fandomhigh | Flight Club meeting (after Comparative Religions class)

Anakin stood outside the Flight Club shed and waited for the rest of the club to arrive. When they had, he cleared his throat and used the Force to amplify his voice over the chatter of the crowd.

"Today we're going to get to fly Senator Amidala's Baby." He smiled. "Some of us will be actually breaking atmosphere and flying the real thing. I'll be taking the first four students with real-time space flight experience who come up to me over to where the Baby's docked outside of town. The rest of you will get the try it in the flight sim, which has been programmed with the specs for a Naboo Royal Starship. It flies a lot differently than the Starfighter we tried last week--there's more mass to it, so it has a slower reaction time. There also aren't any weapons on the Baby, as it's a diplomatic vessel rather than a combat-equipped one."

He gestured at Cally. "Cally, one of our resident mechanical geniuses, is going to be manning the flight sim today. Try not to push all of the buttons and jam it up when you're flying it--it'll make both of us cranky."

He looked down at his notes. "For Parents' Weekend I've let the Student Council know that the flight sim will be open so you can show off your skills to anyone who might be coming. They'll also be welcomed to try it."

He folded up his paper. "That's it for now, unless you have any questions. Oh--I'm putting out a piece of paper for suggestions of aircraft programs to include in the sim--I don't want to keep using crafts that only I'm familiar with--it's not fair to the rest of you. Thanks!"

[OOC: Let me set up some anal-retentive comment threads before you come play.

ETA: All set up. Yay!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Anakin scowled. "I'm not a lady, thanks."

Han smiles, a far cry from his usual manic grin. "I thought the point was for us new kids to have a try, and aside from me, they're all ladies. She's beautiful and gentle and I see why you love to fly her. I think she was humoring me. One of her aft thrusters seemed sluggish."

"Oh, you think I get to fly the Baby." Anakin smiled. "Not but the once, I'm afraid. The Jedi and the Senate move in vastly different circles. I hadn't seen the ship in years. I've just loved her forever." Anakin paused and listened to the hum of the engines. "I think you might be correct about the thruster, though."

"Shame. I think she likes you. She put up with me because she's too much a lady to do otherwise. But for you..." The smile is dreamy and content, and usually only seen when he's behind the controls of the Falcon.

"Course I'm right about the thruster. I was practically born in the engine testing yard. Ma said the only reason I wasn't is because the other girls carried her into the building. Been around 'em forever. Know the sound like I know my own heartbeat."

Anakin ran a gentle hand down the sleek walls of the ship and smiled. "I hope so. She was the one who introduced me the rest of the galaxy, after all. Showed me the stars. For that I'll forgive her leaving me on Coruscant." He laughed.

"Testing yard, huh? I was a bit of a junkyard rat myself."

"Ma worked in the yards back on Corellia. Until The Gunk got her. Occupational hazard. Granddad--a retired designer--raised me from there. He died, and I skipped planet by stowing away. Chewie taught me the rest."

He looks out the front screen to the stars. Being back up here helps, helps more than anything has since they got here. "For the stars, a man can forgive a lot."

"You know, I thought you were her bodyguard. Thought that's what Jedi did. Haven't seen many in the last year or so, and the holonets never talk about them anymore."

Anakin laughed. "Bodyguard? Hardly. That's normally something that the planetary governments take care of. Not that most of the Senators need it, of course. And Jedi as bodyguards would be overkill unless there were assassination threats." Anakin paused. "Even then, it'd be a bit of an overkill."

"I spend most of my time with my Master going from one system to another trying to hold the Republic together with duct tape and diplomacy. The Separatist Movement--I'm sure you've heard about it." Anakin scowled. "It's frustrating and exhausting and pretty much never ending." He looked around. "I'd much rather be up with the Baby."

Han bites his tongue, he can't tell this fellow-pilot about the future, that the Republic fell. "My history's pretty spotty. Can't say I remember hearing about a Separatist Movement."

"We stick to the Rim, mostly, whatever shipping jobs we can find. I wish we could go somewhere civilized in the Inner Systems like Alderaan, but no, we get stuck in places like the Tion Hegemony and Tatooine and Aduba-3. Three months on Tatooine during sandstorm season will make you crazy."

Anakin is surprised about Han's reaction, but doesn't press it. He'd rather not know about the future if he could help it.

He snorted at the Tatooine reference. "Those blasted sandstorms. Sand absolutely everywhere. You think you'll never be clean again." He grimaced. "That planet. Haven't been there in years."

"Lucky you. It was our last stop before the hop out here. Probably still got some of the sand in the ship."

Han turns back to watching the unfamiliar stars and admiring the ship.

Flight Club meeting (after Comparative Religions class)

Re: Flying "the Baby"

Re: Flying "the Baby"

Re: Flying "the Baby"

Re: Flying "the Baby"

Re: Flying "the Baby"

Re: Flying "the Baby"

Re: Flying "the Baby"

Re: Flying "the Baby"

Re: Flying "the Baby"

Re: Flying "the Baby"