After all the days of despair

[voiceless_anon]

Who: Anon and Yori.
What: Flying lessons and possible virus corruption mapping.
Where: In the sky over the Outlands.
When: After Rinzler's escape.
Warnings: Angst.

Comments

[yorisearching]

Raising one hand in cheerful response, Yori chuckled into the comm. "Somehow I knew you'd be looking forward to that

[voiceless_anon]

Anon watched carefully as Yori looped the jet around in a slow spiral. Okay, keep pushing towards the outside with the underside of the jet, while holding it in a roll. Careful management of the jet's thrusters and tail. So if he did that . . .

Dropping back another jet length, Anon rolled sideway and up. There was a wobbly moment when he was fully inverted, but he managed to complete the manoeuvre without too many problems. The nose of the jet was pointed slightly off course afterwards, but he corrected to keep following Yori.

How was that?

[yorisearching]

Amused, Yori shook her head. "You security types never want to wait for the explanations," she observed. "Pretty good for a first try. Next time choose a reference point half a span above your jet's nose, if you're trying to hold a steady flight path."

She curved smoothly around to keep them from getting too far away from the city. "Let's do this one a few more times before we try any fancier rolls, all right? A simple barrel roll is a good way to slow yourself down if you've got someone on your tail, and it's useful for observation flights because it lets you check your blind spots."

[voiceless_anon]

Anon banked gently in Yori's wake, following her flight path. Okay, he sent back. I'll try that again.

Taking her advice, he focused on a fixed point above the nose of his jet. This time, the roll was much smoother. He could sense more of how the jet would react now, the more complex manoeuvre giving him more insight into its workings than the simpler ones he'd practiced in their previous flying lesson.

He tried it the other way around, next, reversing the parameters and managing an even better shape. Flying the jet felt more natural, now, and he was smiling under his helmet. He was glad Yori had volunteered to teach him this; while 'cycles were good in the city and on the (long since eroded) highways between Tron City and the destroyed colonies, lightjets were a vast improvement over rough ground. Faster and more direct, too.

Finally, just for fun, he tried a double barrel roll. He went a little too far over as he pulled out of it, dipping a wing, but managed to correct before it affected his course too badly.

How was that?

[yorisearching]

With a small grin at the extra flair, Yori replied, "Nice job, Anon." He didn't need her input on the minor mistake. Anon's code, as Yori had better reason to know than most, was designed for swift learning.

"Do you want to practice a few more times, or are you ready to try some mock combat?" Yori double-checked her energy levels. Plenty of margin. "Most of the modified forms depend on what your opponent's doing. Think you're ready to keep track of me mid-roll?"

She was confident Anon had the skills he needed to avoid crashing. Preparing to meet Rinzler--to meet enemies in the air was very different.

(Ah, Tron.)

Not that Yori intended to bring up that purpose of the lessons.

[voiceless_anon]

An unseen grin broke across Anon's face at Yori's praise. Let's try some mock combat, he replied. What are the parameters?

Chasing her all over the sky would be a challenge in itself, but how would mock combat work? Would it be some equivalent of disc tag in the sky? Something else?