(Kirito's Perspective)

After escaping the Special Operations base, I headed down to the slums as Yui indicates. She wanted me to find some maps.

"Then we can get into the tower easily, and we can find some better equipment along the way." Was the line that sold me on the concept.

I descended into the slums and got yelled at by several people with badges for carrying weapons within the city limits. One in particular seemed to be in a hurry to get me out of the city, even going so far as to tell me that any maps I could find are worthless. He did tell me where I could find some maps though. I left and stashed my weapons outside the city in a manner Yui suggested, a dirty rucksack that inexplicably can hold a two foot long rifle inside of it.

As I walk the streets, I still get eyed up and down, but nobody seems to be outright hostile anymore. I head for the map shop indicated by the sheriff guy.

"Is that it?" I ask Yui. Since I had to ditch the visor, she's currently communicating to me through an almost invisible earpiece.

"I am unsure, though this does seem to be the shop. It does have the word 'maps' written on it."

"Okay then." I take a breath. "Let's go." I knock on the door. After a few seconds a grumpy-looking old man opens the door just enough to peer at me with one eye.

"Whaddaya want?"

"I... I'm looking for some maps." I supply.

"You got any weapons on ya?" His eye narrows suspiciously.

"I disarmed myself before entering the city." Which is technically true, but not really that honest.

The door swings open wide enough to allow me to enter. The shop is dark and gloomy. Large cabinets hold what must be thousands of maps. In the center of the room sit three wooden desks with lamps on them to look at the wares. I look around for a few minutes before actually attempting to pull a map out of a cabinet. The one I draw out seems to be relatively useless for my purposes as it details a shallow cavern formed of fallen planes near the edge of the server. I'm specifically looking for a map into the central spire, where the end of the simulation is, and if I come across any, A map that leads me deep enough to find some good weapons to get me through the spire's dungeon in one piece.

"Is that whatcher lookin' for?" The old man leers over my shoulder, startling me.

"Agk. No, I need one of the surface around the spire and one that goes very deep." I point to the map I had drawn. "This one details something way out on the border."

"Ah, Then you'll need to check this section." He points to a cabinet of the far side of the room.

I wander over to the cabinet the man suggested and pull out a random map. Laying it down on the desk, the light from the lamp reveals that it does indeed lead deep into the layers that make up Gunstorm.

"This looks pretty straight forward. How close to this is this to the bottom layer?"

The mapmaker shrugs. "Nobody's ever gone deeper than 'bout a mile down. That map ya got there is about three quarters that distance. Most of them start to see things when they get down too low." He spins his index finger around his ear. "Some of them go crazy."

"Pleasant." I look back at the map. "So, there's at least a quarter mile I can descend if I follow this map down to the bottom of it?"

The man purses his lips. "I guess. Never thought of that myself."

I smile. "Alright, I'll take this map. Now, I just need a map leading to the spire in the center of the simulation."

"Why d'you need that?"

I glance away from the map and look at the man. "I don't know where it is."

He gives me a withering look. "It's a bit hard to miss."

"Yes, but I can't enter it if I don't know where the entrance is."

"That won't be a problem, trust me." The map man takes the rolled up map and looks at a stamp on the back corner. "This will run ya 500 Col."

I hand the sum over and take the map. I leave the small building just in time to see something disturbing. Klein, Lizbeth, Silica and a few others I don't recognize are heading for the shop I had just left.

I quickly vacate the area.

"Yui, where's a good place to lie low around here?"

"There's a hotel..."

The bed was nicer than any I'd slept on in forever. I passed out as soon as I hit the sheets. That night, I dreamed of people, faces I hardly recognize, taking turns grabbing a knife stabbed into me and twisting, all with grins on their faces.

Uhg. My nightmares are getting less and less subtle.

I stumble downstairs to find that the woman who had checked me in last night is now wearing a frilly maid's uniform and is holding a spatula.

"Hello, Mr. Klutz. Did you enjoy your rest?"

I make an effort to smile at her. "The room was very nice, thanks."

"I'm making breakfast now. If you want some, come by the kitchen."

I nod. "Thanks. I'll be there in a few minutes."

She turns to leave but stops before she gets through the door. "Oh, several other guests checked in after you did last night."

"Oh, great. Thanks for the heads up." I again attempt to smile at her. I think I forgot how to do that though, and instead it was more a grimace.

"Yui, where's the entrance on the map in relation to where we are?"

Yui's voice comes through the earpiece. "It's not quite that far. About a day and a half over rough terrain to the east."

"Alright. We'll leave after breakfast."

I head to the dining room. I can faintly hear lots of voices around the corner, but I ignore them in favor of getting to the food. I sit at one of the tables and the woman who runs the inn puts a plate of something unidentifiable in front of me. I thank her out of courtesy and prepare myself to eat it.

Yui chirps in my ear. "Receiving data packet."

I quickly cover the small device with my hand. "From where?

"The other group. Someone transmitted what looks like routing data to everyone within a certain radius of themselves. We happen to be in this radius. From the type of data, it appears to be a recent military survey."

"So those people over there are military?"

"Most likely, yes."

I quickly attempt to stand up, but my leg trips up the maid as I scramble up.

"Mr. Klutz! I didn't see you there! I apologize." Oh, I registered under that name.

"No big deal. I shouldn't have had my foot out like that." I say amicably.

I realize that the other guests have gone completely silent.

"Kirito?" Comes Klein's voice.

More silence.

"Oh sssssshit."

I'm glad I paid in advance. I hardly have time to fish the room key out of my pocket and throw it on the table before I see the blond woman with Klein and the rest yesterday round the divider separating me from their group. She grabs something from her bag and points it at me.

I didn't know they made guns that small.

The bullet tears into my shoulder. I hear something shatter behind me, but I have no time for that now. I bolt for the door.

"Yui, now would be a good time to lead me back to my stuff."

"Turn right here."

I duck another, much louder shot and turn the indicated corner.

"How many of them are there?"

"Seven. One is wearing Navy colors, one is wearing Coast Guard colors, and the other two are from the Special Operations division. The other three are familiar to you. Turn left here."

My boots leave skid marks in the dirt as I attempt to change from running full tilt in one direction to running full tilt in another. "So, why are they going dungeon delving?"

"Do you want me to devote resources to figuring out their current mission?"

Another gunshot. I don't see where this one goes, nor do I really care as long it didn't go through me. "Sure! But let's wait until we're out of here, yeah?"

"Affirmative. Take the third left and climb up on the roof of the blue building."

Somewhere along the twisty path, I lose my pursuers. I continue to run as fast as I can just in case they're still on me right up until I get back to my stash. It's untouched. I quickly unload my gear and strap it on.

Yui pops into my vision once the goggles are on. "Ah, I missed visual representation." She sighs contentedly. "Now, follow the arrow."

"Where are we going? The arrow points south, and I thought you said the map's entrance was east."

"It is. I thought you would want to check out what those seven that were chasing you were doing."

"...Good point." I shift the backpack higher on my shoulders. "Okay, let's go."

(Klein's Perspective)

"Shit!"

Lizbeth kicks a garbage can off to the side.

"We lost him." Hisashi grimaces. "He's certainly fast."

I nod. "He was always fast. Only person faster than him was Asuna- The orange haired girl we think is being held hostage. She was lightning quick whenever she wanted to be."

Christopher sighs heavily. "Two jobs? Come on." He groans to himself before standing up straight. "Let's go save the pretty girl. Asuna. Your boss said she's a higher priority than the guy we evidently can't catch, right?"

"Technically, we're just supposed to find Kuradeel and stop him from detonating a bomb. The fact that he has a hostage kind of pales in comparison to holding the entire server hostage."

Christopher gives a nod of recognition. "Yeah, sure. Why are we still chasing this guy then?"

I point to Henrietta, whose eyes are scaring people out her way with their intensity. She clutches her rifle hard.

"It is inexcusable to let him go."

I resist rolling my eyes with all my might. "I have a feeling we don't have to."

Chris smiles, unlit cigarette clenched in his teeth. "So, we're giving up on him completely?"

"No." I bring up the map Henrietta had sent us all earlier. "Henrietta, how large did you set the broadcast range when you sent this?"

"I sent it out with a three meter radius. It was necessary to reach everyone. "

"And was he sitting in that range?"

Lizbeth rubs her jaw. "Well, he was on the other side of the wall that Henrietta had her back to."

"I bet he was!" Silica says.

"And due to his natural curiosity, he's likely to check out our map rather than whatever he had bought for himself." I smirk.

"Then it's now a race to see if we can beat him down to Asuna." Lizbeth snorts. "Okay, let's go to the helicopter. We can't afford to waste time."

"Wait." Henrietta stops Lizbeth. "What if he doesn't follow our chart?"

"Then we'll still be following orders. This new mission takes priority."

The female sniper kicks the dirt and growls to herself, but turns to follow us as we change direction to head for the helicopter.

I match pace with Lizbeth. "Thanks for that. I can't convince her of anything."

Lizbeth looks back at the still grumbling woman. "She does outrank you, technically. It's only due to the weird circumstances that you're in charge."

I shake my head. "That sheriff we got directions from? He used to be on her team. She just does whatever she wants normally. I'm just glad someone has even the slightest amount of control over her."

"I'm honored." Lizbeth deadpans.

"Yeah, yeah, cut the sarcasm. Where did you park the helicopter again?"

Lizbeth points up and to the left, over the closest group of ramshackle huts. If I squint, I think I can see it.

"We'd better hurry. No telling what kind of transportation Kirito's procured." Hisashi interrupts us.

"Right." I turn back to the road ahead and press on.

It takes us about fifteen minutes to reach the chopper while lightly jogging. Lightly jogging for me, at least. Silica looks like she was just forced to run a marathon, and Lizbeth is a bit winded. Hisashi, Henrietta, Christopher and Peyton are all fine, probably due to their training.

Lizbeth slides into the pilot's seat without missing a beat. "Everyone in. We're taking off as soon as we can."

I slide into the seat directly behind hers, while Silica joins her up front and Henrietta dangles her legs out the side door.

I stop watching Lizbeth's frantic pre-flight checklist to watch the sniper pull out her rifle, screw something onto the weapon, slide out a panel from the side of the chopper-

Is she mounting her rifle to the helicopter? It turns out she is, and before I know it the helicopter is winding up and preparing to lift off the metal landing pad.

"We're leaving in three!" Lizbeth yells over the sounds of the rotors.

"Three minutes? What's the holdup?"

"No, three seconds!" She pulls on the throttle and we're suddenly not quite as close to the ground as I would like.

Helicopters are a lot smoother than dragons. Dragons have these wingbeats that bump you up and down and threaten to buck you off every downswing. Helicopters, by comparison, are just a load rumbling that vibrates you down to your core. If I had to pick one I liked better, it would be the helicopter. The helicopter is also enclosed, if you don't have a teammate dangling herself out the side to aim a precision weapon at the ground racing past.

The ground whips past, the panels making up the walkable surface blurring into an endless stream of hills and holes.

"Klein!"

I turn my eyes back to the pilot's seat. Lizbeth is stretching her arm back to hand me a headset of some sort. I take it and put it on. The screen lights up to show me a view of the ground rapidly shrinking behind us. I slip the little earbud into my ear. Silica turns back and tosses everyone else a headset too.

"Can you all hear me?" Lizbeth asks.

A resounding chorus of affirmatives.

"Good, 'cause we're about to be under attack." The radar in the bottom corner of the visor shows a red dot approaching us. "Prepare for evasive maneuvers."

Peyton glances around. "Prepare for what?"

Suddenly, the helicopter twists sideways, almost pitching me out of the side door. Peyton loses his balance and is three quarters gone before Hisashi snags his hand and hauls him back into the chopper.

An ear-splitting report comes from Henrietta's rifle. I attempt to see if the bullet found its target but the aggressor is out of my viewing range before I can even identify what it was. The helicopter makes another sickening move to resume our previous path. Whatever our enemy is, it's now directly ahead, and a lot faster than us.

"It's circling back. Klein!"

Lizbeth tosses a small device over her shoulder. I deftly catch it with both hands

"That's the machine gun targeting system. The visor is linked to it. I don't need to tell you what to shoot at, do I?"

Maybe. Still not sure what we're fighting. I twist the knobs around on the device and quickly figure out the proper way to control the gun. "Okay, so turn the gun to face-"

The visor blocks my right eye, but I can see with my left as the triangular jet fighter whips past us close enough that the heat from the thrusters makes us all uncomfortably warm.

The visor beeps to indicate that it has acquired a target. I watch the targeting reticle bob around in an attempt to track the jet fighter.

I roll my thumb on one of the knobs and press the firing button. The helicopter jerks as the gun lets loose a hail of metal in the general direction of the enemy. "Who are we fighting?" I ask nobody in particular.

The plane swings around and is heading back for us again. Lizbeth presses a few buttons and someone else's computer suddenly blocks my vision.

"Chaff out!" She yells, before swinging around sideways again. Another sniper shot. Peyton is now hooked into one of the seats, along with Hisashi. Chris is sighing and tossing a grenade up and down like a ball.

Wait, grenade?

The jet plows through the smoke directly above our now-sideways chopper

Chris stops juggling the grenade and steps to the door. His finger taps on the frame of the helicopter in time with a beat only he can hear. "Liz, tell me when he turns around."

"What's on your mind?" She says back.

"Nothing special." He clamps his teeth down on the grenade ring.

"He just turned around." She points the helicopter back in the direction we're supposed to be heading. "Klein, more targets to the rear. Light them up."

I focus on the video feed to my right eye again. Sure enough several helicopters are closing the distance. Four of them, all painted with jagged red straps. I pick one in the center of the formation and open fire. At first, nothing happens. Then the helicopter I was aiming at slowly starts to drift sideways. The other copters move out of the way as the stricken craft descends to the ground and explodes.

"One down!" I call out.

I adjust my aim. The three remaining helicopters split up and one goes to the left, one to the right, and one climbs upwards. The gun I am controlling can only track upwards so far and I quickly lose track of all three.

I stick the controller into a pocket in the side of my seat. "They're coming around on both sides!"

Hisashi quickly unbuckles himself from his seat and grabs onto the side panel next to me, opposite side of Henrietta. Chris is standing over Henrietta, still drumming with one finger. He leans out the door to look forwards.

"Now." Chris says. He rears his hand back and throws the now-primed grenade into empty air. A second of nothing. The jet plane screams by. Half a second later, it explodes.

"Did... Did you just throw a grenade at a jet plane and hit it?" Peyton asks over the channel.

"Yeah, so?"

"Whu-but- how-"

"Quite, Peyton. The helicopters are almost caught up with us." Lizbeth announces.

"I've got the one on the left." Hisashi says.

"I've got the one to starboard." Henrietta says.

Chris grabs onto the straps of one of the seats to keep himself steady.

I pan around with the turret real quick, but none of the helicopters are anywhere to be found. Instead, I watch the one approaching from the left.

Now that I can actually get a good visual, I find an odd scene in front of me. The helicopters aren't armed with weapons. Instead, they are covered in red stripes and are crewed by people dressed in a combination of several uniforms.

"These guys are pirates." I mumble to myself.

Hisashi takes half a step back into the helicopter as the one on our side gets closer and closer. He looks at me, nods once, and throws himself out the door.

I involuntarily track his movements with my head as if on instinct. He lands on the landing strut of the enemy helicopter, draws his pistol with one hand while grabbing onto the side rail with the other.

One of the pirates opens the door to get a bullet to the face. Hisashi disappears into the craft and the door shuts by itself.

Henrietta's rifle discharges once again, and the helicopter on her side starts to whine as its engine fails. Apparently, the shot hit.

Hisashi's face appears in the cockpit window of his helicopter. He shoots someone and wrestles the body out of the way, then sits in the pilot's chair. He dons the headset and fiddles with some of the controls. "-calling Lizbeth. Do you read?"

"Loud and clear. I didn't know you were a ninja on top of being a spy." Lizbeth comments.

"Not much difference, if you ask me." He calls back. "By the way, there's still a helicopter hovering above you guys, remember? And I have no weapons to wipe them out."

Lizbeth laughs. "Oh, I do. Brace, everyone."

The world suddenly tilts backwards, and I get pressed hard into my enemy helicopter doesn't react instantly and flies right ahead into our sights.

"Gotcha." Silica says. She pulls the triggers on the copilot's yoke and fires a stream of hot lead at the enemy craft.

It detonates before it has a chance to turn around.

"Anyone see anything else?" Lizbeth asks over the radio.

I check the rear camera on the visor. "Nothing behind us."

"Nothing I can see." Hisashi broadcasts.

"Nothing." Henrietta pulls out her spent magazine and pockets it, pulling out another and racking in the first round.

"I don't see anything." Silica says.

"Good job then." Lizbeth says. "We'd best continue on. Hisashi, how's your chopper on fuel?"

"Looks like they didn't load this fully. It's already at less than a quarter of its max. Is that enough to get me there?"

Lizbeth counts on her fingers. "It's not gonna make it. We need to land and get you back on our craft."

"No need. I'll be right over."

(Kirito's Perspective)

"Look up." Yui tells me in my ear. "Behind you."

I glance away from the ground and look in the indicated direction. I can see a few helicopters.

"What's going on?"

"I do not have that information. However-"

One of the helicopters jerks violently, smoke pouring out of its engine compartment and starts careening away from the other two, before taking a nosedive into the ground.

"You know, I really shouldn't be out in the open like this." I mutter out loud. There aren't many hiding places out here though.

The two remaining helicopters are starting to become easy to identify even with my naked eyes.

Oh, right. My suit has built in camouflage. I quickly tap a few keys and my arm fades to a faint shimmer that could be explained as a trick of the light if one doesn't look closely enough. I'm pretty sure nobody will be able to tell while going that fast in their helicopters.

I continue to watch the two machines as the come closer and closer, until I can identify that one of them has the Air Force markings on it, and the other has red stripes painted haphazardly across it. The one with the red stripes abruptly speeds up, its engines whining.

Once the vehicle is about one hundred feet ahead of the Air Force chopper the side door opens. A man appears in the opening, dressed in black.

The helicopters are aimed slightly to my right, so as they pass I can only see the inside the red striped helicopter. I can also see the man jumping from the door of the helicopter in question.

For a moment, I wait to see the man as he falls. When nobody comes from the sky, I continue to track the helicopters. The one with the red stripes starts to drift away from the arrow straight path the Air Force one is taking, listlessly carving a wide arc in the sky.

"Yui, do you know where that helicopter is going?"

"There is little of interest on the surface in that direction, including a lack of Air Force facilities. Given the fact that Lizbeth joined the Air Force and they are headed along the same route you are taking, it is a good chance it is the group that was hunting you earlier."

Sure enough, they're heading directly for the marker Yui put on my map...

"Hey, where's that other helicopter? I didn't hear it crash." I look around, attempting to locate it.

A large red blip is added to the small map in the corner of my vision. The helicopter had continued in a circle, and is now coming quite close. It's also losing altitude gradually.

"It will not reach you, since it will crash before it reaches your position." Yui reassures me.

"Ah, but wouldn't it be better if I could get into it and use it to catch up to Lizbeth and the rest?"

"Yes, that would be useful." Yui informs me.

Heat and sound wash over me as the helicopter comes to an end behind my back.

"Do you think anything useful is in that wreck?" I ask.

"There's always a possibility. If you don't spend too much time there, you shouldn't be much farther behind Klein's group than if you decided to head straight there."

My mind made up, I turn and head for the large plume of smoke rising from the downed vehicle. It's not far away, but it is far enough that none of the broken pieces hit me.

"Hey Yui, why didn't this shatter into crystals like items and monsters when they're all worn out?"

"Technically, this vehicle still has 30 HP, which is steadily decreasing at a rate of 2 HP a minute. If efforts were made to restore it, it is technically recoverable."

"That sounds like something I should do." I Approach the twisted metal hulk which is burning at one end.

"It would take too much time."

I sigh. Oh well. Let's hope there's something worthwhile around here. I slowly start picking through the shrapnel littering the ground. I gather anything that seems useful in a small pile off to the side before taking a deep breath before heading into the remains of the vehicle. It's pretty hard to see with all the smoke, and I find nothing. I don't know if there's truly nothing in there of if I couldn't see it.

I crouch in front of the pile to start sorting through the loose items. "Yui, how much time is left before the helicopter is gone?"

"Seven minutes, forty-seven seconds until it detonates." Comes the prompt response.

"Thanks." I pull a revolver that looks like it would be too small for even Silica from the pile. I pop out the cylinder and dump out the ammo. Yui tells me to keep the ammo, since it's something one of my guns can use.

I don't have anything this small in my possession, but whatever. I get through most of the small pile when Yui gives me a heads-up.

"Multiple hostiles approaching."

"What? From where?"

"From the general direction we came from. They seem to be broadcasting the same identification codes as the helicopter behind you."

I glance over my shoulder at the wreck. Though the smoke had obscured some of the marks, the overall red stripe pattern can still be seen. "And the reason they're hostile?"

"The identification codes they're using are designated hostile by default. They must be either suicidal or prepared to fight any military face they come across."

I take a deep breath and walk around to the back of the helicopter. Here, they wouldn't see me as they approach.

The steady rhythm of the blades holding the enemy craft in the air become louder as the craft approaches. The flames from the broken hull in front of me flicker and dance towards me in the wind. The smoke blows over me and obscures a good part of my vision. By the time it blows away, the other helicopter has landed and troops are stepping out the side door.

One in particular catches my eye. He has an eye patch and is obviously giving orders to the rest of the men. They lack any sort of cohesive uniform, but all of them are sporting the red stripes painted all over their equipment. They also all carry guns with wooden bodies and a curved magazine, some kind of rifle.

The leader nods as the last man steps out of the helicopter. The engine winds down and his booming voice resounds out. "Alright, spread out and see if any of them survived. Scavenge any gear you find too." He makes a series of hand gestures and the six other men walk towards the wreckage in groups of two.

I duck back behind cover and look at the mini map in the corner of my vision. The first group is heading straight towards me from the other side of the wreck. Another group starts picking around in the rubble and the third is moving around the front of the downed helicopter.

I open my inventory and quickly scan through the items.

"Kirito, stop there. See the pistol? It has a silencer." Yui's voice comes through.

"Good. I'll take that and my combat knife."

The two item materialize in my palms and I give them both a brief inspection. The knife is on the large side, closer to a machete really. It's very light which makes it a poor substitute for the heavy one handed swords I preferred in Aincrad. The pistol shoots 9mm ammo, which is one of the medium sized bullets. On the end is a six inch tube that I assume is the silencer.

I attach the knife to my hip with a strap hanging from the end and check that the gun is loaded. Once I confirm it, I slowly stand upright with my back to the shell of flying machine. The two blips on my map are just about to come into sight.

I aim the gun right to where I expect the first of the enemy to appear. Finger on the trigger, aim-

The first man rounds the corner. I adjust my aim and squeeze the trigger.

At that moment, the man stops and moves as if to hold a hand to his ear. The bullet whips right past his face.

Meanwhile, I have startled myself by just how loud the "silenced" weapon was. It's not like it was silent, more like if someone coughed. The man that had rounded the corner, more or less a kid my age had recovered his wits enough to aim his rifle at me. His partner also rounds the corner. Both of them have res streaks painted on their face like claw marks.

The kid shouts before I have a chance to do anything, but he isn't given the time to do anything else as I pull the trigger a few times and take them both down.

I've been in this world for a few days now, but this is my first time actually firing a gun. Something I hadn't realized or appreciated until this moment was just how hard guns are to aim. That sniper that's currently with Klein, Lizbeth and Silica most be really good with her weapons. The recoil too is also heavier than I expected and I almost fumbled the gun.

Several more shouts come from the other side of the helicopter. It's clear that hiding isn't an option anymore.

I turn and peer through the side doors of the helicopter. Only one of the people with the red stripes can be seen from my vantage point. I carefully aim and pull the trigger.

Again the gun threatens to buck out of my hand. However, I at least managed to hit my target this time. The man crumples to the ground.

More shouts. Extremely loud reports come in rapid bursts, presumably from the rifles the enemies are holding. One of the bullets whips past my ear with an audible whine. The plate of metal I'm resting on to stay hidden is now riddled by holes. Their rifles must be pretty powerful to punch through it like that. I take a step back and fire back where the bullets came from, but my 9mm round just bounces off the siding of the downed vehicle.

I lie down on the ground and crawl towards the back of the wreck while keeping an eye on my map. The three red dots cluster together, obviously trying to prevent me from sneaking up on them.

Maybe I should get out some better gear? I take out the visor (I really should have put it on earlier) and slip it on.

Yui appears and gives me a grin. I smile back before scanning all the rest of the data the goggles are giving me. Most useful at the moment is the thermal overlay. Three outlines appear in my vision and show where each of the remaining enemies are. I pick the gun back up to my eye and start stepping sideways to get a firing angle on the trio.

The visor also displays a circle that goes wherever I aim the pistol. That's going to make aiming it a lot easier. I poke my head out from around the fuselage and immediately draw back as three weapons fire back at me. Okay, I need a new plan.

"Yui, have any ideas?"

"I would recommend taking the Barrett M95 out and use it to take care of the enemies without exposing yourself." My inventory opens and displays the long rifle I had packed from the storehouse.

I pull the weapon out and immediately notice the massive weight of it. "Yui, what is this?"

"It's a Barrett M95 Anti-Material rifle. It's designed to be used against tanks and other heavily armored vehicles. It uses .50 BGM ammunition-"

I swing the weapon around and aim it at the trio. It has a large scope on top, but that is probably not going to help since I'm firing from behind a metal wall. Instead, I gently move the gun until the circle is lined up with the three silhouettes on my visor.

"Kirito, it's a bad idea to fire that one standing-"

I squeeze the trigger and almost lose my arm to the recoil. It knocks me backwards and I land flat on my ass.

The visor is jarred off of my eyes as well. I reach up to fix it back in place only to find the last two enemies are moving rapidly around the helicopter in opposite directions. I drop the heavy weapon down and pick up the pistol. My arm still hurts from the shock of the M95, and even just drawing the pistol up to eye level sends a wave of pain through my arm.

Of course, there's two of them, so I'm at a disadvantage. Maybe-

They both appear at the same time, possibly on an unheard signal. The two rifles start reporting and I crash down to the ground. Bullets whiz past in both directions. I roll sideways to avoid the incoming fire, the rounds impacting the ground where I had been. I come to a stop once I hit the wreckage right as the two rifles stop spewing bullets in a hail.

Both of the men frantically attempt to reload their weapons. I seize the opportunity and fire at both of them. My bullets find their marks and the two fall to the ground.

I slowly stand up and look around. I had taken down all six-

Wait, what about the big guy that was leading them? He wasn't even on the radar, so-

I whirl around just in time to see the man I had forgotten about raise a pistol and pull the trigger. The bullet impacts my leg, sending me back to the ground.

"Who the hell are you?" He starts to top over to me, pistol still pointed in my direction. Now that he's getting closer, I can see that he has a Special Operations camouflage suit like I have. "Are you the guy who took down one of our helicopters?"

"No, it was-"

He cuts me off. "I'm gonna make you pay for this. For taking out my men." His pistol is trained on my face.

A timer appears at the edge of my vision, counting down from ten.

What's that for? I can't think of what- OH SHIT.

I get my one good leg under me and rocket forward and up, jetting past the burly man. He turns to follow me, his face confused.

Then the helicopter detonates. A giant fireball so bright that the sky seems dark in comparison. The shock wave sends me tumbling down a slight incline away from the craft until I crash into a rock.

"Ouch." I groan and look around. The man in the camouflage suit is lying on the ground a bit closer to the helicopter, not having been propelled far enough to get sent down the slope like I had. He seems to be on fire.

He gets to his feet and starts shuffling towards me. He no longer even has a weapon in his hand, but he has a disturbing gleam in his eye.

I raise my pistol and fire it three times. All three shots go wide and the slide locks back to tell me that the gun is empty. I grab the machete off my hip and hurl it at him. He swats it out of the air and continues to approach.

I attempt to stand up, but my leg with the bullet wound is still in too much pain and I fall back down to the ground.

The man reaches me and stands over me, breathing heavily and still on fire.

And then he collapses on the ground.

"No life signs detected, Kirito." Yui informs me.

I sigh. "That's... A relief." I again try to stand up, this time being more careful. My leg holds, but only barely. I go into my inventory and pull out a medical kit, using it on my leg. The pain is still there, but I can see my flesh growing to fill the hole.

"With this injury, it's gonna take me forever to get to the opening." I grumble.

"Not necessarily." Yui says. Her projection in the goggles points to where I had come from. I slowly climb back over the hill and instantly figure out what she's talking about. A small smile crosses my lips.

"Well, if they're just going to leave their helicopters out in the open like that, I think they deserve to lose it."

A/N: Kirito has horrible trigger discipline. Do not copy his style.