Disclaimer : I do not own Sword Art Online.
Chapter 9: Eye of the Storm
Splat! The snowball hit Silica right in the back of the head.
G-Takusu and his cronies guffawed. "Can't let your guard down, dolly!"
Silica grit her teeth. Despite the icy substance now running down her back, she was determined not to reach her hands up to brush the snow from her hair and neck. Instead she continued towards the housing.
Her unit's scenery certainly had changed. They had been relocated north and slightly east of the city they had captured a while back. The transition from dusty desert to winter wonderland did not agree with her. Fortunately, the local population, recently liberated by Alliance troops from the hated NazBol regime, had lent some property for players to take shelter in. What's more, the charming NPCs liked offering them an assortment of virtual goodies. As a result, the unit grew fond of this place, despite having been there only a few days.
Silica had just ended a guard shift at the east end of town and was currently heading back to the barn where she and some others were camped. The further away from the eastern front she walked, the more she began to smile. This really was a neat place. NPCs waved to her cheerfully from doorsteps and windows. She waved back, remembering with a bit of a blush her first night in the town. Apparently the NPCs recognized how little she was compared to the other Alliance troops; several immediately offered her beds in their houses. Surprised and somewhat embarrassed, Silica politely turned them down, saying she preferred to stay with her comrades.
As she passed some buildings being repaired by NPCs and Alliance troops, music and singing came into earshot. Silica wasn't that surprised to round the corner and find a mixed group of players and NPCs in the middle of the street. They were all either playing, dancing, or drinking, or some combination thereof. Chuckling, she thought back to the party they had thrown in the Dicey Café after Kirito had rescued Asuna from captivity in Alfheim Online.
Liz-chan would fit right in here, she thought as she watched the revelers. Klein-san too…
She turned abruptly and continued toward the barn.
This place sure was nice, but it wasn't nearly as nice as being with her friends in the real world. Or being home with her family. Remember what Kirito-san taught you. You will survive. You will finish this game.
And just as Silica knew that Call of Honor Online wouldn't last, she also sensed that their time in the cozy little snow-covered town was drawing to a close. Quickly. This was a war game, and they were on the front lines. The NazBols were going to strike back, Silica just knew it. She could tell many others in the unit – Mongoose, Jackson, even G-Takusu – secretly felt the same way.
As she entered the barn and headed to her allotted space in the hay for a nap, Silica's stomach tightened. It's only a matter of time.
"Wait - you're leading our team?" asked Liz the morning after Kirito and Argo had returned to HQ.
"Co-leading," corrected Kirito.
"Oh wow, Kirito, that's awesome! I'm not surprised, really."
Kirito, Liz, Argo, and Snow were sitting in the mess hall, finishing up their breakfast. Argo had just wrapped up her account of yesterday's mission to Liz and Snow. That day hadn't exactly been relaxing for Liz. Upon learning that Argo had taken Kirito for a secret mission, she had worried a great deal – and not just about the fact that Argo had picked Kirito and Kirito alone. Now, though, she felt nothing but happiness for her crush. It just seemed right – Kirito being a leader. Not that Argo was a bad one; on the contrary, Liz considered her an excellent leader. But she felt confident that the Black Swordsman would be just as good if not better.
Snow took the news rather passively, as she did with most things. She had raised her eyebrows a millimeter when Argo described the nuclear threat, and Kirito could have sworn she rolled her eyes just now when Argo announced his promotion. Thinking of Snow made him remember something.
"Argo, why d-… you told me why you picked me," he began. He felt that mentioning Argo's trust in Kirito as her reason for bringing him would make everyone uncomfortable due to the implication that she didn't have the same confidence in Snow or Liz. "But skill-wise, Snow definitely would have been the better choice, right?" His competitive side whined; it hated when Kirito admitted that someone else was better than him at video games.
Argo turned to Snow, who sipped her drink. "It involved sniping, right? Unfortunately, sniping is one of the few things I don't excel at."
"Well, isn't that too bad," mumbled Kirito.
Liz absently gave him a light slap on the head before sending Snow a look of disbelief. "But I've seen you knock the caps off of Militiamen with your assault rifle!"
"True. Very true." Snow paused, letting Kirito fume about her alleged ego, before continuing: "But it's the weapon itself I seem to have trouble with. In all honesty, if you put a sniper rifle in my hands, I'd look at you like a seven-year-old who's just been told to cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring."
The other three laughed, prompting a miniscule grin from Snow. As he chuckled, Kirito thought back to the moment he had met her. She had been comically irate at him for Diving into a death game. Since then, though, he had rarely seen her display much emotion. As if sensing his thoughts, Snow looked away, tiny smile gone. Her eyes returned to being as cold as her drink.
Just then, an officer entered the mess hall, motioning to Argo. Argo stood and beckoned Kirito to come with her. Awkwardly, Kirito rose, leaving Liz and Snow at the table. The officer didn't seem particularly worried about them listening in, though. "Just informing you that you have a new mission. Mordred wants to see you about it in his office."
"Can the rest of my team come?" asked Argo.
"Yes."
"Yo, Liz-chan, Snow-chan, let's go. Mission briefing."
A few minutes later, the four Spec Ops troops sat in front of Mordred's desk. The Commander appeared very busy. Maps covered his desk and the surrounding furniture. The man himself was immersed in one of his computers. He continued reading and typing, occasionally making notes on the maps, before sighing and turning to them. "My apologies. Fighting a war can be a bit stressful," he said with irony. "Now, about this next mission." He picked up one of the maps and held it up for them. "The Fundamentalist Militia may have ceased to exist, but a few of them are still kicking – including their leader." He held up a photo of a bearded man dressed in all black with sunglasses and combat boots. "Al-Asad. Nasty little cybervillain. We think he's gone into hiding, and intel suggests he's likely somewhere in this village –" he pointed to a spot on the map – "under the protection of the NazBols. Your job will be to get there and capture him before he can escape."
"If you don't mind me asking, sir," interrupted Liz, "why do we need to capture him?"
"He might have some important information that we would love to get our hands on." Mordred's expression grew grim. "We don't know for sure, but judging by the level of complexity this game's NPCs are programmed with, it's quite possible that… information can be obtained… forcefully."
"Torture." Snow's voice was cold as usual.
"What?!" Kirito jumped up, hoping he had misinterpreted something. But Mordred's expression only grew grimmer.
"I'm afraid so. Hopefully, we won't have to find out if torturing NPCs for information is possible. But understand this, Kirito: we need information. Badly. Our intel has dried up, and something just isn't right. I'd order all positions to go to high alert, but we can't sustain that status for long."
Argo added: "And this al-Asad – he and his Militia were responsible for shooting, stoning, and raping thousands of NPC civilians. I wouldn't exactly feel too sorry for him."
Kirito didn't respond. It still didn't sit right with him. He was reminded of his argument with Asuna regarding using NPC villagers as monster bait back in SAO. Asuna had argued that using such a tactic would hasten the game's completion and quite possibly save lives, but Kirito still opposed it. No matter how much he hated Kayaba Akihiko and the virtual world he trapped 10,000 people in, he also appreciated the virtual world itself – its beauty, its complexity… it had value, and nothing evidenced that more than the NPC named Yui.
Thinking about Yui sank his spirits even lower. Did Yui know what was going on? No, she was safely inside his NerveGear at home. Yet that would that she would take bad news regarding Asuna even harder…
As Kirito's thoughts drifted away, the briefing continued. "There's something I don't get," said Liz. "If al-Asad has important information, and if he isn't useful to the NazBols anymore as an ally, then why haven't they just killed him?"
"Good question." Mordred furrowed his brows. "It may be that the NazBols still see some value in him. But the fact that they're hiding him near the front lines, rather than deeper into their territory, suggests that he is bait. They may be expecting us to try to get to him."
Liz looked around at the others for their reactions. Argo had a pensive expression; Snow wore her usual emotionless mask; and Kirito was still staring at the ground.
After a moment, Mordred sighed. "I know this is a lot to ask, but believe me, if I didn't think this was a risk we need to take, I wouldn't be asking you. Can you sneak past the front lines, find al-Asad, get whatever info you can from him, and make it back in one piece? We can offer you air support on your way back, but for the rest of the mission you'll be on your own."
Argo frowned, more as a sign of deep thought than of rejection. Then she answered. "We can do that. We're capable, right team?"
Snow nodded. Liz nodded. Everyone looked to Kirito. Liz wasn't entirely sure he had been listening. Finally the boy raised his head. "For Asuna," was all he said.
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. Next one will be long. As always, feedback is appreciated!
