planet any longer, I doubt it will be that offended."

He waved a hand towards the ramp. "Come aboard."

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Or, if you're Lucas, take the early tour.

Lucas was early, as expected. He had a backpack slung over his shoulder and was wearing clothing that definitely wasn't suited for hot weather. "Master Skywalker," Lucas greeted. "I'm here for the guided tour." He barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but it was mostly at himself.

Anakin smiled back at him. "This is the Virgo," he said, patting the name plate with evident pride. "She's a Lambda-class Imperial shuttle--more from my son's era than my own, but she has some of the lines and elegance that the Nubian ships had, those much less shiny."

He pressed his lips together as he thought about it. "I never did understand the need for them to be so shiny." He waved his hand. "Go ahead and look around at the plating if you'd like, then we can go inside and pop open her systems."

"What's it made of?" Lucas asked first, naturally, but didn't give Anakin a chance to answer straight away. "Although I guess materials where you come from would be a little different than here. Even in my time the space program relies on foam and ceramics to make sure the people inside don't freeze or roast on the trip up and down." He peered at the ship, trying to figure out how it would work, but didn't touch it.

Anakin's eyes lit up as he went through an incredibly detailed breakdown of what went into the coating of the shuttles, how it worked with the shielding systems and life support, interacted with the weapons and had changed since he was first learning how to fly.

If Lucas's eyes glazed over, well, it wouldn't be the first time Anakin'd had that reaction to getting to respond to a technical question.

Lucas didn't understand all of it, but he did take mental notes to look certain things up and see if he could get his hands on some of it. His eyes, amazingly for someone listening to Anakin, didn't glaze over. "Shuttles are normally used to transport people, right? So there are safeguards in place in case we bump into an asteroid or something."

"A massive shielding system," Anakin said, punching in the code to lower the ramp. "Come on in."

Lucas sucked in a breath and walked up the ramp. "I'm not a total loser," he said out of nowhere. "If it seems that way. Being on a submarine is a lot like being on a spaceship, but the crushing water pressure is a little different than a complete vacuum."

"I didn't think you were," Anakin said quietly, "and I apologize if I gave you that impression."

An apology from Anakin Skywalker. Mark your calendar.

"But we really have been doing this for many thousands of years. We've gotten the kinks out." He lead Lucas towards the middle of the ship, then popped open the control hatch leading to the engine. "Here's the heart of the Virgo," he said, beaming with pride.

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