Okay, so here's the small side story about the DDA that I've "promised" at the end of chapter 28 of "The Hollow Instructor".
What's the purpose? Well, it's mostly that there'll be five members of the DDA that will play a major role (six, actually, but the sixth one is a special case). This story will establish what kind of background I'll use for them and what their goals are, so I don't have to mention every single time that their characterisation isn't necessarily completely compliant with Progressive, IF or whatever else you might've come across.
Furthermore, the DDA is mostly an occasional antagonist in The Hollow Instructor, and recently, I've realised that my ideas for the guild might make them look a bit too much like bad guys or even assholes, so I wanted to provide some context.
I'd also like to mention that there will be four canon characters (although you might've never heard about one of them) and one OC.
Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online Re:Hollow Fragment or Sword Art Online in general.
Shortly after reaching the 90th floor, the leaders of the DDA held a meeting at their headquarters, which they had moved to Triberia on the 77th floor a while ago. The attending people were Lind, Schmitt, Shivata, Yamata and Sunny Tzu.
As they took their seats around the conference table, Lind opened the meeting.
Lind: Alright, let's discuss what we've learnt about the ninetieth floor. With… [slightly annoyed] that arrangement, we have to make the most of it. [slightly sternly] We knew about it in advance and have prepared a rough plan, so how is it coming along?
Lind turned to Yamata, who sat to his right, leaning back in his chair in an extremely casual manner. The only thing that was missing was that he'd put his feet on the table… Lind had to suppress a sigh just looking at Yamata. The sub-leader was always way too laid back in his opinion.
Yamata begrudgingly began his report. He didn't like these scouting missions since they always had to retreat before the real action started.
Well, it was still better than the supply missions. Just working his butt off for the sake of their elite fighting force would be worse. Thankfully, that was Shivata and Sunny Tzu's job.
Yamata: Well, we've explored the islands in the west and south of the floor, and we've also made it to a settlement in the far east, so we're going to explore the surrounding area next. There are some pretty neat quests. Also, there are two dungeons in the south that we should check out.
Yamata turned to Shivata, who sat opposite him.
Yamata: There's also the labyrinth just north of Koyornos. Just one hour and you're there. Anything new on the permission to take a peek inside?
Shivata: Given that getting to the labyrinth seemed to be way too easy, Asuna-san and Akinym-san have agreed to sending a scouting party to see what's inside. The other guilds still won't be permitted to go on missions on the floor, but our scouting party has to team up with the KoB's Team B to make sure that we're only scouting the place.
Yamata [slightly upset]: What, they're giving us a chaperone or something? [slightly haughtily] Well, why not? I wouldn't mind showing the Knights some neat tricks!
Lind [exasperatedly]: This is an important mission, which is not meant for you to show off, Yamata! [calmly] Shivata, I'd like you to make arrangements with Asuna-san for that scouting mission. If possible, I want to do this during the next few days. [to Yamata] Now, are there any good hunting grounds? You haven't said anything about that yet.
Yamata [annoyed]: The entire floor is shit if you ask me! [slightly annoyed] The undead and knights on the floor are actually decent targets, but these wasps are freaking pests! They're literally everywhere, always get in the way, and you get hardly any EXP or drops from them!
Lind [slightly contemplatively]: It sounds like an obstacle that we need to get rid off… We've seen such things before. Are there any leads for a quest to exterminate them or something?
Yamata: Well, I have a few guys look into it as we speak, but at that town in the east, people talk a lot about a wasps' nest to the north. And yeah, there's a dungeon on the underside of an island in the north-east. Looks like a giant hive. I've went inside, [slightly annoyed] but there's at least twenty of these things right at the entrance. They're not that strong individually, but taking out a whole swarm… [slightly haughtily] Well, with bigger numbers, it would be a different matter. Hey, Schmitt, care to do some pest control?
Schmitt, who sat left next to Shivata, just frowned. It was more than obvious that Yamata only wanted to get out of the scouting missions and have "an adventure" that was worth boasting about. Schmitt, however, wasn't eager to raid a gigantic wasps' nest without any intel on it.
Lind: Keeping your enthusiasm aside, Yamata… [to Schmitt] What do you think? If we send our elite force with another party as backup, can you clear that dungeon?
Schmitt thought about it for a moment before shaking his head calmly.
Yamata [upset]: What is it this time, Mister Worrywart?! I'm telling you: These wasp monsters aren't that strong!
Schmitt [slightly sternly]: That's not the problem! If two dozen wasps at a time is everything we'd have to deal with, we'll be able to clear that dungeon without problems, but you've said yourself that you didn't make it past the entrance. Who knows what will be in the depths of that place. If we have to go in there, I'd recommend to form a bigger raid party with the help of other clearing guilds.
Yamata: Dammit, that sucks! Hey, Shivata, didn't you say the Knights would probably be the first ones to need help, so we could show up as the overall more capable clearing guild?! I was looking forward to seeing our rivals come begging for help, [very upset] but now we need to do that?!
Sunny Tzu [casually]: Now, now, keep calm, Yamata-kun! No need to be so dramatic! This is all about what's best for clearing the remaining floors, so it's a question of humility to accept the problem we have and turn to the others for help. Besides, if we can clear this floor better afterwards, it's certainly worth it! [slightly teasingly] It's also a good opportunity to honour the arrangement Shivata-kun has made!
Shivata had to channel every ounce of self-control that he had to avoid frowning or groaning. Yamata's thirst for glory was already a pain to deal with, but Sunny Tzu – or "Tzu", as everyone called him – was significantly worse.
Sunny Tzu was a man in his early twenties, and he was at least a little bit older than any other leading figure of the DDA. He had named himself after General Sun Tzu since he had dreamt about becoming a great strategist in SAO. In the end, that had led to some sort of rivalry between Sunny Tzu and Shivata, who was basically in charge of guild politics. Well, that and Sunny Tzu's desire to climb to a position of power.
Shivata had to remind himself that his poker face was one of the reasons why he had been chosen as the DDA representative in the Assault Team Council, not Sunny Tzu.
Shivata [calmly]: I can relay that request without problems! It should be easy to convince the other councilmen that we're only acting in the players' best interest. Needing help with a major dungeon is no shame, especially since we don't have a brilliant military strategist like, let's say, Sun Tzu.
Now it was Sunny Tzu's turn to hide his irritation.
Sunny Tzu: Well, I guess I don't have to worry in that case! I was just mildly concerned that you'd run into problems if Akinym-kun would happen to object, Shivata-kun. After all, you complain quite often that your knowledge as a student of politics doesn't seem to be enough to counter his arguments!
Shivata didn't take kindly to Sunny Tzu's attack on the other reason why he had been chosen to be their representative in the Council. He had been studying politics at university before SAO. To be fair, he had just started the degree course, so it wasn't as if he had extensive knowledge of politics, but he avoided mentioning that at all cost.
He really wanted that seat in the Assault Team Council, and it wasn't just because of the recognition as a leading figure of the Assault Team. This cursed game had already disrupted his studies – his entire life – and it might even ruin his entire career. At the very least, Shivata wanted to claim that he had proven himself to be a good politician and diplomat in this forsaken world – and that was exactly why he couldn't stand Sunny Tzu's ambition to replace him.
Shivata: I don't recall mentioning some of the things you've said. Besides, you should read the protocols sometimes, Tzu! It might give you an idea as to how annoying he can be to deal with. [flatly] It's a bit suspicious how often he ends up siding with Asuna-san and the KoB, if you ask me. If you really want to worry about the workings of the Council, maybe you should direct your attention to that topic.
Lind slammed his fists onto the table. Everyone else was startled and turned towards him, and they could clearly see that he didn't want to listen to their dispute any longer.
Lind: That's enough, you two! We're not here to fight, but to cooperate! Yamata, try to find out if there's something we can do in that wasps' nest dungeon to stop the wasp monsters! If there is something, we'll contact the rest of the Assault Team and ask them for help. Therefore, try to take care of this before the next council meeting!
Yamata just nodded in response.
Lind rested his head on the back of one of his hands while massaging his temples with the other hand. These fights between the sub-leaders were a never-ending annoyance.
He respected all of them as his capable comrades. Even Yamata – despite his boastful and sometimes slightly careless nature – had a way to contribute to the DDA's success. He had a way with the lower-ranking members, and most of them held him in high regard. Yamata knew how to boost the morale, and that was a very valuable skill in their situation.
Shivata in particular had been Lind's companion for a long, long time – at least it felt that way. Despite that, Lind wished that he would find a way to work together with Sunny Tzu rather than getting into fights with him on a regular basis.
Their were members of the same guild, they should all work together to clear this game. The entire Assault Team should work together for the greater good rather than bickering with each other over what should be minor issues. As far as Lind was concerned, the Assault Team Council was nothing more than the proof that the Assault Team worked suboptimally.
Lind often remembered how Diavel had told him that it was the responsibility of the strongest players to clear this game, so other people in SAO could stay safe and keep their hope for freedom. Therefore, he had tried to turn the Assault Team into a relatively small, well-organised and exceedingly strong elite force, which would clear the game while the remaining players supplied and supported them. That way, they could've cleared the game while keeping everyone safe as well as possible.
It had never worked, though. First, there had been Kibaou and the ALS. Lind remembered how he had usually been at odds with Kibaou, although they had pursued the same goal. How much easier would it have been if he and Kibaou had fought alongside each other as true comrades rather than rivals who didn't fully trust each other? Would Diavel have even wanted that?
Shivata and Sunny Tzu's constant arguments actually reminded Lind of his time as Kibaou's rival. Lind sometimes wondered what exactly Kibaou was doing these days.
He had learnt from Asuna and some other sources that Kibaou had used his position in The Army only for his own personal gain. What a disgraceful turn of events! To make things worse, he had been thrown out of the guild, and now… Now what? Kibaou had been a leading figure of the Assault Team, clearing this game as he should, and he had turned into a vicious dictator, and after that, he had become a person that belonged nowhere.
Thinking about this made Lind wonder what might become of Asuna. He respected her prowess as a player and her skill as a commander and leader in general. Under other circumstances, he'd be pleased to work with her towards beating the game. However, he couldn't accept the KoB's principle of sharing resources with just anyone.
Dividing vital resources among a large group would weaken the elite, and allowing "everyone to get stronger" would lead to subpar players joining the frontlines. Lind thought that Asuna was a smart person, so why couldn't she see that this would only lower everyone's chances of survival?
There were times when Lind wondered if it had something to do with Kayaba Akihiko – or Heathcliff, as he had called himself. Who knew what the creator of this cursed world might've done to sabotage the Assault Team's efforts…
In hindsight, a lot of things seemed quite fishy to Lind. When the ALS had retreated from the frontlines after the 25th floor, Lind had wondered if the Assault Team would've finally been united for real, even though he had regretted the circumstances. However, just at that time, the KoB had appeared. Admittedly, it had boosted the morale a lot back then, which might've been favourable, but it had also crushed Lind's dream of reuniting all players among the Assault Team under common leadership.
That alone wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been for the fact that the new leading figure of the Assault Team turned out to be the culprit behind the whole death game! On top of it, Asuna and the other sub-leaders of the KoB decided to keep the guild running despite this revelation.
Whenever Lind thought about this, he couldn't help but wonder… Had the sub-leaders of the KoB been in on this? Had they known who Heathcliff really was and what he might plan to stop the players from leaving this world – his world that he had apparently dreamt of for a long time? Some people claimed that Kayaba Akihiko was giving them a fair chance to escape, but Lind had doubts.
Now, let's get back to the question who knew about Heathcliff's true identity. It struck Lind as odd that Heathcliff had hardly taken the spotlight himself. Usually, the sub-leaders had done the direct work while he had remained behind the scenes, probably to keep an eye on the system, and some people in the KoB might've known about it. What if Kayaba had given them secret orders, too?
There was also the actual revelation of Heathcliff's identity and his duel against Kirito. Had this really been what it had seemed to be? Lind had witnessed the duel, and while it had seemed like a true, no-holds-barred fight to the death, the outcome was suspicious. He had clearly seen that Heathcliff would've dealt a decisive blow if this mysterious system error hadn't occurred just at the right moment. The timing had been too perfect.
Lind wasn't sure if Kirito or Asuna or just anyone had been in on it, but he thought that this whole duel was just a deception to allow Kayaba to leave the scene without causing too much suspicion. Admittedly, he didn't have any proof, but Lind didn't really trust the KoB or anyone who was affiliated with it.
If only Diavel hadn't died… Especially right now, they really could need a leader who undoubtedly had no goal other than freeing them all…
However, who had they got in this situation? Not such a leader, that was certain! When Lind had tried to establish the DDA as the leading force among the Assault Team to make sure that clearing the remaining floors would go as smoothly and efficiently as possible, who had appeared?!
It had been the Hollow Instructor, Akinym! At first, Lind had actually believed that Akinym had had a plan to do exactly what he had tried himself: letting the DDA take over as the leading faction of the Assault Team.
Alas, what had really happened?! Akinym had turned on them, supporting the idea of this… council instead! It had taken a little investigation, but Lind had discovered that Akinym's so-called "plan" had been a trick, which had been supposed to make Asuna change the KoB's policy, merely using the DDA as leverage.
On top of that, there was this member of the guild that had been one of the Hollow Instructor's students. Said member had revealed certain aspects about Akinym's past after Akinym had become a council member, especially that he had brutally killed an orange player. Frankly, some people had thought that Akinym killing that bandit wasn't different from killing members of Laughing Coffin when the Assault Team had raided their hideout. Lind, however, wondered if such a person was truly fit to represent a faction of the Assault Team.
To be honest, what Akinym had done reminded Lind of PoH's schemes. At the same time, his actions had established the union of the smaller guilds as another major player, so they didn't have to deal with just the KoB, but also with them!
On top of that, there was also what Shivata had mentioned. Akinym seemed to side with Asuna quite often. They also seemed to work together relatively closely. Futhermore, Akinym's partner, the archer, seemed to be quite close to Asuna, too. It was suspicious.
What if the whole Assault Team Council had merely been a plot to secure the KoB's leadership, masked by the principle of a majority vote?!
Even if that wasn't the case, Lind was sure that he couldn't trust Akinym. The Hollow Instructor clearly had his own intentions, and he was willing to use any questionable means that were necessary to reach his goals.
Frankly, Lind wasn't even sure what was going on in Akinym's mind… During the last boss battle, his partner had been in mortal danger, and he had performed random stunts in the middle of the boss room. Who would do something like that?!
Yet… This person had become a council member, which put him into a position that was similar to Heathcliff's. That combined with the aforementioned PoH-like schemes… Yeah, they basically might have PoH in Heathcliff's position now. A horrifying thought…
Once he had finished this thought process, Lind turned to the sub-leaders at the table again.
Lind: However, while we're talking about it, has anyone an idea what we can do about the Council? We can't let our influence go to waste, but if Akinym-san… I mean, the smaller guilds always side with the KoB, there's hardly anything we can do about it.
Before their "politicians" could say something that would probably cause this discussion to get out of hand, Schmitt spoke up.
Schmitt [slightly exasperatedly]: Lind, don't get me wrong, but aren't you exaggerating? I get that this whole Council business is important, but I have this feeling that we'd only end up causing more trouble for Asuna-san and the KoB, maybe without any need.
Frankly, Schmitt thoroughly disliked all these political machinations. It only reminded him of the schemes that had taken places around his old guild, Golden Apple.
This actually led to another issue. While Schmitt was overall indifferent towards Akinym, he actually respected Asuna as a person. If it wasn't for her and Kirito, he'd probably be dead now, and unlike Lind, Schmitt didn't doubt her loyalty to the Assault Team. In his opinion, her actions spoke for themselves.
To be perfectly honest, Schmitt didn't want to have anything to do with some of his guildmates' shenanigans. He didn't care about fame or power or high ideals, he just wanted to survive this damn game. Joining a strong guild like the DDA had seemed like a good way to pursue that goal, but by now, Schmitt had started to wonder if it was truly worth it. Not that he knew where else he might go…
Sunny Tzu: Schmitt-kun, I think you misunderstand the situation! We're merely trying to set the Assault Team on the right course, and we can't trust certain individuals to do that, so we have to find the right way to do it ourselves. [slightly haughtily] And I just happen to have an idea how we can ensure our influence!
Lind [interested]: Go ahead!
Sunny Tzu: What we have to do is to make sure that the small clearing guilds vote in our favour! If they do, even Akinym-kun won't have a choice but to go along with it. In order for that to work, there only have to be enough voting guilds that see things the same way as we do among the Assault Team.
Shivata [slightly exasperatedly]: So you wanna persuade the other clearing guilds to support us?! That's your "brilliant" idea? Tzu, seriously, we already tried that, and it didn't lead anywhere, despite the fact that we actually had things speaking in our favour back then!
Sunny Tzu: Let me finish, Shivata-kun! I know that, of course, but here's the thing: We failed last time because we tried to win the guilds over that were already a part of the Assault Team. [slightly exasperatedly] They were all just too biased, so we had no chance! [slightly mischievously] What we have to do is to win new members over to our side!
Lind [exasperatedly]: Tzu, are you talking about the applicants for the Assault Team? You know how I think about adding players who lack experience to the Assault Team at this critical stage of the game. The current Assault Team should be enough to clear the remaining floors.
Sunny Tzu: Be that as it may, but there are people who will still risk their lives trying to join, right? Wouldn't it be better to give them guidance? Besides, there is no obligation for them to join the most dangerous missions like boss battles, and we might also convince them to leave that to the more experienced players!
Lind had to admit that Sunny Tzu had a point.
Sunny Tzu: I can take care of that with my party, no problem! Once we've cleared the ninetieth floor, our other units won't have much to do anymore, so they can also join in. We show the newcomers on the upper floors the ropes and help them level and farm for their equipment! They should all be relatively unbiased, so we can show them that the rumors about our guild are really nothing but rumors. At the same time, we can direct their attention to some of the… problems we've discovered, and when they join the Assault Team, they will help us to solve them!
Lind was overall interested, and Yamata wouldn't mind showing off in front of some "newbies". Schmitt was the only one who thought that this would only cause more problems, and he wished that Lind would notice that Sunny Tzu only tried to earn praise for his "great idea". Their leader was just too gullible when a plan seemed to support his goals.
Shivata could see the potential of Sunny Tzu's plan, and it irritated him a bit. Even if they couldn't establish their "pawns" in the assemblies of the small clearing guilds, increasing the number of voting members would water down the influence of the individual groups, which would weaken the already established, generally anti-DDA clearing guilds.
Shivata: And what are we going to do if the other council members catch on? They're not dumb, and I'd say they have even more influence on the choice of new Assault Team members. They might reject our "protégés" on principle.
Sunny Tzu: Well, in that case, it would be your job to make it clear that they're just picking on us and on players we've helped, wouldn't it? I mean, we're just helping other players, right? If these people end up being qualified fighters who would be a great addition to the Assault Team, allowing them to join will obviously be the right call. [slightly contemplatively] Besides, doesn't Akinym-kun do something similar? I've heard he has taken interest in a certain guild lately, and who knows what hidden intentions he might have…
Lind certainly didn't like the idea… It would make sense for the Hollow Instructor to exert influence on people through training. Akinym might plan to do the exact same thing Sunny Tzu had suggested.
As far as Lind had heard, Akinym usually tried to suggest certain proposals for the Council, but the actual, voting members of the assembly had to approve it. Otherwise, the suggestion wouldn't even be discussed. His position didn't allow Akinym to vote himself even after joining the Assault Team, but if he arranged for some "puppet members" in the assemblies of the small clearing guilds, he'd be able to pursue his own goals – whatever these goals might be.
Lind: We certainly can't turn a blind eye on that possibility.
Sunny Tzu: Let's not forget about the other benefits! With this floor rotation we have, we don't have to compete with the smaller guilds for resources anymore, so there's nothing to lose. In fact, we might even secure some of the materials that the small guilds get on their floors. We can recommend the merchants and craftsmen we do business with to these new Assault Team members, claiming that they offer excellent prices. Nobody will – or even can – suspect anything since they don't sell unneeded items to us directly. They just happen to sell it to our suppliers!
Frankly, Lind didn't like some of the devious elements of Sunny Tzu's plan, but he figured that it was for the greater good, so he'd go along with it.
Shivata could tell that this was Lind's thought process, and he wondered what he could contribute. He wouldn't let Sunny Tzu be the only one to get credit for this. The only question was what he could add.
Shivata: Well, if we do this, why not go all the way? We could try to establish a new representative for the smaller guilds, one that is more open to our ideas. If we get enough votes, we can replace Akinym-san. It's not like most of the guild leaders trust him or like him at all, so if some people start suggesting a replacement, more than enough should follow.
Schmitt [mutters, exasperatedly]: Are you just trying to make your job in the Council easier? [says aloud, slightly doubtfully] Will it really be that easy, though? I mean, we'd have to find another suitable representative first! The lack thereof is the reason why they've chosen Akinym-san as their representative in the first place.
Shivata: I have someone in mind. An overall reliable info broker. They're probably our best chance. Representatives need to be well-informed, so why not someone who deals with information for a living? Besides, merchants weren't really an option since they might be influenced by their business partners, but info brokers don't really have an issue with limited stock quantities, so they could do business with anyone. If we get all or at least most of the small guilds to do business with the one I have in mind, there won't be a problem with favouritism. [slightly contemplatively] If we do it right, we might even establish that guy as some serious competition for the Rat, so we don't have to rely on her so much.
To be honest, Lind was intrigued by the idea, even if it was only because of the prospect of removing Akinym from the Council. He didn't really have anything against Argo, who was just doing her job most of the time, although the fact that the most important info broker seemed to be much closer to Kirito, Asuna and the KoB irked Lind a bit.
Lind: Alright, we'll go with the idea. [slightly contemplatively] But we'll do so with care. Tzu, you've got green light for your idea, but I want you to gather intel on the potential groups first. Prepare a list, and I'll choose our candidates! There are some people I really don't want in the Assault Team.
Lind thought about some of the rumors he had heard about certain groups, not the mention the impression he had got from some of the aspiring Assault Team members. Alberich and Aincrad's Glory gave him really bad vibes in particular.
Now that everyone had their assignments, the meeting came to a close.
So, another side story is finished. I don't really have anything else to say this time.
See you for chapter 29 of The Hollow Instructor next!