SAO: FEARFUL RELOAD (2022) (Cancelled)
How the Story Was Meant to Go
Part 3 of 5 – "Raid of the SBC Flugel"
At last we come to the raid on the SBC Flugel. For a quick recap is anyone needs it…
Kunai agrees to reunite with his childhood friend Kureha in the VRMMO named Gun Gale Online. Because of his real world knowledge of combat basics and training from his father, plus his experience of being an SAO survivor, Kunai rises quickly in skill. During his first ever raid with Kureha, they launch an assault against a factory manufacturing automatons. It leads into several new areas as part of the Flugel expansion of the game. Kunai is the lucky player who discovers one of only a small number of special AI companions. Assigned the name of Rei, Kunai has dedicated approximately one week of his time throughout GGO to clearing these new areas with her. His mission to get her to the Flugel, conquer whatever challenges lie ahead and return her home. But many conflicts stood in his way: enemy players seeking to steal Rei away, befriending strangers who at first appear to be enemies and of course the personal dilemma he has with wanting to see Rei go.
Now aboard the Flugel, this arc is largely about action heavily resembling the actual events from the game. Corridors packed with automaton guardians with little to no cover for Kunai and his team. Rooms posing innocently as traps seal them in. Explosive pressure plates. Sudden teleportation pads to rooms filled with danger. Large open corridors and chambers with multiple levels, protected and monitored not just by automatons – but by monsters, mechs and automated cannons. It's fairly hectic all the way through, including the occasional boss monster to stand in the way of their progression.
Whether or not this irks you, I do apologise, because on one hand I am being lazy for rushing these particular details. But this is really all the chapters would largely amount to. Bosses in the past were given a more grand treatment but only because it represented the union of the team put together. What I mean by that, is that Kunai is now trusting and learning from others, so together they conquer a boss and you see everyone use their personal skills to complement the fight. By now, everybody knows the roles that each player serves: Kunai is a combination of someone who plays offensively but also utilises technology for a balanced playstyle, Kureha focuses more on speed and rush attacks acting as a destroyer, Rei and Daisy are the healers – with Rei being more concerned with HP and aggressive but Daisy is about armour and defence, Joe is all about offence but lacking movement compensated through defence, Itsuki is the long-ranged sniper and marksman weakening and taking out specific targets, and finally Zeliska is balanced in a similar fashion to Kunai with greater emphasis on protection and close-ranged weaponry like shotguns and blades. Now these bosses are supposed to be everyone working together well.
I will however, go into greater detail regarding the in-between moments of the action. The parts where the squadron finds something of a safe room every once and a while to resupply and get their cooldowns working. In these places, we'll see different squad members interact with each other about different matters before moving on. I was going to have three of these, making for three encounter sections of fighting, before the third and last discussions concluding with the plan going forth to the final boss.
CHAPTER 30 – "RAID ON THE SBC FLUGEL (PART 1)"
Kunai would try to speak with Kureha. She would be optimistic mostly but there is obviously something bothering her and Kunai asks her about this. She finally expresses, while modestly, that she feels like she may be undermined throughout the team. She acknowledges that her behaviour is a big contributing factor to this, and she will change her attitude, yet she somehow feels like an outcast. Kunai believes this is an act for her to seize more attention, as he would know from his time knowing her before the game. Kunai doesn't fall for her attempt at making him pity her and simply tells her that she is incredibly welcome with everyone. He thanks her for bringing him into GGO and for everything that came of it.
In the meantime, Zeliska doesn't feel too comfortable with Daisy being off on her own but allows her time alone. Daisy wanders over to talk to Rei and the two begin comparing their experiences. Each Type-X is extremely advanced, learning and all that. Rei is more human in a sense whereas Daisy is stoic but that's mostly because it helps her to focus on her goals. Rei is worried that she isn't performing up to a certain standard, but Daisy assures her that her recent battles have cemented an opposition to that claim. Rei maintained her cheerful personality and still managed to do what she needed with the Gatekeeper when it counted. In conclusion, Rei knows when to be serious and when to have fun and enjoy the world she is in. Something Daisy has difficulty with, and she isn't quite sure why but that will be addressed in the next set of conversations.
In an odd pairing, Zeliska talks with Itsuki and Joe who are standing by for any activity. She starts asking them about their place in GGO and where they now stand. This is meant to give us an idea about what Itsuki and Joe actually want to do. As mentioned in the last part of these write-ups: Itsuki would either go back to running Alphard, try serving under the command of Taipan, or disband it and go off solo – whereas Joe would continue to go through GGO alone but help the lesser players rise through the ranks to become more formidable. Zeliska herself gets questioned by Itsuki on what she would do… since Daisy would also likely go when the mission was over. Zeliska said she had no clue. Then Itsuki calls her out for prying into others' businesses and plans when she had nothing of her own. This realisation sticks with her up until the point where Kunai calls everybody to the centre of their saferoom. They banded together and organised their inventory, then set out once more for the remainder of the Flugel.
CHAPTER 31 – "RAID ON THE SBC FLUGEL (PART 2)"
In the second area of the Flugel after another gruelling run of automatons, monsters, mechs, traps, cannons and turrets etc… Now came another area they had to fight through to secure: a vast chamber with containers and crates to resupply and sit upon to collect their thoughts. Kunai located a map of the Flugel for their next encounter and sent the data to everyone else to examine. This time, Kunai was greeted by Zeliska and Daisy who poured over the map together. With the three of them, Daisy brought up to Zeliska something she had always been curious about: about how Kunai and Zeliska were equally protective of their ArFA-SYS companions yet their personality traits are different despite entering the world as blank slates. Kunai believed these units had written personalities and they took a while to fully manifest, but Daisy is of the opinion that it stems from the influence of the master like a parent influences the actions of a child. That didn't quite make a lot of sense to Kunai because Rei would not be as childlike if that was really the case. If anything, she would behave more like Daisy. Kunai remembered back to how he activated and freed Rei from her pod, could his interaction with that pod triggered something? Perhaps it created a basic personality start-up from his perception of the sleeping AI. Now that he mentioned it, Rei did act scarily similar to Emiko, but without information about Zeliska's own history… how is it that Daisy had the attitude she did: stoic and logical? The answer to that comes a little later on. For the rest of the time, Kunai is being friendly to Zeliska but not in the romantic sense. For Zeliska however, she is trying to pass off that vibe to him. Daisy catches on as well but says nothing as to threaten the chance of upsetting her master.
Not too far away Itsuki is listening along with Rei being rather pouty. Rei is being jealous in non-threatening cutesy way about Kunai appearing somewhat happy beside Zeliska and Daisy also being there. She thought to interfere, but Itsuki cautioned her not to get involved and it probably isn't what she thinks it is. Itsuki explains why this is, and Rei found him convincing enough to keep away. Since this odd squadron had grown so close in so short of a time, you could attribute a lot of the members to Rei's family. It gets reflected a lot in their behaviour towards her. While not definitive, this is sort of what I imagine the others to be to Rei: Kunai being the father figure or older brother, Kureha kind of like a mother but more closely to an older sister, Itsuki like a wise uncle or big brother, Zeliska nothing super special but maybe like an aunt or friend, and then Joe maybe being like a father/grandfather or that weird but charming uncle others might have in their family.
Joe would be continuing to monitor the perimeter to keep them protected from sudden danger. Kureha would wander off to meet up with him, mostly because she tired of seeing Zeliska getting so comfortable in the company of her best friend… someone she had secretly always valued more than such. Joe catches on to the idea that Kureha just needed someone to talk to, even if she was too ashamed to say it. With his previous line of work, he understood needing to stay calm even when something bothered him. The two would chat for a while and Kureha would be a little more vulnerable around Joe, as she would start to see more of the kind man he was that Kunai had mentioned. Kureha would start to find the strength to not let everything that currently bothered her, get her down and distract her from what they were all really there for. Whatever Kunai was going through, whatever was happening to him, he did not let it get to his head: the fame, the notoriety, none of it. He had a mission and only cared for what was in Rei's best interest, because of what happened to Emiko. The answer was so obvious but the problem always had been her. Now that her conscious was clear, at least mostly, she could stand more proudly beside him without feeling inferior.
CHAPTER 32 – "DOMAIN OF THE HIEROPHANT"
The squadron would clear the final section without too many difficulties despite the spike in enemy intensity. This is because they are now working together at their peak. Just before the final boss they are faced with, Kunai and the others take a break to organise themselves. They are nearing the end of the day after hours upon hours of gruelling action. If they can finish things up on their end, they can end the day in glorious fashion as the first to clear the Flugel expansion. Kunai and Kureha would be back to talking with each other, with Rei beside them. All of them have a mutual understanding, and Kunai once again reminds Kureha that there are some things left unsaid about his history. He promises that once the quest is cleared and his mind is also cleared, he will share with her once he has his closure.
As far as other conversations go, nothing extensive, but just a topic between the remainder of the characters. Joe would talk with Daisy about hers and Zeliska's dynamic – about how Daisy learned through small talk that he once had a partner during his former occupation in the real world. While not all of the details are given, Joe confirms her theory to be true and Joe talks a bit about it. Daisy learns through his recounting of his days on the force, and tries to apply some of his logic and thinking to her own partnership with Zeliska – to help her, more effectively help Daisy herself, accomplish their mission. Itsuki would talk with Zeliska and Itsuki would decide to open up to Zeliska about what Kunai went through. Even if he believed Kunai would not appreciate this, he thought Zeliska could be trusted. Zeliska was already deeply fascinated by Kunai but this put him in a whole new light to her. Now he appeared more sad than anything. Behind that smile was a damaged and broken young man. On one hand she wanted to help him, but on the other it seemed as though he was already okay and wanted to continue to support him. Maybe, she finally had someone she could understand. Zeliska then tells Itsuki something personal to herself: that she lost her parents when she was very little and could hardly rely on anyone. She relied exclusively on herself but grew to care about others even if they don't quite understand the struggle that comes with losing a loved one. Now she found someone much like herself, who came her by chance, not knowing what might happen, to find themselves, and by the power of their companions they were made whole again. Or something along those lines. Zeliska and Itsuki wandered back to Kunai, and Joe brought Daisy with him back to the group too.
They had no idea what they were in for, so they continued on… locating a Teleporter Gate at the end of the dungeon. They travelled back to town quickly for supplies and fresh stocks of their equipment – everything from grenades to kits to mines. Kunai led the others back to the Teleporter Gate in the Glocken, but before he vanished back into the Flugel, something caught his eye. Another player. Kunai spotted this player as the teleportation started. Then that player, a male, walking alongside another player, stared back to catch Kunai's gaze. Kunai wasn't sure if he was really seeing who he thought he saw, but his pondering brought him back to the night of his first raid. The raid on the automaton factory, where two players of similar description brought down the boss. It couldn't have been them surely?
Well, in any case, Kunai and the others continued through the Teleporter Gate until they were inside of a large hall carved out of the interior of the SBC Flugel Core Control. Twin mechanical slabs pulled apart, revealing a crack of red light, dimming as the core came into focus. The central chamber housing the core was the largest room they'd seen so far, mostly empty space, except for a gigantic black orb with red spherical lights decorating it. This core was equipped with coiling black cables that snaked around into the ceiling above them. A large blue computer monitor the size of a billboard flickered in the chamber. A central platform remained empty with a long bridge extending out to it. The group cautiously stepped onto the bridge, only to see it disappear behind them. It did not vanish unless they moved forward, not placing any unnecessary pressure upon them. They finally reached the platform in the centre of the core control room. Suddenly alarms blared out and an opening in the ceiling formed – out dropped a large automaton roughly similar in size to the Gatekeeper but it was not the Gatekeeper: it was called the Wary Hierophant. Its body and head were covered in slits of glowing green lights. It let out a frightening stuttering roar that caused interference with their HUD before it leaped into action to attack Kunai. He dived out of the way and the others moved into different positions to attack it. It would have been a fairly balanced battle by all accounts, but the Hierophant was a different kind of beast compared to the Gatekeeper. Its attacks hit harder, they were faster and it anticipated all of their movements and commands. It fought extremely well despite being outnumbered and its obscenely large HP count did them no favours. In the end, the Wary Hierophant steadily but surely overwhelmed the squadron with its weapons, firepower, strength and speed. Kunai was the last to fall and in the end they only whittled away nearly half its HP before new attacks were thrown at them. They really wanted to complete this quest before the end of the night, but at this rate they either needed to level up some more or get help from other players who would more than likely backstab them.
This is where Kunai tells the others to return to Zeliska's apartment with Rei. He would wander around for a little bit of time, hoping to find the players he spotted from before and wondered if they were still lurking around. That's when he spots what looks the backs of their avatars. Kunai follows towards the Teleporter Gate. He takes a huge gamble in trying to guess their location, deciding to work from the more recent to the earliest: the woodlands area before the SBC Flugel. He teleports there and is lucky enough to see his hunch was correct. Kunai pursues these two players and finds them hunting down a large pack of monsters in a corner of the large forest obscuring the wreck of the Flugel. Kunai only watched for a few seconds before confirming his suspicions, for one of them at least.
Jumping down to their level, he was recognised before landing. A sudden shot from a sniper rifle whizzed past his head. Kunai felt an odd sense of both dread and comfort. A player, clad in a black coat wielding a charcoal-coloured photon sword, turned to face Kunai. Only one of them was surprised to see the other. It was this swordsman. It really was him from the first raid on the automaton factory as well. And next to him was perhaps, if the legends were true, was one of if not the greatest sniper player in all of Gun Gale.
Kunai identified them through his HUD while they inspected him cautiously with trained weapons: KIRITO / SINON.
CHAPTER 33 – "SWORD AND SNIPER"
Kunai speaks to Kirito and both players acknowledge each other. See in this, Kirito has already met Kunai on a few different occasions throughout SAO. He recognised him during the raid, but did not wish to talk to him for fear of things getting awkward. After learning about Kunai finding the Type-X, Kirito tried to track down and find Kunai but he always evading everyone. So Kirito believed the best way to catch up would be to fight onwards, hoping the intel he received from a reliable source, none other than Argo of course, was false in that the Flugel could only be breached by a player and their party accompanied by an ArFA-SYS unit. Kunai acknowledges Sinon too and she greets him with mutual respect. Kunai explains that while unlikely, he was glad to have a hunch that it was them, and that they need more help with the Hierophant. With the promise of handing over any rare loot and money that came into his possession by the end of the quest, with Argo getting whatever intel she needed, Kunai would require the completion of the quest on that same night… only achievable through the help of Kirito and Sinon.
Without much hesitation, Kirito accepted. Sinon wondered if they she call their own friends for backup but it was getting late and almost all of their friends were either sleepy or busy. But there were those who would be willing to join them. Kirito and Sinon made some arrangements, agreeing to meet them at Zeliska's apartment for a quick meeting. Later that night, Kunai returns to the apartment to the others. He apologises for being late and anonymous with his actions but he was bringing additional support. Half an hour later, a buzz rang out from the door and Kunai inspected using monitors. He confirmed that it was indeed Kirito and Sinon. Kunai stepped outside to quickly make a point that it was best to keep their history about SAO a secret as some knew but others didn't. Kirito understood, respecting his wishes and made sure their backup was informed of the same. Their additional support would arrive shortly. When Kirito and Sinon arrived, aside from Rei and Daisy, everyone else was shocked by their appearance. Two infamous and deadly figures in the numerous players of GGO in their presence. They asked Kunai how he knew the actual Kirito and Sinon, and replied strongly that he spotted them and wanted to ask for their help. Practically everybody besides Kureha understood the truth but were smart enough to play along for the sake of maintaining his secret. A little later on, the others arrived: Asuna, Yui, Strea, Argo, Leafa, Tia and Premiere were all that could be spared.
Asuna nodded to Kunai, understanding his position and need for secrecy. She quietly asked if he was doing okay these days and he assured her that he was. Yui and Strea would be very kind to him, acting as more AI companions to talk to Rei and Daisy – however Strea looking about Kunai's age commented on his handsomeness but Kirito told him not to mind her and she's always been a shameless flirt. Argo was diving in head-first to ask several questions but Kirito pulled her back to give Kunai room. Tia and Premiere were other AI too but a lot more calm than Yui and Strea were, though more because of Strea. They all took some time to settle down before Kirito and Sinon, representing the others, heard Kunai's recounting of their battle. After several minutes of figuring out builds and strategies for the Hierophant, they dress inconspicuously to avoid attracting attention before reaching the Teleporter Gate. Part of Kunai felt doubt wash over him if this would actually work, but it did and the entire squadron was able to reach the entrance to the core control chamber.
Okay, now I didn't know how the fight would progress exactly, but it would be a rough fight even with their newfound strength and numbers. In the end, they would narrowly defeat the Hierophant with Kirito striking the final blow. As promised, everything Kunai earned went to Kirito but he passed it all along to Argo when the absence of any photon swords was made apparent.
The large computer monitor would stop flickering and turn on but nothing would be visible other than a clear screen. The screen would turn from blue to green. A feminine digitised voice would ring out through the control core. Rei and Daisy would be identified and instructed to step forward to the edge of the platform facing the monitor. They obeyed their instructions, but not before turning to say goodbye to their masters. Daisy is softly crying but appears happy, whereas Rei is taking this the hardest. Kunai doesn't wish to see her leave, but he allows to go anyway because this is what this has all been for. But the end of the quest, was not like any of them expected. The monitor spoke, the Flugel spoke, giving the AI a choice to make for themselves alone depending on their experience in the last week: integrate back into the Flugel to reward their masters… or abandon the Flugel and continuing to exist in the world of GGO would be their reward. While the choice was shocking, halting their decision, it was obvious from the very beginning. Rei and Daisy chose to stay with their loving masters and friends: their family.
The quest came to an end. The expansion was conquered and Type-X units began to sell at high prices almost immediately, once the announcement was made that Kunai and all the others had defeated the SBC Flugel. With this victory, the other gangs pulled their resources and focused on building up the funds for their own Type-X units, but no matter how many more times the Flugel was conquered… the first two ArFA-SYS units to breach the Flugel would forever carry the most humanity inside of them. Perhaps even for the AI, this was their reward, for the freedom they now had to live amongst their friends as one of them.
CHAPTER 34 – "THE AFTER-PARTY"
In high spirits, the entire squadron formed by Kunai, accompanied by the others brought forth by Kirito and Sinon, celebrated their victory over the SBC Flugel. Kunai wished to hold off on speaking to Kureha about his history until the next day when the party was over and they could sleep.
Kunai and Kureha would talk to each other first while everyone ate and celebrated. But then he would go off to speak with the others, leaving Kureha alone. Rei would trying to catch her alone to ask if she was okay, but Kureha assured Rei that everything was fine. Faking the idea that she wasn't feeling well because of sickness, she logged out, asking her to pass on apologies to Kunai. Rei did just that and he felt guilty for not seeing her off but also understood. Everyone went around talking to each other, especially Zeliska being a little flirty. Even though he preferred Kureha's company, with her gone at once he felt sad that she wasn't enjoying this moment with them but also somehow felt… relieved. In any case, he allowed himself to be vulnerable and friendly with her. Actually… with Kureha gone, he was able to talk more openly with the others about his history in SAO, but not every single detail… that will some come to light in the final arc. At the end of the night before logging off, Kirito speaks with Kunai alone, saying it is good to see him in high spirits considering how he was last they saw each other in that death game. So now, Kirito and Kunai bid each other farewell, with potential to see each other again and maybe even do some adventuring if another expansion comes to GGO soon. Kunai expresses that he would like that very much and finishes up inside Zeliska's apartment before logging off for the night and a long asleep awaiting him…
ARC 6 FINISHED…
Most things of note to say about this arc has already been covered but there are a few things I would like to talk about before wrapping this up: what the structure of the game looked like during the Flugel, the character changes with appearances and attitudes, and reasons why certain characters never showed up…
Firstly about the structure… the game is about as linear as my structure during the raid on the Flugel but there are few character interactions. That's what I wanted to include more of, not just here but elsewhere before in the story. The fight against the Hierophant itself largely goes off without a problem unless you're under-levelled. But when the fight ends, the quest is completed and you all go home to celebrate. Part of the reason why I included the characters staying silent and on the run throughout the quest was to enforce the idea that other players would try to steal Rei away for their own progression. Like how Joe was in the game before you have one final showdown with him and gain his loyalty to your team. I took Joe out of that equation and filled it with every other player. I also included the idea that Rei and Daisy would go away when the Flugel was conquered. It's possible that I could have included a scene where both Kunai and Zeliska are affirmative in their decision to leave the quest unfinished… but players would never stop hunting them, and would likely take them both away from Kunai and Zeliska. So that's the reason why if anyone was curious. The party needed more emphasis with greater character interactions, because so many of them are present during the game, but everything feels hollow and empty because there's nothing interesting going on in the background with these characters and their feelings towards each other.
Now for the second thing about character changes and their appearances in the story… there's no real need for explanations on the main cast but maybe I can explain the others better. This also leads into the third point… Kirito now wields a black photon sword as in… the energy emitted as a blade is now black. See… originally I had an idea to recreate the Phantom Bullet arc but it would be called Phantom Blade. So instead of a purple sword, he would have a black one. Then, instead of finishing off Death Gun with a handgun to stagger him, he would fight back with a second hidden photon sword that was green to mimic his Aincrad set of a black sword being Elucidator and green sword being Dark Repulser. Sinon would appear the same even if I really like her design in the Fatal Bullet game. The reason why characters from the main cast that turn up, actually show up, and others don't… is because only some of them would be available in the late hours of the night. Asuna would be at Kirito's side no matter what, Argo is always at these games as a hardworking info broker and Kirito's sister/cousin Suguha/Leafa would be up to the task helping her brother/cousin. The others being Yui, Strea, Premiere and Tia as AI don't need to worry about sleep. Originally Tia was not in Fatal Bullet, and even though Hollow Realisation is my personal favourite SAO game, and she was perhaps my favourite character in that game, there was lots of unfulfilled potential with her that doesn't work being explored here, sorry. Asuna and Kirito are both cautious of Kunai for reasons explained in the last arc. Again, for reasons explained, something I forgot to mention before, is that while Kunai can understand Argo is good-natured… he really hates info brokers, and if I haven't mentioned before in the story why this is… I will in that final arc. The last change to make here is that Leafa will have an avatar looking more like herself in reality. I know character generation is supposed to be random but in this, Kirito and Leafa will look a lot like their real world appearances. Just a personal preference, so if you want to imagine differently, go on ahead.
One last thing before I go regarding something the game did that I did not like about it. The potential for the main cast was there but always felt overshadowed by the original cast of characters. Their inclusion felt forced and centralised so the newer characters couldn't stand on their own merits. That's why I wanted them excluded as much as possible. Actually… Kirito and Sinon were supposed to be the only backup for Kunai's squadron. As implied by the name of "Sword and Sniper" but it would make more sense for Kirito to call for support and so I implemented other characters for their chance to shine. And also for them to interact with Kunai and the others, in ways that they can look upon this squadron under Kunai's command and admire how far they'd come… reminding them of their own bonds and how they united to survive SAO during the events of Hollow Fragment.
Anyway, I was up very early this morning and while I did not write this in one go… I was close. Now I'm kinda tired and need a break from my computer. The next arc coverage probably won't be as long as this one but it is still very important. If I'm in the mood, I can start some tonight, then finish the rest tomorrow… so then you all get the coverage of Arc 7 in less than 24 hours. But for 8th and final arc, that might take a while… there's lots happening in the next couple of weeks including the return of one of my favourite animated shows called "The Dragon Prince". So I wanna make sure everything is finished for you all before the beginning of November. Hold on a little while longer for me, please.
ARC 7 COVERAGE COMING SOON…
"SORROW OF THE SCARLET SHOOTER"