fandomhigh | Flight and Flying (Friday, May 26, morning)

Anakin stood in front of the Flight Club shed with his hands hidden in the folds of his robe, looking every inch the confident Jedi.

He gave a short nod to the class as they assembled in front of him. "Welcome," he said. "My name is Anakin Skywalker. You can call me Anakin or Master Skywalker--I don't really care." Secretly he was hoping someone would call him Master Skywalker, but he wasn't going to mention that. He looked at the students and continued. "Today, we're going to fly podracers." He cleared his throat and opened the door. "Well, in a simulator, anyway." He gave a small smile to Rory and Sam. "The last one I built was made for, um, much smaller people."

Inside the shed were two 6 foot-long simulators sitting side by side. Anakin walked over to one with evident pride. "Okay," he said, pointing at the controls, "everything you need to fly a podracer is located on its 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 things are attached to giant engines--like 6 or 7 meter long engines--but these aren't real, and the simulator won't really give you the loudness that's normally associated with the podracer. But the simulator has been programmed to go very, very quickly." He pointed to the left-hand simulator. "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. "Okay. Today you can take a turn learning how the simulators work, then I've put you into pairs to fly against each other." He gave them a slightly predatory smile. "And if you'd like, after that you can fly against me. Fair warning, 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."

[OOC: ~~Plz to wait for the amazing OCD...~~ Done! Fly away!]

Oh, and in terms of simulator, mod yourself through whatever twists and turns you think you'd make, especially in the comment where you're by yourself. The modifications that Anakin has made cause the simulator on the left (the one that looks like his podracer) to be much more likely to spin into walls and down canyons and stuff if you don't have super-reflexes--but it's a sim, so you'd only get a "game over" type deal--no real damage.

ETA: He finally noticed that the sim was hinky. Both now work like they should, so you're on equal footing when you face off against each other.

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"Well, now I have to try it," Sam grinned up at him, "since you've thrown down the gauntlet and all."

Anakin gave her a cocky grin in return. "You can do it. Just don't blink."

"If my eyeballs dry up and fall out from not blinking, I'm blaming you," Sam informed him.

Anakin snickered. "Somehow I'll manage to live with myself."

"You're a cold, cold man, Master Skywalker," she teased, "now go away so I can try not to slam myself into another cavern wall."

Anakin grinned and far enough away not to distract Sam, but still close enough to see how she did.

Determined now, Sam started the simulation again, and let her focus narrow in a way she hadn't the first time, when she was still getting used to the podracer and the controls.

"No barrel rolls," she repeated to herself, "and no blinking when I get to the cavern."

She flew steadily, but still pretty quickly, hoping to outrun the other pilots, since she wasn't as manuverable. Sam almost clipped one of the engines on the cavern wall, then almost did the same thing on the other side when she corrected. "Focus, Carter."

And then she saw the cavern Anakin was talking about. "Holy Hannah, that's tight." Taking Anakin at his word, she didn't blink as she approached the cavern, and decided to just go for it. After all, it was a simulation-she couldn't be hurt.

Hands tight on the controls and still not blinking, Sam flew into the cavern, hearing sounds of exploding pilots from behind her. As she saw daylight at the end of the tunnel, she picked up speed, but jostled the left hand control slightly, scraping the left engine along the cavern wall as she exited.

"Well, shoot."

Anakin gave a low whistle. "You were close," he said.

Secretly, he was a bit pleased that she hadn't done it, but that wasn't proper teacher-y behavior, so he wasn't going to share that.

"Yeah," Sam grumbled, "but it wasn't perfect. I almost blew myself up. Again."

Anakin shrugged. "Simulator--makes sure it doesn't happen in the real world, where it tends to be a permanent thing."

"I know," Sam said, familiar with simulators after the Academy. "And it's a great simulator program. I've never seen anything like it."

Anakin grinned, pleased. "I did some modifications," he said. "Since I'm, um, very, very familiar with this particular course."

"How familiar?" Sam asked, "and yes, you did a really good job with it."

"It's taken from my home planet," he admitted. "And I've run it more than a few times. In the real version of the podracer you're sitting in, actually."

Sam tried to tamp down on the jealousy. "Do you miss it?"

A shadow passed across Anakin's face. "The flying? Yes. The planet? No."

She climbed out of the simulator, seeing something in Anakin's face, but not sure what. "You don't fly much as a Jedi?"

"Not as much as I'd like," Anakin said. "But Obi-Wan says that I would sleep in the cockpit if given the opportunity, so I'm probably not the best judge." He ran his gloved hand through his hair. "We spend a lot more time in conference rooms doing negotiations than we do fighting or flying." He pressed his lips together. "Though things are getting more into the aggressive negotiations stage now." He shrugged. "I try not to think too much about what that could mean."

"Aggressive negotiations?" Sam glanced at the glove. "No, that's not generally a good sign. Is there a chance you'll be called away again?"

"There's always a chance," Anakin said, nodding. "But the Council said they'd try to let me stay through the summer. After that, though, it's home for good."

"We'll miss you," Sam said immediately, "but at least you've got this summer."

"Exactly," Anakin said, looking determined. "Be mindful of the future, but not at the expense of the present," he said in a tone that made it clear he'd been told that many, many times.

"Good advice," Sam said, "and I've been thinking of doing something along those lines myself. Welcome back, in case I didn't say it before."

Anakin gave her a shy smile. "Thanks. It's good to be back."

She smiled at him. "So...I assume you've been welcomed back by other people?"

Re: Individual tries in the podracing simulators

emo-padawan.livejournal.com - 2006-05-27 20:14 (UTC) - Expand

carter-i-am.livejournal.com - 2006-05-27 21:28 (UTC) - Expand