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

[sith_happened]

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."

Comments

Re: Fly the shuttle: Asteroid belt

[sith_happened]

Anakin gave her a wide-eyed look. "Biological warfare?" he breathed.

Re: Fly the shuttle: Asteroid belt

[solo_sword]

Jaina nodded. "We've only known about them for a very short time, and we have no idea what the limits of their technology is. They change planets to be what's liveable for them. Many of their weapons are biological. They have weapons that feed on the metal of ships. They're difficult."

Re: Fly the shuttle: Asteroid belt

[sith_happened]

Anakin had a sudden horrifying thought.

"...they're not from this galaxy, are they?"

Re: Fly the shuttle: Asteroid belt

[solo_sword]

"When I left, we didn't have confirmation of that, but we're pretty sure they're not. Whether they're looking for a new home of just trying to expand their territory, they're stubbornly set on moving in," she said.

Re: Fly the shuttle: Asteroid belt

[sith_happened]

Anakin looked decidedly unhappy. "They're not allowed."

Because that strategy hadn't been tried.

Re: Fly the shuttle: Asteroid belt

[solo_sword]

"They ignored that memo," Jaina said wryly. "Next time they strike, they get a stern talking-to."

She shrugged. "We're working on figuring out their technology, their cultures, their weak spots. It's only just begun, which gives us some time."

Re: Fly the shuttle: Asteroid belt

[sith_happened]

"And the Outer Rim is mostly expendable to the beings in Coruscant," Anakin remarked bitterly.

Re: Fly the shuttle: Asteroid belt

[solo_sword]

"Of course. Nothing noteable ever comes from any of those planets," said Jaina with that sarcastic tone again, sounding like someone who had heard this before. Or at least, she'd heard her mother rant on it before. "And once that's actually brought up it's a matter of 'Yes, Councilor, we've heard this a thousand times and we're going to shoot you down anyway, next order of business?'"

Re: Fly the shuttle: Asteroid belt

[sith_happened]

Anakin rolled his eyes. "It's so comforting to know that seventy years can pass and the Senate will still be a bunch of self-serving, incompetent morons. This is why the Jedi didn't want to be run by them."

He hadn't seen it then.

Re: Fly the shuttle: Asteroid belt

[solo_sword]

"Well, there's a difference between being used as a tool, and just being used," Jaina said.

Re: Fly the shuttle: Asteroid belt

[sith_happened]

"Exactly," Anakin said, smiling. "You have a lot of your grandmother in you."

And there was a sentence that was strange to say.

Re: Fly the shuttle: Asteroid belt

[solo_sword]

It was a strange sentence to hear, too, given that Jaina knew absolutely nothing about her grandmother and this probably wasn't the right forum to ask.

"I think I've had a very long turn," she said.

Re: Fly the shuttle: Asteroid belt

[sith_happened]

He nodded. "We can talk later," he promised. "You did very well."

Re: Fly the shuttle: Asteroid belt

[solo_sword]

"Thank you," she said, even managing a little smile, and gave up the controls.