The energy from their weapons sizzled between them and as their eyes met from across the room, they both knew that this was most certainly the end to what might have been a beautiful friendship. Not that Mara would let a little thing like that prevent her from winning.
She chopped the throttle, popped the brakes, and yanked her holographic fighter into a perfectly vertical climb. Han's fighter shot past hers, and she grinned at his scowl of frustration. "I think I know who's going to be cooking tomorrow."
"Not on your life," he growled.
She braked even harder, almost taking the fighter into a stall, and then pulled it into a climbing loop. It hung upside down in the air between them, almost completely stopped…then Mara kicked in the thrusters, pulled out of the loop, and ended up on Han's tail.
He just shook his head at her. "Nice trick, those stall turns. But I don't think they're worth sacrificing all that speed." His fighter, already a considerable distance ahead of Mara's, took off, spinning on its horizontal axis.
Mara fully opened the throttle and got off some potshots. "Running won't save you from nerf steak, Solo."
"Who said anything about running?" He turned on the repulsorlifts, flipped the fighter on its side, and used the holographic cliff that seemed to magically appear out of the video game landscape to execute a ninety degree turn to the right from Mara's fighter – still at full throttle - leaving her to attempt to brake and pull up before the cliff smacked her.
"Sithspit!" She avoided becoming a holographic fireball, but Han had doubled back, and was on her tail now. She checked her readout – she had no shields left, as she expected. "Nobody said anything about cheating, either."
"Cheat? Me? Now that isn't fair, Mara. I've had to take it on trust that you aren't using the Force." He put on his innocent face as both fighters continued to charge up the wall.
Mara just rolled her eyes. Between Ben, Jaina, Jacen, Anakin, and her husband, she'd seen enough innocent faces to fill a holo album or three. She pulled away from the cliff and executed a half-roll to right herself.
Han followed her, and began tracking her with laser fire. "I might have played this a couple of times in the past," he admitted nonchalantly, "with Jaina."
Mara hit the brakes, and barely missed being rammed by Han. "Leia must be rubbing off on you. That was vague and non-incriminating enough to be admissible in the Senate."
She got a lock on him and started firing. He juked to the right and dived for a line of trees. She followed him tightly, watching the distance between her craft and the treetops.
Then Han dived again, disappearing into the treetops.
"Are you insane -?"
"Daddy!"
Han Solo turned around in time to receive an armful of Anakin.
"Guess where we went today, Daddy! See what Uncle Luke got me?" He gleefully showed them a small power cell. "I can finish my project now!"
"Alright, alright, Anakin" he said with something of a forced chuckle, "Why don't you put it together, and then show us what it can do?"
"I'll be back before you know it!" Anakin declared, and ran off.
Han looked at Mara. No mercy in those eyes. "I win." She smiled.
"I can't plead child intervention?"
"Nope. A deal's a deal." She turned off the holo projector. "I am not entirely without mercy, however."
Han looked at her expectantly.
"Ben's foods of the week are Sweesonberry rolls, and Won Won. He's also taken a liking to Gralinyn juice."
Han just groaned.
