fandomhigh | Flight and Flying [Tuesday, June 8]

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flight and flying

Flight and Flying [Tuesday, June 8]

"Today we're flying capital ships," he said, flicking his hands toward the screen set up in the corner. "Specifically this capital ship. It was called the Invisible Hand and when I was flying it, half of it had already broken up in the atmosphere, the rudder that steered the ship had been in that half, and the thrusters weren't firing enough to stop us. The equipment was also set up for a species other than human and I couldn't read the controls."

Anakin had landed anyway. There wasn't a pilot in a million that could replicate what he'd done.

"Since I was working under rather...strained...circumstances, we'll do something a little easier to live through," he said. "You'll have the entire ship, and the back half will be on fire. The controls will be set up for your species and you'll be able to read the controls."

Yes, he thought that was cutting them a break. Anakin was odd. "Begin!"

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"Leia, don't -- " Christian said, and fidgeted. "The two of you shouldn't fight. I can't help what I look like."

"Obi-Wan was a terrible pilot anyway," Anakin said, being both immature and inaccurate.

Well, he had kind of looked like a backseat driver in the clip Anakin had shown them....

Leia gave Christian an apologetic look. "Don't worry, this isn't your fault. My father can just be unreasonable sometimes."

She turned back to her father and made one last attempt at keeping her temper and asking nicely. "He's not Obi-Wan, and he won't be the one doing the flying -- I will. You know I know how to use the simulator properly and I should hope that you'd trust me enough to do so. So...please may I show Christian what it's like to fly?"

Christian thought his best option at this time was to stay silent, though the jut of his chin might have suggested that he'd decided he was going to learn to fly and do a bloody good job of it, thank you very much -- Obi-Wan be hanged.

Anakin wanted to stomp his feet like a toddler, or yell until someone (he would prefer it to be Christian, but he wasn't that picky) cried. Instead he jabbed his finger at Leia and gritted out, "You get fifteen minutes. You will not eat in the simulator. You will not drink in the simulator. You will not doing anything but fly in the simulator and believe me, I will know if you do." He turned to Christian. "At which point it would be very wise of you to run and never stop running."

He was quite pleased with how reasonable he was.

Edited 2010-06-08 21:09 (UTC)

Leia managed to not roll her eyes. Instead she smiled happily. "Thank you," she said, then darted forward to give Anakin a quick hug. She was hoping it would get the grumpy look off his face, at least a little bit.

"You have my promise not to mistreat it," Christian said, solemnly as he could manage. "Thank you!"

He did not hug the man, though. That would be asking for it.

Anakin hugged her back. "And I could still stop in at any time," he warned.

"You don't have anything to worry about," Leia promised. She drew back and grabbed for Christian's hand. "You're going to love this," she said to him.

Laughing, Christian took her hand and let her lead him off. "I can't wait."

Leia had to pause to reprogram the sim -- somehow, taking Christian for a crash landing on the Invisible Hand didn't sound like much fun -- to something smaller and more ~~intimate~~ maneuverable that she was sure she could fly without much difficulty. "Well start off on the ground and take off and fly over around for a bit before heading out of the atmosphere," she said.

"That seems to make sense," Christian said, as if he had the first idea in the world what he was talking about. He was still a little giddy from having talked (well, having watched Leia talk) Anakin into this. "Show me where to sit so I'm not in your way?"

The sim seemed quite cozy for two.

"Take the co-pilot's seat," Leia said, indicating where he should sit. She slipped into the pilot's seat and looked over the controls so she knew where everything was. She didn't want to screw up and embarrass herself in front of Christian and annoy her father. "This is perfectly safe, promise. But let me know if I'm going to fast for you."

Double entendre purely unintentional.

He picked up on it. (And was inappropriately proud of himself for it, though really almost anyone would have gotten it.) "I can go pretty fast," he claimed, strapping himself into the seat and eying the dashboard curiously. "Don't worry about me."

"Good to know," Leia said, flashing him a smile as she finished the takeoff procedures. She really really really hoped her father wasn't going to embarrass her by busting in at some point during the simulation.

"All right, here we go," she said as the ship began to slowly rise from the ground. This particular ship had lots of windows to see what was going on outside.

Christian leaned toward a window, watching the surroundings become smaller and smaller. "This is amazing," he observed. "I know it's only pretend, but it's exactly how I would imagine birds see things. Can you change what's below us?"

"I could, but I'd have to stop to reprogram the simulation," Leia said. "You should see some of the things my father makes us fly through. I just made our flight look we were going over the island." She guided the ship over the preserve. A pair of teal deer glanced up from the ground then went back to grazing.

"Oh -- and the castle is over there," Christian said, pointing. "No, this is perfect. I can tell where we are this way."

He glanced down at the deer again. "I'm still getting used to the idea of blue wildlife. Do you have them at home?""

Leia shook her head. "We don't have anything that color on Alderaan," she said, "but you can find animals in any color imaginable if you start wandering the galaxy. And some colors you can't even imagine."

She circled once around the island so Christian could see any recognizable landmarks, then began to ease the ship higher, so that the island began to grow smaller beneath then.

"Colors I can't even imagine..." Christian echoed idly, then sang a bit under his breath. "Let me see what spring is like on ... Jupiter and Mars. And in Alderaaan."

He was gripping the edge of his seat in excitement, and his eyes left the landscape below them only to take giddy glances over at Leia.

Oh how she wished she had her own ship. And didn't have a father lurking outside. "Wait 'til you see the stars," she said, unable to not feel giddy herself due to Christian's mood being so contagious.

"Will you show me the one Alderaan is near?" Christian asked, tilting his head toward hers a bit so he could see what she saw more exactly. "I'm sure it's too far to go in fifteen minutes, but I'd like to be able to look into the sky, years from now, and think of where you came from."

"Of course," Leia said, wondering now if she could commandeer the Danger Shop and program it to look like Alderaan so she could show Christian her home that way. The bonus of a non-lurking father did not escape her at all. "I'd love to show you Alderaan if I could. I think you'd love it. We have a great many poets and artists, some of the best in the galaxy."

Fandom was an indiscernible dot now in the blue of the ocean below them, though other larger land masses were still visible. The sky began to darken as they rose higher in the atmosphere.

"You mentioned that," Christian said -- and then didn't manage anything more because he was too preoccupied by the way the ship was going up, up, up. Even knowing it was only simulated, he was grateful to be strapped firmly into his seat.

A long moment later, he remembered he'd been talking and: "Maybe someday it will happen. You're lucky to have such a beautiful place to call home."

"I miss it so much sometimes," Leia said. Hope you were listening, Dad. She looked away from the controls for a moment to look at Christian. "But there are some things I really like about Fandom, too."

They were heading out of the atmosphere now, and the stars were becoming visible in the dark sky.

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