19th Transmission: A Poor Imitation [Voice/Action] (May 20-23rd)

[thefinaljedi]

[Taking up the maintenance work had been just the thing Luke had needed. Reeling from the loss of Obi-Wan, he'd just wanted to be away from everyone and everything, friends and girlfriend included. A note for Ami was all he'd really left, promising to be back when he felt up to facing the future after the ridiculousness that was...well...that last shift. And he had to admit that even though it was only low orbit it had been nice to see space again. Being so long cooped up on a single planet was strange to someone who was just used to flying, and it'd done wonders to relieve pressure.

And given him an itch.

For the first day after he returns or so, Luke can be found at the farm, taking care of maintenance after the planting had been finished, while in the afternoon he's busy programming something rather complex on the Battle Dome computer. And of course, he'll be resuming his evening shifts at the Clinic and spending some quiet time at House 46.

However by the 22nd he's finished his project and on 23rd he sends out a generalized broadcast.]

Voice

Hello Luceti.

This is Luke Skywalker. It occurs to me that I've not done one of these in some time, so allow me to extend a greeting to the New Feathers from this cycle. I manage the farmland and could always use some volunteers to help maintain it. It's meant to supplement the food supplies granted to us by the Malnosso in the event of an emergency, so it's a rather hefty project that could always use more hands.

Also, I've been working on a little side project at the Battle Dome. If anyone is interested, I've managed to program some training and historical dogfight simulations from my homeworld. Flight simulations, for both X-Wings and Y-Wings, the two kinds of snubfighters I've had the most experience with. I'd appreciate any help testing them for bugs, and if anyone would like to add to them they're more than welcome to do so. If you've ever wanted to fly, it might be a good chance, and it's a skill might be useful if another draft occurs in space.

On an unrelated note, I've apparently missed my own birthday. I'm 31 now, and this is my second in Luceti. It's a little strange, having been on a single planet for so long. For those of you who do remain stationary, how do you manage it? I admit it's got me rather restless.

Thank you for listening, and may the Force be with you.

[Luke will be at the Battle Dome for anyone who wants to try his simulations, and he's got quite a few to choose from...]

Comments

[Action - Luke's house]

[geniustheveil]

[Ami only spent a little while on greeting Luke before spending quite a bit of time and effort on preparing to welcome him back - and preparing to celebrate his birthday, which she hasn't forgotten.

By the time she's at his house, she's fully armed with a large cake in her arms. It looks good, if somewhat bare of frills except for Luke's name across it over the frosting. She adjusts her hold on it before knocking at the door.]

Luke? Is someone home?

[Action - Luke's house]

[thefinaljedi]

[He'd sort of been expecting this since he arrived, and he's really glad she's here. They've got a lot to talk about, really.]

Yes, give me a minute.

[There's the sound of boots running up the stairs from the basement and he opens the door a moment later]

Hello dear. It's good to see you. Please, come in!

[Action - Luke's house]

[geniustheveil]

[They do have a lot to talk about, but Ami's hoping to put that off at least a little while. She's not sure 'it was just an experiment, can we forget about it?' really works here.

At all, actually.

So she smiles at Luke and sticks to the birthday story.]

Happy Birthday! I brought a cake to celebrate together.

[voice]

[universal_charm]

<sub>[ Dog fight's huh? He sort of knew what the other was talking about with the X and Y-wings. He had watched the movies Luke had given him about his home world, which was sort of odd going through it all, but at the same time incredibly enlightening and fascinating but also tragic. He thought his life had been messed up - but Luke had done some nifty stuff too.

Probably not the best time to bring it up though. ]</sub>

I'll be a bug tester, though you'll probably have to give me a crash course in piloting the things.

Also - happy birthday, man. We'll have to go celebrate.

[voice]

[thefinaljedi]

Hey Kirk. Thanks. I appreciate it. Both things. The actual simulations are basically flight training first, and some dogfights after.

And yea, I suppose we will. What do you have in mind?

Re: [voice]

[universal_charm]

Oh, all right then, works out great. Can it go against other's? Like head to head?

Probably just a drink or two, if you're up for it. Or ice cream. Or cake. I don't know, something that you'd like to do, man, it's your birthday.

[Voice]

[tailasoldastime]

Happy... birthday, Luke. [Even if it's late now... he can't remember what he's supposed to say to acknowledge that.]

I, I can help you... "test for bugs", i-if, uh... possible. [Of course, he thinks Luke means the other kind of "bugs", but nonetheless, if he can be of assistance...]

[Voice]

[thefinaljedi]

Thank you Beast.

[That's just great, Luke's not one for ceremony!]

And I'd appreciate it. You might even like flying. I just need people to see how things look and feel. If it's fake or off or anything.

[Voice]

[tailasoldastime]

F... flying? [He wasn't anticipating that suggestion.] A-alright, if you would... like that.

[Written]

[rather_be_surfing]

Happy Birthday.

[Written]

[thefinaljedi]

Thanks, Derek.

[Voice]

[fortunefail]

[There's several topics in this entry that caught Yuan's interest, but he'll skip right over the congratulations bit to get to the subject that intrigues him the most.]

What sort of air craft is a snubfighter, exactly? Can you describe it to me?

[Voice]

[thefinaljedi]

I can do better than that.

[Luke sends over a picture he drew of an X-Wing. It's nothing spectacular but it gets the point across]

They're long-range fighters outfitted for Hyperspace travel. Scoutcraft, recon, and capital ship defense.

[Also for flying down trenches to shoot torpedos at a hole 2 meters wide]

[Voice]

[widows_kiss]

Some of us only have one planet to be restless on, for one. Although we usually manage to be fairly mobile on it.

Hello, Luke, it's been a while.

[Voice]

[thefinaljedi]

Hello Natasha.

I'm given to understand that Earth has a lot of varied environments. That's not always the case with planets I visit. Still, how d'you cope with being stuck in the same city or continent for more than a day at a time?

[Voice]

[tearmeanewone]

I always made plans, and painted the places I wanted to go. Reading anything I could get my hands on also helped a bit. The world doesn't seem as small when you're imagining what could be out there.

[Voice]

[thefinaljedi]

[That he can't disagree with, no. He'd dreamed of travel as a boy.]

And did you actually get out and travel? I know from experience that sometimes the strangest things imaginable are possible.

[Battle Dome action]

[fourthgenerationprincess]

[ Later in the day, Twilight wanders by the battle dome and pokes her head in to see if Luke's around. ]

Hi, Luke! Are your simulations compatible with ponies, too?

[Battle Dome action]

[thefinaljedi]

Oh, hello Twilight.

[He pauses, rubbing his chin]

You know, I don't think I thought of it, but I could probably change it to make it so you could fit in the cockpit, certainly.

[video]

[sketchingideals]

Happy belated birthday! [Jeb smiles.] As for staying stationary on a planet, well... we don't have much of a choice, back home. Our technology isn't advanced enough to allow us to travel to many different worlds, and none of the worlds we know of seem to have life on them like ours do.

[But how cool would it be, to discover ones that did and be able to travel to them?]

[video]

[thefinaljedi]

Thank you Jeb.

[He remembers you!]

I gathered as much. That's sort of why I asked, though I suppose it's a bit callous of me. You...are from Earth, right?

[Action]

[savedtheworld]

[Aang hears the message - and he remembers Luke's birthday from last year. But he doesn't respond to the message. There's something he maybe actually had been secretly working on for a while. Instead, he slips away to the Battle Dome before Luke can get there and quickly sets up the program in an empty room, then makes himself scarce within the room.

The room itself appears to be empty and featureless, aside from wherever Aang is hiding, but a hasty sign was put up pointing to the door, which reads, "LUKE ENTER HERE FOR BIRTHDAY"]

[Action]

[thefinaljedi]

[Well...when Luke sees that it's pretty hard for him not to just walk right in. He figures it's some elaborate prank, but who can say in this place?]

[Voice]

[semper_cogitans]

[After making many simulations of his own home megatropolis, and of other worlds and beings, Robert has learned a thing or two. And it would be nice to have a new project to work on... Not to mention the idea of flying a spacecraft in a safer setting...]

Ah... I would be w-willing to volunteer my services as... a software beta t-tester, should you require a-any assistance... as I now have proficiency with M-Malnosso-built computers.

[Voice]

[thefinaljedi]

That would be very helpful, Robert. I've worked with a few of their computers recently, but I'll be honest. I'm only so-so at this sort of work. I'm more a mechanic, so any help would be great.