ten_fwd_meme | TEST DRIVE #16 - Turbolifts and Ten Forward

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test drives

TEST DRIVE #16 - Turbolifts and Ten Forward

Option 001. Trapped in a Turbolift: This space travel thing is new to you, and you're starting to think the ship is purposely out to get you. A turbolift is just a grandiose name for an elevator, which should be the safest way to travel after all! But someone out there is out to get you, you're sure of it. Because the next thing you know, the lights flicker and the lift grinds to a stop. You're trapped, with whomever was unlucky enough to be in the lift with you.

It could be hours before you're rescued. These turbolifts span the entire massive ship, and don't just travel straight up and down. No, they can travel horizontally, vertically, sometimes even diagonally. You could be stuck between any deck now. There is a small access panel on one of the smooth walls, but how good are you with getting these things to work? Let's not forget that sudden stop tossed everyone around a little, and people could be hurt. Time to put your emergency thinking cap on, and make friends with the people beside you fast. You could be the only way back to freedom.

Conversely, you could slide that pack of cards out of your pocket and start a rousing game of gin rummy. Really it's up to you.

Option 002. Ten Forward: You have no idea what just happened. One minute you were home, minding your own business, and now you're on a spaceship in the middle of a crowded room! It looks like a bar. There are people eating and drinking, some in uniform, others not. Some are clearly aliens, and some of the food is looking rather strange too.

You've managed to land in Ten Forward. A long bar with barstools and a bartender span one side of the room, with a bank of strange computers on that same wall. It looks like people are ordering food and drinks from them. Tables are sprinkled throughout, and the far wall is nothing but floor to ceiling windows with a view out to space. It looks like a nice lounge, low conversation making the room hum.

Better ask some questions and find out where you are, or just tap the closest person on the shoulder and try to make friends. The bar is open.

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His warmth could be felt through the skin of her cold hand as he pressed that kiss against it, and she couldn't help but notice the juxtaposition in her husband. How angry he had been then, going down a path she couldn't follow, until- "I doubt this was the restaurant that-"

Although she paused, brow furrowing. Chancellor Palpatine. It had all been a rouse, a lie, a deception. But Anakin didn't know that, yet, at least. "-that he suggested."

Not unless he had information that went far beyond that of anyone here. Leaning forward slightly, her eyes searched his. "What is the last thing you remember before coming here, Anakin?"

"We both found the place," he said with a laugh, "following his directions. Maybe his tastes are just more eclectic than we realized. I like it here." Of course he liked it here. She was here, and that was all he needed to like any place, really.

He liked when she leaned closer, he smiled and did the same, wondering what she was looking for, in his face.

"The last thing I remember?" he asked, brow furrowing slightly. Sometimes he simply could not figure out how her mind worked, but he loved that about her. Really, since the first time he saw her, there wasn't a thing about her he didn't love, save her absence.

It was something she didn't even want to say, knowing that it would distress him. Here, before her, was the man she knew and loved, the man who had always been tender and gentle, who would never have lifted a hand to hurt her. When he simply repeated her question, she moved back in her seat, cocking her head slightly.

"Anakin... We're aboard a starship called the Enterprise. I've been here for over three months." It was said softly, letting the words sink in.

"That's impossible," he said. He wasn't arguing or challenging, he was confused, and even had a hint of laughing, thinking perhaps this was some kind of a joke. "I just saw you yesterday, when we snuck away to have a few minutes..." his eyes invited her to laugh with him, smile with him. There was no anger in Anakin now, not here with her. As far as he was concerned, never with her. She was his angel.

"His name is Q, Anakin." It was hard to understand, harder still for Padmé as she had been dead. She could recall those last minutes as clearly as anything else. "Many aboard this ship have been brought here by him. The crew is kind enough not to confine us to quarters, although I do believe Q does frustrate them. They had no idea how to return us to familiar space."

Her eyes searched his out, as she wasn't joking. "There are others here from our galaxy, but there are others who come from places I haven't even heard of. Places where they have only traveled to their moon and haven't even explored the stars."

He sat back, taking that in. On one hand he didn't like the idea of being jerked around, pulled away by some unknown being. REALLY didn't like it. At all.

But on the other hand, there was one thing more to consider. He leaned forward again, searching her face. "Let me see if I understand this," he said softly. "We are now someplace with no council, no senate, no trade federation, maybe even... No Sith?"

He wanted to be certain that he had this right before he continued with that thought.

It was a thought that he didn't need to finish as Padmé understood well enough where he was trying to go with it. She had asked him, beg him, to go away with her, but he had refused. Then, at least. "No, there is none of that here, although there are Jedi here, Anakin. Master Yoda and Obi-Wan, and I believe Siri."

She watched his face carefully as she said those names, knowing how he had taken Obi-Wan's surprise appearance from her ship. "There are others as well. A droid, HK-47, although perhaps you would know more about the Jedi that he spoke of serving."

Master Yoda. That was the one who had his face darkening, but not Master Obi Wan. Well, if Yoda wanted to start something over his attachment to Padmè, if she would finally be willing to accept their relationship being more open, he would take that fight. He would fight even Master Yoda, if that was what it would take. He hoped it would not come to that, he was rather running out of limbs to lose.

"But no Council, not officially, and no Senate?" he asked again, to be sure.

Because now, NOW, if she asked it, he's agree. He would do anything for her, and to love her openly, to avoid this skulking in shadows, to let his Master know they were married, and have no shame of it... He would take on all the Sith, single handedly, if he could but do that.

Yoda did already know, having been there, having taken care of her children with Obi-Wan, taken them to safety after her passing. He had been kind enough to let her know information about them though, and Padmé was grateful for that. "No. Nothing exists of that here. The governing body for this is the United Federation of Planets. They have no knowledge of the Force or Jedi. Things are different here, Anakin."

"Then... we can just be us?" He asked. No more rules, no more responsibilities, no more people telling us we can't be together?" he took her hands, squeezed them. "No more hiding?"

He would give anything for her to say yes. That they could just be them, without worrying over who would and would not approve of them, would and would not allow it. He would find a way to make everything right. Whatever it took. HE wanted to live his life with her, for a very, very long time.

She had known it was coming, and despite everything on Mustafar, she found a soft smile shifting to her lips. She knew first hand that the darkness was there, but she also knew there was good in him.

Her fingers squeezed lightly back on his own. "I wouldn't say no rules or responsibilities, Anakin... But there isn't anyone here who will tell us that."

That much was true.

"Then, with no more hiding, with you at my side, and me at yours, is there anything on any world that we cannot face?" he wove his fingers in between hers.

"Let us get married then, again. Publicly. We'll invite everyone you know here, everyone you care about." He would protect her, they would be able to be happy, be together. No more hiding, no more subterfuge, no more lies.

He hadn't answered her question about the last thing that he remembered before coming here. That he hadn't reacted to Obi-Wan's name gave her some indication, and the fact that he spoke seemingly fondly of Palpatine was another. She could narrow it down somewhat given his appearance, but how far, she wondered?

In a way it was almost too much though. It had taken time to come to terms with everything. That she still loved him was a given, and she always would. Just as she had said, truly and deeply. That had never changed. Yet she knew now, a truth that hadn't been spoken, and she didn't know how he would handle it if or when he found out. It should come from her, shouldn't it?

But she smiled, a light shake of her head. "I loved our first wedding, Anakin. It was perfect."

He smiled softly, that expression he showed only to her, and nodded. "It was," he said softly, "Wasn't it?" He didn't care about what he remembered before she walked in, because he rarely recalled what he had been doing or saying before she walked into a room.

He really had two goals in life. Tp prove himself to the Jedi council, and to make her happy, keep her safe. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else ever would.

He reached up and pushed back a lock of her hair. "Somehow, though, you've only managed to get more beautiful."

She knew that there were times when she found it surprising that people hadn't figured out their marriage. During the Clone Wars, it was all that she had been able to do to keep still when she heard bad news about him in the Senate. Of course he had always returned, sometimes bearing new scars, but always coming back from his battles.

There was a part of her that did want to be wrapped in his arms, to feel that strength and support, to go back to how things had been all those years ago. Yet it was easy to counter back playfully, bringing up those words that he had spoken to her when Obi-Wan and he had come to offer her protection. "For a Senator, you mean?"

"For a senator, for a Queen, for an anything," he said with a small teasing smile. He let go of her hand and touched her cheek lightly. "How do you manage to do it, I wonder?" he asked her.

"How is it that every time I think you to be perfect, you find some way to become only more amazing? It's not just how you look either. Your courage, your commitment, your dedication, your intelligence. Is there anything about you that does not get any more wonderful with every passing day?"

She pressed her cheek against his palm, a smile lingering there. The man before her was the man she had fallen in love with, the man she loved with her whole being. In a way, it did almost seem too good to be true. All she had ever wanted was him, and here he was, himself, not looking on her with such negative emotions, but with love.

For now... For now she did want to linger in that, to be selfish. Didn't she deserve at least that? "It's because my love for you grows daily in turn."

"Then love must truly be the greatest power in the Force, if it can continually improve upon and redefine perfection."

His stomach reminded him quietly that they had come there to eat, or rather, that he was meant to meet her somewhere so they could eat. He would rather just drink in the sight of her, but he should obey his stomach before it became any more insistent.

"If this is not the resteraunt I expected, how is the food here?" he asked her, his gaze still on her eyes, still loving, as though the words of food had little to do with the moment they were in.

His question did redirect her train of thought and her focus shifted off to the side. It was a little motion that she made towards a part of the establishment. "They have what is called replicators here. It can reproduce various foods, both those I know and those that are foreign."

Her gaze moved back to Anakin then, giving a shrug of her shoulders. "For the most part, it is good? There are some foods that I certainly won't try again, but it is much better than rations."

"I would shudder to think of a food that wasn't," he said with a small smile. "How do they work? And what would you recommend? They do take galactic credits, I presume." He wanted to be sure of that, that he could pay for their meal. He wasn't certain he could convince a droid that their meal should be free, if it came to that.

"It's fairly simple, really. You just walk up to them and state what you want, although it's better to be clear. If you say tea, you should say what kind, and whether warm or cold." Padmé did give a shake of her head though. "No. They don't even know what those are here. There is no cost, at least I haven't come across anything that has had a price tag attached to it."

"No cost?" the former slave asked, a bit startled. "They ask for service in exchange, then?" He rose and offered his arm to her, to help her rise so they could go and see this machine. It sounded interesting. He wanted to investigate it. But more, he wanted to spend time learning something new from her.

"Here," Padmé responded, linking her arm in to his and pulling him along. There was one other before them, although soon enough both were standing before the technology. "One peppermint tea, hot, please."

Although manners weren't needed, it was still something that Padmé did. Within a few seconds, there was a cup of tea before her. Reaching out, she took it, before looking over to Anakin. "Some things are prohibited. Not that I have tried, but it would make sense not to allow the production of weapons."

He went with her. He had spent most of his life being pulled along by one person or another, not that he was always aware of it. But if all the people he'd ever give control to, giving it to her would be the easiest, and would please him the most.

"Of course not," he agreed. Imagine if anyone could get as many blasters as they wished. Still, she had answered his question about serves expected. "If not payment, what do they expect of us in return?" he asked again, wanting to be sure before he ordered anything.

Edited (Wrong icon.) 2016-01-18 05:17 (UTC)

"Nothing, Ani." As hard as that might be to believe, it was the truth. "Food and drinks are free. There is nothing that they require in return for using them."

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