Private Flight 101: Kyra Perl

[Caedyn Arenais]

The Silver Jedi Academy
Holographic Simulation Environment

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It was time for his Padawan to learn something new, and something that would heighten her independence not just in the field of duty, but also the Galaxy at large. Sooner or later, every Jedi needed to learn how to transition from world to world, getting themselves from A to B without incident, and while some preferred to take public transport or hitching a ride off of other companions starships, that wasn't what Caedyn wanted for Kyra Perl .

Today she would learn how to pilot a Starfighter, the first step of any true space-faring adventurer.

There was however a limit to Caedyn's madness, and the idea of putting a green and easily excitable Padawan in the pilot seat of a fully capable and very real fighter, wasn't something he could justify as sound or reasonable. Instead, they would first make use of the Academy's Holographic Projection Grid, for a safe and very realistic, simulated experience. The pair of them had never made use of holographic equipment, at-least not that Caedyn could recall upon.

Holographic Emitters lined the walls and ceiling in order to change the look and nature to whatever programmable situation or environment they might need in order to train and practice together; And set up in a row along one side of the room were the simulation pods, containing seating and a makeshift roll-cage, which once activated, the holo-emmitters would project all the nessecary controls and visuals to turn the pods into their very own simulated cockpits with a wide variety of models listed upon the administration panel for Mentor's to choose from.

Leading Kyra into the room, Caedyn wondered if she had any clue as to what he had planned for the day. Something of a mischievous grin across his face in the assumption and hope that she'd be thrilled with the idea of taking off, with no real potential of crashing and becoming space-dust!

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra's somber expression sparked for a moment, the girl catching onto her Master's purpose for this visit. Things had not been right since the failed extraction of Elise.

Not since she lost Nida.

There was no conversation she wanted to have. There was no words, no gesture. Nothing was welcome. She just wanted to train. Still, she couldn't help the small but present burst of anticipation as she dropped her bag and looked around at the Holoemitters. Her father was building her a ship, you know. Her mind began to race with the possibilities of independent travel, which was his goal for her after all.

He couldn't know where it would one day soon take her.

She looked up at him, a bit of hope in her eyes.

"Really? You think I'm ready?"

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"I think you are, yes" Caedyn informed her, gesturing to one of the simulation pods so that she could go ahead and jump in one at her leisure; "You've come a long way since we first met Kyra. You've earned the responsibility, to have some more independence as a prospective Jedi" Caedyn elaborated, soon moving towards the pod next to hers and pulling his datapad from his belt, pulling up the database for the holographic training simulations.

With a couple taps against the datapad screen, the entire environment around them flickered to life and changed completely. What had once been a very bland and empty arena, quickly turned into the all too familiar site of the Silver Rest's Main Hangar. What had previously been the empty shells of the simulation pods, had both changed to take the form of two Blueshift-Class Assault Starfighters.

"Before we go blasting off into space however, there are safety procedures that come with the responsible piloting of these vessels. From system diagnostics to simple things such as ensuring the perimeter of the fighter is clear of personnel before putting any power to the thrusters. If we're doing this, we're doing it properly, yes?" he asked rhetorically, Kyra Perl not really having a choice in the matter if she wanted to pursue this learning. As boring as this stuff may sound, it could save lives and hers was among the most important to him.

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra lifted herself up into the seat, a heavy sigh catching in her chest as he rattled about rules and procedure. She gave him a numb nod to his rhetoric question, picking at her cast for a moment before opting for trying to tune in. At least a little. This was important after all. She pulled a face at her own inner chastising, sitting up straighter and turning to face him.

Alright! He had her full attention.

"Um... Should I be taking notes?" She murmured. Could she full up notes in the middle of a mission? Concern grew into lines along her forehead, her attention amplifying.

This was important!

With a ship and the ability to fly, Krya could think of countless places she could go to try and help Nida. She wasnt going to muck that up over a five minute lecture!

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn reached for the headset sitting atop the dash of the Starfighter's cockpit, pulling it overhead and positioning the mic nearby his mouth before activating the Comm's unit and responding to his Padawan in kind. His voice coming through the speakers of her Starfighter for immersion's sake despite their voice travelling unhindered through the holograhic emissions.

"No, I think you'll come to know the procedure with the more experience you gain within the cockpit. That's what you're seated in, by the way. Larger vessels may call the head of the craft 'the bridge' but for most personal transport 'the cockpit' is where the controls are found, as well as your place as the pilot" it probably seemed rather straight forward, common knowledge to Kyra Perl , yet Caedyn wanted to be certain he'd ticked off all the boxes in what he was teaching her.

"First thing's first, strap yourself in securely before moving to do anything else" Caedyn continued, "Should anything go wrong and you wind up in a collision with the environment around you, atleast you'll still be in one piece thanks to your safety harness" he smiled to himself while giving his instructions across the comm's channel.

"For this Craft, the central terminal is what you'll be looking at next. Before giving power to any of the fighter's primary systems such as the engine or the thrusters, we need to run a systems diagnostic check like I mentioned just before. This will basically bring up a simulated result of the vessels various programs and functions. If they come up all green, then you're good to continue" Caedyn instructed, while looking to his own terminal centered above the fighter's thruster controls and steering block.

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra frowned at the safety harness, her brows furrowed as she picked up one bit and slowly fussed out how to make it connect with the other. It was like trying to wrangle octopus legs; her left hand was slow to pick up dexterity and the cast operated as a mound that shoved all her hard work away.

By the time she had it, he had stopped speaking and she had heard none of it.

She glanced up, giving him a sudden, panicked looked. Wide eye, she glanced between his lit panels and hers. The vague recollection of words he had mumbled to her did very little to provide clarity, but with a nudge of her father's old lesson, Kyra hazard a guess and let the force guide her hand.

She flicked a few switches. The console 's came on. Kyra quickly shot Caedyn a glance, a panicked need for approval taking place.

"...Like that?" She asked, her voice rising in stress.

Oh he was so onto her chit.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn's laughter would be heard across the open comm's as he listened to his Padawan's sense of confusion, "Alright we'll take it one step at a time then" he said, tapping his own console terminal and reverting back to the dashboard page, the home screen for which held various tabs and catagories on one side while displaying an overall status of the starfighter on the right, the shape of the craft which showed up all green and would only change should any portion of the vessel be damaged somehow.

"Look for the tab on the left side of the monitor that reads S - Y - S, O - P" he spelled out the letters individually, taking special care to ensure that Kyra Perl would be following; "From there you want to select 'Systems Diagnostic', and then 'Full Systems Assessment" Caedyn smiled to himself as he leaned into the pilot seat somewhat more, turning to glance over his shoulder looking to the other Fighter where Kyra would be sitting and no doubt battling with her own nervousness and uncertainty.

"The point of running a systems check prior to committing to use of the vessel is pretty straight forward. The assessment will go over all primary and secondary operations, providing you choose the full diagnostic. If you're in a rush, prioritize primary systems...-These being all things you can't do without. Thrusters to life support, that sort of thing" he gave further context to why he was running her through the process thoroughly. Chances were Kyra wasn't expecting this sort of thing to be so complicated, however these were just the basics Caedyn was covering. Military pilots on the other hand went through years of training in order to build upon their expertise in handling of such vessels.

 

[Kyra Perl]

"The whosa whatsa going where'sa," she mumbled to herself, following his directions slowly. Step by step was manageable, it was the hows and whys that surpassed her. Science was weird. Like. SO much work, yanno? Stress worked its way into her brows, the girl feeling particularly stupid as his explanations didn't quite sink in.

Heat filled her insides, a small sense of regret blossoming as she realized the cost of not fully dedicating herself to her studies all her life.

Was it too late now?

Her fingers gingerly followed the path he laid out, through her expression painted the lack of confidence she harbored. Yanno, her father did these classes a lot differently.

"Okay, 'that sorta thing'-- all done," she reported, glancing up at him for the next step. It dawned on her he was one of the only ones she let she her this way. Unconfident. Vulnerable. She almost didn't like it, but then she remembered she needed him for this. Her jaw raised in a stubborn show.

"I'm waiting."

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Very good" Caedyn commended her. He had learned over the time since taking her under his tutelage that Kyra Perl was the type of person who, once being told that she was on the right track and doing well, often excelled in all things further. Her confidence was very much the 'make or break' aspect of their every training session, and while there had been and still would be some lessons that she'd have to struggle through, Caedyn had managed to find a way to work alongside her in order to suit them both, capitalizing upon her character strengths in order to gradually build up her knowledge and experience in area's she felt she was weakest or under-qualified.

"Once we know that all systems are green, we then want to bring up the primary systems functions" Caedyn spoke clearly through the mic, taking the time to pace himself so that Kyra might have the pause to follow his instructions while focusing on the terminal in front of her. "Once you've found that, you'll want to initiate the fighter's engine which will channel power through to the other parts of the ship like the repulsorlift thrusters for example, or the blastercanons...-Which you can ignore for the time being".

 

[Kyra Perl]

"-Which you can ignore for the time being".

Kyra dropped her finger from the blaster cannon button, her expression faltering. "What if we have to go really very fast-- cause someone's chasing us. I can't spend all this time starting it all up, they'll blow us to bits," she exclaimed, predictably put off by the series of tasks she'd have to preform.

No doubt he'd be having her do the start up procedures on repeat for a week before she could start flying on her own. Not to be cruel, but because that's how long it'd take for her to actually absorb them.

"Isn't there like-- a short cut to it all? What if I just wanna go?"

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"An Astromech" Caedyn replied, glancing with a wary eye back towards the Fighter that Kyra Perl was situated in; "Astromech Droids are good co-pilots and can get things ready pre-flight if you're expecting to be in a hurry, however for the purpose of your experience this is all part of the learning" Caedyn explained, wanting his Padawan to take the role seriously.

"A droid can only do so much however and if you're to be flying a ship, you need to know what it is, how it runs and know that you're confident behind the controls" he further informed her. Kyra's impatience was one of the very concerns that had led to Caedyn's reluctance to show her the ropes at any point sooner.

"Take combat situations for example, an Astromech can wonders for data processing and initiating systems checks, but the Force flows through you and droids don't think and feel like we do. Instincts, empathy, conscience...-These are all qualities that droids lack and it's important that we don't get lazy and rely too much on the convenience of droids".