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

[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...]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Twilight steps cautiously onto the platform and it starts moving. She peers up into the cockpit as she gets closer to it and glances back down to Luke. ]

So, um... do you have any extra advice? [ Not nervous nope. ...maybe a little. ]

Relax and just enjoy it.

[He jumps up and hauls himself up onto the top of the ship]

It's just a simulation and it won't hurt you.

I'll do my best!

[ She climbs into the cockpit and examines the controls. There are a lot of buttons, but fewer than she remembers from the book (presumably designed with her hooves in mind), and a few bigger ones that seem to have fairly obvious connotations. With a burst of confidence, she hits one button and pulls a lever.

The machine makes a loud kerchunk kerchunk kerchunk sound. ]

You have to hit the ignition first, and give it a moment to spool up.

[He leans down and points to a specific button]

That one.

... Oh! Right.

[ Twilight hits the button and the X-Wing launches into gear. Once she's over that hurdle, she finds herself surprised at how familiar the controls seem, after the reading she's done. She looks back up at Luke. ]

Are you okay staying up there for this? Can you actually fly off in a Battledome simulation?

It's programmed to work, yes.

[He hops down and heads over to another ship, climbing in.]

Just fly like you would, take it slow and easy. The controls should be pretty intuitive.

[ Relieved to see Luke safely off of her own vehicle, Twilight draws her attention to the controls. With a little bit of fiddling, she manages to retract the landing gear and simultaneously seem to lift off from the hangar they're in. One wing knocks against the hangar. ]

Oops. [ She steers, and leaves the hangar behind. They're flying above some forest planet. Twilight finds the radio. ] Red... two? Do you want to be Red One? Should we take it higher?

[Luke follows, banking to fly ahead of her]

My call-sign nowadays is Rogue Two. You're more than welcome to be Rogue Seven, though.

[For some reason, he's not sure Wedge would disapprove, either.]

Rogue Seven to Rogue Two! What's the mission, Two? [ She flies a safe distance behind him so as not to crash into him, which she's sure (with her inexperienced hooves) would be otherwise inevitable. ]

I'd like for you to fly two laps around that large asteroid. Just a training exercise to get you used to the controls.

[He accelerates towards it himself, ready to show her what he means.]

[ Twilight follows dutifully, gaining more familiarity and less clumsiness with the controls as she goes. ]

This is incredible! ... The stars aren't too much closer, though.

Well, they're billions if not trillions of miles away.

And...this is a simulation, after all.

That's true. Oh! Have you seen one? [ She peers out the window of her cockpit to see how close the nearest one is. ]

A star? Yes, of course. We've got some specialized ships that can get very, very close to them.

Not this one, I'll bet. From what I read of the specs, it's not strong enough.

[ They've completed the loops and Twilight's starting to get a better feel for the controls. ] Rogue Seven to Rogue Two, what's next?

Yea, it's shields aren't strong enough. And the solar radiation would cook you like an egg.

[Luke flips his weapons active and takes a few shots at a buoy]

See if you can hit that beacon. It's just a practice dummy, but it'll move once you start.

[ Twilight activates her weapons - again, remembered from the manuals - and fires at the distant buoy. She's not great, but she's not bad either - manages to hit it about half the time she fires. ]

This is harder than it looks. You must have trained for ages.

[The shields on the buoy hold...though.]

I've been flying since I was ten. It takes time and practice, but it's not too difficult once you get the hang of things.

Now, do you see the switch to your left? That's the torpedo bay. You've got eight on-board. I'd like for you to try and use them on the buoy. The switch will turn on your targeting computer and give you a lock if you keep the target in your sights for a few seconds and the red button under it will fire.

[ Twilight activates the switch, and a little computer shifts in front of her eyes. She peers into the computer and aims. The buoy is a small speck on the screen, but the system knows what it's doing; Twilight holds the ship steady and the image blinks that it has locked. She fires, and the torpedo hits - not quite in the middle, but it's definitely a hit. ]

Yeah!!

Good shot.

[The praise in his voice is readily apparent, and he's really glad that the pony is enjoying herself.]

That's pretty much basic flight training and operations, which is the crux of what this simulation is meant for. It's not exact, but it's also only in beta.

It's impressive. And it's fun! Thanks for letting me try this, Luke.

I'm glad you like it. It's open to you any time, the program's labeled as X-Wing Sim, Pony Variant.

This is definitely one of the most exciting simulations I've tried.

I'm glad you think so. I'll make sure to keep the updates for the human and pony versions parallel. I hope you'll make use of it.

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

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