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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Anakin glanced up at the sky. "Should I expect to be strafed at any point?"

"I may have talked my teacher out of it but she's pretty intent on coming to see this place first chance she gets. Be warned," she said.

"I am warned," Anakin said with a small smile. "Who's your teacher?"

Jaina took a moment to debate this. On one hand, she didn't want to mess up the timeline.

On the other, he might actually need the warning, and given that there would eventually be a visit when Parents Weekend rolled around...

"Mara Jade," she said, guaging his reaction.

Anakin choked.

"WHAT?!"

Jaina did not giggle, as she has some self-control. However, that's definitely a smile, because she's not that good.

"About the reaction I expected."

"But...she's...." His eyes went hard. "What has she told you about herself?"

Force help her if she'd gotten her claws into his family.

"Taken from her family before she even remembers, served as the Emperor's hand, doing Palpatine's dirty work," Jaina said, deciding to leave out the part about trying to kill Luke. "She went off on her own after the Empire fell and eventually joined up with the New Republic. She's a Jedi Master now."

La.

"The hell she's a Jedi Master," Anakin muttered sourly. "She was picked out by Palpatine entirely to prove a point to after the first Death Star died. He shipped me here and put someone young and pretty in my place, but behind the scenes. I don't trust her further than you could throw a Hutt."

"I do," she said firmly. "As much as I trust a lot of people. If not more than some of them. I could have found another teacher. I wanted to stick with her."

Anakin stared at her incredulously. "Why?"

"Because she's good, and I've learned a lot from her," said Jaina, who felt very strongly on this. "She's family. I go to her for more things than I do my own mother, and I know if I need her for anything she's right behind me."

"With a vibroblade, no doubt," Anakin muttered uncharitably.

Then the first part sunk in. "...how is she family?"

Jaina hadn't even realized she'd said it. She could maybe spin it so that Mara could always be like family, but she'd probably already taken too long of a pause. Well, Mara would tell him herself eventually if he didn't find out.

"She's my aunt," she said.

Anakin stared.

And stared.

"Please, please, please tell me she's not my daughter."

Poor stupid Anakin.

"She's not," she said. "At least there's that?"

Anakin looked relieved for a half-second before the other possibility beat him over the head.

His jaw dropped. "He didn't."

"It took them a while, if it makes you feel any better."

"Not really, no," Anakin muttered. "Force, my family has terrible taste."

Oh, nice, Anakin.

Jaina raised her eyebrows, pretty sure she had heard that right. "I'm sorry?"

Anakin's cheeks went pink. "Nothing," he said, embarrassed.

"Oh, I've been meaning to tell you--a very good friend of mine left behind a transport when she left that melds technology and living organisms. I wasn't sure if getting a look at it might help against the invaders, but you're welcome to poke around it."

Any reason she might have had to be irritated disappeared instantly. "Seriously? Living organisms?"

It's probably kind of sad she was interested for reasons more than just 'ooh ship.'

"Really," Anakin said with a smile.

"When can I see it?" she asked.

"Whenever you'd like," he said, thrilled by her enthusiasm.

Re: Talk to Anakin

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solo_sword - 2007-07-14 04:47 (UTC) - Expand

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