Ezra Lost

Chapter 18

18

KANAN HEADED to the cockpit, logically assuming that was where Hera and Sabine had gone and expected him to be. But as he was about to clamber up the ladder to the cockpit, something rammed into his leg.

"Ow!" he yelped, mostly more surprised than hurt. He paused in reaching for the rungs and looked down at his assailant: Chopper.

Chopper's orange dome spun around as he buzzed and bumped into Kanan's leg again.

"Come on," Kanan said, exasperated. "I won't use my bad arm!"

Chopper beeped skeptically, spinning his dome around again. "Whrr whrr!"

Kanan narrowed his eyes down at the battered old Astromech in annoyance, then turned back to the ladder and gripped the first rung with his good hand.

Immediately, Chopper zapped Kanan with a spark of electricity. Kanan yelled and leapt backwards. "Oww!"

Kanan glowered at the droid as Chopper waved his mechanical arms at him.

"You're really not going to let me up there, are you?" Kanan growled.

Chopper twisted his dome back and forth. "Whrrr, whrr."

Kanan bit his lip, studying Chopper thoughtfully. He sighed and turned away, then suddenly whirled around and made a mad jump for the ladder.

"WHRR! WHRR!" Chopper zapped Kanan five more times in rapid succession, extracting five corresponding cries of anger and pain from the Jedi.

"RRRGH! CHOPPER!" Kanan shouted, losing his temper. His hair stood on end and he was smoking a little as Chopper once more shoved him away from the ladder.

"Whrr! Whrr whrr." Chopper shook his arms at Kanan threateningly.

"Excuse me?!"

"What's going on down here?" Sabine peered down the ladder.

"CHOPPER," Kanan said loudly, pointing an accusatory finger at the droid, "is assaulting me."

Sabine made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a poorly concealed laugh. "I know. I told him to!" She disappeared.

Kanan's eye twitched. Chopper had a way of getting on everyone's nerves no matter how cool-headed they were, but the fact that Sabine had ordered the bucket of bolts to deny Kanan access to the cockpit was just the icing on the cake.

Kanan just stood there, glaring at Chopper, his arms crossed. His hope was that Hera would do something about this, but Hera never showed up. No doubt she was in on this. And Chopper showed no signs of budging anytime soon.

Kanan sighed with irritation and leaned against the wall, defeated. He knew that this was Sabine's way of stopping him from aggravating his shoulder any further, but the shocking was pretty painful, too, wasn't it?

And on top of it all, Hera seemed to be okay with it!

Girls are impossible, Kanan thought glumly, then walked away to share his unhappiness with Zeb, who surely felt similarly. Maybe they could cheer each other up.

"Wrr-wrr! Wrr-wrr!" Chopper spun his dome, throwing his small metal arms high in the air in celebration. There was something very, very satisfying about annoying a Jedi out of his mind.

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