This is the end of part one. Part 2 will come at some point in the future when it is written and if there is sufficient deman. Please enjoy, as always.

Chapter 7- Part 1 Epilogue

Amir Hassan

AKA Amir

At an outside table of a café in the town square of Orinora, Harvard and Amir sat drinking cups of coffee and tea, respectively. It was midday, and Agil had finally persuaded them to take a break, leaving the organisation of the players in the town in his capable hands. Neither man knew what Agil had done in the real world, but he had taken to the task well. His authoritative tone and undeniable charisma helped in getting the other players to listen and follow orders.

A team was currently going over the captured vehicles and equipment. Most of the personal gear and weaponry lifted from the corpses of the Militia was older stuff and of lower quality, but every little would help. The trucks were a boon, as were the helicopters and remaining BMP; they would need to train crews for them, and soon. The local NPCs were proving helpful, though the collateral damage of the night assault meant that they were a little reserved. Bringing down the church might not have been the best idea; they appeared to have programmed with enough sophistication that they reacted negatively to attacks on their holy sites.

Amir was going through his messages, sipping his tea as he did so. All were from other beta testers, giving status reports from wherever they were. Most were the same: players were panicking in the Starting City, although things were beginning to calm. Some groups of players had apparently thrown logic to the wind and attempted to run blitzkrieg operations on enemy positions; most were dead already. A large force of 200+ players were charging east; another message revealed that the force had split, with one group making for Orinora whilst the other intended to spearhead straight into the territories east of the town.

Other messages gave him hope, though. Successful raids had been conducted on numerous convoys and outposts, and several forts had already fallen, including Forts Ochre and Sienna. Ochre, he remembered, was a major Militia depot, but heavily defended; it was not used as a base for patrols, but to supply the surrounding Militia fortifications. Given the choice, that was the first place that they would have attacked, but things had been too chaotic, and he had been swept along with Harvard and the squad that he had gathered to him. The attack on Ochre had been successful, but at the cost of more than half of the assault force; a pyrrhic victory, then. One beta tester was among the dead: an American named Johen21. Amir tried to place him, but drew a blank. There had been 1000 beta testers initially; he hadn't known them all.

In contrast to the tragic victory at Fort Ochre, the attack on Fort Sienna had been a resounding success, compared to almost every other engagement undertaken by the players bar Orinora. When he saw who had been involved, he was no longer surprised. The report had been sent by Snake, who had been heading east from the Starting City with Argo, when he had heard from them last. He knew them both; their intelligence-gathering abilities had been unmatched during the beta, and he was certain that Snake had seen combat IRL- not that the affable Canadian had ever talked about it. Argo wasn't so combat-oriented, but could hold her own. Her skill lay in infiltration, and various methods of gathering intelligence. From the report, she and Snake had gone in before the rest of the gathered players, gathering intel on enemy positions and armaments; when the assembled players had attacked that morning, they had known exactly where to hit the Militia defenders.

There had only been around 60 men left in a base designed to accommodate a maximum of 200 soldiers; the others had been killed during raids on patrols based out of Sienna, with the exception of one light patrol of two Tigrs and one Ural off-road truck. Within the first half hour of the attack, 50% of the militia in the base were dead with the rest fortified in a group of buildings. The last patrol was ambushed outside the base and successfully destroyed. Finally, the buildings were stormed and the remaining 30 men were killed. Not including the patrols destroyed prior to the attack, total enemy losses were approximately 80, including the Militia in the returning patrol. The players, on the other hand, had lost six men: four in the initial assault, one during the engagement with the returning patrol and one during the storming of the buildings. 5 Militia had been taken captive, one of which was an officer, which at the time that the message was sent was being interrogated by Argo, Snake and the leader of the largest Company involved in the attack. Overall, the assault on Fort Sienna had been a resounding success, second only to the capture of Orinora. This would all need recording, he knew. History was there to be learned from.

Snake's report also included an appraisal of the Companies involved in the attack. All had shown ability and a willingness to follow orders; the stand-out Companies had been the smallest, a team of Japanese players calling themselves Fuurinkazan, and the largest, an assortment of Japanese, Americans, and Koreans led by an Englishman. The Englishman in particular, a teenager named Lawman, stood out, having coordinated the assault with the aid of a number of serving and ex-military personnel in his Company as well as Argo and Snake, and dispatching numerous Militia personally. Amir wondered who this young Englishman was; he might prove a valuable ally and leader in the war to come.

Speaking of Companies, it might be a good idea to consolidate authority over the players in Orinora. Their command structure during the assault had consisted of tangled lines of communication between small squads, reducing their efficiency. They would be better served by combining the oversight afforded by keeping all of their men and women in one Company and the fluid, free-form structure of a decentralised force.

In total, five relay towers were now under player control, extending their range of communications. Large stockpiles of weapons and materiel had been recovered, as had various vehicles. The Militia presence in proximity to the Starting City was now mostly eliminated, giving the almost 100,000 players (minus a few hundred to a thousand by now, most likely) in the Starting City some breathing space. Their next step was to hit the enemy supply lines and the nearest enemy bases before attacking the next occupied settlement, the port of Peartree to the northeast, on the coast.

In the islands and sub continents to the east of the main continent, the size of the landmasses, and their environments, varied. The archipelago was like a 3000km dogleg, starting north of the equator and dipping south before straightening and joining the main continent of Greyland. Greyland itself was mainly situated above the equator, with some desert poking south of the equatorial line. The northwest tip of the continent extended poleward far enough for the environment there to turn to taiga, though not to become tundra. The Isle of Mullira was located on latitude equivalent to, say, the south of England, though the actual biome resembled a subtle blend of the moors of Scotland on the hilltops with the general environment of southern Italy or the Mediterranean islands. At just shy of 70 kilometres long it wasn't the largest island, but between the rugged terrain and the Milita presence on the roads and in the villages and towns travel times were increased. It could take them weeks to secure Mullira.

"What have you got their, Amir?" asked Harvard. Amir looked up to find the American watching him steadily. Amir shrugged.

"Reports on other operations," he answered, closing the menu and taking another sip of tea.

"Reports?" Harvard asked, frowning. "Who from?"

"Other beta testers," Amir said. "Things could be going better, but they could certainly be going worse. Fort Ochre was taken with heavily casualties, but we have most of the materiel held there intact. Fort Sienna was taken with minimal losses, and a number of smaller bases are under our control. We also have confirmed control of five com relays, including the one here and those at Forts Ochre and Sienna. We have reinforcements headed our way, about 100 men, but I'm not sure how disciplined they will be. I think we lucked out with the guys we have here."

"With the exception of Diabel's men," Harvard mused. "Kibaou in particular."

"Whiney little shit," Amir growled.

"He lost his friends. I don't begrudge him his grieving," Harvard said. "But you're right. He's still an asshole."

"Here's hoping that dickhead and his posse get slotted by a Militia patrol," said Amir.

"I wouldn't go that far," Harvard said, though he was unable to supress a small grin. "But I have to admit, I wouldn't weep for those men if they were to perish in the wilderness."

"Too bad they were last seen heading back to Starting City. The area west of here is under player occupation, most of the Militia presence has been eliminated by now."

"True." Harvard sipped his coffee, before talking again. "These beta testers, the ones sending the reports. Are they organised?"

"Players can belong to more than one Company at a time. After Kayaba gave his speech, a number of us gathered together outside the Starting City and formed our own Company to function as a sort of communications network. The Company's called Betanet. It's mostly for communication and coordination between beta testers and whatever forces we find ourselves a part of. It's allowed us to keep track of the different Companies and war bands and their accomplishments. It's also allowed us to coordinate forces to a degree. It's how we got the numbers for the attack on Orinora."

"How many beta testers are here?" Harvard asked, leaning forwards and setting his mug down onto the table.

"Four, including me, that are part of Betanet. Diabel was the fifth, but he's dead. Still not sure how I feel about that. He used to be a bit of a wanker during the beta, but after Kayaba gave us the news, he got his shit together. His judgement of people was still shot to fuck, though, given that he brought that arse Kibaou and his mates."

"Quite," Harvard agreed.

"Besides the Betanet members, there were two others," Amir. "Including that Japanese kid that left."

"So, that leaves us with five experienced players." Harvard took another sip of coffee, thinking. "That Japanese kid… he killed the BMP, right?"

"Yeah."

"Who was he?" Harvard asked, as an NPC waitress brought them a plate of pastries. He thanked the NPC out of reflex- mama Hassan raised her children to be polite at all times- and took one of the pastries from the plate. He took a bite; it tasted good, but in a bland, indeterminate way. He knew that the game supported a culinary simulation system to end all culinary simulations, but no one in the beta had invested any time in that; the skill was never considered worth the effort. He set the pastry down on his plate.

"Kid's called Kirito," he said. "He didn't socialise much, but he was a good fighter… a warrior."

"Not a soldier?"

"Most of us weren't soldiers. About 50 of us were, though. Those guys have their own Company, but still joined Betanet. As I understand it, just over half of them joined with other players to make sure they didn't get themselves killed. The genral idea was to act like IRL Special Forces by integrating with the untrained players and bring them up to scratch. The rest have been sweeping east. They're currently inside enemy-occupied areas, so we have no coms with them."

"Interesting," mused Harvard. "We'll sort them out later. Going back to Kirito."

"He's a loner. He specialises in close quarters combat, which is why he was carrying a P90 and dual machetes. Good at improvising, and fucking vicious when he needs to be. So far, we've found one of his kills out in the fields, and another in the town that was slashed multiple times. He definitely has some martial arts training. Karate, maybe, and some kendo; during the beta, he took out three militia in close quarters with a fucking three-foot metal pole. He also had a hand in a number of high-profile victories, including the original battle for Orinora."

"Interesting," Harvard said. "Where is he now?"

"I don't know. You'd have to ask Asuna, that girl in his squad."

"Hm." Harvard took a bite from his own pastry. "And that other boy in his squad. Not that New Zealander's nephew. The other one, the English kid."

"Reid Collins. What about him?"

"What do you know about him?"

"Next to nothing," Amir admitted. "I don't think he's a beta tester; I certainly don't recognise him."

"What do you know? For certain, at least. There has to be something."

Amir finished his pastry, thinking. He washed it down with some tea, finishing the mug. He poured some more from the teapot, added some milk and one teaspoon of sugar, and took a sip. It was good. He wondered if someone on ACAO's dev team was a tea lover, to have recreated this particular taste so faithfully.

"The old man, George, told me that Collins wasn't a soldier. Quite possibly he has no formal training. Despite this, he was… very pragmatic."

"I guessed that."

"No shit. I'd like to talk to him, see what he can do. He left not long after Kirito. According to the girl, Asuna, he kept his squad focused even after the loss of one member and the injuring of another. He also has at two confirmed kills, likely more than that from day one."

"One to keep an eye on," Harvard said. "His voice… he sounded like someone who can fight, without reserve. We need people like that."

"You'll make soldiers out of them yet," Amir said.

"Heh. And the rest of his squad?"

"They're at half strength. I'd recommend merging them with another."

"Why not just split them up?" Harvard asked.

"They wanted to stay together for now," Amir said.

"Kirito and Collins left to head east," Harvard said. "That South African of theirs was injured. Asuna has taken control of some of the squads. The old man has been organising patrols. What happened to his other nephew?"

"He left with Koobus and his men," said Amir. "He seemed pretty shaken up. Wouldn't listen to George or Asuna. I can't condone him leaving with the fucking hedgehog, but he'd just lost his brother. I'm not surprised he was acting so irrationally."

"I see." Harvard took another sip of coffee. "Keep an eye on them."

"Why are you so fixated on that one squad?" Amir wondered. "They did well, sure, but they lost a man to an ambush, one of them was injured, and frankly, other squads fared better, and obtained higher kill counts. These guys took out eight Militia and the BMP, sure, but they aren't special."

"I beg to differ. In one squad, they had one beta tester, a potential soldier, and two actual soldiers, both of which are veterans. Plus those two teenagers, but let's not talk about them. George and Asuna- that's their names, right?- both appear to do well in leadership roles, and George can help train our men, as can the South African, once he's back to fighting strength. I'd also like to see what Collins and Kirito can do. Everyone here has the potential to be a soldier, but these guys have the potential to be leaders, or heroes." He paused. "Maybe not Collins. Frankly, he doesn't seem like a people person, but Operators don't need to make friends."

"How many steps ahead of the bloody curve are you?" Amir wondered. "And what the hell do you do IRL? You said something about Law Enforcement, earlier."

"I like to be as far ahead of the curve as possible, and I can't tell you what I do for a living," Harvard said, deadpan. "Just know that I have combat experience, and that I know about people, what makes them tick. Heroes, both the conventional charismatic ones and the anti-heroes, make for great motivators. Sooner or later, morale will become a serious problem, more so than it is now. The players will need figureheads. If those figureheads are also competent at their jobs, then that's even better. Empty figureheads have no place here." He sipped some more coffee. "We have things better here than IRL, for now. If this were a real-life campaign, there'd be all sorts of factors to consider, it would all just be too messy. Here, it's simple. There are almost 100,000 people who know that their freedom only has one condition, and they know that they need to cooperate to achieve that."

"That… sounds accurate," said Amir, wondering just who Harvard was to be so familiar with this sort of thing. "Have much experience with guerrilla warfare, do you?"

"That would be telling," Harvard said. He regarded Amir for a moment, before setting his mug down and reclining in his chair. "Tell me, Amir. What sort of warfare do you think lies ahead of us?"

"Well. Guerrilla warfare, certainly. Things will start off asymmetric. The enemy will have all the firepower, at least at first. Sooner or later we'll receive equipment to match theirs. Until then, we're at a disadvantage, and a pretty major one at that. Unlike IRL insurgencies and guerrilla movements, we have clear win conditions; unlike them, our victory conditions can't be to simply not loose. We just don't have that capability. Until we start receiving equipment to engage in conventional, symmetrical warfare, we're going to have to use every dirty trick in the book and out. We'll also need to build support amongst the NPC locals, start recruiting our own Militias and later armies. There'll also be a few NPC nations whose allegiances we can gain. Essentially, we're the underdog, and unless we get our act together, and start acting as a coherent whole, we'll get absolutely curb stomped by the enemy AI. This isn't some shitty fantasy story where the plucky rebels blow up the Death Star and win the day. It'll be a grind, a long, hard slog right up until we reach The Terminus, kick down the Ruby Palace's front door and put a bullet in Alexa Copellius' virtual, non-sapient head."

"Wow," Harvard said, smirking. "You've given it some thought. Where did all that come from?"

"I'm a War Studies student, IRL. Well, I was. I literally just fucking graduated. I was going to become an intelligence analyst." He kicked one of the table legs, knocking over his mug of tea. "Fuck!"

"Has anyone ever told you that you swear a lot?" Harvard asked. Amir gave him the finger. Harvard smirked again, finished his coffee, and stood. "Okay, break's over. We have work to do."

"Anything in mind?"

"I want to see if we can contact the other groups, see if we can form a unified whole and get to work liberating this island. I also want to make sure the hundred or so players charging our way aren't complete idiots. And if possible, I'd like to get in contact with those soldier-beta testers, and see if we can work together. For now, I'll settle for taking inventory of captured Materiel and consolidating our position. You coming?"

"Fuck yes," Amir said, standing. "That was good fucking tea, but we won't get anywhere sitting around and having a cuppa. What's first on the agenda?"

"An awkward conversation with a fairly sophisticated AI town figurehead about collateral damage," Harvard said. "Should be fascinating."

"Not the word I'd use," Amir said. "For fuck's sake."

End Part 1

Part 2 coming soon…ish.