A/N: A reviewer asked about Sinon. Sinon, from the Gun Gale Online arc, will probably not be appearing in this story, for three reasons: 1. I don't want to alienate anyone who hasn't read the GGO arc, so I can't place it after GGO. 2. Placing it after GGO would also take the fun out of the story; after all, Kirito's just played a shooting game, hasn't he? 3. Even if I placed it before GGO and messed up the timeline with Sinon meeting Kirito before GGO, I'd have to at least touch on Sinon's story, and I can't possibly do her justice (GGO's better than SAO and ALO in terms of writing, imo).

From now on, updates will become less frequent as school hits me like a tidal wave. And also because I plan on making the chapters longer, like this one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. I also don't own Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which inspired parts of this chapter.

Chapter 3: Orientation

"Liz?! What are you doing here?"

Liz sweatdropped. "Aheh… well…"

She was walking aimlessly through the hospital. Everyone around seemed too busy to notice her. Patients were constantly being wheeled in, although the flow had somewhat ebbed since the free rooms had been filled and most patients in the area were diverted to nearby hospitals.

Three and a half years ago, I was one of those patients, thought Rika, imagining a chibi version of herself with a "herp-derp" expression hooked up to a life support machine.

So why was she here now? Luck had allowed her to narrowly escape the fate of Asuna, Silica, and the others. If she hadn't been in the bathroom for so long, Rika probably would've tried out her copy of Call of Honor Online before she saw the horrible news. Thank goodness for gigantic tacos, she thought. Anyway, she had gone here after calling all the others and either getting no answer or finding friends or family. Rika's heart had stopped when she heard Suguha say "No, onīchan isn't here," but when the younger girl explained that Kazuto was meeting with a government official, blood began pumping at high level. Maybe she could do something! After all, she was also an SAO survivor. So she had jogged through the city towards the building where the office was. The sights along the way, however, were so depressing that Rika took a detour into one of the hospitals. And from there she had sort of zoned out, passing room after room of unconscious video game players, trying to picture her friends' faces on the bodies.

So Rika was very surprised indeed when she heard a voice she knew very well cry out "Link Start!"

Bursting into the room, Rika's eyes immediately fell upon the boy who years before had made such an arrogant impression on her. He had just Dived. She was about to cry out in frustration and confusion when the attending doctor spoke. "Ah, miss, excuse me? Please don't barge into hospital rooms without asking permission from staff."

Rika tore her eyes off of Kazuto to focus on the other people in the room. She wanted answers before she would apologize. "Did he just do what I think he did? Why would you let him do that?!"

"Um…" Mr. Suzuki looked nervous. "You wouldn't happen to be his sister, would you?"

Rika blanched. "What? No! I'm his… friend," she finished weakly.

"Oh," replied a very relieved-looking Suzuki. "Kirigaya-kun has Dived into the game to offer experience as a survivor of this kind of thing."

"But I'm a survivor too!" The nurse motioned for her to keep her voice down, but Rika didn't notice. "If he's going in, so am I!" She didn't even have to think about it.

Mr. Suzuki, on the other hand, looked unsure. "Uh, well, as I understand it, Kirigaya-kun was also very good… not to insult y-"

"GRRRRR. I am so much better than that goth! I made one of his swords."

Impressed, the man put a hand to his chin. "Hmm. I do have another AmuSphere and a copy of the game, but the hospital is out of beds."

The nurse grinned mischievously. "You could share with Kirigaya-kun."

The doctor and Rika shot her looks of disapproval and disbelief respectively, but Mr. Suzuki snapped his fingers. "Aha! Good idea. What is your name?"

"Rika. Shinozaki Rika," she mumbled, still trying to comprehend sharing a bed with Kirigaya Kazuto.

Sharing a bed with Kirigaya Kazuto.

Sharing a bed with Kirigaya Kazuto.

Sharing a bed -

"Well then, Shinozaki-san, if you please…" he gestured to the bed.

Liz had purposefully left out the part about sharing Kirito's bed. Still, she was hyperventilating at the memory. Asuna's gonna kill me…

Kirito sighed, looking at his friend with mixed emotions. Now he had another loved one whose life was in danger. On the other hand, having Liz along would probably increase his chances of staying alive. Not to mention the fact that it would be nice to have some company, especially since he had yet to find the others. "You're sure you want to do this, Liz?"

Liz sweatdropped. "Uh, now that I think about it, I'll just beam back up and go watch anime or something." But then she gave Kirito a wink. Oh, Asuna's definitely going to kill me…

"Ahem." Startled, the two friends turned back to the blonde girl, who was pouting. "Can I go back to yelling at you now?"

"Sorry, we have to find our friends." And with that, Kirito began to walk towards the building behind her, which he assumed to be the "HQ" the tutorial officer had referred to. Liz gave an apologetic grin, then followed.

The girl stared at their backs in disbelief. "Wait! Do you even know what you're doing? Do you just plan on marching East and throwing some rocks at the NazBols?"

"Oh, that's right." Kirito turned. "What's a NazBol?"

Several nearby people fainted.

An hour later, Kirito, Liz, and the blonde girl sat outside the office of the Commander of the Alliance for Earth. Snow, the girl, had informed them that the faction all players were fighting for was called the Alliance for Earth, or just the Alliance. The purpose of the game was to defeat the evil National Bolshevik Movement, or NazBols, who were currently occupying about half of the virtual world the game took place in. Kirito and Liz learned that hundreds of players had already died since the death game was triggered a few hours ago. If Kirito and Liz wanted to help clear the game, Snow had said, the first thing they should do was to meet with the Commander.

Ranks were somewhat ambiguous in Call of Honor Online. They were determined by a combination of experience level and player elections. For example, simply being a powerful player would not get you the top spot, especially if players perceived you as mean. If a player who was popular but had a very low level were elected, the game would usually reject the election. Also, there was no built-in punishment for disobeying orders. In effect, ranks depended on the players' will to support them. Apparently, the Commander had enough experience and character to secure the players' loyalty and prevent anarchy, especially since the game had become deadly.

The door opened, and a soldier beckoned the three in. Behind a desk sat a large, red-headed man who was clearly the Commander. "Welcome, recruits, and hello, Snow," he greeted with a polite smile. "I have been told you two are SAO survivors and were sent by the government to help out?"

"Yes," Kirito replied. This man looked very familiar.

"The victims and loved ones of this game thank you for your bravery. I am Commander Mordred. I oversee all Alliance activities."

The name Mordred clicked in Kirito's memory. "Sir, you wouldn't happen to be the brother of Eugene, once leader of the Salamander Army in ALfheim Online?"

Mordred's smile grew. "Indeed! So I see you've met my brother, eh? He's on the front lines at the moment. Speaking of which…" He grew serious. "I know both of you are inexperienced, but right now, we really could use your help." Standing up, he gestured to a large map behind him. "An ally of the National Bolsheviks, the Fundamentalist Militia, have recently stepped up their attacks in this area. Like the NazBols, Militiamen are NPCs, but unlike the NazBols, they are relatively under-equipped and disorganized. I'd like you, Kirito and Lisbeth," he said, pointing at an area that appeared to be part of a desert, "to join the Army squadron assigned to take this civilian area."

Kirito and Liz nodded. Mordred turned to Snow. "Snow, would you be able to accompany them, or is your team busy?"

"Our leader is planning a raid on an ammo dump," responed Snow. "I'm afraid not, Commander."

"Ah, well, I'm sure Privates Kirito and Lisbeth can handle things, right?"

"Right, sir!"

Just as they were leaving, a thought struck Kirito's mind. "Sir? I'm sorry, but I just have a question. Some of our friends are trapped in this game. Would you be able to tell me where they are?"

Mordred's face fell. "I'm sorry, Kirito-kun, but when the people responsible for this game made their move today, for some reason they chose to take away my ability to locate individuals."

Kirito and Liz tried not to look crestfallen. "I understand, sir," the former responded. "Thank you."

The next morning, after sleeping in the giant barracks of the HQ, Kirito and Liz boarded a C-130 transport plane headed for a base just outside the desert city partially occupied by the Fundamentalist Militia. Strapped to his seat, Kirito turned his head to glance at Liz, who was trying to see the cockpit. "So the crew of this thing are players too?" she asked.

"Yep," responded Kirito. "Remember? Snow told us that although most players are part of the Army, there's also an Air Force, a Navy, a National Guard, a Coast Guard, and a Special Operations department." He looked down at his tan camouflage Army uniform. It reminded him of pictures and videos he had seen of American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Looking back up at Liz, he had to grin at her expression as she gazed out one of the small windows on the other side of the plane. She was clearly enjoying this part of the game.

Soon, though, the C-130 landed and unloaded its troops. Several Humvees sat parked outside the airfield. One of the drivers ran out and shouted at the troops. "Hey! You're the reinforcements from HQ, right? No time to brief you on the mission. The Militia just blew up a buidling. We need you guys downtown now!"

Hurrying, Kirito, Liz, and the rest of the troops boarded the convoy of vehicles, which then sped off towards the city. As she sat in the back of the Humvee, Liz fingered her M4A1 Carbine. "Hey Kirito?"

"Mm?"

"I'm scared."

"I think we all are, Liz."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

As Kirito chuckled at Liz, who was smiling nervously, he remembered something he had meant to ask her earlier. "Hey, you went through the tutorial, right?"

"Yes."

"Did those soldiers in the background insult your looks?"

"…"

Kirito realized too late the awkwardness of his words.

Liz now resembled a pufferfish with pink hair and camo. "No…" she grated out, "why… do… you… ask… hmmmm?"

"Well, you see – I didn't mean – t-they called me ugly!"

Liz balked. "Really? They must have –" She would have said, been blind, but of course, that just wasn't something you said to your crush. Blushing, Liz attempted to distract Kirito from her unfinished thought. "As a matter of fact, they complimented me. A lot! At least, the boys did…"

At that moment, the soldier standing in the built-in hole in the roof with a machine gun shouted down to the other occupants. "We're in the city. Here we go!"

"Give 'em hell, Ramirez!" the driver of the Humvee responded. "The rest of you, be ready to jump out at any time. This thing's bulletproof, but it won't take a direct hit from an RPG. And remember, all Militiamen are armed and uniformed! Anyone else is a civilian, and we've got lots of civilians still living here."

As he approached his first battle in Call of Honor Online, Kirito wondered about the civilians. Snow had been vague on them – he knew they were NPCs and served as the innocent bystanders that the Alliance, as the good guys, was protecting, but beyond that...

The sound of gunfire ahead interrupted his thoughts.

"The lead vehicles are taking heavy fire!" shouted Ramirez as he began returning fire. "Let's do this thing!"

Kirito first got a clear view of the Militia when the convoy sped through an intersection and onto a perpendicular road. They were men wearing black robes and sometimes masks. As they fired their weapons at the convoy, many of them shouted in a language Kirito was pretty sure didn't exist in the real world. Ramirez and other soldiers atop their Humvees tried to mow them down. The convoy continued through the streets of the city, eventually splitting in two. Kirito kept his eyes on the rooftops, where most of the enemies seemed to be appearing from. Suddenly, Ramirez dropped back into the Humvee. "They've got a machine gunner up there," he grunted. "I took too much damage. Had to take cover."

"Hang in there, Ramirez," responded the driver. "Kirito, get up there and see if you can take out their machine gunner."

"Roger." Kirito switched places with Ramirez, poking his head cautiously out of the roof. Immediately he saw several Militiamen firing on vehicles further up in the convoy, but none of them had machine guns. Then he saw it: a machine gunner was spraying bullets out of a window on a building ahead. Kirito took aim with his G36c and fired a few rounds. The machine gun stopped abruptly. Quickly, he turned his attention to the other Militiamen on the rooftops, picking them off and staying low, ready to dive back inside. Once the firefight stopped, the convoy started moving again. But then the soldier on the Humvee in front of him screamed: "RPG! 12 o'clock!"

Kirito didn't have time to aim. The rocket sped towards him with an angry hiss, and then –

It seemed to Kirito like his Humvee exploded. Immediately, his vision became clouded with red, and a high-pitched tone in his ears told him he had been stunned. As the pitch faded, his heartbeat became almost defeaning. He felt a hand grab him and drag him to his feet. He was on the ground. Kirito stumbled after the driver, Ramirez, the soldier who had been sitting in the front passenger seat, and Liz – she was alive! She had even saved him. He didn't have time to thank her, though, as they dove for cover in a nearby building.

And during all this time, Kirito felt no pain. Only panic.

Finally, his vision began to clear, and he could clearly see the driver taking an M4A1 off his shoulder strap. "Dunn, can you take a peak out there?"

The other soldier peered carefully out of a doorway at the street they had just abandoned. "Besides our Humvee, the one in front of us got hit, Foley. I see their team taking cover on the other side of the street, but I'm pretty sure their gunner didn't make it. The vehicles in front of us are still firing, and the ones behind us probably backed up and took another route."

The driver, Foley, nodded grimly. "All right, crew, let's free up the convoy. Take out the gunners on the rooftops and watch for RPGs!" Liz and Kirito took up positions by a doorway. Alternating, they peered out and fired at the Militiamen they could see. A few of them returned fire, but for the most part, they seemed focused on pinning down the convoy. Thus, they made easy pickings for Kirito's squad.

After a minute or so, Foley walked out of the building, making sure the Militiamen were all dead, before motioning to the others. "Come on, let's regroup with the convoy." Kirito's health was now fully recovered; he and the others hurried out from cover, as did the team from the Humvee in front of them. Kirito couldn't help noticing the body of the gunner lying amid the wreckage of the other Humvee.

"Should we…?" Liz began, but one of the players from the other squad shook his head sadly.

"It isn't his real body."

They had just reached the convoy when the sound of a tracked vehicle became audible behind them. Spinning, Kirito was relieved to see an Alliance Army soldier sticking his head out from the top of the M2 Bradley tank-like vehicle. "Heard you guys could use some help," the man said.

"We certainly could," replied Foley. "Squad, keep close to the Bradley. We may have to walk our way out of here."

Once again the convoy started up. As they continued through the streets, Kirito felt uneasy. Things were too quiet.

As if on cue, gunfire erupted from somewhere ahead. Foley pressed a hand to his left ear for a few moments before picking up his pace. "We've reached a schoolyard. Looks like it's crawling with Militia. The lead vehicle had to get out of there fast, and the rest are going to back up and make way for the Bradley. Team, we're going on foot to take the school!"

They ran through a few alleys and came out at the rear entrance to what looked like an elementary school. Foley kicked the door open and jumped to the side, waiting for enemy fire; when it didn't come, he motioned for Dunn to lead them into the school. One by one they walked in, guns at the ready, trying to be quiet – though from the sound of the firefight out in front, they needn't have.

As they approached a classroom door, Dunn peeked inside. "Empty." They began jogging towards the stairs, but then Kirito saw movement in another one of the classrooms. "Get down!" he hissed. Throwing themselves on the floor, the squad waited for enemy fire, but again, none came. Taking a breath, Ramirez stood with his M249 machine gun aimed at the windows into the classroom, many of which were broken, but he almost dropped his gun in surprise. "Kids! Little kids!"

Sure enough, tens of NPC children were huddled in a corner of the classroom, visibly shaking. Liz choked out a sob.

Foley pressed a hand to his ear again. "Convoy, be advised, there are still kids in the school, repeat, there're kids in the school." In the meantime, Liz lowered her gun, making to approach the pitiful figures. They couldn't have been older than eight or so. But they shrank back, whimpering. Dunn shook his head. "They don't know if we're any different from the Militia, and the Militia treats kids… well, like they treat all the other civilians…"

Foley sighed. "The convoy's being more careful with its fire, but we need to hurry if we're going to free them up before a Militiaman fires an RPG at them. The best thing we can do for these kids is to clear the school."

Kirito knew he was right, but he still had a hard time turning from the children and heading up the stairs. Liz was crying softly now.

As they reached the top steps, Foley peered out into the corridor before jerking back. "Multiple hostiles on this floor. They're firing on the convoy. Let's go, but keep an eye out for any civilians!" Then they moved up the stairs and into the corridor, keeping low and shooting any Militiamen firing out the windows at the schoolyard. Once the Militia became aware of their presence, they turned their attention to them, but they weren't quick enough. By the time the floor had been cleared, Kirito and the others had only taken a small amount of damage. The squad had discovered no more civilians.

Kirito aimed out the windows at the schoolyard, but no more Militiamen appeared. After Dunn and Ramirez had checked out the roof, Foley radioed the convoy to move along. Then he turned to the others.

"Local Command says the Militia's retreating. They're on the outskirts of the city now. Now we're going to search the city for stragglers and for wounded. Good work, everyone."

"How many…" Kirito started, afraid to learn the answer, "... did we lose?"

"Only two," replied Foley. "That Humvee gunner back in the streets and another one at the entrance to the schoolyard."

Only two? Kirito thought. My first taste of combat in this game, and I already have two ghosts on my conscience. You'd think I'd be used to seeing people die after SAO… but then again, that was over a year ago, and I thought I'd been done with that since I found Asuna…

Heading back down the stairs, Kirito and Liz both thought of their friends in this game, friends they didn't even know were still alive.

On the other side of the virtual world, deep inside a bunker, the leader of the National Bolshevik Movement was studying a map on his desk. He remained still, giving his full attention to the map, until someone knocked on the door.

"Enter." The leader said perfunctorily.

In came an officer. "Sir, the Fundamentalist Militia is on the retreat. They lost another city to the Alliance."

The leader did not look surprised. "I see. Tell them that if they expect to continue receiving funds, they should focus less on beating women and burning heretics and more on keeping the Alliance scum on the defensive. That is all."

The officer saluted before turning and leaving. As the door shut, the man at the desk allowed a small smile to break his otherwise emotionless face. "NPCs," he muttered. "Computer-controlled soldiers have their flaws, but their complete acceptance of orders isn't one of them."

A/N: How was the first combat scene? Also, for those of you who got the 2001: A Space Odyssey reference last chapter, well done!

Look Dave, I can see you're really upset that the chapter's over. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and submit a review.