fandomhigh | Flight and Flying [Thursday, July 12, 3rd period]

Anakin stood in front of the door of the 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 Rory with a soft smile. "This is Rory Gilmore, and she'll be the TA for this workshop. Rory's from this planet and time period, and she took this workshop last year and is now familiar with most of the aircraft we'll be using." His smile took a turn for the teasing. "She's mostly here to make sure I don't make you all cry with my ridiculous expectations."

That was probably more true than he'd like to admit.

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."

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"His death wasn't flight-related, right?" Anakin checked.

"No sir!" Anemone was aghast. "We were on a mission, and the military opted to bomb our location without bothering to see if we were clear. I had exited the cockpit to help Lieutenant Dominic, and the blast wave would have killed us. TheEND protected me. He moved to shield us, and the energy blast disintegrated most of his body."

Anemone bit the inside of her cheek hard. She wasn't going to cry, she wasn't. She was a member of U.F. Force, no flight instructor would make her cry.

"It was deliberate, sir. The military decided we were of no further use and fired the Oratorio. I was already slated for elimination if I survived the mission, so they decided to save on the paperwork. I suppose you could say he died in combat, but it was not in an aerial maneuver."

"You need to talk to my children," Anakin muttered to himself. "You could start a club."

"I'm sorry," he said to her, voice gentle. "I didn't know. Are you ready to fly again?"

"Yes sir." Anemone smiled softly at Professor Skywalker. "He would want me to fly. That's the joy of flying with a Nirvash type - if the partnership is complete, then you're one being, one mind and the sky is freedom. We were happy out in the blue, and I'm not going to let them take that from me. TheEND wouldn't let them hurt me, and I won't let him down."

Her next smile was a bit more impish. "I would have kicked the butt of anyone who scratched the paint on TheEND, and I intend to love your ships just as much."

"So it was a symbiotic relationship then, you and your ship?" Anakin asked, listening intently for the answer.

Anything he could learn that might help Jaina with her fight twenty years from now--now--Fandom timelines gave him a headache--was a bonus.

Anemone puffed up a bit in pride. She would never turn down a chance to extol the virtues of TheEND.

"Yes Sir. TheEND...he wasn't all human made. He's special. LFOs are built off human-form exoskeletons found in the Scub Coral. TheEND was outfitted directly based on the original prototype, with a few modifications, like my claws and cable-whips. My cockpit is organic, I hang from the center and place my arms and legs into interface section, and what I do, TheEND does. He responds to verbal and physical commands, so if I'm suddenly injured or rendered mute, I can still fly. My display is 360, my view is completely unobstructed. Visually, it's like I'm a skyfish, or one of your butterflies in a large glass ball. I see my interface, and the sky. It's amazing."

Anemone tilted her head to the side slightly. "He can't be flown by just anyone. I don't think he would have awakened for a regular pilot. The Nirvash types are picky, they're the only LFOs that awaken, and they choose who flies them. TheEND might not even move if he didn't like the person in the pilot seat."

"You miss him," Anakin said softly.

It wasn't a question.

Anemone blinked. "Of course. He was my best friend and my partner. He was one of the only people I felt I could trust. If I didn't miss him, I wouldn't deserve to be here."

Her voice went soft. "I never expected to outlive him. I always thought we'd die together in the sky. I feel like I betrayed him."

Anemone sighed. "I used to insist on a room overlooking the hanger wherever we were stationed. I didn't care if it was a broom closet, I wasn't leaving him alone with the scientists and the sleeping machines. At the end, he saved me, and I couldn't help him. I tried, I did, I was screaming and reaching for him, but I couldn't help. That's why I'm here. No one is going to hurt my friends with impunity again. EVER. The better pilot I am, the better chance I stand of making them pay for every dent with one of their own."

"As long as you focus on doing your job and not on questing out for vengeance, you'll do fine," Anakin said. "I had a partner like that for most of my life--he died almost a year ago. It's hard to move past."

Well, Anakin's story was a little different, but he wasn't about to say that.

"I don't need vengeance, I just want to honor TheEND." Anemone shrugged. "Besides, my best revenge is flying well and staying alive. That's what I plan to do."

"The first rule of Jedi combat: survive," Anakin said with a small smile. "Good."

Flight and Flying [Thursday, July 12, 3rd period]

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