*Episode 6 (4)

                                    

                                          
After a while, Kanan and Anakin walked out of the hold together. They heard chatter in the Ghost's common room, but as soon as they walked in, all conversation ceased. Anakin raised an eyebrow at the room's occupants, which included everyone. "Did I miss something?"
                          
"Not yet," grinned Zeb, who looked at Hera. In fact, all of the others were looking at Hera. Anakin did the same. 
                          
"I seem to remember you taking me up on a flying challenge," she reminded him, crossing her arms. "Seeing as we're out in the middle of nowhere, I figured now is a good a time as any."
                          
He blinked once, slowly, as the information processed. "You want to do this now?"
                          
"If you have time," she amended. "Obviously, if you have somewhere to be, we can postpone."
                          
Anakin looked down at his comlink. "Ah, what the hell. I'm already ahead of schedule to drop off the generators. This won't take longer than what? An hour?"
                          
"Here we go," Rex groaned, much to the amusement of the Ghost crew, but he was hiding a grin. After hitching a ride with Hera for a couple of weeks and serving with Skywalker for nearly five years, he knew this was going to be good. 
                          
Kanan silently slipped around to the other side of the room, behind Hera. If he didn't back her up on this, he was dead meat, and he knew it. Rex, on the other hand, stood next to Skywalker. Everyone else remained where they stood. The sides had been taken.
                          
Trying to act seriously, Anakin began with the proceedings. "I've been down to the surface of this planet before. I haven't flown through the area, but I have a good enough grasp of the surface's layout to map a course. It's only fair that you set the conditions."
                          
"Weapon systems stay down," the captain began, looking to her whole crew. "This is going to be a clean game, and we can't afford to waste time on repairs right now. No shooting."
                          
Everyone nodded in agreement, although some people looked a little disappointed. Weapons would have made the competition more fun. 
                          
Hera looked around, thinking intently, before deciding on her next condition. "Only one person and the astromech can be in the cockpit for the duration of the race. Everyone else needs to be out of the room."
                          
This was met with immediate outcry from the Ghost crew, who knew the cockpit would be the best spot to watch the race from. A glare from Hera silenced them all, though, and they sulked quietly. Anakin didn't have a problem with this term. It looked like Rex was the only other person who would be on his ship anyway.
                          
"Other than that, I think standard rules apply," she concluded, crossing her arms. "No dirty flying, no shortcuts, no sabotage."
                          
"I agree," Anakin told her, holding his hand out to shake on it. "I have an idea for a course we can run. We'll do a flyover before lining up to start so we both know where we're going."
                          
Hera took his hand, shaking firmly. "May the best pilot win."
                          
Both of them were grinning from the tension of competition. Anakin looked to Rex. "You coming?"
                          
"Oh, I'm not going to miss this for the world," he assured his general. 
                          
"Ezra, Sabine, Zeb, get in the Phantom," Hera ordered, pointing toward the shuttle. "You'll help referee the race."
                          
"But we want to sit in the cockpit!"
                          
The captain shook her head firmly, putting her foot down. "Kanan's in the cockpit with me. You three, Phantom, now."
                          
They sulked off in the proper direction, and Hera made for the cockpit with Kanan in tow. Kanan wasn't sure he liked the look on Hera's face. "Are you sure about this?"