AN: At last it's here! My newest story idea now has it's first chapter up, and I sincerely hope that it will have you all on the edge of your seats. So without further ado, let's get things started! Gundam fight all set, ready...GO!...Nah just kidding. I just really wanted to say that at least once, but in all seriousness now.

I do not own anything from either the Gundam or Sword Art Online franchises or any other franchise mentioned.

Chapter 1: History Repeats

In the world of VRMMORPG players, there is one incident of the game genre that stands out among all the others: the Death Game Incident, Sword Art Online. In the year of 2022, the game of SAO was the first of its kind to be released and held everything that a serious VR gamer could ask for in such a game, except for the log out feature. Upon the realization that they were now trapped inside of SAO unless they could clear all one hundred floors of the iron castle, Aincrad, and that if they died in the game they would die in real life, the elation that the ten thousand players once held at the chance to play this revolutionary game quickly turned to horror. For a time it seemed all hope was lost to the thousands of players, and that hope continued to diminish as the death toll began to reach such high numbers. However, the night is always darkest just before the dawn, and with that dawn came the rise of the hero who would save everyone in SAO.

That hero was known as Kazuto Kirigaya, better known as Kirito, the Black Swordsman. Being one of the beta testers and the first to receive the title of Beater, Kirito started out as a solo player and did his best to avoid making a connection with others, but over time, the young gamer quickly began to develop strong bonds with many people in SAO, and those friendships were a major part of his final victory against Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of SAO, himself, leading to the liberation of the remaining SAO players who were still alive. Even after SAO was cleared though, Kirito's work was never done, as he went on to solve multiple mysteries involved in VRMMORPGs and stopped multiple criminals that tried to take advantage of them. Sometime after one such final adventure though, Kazuto had decided to hang up his swords and move on to live out the rest of his life happily with his girlfriend and later wife, Asuna Yuuki, a fellow SAO victim.

The retirement of Kirito seemed to be a sign that VRMMORPGs would never again face the dangers that they once had, but as much as people may want it to, no history ever remains buried, and sooner or later something always happens that reawakens that long forgotten nightmare that one just wants to forget. This was a fact that would quickly be proven true once more much to everyone's horror.

It was just an ordinary morning in Kawagoe, Japan, but for one dark haired young man, it was anything but a normal day. The reason for this was currently being talked about on the currently airing news report. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm standing outside one of the many locations that are distributing the newest craze of VR gaming, Gundam War Online, and I must say, I have not seen folks this excited for a VR game since before the big reveal of the truth of SAO," the reporter on the television stated excitedly. "It's been years since a game has been developed without the use of the mysterious World Seed, but now at last, there is an official game being released for the genre of VRMMORPG, and it's all thanks to the mysterious head of Innovation Electronics, and the one thing that's really got a lot of gamers hooked, is the fact that it allows players to take control of their very own Gundam! Using the new NerveReader headgear, the players need only scan in an image of a Gundam plastic model, or Gunpla, that they themselves built, or select a preset model that is recorded in the game's memory, and they instantly become the pilot of that very Gundam!"

The report continued to play on while the young man inside just sat in his chair reading about Innovation Electronics as he waited for the game's official launch time. As he continued to flip through the pages of the magazine, a voice called out, "Hey I'm heading out to my meeting with the politics club, and I'll be heading for my kendo club afterwards so don't wait up for me okay?"

The boy did not answer right away as he heard the front door open and close before he could even actually give an answer and then just glanced at the clock, which read five til noon. Seeing that it was almost time for the official launch, the young man quickly grabbed his NerveReader and inserted his copy of the game into the disc reader before laying back on his bed and watching the clock as it counted down to the big moment. As soon as the clock read twelve noon, the boy let out a small smile as he declared the ever famous command of all VR games, "Link start!"

A moment of flashes later, and after selecting his preferred language and saying that he wanted to use his character formatting from the beta test, the young man had landed in a small city that was reminiscent of the town in which Amuro Ray lived in before he first boarded the original Gundam. After glancing at his appearance in a nearby window, the young man saw the face of his in-game avatar, which was very similar to his own appearance except with hair that was nearly shoulder length in the back, and upon seeing that everything was as he thought it should be, the young man smirked and declared, "Hello Heliopolis Station. Setsuna F. Seiei is back!"

After taking another moment to take in the sight of the town, Setsuna took off running towards a field where he knew he would be able to score a good amount of money and decent item drops. Being a beta tester did have its advantages so who was he to not try and take advantage of some of them. Just when he was about midway to the gate out of the city, someone called out to him, "Hey excuse me!"

Setsuna turned to see a young man who seemed to go with the default look for his appearance, at least in terms of the face, dressed in a blue and white outfit come running over to him before stopping to catch his breath. Setsuna just stood where he was quietly, staring at the man until finally the mystery man asked, "Were you one of the beta testers? I only ask because you seem like you know what you're doing."

"Yes I am," Setsuna replied shortly.

"That's amazing! Anyways, I was hoping you could give me a few pointers. It's my first day and I don't want to have to figure out the stuff the tutorial doesn't teach myself if I can help it so…," the guy then requested.

Setsuna was not entirely sure if he should say yes or not. To be honest, most people did not come to him for anything, but that was mostly his fault. In real life, Setsuna was not the most social person you would meet, and the presence he gave off to others normally made people feel like he would snap a person's neck if they tried to say the wrong thing to him, so he was not entirely comfortable around other people, but then again, this guy did not know him IRL so there should not be a problem. As he was thinking all this, the young man was getting worried that he might have freaked Setsuna out a bit and quickly stated, "I promise I won't get in your way or anything, I just need a few pointers on some things."

Setsuna finally relented and said, "Alright I'll try to help you out…um…"

"Oh sorry, my name's Kira. Kira Yamato," the now identified Kira stated as he held out a hand to Setsuna.

"Setsuna F. Seiei," Setsuna replied with a small smile as he accepted the handshake. "So where do you want to start Kira Yamato?"

"Well for starters, I was having a little trouble with something I was hoping you could help me out with," Kira stated. "You see, the tutorial booklet of the game said that you can call out your Gunpla…I mean Gundam at any time you wanted with a simple cry like, 'Rise Gundam' or whatever, but when I tried it earlier to see if my Gunpla was scanned right, nothing happened."

"That's actually normal," Setsuna explained. "When you're in a safe zone like the towns, you can't call out your Gundam or mobile suit. You can fly it into the town from the field, but once in the town, it'll automatically be disengaged. If you want to make modifications or view the stats on your machine in the town there's a special section on your menu that says, 'View MS' which will let you do all that."

Kira nodded in understanding before saying, "So all mobile suits are basically off limits in towns huh? I guess that makes sense." Kira then swiped his middle and index finger in a downward motion in front of him as he called up his menu and saw the option Setsuna was telling him about. Once he tapped it, the menu instantly generated a holographic three dimensional image of a machine that looked a lot like the original Gundam except for the fact that it had an extra pair of horns on the helmet, it seemed to be a bit bulkier, and the backpack was much more complex looking. "Yep, look like it's all here, just the way I wanted it to be."

"You should know that the weapons you programmed onto it are still at the same settings as a basic default weapon as well, but the can be upgraded using item drops and stuff in weapon shops or mobile suit factories in the towns," Setsuna then told Kira, to which Kira just nodded in understanding as he noticed this for himself. "Anything else would be better explained through actions in the field if you think you're ready for that."

"Bring it on," Kira dared with a smirk.

Kira quickly regretted his statement when he hit the grass in a field later on after taking a hit right to the balls because of what looked like an SD Zaku. Kira just rolled around groaning in pain before Setsuna snapped him out of it asking, "Kira Yamato, you are aware that you can't feel pain in this world aren't you?"

Kira immediately froze when he realized Setsuna was right and gained a sheepish look as he apologized, saying it was a knee-jerk reaction. "What's the deal with these human sized Zakus anyway? I thought all the enemies in a Gundam video game would be…ya know mobile suit sized."

"That's understandable. I thought the same thing myself at first when I first encountered enemies in the beta test," Setsuna replied as he pulled out a silver pistol that he had picked up from a store before they had come out here. "But if that were the case then the player themselves would be completely helpless." Kira gave Setsuna a confused look that was clearly asking him to elaborate a bit more than that, and the former beta tester quickly gave a reply. "In this game, the player and the MS have their own separate life gauges. When the MS is inactive, its life gauge automatically replenishes any damage it took, but as far as actual repairs go, like if the machine lost an arm or something, you have to do that yourself or get someone at an MS factory to do it for you. The exception to that is the weapons which automatically regenerate and reload after you deactivate the MS."

Kira nodded to show he understood so far, and Setsuna took that as a prompt to continue, "However, just like in the Gundam manga and anime, the power and abilities of the mobile suit don't matter if the pilot isn't skilled enough or strong enough to handle it. That's why there are weapon stores for pilot equipment as well as MS equipment. We can acquire basic melee and long range weapons and such so that our own stats can be raised along with our mobile suits, but if at any point the mobile suit's stats get higher than yours, it will become much more difficult to use it, and the same holds true for the reverse."

"You mean like how the original Gundam started to have trouble keeping up with Amuro's growing abilities in the original Gundam series, or how Katz had trouble handling the Gundam Mk II in Zeta Gundam," Kira asked.

"Exactly like that. That's why you need to make sure to balance your own skills with that of your machine's abilities," Setsuna replied.

"Yeah I guess that makes sense," Kira replied as the SD Zaku continued to run around near them, acting like they were not even there. "But still, I wish that thing would hold still for a moment so I could actually hit it."

"The problem you're facing is that you don't realize how to utilize your pilot skills," Setsuna said as he raised his gun. "If you do your initial motion correctly and activate the pilot skill at the right time, the system will guarantee you'll always hit your target."

As he said this, he held his gun at the SD Zaku, and the weapon began to give off a faint, blue glow before he fired a few shots, all of which hit the SD Zaku. "An easier way to look at it is simple. Right after you start a move, wait for a moment, and when you feel the skill start to activate, strike hard."

As he said that, Setsuna whipped out a short sword he was carrying on his belt to block the SD Zaku's axe to hold it back, while Kira thought over what Setsuna was saying and instantly pulled out a photon sword, the game's pilot sized version of the beam sabers. Setsuna watched as Kira started up a move and waited until his sword started to glow a bit, and then sent the enemy Kira's way. Kira did not hesitate for a second and let the skill guide him to strike the Zaku, and it instantly broke apart into particles immediately after he hit it.

Kira let out an excited cheer over his victory while Setsuna smiled until he thought of something and asked, "Hey was that thing just the equivalent of a basic slime in other games?"

"Pretty much, and the same holds true for the mobile suit sized versions of them," Setsuna replied as he pointed to a small group of full sized Zakus that were materializing. "So ready to try out your Gundam?"

Kira grinned excitedly and said, "Thought you'd never ask."

Setsuna then stated, "Remember you don't necessarily have to call out the default command to bring out your mobile suit. As long as you say the name of your machine and a word that sounds similar to activate or rise, the MS will still come."

"Any chance you can show me so I can get a better understanding of it," Kira asked.

Setsuna just nodded and he stepped away a few paces before declaring, "Exia, engage!"

A moment later, a large swirl of glowing, green particles began to light up around Setsuna, until the gamer vanished into the glow to replaced seconds later by a massive blue and white machine with a large sword mounted on its right arm. Seeing this, Kira simply nodded and copied what Setsuna had done earlier as he shouted out, "Aile Strike, let's do it!"

A minute later, Kira's mobile suit had appeared alongside Setsuna's in a bright, blue glow. Kira was amazed at how much his cockpit seemed to be like the one for the original Gundam's aside from the 360 view screen. After a minute of observing the cockpit layout and getting a feel for how the controls worked, Kira heard a beep before an image of Setsuna appeared on his screen, showing that the former beta tester was clad in a light blue pilot suit with dark grey chest armor and black gloves.

"While the controls for your MS may seem hard to handle at first, it's actually much easier once you realize that the mobile suit responds just as much to your thoughts as your own body does," Setsuna explains. "In essence, your Gundam is like a large suit of armor when it's active."

"Awesome," Kira exclaimed. "Hey you said earlier that our Gundam's have their own separate life gauges. What exactly does that mean?"

"Simply put, when you're piloting your MS, your HP won't be drained from any damage you take, but your MS's will instead. This means that if your MS's HP hits zero you won't die and be sent back to the starting point of the game or your last checkpoint marker, but the moment the HP of your MS hits zero, it will automatically disengage and there will be a small wait time until you're able to use it again," Setsuna answered.

"Okay I think I get it," Kira answered. "So let's get to the really good stuff."

Setsuna smirked and had his Exia ready its sword before replying, "Let's."

With that, the two immediately charged in to fight off the Zakus that had just previously materialized.

A few hours later, the two had defeated their opponents and stopped in a nearby area that did not have many enemy spawns to relax a bit. "Man that was amazing," Kira exclaimed excitedly.

Setsuna smirked as he said, "Addictive isn't it? Piloting a Gundam?"

"Yeah I'll say," Kira agreed. "So those pilot skills you were talking about, there are supposed to be a lot of them like engineering or blacksmithing right?"

"Yes that's right, but there's no magic in this game," Setsuna told him.

"Well that's a relief," Kira stated happily. "I mean can you imagine a Gundam video game with magic, even one that was an RPG?" Setsuna chuckled in agreement with that statement. Kira then looked out towards the setting sun as he stated, "You know when I first heard about these kinds of games, I wasn't entirely sure about them, but now that I'm actually playing one, I can't believe how amazing it is. I mean it all seems so real to just be something that's inside of a game you know? Whoever made all this alone has to be some kind of genius."

"Is this your first time in a full dive," Setsuna asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah pretty much," Kira replied. "I mean I considered it a few times after hearing some friends talk about it, but when I went to do some research about it online, I found this article on the whole SAO incident that happened a few years ago and instantly became freaked out by it. I was determined to never play a VR game, but then when I heard about this game, my sister and I both rushed out to buy the hardware and everything just so we could try it out. I still consider myself lucky to have been able to score one of the fifteen thousand copies, but you, you are definitely the luckiest one between the two of us getting the chance to beta test it."

"Well I suppose when you consider that only about five hundred people got to beta test this thing I guess you could call it that," Setsuna admitted.

"So I've gotta ask, how far did you get in the beta anyway," Kira then asked.

"I couldn't get farther than the ninth floor after two months, but now I think I get there in a month easily," Setsuna replied with a determined look. "Because this time, I will become a Gundam."

Kira gave Setsuna a weird look as he stated, "Sounds like you're really into this kind of thing."

"If it involves Gundam, then I'm always really into it," Setsuna replied. "I've been a huge fan of the Gundam series for years, mainly because in a way Gundam got me through some difficult times when I didn't have anything else. When I first dived in for the beta, this was my whole world day and night, because for the first time, I could cut out a world and a future that I wanted together with my own Gundam."

Kira nodded in understanding, but could not help but wonder what Setsuna was referring to when he said that Gundam had saved him somehow. Deciding that it was not important since it was probably just some stuff he dealt with IRL, Kira just dropped it and said, "I guess you're something like a total Gundam nut then huh?"

"Yeah I suppose you could say that, and thank you. To me that's a great compliment," Setsuna stated with a serious face that held a small smile. "So do you want to go and get some more practice in with your Aile Strike Gundam?"

"Yeah you bet…is what I would say, but I'm kinda getting a bit hungry and I don't want to make my sister mad because I kept her waiting for me at dinner," Kira replied sheepishly.

Setsuna gave an understanding nod, but had a far off look as he did. Kira then looked to Setsuna and asked, "You know I was going to meet up with my sister and some friends of ours from real life since we all got this game together, and I was wondering if you would want to friend them and hang out with us." Setsuna quickly looked away nervously, not sure how he would be able to handle himself around other people. Seeing this, Kira quickly reassured him, "I understand if you don't want to. I can always introduce you some other time."

"Yeah that would be fine. Sorry, but thanks anyway," Setsuna replied.

"I should be the one thanking you," Kira replied. "Don't worry I'll be sure to pay you back someday for all you've done to help me out."

Setsuna looked to Kira to see that the dark haired boy's hand was being held out to him again, and Setsuna gladly accepted the handshake as he told him, "If you ever need any more help, just message me."

"Sure thing," Kira replied. He then turned around and opened his menu to log out as he said goodbye one more time. Setsuna then prepared to leave as well until Kira stopped him asking, "Hey uh Setsuna? Total newb question, but where's the log out button?"

"It should be under the options area of your menu," Setsuna replied in confusion.

"Well I'm looking right at where it should be and there's nothing there," Kira told the beta tester.

Setsuna opened his own menu then and saw that Kira was correct. "This is strange," Setsuna muttered.

"Isn't there another way to log out," Kira asked.

"No, just the log out button on the menu," Setsuna answered as he tried contacting the game master, only to receive no response at all. "Did you try contacting the GM?"

"Yeah, but I didn't get an answer," Kira told him. "This is really strange. I know it's the first day out of the beta version, but a bug like this could really cause a lot of problems. Wait, can't we just take the NerveReader off to log out?"

"No, once you're logged in, the NerveReader intercepts all the commands from your brain using an interface that's built into the rig, but maybe if someone were to remove it from the real world…"

"Well I live with my sister and parents, but like I said she's in here too and our parents work pretty late so I doubt that they'll be home anytime soon," Kira then stated. "What about you?"

"I've got a sister and a mother at home, but I'm not sure if either of them are home yet either."

"So I guess we're stuck here th…hey what's this," Kira suddenly exclaimed.

Setsuna was wondering what Kira was asking about when he got a message from the game master. "Official opening ceremony to start in a few minutes. All players will be teleported to the starting town square," Setsuna read.

"Think they might explain what's going on there," Kira asked.

Setsuna was about to respond when suddenly the two were engulfed in a bright blue light and suddenly found themselves packed into the square with all the other players. They could hear everyone muttering in confusion of what was going on, among which they heard people talking with friends about the discovery they themselves had just a few moments ago. Suddenly, everyone went quiet as the sky turned dark and a figure in a long overcoat with a hood that was up appeared before them all saying, "Attention players one and all, I am Aeolia Schenberg and I welcome you…to my world!"

Setsuna could feel his blood run cold, knowing that this was the man that was the mysterious head of Innovation Electronics, and everyone seemed to have that same revelation if the mutterings of shock and awe were anything to go by. Schenberg then went on to say, "Before we go any further, I just want to be clear that I am now as in control of this world as my late former mentor was of a world of his own many years ago. With that being said, I'm sure by now that you have all noticed that the log out button is missing from your main menu. Let me assure you, this is not a bug. It is a feature of Gundam War Online. I repeat, this is a feature of Gundam War Online. You can no longer log yourselves out from GWO, and no one from the outside world can shut down or remove the NerveReader from your person. Should anyone attempt to do so, a special transimiter will send out a microwave pulse that will destroy your brain and end your life."

"He's kidding right," Kira asked nervously.

"No. He's not," Setsuna replied. "Only the creator of the NerveReader would be able to know how to do something like that, and it really is capable of doing that since the transmitters are designed to send out a stronger signal to your mind in order to improve the efficiency of the full dive from the Amusphere, and they can't cut the power since it is the first full dive device to have an internal battery since the NerveGear."

"But that's crazy! A lot of that kind design has been illegal since the SAO incident," Kira half shouted.

"Despite my warning, some have already attempted to remove the NerveReader, and as a result, one hundred ten players have now been deleted from both Heliopolis Station and the real world."

To prove his point, Schenberg brought up a number of air displays that showed news coverage that stated the deaths and the causes were all revealed to be from removing NerveReader helmets. "As of now, it is important that you all remember the following, there is no longer anyway to revive someone other than a person's MS in the game, and if at any time a player's HP drops to zero your avatar will be deleted forever, and the NerveReader will simultaneously destroy your brain. There is now only one way to escape. You must clear the game. Right now you are on Floor One, the lowest level of Heliopolis station, and if you can get through the labyrinth and defeat the boss, you will advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on floor one hundred, and you will clear the game."

Setsuna felt his blood run cold as he heard people muttering in astonishment and fear while others demanded why they should believe anything that Schenberg was saying at this point. Finally Kira pointed out, "We can't clear all one hundred floor of this game. It's impossible. Even the beta testers never made it so much as half that high!"

Schenberg was not finished yet though. "Last but not least, I've included a special item in each of your inventories. I insist that you all have a look now."

Setsuna quickly opened his item storage only to find an object that was named mirror of truth. Tapping the item, Setsuna instantly found a small mirror materializing in his hand, and a moment later, everyone began screaming in shock, including himself, as the whole square was lit up with a bright glow.

Once the glow had died down, Setsuna heard Kira ask him, "Hey are you okay Setsuna?"

"Yeah," Setsuna replied as he turned to face Kira, only to find someone who looked to be about the same age as him with dark purple eyes and brown hair dressed in the same outfit as Kira. "Wait…who're you?"

"Uh…I'm me. Who're you," the stranger asked in Kira's voice. Curious at what he meant by this, Setsuna looked at his reflection again and saw that his physical appearance had changed to that of his appearance in real life. Looking around he saw that it was the same for everyone else as they all muttered in confusion or gave out a cry of shock at the revelation of who someone really was.

Finally, after seeing all this, the two both looked to each other and asked, "That means…you're Kira/Setsuna?!"

"How is this…," Kira began.

"The scan…there's a high density signaling device inside NerveReader rigs that allows them to see what your face looks like, but that doesn't explain how it knows our height and body types," Setsuna answered.

"Wait; remember when you were calibrating it after you got the NerveReader that first time? You had to tap your body all over like by patting your arms and legs and such. That must be how it knew," Kira exclaimed. Setsuna instantly nodded in agreement with that. "Still, this is insane! Why would someone do this?"

"I think we're about to find out," Setsuna replied as he looked towards Aeolia Schenberg's announcement avatar.

"You're probably asking yourselves, 'why would the creator of Gundam War Online and the head of Innovation Electronics do this?' My reason is simple. It is because I wish to do what my mentor had the chance to do, but ultimately did not in favor of simply creating a world he could control. Who was my mentor you ask? The answer is, Akihiko Kayaba, who created Sword Art Online in an attempt to create a world who's fate he could control. While Mister Kayaba was a genius with a vision, it was ultimately rather selfish as he only sought to bring about despair and hatred, which is why my goal is this: To bring about a world where all conflict will be eradicated and so that all will understand just how precious life and understanding really is. With this, the tutorial and official launch of Gundam War Online is now concluded. I wish you all the best of luck in these goals."

Having finished his speech, Aeolia Schenberg's avatar vanished from sight and the sky returned to the state it was in before. Everyone had fallen into a deathly silence as they tried to process all that they had just heard, but Setsuna knew for a fact that everything that was just said was true. Despite the fact Schenberg had kept his identity as the head of Innovation Electronics a secret, the man was a well known genius in many fields of science, and that meant that his proclamation that if someone died in the game that they would die in real life was definitely something that should be taken seriously. After a more few seconds of continued silence, all hell broke loose.

It started with a single person screaming in fear, and it quickly escalated until every single player in GWO was screaming in fear and anger at what had happened to them. Some were so shocked that they found that they could not even keep themselves standing any longer, and none of them ever noticed that the barrier that was keeping them in the square had vanished. No one, except for one person, and he and another person were quick to disappear from the crowd only seconds later.

"Setsuna, what're you doing," Kira demanded as Setsuna continued to drag him through the deserted streets of the starting town. Setsuna had pulled him out of the town square as quickly as possible when he saw that the barrier had dropped and the two had not stopped running for what seemed like hours to Kira.

Finally Setsuna came to a halt and stated, "I'm going to the next town right now." Kira gasped in shock and confusion at this, which led Setsuna to elaborate on his reasons for this. "If what Aeolia Schenberg said was true, and I'm certain that it is, then the only way any of us will survive is if we make ourselves as strong as possible. I doubt I need to tell you that in games like this that the money you can earn and the XP has a limit for each area you go to once the game starts up."

Setsuna then brought up his map as he continued his explanation to Kira, who he did not notice getting a more serious look on his face in comparison to the panicked one from before. "The fields around this town, Cheyenne Beginnings, will be completely cleaned out soon, so if we head to the next city now, we'll have an easier time collecting points and money. I know the safest routes there and the ones that we can gain some of both from monster drops as we travel, but we would need to go now. That's why I'm asking you now if you will come with me."

Setsuna finally saw the look on Kira's face as he looked up from his map display, and thought that meant that Kira was going to accept his offer. To his surprise, Kira said, "I appreciate the thought Setsuna, but I can't come with you. Remember when I said that my sister was playing this game to? Well she and all our other friends who we got this game with after standing in line for so long are all still back there. Believe me I want to go with you, but I can't just abandon them."

Setsuna lowered his head in despair as he knew that if it were just Kira coming with him he could handle it, but if it were two more or even one more it would be difficult and he did not think he could handle the responsibility of looking out for all those people. "Sorry Setsuna," Kira then said, interrupting Setsuna's thoughts. "I can't ask someone I just met to help a bunch of strangers even he is someone like you, but don't worry I'll be sure to keep all of them safe and teach them everything you taught me. You go on ahead to the next town, and don't worry. One of my friends actually ran a guild in another game so we should be okay."

Setsuna hesitated for a moment before he finally agreed saying, "If that's what you want, but remember if you ever need anything just message me."

Kira nodded and Setsuna moved to leave when Kira stopped him once more. Setsuna looked back and as Kira smiled and said, "You look way better now than before. Seriously cooler and more badass."

Setsuna was surprised at this, as he had never heard people say that about him, and he then turned to reply, "Thank you. I'd say that your look suits you much better than your avatar's look did too."

"Thanks, and about that offer to message you if I needed anything, that goes for you too okay," Kira then told him. Setsuna just nodded and turned to run off, not wanting to look back at the fact that he had just abandoned his first real friend.

Setsuna continued to run as he thought about all that had now happened to him, and of what he now had to do. He thought of his sister and mother who were more than likely worried sick about him, about Kira who he had just left behind, and about the truth that now laid before him. He then stated this aloud as he called forth Exia to take down a Gouf that had just appeared before him saying, "It's not just a game, it's a war. A war of Gundams! I will survive this, and to do so I must…no I will be become a Gundam!"

I am getting far too old for this, was the constant thought of Kikuoka Seijirou, head of the Virtual Division of the Second Separated Advanced Network Division, Technology Bureau, as he looked over the information that had just been released. "All these years and not once have we had a crisis involving VRMMOs," he thought to himself. "And now this happens. Does Aeolia Schenberg really think that bringing about a second death game will really bring an end to war? How is that even supposed to be possible when he just seems to be repeating what Akihiko Kayaba did all those years ago, and is he really Kayaba's secret apprentice?"

All these questions and more were running through his head even after he had said them. After Kazuto had hung up his swords as Kirito he was sure that it meant that the worst involving VRMMOs was finally over, but now this had to happen, and Kikuoka knew that Kirito was not coming to the rescue this time. Technically he figured that he could have found an unused copy of the game and have Kazuto dive in with that, but that was a very selfish way to think. He knew that if anyone deserved some peace after all that had happened in the past VRMMO incidents it was Kazuto Kirigaya, and besides he had already been told that there did not seem to be any unused copies of the game out there anyway.

At that point, his intercom went off indicating that someone from the front desk was trying to reach him. "Yes what is it," Kikuoka asked after he hit the answer button.

"I'm sorry Mister Seijirou, but there's someone here at the front desk who's demanding to see you," his secretary replied.

"If it's another person filing a complaint then just tell them that we're doing what we can right now," Kikuoka stated flatly.

"Sir, its Doctor Billy Katagiri from SolBrave's technology research and development division and his wife," the secretary then immediately replied. "He's insisting on speaking to you. Says that it involves their adopted daughter and that she's in GWO."

At that news, Kikuoka froze. If the daughter of one of Japan's foremost expert in robotics was trapped in their as well, then this situation had just become much more serious than it originally was. He took a moment to compose himself as he stated, "Tell them that I will see them in a few minutes. I just need a moment to straighten up my office since I wasn't expecting such company today, and once you're done with that I need you to make a call to someone immediately."

"To whom sir," the secretary asked.

Kikuoka paused only for a moment before replying. "To our division's best man for these types of cases. It seems that we may need any help he can give us with this after all."

AN: I know many of you consider this to be a rather short chapter, but it was mostly to highlight on how this is continuing off of the story that was established so far in the SAO anime, IE, it takes place after the Mother's Rosario arc of SAO II. I'm well aware of where Kikuoka's place in SAO established history is, but this is going off of the idea that he was who he told Kirito and the others who he said he was.

Another purpose behind this chapter was to establish a few basic rules about how some of the mechanics of GWO work, like how the players are able to use their mobile suits and such. Now for those of you who are wondering about what that was at the end there, let me just say that this will flip back and forth between what's happening in the game and what's going on IRL, and the latter of the two might give you some explanations on a few old faces minimum. Finally, if you figure out who Katagiri's adopted daughter and wife are, then please don't post it in a review. It's okay if you're guessing, but beyond that no spoilers please. Anyhow, now that this is up, I want to say that I want to post a few more chapters for this story before I return to the Gundam SEED Prime trilogy so if you're just reading this to pass the time until then I simply ask that you please try and be patient. Now then...

Next time…First Meeting and Gundam Meister.

Please read and review and I'll see you next time!