A/N Chapter two is here. Now gotta say this chapter does feel a little... setupy. So might be a bit slower then y'all are used to from me.
[Beta: Agent 94, Tri-Edge]
A cloaked figure traveled through the dense forest of the First World. Their face was obscured by a maroon hood, with gold stitching decorating the edges.
Unbeknownst to the lone player, an enemy monster was slowly tracking it. The beast- a Dire Wolf- slowly lowered its hind legs, before pouncing towards the player. Its large body knocked down a branch while doing so.
The player's head tilted towards the creature, before a silver blade pierced the monster's Dire Wolf burst into polygons, leaving only its blood behind. The player sighed in relief before pulling their hood down. Chestnut hair flowed down the back of the cloak as she pulled a canteen from her inventory to drink from.
Asuna grabbed a small rag from her pocket to clean the blade of her sword with. Look at me, running around a sci-fi world with a freaking sword.
In truth, she had little other option. Asuna was one of the five million players worldwide stuck in StarNought Online, however she wasn't exactly meant to be. The only reason she was here was a dangerous amount of curiosity.
The NerveGear that trapped her here wasn't even Asuna's. It was her brothers. When he had left for a business trip, Asuna decided to try out the game he had been so excited to get. What was that old saying about cats and curiosity?
After SNO became a Death Game, Asuna had secluded herself within the City of Beginnings just like so many others, squandering away her limited col on food and lodging. When she finally ran out of money, Asuna's reality finally set in. She knew she was going to die in this game, but how she died was up to her.
So she went to the Space Port, hoping to find some fighter who would give her old equipment. Low and behold she found a beta tester willing to give her his old sword and cloak. The man had looked on her with pity at the time, she couldn't figure out why.
The sword he had given her was called a "Degen", and the description said it originated from Switzerland. Not that the lore mattered much. What mattered to her was whether it could stab or not. Lucky for her it filled the role excellently.
After gaining her only weapon, Asuna decided to march off into the First Worlds forest and fight until she died. To her, going down fighting was a far better option than sitting in some inn withering away.
What she didn't expect, however, was how easy the monsters were to kill. She didn't even have a gun and she had yet to lose a single point of health.
If this is how easy the game is, how have they not cleared it yet?
It was starting to actually give her hope that maybe they could clear the game and escape. At least until she mercilessly crushed said hope. Don't let yourself get disappointed. It can't happen.
Suddenly, Asuna heard a commotion ahead of her. She drew her blade and rushed into the trees. She heard screams, accompanied by the sound of gunshots and blades hitting flesh. Asuna doubled her pace before finally breaking through the treeline into what appeared to be a large clearing. In the center of it, a lone player was battling a pack of Dire Wolves, with one massive one at the forefront of it all. The player, a blond boy, didn't seem to be on the winning side of the front.
The boy's rifle seemed to have either jammed, or run out of ammo, as he had resorted to using the bayonet to fight the wolves off. One of the pack jumped towards the player, only to be impaled by the long knife. The monster didn't disappear until it hit the ground, therefore dragging the rifle and bayonet from the players hands. Before he could recover it, one of the wolves had stepped over its disappearing comrade, snarling at the unfortunate boy. He began shouting something in english, the translator built into the game helping Asuna understand it.
"Help! Please, anyone!"
Asuna was already running towards him, sword poised behind her. Before she was even halfway to him, one of the wolves pounced, latching onto his arm. The player screamed, before the rest of the pack followed the first, knocking the boy to the ground. With one last ear piercing scream, the player burst into polygons.
Asuna Froze. She'd been too late.
The large wolf, who had yet to move, suddenly turned towards her with a growl. A name appeared above its head.
Lycene the Wolf King.
The wolf pack emerged from behind their king, each poised to strike. Asuna took a step back in fear, as the first monster pounced. She didn't think she would be afraid, she came here to die after all. She was wrong. Asuna screamed as she crossed her arms before her eyes and dropped to the ground, waiting for pain to come.
It never did. Instead, she heard something that sounded like steel meeting flesh, followed by the whimper of a dog. Asuna slowly opened her eyes, surprised by what she saw.
A man stood in front of her, with striking blue hair drawing her eyes. He was dressed in an outfit reminiscent of an officer's uniform, with a blue cloak the same shade as his hair draped over his shoulders, and a handgun strapped to his left thigh. In his hand, the man held a long blade that reminded Asuna of the fencing sabre her brother used, only without the curve.
"Are you in need of assistance?"
"P-please." Asuna felt she could be forgiven for the stutter. The man nodded in acknowledgement before shifting his grip on the sword. Asuna heard a click, before the edge of the blade suddenly took on a fiery blue glow. The plasma sparked and hissed as it ran up the edge of the sword, over the tip, and ended along the false-edge on the back.
The man in blue suddenly dashed forwards, slashing through the first wolf before it could even fight. The rest of the pack attempted to use their numbers and rush him. The player jumped between them, thrusting, cutting, slashing. Asuna had never seen anything like it. His blade left a blue trail in its wake, like the senko hanabi she had once seen at a festival. Patterns and waves wove through the air, bringing death to the monsters. Finally, only Lycene was left. The massive canine circled the player, snarling and snapping at him. The man just stood in place, waiting. Lycene finally took the bait, swiping a paw at the man. Not a second later, said paw was flying through the air.
Lycene cried out, maw hitting the ground without support. The mysterious player approached the boss monster, before plunging his blade into its skull. Lycene let out one last whine, before disappearing.
The player's cloak fluttered in the wind, the motes of light left over from all the monsters flowing around him, giving him an almost legendary image.
"W-who are you?" Asuna barely managed to squeak out. The man turned towards her while sheathing his now plain sword.
"The name's Diavel. Don't worry, you're safe now."
Diavel approached her slowly, before extending a hand to the terrified girl. Asuna took it gratefully, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet.
"So what's a low-level player like you doing all the way out here?" It took Asuna a moment to figure out he was speaking to her. She was still shaken up from the near death experience.
"I-I was hunting nearby when I heard a scream. When I got here another person was fighting the wolves. But I wasn't fast enough to save them…"
Diavel cursed. "Damn it. If I had gotten here sooner."
His face was pinched in frustration, a clear look of regret present.
"Which way did you come from?" He asked softly. Asuna pointed towards the path she had originally been following. Diavel sighed in response. "That makes sense. You were in a low level hunting ground, however this is a mini-boss arena. The path runs parallel to it so clearers have easy access to the boss without having to fight their way through the forest and exhaust supplies. I assume the sadly deceased player stumbled upon it by accident."
Her savior opened his menu, operating it with one hand while speaking. "Are you only equipped with that sword?"
Asuna nodded before realizing he wasn't looking at her, but the menu. "Y-yes. It was the only thing I could afford. It's a hand-me-down from a tester."
Diavel's menu disappeared as an item generated in his hands. He tossed it at her, causing Asuna to scramble to catch it. She glared at him after she did, before looking at the item.
Brown leather was the first thing apparent to her. It was a belt, with brass fastenings. Hanging on the side appeared to be a holster with a right triangle shape.
She opened the flap to find a large revolver, with a wooden grip. Before she could inspect it further, a menu popped up in front of her.
[PLAYER: DIAVEL WOULD LIKE TO TRADE]
[ACCEPT] [DECLINE]
Asuna clicked accept, and was surprised to find he had already added something to the trade.
[AMMO: .357 (50)]
"This is too much! I don't have anything to give you in return."
Diavel gave her a small smirk. "Well I'm not a fan of leaving fair maidens defenseless." She rolled her eyes at the remark. "Not to mention there is one thing you can offer me."
Asuna suddenly realized where she was, alone in the woods with someone much more powerful than her. If he wanted her to do something illicit, she had little chance of refusing. Running was probably her best option.
Before she could entertain that plan any further, Diavel noticed her tense stature. "Oh, I just realized how that could sound out of context. Sorry, let me try that again. Why did you leave the City of Beginnings?"
"Huh?" She was more than a little confused at the change in subject, but decided there was nothing dangerous about telling him. "Well, I didn't want to waste away in the city. I decided that if I was gonna die, I was gonna die fighting."
"Heh, you have a fighter's spirit." He pointed past where the Dire Wolf pack had been, into the forest. "If you go straight that way, there's a small house. In it, an NPC is giving a quest to get a ship. Which ship you get depends on how good you complete the quest."
"You still haven't told me why you're helping me. What do you want in return?"
Diavel shot a charming smirk her way. "Simple. If you complete the quest, I want you to help me clear the game."
Asuna ignored yet another pack of Dire Wolves as she ran through the forest. Diavels words stayed on her mind as she headed towards the quest he mentioned.
"Why me? Seems a little random to recruit a low level player." She asked, still suspicious of the man.
"Because you're not the only one. I've been recruiting anyone willing to fight. Why else would I be in the Beginners Forest?"
His answer had helped alleviate some of her underlying concerns, such as him just recruiting her because she was a girl. According to her brother, that happened pretty often in games where girls were the minority.
Still, she didn't trust him. She didn't know enough about him to trust him. But, she did owe him, both for saving her life, and for giving her a chance to survive.
Asuna could see a break in the trees ahead of her, so she ran for it. When the game originally started, she put all her starting points in agility. At the time, she had been thinking of movies like the Matrix, with the lead heroine pulling all sorts of acrobatic kicks and the like. But now, she used the extra speed to her advantage.
Rushing out of the tree line, Asuna was surprised to find a large two-story cabin sitting in the middle of the clearing. It was massive, seeming to house a guild rather than just a few people. Behind it, she could see what looked like four barns stacked side by side. A woman was standing outside the cabin, with a large [?] over her head. Asuna approached her cautiously, not wanting to mess something up.
"H-hello?" Asuna cursed her stutter, but to be honest she was quite nervous. The NPC, who until that point had remained perfectly still, suddenly jumped to life.
"Oh thank the Gods, someone came! Miss, do you know how to pilot a Starship?"
Asuna hesitated before answering. Technically, she didn't. But she had a feeling that the quest would only be activated if she said she did.
"Yes, I do." The NPC perked up immediately.
"Oh please brave pilot, you must help us! A small pirate fleet has been terrorizing the area around here, and we can't stop them! My husband has a few ships out back, but he was injured recently and can't fly them himself. Would you be willing to use one of his ships to drive back the pirates and save us?"
[NPC HAS OFFERED A QUEST: "PIRATE FIGHTER". WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCEPT?]
[YES] [NO]
Asuna accepted the quest, causing the [?] above the NPCs head to turn into a [!]. A name also displayed under Asuna's health bar, informing her 'Alyssa' was now a member of her party.
"Please follow me, I'll show you to the ships and you can decide which to use." The woman turned and headed around the house, with Asuna following her after a moment's hesitation. Alyssa led her to the barns in the back, before all the doors on them suddenly opened.
Four ships sat dormant, one in each barn. Or hanger, rather. They were arranged from smallest to largest, right to left, with the smallest being the size of a mobile home and the biggest being a little smaller than Asuna's manor in real life.
As the doors opened, four menus appeared in front of her. Each one listed a ship's name and description, as well as the stats of each.
The first ship was listed as a Dodger class Star Fighter. It was a small thing, with two crescent shaped wings that held a pair of plasma cannons. Those were its only armaments, with not even a deflector shield to its name. From its stats, Asuna could tell it was supposed to be a faster ship, not really meant for direct combat.
The next ship was listed as Phaser. It was pretty similar in shape and size to the Dodger, but it was bulkier, with more cannons and what looked to be missiles decorating the wings. It was a decent ship, with great stats, but something about it just didn't click with her. Asuna moved on to the next one.
The third ship had a more appropriate class name, Asuna thought. It was listed as a Juggernaut class, and boy did it look it. Oversized and bulky, with a laughable acceleration, it was clearly a ship meant for taking hits. It had an impressive arsonal as well, with six cannons on either side, and four missile pods. Asuna wasn't a fan, however.
The final ship was simply listed as M-Class. It didn't even say if it was a fighter or not, although Asuna personally thought it was way too big to be one. When she saw the stats however, her eyes widened in shock. It was ridiculously broken. The stats were all pretty high, creating a 'jack-of-all-trades' feeling around it.
The M-Class's description claimed it was built for versatility, offering a large area for cargo, living quarters, and a large five person cockpit. On top of that, its offensive capabilities were immense. The description claimed it could outperform most Fighters in dogfights. Its arsenal included several kinetic cannons, as well as plasma torpedoes and missiles. It was the perfect ship, even if it did look a little strange.
Asuna selected the M-Class, but when she did a warning popped up.
[WARNING: CHOOSING THIS SHIP WILL SET THE QUEST TO ITS HIGHEST DIFFICULTY. DO YOU WISH TO CONTINUE?]
She clicked yes, and the menu faded away. That ship was worth doing the most difficult quest.
"Oh I just knew you'd pick that one. It's the best one after all! Come on and I'll show you around." The NPC made off towards the M-Class, leaving Asuna to scramble after her. The woman took Asuna onto the ship via elevator, but she told Asuna that there were plenty of other ways to board. When they got inside, Asuna was blown away by how large it was. She wasn't given time to explore however, as Alyssa immediately escorted her to the cockpit.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to stay on the ship while you fight the pirates. I've always wanted to see a dogfight!"
Asuna was a little hesitant to allow it, but decided to in the end. After all, the girl might end up being useful.
"Sure! Do you know anything about flying?"
"Not a lot, but my husband taught me a few things."
Perfect. Asuna could treat the girl as a co-pilot, thus hiding her inexperience. She totally thought of that before and definitely didn't just come up with it. Yeah, real convincing, me.
"Could you start the ship for me then? I'm not quite used to the controls on this ship."
The NPC girl did so, powering the ship up with a few switch flicks. Asuna was surprised to hear what sounded like a growl as the ship revved up. The Alyssa then pushed her throttle forwards ever so slowly, taking them out of the barn. Once out, she pushed it back into center position, and waited for Asuna to do something.
Alright, so that lever is the throttle, I have the steering wheel thing in front of me. What could go wrong?
Asuna grabbed the throttle and pushed it all the way forwards. She was blasted back in her chair as the G-Force hit her like a truck. She realized the tree line ahead of her was approaching rapidly, so she pulled the wheel in front of her back like she saw in the movies. The ship turned at a ninety degree angle, shooting directly upwards.
"What the hell is this sensitivity?!" Asuna shouted, cursing for the first time in her memory. The NPC co-pilot stayed silent the entire time, completely frozen in place. Asuna always found that trait to be particularly creepy, not that she had too much time to dwell on that now.
She eased the wheel down, slowly straightening the craft out. "Okay, I got this. No problem."
"Pilot, look! There's the pirate fleet up ahead!" The NPC suddenly shouted, startling Asuna. She could see the fleet the other woman spoke of though.
Fighters soared across the sky, leaving vapor trails in their wake. Asuna couldn't get an exact count, but there were a good number of them. Nothing else though, no huge capital ships like she expected.
One of them must have spotted her, because a small squadron of four suddenly detached from the main group to intercept her.
"Okay, so if I had to guess, the triggers are probably what controls the big guns outside…" As the first fighter came into range, Asuna tested her theory, pulling the triggers on the front of the wheel.
Eight rows of tracer fire suddenly blasted the fighter, and its escorts, to scrap.
"What the hell was that!?" Asuna shouted, before shouting again as Alyssa came to life again.
"Ah, those were Amosh model 46 Gatlin cannons. There's four mounted in a diamond shape on either side of the canopy!"
So she had four mini-guns on both sides of her. Asuna was suddenly far more confident in her survivability.
The rest of the pirates noticed their breathrens death, and decided to converge on the source. They didn't have any formation or the like, just a mish mash of random fighter models suddenly heading towards Asuna with gusto.
Asuna took a deep breath, before pushing the throttle all the way forwards. The ship suddenly launched forwards, throwing Asuna back just as it had before. She was seconds away from ramming the first ship, so she held down the trigger.
The turrets spit fire, destroying five ships in one go. Asuna blew past the rest, who all turned in pursuit.
Blasts hit the M-Class's flank, most being diverted by the deflector shield. Asuna was suddenly jostled as one hit the ship proper.
"Reminder, plasma based weaponry can be used to circumvent shields!" The NPC happily chirped.
"Little late on that!" Asuna said back, before her foot bumped something under the consol. Curious, she took a quick look and found a set of petals. "Wonder what this does?"
She pushed the right petal down, and was surprised as the ship began to rotate around its y- axis.
"Huh, this could work."
Diavel was enjoying a nice cup of tea as he watched his newest recruit attempt one of the more difficult beginner quests in the game. In truth, she was actually the first one he had found, but that didn't mean anything he said to her was a lie. He really did plan to start recruiting anyone willing to fight, even if they had spent the last three weeks wasting away in the City of Beginnings.
Still, this girl was proving to be quite interesting. Diavel sipped his tea calmly as he watched her ship suddenly spin in a complete one-eighty, suddenly diving back towards the NPC pirate ships. Her cannons blasted them away with ease, with none of the return shots hitting as the girl executed a series of maneuvers that Diavel hadn't even seen a pro beta tester pull off before.
She was spinning, cutting, and shooting her way through what looked like forty ships. Diavel smiled to himself as he watched her go. He had certainly found himself a natural.
Another ship down, then five more. Asuna smiled to herself as she shot down countless fighters, destroying them with ease. She didn't know why Diavel warned her the quest would be difficult. It seemed downright easy. There was only one ship left now, the only one that didn't come after her immediately. It began to move now, slowly speeding up to trail after her.
Plasma fire trailed towards them. Asuna decided to let those shots hit, as they didn't damage the ship too much. Her plan backfired as the ship suddenly shook with impact, as warning lights flashed all over her console.
"Warning, kinetic damage taken. Evasive maneuvers advised."
What the hell? Asuna knew the shots had been plasma, so how had they taken kinetic fire, and through her shields?
She cut into a dive, attempting to put some space between her and the other ship. It followed suit, however, showing far more talent than its underlings had. Asuna let the ship get uncomfortably close to the ground, before turning ninety degrees and flying horizontally to the surface. The other ship turned sooner, Blasting more rounds at Asuna. She started weaving back and forth, zig zagging away from the shots.
As one of the plasma blasts passed her, Asuna saw something trailing after it. It's a bullet…
So, the NPC was firing a kinetic round immediately after the plasma, which would circumvent the shield, allowing the second round to hit? It was certainly smart, and something Asuna would never have thought of. Then again, she wasn't actually sure how to fire anything but the main guns yet.
Still, she had to defeat him somehow. Asuna was willing to bet he had shields as well.
"Excuse me, but do you know where the controls for the plasma guns are?" She asked Alyssa next to her.
"Of course! It's the red button on top of the yoke." Asuna realized the thing she had been calling the "Steering wheel" the whole time was the yoke. At least there's no real pilots here to hear that…
The red button was there as advertised however. Perfect.
Asuna brought the M-Class up into a controlled ascension, pushing the throttle as far as it would go. The g's hit her with the force of a truck. She shot towards the sky at such speeds that even her tail was having trouble catching up.
"And…. Now!" She cut the thrusters, letting the ship list backwards. The whole thing flipped one-eighty, where her NPC friend was still trying to catch up.
"Heh, Sorry about this." Asuna mashed the red button before following up immediately with a trigger pull. The shot was true, as it cut through the shield and blew her opponent to pieces.
"WOO HOO! I did it!"
Diavel knew if someone saw him now, they'd see an embarrassing sight of him with his jaw on the floor.
That crazy girl had managed to see through the NPCs' secret attack, and then copy it. That was a level of adaptability he hadn't seen since the final battle of the beta. He hadn't been able to find the player he saw back then, but this girl, this pilot, could be just as crucial.
The ship came down to land in the clearing, where the quest had started. A few moments later, the hatch on the bottom half of the nose opened up, revealing a girl skipping towards him happily.
"Diavel! Did you see that? I was awesome!" The girl preened happily, so much so that he couldn't resist.
"Yeah, that was some impressive flying. But you should go talk to the quest giver now. To finish it, I mean." Asuna nodded before turning and skipping back to the ship.
"Heh, she certainly cheered up." Understatement of the year, in his opinion. The girl was downright suicidal not twenty minutes ago, and now she looked as if she could take on the world.
A few minutes later, she finished speaking to the NPC and walked back over to Diavel.
"She let me keep the ship!" Asuna said with a smile to rival the sun.
"I thought she might. What's its name?"
"The ISC Wind Fleuret. According to the quest description, the names for the ships are randomly generated, so my Wind Fleuret is the only one!" 'My' Wind Fleuret? Someone was attached to their new ship. Diavel could see why, if that battle was anything to go on.
"Well Asuna, how about that offer I made you before. Are you willing to use your talent and ship to help free us all?"
He held out his hand, and after a moment's hesitation, Asuna shook it.
"With pleasure."
Kirito sighed as he watched the vast expanse of space through the porthole in his cabin. He'd been traveling on the Anneal for a few weeks at this point, helping ship cargo and merchandise from space port to space port.
During the actual voyages, he didn't have many tasks to complete. Being so high in the ships ranks would typically mean he had administration duties, along with some command. That didn't really apply however when the ship consisted of mostly NPC's, since they were on a set schedule every day. If it were a player run ship, he would have been a lot more busy.
The lack of work meant he had a lot of time to be alone with his thoughts, something he really didn't appreciate. The reality of his situation had already set in weeks ago, but that didn't stop all the negative thoughts he'd had. It didn't help that he hadn't seen other players since Centoria. He had heard that there were a few player controlled vessels out there now, although he knew they were probably just starfighters and the occasional cruiser. He was aiming for something higher, however. He wanted the Anneal.
The quest-line wasn't unknown to him. Work on a ship long enough and the game it'll give you said ship. The problem was, the bigger the ship the longer the quest took. It didn't matter to Kirito, however. He would have the Anneal. He needed it, after all the ship was probably the most powerful one available at the moment.
The ISC (or Independent Star Cruiser) Anneal was a Strident-class Frigate, one of the largest ships available before the third World, with the only comparable one being the Pikeman-class Frigate.
If Kirito had control over the Anneal, he would have a serious chance at surviving this game. Which meant a chance to see his sister, Suguha, again.
Kirito pushed that thought out of his mind. It wasn't good to dwell on the outside world. He was here, now. He had to focus on today's problems.
Pushing up from his mattress, Kirito opened his inventory before equipping his shirt. He stood in front of his mirror, staring at the patch of lighter colored skin on his chest.
Scars were an interesting thing in video games. Most had them available as cosmetics and nothing more. StarNought, however, had a more realistic approach. Scars were generated from particularly deep wounds, and only went away when a player died and respawned, something that was no longer an option for Kirito.
He poked at the thing, reminded of the moment he got it. Up until that moment, the reality of death had not really sunk in yet. But as he had laid there, impaled by the harpoon, the fear of death had struck him hard. Kirito now knew he would do anything to survive this game. He refused to die.
The intercom in his room crackled to life. "First lieutenant Kirito, please make your way to the loading bay."
Kirito sighed before reopening his inventory. The Anneal had landed back in the City of Beginnings that morning, though he had yet to disembark. The few communications he'd seen between players suggested that the city was in a depressive state, with the vast majority of the player population hiding away in the various hotels and apartments. It was disgusting in his opinion. They should be fighting for a way out if they hated it so much.
Regardless, he was told to report, so he would. Kirito wanted to use the gear he obtained on Centoria, but he hadn't found an NPC skilled enough to repair it yet. Instead, he equipped a grey set of officers' fatigues. His original handgun had been busted beyond repair, so Kirito had obtained a new one, an Old World revolver called the 'Rhino'. It had a peculiar design, with a hexagon shaped cylinder. The barrel was stationed on the bottom of the cylinder, rather than the top, something he had never seen before.
Giving himself one final check-up, he nodded and headed out of his room. The loading bay was towards the front of the ship, and was really just a repurposed hanger. On the way there he passed several NPC's doing their daily tasks. The engineers, who were easy to spot because of their red shirts, were helping fix some pipe in the wall that had come under disrepair. Officers would occasionally pass him in the hall, faces blank and facing forwards. Kirito ignored them as he reached the entrance to the hanger, stopping for a moment to let the doors slide open.
The loading bay was easily the most active part of the ship, with crewmen moving cargo out via crane and lift. It was filled with incessant noise, something Kirito had come to appreciate despite the annoyance he'd originally felt. It didn't take him long to find the source of his summons, as the captain was standing at the open hanger doors with two strangers. Kirito approached with haste, coming into range of the conversation after a few seconds.
"-terms are certainly reasonable, and with what you're offering I can't really say no. Very well you have a deal." Anders held his hand out, and the taller of the two, a man with blue hair, reached out to shake it. The other person didn't move. Kirito couldn't really make out much about them since they had a cloak covering most of their body, with the hood flipped up.
He did notice that they both carried swords on their hips. The blue haired man had a backsword with a simple handguard. Kirito saw a small switch towards the top of the hilt, but didn't know what it could possibly be for. The other person had what looked like a swiss degan, though Kirito could only see the hilt poking out.
"Ah! Let me introduce you to my First Lieutenant. Kirito, this is Diavel. We were just discussing me selling the Anneal to him."
Kirito just barely managed to hold his surprise in as he shook the blue haired man's hand. Diavel smirked. "Kirito, huh? Haven't heard that name since the Beta."
"You were in the Beta?"
"Yep, although I went under a different handle. I was in the Battle of Dai."
Kirito's eyes widened at Diavels words. The Battle of Dai was the final battle fought in the Beta, and one of the few he participated in. It was a raid on the eighth planet, predictably called Dai. Kirito had participated in both the space battle as well as the ground conflict. It had been hard fought, but they managed to claim the world before the end of the Beta.
"Heh, always nice to come across another clearer. Do you intend to continue where we left off back then?"
Diavels gaze hardened. "I do."
"Then I hope you'll allow me to join you. I am rather fond of this ship." The two men nodded at each other, a level of understanding passing between them. Kirito managed to push his initial annoyance at losing the chance to command the ship, even if it did upset him. Still, his goal of staying on what was probably the safest ship was complete."Although I do wonder how you managed to buy the Anneal. It's only been, what, five weeks?"
"Let's just say it's something I learned in the Beta." Diavel stepped back before gesturing to the cloaked figure. "This is my right hand, Asuna. She's probably the best pilot I've ever met."
Asuna nodded towards him, but otherwise stayed silent. Kirito figured she probably didn't trust him too much, which made sense since they just met.
"When do you plan to ship out?" Kirito asked his new captain, adding 'sir' at the end as an afterthought. Diavel smirked when he did.
"Probably not for a week at least. I don't have as many recruits as I'd like yet, nor as many ships. I won't have need of your services until then, so feel free to embrace the city." Kirito took the dismissal for what it was and headed out of the hangar, towards the Space Port. All in all he didn't know what to make of this new captain. On one hand he was happy to finally be making a push towards clearing the game. On the other, he had wanted the Anneal for himself...
"So?"
"I don't like him." Asuna said, a sharp scowl on her face. "He seems too young. Not to mention we don't even know if he's a good officer. Why let him retain his rank?"
Why indeed. Asuna hadn't been in the Beta, so she wasn't quite in the know as he was. Diavel hummed but didn't comment. He watched the black haired boy walk down the docks with a considering expression on his face.
He'd seen that same boy on Dai, although he had looked quite different at the time. The things he'd done had been instrumental to their victory, though he didn't seem to know it. Still, Diavel was happy to have him in his service, especially because of the strategic advantage it gave him over the other small war-parties that had been forming. The player base would have no choice but to flock to Diavels banner.
Diavel, the Savior of StarNought Online. It had a nice ring to it, he thought.
"I'm not trusting him for no reason, Asuna. He has a bit of a reputation."
Asuna stared at him from under her hood, before bowing her head. "As you say. I trust you."
He had no doubt in that. Asuna was an intelligent girl, but far too trusting. All he had to do was give her a purpose and some aid and she treated him like some messiah. It was good he found her before some player with darker intentions came across her. Still, she was valuable to him. Not just for her piloting skills either. She was very well read, coming across as a very academic girl. Diavel wanted to point that mind of hers at the enemy.
"Asuna-" The girl looked at him expectantly "I need you to coordinate boarding and housing for the crew we have so far. Make sure not to use the good Lieutenant's room."
"Understood, Diavel." She turned to leave, but hesitated. "Sir, if you don't mind me asking… What did he do in the Beta that was so important?"
"Won the final battle."
A/N Okie so for anyone who isn't familiar with the ships used here, the strident class is from Halo (4 and 5 specifically). The M-class is from the MCU. Specifically the class of ship that the Guardians use in the first two movies.
Quicky shoutouts. Agent 94 has updated 'Merchant Prince of Aincrad' so I recommend you check it out. Flames 'Caring For A Rat' is still getting updates, which are usually beta'd by me. Aperax has finished the first Arc of 'Fifty-Fifty' which I recommend heavily. Easily my favorite fic.
Anyway, I should probably go write a review for a certain angsty kitteh. Speaking of which, please review. Its what keeps me writing.