Authors' note and disclaimer: This is a collab fic with SirStonewall. SAO and its characters don't belong to us but to Reki Kawahara. We are merely playing in the world he created. Stonewall and his crew belong to SirStonewall while the crew of "La Montréalaise" belong to me.
We also updated chapter one to better describe the ALO gang's new avatars.
"Special shoutout to K-2-Black-Panther. Thanks for the enthusiastic reviews, it helps motivate us. You'll get your Firefly's eventually, when the time is right." - SirStonewall
Chapter 3: Situation normal…
"Hate to break it to you, but the road out of here captured during the initial counterattack. We're surrounded."
"Ah…. fuck."
"So what are we going to do then?" Aria asks from atop Stonewall's shoulders, clutching a M1911A1 in her left hand.
The loud crack of a sniper rifle nearby makes the experienced tankers flinch, and Stonewall chuckles. "There's Sinon. We'll keep moving for now. There's gotta be someone in here with a radio. If we can find a radio then we might be able to organize a breakout."
"There's a command post we'd set up in a cellar. It's down that way. There should be working radios there." one of the sappers points down the street past the smoking IS-2.
"Alright, let's go." Stonewall sighs. Everyone picks themselves up, Lou grabs Nguyen and hoists the stunned tank commander on his shoulder.
"We better get to a medic station soon though," he remarks, "Nguyen's dead weight and I think he's still losing HP every now and then."
Starting to trudge down the road. The Sappers and ALO players all file in, with Kirito taking lead in front of Stonewall, and the section leader walking alongside the American.
"So what's your name?" Stonewall asks.
"The lads just call me McNary." the dark haired sapper answers while adjusting his Brody helmet.
"That'll d-ARGH!"
The crack of a rifle rings out and Stonewall falls backwards, a red pixelated hole on his shoulder. Then a second shot rings out from behind them, and once again everything falls silent in the square. Gunshots are still heard in the distance.
"Medic." The American sighs nonchalantly, holding his shoulder while sitting up. Asuna rushes over and opens her satchel, pulling out a roll of bandages. Stonewall grabs her wrist before she can wrap it and reaches into her bag, pulling out a small packet of powder. "Disinfectant. Infections are a thing."
Asuna nods and takes the packet, ripping it open and sprinkling the contents on the wound before wrapping it in bandages. Once his shoulder is wrapped up the tanker stands up and picks up Aria. "Leafa and Silica, go ahead of me please. McNary, you're with them. The CP is right up this street." Stonewall says as he points towards the end of a ruined street filled with damaged vehicles and abandoned equipment. The crackling sound of burning wood can occasionally be heard as well.
The small mob of players make their way up the street, listening as the familiar crack of Sinon's M1903 from behind them as the sniper dispatches key targets in the nearby city square.
"Right here, in the back." McNary says, pointing at an intact house. He leads the way with Silica and Pina close behind, the dog with her nose to the ground.
When everyone reaches the cellar door Pina sniffs the door just as McNary grabs the handle, and she lets out a warning growl as her hackles raise up.
Stonewall stiffens at the growl and puts down Aria, drawing his pistol and moving to stand next to the sapper as he opens up the door.
"Dick, can I borrow your shotgun?" He asks, looking down into the dark space.
"Sure," he grunts, "Give it back to me when you're done," he adds possessively as he checks it one last time before handing to his friend.
Stonewall catches the shotgun when it's thrown to him, and McNary turns on a gooseneck flashlight before descending down the creaking stairs with his Sten at the ready. Meanwhile, the tank commander tucks the shotgun's stock against his shoulder and follows close behind, with Leafa and Lou following behind him.
Inside, McNary reaches the bottom of the stairs and is almost instantly tackled to the floor, knocking away his Sten.
"AAAAHHH! HEL-ACK!" he shouts as he flails his arms, trying to beat off whatever is attacking him.
Stonewall pulls his rifle bayonet from its scabbard and jumps onto the lizardman, stabbing it in the neck as Pina runs in and jumps at the far dark corner with a snarl, dragging out another of the humanoid monsters by the ankle. Stonewall pulls his Colt out of the holster and shoots the second lizardman once, causing both it and the one he stabbed to disappear in a burst of pixelated shards at roughly the same time. He gets to his feet and puts his weapons back where they belong on his person, then offers McNary a hand up.
"Th-thanks, I owe you one." the sapper mutters, accepting the help up while Pina trots over back to a beaming Silica, tail wagging.
"Don't mention it. Let's get one of these radios working." Stonewall replies, picking up Dick's shotgun and moving back up the stairs, waving everyone else in.
On his way back he gives Pina a pat on the head and scratches behind one of her ears. "Good girl. I'd give you a treat if I had any."
Silica nods in agreement.
"Stonewall, there isn't a working radio in here. Players shot it all up." McNary sighs, shining his flashlight around the room at the hole-riddled equipment on the tables and burnt out codebooks.
"Shit… any other places we can find one?"
"'Fraid not for certain. The OP's each had one, but they were assigned to players."
Stonewall growls under his breath and pulls his map out of his jacket, brushing the spent shell casings off a table before spreading it out. "Alright, umm…. there was an OP overlooking the road outta here. We can assume that's been occupied and there's probably plenty of troops there. We're gonna swing through the south-west OP and hope there's a radio there. If not, we'll escape into the woods and try to make our way to Liege. Any objections?"
Roscoe shakes his head with a serious look.
"Don't see any issues with that. We might be able to rescue other players too." A scowl graces his face though.
"What the hell happened though?!" he angrily asks, "Did we get another retard like that Stevensons guy commanding us?!"
"I don't know much, but what I do know is that the wehraboos couldn't pull their own weight."
"Of course, fuckin' idiots," Roscoe rants, "Can't count on those retards for anything."
Stonewall nods in agreement before turning to the rest of the group.
"We're gonna hole up for a bit here first. Asuna see if you can get Nguyen's HP up far enough to where he's not stunned. I think 35% is the threshold." Stonewall adds with a smug grin. "I'd rather we didn't have to carry his sorry ass around everywhere."
Asuna opens her medical pack and looks dejected as she rummages through it.
"I'm running short on supplies though," she reports, "I'm not sure if I can heal him."
"Asuna, there should be an item in your bag, looks like a little superglue container, it's labelled 'morphine'. Give him one of those." Aria advises from the back of the group, having been placed against a wall.
"Yeah," Lou adds with an evil grin, "Stick it in his ass. It'll work better." The male players can't help but laugh a little while Asuna shoots the assistant driver a dirty look.
Aria suppresses a laugh and holds out her hand. "Here, I'll show you how to do it. Don't listen to those schmucks."
Lou looks slightly disappointed as he carries Nguyen over to Asuna and Aria.
"Aww… did you have to ruin my fun like that?" he asks Aria, frowning.
"Yep, just because you guys are friends doesn't mean you can teach a medic improper procedure. Now go watch the entrance."
"Yes ma'am…" He grumbles, setting Nguyen down and moving to stand at the top of the stairs.
Meanwhile, Stonewall gives Dick his shotgun back and retrieves his rifle, slinging it on his shoulder before reloading his revolver.
"Say, isn't that one of the legendary pistols?" One of the Sappers asks, scrutinizing the pistol in the tank commander's hands.
"Yeah, 'Patton's Right Hand Man'. I got it after the game got released as a gift for helping with the Closed Beta." Stonewall replies, putting the ivory-handled pistol back in its holster.
"So this game has legendary weapons too?" Kirito asks, looking curiously at the pistol.
"Yeah. There's about two dozen pistols, probably about twice to three times that many rifles and SMG's. 'Bout a dozen machine guns, and a couple swords. There's legendary vehicles too." Stonewall replies, pulling the half-empty N-block out of his Garand and putting a fresh one in.
"Legendary swords huh?"
A silence falls upon the group as they wait for Asuna and Aria to get Nguyen fixed up, and it's only broken when everyone hears the cellar door open. Everyone readies their weapons but it's quickly followed by Lou sighing in relief.
"Calisse Sinon! I almost shot you."
The cellar door closes again, and Sinon quietly walks down the stairs, looking around the dimly-lit cellar. "The area is clear for now. The players have routed into the church."
"Not bad Sinon. Was there a tank in the square?" Stonewall asks.
"Yeah, It's been taken care of though. What's the plan?" The sniper responds indifferently, slinging her Springfield on her shoulder.
"We'll be moving to an observation post on the southwest side of town, Hopefully there'll be a radio there, if not, we'll make a break for it into the forest to the southwest and hoof it back to Liege." Stonewall explains as he shows her a map.
"Okay."
"Then we're all in agreement. Everyone check your ammo, share if you can so everyone has roughly the same amount." Stonewall orders, looking over at the medic and the stunned tank commander. "Any chance he's going to be up and about?" Asuna applies the morphine pack and waits for it to take effect.
"Oh calisse de tabarnak," groans a familiar voice as Nguyen sits up. "Fucking hell, talk about a SNAFU."
"...I'll take that as a yes. Welcome back to the land of the living." Stonewall chuckles, pulling a M1911A1 out of his inventory and offering it by the barrel to Nguyen. "You lost your Thompson again."
His friend runs through his inventory menu and shakes his head.
"Not this time! Still got my M1911 too!"
A Thompson materializes on his shoulder, causing him to wince from the weight of the weapon on a burn. "That was not a smart idea," he mutters.
"We almost missed your voice," Tony snarkily remarks from a corner while Dick smiles evilly.
"Almost." Stonewall jokes prior to looking at Aria with a serious expression. "Any chance you'll be walking?"
"Cut it out guys," Roscoe lightly scolds, "Nguyen just got back. You can bash on him later."
Turning to his friend with a smile, he quickly welcomes him back.
"Also… fuck you Lou!"
A short laugh is heard from the top of the stairs.
"Love you too little bitch!"
"Ten seconds until the morphine takes effect." The gunner responds to her fiance, flipping open the dust cover on her M3 'Grease gun'.
A slight groan is heard as Nguyen pulls himself back to his feet, followed by a more feminine grunt as Aria shakily stands up with the help of Asuna and Stonewall.
"Alright people, let's move out. Keep the cripples in the center, and don't bunch up." Stonewall orders, folding his map back up before putting it in his jacket.
His fellow tank commander looks over at Pina and Silica as he unslings his Thompson.
"Say Silica, did Pina pick anything up?" he asks, "Town's probably filled with enemy players running around. Her detection skill might pick'em up."
Silica shakes her head, looking down at the dog. "Nope, nothing."
"Buildings and smoke affect the detection skill of a dog, same with dust, or even blowing snow and sand." Stonewall points out, starting up the stairs with his rifle snugged up against his shoulder.. "Pina didn't pick up those two monsters until she sniffed the door."
"Figures," remarks Nguyen, holding his Thompson in hand, "Would have been too easy otherwise."
"Yeah, took 'em about two months to get that right. They put a lot of effort into dogs, and yet almost nobody uses them." The American sighs back before nodding to Lou. "Let's get this show on the road."
The weary group begins filing out of the former command post, the wounded players staying in the center of the group with Asuna as they move from street to street, using shortcuts through destroyed buildings to get closer to their objective while staying off of the roads, when enemy players are likely to be laying in wait. Stonewall leads the group while Kirito and Klein stand on opposite sides of their unit. Following them was Silica, Leafa and Liz who keep an eye out for trouble. Silica watches closely Pina for any signs of trouble. Closing the march was Agil, Dick and Lou.
Aachen is strangely quiet, the sounds of battle having died out except for distant gunshots or cannon fire, and despite their worries, the streets seem deserted. The occasional squeaking and rattling of tank tracks on the larger roads prove otherwise, but all of them seem to head straight through town without stopping. Masonry can occasionally be heard falling.
"This is just... weird," Leafa comments suddenly as they cut through a damaged building's courtyard, "Where are all the other players?"
Kirito nods as he hears this.
"Probably busy elsewhere," he says, "Maybe they're busy clearing another part of town?"
Nguyen briefly grunts before answering.
"That's probably what happened Leafa. Given that they overran us pretty quickly, they probably feel safe slowing down and patching themselves up before getting back to clearing out the place."
Even as they reach the Observation Post in the half-destroyed attic of a two-story house, they can still hear the engines rumble through the streets, and Pina keeps her ears perked in that direction while everyone stacks up on the front door, the ALO players requiring a bit of guidance in doing so.
"Ari, lend me your Grease Gun." Stonewall mutters, trading weapons with his fiance.
He moves to the front of the line and holds the SMG at the ready with one hand, turning the door handle and pushing the door open. Following him is Dick, shotgun raised and predatory snarl on his face and Kirito with sword drawn out.
Stonewall moves in through the threshold and is instantly met face-to-face with a British machine gunner carrying a Bren.
"Bulldog." He challenges, raising the M3.
"Ballyhoo." The soldier responds, relaxing slightly.
Stonewall lower his gun and smiles. "Good to see you. You boys got a working radio?"
"Aye, upstairs." The soldier jerks his head towards the stairwell and watches as everyone files in, closing the door behind them. The house is a mess with overturned, damaged furniture lying around, glass from the shattered windows litters the floor and crunches under everyone's feet as they enter.
Stonewall walks upstairs and is greeted by six guys in British uniforms, three of which looking out a hole in the roof while the other three watch the stairs. Stress can be seen all over their faces. The latter aim their Sten's at Stonewall when he comes up the stairs, and the American raises his hands. "Good day gentlemen. We're getting the hell out of town, and were wondering if you wanted to come along."
"How did you know we were here?" One of them asks, relaxing and lowering his weapon.
"We didn't know, but we knew there was an OP here. I was wondering if I could use your radio."
"Sure thing."
"Thanks, I appreciate it." Stonewall mutters, putting his hands down and walking over to the radio. "Charlie Niner, this is Baker one-one, come in, over."
{Charlie Niner, go ahead Baker, over.}
"Charlie, be advised, our tanks have been knocked out. Aachen has been encircled and overrun, requesting fire of the West side of town. Sustained barrage, five minutes, over."
{Charlie copies. Western side of Aachen, sustained barrage, five minutes. Charlie six is also in position, consisting of six Priests. How copy? Over.}
"Solid copy, commence fire in two minutes with Charlie six. Baker out." Stonewall hangs the handset on the radio pack and straightens up, looking around at the other players in the room. "A battery of door knockers and priests are gonna pound the hell out of the west side of town while we get out of here. You gents coming?"
"Sure thing. Better than staying here. Right-o boys, get your kit and fall in." The section leader orders, grabbing his Sten from a nearby table.
Stonewall nods in satisfaction and heads back downstairs, looking at everyone. "Liz, how many satchel charges did Aria make you pack?"
"Two, why?" asks Liz with a raised eyebrow.
"Because I'm gonna show you how to make a booby trap."
"A what now?!" Liz shrieks as she crosses her arms over her chest. Nguyen snickers in the background, earning a glare from Asuna.
"An area-denial trap." Stonewall answers nonchalantly. "As an engineer, you'll probably end up using them a lot."
"Then why did you call it a booby trap?!" she retorts. Nguyen clears his throat.
"Essentially, it's named after a bird called the Booby." he explains tersely, "It was so fucking retarded that it would fall into any trap people would make. That's why we call'em booby traps in English."
He pauses.
"Were you thinking of something else?" he adds with a sly grin and a chuckle.
"N-no I wasn't! Shut up!" Liz stammers, turning beet red while Leafa and Asuna glare at the tank commander.
"Yeah right," snorts Dick from his corner of the room.
"Sure you weren't. Come on Liz, let's set a trap." Stonewall chuckles as he leads her back upstairs to the now-vacant attic.
A distant rumbling akin to thunder spurs everyone into moving out of the booby-trapped house, Stonewall, Agil, and Sinon cover the others as they run and hobble across the open ground, taking cover thirty yards into the woods. The last three follow once everyone else is out of sight, sprinting through across the short grass as fast as their legs will carry them. Once they catch up with the others Stonewall pulls his map out and kneels down, motioning for everyone to gather around him as the town erupts in explosions.
"Alright people. We're right here, on the edge of this little fold in the terrain. We're gonna follow this fold straight west. After a couple miles we'll cut over to the road and follow that back to Liege. Any questions or comments?"
"If we run into the enemy what should we do?" Kirito asks as he picks up his breath.
"Find the nearest piece of cover and hunker down, if you have to move, move quickly."
"Ahh artillery… the ultimate argument of Kings!" Nguyen sighs happily as the explosions echo nearby, "Always happy to hear it plaster the other team and not us."
Behind them, Sinon is peering out of the dense woods and looks back at Aachen.
"No one's following us yet," she reports calmly as she turns back towards her friends who gather behind the treeline in a circle. Everyone quickly catches their breath while Pina sniffs the air. The dog stays calm, confirming Sinon's report.
"Good. Let's get going before anyone gets any ideas." Aria grumbles as the group gets back on their feet. The sound of their footsteps and branches cracking beneath is the only thing they hear as they escape through the woods, the venture being tense and quiet.
After a couple miles, Liz suddenly stops for a moment, a look of surprise appearing on her face.
"Hey guys!" she exclaims, "I just got six kills. What the hell?"
Her notifications announces a multi-kill bonus in addition to the usual rewards message.
"Behold the power of booby traps." Stonewall chuckles. "You done bagged yourself a bunch o' boobs."
The engineer gets a flustered look on her face and stammers while some of the male players snicker behind them. Asuna, Sinon and Leafa glare at them, silencing them. The medic turns at her red-faced friend with a smile.
"That's six players that won't be chasing us for now," she praises, "Good job Liz!"
"Are we almost there though?" Silica whines adorably. Nguyen looks at her tiredly.
"Should be," he answers kindly, "If we're lucky, we'll run into friendlies soon."
"We should be nearing the road if I'm reading this map correctly." Stonewall sighs, "And I'm pretty sure I'm reading it right, grew up in search and rescue after all…"
Kirito realizes something however.
"Do you think our allies know that Aachen fell?" he asks seriously, "If they funnel in, they'll be easy kills for the other team."
Agil and Klein nod as they hear this.
"I reckon they probably have begun setting ambushes and traps," adds Agil as he thinks.
"We'd better do something fast." exclaims Klein with a growl, "Our guys could get in big trouble at this rate. Dammit!"
". . . . That's a fair point. Double-time it people." Stonewall quips as he realizes the gravity of the situation, stuffing the map back in his jacket and breaking into a slow jog. Kirito quickly matches his pace followed by Asuna. "Kirito, Asuna, Lou, go ahead of us and flag down the next vehicle that comes up the road towards Aachen, tell 'em you're part of Baker!"
"Sir yes sir!" exclaims Lou with a mock salute as he straightens himself out. Nguyen mutters. "Dumbass."
The running steps of the small group can be heard as Kirito, Asuna and Lou dash forward. As they run through the woods, the assistant driver looks at the ALO players.
"So you guys like this so far?"
"This is really fun! It's like a more hardcore version of GGO." Kirito huffs, his Carbine slung on his shoulder.
"I used to play GGO with the rest of the gang before this came out," says Lou wistfully, "Used to carry an M4. It was fun but it was lacking a little something."
"War-Torn's medical system seems like it might actually be moderately useful in real life too." Asuna observes as they keep running, carefully avoiding obstacles.
"Yeah. There's lots of actually useful stuff that this game can teach you. Stonewall knows how to weld because of this game, and Aria's finishing medical school. Rift is on track to becoming a firearms instructor," explains Lou with a smile.
'The wonders of V.R' Kirito muses happily as he runs, 'You can really do a lot nowadays.'
Ahead a break in the trees can be seen, and the players slow to a more cautious pace before they reach it, looking warily at their surroundings.
"Nothin'." Lou sighs in relief, relaxing. "We should wait here for the oth-"
"Shush for a second." Kirito orders, closing his eyes. "I hear something." The trio stops and crouch down behind the thick bushes as Kirito focuses on listening to the noise as it slowly gets louder, coming from the west. Lou finally hears it too and looks down the road, spotting a jeep bounding down the gravel road at them.
"Hey! Stop!" He yells, waving his hands over his head.
The jeep slows down while one of the occupants tensely points its .30cal machine gun at Kirito and his two friends. Dust settles around it as it stops.
"What's your outfit?" shouts the dark skinned driver with caution in his voice.
"Outfit?" mumbles Kirito as he looks perplexed at his clothes.
"Yo, we're from Baker!" replies Lou, just as Stonewall jogs out of the woods.
"Bulldog!"
"Ballyhoo!" The gunner replies, following up with a second challenge. "Popeye!"
"Pappy." Stonewall replies, lowering his rifle. "Y'all headed to Aachen?"
The crew of the jeep blow a quick sigh of relief before realizing that something is amiss.
"Yeah, what're you lot doing way out here?" The driver asks quizzically as he looks at Stonewall's uniform, "Aren't you guys a tank platoon?"
"Getting the fuck outta Aachen. Don't keep going, you'll drive straight into an ambush. Think we could get a ride back to Liege?" responds Stonewall, "Yeah… our tanks are smoking wrecks now."
"The town's been overrun by the other team," Kirito adds in seriously.
"We've got a column of tanks and trucks behind us. If what you say is true, we'll have to rethink our plans." The gunner responds.
"What's your guys' outfit?" Stonewall asks, walking over to stand beside the idling jeep.
"Fourth motorized, Able. We're working with the Scots Royal Guard, and Dog company of the 82nd."
"Oh, mind if I use your radio? I know the company commander of the Scots."
"Sure thing. Go right ahead." The passenger replies, taking the infantry backpack radio and passing the handset to the tank commander.
"Jig one-actual, this is Baker one-one. Come in, over."
{This is Jig one-actual, send.}
"Jig, be advised, we're up ahead of you. Baker one-one and one-two need a ride back to Liege. More to follow once we meet up."
{Copy that. Jig out.}
Handing the radio set back to the passenger of the jeep Stonewall sighs. "Alright, let's not loiter in the middle of the road, pull 'er over and we'll wait for the column."
"Why don't we use your jeep to help carry our wounded players?" Asuna suggests as she looks at the jeep, "It'll make it easier for them."
The driver nods politely as his hands tap on the wheel.
"Where are they?"
Asuna opens her map and searches for her friends' markers. Quickly scrolling through it, she locates them.
"They're roughly 230 meters from here," she reports seriously before pointing the direction. The driver does a sign to tell the small party to hop on board.
"So which way?" he asks as everyone gets in the back of the jeep.
"That way." Stonewall instructs from the back seat, resting his arm on the driver's shoulder to indicate the direction. The jeep slowly picks up speed as it heads towards its new destination. Meanwhile, the jeep crew light up some cigarettes.
"So what exactly happened at Aachen?" asks the jeep commander with an intrigued tone as smoke comes out of his mouth, "Last time I checked, we took over the place and were getting it locked down from the other team."
"The wehraboos couldn't keep their shit together and lost their flank completely, no survivors."
The commander looks at Stonewall in shock.
"Wait what?!"
A groan was heard from Lou.
"We don't know exactly what happened but they got their asses kicked in by Soviet players with IS-2's," he states, "We don't know what's going but all of sudden, smoke shells rain down, my tank gets hits by two Molotov's and the turret crew's bailing out while on fire."
"They steamrolled the right flank and hit us, then flooded into the town. All while that was happening another group cut off our route of escape." Stonewall sighs. The jeep commander looks ahead with a frown.
"Command's not gonna be happy."
"Command can kiss my ass. There wasn't shit we could do, we didn't have enough players in the town to hold it."
Stonewall's outburst stuns the other players. Kirito puts his hand on the tank commander's shoulder as the jeep drives down the road. The gunner carefully scrutinizes the horizon for any danger.
"Don't worry about it ok?" he says reassuringly, "You got your whole party out safely."
Kirito then gets a rather solemn look as he finishes saying that.
"We didn't hold the damn town though. They've got it back, and now we've gotta fight over it all over again."
Before he can say anything else, Stonewall and the jeep's occupants suddenly hear shouting from in front of them.
"Hey over here!"
It's Dick who waves his arms around. The burly player is standing alone, just outside of the woods.
"Uuh… BULLDOG!" he challenges.
"Ballyhoo!" responds Stonewall.
"POPEYE!"
"Pappy!"
Dick blows a quick sigh as he waves towards the treeline behind him.
"Finally!" he barks, "We've been waiting forever for you guys!"
The sound of rustling leaves can be heard as the other Aachen survivors emerge from the woods, weapons in hand.
"Happy to see you again Stonewall!" Nguyen exclaims as he limps towards his friend.
"Yeah. Load the wounded on the jeep. The rest of us will meet with an armored convoy that's coming through."
Nguyen nods.
"Right, we got friendlies coming in?" he asks as he hops on the jeep with Roscoe and Tony.
"Yeah. We're gonna let 'em know about the situation before they drive into a killing zone."
After the four wounded climb into the jeep the driver gives Stonewall a thumbs-up. "We'll take 'em back to Liege for you. Good luck man."
"Cheers. Get goin'." The tank commander replies, giving the driver a clap on the arm before stepping back and giving the jeep room to turn around. Within a minute the jeep is practically flying back up the road in the direction it came from, and all the remaining players watch it disappear around the bend before Stonewall slings his rifle. "Alright people. Let's make a column on either side of the road. We'll meet the tanks eventually."
After several minutes of walking, Stonewall catches a glimpse of dust drifting through the trees, and seconds later the first vehicle in the column rumbles around the bend in the road, its top being covered in infantry.
"Well look who upgraded," Stonewall mutters, watching the Churchill VII slow to a halt.
"Hello there honey! I heard you needed a lift?" The female tank commander yells at Stonewall.
"Last I checked, we aren't together anymore, so you can stop calling me honey!" The redhead commander yells back, "Aachen is lost! If you keep going you'll drive straight into an ambush!"
"We'll be fine!" She yells back with a dismissive wave. "Get yourselves a truck from the back, tell the guys in it to mount up on a tank!"
"Thanks!" Stonewall yells, throwing a wave her way before starting down the stopped column, climbing onto the first truck they reach. "Orders from the front, we're taking your truck back to Liege, you're to mount up on a tank."
The driver merely nods and opens his door, climbing out before walking around the back of the truck. "Right-o lads! Everyone out, we're changing rides!"
A dozen players stand up from the back of the truck and start climbing off. Stonewall is about to get in the driver's cabin when he hears someone talking to him. Meanwhile, the rest of the group starts moving towards the back of the truck.
"If you don't mind me asking, how do you know that woman?" Agil asks, resting his MG42 across his shoulders.
"She my ex-girlfriend." Stonewall grumbles, climbing into the driver's seat. Everyone stops and looks at him awkwardly.
"Oh… sore spot man?" Klein says. "Aria looks cuter than her."
"Eh, the relationship ended terribly. She stole a bunch of my shit, so I don't much care for her."
Kirito and Asuna turn their heads towards the Churchill with an air of disgust, trying to see what the player looked like. If hair growth was any indicator, the girl had been playing for awhile. Her long blonde hair reaching down to her lower back underneath a cap.
"We're gonna keep an eye out if she's ever around us," Asuna says fiercely, "Right Kirito?"
Her boyfriend nods before answering.
"Yeah, we don't need people taking our stuff under our noses."
Upon hearing this, Leafa scoffs and throws a glare at Kirito.
"Onii-chan, do you remember that time with General Eugene?" she asks seriously. Kirito looks at her with an embarrassed look while everyone looks at the two siblings with curiosity.
"That doesn't count!" he stammers, "It was either that or the Salamanders killing us, the Cait Sith and Sylph leaders."
Asuna looks at Leafa.
"What exactly did he do?" she asks pointedly. Leafa gets an evil smirk.
"Before he rescued you from ALO, we heard from a friend of mine that the Salamanders were about to attack the Cait Sith and Sylph leaders. So we head over-"
"Leafa!" Kirito interrupts but his sibling ignores him and continues on. The rest of the gang look at her with interest.
"We head over and reach the leaders at the same time as the Salamanders. So Onii-chan decides to bluff and challenges General Eugene. Without any idea what Eugene can do. So he almost gets done in… but he uses a smoke spell to get away." Leafa explains, "We all think he ran away and next thing you know, he steals my sword!"
Asuna glares at Kirito who shrinks before his girlfriend's angry face.
"Hey, hate to burst y'alls bubble, but we gotta get a move on! Mount up!" Stonewall yells over the engine, jerking his head towards the back of the truck just as a trio of fighters zip overhead at low level, bound for Aachen with bombs and rockets visible under their wings.
Kirito nods and apologizes before leading Asuna by the hand to the back of the truck. Agil lifts Pina and Silica into the back of the truck before climbing in himself, helping everyone up prior to closing the tailgate and sitting down on one of the two benches as Stonewall revs the engine of the truck.
"All in!" Lou yells, climbing into the cab with the tank commander.
"Good. Let's get out of here." Stonewall sighs, shifting the truck into first and pulling a 3-point turn to get turned around. Once the truck is out of the way of the convoy, the dozen of tanks start forward again, and all the ALO players gawk at the long convoy of players.
After a mile, the convoy ends, fading down the road in a cloud of dust. Sinon leans forward and looks at Dick, who's sitting across from her.
"How many people play this game?"
Liege supply depot
"Alright, get restocked!" Stonewall yells as he pulls down the tailgate, unaware of the two players walking up behind him until one of them claps him on the shoulder. "Stonewall! How you doing my man?!"
The tank commander's face lights up as he turns around and opens his arms for a hug. The rest of the group look at the newcomers with curiosity as they hop off the truck with Agil helping Silica and Pina off. "Dex! Mikey! I'm doing great, how're you fellas?"
"Well, we just got done with the code for some field mods that'll be open for everyone in the next patch, so we're doing pretty good." Dex responds, accepting the hug. "I see you're helping some new players?"
"Meh, it's mutual help. We just got back from Aachen. Lost my Jackson and Nguyen got barbecued, but at least we made it out." Stonewall replies with a shrug before looking back at the ALO players. "Hey y'all, meet Rhinodex and MonstrousMikey. They're part of the development team for War-Torn."
A round of introductions is gone through before Dex slaps Stonewall on the shoulder. "Anyway, We wanted to give you this for testing before we hit the sack. If it works, you can keep it. If not, I'll refund you for the tank."
Mikey opens his inventory and pulls out a rolled-up blueprint, passing it to Stonewall, who happily unravels it, then gawks at it.
'T26E1-1, Field Mod: extra armor; RHA, Welded'
"You fuckin' serious man? It's too late for April Fools, ain't it?"
"We're not pulling your leg. It needs testing, and we trust you the most." Mikey chuckles.
"We're 'bout as serious as your legs dude." Dex says with a genuine expression, making Stonewall wince.
"Alright alright, I'll try it out. Just keep quiet 'bout that, alright? I ain't told 'em."
Another voice catches everyone's attention.
"Hey guys!" Nguyen says with a grin as he waves. He arrives from the aid station with Aria, Roscoe and Tony following him. Both look in better shape than when they were last seen. Their uniforms are look new and any signs of injuries are gone.
"We miss anything?" he asks, with his weapon slung.
"Yeah. Not hearing your shitty voice bitch!" replies Lou with a smile as he and his fellow crew members move towards Nguyen, "Happy to see again man."
The assistant driver and tank commander high five each other followed by other similar greetings between the tank crew.
"Speaking of bitches… you must have ran into one outside of Aachen too Stonewall?" Nguyen asks dryly, "Idiot didn't want to listen to me."
"Yeah, I did. She still doesn't listen worth a damn."
His friend snorts and nods.
"Hey Nguyen! Got a present for ya'." Mikey yells as he walks over. The Canadian-Vietnamese and his fellow crew members raise eyebrows. The player and dev shake hands.
"Oh nice," he says with a smile, "What did I do to deserve this?"
"Well, we need a guinea pig for the new Concrete armor field mod for the M4A3E8, and you happen to fit the bill, so congratulations." Dex chuckles, handing the Canadian a blueprint. The Canadian glares at him for a second before smiling again.
"Gee, thanks man," Nguyen says with a grin. His crew all share the same gleeful expression as their commander looks through the plans, "I like this… very nice."
"No problem, any time. Oh yeah, Stonewall by the way, we got the recoil on the FG42 tweaked right," the dev adds, still smiling, "Hope you'll like it."
"FINALLY!" Stonewall cheers, running towards the supply tent with Aria hot on his heels.
"Wait for me dammit! I want one too!"
All the players nearby that heard the exchange laugh softly before Agil speaks up, still incredibly amused. "So is there any difference between the MG42 and the FG42?"
"Oh yeah, lots of difference. The FG is more like an assault rifle or a battle rifle. You'll see it when he comes back out. It's also one of his favorite rifles, and he was quite riled up because we couldn't get the recoil correct." Dex responds, opening up his inventory and reading a message.
"First it was too much, and he complained that it kicked like a mule, and then it was too little." Mikey sighs, "Picky bastard…"
"You make it sound like you know him pretty well." Klein states, standing nearby with his Thompson slung on his shoulder and a cigarette in his mouth.
"Well I'd like to think so, he's the guy whose help made this game possible, and he only lives a short drive from our studio. He helped us with getting most of the recoil and function on the allied guns correct. Dude's got some amazing connections." Dex muses, looking over at Mikey. "By the way, Alice insists she needs our help with the jamming coefficient for the Type-92."
"Oh for the love of- FINE! The damn thing's a piece of sh-" Mikey grumbles.
"I know how you feel about it. Let's go." Dex interrupts him, starting to drag him away before yelling back at the players.. "Oh, by the way, there's snow coming in from both the North and East, so it's gonna be a nasty winter! Stay warm y'all!"
As the two developers walk away, gunfire can be heard from the firing range, and all the ALO players file towards the supply depot to get restocked on ammunition and supplies. Behind them, the tankers of La Montréalaise all band together and follow, giving the new players enough privacy to produce an early verdict on whether they like the game or not. The Canadians are happily bantering with each other.
"So how do you guys like this game?" Sinon asks with excitement, "I'm having so much fun."
The rest of the ALO players smile as well.
"This reminds me so much of my first video games and how they were meant to be played," Agil says enthusiastically, "I think we can alternate between here and ALO."
"What about you Asuna?"
"It's more intense than anything we've played together before… But I like it." The medic muses, adding a nod with her verdict. "What about you, Kirito-kun?"
"I had a lot of fun," Kirito says with a grin, stretching his arms, "I can't wait to get a bounty on my head too. It'll be a nice challenge to fend off the guys trying to collect it,"
Leafa looks at her brother, her eyes rolling. "Of course you would Onii-chan. About this game though, I'm having lots of fun even though it's different. I wonder how I can get into a plane."
Sinon beams at her friends' positive comments.
"I had a freakin' blast," Klein says enthusiastically between puffs, "Like when I hosed down that bunch of Soviets. Didn't stand a chance against me! Can't wait for my next mission."
Silica pets Pina affectionately as she answers.
"I really like it here too. It was scary at first but when I got the hang of it, it turns out it was lots of fun," she says happily as her companion licks her face, "So does Pina. We should come back again."
Liz has a mischievous grin on her face, rifle slung on her shoulder.
"I really like blowing stuff up," she adds with a evil voice as she cracks her knuckles, "I can't wait to blow up more losers like I did."
The former blacksmith already imagines new ways of surprising the other team's players with her traps.
"So! Y'all gonna stick around?" Stonewall asks, walking up to the group with a new rifle in his hands. The ALO crew all nod in agreement.
"We've had a lot of fun with you guys," Kirito answers with a warm smile, "So we'll definitely be coming back soon."
"We'll add you guys to our contacts list and keep into touch with you." Nguyen adds, "You guys did freakin' well on your first day."
"Unlike someone here," chuckles Dick before trying to mimic a higher pitched voice, "Oh no! They're everywhere. Please save me! Oh my god! I peed in my pants!"
"Fuck you! I don't talk like that!"
Authors' endnote:
Goodalwayswins98: That went better eh? Hope you guys had as much fun reading this as the characters had playing it. If only War-Torn was real…
Please review this new installment… it encourages us so much. Special thanks to K2-Black-Panther. Your reviews rock mate!
SirStonewall: …. Gotta say, I'm looking at this, and I like how it's going. Leave reviews! That's the best way to get another chapter sooner rather than later. If there's a certain weapon or vehicle you want to see included, let us know, we'll shoehorn it in…. Somewhere…. somehow.
Next chapter: Up a creek...