The Hunt for the Sith Hunter

[Writer]

"But you're clearly not old enough to have known him," Riebe's voice retorted. "He's the only one I've ever heard using that phrase." A pause. "Now, more than ever, you have some serious explaining to do."

 

"Please answer honestly," Caitlin pleaded. "I'd really like to get on with this and we're not going to be let go until you give a satisfactory answer..."

 

"And it seems to me that you've dug yourself into a deep hole," Nadira added. "Hope you can get out... you seem like a nice guy."

[jokemaster]

"How bout we get on with this, and I'll tell you at the end?"

[Writer]

"You think it will end until you've told me?" Riebe's voice demanded.

 

((I should go... am going to watch a movie with my family... have a good night, JM.))

[jokemaster]

"If you want to know, yes"

((G'night))

[Writer]

"You're a demanding young man," the voice muttered. "There's only one way to go... down."

 

Where the creature had come up out of the floor now appeared to be a very large lift. Caitlin shrugged and stepped on. Erica and Nadira were right behind her.

 

 

____________________________________________

 

Meanwhile, far from Coruscant...

 

"The stranger, Roma, has too many answers," the AI said.

 

"He knows a lot about Jokemaster?" Riebe demanded. The AI confirmed this and Riebe sighed. "ArC is near Coruscant, isn't she?"

 

"Last I checked," the AI answered. "Are you saying that you want me to contact her and have her meet the group?"

 

"Yes," Riebe replied. "ArC will take care of Roma. You continue to ask questions of the others."

[jokemaster]

Roma stepped on also

[Curt-Man]

Curt stepped on, hand at ready on his holster.

[jokemaster]

"Y'know you should really chill out. "Said Roma to Curt. "If you're this tense all the time it can't be good for your health."

[Writer]

The lift went down, but not very far. When it stopped, the wall opened and lights came on, revealing a very long hallway. The group moved down the hallway until it ended. On their right, they found a door. When they reached the door, it opened and they stepped into a large and very well lit room.

 

"Wait a moment," the AI said. "Stand off to the side of the room."

 

They obeyed and a small starfighter landed in the center of the room. Nadira frowned.

 

"How the hell did that thing get down this far?" she wondered. Caitlin gasped.

 

"That's Riebe's ship!" she exclaimed. The cockpit opened and its pilot leapt out, flipping in midair and landing in a crouch in front of the group.

 

"You're not Riebe," Caitlin frowned. There was a laugh and the pilot removed the helmet.

 

"No, I am not," she answered. "I am ArC."

 

"Ar-cee?" Erica asked, sounding out the name.

 

"That's right," the young woman answered. "ArC."

 

((Flamehart, this is a clone of Arina the Sith Hunter, so Craig would recognize her. JM, if JM showed Roma pictures of the Sith Hunters, Roma would recognize her also.))

[jokemaster]

"The clone. I thought the sith hunters had destroyed you. The real ones."

[Writer]

"Hence the name ArC, rather than Arina," the clone answered, her eyes narrowing. "Ar equals Arina. C equals clone. ArC."

[jokemaster]

"Yeah, I sort of knew that."

[Writer]

"Did you really?" ArC didn't seem entirely impressed. She faced the entire group. "I'm going to be leading you to the next location. Follow closely. It's dark and very steep... and for once you're actually going up... not down."

 

She spun and led them over to one of the walls of the room. There, she stopped and drew her lightsaber. ((Craig might notice that it's the very one the real Arina used to use.)) A bright green blade lit up the wall and ArC plunged it into the wall at her waist level.

 

"This'll only take a minute," she said. Finally, she had cut a hole in the wall and motioned for the group to follow her as she stepped through the hole. And up they crawled...

[jokemaster]

Roma followed closely.

[Writer]

ArC led the group upward through a narrow hole and out into yet another darkened room. Caitlin wondered briefly if Riebe had become strangely attracted to the absence of light, but shook the thought off when the voice of the AI came through to them again.

 

"Thank you, ArC," the AI said. "You are free to go now."

 

In the darkness, the group could not see that ArC had moved to leave, but had grabbed Roma on her way out. She clamped her right hand over his mouth and secured both of his arms behind his back in the iron grip of her left hand. In the darkness, the rest of the group heard a door slide open and then closed a few seconds later.

 

"Now," the AI said to the group. "A question for Craig. Riebe got irritated easily and frequently. What was her trademark response? By trademark response, I mean the one that got into all the jokes ever made that had anything to do with the Sith Hunters."

 

((Craig gets to answer this... and the answer is that she would pound her right fist against the nearest wall or table... since her right fist was mechanic, the pounding would generally leave a mark in whatever she hit.))

 

 

Meanwhile, behind the closed door, ArC let go of Roma. "Sorry I had to do that," she said. "You're making the AI nervous... it doesn't know how to respond to how much you know about Jokemaster."

[Curt-Man]

Curt stood(?) in the darkness waiting for craig to answer. But something didn't feel right.

[jokemaster]

"So what, do I get to go through a shortcut?"

[Writer]

"More or less," ArC answered. "Follow me."

 

She led him through another door into a small, well lit room. A holographic projection of the last known Sith Hunter stood full size in the center. As ArC and Roma entered, the image of Riebe turned to face them.

 

"Ah, so this is the mysterious Roma," she said. "You've made my AI very, very nervous, but I'm sure you already know that. I sent ArC to bring you here. Now that you are here, I want you to answer a few questions, if you don't mind."

[jokemaster]

"Well that depends on what the questions are, doesn't it?"

[Writer]

Riebe laughed. "Yes, I suppose it does."

 

"Alright, first question. Who told you so much about Jokemaster?" She paused for a second. "Let me rephrase that. How do you know so much about the Sith Hunters? You know a lot about Jokemaster. You recognized ArC as a clone of Arina. Information like that isn't readily available any more, young man." Her hands were placed solidly on her hips, which made her look like a mother scolding her child... a rather odd look for a person who appeared to be in her mid twenties.

[jokemaster]

"I know someone who is old enough to have had that information readily available."

[Writer]

"The records of the Sith Hunters were destroyed along with us," Riebe told him. "Destroyed or exaggerated. They were further destroyed during the Empire's glory days. Either the person you're getting your information from is on their death bed or..." she paused as if considering something. "Craig set you up to this, didn't he?" She laughed. "That sneaky little... but never mind that... how long have you known him?"

 

 

((First post ever was posted in the SW Roleplaying... 3000 posts achieved in SW Roleplaying with this very post!))

[jokemaster]

"The guy who told me all this? 15 years.

[Writer]

Riebe was silent for a moment. "I take it you aren't referring to Craig..." Another long silence. "Give me a name. I don't care if it's his real name or not. Did he introduce himself by his real name? Did he use a nickname?" She was nearly yelling now. "How did he introduce himself?"

 

"As you can see," ArC broke in. "Riebe gets a little intense when somebody knows more than she thinks they should."

[jokemaster]

Roma remained calm.

"He used an alias."