Specter Tales [Series of One-Shots]

No Need to Retaliate

"So, you don't think I should retaliate more?" Hera asked Chopper.

He replied in beeps and other mechanical noises. Hera nodded.

"You're right about that! Let's see what happens!" Hera smirked.

Chopper made some happy noises and raised his mechanical arms in the air in celebration. Kanan and the others watched from the hallway. He didn't know what they were saying, but he knew something wasn't right. He gave Sabine, Zeb, and Ezra a signal.

"Be careful!" Kanan whispered to the others as they walked into the kitchen where Hera was.

They all took a seat and Hera turned around, causing them the jump backward. She gave them a confused look as she examined each of their faces.

"Good morning," she said.
"Good morning!" Everyone responded in unison.
"Okay...," Hera trailed off.

They look suspicious...something's up, Hera thought. She was about to leave the kitchen when she turned around.

"Did you all set up another prank?" She crossed her arms.
"Of course not! We're not pranking you! You gave us heart attacks at the last battle!" Kanan bursted.
"You all deserved it!" Hera looked at them.
"We know, and we really, really, really regret it!" Ezra said.
"Is there anything we can do to prove so?" Sabine asked.

Hera thought. She still had to unload the crates.

"You guys, sort the crates we got from the empire, and after that, maybe I'll make you all some breakfast!" Hera smiled.

Everyone ran down to the boarding dock. However, Zeb was the first to get down there and suddenly stopped in the hallway, causing everyone to crash into each other.

"What are you doing? Don't you want to eat, Zeb?" Ezra stood up.
"I just thought of something. What if Hera put something in the crates?" Zeb pointed to them.

Everyone else stared at the crates. True...very true..., Kanan thought.

"Or she could've put something in my backpack!" Ezra pointed.
"Or my paint box!" Sabine added.
"Or in my secret box with my diary!" Zeb shouted.
"Wait! In your what?" Ezra looked up at the Lasat.
"Uh...nothing...," Zeb tried to cover up what he said.
"Mm-hm...," Sabine rolled her eyes.

The specters hid in the corner of the boarding dock, staring at the crates, the paint box, Ezra's backpack, and the secret box. Could Hera have put something in one or all of these things? They all stood there for five minutes.

"Kanan, can't you, like, open the crates with the force or something to make sure they're not filled with bombs?" Zeb asked and Sabine nodded.
"Yes...but...," Kanan looked around for an excuse to not be the first one to look inside the crates, "Ezra should do it!"
"What?" Ezra jumped. "Why can't you you do it? You're the adult!"
"Because...you're the padawan and you need training!" Kanan said.

Ezra took a small step forward, toward the crates. Sabine saw him and pushed him closer. Ezra quickly turned around and gave her a playful scold. He raised his hand and focused.

"Bomb!" Zeb shouted at the top of his lungs.

Ezra opened his eyes and the Specters charged at a random objects with their lightsabers, blasters, and/or bo-rifles. Hera quickly reacted to the "bomb!" shout and raced along with Chopper to the loading dock. She looked down and saw the destruction of the crates. Zeb was tearing apart his secret box. Sabine and Kanan were blasting the crates apart. Ezra was destroying his backpack.

"Guys! Guys! Stop!" Hera screamed.

Everyone stopped as debris fell from the top of the boarding dock and they looked up at Hera.

"Hey!" Everyone said in fake-sounding voice.
"Hey guys...what are you doing?" Hera smiled.
"Um...looking for bombs?" Zeb scratched his head.

Kana sighed and put his lightsaber down.

"Okay, look, we got paranoid and thought you out a bomb in one of the crates or in one of our belongings," Kanan explained. "End of story."
"Wow," Hera shook her head.
"Karabast!" Zeb shouted.

All eyes were on him. He held up a bunch of stuffing and his eyes watered.

"I just ripped apart my favorite stuffed Tooka cat from when I was a kid!" Zeb screamed.
"Zeb, I don't know how you do it on Lasan, but what's the oldest age you can be to be considered a kid?" Sabine sarcastically asked.
"No!" Ezra cried.

He picked up two halves of a stormtrooper helmet.

"I just cut my first stormtrooper helmet in half!" Ezra looked at the dirty, old helmet.
"Dang it!" Sabine angrily cried out. "I just blasted our new blasters to pieces!"
"And I just broke the holodisk that was added to the crate from Fulcrum!" Kanan sadly looked at the shattered.

Hera and Chopper began to laugh and everyone looked up at them.

"Why are you laughing?" Sabine asked.
"You guys were so paranoid about what I was going to do as part of my revenge, that you guys destroyed some of your most precious belongings!" Hera laughed.

Hera began to make her way back to the cockpit.

"Chopper, you were right! You don't always need to retaliate!" Everyone heard her say from the hallway. "Sometimes, your victims' paranoia does it for you!"