The Hunt for the Sith Hunter

[Writer]

"Have we?" Riebe asked quietly. She stared at the man and he looked away. "I know that as soon as we step through this doorway, our Force abilities will drop to almost nothing."

 

"We try to accomidate our guests," the man chuckled. "You are all challenged to a non-Force fight. The Ysalimiri ensure the fairness. Your friend, the Master of Jokes will join you."

 

"Do you expect us to simply walk into this trap?" Alyssa asked loudly. Riebe nudged her and she fell silent.

 

"It is the leader of the Sith Hunters you want," Riebe announced. The man grinned. Riebe stepped through the door. "You have her. Leave these others alone."

 

"No!" Caitlin exclaimed. She moved quickly through the door. "We stand with her."

 

"Good," the man laughed. "Everyone come in! There's room for you all!"

 

Alyssa came through the doorway next, followed by Erica and Nadira. The door still held open, allowing the others time to enter if they chose...

[Flamehart]

Craig followed in next to them, and looked at Riebe. He muttered quietly and quickly, "I know you're all very talented, but I know that there's very few of us that don't have to rely on the Force in some way in battle. I have an alternative power I can draw my ability from, but I'm not so sure about the rest of you. However I'm open to any plan you might have. I for one think it would be smart to eliminate the Ysalimiri and fight them on our terms, but it's all up to if we really want to fight fair or not. If we do, I'm quite the unarmed specialist, thanks to my old Master, and my handguns give me an advantage," he looked at her and then finished, "I'm following your orders and my powers are yours to command once more, Riebe. I just need to know what you need help doing."

[Writer]

"I know Caitlin, Erica, and Nadira are adept at using their lightsabers without the Force," Riebe answered. "It was part of our training. As for me..." She chuckled. "The old Sith Hunter training was harder than anything these women will ever face... you know that." She sighed. "It's Alyssa I'm concerned about. Look at her..."

 

Alyssa had a peculiar look of confusion and emptiness on her face and Riebe turned back to Craig. "This is quite likely the first time she has ever been separated from the Force. We have to watch out for her."

[Flamehart]

Craig nodded and replied, "Just tell me if you need me to do anything for you, including if it has to do with those Ysalimiris."

 

He turned to Alyssa and reached out, placing one hand firmly on her shoulder and pulling her over, he tilted his head down and instructed, "Stay near us. I know you probably relied on the Force very much in training, but here you're going to have to rely on your instincts and thoughts. Stay near me, I can help protect you. You learned plenty of saber routine, you just don't know how to use it without the Force. Now's a good time as any to learn. Your body's used to the routines, just do them. Don't let fear overcome you. Even without the Force, Fear is still your greatest enemy." He stood upright and looked at her, letting her know in his expression how serious he was about protecting her, and how to handle the situation. He holstered his pistol and lifted his sword off his back with his left hand, keeping his lightsaber hilt ready in his right hand.

[Writer]

"How am I supposed to tell where to direct my movement?" Alyssa whispered in something near panic, though she was trying to control her nervousness.

 

"Keep your eyes open," Riebe answered quietly. "Your enemies tend to give their moves away ahead of time by looking or moving in the direction they will attack. We will help you, but Craig's right. You must learn to protect yourself without the Force. Learn this lesson well and we will all come out of this alive."

[Flamehart]

Craig nodded, and replied, "Same way as you would with the Force. Use your eyes to watch their hand and muscle movements. They tend to give away their next move. I'll protect you as best as I can, don't worry I've taken my fair share of blaster shots, I'll be fine if I have to take a blast or five for you," he said with a reassuring grin.

[Writer]

They were 'escorted' into the room that Jack 'Jokemaster' Bauer was being held in. Riebe caught his eye as she approached him. When she was close enough, she gave him a backhanded slap across the face... with her mechanical hand.

 

"That's for not contacting me," she said. "I gave one to him too..." she gestured to Craig before turning back to Jokemaster. "They want a fight, Jack. We're going to give them one."

 

The man who let them in let out a long, rumbling laugh. "Quite the hard treatment you're getting, eh Master of Jokes?"

[Curt-Man]

Curt queitly entered behind all of them, not making a sound.

[jokemaster]

Roma and Martins stepped through. Martins whispered.

"Everyone with guns, get the Ysalimiri. The rest, watch out for yourselves."

 

After the slap, jokemaster grinned and rubbed his face.

"Nice to see you too Riebe. You still haven't changed."

[Writer]

Riebe shrugged. "I rarely do," she said. "Ready for a fight?"

[jokemaster]

"No, actually, I have to put on my fighting clothes, stretch my legs, practice for awhile, have something to eat...."

[Writer]

"This is why we call him the Master of Jokes," the man interrupted. "Nearly everything out of his mouth is amusing."

 

Riebe grinned and turned to Jokemaster. "I didn't realize drooling was so amusing."

 

The big man burst into laughter. "No wonder she was the leader of the Sith Hunters!" he exclaimed. "She can play with the best of 'em! Now let's see all of you fight." Looking at Jokemaster, he said, "So your name's Jack, eh? Sorry we can't give you time to prepare... it's just not advisable for our health." He chuckled and tossed Jokemaster's weapon at his feet.

 

"Playtime," he laughed. Four Dark Jedi entered the room and led their 'guests/prisoners' to a large arena. Ysalimiri were visible around the arena, but Riebe saw the collars each Dark Jedi wore to nullify the effects of the creatures. Alyssa stuck close to Riebe's side.

 

"Now, we'll see how well you all fight without the Force," the first man said. Six more Dark Jedi came in, making 10 their total number. The Dark Jedi ignited their sabers and Riebe took one of the sabers she'd been carrying and took a blaster pistol in her other hand.

 

"It won't be without the Force for long," Riebe called, shooting one of the Ysalimiri four times. One of the Dark Jedi lunged at her and she dropped the gun to defend herself with both sabers.

[jokemaster]

Jokemaster grabbed his saber and quickly managed to bisect a dark jedi who made the mistake of attempting to charge at him. He quickly whirled around, barely avoiding a rock that had been thrown at him by a dark jedi. The dark jedi cursed and prepared to defend himself.

 

Roma quickly drew both of his sabers and threw one straight at one of the Ysalimiri, then leapt across the room to recover it, now armed with both again he began fighting with one of the dark jedi. They seemed equally matched until their sabers locked, and Roma kicked the dark jedi in the chest hard, throwing him down to the floor, and put his saber through his chest.

 

Jokemaster paused to admre his apprentice's swordsmanship. He was proud of it, he grinned and lunged to attack the dark jedi again.

[Writer]

Caitlin, Erica, and Nadira held their ground, fighting together against two Dark Jedi. Alyssa seemed to be having a little trouble and Riebe came to help her.

 

"Stop trying to grasp the Force that isn't here," she advised. "When it returns, you'll feel it."

 

Alyssa jabbed her lightsaber through the chest of a Dark Jedi and Riebe nodded her approval.

[jokemaster]

Jokemaster saw Riebe helping Alyssa and smiled. The two seemed to have a connec-

 

He was thrown backwards on the floor next to Riebe, the dark jedi instantly lunged on top of him. He reprimanded himself for having gotten distracted and quickly blocked the dark jedi's attack. He turned to Riebe.

 

"Thinking of getting another appre-oof, hold on." He kicked the dark jedi off of him and drove his saber through his neck. "Another apprentice?" he gestured at Alyssa subtly.

[Writer]

Riebe shrugged and Alyssa looked hopeful.

 

"I don't know," Riebe said. "The Jedi think I'm afraid of commitment. I took part in some of the battles against the Empire, but then when Skywalker asked me to be an instructor at his academy, I refused and vanished... not a sterling track record. After that, why would they even want me near their students?"

 

Alyssa blocked an attack meant for Riebe.

 

"Fight now, talk later," she said. "Oh, and Master Skywalker speaks of you with great respect. I think he'd be honored if you came back."

 

"Perhaps the three Sith Hunters can all come back at once," Riebe chuckled, throwing a lightsaber at another of the Ysalimiri.

[jokemaster]

Jokemaster grinned.

"Tried convincing Craig of that yet?"

[Writer]

"Of going back?" Riebe clarified. "No..."

 

"He's interested," Alyssa cut in. "But I think he needs a phsychiatrist first... introduced himself to me as Strider Flamehart..." she giggled. "Flamehart's been dead for a... What?"

 

Riebe was nearly laughing. "He is Strider Flamehart."

 

The fight continued as Riebe crossed the room to retrieve the lightsaber she'd thrown. Alyssa was visibly astonished at what Riebe had just told her and was beginning to wonder if her potential master might need a mental checkup as well. She glanced at Jokemaster.

 

"Do you agree with them?" she asked hesitantly. "Is that guy Strider Flamehart?"

[jokemaster]

"Yeah" Said jokeamster, blocking a dark jedi's attacks. "But to your credit our story is so convulted we probably need more than a few psychiatrists."

[Writer]

"What do you mean?" Alyssa wondered.

[jokemaster]

"Ask Riebe to tell you the story sometime. Of course it probably takes a long time to tell it. Two thousand years of history can't be condensed easily. And hell, we've all gone through enough identity changes to make up an entire civilization."

[Writer]

Alyssa's jaw dropped. "Two thousand?" She shook her head in astonishment. "That's one story worth the wait."

 

The fight continued...

[jokemaster]

Jokemaster kept sparring with the dark jedi, not really giving it even half his effort. Abruptly he spoke.

 

"So why'd you join up with these guys anyway?"

 

"What?!"

 

"I'm curious, what made you join up with this specific pathetic bunch of cowards?"

 

The dark jedi grew angry.

 

"Do you not realize we're in the middle of a battle?"

 

"What's the matter, can't talk and fight at the same time?"

 

The dark jedi began to object, letting his guard down, and Jokemaster finally cut him down.

 

"Boring conversation anyway."

 

Roma meanwhile was fighting with two at the same time, using one lightsaber for each one, but having difficulty. He spent most of his tiem dodging and blocking until finally he managed to cut one of their arms off, as the dark jedi screamed in pain he quickly knocked him to the ground and drove his saber into his gut. He turned to fight the other one.

[Flamehart]

Craig knew it was his turn. He smiled at Alyssa, as he had clearly overheard the conversation going on between him and the other Hunters. "I have been considering myself returning to join back up with Skywalker," he noted, then cut off with, "Just one moment..."

 

He dodged blows from a Dark Jedi opponent in front of him, then finally parried an attack with his lightsaber and hitting the Dark Jedi across the torso with his bladed weapon, knocking the dark Jedi back. Craig used this opportunity now to holster both weapons, leap into the air with both pistols drawn and start firing at the Ysalimiris. He took out one of the remaining left.

 

Craig landed back on the ground, holstered one pistol, activated his lightsaber and started deflecting attacks from his returning Dark Jedi opponent with ease using his lightsaber. "Sorry, but, as I was saying..." he said with a grin, "I'm thinking of adopting my old name - Yes I am Strider, Alyssa, - and rejoining the Order to help around the place." In the middle of combat, Craig holstered his other pistol and drew his sword, faked a blow at the dark jedi again, who flinched, and instead threw the sword bladefirst at the last ysalimiri. He then drew his pistol and fired it once into the torso of the Dark Jedi, taking him down. Craig's lightsaber was then in hand, taking on another opponent.

 

Craig turned and looked at the other Sith Hunters and Alyssa. "Here's the fun part," he said with a grin. Suddenly his lack of attention cost him and he took a sharp blow to the chest. Craig winced and turned to see who the attacker was, and found it to be one of the remaining Dark Jedi. He growled and suddenly the Dark Jedi was sent flying back by a red aura, and Craig's eyes were glowing red. He was surrounded by a blood red aura momentarily before it disappeared, and his eyes returned to normal. He turned to the others again and said apologetically, "I'm sorry you all had to see that."

[Writer]

Alyssa stared wide-eyed at Craig. "Superhuman abilities combined with implants and the Force can explain an unnaturally long lifespan..." she muttered.