Danger Shop [after classes]
Intrigued by the message his father had left on his voicemail, and grinning ear to ear at the snow outside, Luke wandered into the Danger Shop…and stared. “Wow,” he breathed.
Anakin grinned proudly. “I figured you should get a taste of how we used to practice,” he said. “Most lightsaber combat doesn’t happen on a flat surface. We’re not fencers.”
Luke gazed wide-eyed around the room. There were thin wooden beams and metal catwalks hanging from the ceiling at varying heights, along with ropes to swing from. The room itself appeared to be at least five stories tall. The floor was littered with large rubber balls to be thrown telekinetically at opponents.
“How long have you been working on this?” he finally asked.
“A few months,” Anakin admitted. “I wanted to be sure I remembered all of it.” And a lot of his memories in the lightsaber salle, especially the ones at the end, weren’t exactly memories he’d been eager to revisit. He shook his head, dislodging unpleasant thoughts. “The gravity can be shifted, too, and wind can be added. The temperature can go up and down…it’s fairly comprehensive.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I practically lived in this part of the Temple.”
“I can see why,” Luke said, eyes shining. “It’s the best room ever.”
“There are still some programming tweaks to be done,” Anakin warned. “This is the first time I’ve tried to really mess with this planet’s version of holographic technology. Classroom exercises are one thing. This has to be combat ready. It might not work as planned.”
Luke waved the warning aside. “It's you," he said. "You've never made something that didn't work like it should. I don’t suppose you can convince the program to give us a couple of lightsabers?” he asked hopefully.
Anakin smiled over at him, looking as young as his son. “Such a Skywalker,” he teased.
Luke bounced impatiently on his toes. “You wouldn’t have called me if you didn’t want to try it out,” he wheedled.
“What makes you think I didn’t call Jaina and Qui-Gon, too?” Anakin replied. “Maybe I’m waiting on them to arrive.”
“Did you?” Luke replied.
Anakin’s eyes twinkled. “No.”
It took a supreme act of willpower for Luke not to let out an excited whoop. “Let’s get started!”
Anakin punched a couple of commands into the program and two lightsaber hilts materialized in front of them. “Very well,” he said, sounding supremely indifferent.
“You’re not fooling me,” Luke told him, reaching for the hilt closest to him and smiling approvingly when the blade ignited as a vibrant green. “You’ve been dying to let loose for a while.”
To his surprise, he felt his father’s emotional barriers clamp down harder. “I have been,” Anakin agreed. “I haven’t had a good workout in quite some time.” Because last week hadn’t happened, after all. He padded to the center of the room and settled himself into an easy defensive stance, hilt held loosely in his hand. “Whenever you’re ready,” he said.
Luke grinned and swept forward, blade extended. He was more than a little eager to put this room through its paces.
Anakin parried quickly, blue blade hitting green in an electric hum that was always going to be the best kind of music to his ears, then he began pressing his advantages of size and expertise. Luke was good-very good-but Anakin still had the upper hand. He swept his lightsaber towards Luke’s legs, encouraging him to start thinking in three dimensions.
Luke was already tracking along that path, tucking easily into a back flip that brought him onto a catwalk three feet above his father’s head.
“Are you planning on staying up there?” Anakin asked, peering up.
“Maybe,” Luke replied.
Anakin grinned and reached into the Force to propel himself to the skinnier wooden beam a foot above Luke’s range. He settled his feet and held out his lightsaber with a challenging light in his eyes. “How good is your footwork?”
Luke laughed and leaped another story into the air. “Enough to trust it on this piece of wood rather than yours,” he taunted, waving from his new perch.
Anakin reached into the Force and lobbed a few of the rubber balls from the floor up at Luke to cover for his series of flips that brought him onto the same level.
Luke batted them away and was more than ready to meet his father’s blows with the lightsaber. Eyes shining, he drove Anakin back a few paces until his father could feel the edge of the wood with his foot. “Good,” Anakin praised. “But what if gravity shifts?”
He reached into the Force to start the second level of the program and Luke suddenly found himself flattened against the ceiling as he father waved up at him from his perch a few stories below. “That’s what the ropes can be for,” he pointed out helpfully. Not that he was holding onto one.
“And a Jedi doesn’t bow to gravity unless he chooses to,” he added as the program shifted again, doubling the amount of gravity in the room instead of halving it, and adding a nasty crosswind.
Luke grabbed onto a nearby rope and tried not to concentrate on how much he felt like he was being compressed.
Anakin let out an amused chuckle, then released his hold on the wood he’d been sitting on, pitched backwards and used both the crosswind and the additional gravity to drive him towards the floor.
Luke watched with his heart in his throat until his father grabbed onto a rope at the very last second and swung to the ground with a delighted laugh. “I haven’t done that in years,” he called up. He laughed harder when he caught Luke’s expression. “You look just like Obi-Wan,” he teased. “He hated when I did that.”
The gravity returned to normal as the temperature began to ratchet up. “It feels like Tatooine in here,” Luke called from the ceiling, swinging his way monkey-like from one rope to another to bring him towards the ground.
“Be glad I don’t make it feel like Nal Hutta,” Anakin said, making a face and beginning to parry again. “That kind of humidity doesn’t do anyone any favors.”
They continued attacking and deflecting, dodging and parrying, leaping and swinging around until sweat had curled their hair and their breath began to come in shuddering gasps. Neither was willing to admit they were tired.
"I have water in my office," Anakin finally said, sprinting for the door, "race you there!"
They were both tearing through the hallways when they paused at the exact same time. Luke only had time to mutter, “I have a bad-" before there was a “pop” and instead of two Jedi in a hallway, there was an empty hallway.
And two remarkably lifelike action figures.
Huh.
[OOC: And that is how they'll stay for the weekend until I come back on Sunday, yay! They are terribly posable, as well as moddable, by the lovely wannabehunter, trickster_twin and the handsome and not at all vindictive jedi_qui, who can all handwave "bad feelings" (or radio) to their heart's content to pick these guys up.]
Anakin grinned proudly. “I figured you should get a taste of how we used to practice,” he said. “Most lightsaber combat doesn’t happen on a flat surface. We’re not fencers.”
Luke gazed wide-eyed around the room. There were thin wooden beams and metal catwalks hanging from the ceiling at varying heights, along with ropes to swing from. The room itself appeared to be at least five stories tall. The floor was littered with large rubber balls to be thrown telekinetically at opponents.
“How long have you been working on this?” he finally asked.
“A few months,” Anakin admitted. “I wanted to be sure I remembered all of it.” And a lot of his memories in the lightsaber salle, especially the ones at the end, weren’t exactly memories he’d been eager to revisit. He shook his head, dislodging unpleasant thoughts. “The gravity can be shifted, too, and wind can be added. The temperature can go up and down…it’s fairly comprehensive.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I practically lived in this part of the Temple.”
“I can see why,” Luke said, eyes shining. “It’s the best room ever.”
“There are still some programming tweaks to be done,” Anakin warned. “This is the first time I’ve tried to really mess with this planet’s version of holographic technology. Classroom exercises are one thing. This has to be combat ready. It might not work as planned.”
Luke waved the warning aside. “It's you," he said. "You've never made something that didn't work like it should. I don’t suppose you can convince the program to give us a couple of lightsabers?” he asked hopefully.
Anakin smiled over at him, looking as young as his son. “Such a Skywalker,” he teased.
Luke bounced impatiently on his toes. “You wouldn’t have called me if you didn’t want to try it out,” he wheedled.
“What makes you think I didn’t call Jaina and Qui-Gon, too?” Anakin replied. “Maybe I’m waiting on them to arrive.”
“Did you?” Luke replied.
Anakin’s eyes twinkled. “No.”
It took a supreme act of willpower for Luke not to let out an excited whoop. “Let’s get started!”
Anakin punched a couple of commands into the program and two lightsaber hilts materialized in front of them. “Very well,” he said, sounding supremely indifferent.
“You’re not fooling me,” Luke told him, reaching for the hilt closest to him and smiling approvingly when the blade ignited as a vibrant green. “You’ve been dying to let loose for a while.”
To his surprise, he felt his father’s emotional barriers clamp down harder. “I have been,” Anakin agreed. “I haven’t had a good workout in quite some time.” Because last week hadn’t happened, after all. He padded to the center of the room and settled himself into an easy defensive stance, hilt held loosely in his hand. “Whenever you’re ready,” he said.
Luke grinned and swept forward, blade extended. He was more than a little eager to put this room through its paces.
Anakin parried quickly, blue blade hitting green in an electric hum that was always going to be the best kind of music to his ears, then he began pressing his advantages of size and expertise. Luke was good-very good-but Anakin still had the upper hand. He swept his lightsaber towards Luke’s legs, encouraging him to start thinking in three dimensions.
Luke was already tracking along that path, tucking easily into a back flip that brought him onto a catwalk three feet above his father’s head.
“Are you planning on staying up there?” Anakin asked, peering up.
“Maybe,” Luke replied.
Anakin grinned and reached into the Force to propel himself to the skinnier wooden beam a foot above Luke’s range. He settled his feet and held out his lightsaber with a challenging light in his eyes. “How good is your footwork?”
Luke laughed and leaped another story into the air. “Enough to trust it on this piece of wood rather than yours,” he taunted, waving from his new perch.
Anakin reached into the Force and lobbed a few of the rubber balls from the floor up at Luke to cover for his series of flips that brought him onto the same level.
Luke batted them away and was more than ready to meet his father’s blows with the lightsaber. Eyes shining, he drove Anakin back a few paces until his father could feel the edge of the wood with his foot. “Good,” Anakin praised. “But what if gravity shifts?”
He reached into the Force to start the second level of the program and Luke suddenly found himself flattened against the ceiling as he father waved up at him from his perch a few stories below. “That’s what the ropes can be for,” he pointed out helpfully. Not that he was holding onto one.
“And a Jedi doesn’t bow to gravity unless he chooses to,” he added as the program shifted again, doubling the amount of gravity in the room instead of halving it, and adding a nasty crosswind.
Luke grabbed onto a nearby rope and tried not to concentrate on how much he felt like he was being compressed.
Anakin let out an amused chuckle, then released his hold on the wood he’d been sitting on, pitched backwards and used both the crosswind and the additional gravity to drive him towards the floor.
Luke watched with his heart in his throat until his father grabbed onto a rope at the very last second and swung to the ground with a delighted laugh. “I haven’t done that in years,” he called up. He laughed harder when he caught Luke’s expression. “You look just like Obi-Wan,” he teased. “He hated when I did that.”
The gravity returned to normal as the temperature began to ratchet up. “It feels like Tatooine in here,” Luke called from the ceiling, swinging his way monkey-like from one rope to another to bring him towards the ground.
“Be glad I don’t make it feel like Nal Hutta,” Anakin said, making a face and beginning to parry again. “That kind of humidity doesn’t do anyone any favors.”
They continued attacking and deflecting, dodging and parrying, leaping and swinging around until sweat had curled their hair and their breath began to come in shuddering gasps. Neither was willing to admit they were tired.
"I have water in my office," Anakin finally said, sprinting for the door, "race you there!"
They were both tearing through the hallways when they paused at the exact same time. Luke only had time to mutter, “I have a bad-" before there was a “pop” and instead of two Jedi in a hallway, there was an empty hallway.
And two remarkably lifelike action figures.
Huh.
[OOC: And that is how they'll stay for the weekend until I come back on Sunday, yay! They are terribly posable, as well as moddable, by the lovely wannabehunter, trickster_twin and the handsome and not at all vindictive jedi_qui, who can all handwave "bad feelings" (or radio) to their heart's content to pick these guys up.]