fandomhigh | Flight and Flying [Thursday, August 2, 3rd period]

Anakin was leaning against the reconfigured flight simulator when the flight students arrived, absolutely no trace of an smile--or any emotion at all, really--on his face.

"In every major event, there's always a beginning," he said, walking over to the television from his room and pushing a few buttons. A three-dimension projection of a world rotated in front of them. "The first battle in a conflict that eventually tore my galaxy apart took place on a world called Naboo." He glanced over at Qui-Gon ~~assuming he was there~~ and his voice got even harder. The Jedi should've seen this coming, dammit. "Millions of beings put at risk because of politics," he spat. "They were being used as pawns in a larger game we didn't know we were playing for more than a decade. Today we'll complete an entire military mission: the one that saved the planet from death by starvation by a blockade of petty criminals and their droids."

Anakin gestured to the projection. "Working in pairs, you'll take off from the planet's surface, fight past the enemy's droid fighters and destroy the control ship." On the projection, the target glowed red. "The only way to destroy the ship is to blow it from the inside: its shields are too powerful for the starfighter's torpedoes to take out from space." He put his hands behind his back and paced. "You're up against a deadline as well. On the surface there's a battle taking place: your people--including the fourteen-year-old queen of the planet--against a droid army that doesn't get tired." His expression turned haunted as a holograph of the leader in question came up on the projector. "Taking out the control ship also powers down those droids. Take too long to blow it up and there's no point going back to the planet: the enemy will have won through battle what they'd been trying to achieve through blockade."

He pointed at the simulator. "You'll be flying the Naboo N-1 Starfighter," he said. "They're a little more sensitive than the F-16 from last week and more elegant than the X-Wing, but without the engine power. And remember: once you break atmosphere, you won't be fighting gravity any longer so don't yank on the controls. Spinning out and crashing back into the planet is a really stupid way to die. The droid starfighters are faster than you are--and there are a lot of them--but they're als stupid. Watch for them and the laser cannons on the control ship--and watch for each other--and you'll do fine.

"This battle was real. This exercise can be accomplished. I don't accept failure--or excuses--from any of you on this." He tossed two deeply silly-looking helmets into the flight simulator. "These helmets are equipped with comm units that will allow you to talk to each other."

He waved them towards the simulator, ignoring any looks they or the TA might be giving him. "Begin."

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"For stupidity," Anakin said, never one to mince words. "I was nine and came up with a better plan.

"I think that's why my former government began drafting children as LFO pilots." Anemone checked her engine readouts, testing where the thin red lines would appear. "Hmpf, you were right about the engines. Why do they run so hot? If someone takes out my cooling system, I'm screwed. How long can I maintain top speed before she blows?"

She tapped at the coolant display, irritated. "I think they liked having younger officers, because it was all just a game. Unreal. They put me in TheEND when I was about nine or ten. I actually don't know how old I am, so it's hard to guess. I could do things with it that were theoretically impossible, like splitting my Ref Board, because I didn't know it was supposed to be impossible. The Ageha Squad members were all under thirteen, and they were a bunch of ruthless little monsters. They made me look like a pacifist." She frowned as one display caught her eye. "Auto-pilot? Puh-lease. Can I turn that off? It's practically asking for a droid to shoot me."

Anakin reached in and showed how to disable the autopilot. "You get about five seconds before you explode, ten if you're really, really good."

He shrugged. "I wasn't supposed to be there. I was told to stay in the ship and not touch anything. I didn't exactly follow directions."

"Of course I'm good. Otherwise some other girl would be the Anemone." It was said very matter-of-factly, with almost no ego. With a grin, Anemone decided that 'speed limit' was a guideline, and pushed the poor screaming starfighter to the limit for about six seconds before throttling back slightly. "If you only followed directions, you'd be a droid. We've already established that droids are for exploding. If I have to blow you up because you're actually a droid, I'm going to be very disappointed."

"You couldn't outfly me," Anakin said flatly, not rising to the bait today. "No one can."

Okay, maybe rising a little bit.

Anemone hadn't baited him intentionally, but this was too fun. The teasing glint in her eyes was unrepentant.

"What are you talking about? Don't be silly. These are your mecha, and you're the superior pilot with them, that's why I'm asking questions."

"But if I let nine-year-old you outfly me, that would just be sad. With age comes experience, or so I've heard. If all age really does is slow people down, I'll be disappointed." Wide, ~~not~~innocent red-on-purple eyes turned to him briefly as she flew the sim. "You haven't gotten slower, have you Master Skywalker?"

"Don't test me today, young one," Anakin said, voice getting a little sharp. "I won't give you any margin for error."

"I wasn't aware I was testing you. I'm pretty sure you're the one testing me." Anemone replied, her eyes flickering back and forth between the displays and the space ahead of her. "I'm dreadfully sorry my joke about your age fell flat, my sense of humor tends to be a bit skewed. A failing of my upbringing, I'm sure."

She pushed the sim to speed limit again as she spun about and used her firing controls, easing back as it howled in protest. "I'm testing my limits, not yours. The day I ask you to 'give me a margin for error', you check me for one of those gremlin bites I hear about. I'm not here to be cuddled. I have pie class for the days I want to feel good about myself."

Anakin nodded sharply. "I'll see you at the mission run, then."

He whirled on his heel and swept away.

Flight and Flying [Thursday, August 2, 3rd period]

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