The Freemaker Adventures - Season Three

Chapter Six - Return of the Temple Dude

            Kordi, Zander, Rowan, Naare, and Roger stood in the hangar of the Star Scavenger 2. They all were thinking the same thing, what now? All around them was absolute silence. Nobody spoke.

The silence took a heavy toll on Rowan. As he said before, he didn't like silence. He supposed he could speak. Rowan could give his siblings a pep talk and say how they could just get more crystals, but if he did, then they would ask him where to look for them. This was a problem because Rowan felt even more disconnected from the force now than before. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to find them. Maybe if he started searching for the crystals in his mind now, then it would come to him quickly when his siblings needed them. This would hopefully keep Naare off of his trail. "Can't we just get more kyber crystals?" Roger asked before Rowan could."It's not that simple." Naare sighed. "There is only a certain amount. We can't always just get more." "What about that planet that we visited that was full of them? That should still have a few!" Zander suggested."No, I don't think so. The Empire took them all for the Death Star 2." Kordi shook her head.Rowan had to admit, that multitasking was hard. Why he had been listening to his siblings, he had used what little force power he had to search for kyber crystals. "There are some on Geonosis," He said."Really? Strange place for kyber crystals, but okay!" Zander said."Geonosis? As in the Battle of Geonosis, Geonosis? Oh no-oh no, no, no. I'm not going back there!" Roger backed away."Come on, Roger." Kordi glared at him."No!" Roger ran over to open the hanger bay.Rowan slapped his forehead as Kordi and Zander ran after Roger. Roger opened the hanger bay and jumped out. "Well, that happened," Kordi blinked multiple times.Roger then came floating up and back into the Star Scavenger 2. "AAAH!"Kordi and Zander turned to Rowan. "Thank god for you, Rowan," Zander said."Uhh..." Rowan looked around, confused.Naare sat down as she said, "Control your droid." Once again, the Freemakers found themselves surprised at Naare. Rowan stared at her, searching for any sign of evil. The only thing he saw was her eyes, still the typical sith color (yellow and red). She then closed them so she could meditate. Once again, the thought crossed his mind of admitting to Naare that it was him who was feeling stressed. She then opened one of her eyes and glanced in Rowan's direction. He quickly looked away. She was trying to trick him. Yes, that had to be it. Was Rowan overthinking it? Possibly...It was a long trip to Geonosis. For the first time in forever, Naare was able to meditate for a decent amount of time, before she felt that overwhelming stress again, that is. It was close to her, she could tell. Naare opened one eye and saw Rowan staring at her. Does the feeling belong to him? He seemed uneasy back on Raxus Prime when she had tried to talk to him about it. If it is Rowan, then the problem would be 100 times worse. He is what everyone relied on to find the crystals. If he couldn't find the crystals, then what? Naare sat, thinking. Instead of confronting Rowan, Naare decided to talk to Kordi and Zander. If anyone knew what was going on with Rowan, it would be them. She walked into the cockpit. First, she approached Kordi."Kordi, have you noticed anything...off about Rowan?" She questioned.Kordi turned to Naare in surprise. "Oh, um...err...a little, actually-but why do you want to know?" Zander spun his chair towards the two of them. "Yeah, Rowan's been different lately. It might just be that he's more mature now or something, but I don't think so." "Zander!" Kordi glared at him."AHAH! I'M NOT CRAZY! IT IS ROWAN!" Naare exclaimed. Roger walked in. "What's Rowan?" "Yeah, what Roger said." Zander folded his arms."Oh, um just some force things. You two wouldn't understand..." Naare said, insulting Zander and Kordi on purpose. "THAT'S IT!" Kordi said, standing up. She grabbed Naare by the arm. "You better not hurt Rowan, or else! And I know to you, that's probably not much of a threat coming from someone who's not force sensitive, but believe me, if you think you've seen me angry, you HAVEN'T. Well, I think you haven't...I could be wrong...but still!" Naare was stunned. She had just been threatened by Kordi Freemaker. Zander's mouth was wide open. After Naare had gotten over her shock, she yanked her arm away from Kordi. "I was about to give the same threat you just gave when I realized you have in fact seen me angry. Take a moment and remember that. If it came down to it, who do you think would come out on top? Me, or you? Exactly, me. But lucky for you, I'm trying to be a better person. So maybe you should do the same." Naare exited. Kordi sat back down and growled. Zander's mouth still hung open. "I'm not sure who to be more scared of." Roger gulped.The Freemakers landed on Geonosis near the arena, per Rowan's request. Roger volunteered to stay on the ship, which nobody was surprised about. "Okay, where too?" Kordi asked as Zander drew a smiley face in the red dirt. "Umm, well...ummm..." Rowan closed his eyes. "Look! An Old Republic gunship!" Zander pointed in the distance."That's it! The crystal is in one of those!" Rowan said."What do you mean the crystal is in one of those, there's only one..." Kordi said. "There's about 10," Naare pointed behind the gunship.Zander groaned. "Can you get anything specific?" "Nope," Rowan walked forward, towards the gunship graveyard.Naare ran forward slightly. "Rowan, wait,"Naare was going to ask him about the stress she had been sensing when she felt something else. "Do you feel that?" She asked him."Feel what?" Rowan tilted his head."Darkness." Naare closed her eyes."Is it coming from you?" Zander asked.Naare opened her eyes to glare at Zander. "Funny." She said sarcastically, before closing her eyes again. "This darkness is too powerful to be those Knights of Ren..." Rowan's eyes widened. "What if it's the temple dude! It has to be!" "You have got to be kidding! Why does everyone hate us so much?" Zander looked back at the Star Scavenger 2, and then at the gunships."Temple dude? Who's that?" Naare asked as the Freemakers began sprinting."No time to explain! We need to get those crystals, and quickly!" Rowan yelled."Split up!" Zander said.They all took off in different directions. Kordi and Zander were unsuccessful at finding any crystals. However, Zander managed to dig up a blaster. It was an E-11. It was about time that he got one. "YES! NOW I'M ZANDER FREEMAKER, SUPER-STAR BLASTER GUY!" He exclaimed. Meanwhile, Rowan endlessly searched the sand. It was then that Roger decided to call his holo-projector. "THE TEMPLE DUDE IS HERE!" He yelled."How much time do we have?" Rowan gulped."Ummm...I'd say you have about 2 minutes. He just landed. I'm gonna hide..." Roger said as he hung up the call.Rowan continued searching hoping that if worst comes to worst, he could take on the temple dude. If he couldn't, then they would all be in trouble.Naare sifted through the sand, but all she found were rocks. She moved on to the next gunship. It was then that she finally found kyber crystals. She slowly picked one up. She used the force and found several others buried underneath it. Naare had found 5 crystals, in total. She looked towards the other gunships. Walking toward one, she saw someone she did not recognize. This had to be the "temple dude". Rowan should have an okay chance against him. Based on what she felt, they had about the same levels of power. But it was then that she remembered the issues Rowan had been having with the force. Would Rowan be able to survive a duel with this opponent in his weakened state? She grabbed the crystals with the force and began heading toward the stranger. She then ran into Kordi and Zander."You see that?" Zander pointed to the stranger.Naare was about to say something when Kordi interrupted."NO TIME TO BICKER, HE'S GOING FOR ROWAN," Kordi exclaimed as she grabbed Zander and Naare's wrists, dragging them with her as she ran towards Rowan.Rowan stared at his pile of rocks. No crystals. He sat down in annoyance. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Naare, Kordi, and Zander running towards him extremely fast. They pointed behind him. Rowan turned his head to where they were pointing, and he turned and saw the temple guy. He yelped and rolled forwards to put more space between the two of them. "Hey, Rowan." The stranger waved."Um...hey temple guy," Rowan said awkwardly."Temple guy? I have a name, you know." Rowan shrugged. "Well I know that you have a name, 'cause everyone has a name, but uh you never told me yours. You just said you will find out soon enough." "Oh, yes. It's Samael." Samael said.Rowan moved his hand to his lightsaber. Maybe he could avoid a fight."So uh Samael, you want kyber crystals, right? Why do you want them?" Rowan asked."Can't tell you that. But, I can tell you that I know you're stalling." Samael smiled as he activated his red lightsaber."You don't want to fight for a reason, and I'm assuming that reason is some sort of benefit for me. Of course, if you want to avoid a fight that much, you can just come with me." He continued."No thanks," Rowan said, activating his own blue saber. Samael's smile turned into a smirk as he swung his saber at Rowan. Rowan blocked easily, resulting in a saber lock, or what Rowan thought was one. It ended quickly, when Samael quickly ducked down, and kicked Rowan's legs, causing him to lose balance and fall. Rowan caught himself, and he sprung up using his hands. Samael did a quick lightsaber spin and then swung from over his head. Rowan ducked to the side. While Rowan and Samael fought, Kordi, Zander, and Naare tried to come up with a plan. "He isn't going to last for much longer," Naare said."What do you mean? He's doing great." Kordi looked at Naare, confused."His force abilities are draining, quickly. It may seem he's doing well, but the more energy he spends, the harder it will be for us to get locations out of him." Naare explained.Kordi and Zander both did not like the way Naare phrased her explanation, but they understood. "Just wave the kyber crystals, and then the temple guy will see and come after us instead of Rowan," Zander said."Yes, but then we'll lose the crystals," Naare said."Better than losing Rowan. Now wave those crystals." Kordi said.Reluctantly, Naare raised the crystals into the air. Both Rowan and Samael's eyes darted to the crystals. They looked at each other and then back at the crystals. They both took off running towards them. "Oh boy." Zander gulped."This was a stupid plan." Naare began to draw her lightsaber. "Kordi, Zander, get the crystals in the ship."Rowan was more agile than Samael, but Samael was stronger in the force. He used the force to boost him. Rowan still ran as fast as he could. He saw that Kordi, with Naare trailing behind her, ran into the Star Scavenger 2 holding the crystals in her hands. Samael saw this too, but he noticed Zander. Zander fired at Samael with the blaster he had found on the Old Republic ship. "HA TAKE THAT! DON'T MESS WITH ZANDER FREEMAKER, SUPER-STAR BLASTER GUY!" Zander exclaimed.Samael stopped running to block the fast-paced shots. This gave Rowan his chance. He made it into the ship, and he collapsed from exhaustion. Zander hopped onto the Star Scavenger, and as soon as he had gotten there, the ship jumped to hyperspace.Samael stared at the now-empty orange sky. The Freemakers got away with the crystals, yes, but Rowan had given away a weakness. His connection with the force is faltering. That means he will eventually give up, and be unable to fight. Samael closed his eyes, he couldn't think of any situation where he would lose in the end. This was finally his time. After being trapped for 2 long years, with nobody caring enough to set him free except the one who locked him up. His own family didn't come for him, and for that, they deserve to suffer. The Freemakers deserve to suffer.