A/N: For those of you who've read the guide I linked to on my profile, I changed the concept of killstreaks a bit. Basically I made them more like extra points than something you can use immediately in battle.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. I also don't own Medal of Honor: European Assault, on which parts of this chapter are based.

Chapter 4: Desert Rat

The sun bore down upon the desert plateau. A few dazed Alliance soldiers were considering jumping off the cliff just to get into the shade that the plateau provided. Another poked her head out from behind a rock at the edge. "All quiet on the eastern front," she said, returning to her snoozing position.

"O' course," mumbled G-Takusu. "Whadja expect, dumbass?"

His friends chuckled. Silica tried to give the soldier a sympathetic look, but she was already asleep. Silicia herself was feeling very tired. But whenever she tried to get some rest, G-Takusu would nudge her none too gently with his boot. "C'mon, dolly," he'd say, "gotta do yer duty."

Sighing, she got on her belly and crawled around the rock she had been leaning on. Now she could see the massive desert valley below. Off in the distance, a lake shimmered temptingly – or was it a mirage? – and the dark bumps of a city could just barely be seen beyond the lake. That city was known to be part of the western border of NazBol territory. Lucky them, they have a nice big lake.

Not for the first time, Silica wondered about the NazBols. She had never been in combat before. Soldiers returning from the front lines brought back stories of atrocities the enemy would commit against NPC civilians and their merciless nature of combat – and those were just the soldiers who were willing to talk. A good deal came back shell-shocked.

I wonder if I'll be like them, thought the young girl sadly.

Having completed their assignment the previous day, Kirito and Liz were walking towards Mordred's office to receive a new one when a voice from behind called to them.

"Kii-bou?"

Kirito stopped in astonishment. Turning around, his suspicions were confirmed. Argo "the Rat" stood blinking at him in surprise. In place of a brown coat she wore the black SWAT-style uniform of the Spec Ops, but her trademark red "whiskers" were still there.

"Argo! What are you doing here?" He couldn't think of anything else to say. The two had known each other in SAO, but for the most part their relationship had been professional. Kirito hadn't seen her since before he beat Heathcliffe.

"That information will cost you," she replied with a straight face, but then the corner of her lips tugged up.

After Kirito had introduced Argo and Liz to each other, Argo gave them both sympathetic looks. "Stuck in another death game like me, huh?"

"Yeah. Though actually," added Kirito, "we were sent by the government to help clear the game. They figured having veterans of the last death game would help."

"Didn't they know they already had SAO survivors in the game?" Argo looked mildly insulted.

"Aren't you glad I'm here though?" Kirito grinned.

Argo gave him an "oh, please" look.

"You're right, though," observed Liz. "Come to think of it, I'm not really sure why that Suzuki-san asked us to go. Well, at least he asked Kirito. I kind of just followed. But we also want to make sure Asuna, Silica, and our other friends are alright."

At the mention of Asuna, Argo winced slightly. She tried to keep her expression neutral, but Kirito saw the change. "You've seen Asuna? Where is she? Have you heard?"

There was a pause, during which Kirito's heart turned to ice. Then Argo sighed. "Asuna was on my Spec Ops team. We were separated during one of our early missions. We looked for her, but we had to give up and get back behind our own lines. I'm sorry, Kirito." At this point she was staring at the ground.

Liz gasped. Kirito could have sworn his heart had stopped beating altogether. "… Then… she's…"

"She could have been captured," Argo said quickly. "We have observed NazBols taking prisoners occasionally. But… she may be dead."

Kirito's heartbeat faded back in, but it still felt icy. Asuna was MIA. Asuna, the love of his life, his wife in SAO, the adopted mother of Yui, could very well be dead. In a way, not knowing was worse than knowing for sure she was dead.

As Kirito stood frozen, eyes downcast, Liz, who was shedding tears quietly, glanced at him. His body language, the facial expression – they hurt her. Not just because she cared about him, not just because she cared about Asuna. As ugly as it was, she also felt jealous. Part of her wondered if Kirito would look that way if it had been Liz who had gone MIA. Furiously brushing that part of her aside, she put a hand on Kirito's shoulder. When he didn't respond, she wrapped her arms around him and held him, sobbing softly into the small of his back. This time, Kirito reacted by turning slowly around and hugging her back, though his face never changed.

Argo had no idea what to do. She had known Asuna in both Sword Art Online and Call of Honor Online, but she hadn't known her as well as Kirito and Liz had. Standing there, the bearer of bad news, watching the other two embrace in misery, she felt out of place. She didn't belong here. She was just a rat, after all. Should have sent the others back to base and stayed behind with her. Shouldn't have been a squad leader in the first place. Wouldn't have lost her. Should've-

Her thoughts were interrupted as Kirito and Liz broke apart. The flow of Liz's tears had ebbed, and emotion had returned to Kirito's eyes. A lot of emotion. "We will find her. I will bring her back." In his head, Kirito added, I won't lose her again.

Argo, still feeling very guilty, nodded. "I'll help. Speaking of which," she added as a thought occurred to her, "what were you guys up to before I interrupted you?"

"What'd you mean, 'what were we up to?'" Liz asked nervously before she could think.

"We were headed to Mordred's office for a new assignment," replied Kirito, making a visible effort to return to his normal demeanor. "We just got back from an anti-Militia op with the Army."

The idea in Argo's head started to flower. "I'll come with you."

A few minutes later, the three were admitted to Mordred's office. Mordred's greeting smile was wider this time. "Ah, welcome back, Kirito-kun, Liz-chan! That was some fine fighting over there. The Fundamentalist Militia is retreating! Oh, excuse me, and hello, Argo."

Argo returned the greeting while Kirito and Liz thanked him for the compliment.

"So… where to put you two next… Argo, any ideas?" the Commander asked.

"Actually, yes, sir," she responded with a hint of a smile. "I could use two more good players for my Spec Ops team. Would it be alright if they come with me?" Argo felt that this was the best way she could help Kirito find Asuna. She also kind of wanted to see him more often. She had hardly seen any other SAO veterans since Kirito had cleared the game, and she had begun to miss her best customer.

"Good idea," replied Mordred enthusiastically. "I can't think of anywhere else they're desperately needed at the moment. If it works out, maybe you two can stay with Argo and her team."

"Sounds good," said Liz. She had a feeling she was going to like this Argo.

"Sure," added Kirito, but not unenthusiastically. Now that he thought about it, fighting in the Spec Ops branch would probably be the best bet for finding Asuna, since they often went behind enemy lines. And it would be nice to travel with another person he knew.

After they left the office, Argo beckoned Kirito and Liz to follow her. "This way, Kii-bou, Liz-chan. You've got to change uniforms!"

After trading in their Army uniforms for Spec Ops outfits, they stopped by the HQ's vendor of the virtal weapons shop. Kirito stuck with his G36c and M1911, but Liz bought an M12 shotgun using a little of her experience points, while keeping her Desert Eagle pistol and putting her M4A1 assault rifle in her inventory. Argo was already satisfied with her silenced Mini-Uzi submachine gun and silenced M4A1. When Liz asked what a silencer was, Argo informed them about the various attachments one could add to a gun. A silencer, also known as a suppressor, deadened the sound of firing, hid the muzzle flash when firing, and reduced the recoil, while also reducing the effective range of the gun. Other attachments included a red dot sight like the one Kirito had on his G36c, an ACOG scope for a partially-zoomed-in view, a grenade launcher like the one in the tutorial, a bayonet, and a bipod stand. Certain guns could only take certain attachments. Bipods could only be used for machine guns and sniper rifles; bayonets and grenade launchers could only be used on certain rifles; red dot sights and ACOGs could only be attached to more modern weapons; and silencers could only be used for about half of the guns in the game. The only attachment pistols could take was a silencer, and some pistols didn't even take that. Finally, a gun could generally have just one attachment, though bipods didn't count.

Kirito and Liz learned all of this, as well as some Spec Ops-specific tips, over the remainder of the day. Argo finally let them sleep, but the next morning she woke them up early.

"Today, we're going to take out a NazBol reconnaissance station here," she declared, pointing to a spot on the map. Neither Kirito nor Liz responded. Coincidentally, neither Kirito nor Liz looked terribly enthusiastic about the amount of sleep they had been allowed.

Argo made another "oh, please" face. "Pffft. You'll get used to it. Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team."

She herded them into an Air Force hangar, where, in addition to the various Air Force personnel, a few Spec Ops soldiers had gathered. Kirito and Liz were surprised to see Snow, but probably not as surprised as Snow was. "Don't tell me these idiots are the new recruits."

"Unfortunately," replied Argo, provoking growls from her companions.

"Hey!" Liz pointed at herself and Kirito. "These idiots just kicked some Fundie ass the other day!"

"Good," continued Argo, as she lay out the map for her team. "You guys need to be kick-ass to fight with us. Now, here's the plan…"

An hour later, Kirito, Liz, Argo, Snow, and three other Spec Ops soldiers were transported by a UH-1 Iroquois (aka Huey) helicopter to a ridge not far from the target. The team moved quickly, knowing that the enemy had seen them coming.

Sure enough, NazBols began appearing within a minute or two of the heli's departure. As he moved from sand hill to sand hill, Kirito took a look at the primary antagonists of Call of Honor Online. They appeared much more heavily armed than the Militia. Each NazBol moved with the sureness of a professional soldier. But were they professional enough to take on the Alliance Spec Ops?

Apparently not; Argo and her team managed to eliminate them without much trouble while they bobbed and weaved towards the recon building. As the team neared the hill containing the building, a path up the hill became visible. They could either use the path or climb the rocks surrounding it. Argo ordered everyone to the left at the bottom of the hill. They could hear shouts in another strange language. Argo peered around the corner of the rock ledge with her M4A1, slowly walked towards the other side of the path, then waved the others onward. Suddenly a NazBol came into view at the top of the hill.

"Stay low!" shouted Kirito. As the others bent down out of view of the enemy, Kirito aimed his G36c and fired a single bullet. The NazBol's head disappeared in a brief explosion of virtual blood. Dang, I'm getting good at this, thought Kirito, before leading the way up the hill.

As they reached the top, several NazBols began firing from cover behind stacks of wooden crates. Snow threw a grenade, allowing the rest of the team to dive behind some crates. The grenade hadn't killed any of the enemies, but now that they had cover, Argo's team began to pick them off as they broke cover to fire.

"Clear!" called Snow, and the team hurried towards the entrance of the building. Using her shotgun, Liz shot open the door and Argo tossed in a flashbang grenade to blind and deafen any enemies inside. They quickly entered the building, taking down the disoriented NazBols, before moving room by room to the second floor. NazBol soldiers surprised Kirito more than once by popping out from behind crate piles, but the others shot the enemy before Kirito took too much damage. Finally, they reached the computer room.

"Jamison, explosives!" called Argo. One of the other Spec Ops members planted a C4 pack on what appeared to be the main computer. After everyone had gotten out of the room, Jamison took out a remote detonation device and pushed the button.

"No more radar for the NazBols," said Liz, smirking.

Any sense of victory was quickly forgotten as they jogged out of the building. A hailstorm of bullets hit the team member in front, causing him to stagger.

Thinking fast, Argo motioned to Kirito, Liz, Snow, and Jamison. "You four, to the crates over on the left! I'll get Platt. Abbot, cover me!" As Abbot opened fire on the enemies waiting at the bottom of the hill, Argo moved towards Platt, who had crouched to avoid fire but was disoriented from taking so much damage at once. She grabbed him and half-guided, half-dragged him to the crates where the others waited. Abbot threw a grenade to discourage the NazBols from immediately pursuing them.

While Platt recovered, Argo tried to get a view downhill without exposing herself. "Any ideas?"

Kirito glanced around; moving to the rock edge of the hill, he peered down. At a certain point, the slope was relatively smooth. "We could slide down there. We'd be out of view until we surprise them by coming around the hill instead of down the front path."

Argo nodded approvingly. "Alright, go!"

First Kirito, then Liz, then Snow jumped down onto the rock slope. It was a bit like snowboarding without the board. Kirito had to keep switching between watching the front of the hill and paying attention so that he didn't hit a boulder or fall off. Liz almost lost her balance, and her shout of alarm might have been audible had the team members still at the top not been firing. Snow, on the other hand, slid smoothly down the hill, keeping her MP5 submachine gun trained on the corner around which the enemy lay. At the bottom of the slope she jumped off, pointedly landing right in front of Kirito.

"Show off," grumbled the latter. Despite the situation, Liz giggled softly.

Soon after, they were joined by Platt, now mostly recovered from his close call. Jamison, Abbot, and finally Argo slid down too. Immediately the group stacked up before the corner of the hill. After leaning out to see if the NazBols still thought they were at the top of the hill (which they evidently did), Argo sprinted out away from the hill. "Now!"

The ten to fifteen NazBol troops were taken completely by surprise. After only a few seconds, the Spec Ops team were the only ones left standing.

"Good work, team," said Argo, reloading her M4A1. The chopper will pick us up where it dropped us off. Let's move before any more NazBols pop up out of the sand."

"Not bad for your first Spec Ops mission, you two," remarked Argo as the team got back to HQ.

"I'm surprised that recon station wasn't better-guarded," said a tired Liz, plopping down in a chair. Immediately she realized the chair was occupied. Slowly, she turned her head… Oh please, don't be K- Liz stared at the boy whose lap she was sitting in before hopping up with a squeak that would have put a guinea pig to shame.

Kirito quickly got up. "Eheh… sorry, Liz, kind of slipped in there… I'll find another seat…" Kirito made sure to check that the seat opposite hers was unoccupied before sitting down.

Argo had her back to them, making a drink. "Keep in mind, though, those were just regular National Bolshevik troops." She turned to face Liz, walking over to a chair with a cup in hand. "Their Army, if you will. The elite troops, now there's something –" She had sat down a bit too hard, spilling hot liquid on the person who was already occupying that chair. Slowly, she turned her head and stared at the boy whose lap she was sitting in before saying, "Kii-bou, you're in my seat."

"Nice hot chocolate."

"Thank you. Now move."

"If you get off of me."

When she did, Kirito laughed appreciatively. Liz looked less amused. "Ahem. You were saying, Argo?" she asked.

Argo reddened ever so slightly. "The elite NazBols – the Stormtroopers – have better Artificial Intelligence than the rest of them. Their weapons also do more damage. If you're caught in the open in front of Stormtroopers…" Her face darkened. "There's not much you can do."

Kirito glanced over at Abbott, Platt, and Jamison, who were sitting with some other Spec Ops teams. Good thing that recon station didn't have Stormtroopers. Otherwise, Platt might not be here.

Snow, who had been sitting silently with her eyes closed, gave a deep sigh then. Suddenly, Kirito felt very tired. Argo yawned, making her whiskers shift. "All right. Time for bed, team. We don't have a new assignment yet, but we should-"

"-get some rest anyway," finished Liz with another yawn.

That night, Kirito lay in his barracks bed, thinking. Besides clearing CHO, he had a personal mission to find each of his friends trapped in the game. So far, he had found one friend he hadn't even thought of in the first place. And of course, Liz found him. That left Klein, Agil, Silica, and… Asuna.

Kirito didn't sleep well.

The author, wearing a tattered cloak and smelling of pizza, stumbles into the reader and holds out a cup. "Please, good sirs and madams, spare me a review?"