Flight and Flying [Thursday, August 9, 3rd period]

[sith_happened]

Anakin didn't apologize for his behavior, you know, ever.

Which was why his gaze was just as sharp ever as he looked at the students when they gathered in the Danger Shop. And if he didn't make eye contact with Rory, well, these things happen.

"Today we're going to try something a little different," he said quietly, pointing to two motorcycle-esque machines hovering before him. "This is a swoop bike," he said, pointing to one, "and the one on the left is a speeder bike, the slightly newer model, which is also equipped with a laser cannon. Don't use the laser cannon. Both fly like the motorcycles of this world drive, but can get up to 400 kilometers an hour. That being said, you will be wearing helmets --" fortunately for the class, much more attractive than the Nubian ones from the previous week, "--and there are two different scenarios based on your level of skill. One is a desert planet with nothing to hit. The second is a forest moon with trees hundreds of meters tall."

He glanced around at them. "Please don't hit a tree and explode. I don't care that it won't actually kill you. There'd be paperwork and I don't feel like dealing with That Woman today. In two weeks, we'll be meeting at my shuttle and doing some actual space flight. If you hurt my ship, I'll be unhappy. If you demonstrate today you don't have the maturity to fly responsibly, you won't be asked to come along." He stared hard at each student. "Questions? No? Let's begin."

Comments

Fly in the desert!

[sith_happened]

Lots and lots of flat, flat space. You can go for miles without hitting anything, but if you look hard enough, you could probably find some canyons to run through.

Don't turn into a canyon wall smear. Anakin will mock you.

Re: Fly in the desert!

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

This was almost too easy, so River compensated with speed, which was quite enjoyable.

Re: Fly in the desert!

[orewahikari.livejournal.com]

Roxas likes this! Less obstacles mean less crashing. Although really, after the talk Anakin gave him last week about the practice run, he's been flying better. Might even be able to combine fight and flight by this time next week!

Re: Fly in the desert!

[imcalledandros.livejournal.com]

Andros was able to fly this with no major difficulties.

Re: Fly in the desert!

[im-afrog.livejournal.com]

Adam found himself enjoying this part, experimenting with the speed at different points. He even tried his hand at a canyon run and succeeded with it. He was quite pleased.

Re: Fly in the desert!

[morpherboy.livejournal.com]

No obstacles means no speed limits in Marco's brain, so he was trying to push the bike to its maximum speed.

Re: Fly in the desert!

[death-of-hope.livejournal.com]

Anemone played around with the turning radius and reaction times of her swoop bike at various speeds before heading for the canyons. She wanted to see how the bike handled corners compared to the cute-yet-clunky podracers. Anyone near her might hear desperately stifled laughter.

Re: Fly in the desert!

[flamingbonehead.livejournal.com]

Johnny grinned as he got on the bike that Anakin had provided. Sure the design was different and it didn't actually have any wheels, but this was the kind of machine he loved and could ride without even a second thought.

He spent a while in the desert, just speeding along to feel the wind in his face and hair. If he closed his eyes, it was almost like riding down the mud-baked highways with his Dad back home. He dipped down in the canyons a couple times, and tested the bike's abilities to ride up and down walls. His only disappointment was that he couldn't ride walls as vertical as he was used to.

Re: Fly in the desert!

[the_merriest]

Rikku ... attempts to fly through the desert. She can steer just fine, but it's kinda hard to work the pedals when your legs are on backwards.

There was a lot of swearing, though.

Re: Fly in the desert!

[sith_happened]

Anakin strode up, then stared. "What the hell?" he finally tried.

Re: Fly in the desert!

[the_merriest]

"Doing the best I can," she managed, teeth gritted. "That stupid bitch put my knees on backwards and now I can't work the stupid pedals and ugh."

She kicked at the pedals a few times in frustration.

Re: Fly in the desert!

[sith_happened]

Anakin stared. "That Woman did this to you?" His eyes went very hard. "It's interrupting the learning process."

Re: Fly in the desert!

[the_merriest]

"It's also interrupting my ability to walk without banging my face on the floor," she grumbled. "She called me into her office all 'oh, you've been breaking my rules' and then got upset 'cause I didn't start weeping and begging her forgiveness or some crap. Well, I didn't fall over myself and beg for mercy from Yevon and they tried to execute me, so she can bite me. Then she said I've got an attitude problem, and duh, and then she zapped me and this happened and I told her she was a sick freak and she giggled and I hate her so much."

Re: Fly in the desert!

[sith_happened]

Anakin's expression grew darker and darker, tilting his head as he reached out for his son through the Force.

"She wanted to see Luke, too," he muttered. "Force help her."

He shook his head. "This is completely unacceptable," he said in a louder voice. "I'll speak with her tomorrow." He caught his lower lip between his teeth. "You certainly don't have to fly any more. I'm sure someone will assist you back to the dorms when class is over. How long will this last?"

Re: Fly in the desert!

[the_merriest]

"I wanted to fly," she said, making a face, but not putting up any real objection, since she was really doing a crappy job at it at the moment. "And she didn't say. Just giggled and when I fell right on my face she was all 'oops, look how clumsy you are' and ..."

She seethed, wobbling up to standing with some difficulty. "I'm ... I'm okay. Just ... seriously wanting to go get my Godhand and splatter her into a wall."

Re: Fly in the desert!

[sith_happened]

Anakin reached a steadying hand out towards her shoulder. "Bad idea," he said. "Wait until your legs work properly before handling a weapon."

Pause.

"Not that you should be trying to harm a member of the faculty," he added belatedly.

Re: Fly in the desert!

[the_merriest]

"Of course not," Rikku said with a brusque nod. "Wouldn't dream of it. That'd be Wrong."

Re: Fly in the desert!

[flamingbonehead.livejournal.com]

Johnny tried not to gape when he saw that one of his classmates had her legs on backwards. It probably still showed on his face, but at least he was making an effort to make it less obvious than normal.

"Y'need any help?" he offered.

Re: Fly in the desert!

[the_merriest]

"Hiya!" Rikku waved to the guy and attempted to lurch over to him. And failed. "Just a little advice: don't piss off that evil fake principal. This sucks."

Re: Fly in the desert!

[flamingbonehead.livejournal.com]

Johnny looked Rikku over, trying to brace himself to catch her in case she were to topple over.

"Yeah, I can see that. I'll have t'keep that in mind." He stared a little more openly at her backwards legs. "What did she do t'you?"

Re: Fly in the desert!

[the_merriest]

"She said I needed an attitude adjustment. I guess that meant she wanted my knees on backwards." Rikku made a face. "She's a bitch. Uh, do you mind if I grab on to you? I keep smacking my face off the ground, and I'm getting sick of it."

Re: Fly in the desert!

[flamingbonehead.livejournal.com]

"Oh, 'course," Johnny said, offering her an arm to hold on to. It wasn't his arm, and one end was bloody, but it was a arm.

He frowned at her description. "Everything I hear 'bout her keeps making her sound worse an' worse. She shouldn't be allowed to do this to people; it's gotta be tramplin' on some human right. I don' see how switching your knees around is supposedta make you a cheerier person."

He rested his other hand against the speeder for balance. "Y'know, 'f you really want to take the speeder bike out for a spin, we could double up an' I could work the pedals for ya. I can ride these with my eyes shut."

He had too, on his own run through the course.

Re: Fly in the desert!

[the_merriest]

"I think ... it was supposed to make me scared of her. Or stop acting up." She rolled her eyes. "Right. Like I'm gonna hide from her. Oh, no, she put my knees on backwards. I could die, here."

She grabbed on to his arm gratefully. "Really? You wouldn't mind? 'Cause I can steer okay, and flying is so awesome, you know?" She tilted her head at him curiously. "Are you, uh, from one of these places with the speedbikes and all? Like, you know Luke and Gavin?"

Re: Fly in the desert!

[flamingbonehead.livejournal.com]

"That's the spirit. Though you're gonna want a walker or a wheelchair or somethin' if you're gonna keep fighting her," he said encouragingly.

"Nah, it'd be fine. I love the rush of the machines, an' would love a second trip through."

He shook his head at her question. "Grew up as part of a motorcycle stunt show in a carnival. So, still from a weird place, but not a different world."

Re: Fly in the desert!

[likethegun]

This was definitely the kind of flying that Sam liked the most, with no obstacles to smush him.