trans_9 | Reacquainting [OPEN, COMMAND CREW INVITED]

Picard was in the Sensoriums. It wasn't an unusual spot to find him by any means, but unlike much of the time when he relaxed in a smoky jazz club, or walked along the streets of Old Chicago or New York, the captain was not dressed as Dixon Hill. He wasn't smoking or drinking, either. Instead, he simply stood on the bridge of the Enterprise, listening to old reports, Captain's and Senior Officers' logs, and even going so far as to recreate some of the memorable moments on the ship. Now wanting to try and use the hologram as some kind of emotional crutch, he even had the simulation make an artificial version of himself, playing through the events exactly as they'd occurred.

Taking a sip from his tea, the captain gazed out of the viewscreen to the expanse of space before him. It made for a very pretty picture, no doubt about it, but it was not why he was here. No, Picard had the unfortunate self-assigned duty of reacquainting himself with every case of temporal discrepancy and every judicial dispute and every interdimensional boondoggle the Enterprise and her crew had ever been involved in.

He did laugh, however, when he read the regulations and operating procedures for the Department of Temporal Investigations. He almost pitied them, having to deal with so many temporal disputes involving James Kirk.

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"Can I help you?" Picard asked, sipping once more from his tea. Setting the glass aside on the navigation console, he turned around to regard Luke more fully. The older man looked to be closing in on Picard's age, though it was hard to tell anyone's age on this ship.

Luke looked round at the older man, blue eyes going wide. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to intrude." He looked around the rest of the room, fingers running across the surface of a console.

"I just happened in and got fascinated. I've never really seen a ship that looks like this." He paused, looking at a diagram of the Enterprise that was on one of the screens. "And I don't recognize all the functions of these stations."

"That," Picard said, gesturing to the diagram, "is the Engineering station. Next to is Astrometrics, and behind you are the consoles for Tactical and Security. Numerous other stations for minor functions are situated on the right and left hand sides of the bridge." Picard walked to the center of the bridge, setting one hand on the top of his chair.

"Up front are the Ops and Conn consoles, controlling communications, navigational controls, as well as sensor readings, shipwide activity and crew reports when needed." He gestured to the seat he was leaning against, smiling.

"And of course, there's the captain's chair."

Luke took it all in, amazed. The only ships he could think analogous to these were probably the battle cruisers, with their big viewports and many stations for various tasks. "It sure doesn't look much like the ships I'm familiar with," he said. "Except for some of the bigger battle cruisers, like the Star Destroyers. Then again I prefer smaller, one-man snubfighters to being on big vessels like these."

His feet had taken him down to between the two smaller consoles, and he turned at last, smiling. "She looks like a fine ship though." It was good to be on what felt like a proper ship. Closing the distance, he held out his hand to shake. "Luke Skywalker."

"Fighters? That's very interesting, actually. Starfleet's only had fighters for the last few years; they were generally considered inefficient." He held out his hand for the other man to take. The touch of information about Luke's home reality was fascinating, and he was interested in learning more.

"Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the USS Enterprise, and the captain of this vessel's crew besides. It's pleasure to meet you, Mister Skywalker."

"They're ubiquitous where I'm from--like cavalries in land-based warfare, if you're familiar at all. Just a difference in needs, I think. Our big battle cruisers aren't nearly maneuverable enough to harry enemy ships."

Luke smiled, shaking Picard's hand. "Just Luke is fine, Captain. Nice to meet you. "

"That's actually very fascinating," he said, accepting the hand with a smile. "Most of our vessels merely have shuttles aboard, though this vessel does a captain's yacht attached to the ventral saucer section."

He let go the other man's hand after they'd shook, and looked around the bridge again. "We've got spacecraft of all kinds--from the snubfighters and battle cruisers I mentioned, to transports, yachts, exploratory craft... without it, we'd never survive, I think. Every planet's become dependent in some way on others. Is it the same way where you're from?"

"To a large extent, yes. Still, Earth has advanced enough on a technological standpoint that it could likely survive even without space travel. Still, it's much easier to reach our allies in the United Federation of Planets with starships and warp drive."

"You're from Earth?" Luke brightened out of curiosity; he'd always thought of Earth as a legend, a mythical place that had supposedly been the cradle of their race. Still, this wasn't the first time someone on this ship had mentioned it, and he was eager to learn. "What's it like?"

"Earth is where humanity developed, at least in my world. Right now it's a green and beautiful planet, where man and nature have finally learned to live in coexistence. It wasn't always so, however, and it took us quite a while to come out of our nation-minded mentalities. Before Earth was one government, it was a series of nations, several usually being at war with each other at some point or another. The discovery of Warp Drive and FTL travel brought Earth's governments together."

"That sounds a little like how the Old Republic got its beginnings," Luke said. "The planet we started moving out into the galaxy from, Coruscant, is entirely covered down to the bedrock with city. But there are thousands of systems in the Galactic Alliance now." Though with things being the way they are, how long that'll last is anyone's guess, he thought a little sadly.

"Earth is still very green," Picard replied. "I grew up in a vineyard, actually, in a small section of Earth called La Barre, France." He gestured to one of the consoles on the bridge, bringing up a series of images and text.

"The Federation has over one hundred and fifty member worlds and is spread out over eight thousand light-years."

"And still growing, right?" Luke grinned. Perhaps this was truly how things had started for the Old Republic--he'd read the histories, of course, but it was nothing like living the birth of a galactic power.

"That's correct. I take it you have some experience with such an organization?"

"For a long time, I helped my twin sister reorganize the Republic, a governing body very similar to what you're familiar with, it sounds like. She's more the diplomat than I am, though."

"Not everyone is a diplomat, though I consider my own diplomatic roles, especially my times serving during First Contact, to be among my proudest moments." Picard was earnest in his response, believing fully in the ideals of the Federation and Starfleet to which he'd sworn to defend.

"I get the feeling, however, that you're not as bad as you let on."

"Well, a Jedi is traditionally a peacekeeper," Luke said, "So we do learn diplomacy, since to us fighting should always be a last resort after all attempts at negotiation have failed. But my sister was the one who really got the Republic back on its feet after the Empire fell."

"Empire?" Picard asked, an eyebrow shifting at the statement.

Reacquainting [OPEN, COMMAND CREW INVITED]

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