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.

Thanks to everyone for the reviews. We know y'all asked for more Kirito, but we haven't gotten there yet. Next chapter, promise. Thank you all for the reviews, and keep dropping more if you like the chapter. As I mentioned last chapter, if there's a piece of equipment or weapon you want to see used, put a request in a review! As always, enjoy. - SirStonewall

While Kirito isn't leading the show… we're already giving him more screen time. Hope you guys have fun reading this and please review… things are more fun for everyone that way.

Our idea for this fic is really just based around the fact that the SAO gang are enjoying a new game and going on different missions and assignments.

-Goodalwayswins98

Chapter 4: Up a creek...

Several days after their first taste of action in War-Torn, the gang all manage to have free time at the same time, and log in, looking forward to getting into some action with Stonewall and his friends. They all load in at the Liege teleport pad, to find that the ground is covered in snow, and the air carries a cold and numbing bite. The sky is rather cloudy as snow falls slowly. A light wind can be heard as well. The other players all sport heavy winter coats as they march through the snow towards the front or mill around the city. Some have set little fires around to keep warm in the cold, chilly air.

"Howdy y'all!" A familiar voice yells, causing them all to turn and look at the white-clad soldier.

Beneath an odd helmet is a familiar face, puffing away at a cigarette with a FG42 slung on his shoulder.

"Hello Stonewall!" Asuna says happily, giving a slight shiver and pressing into Kirito for his warmth.

"Come on, let's get all y'all some warm gear." He chuckles back, waving them towards the supply tent. Everyone quickly follows behind him, and the American flicks the cigarette into the snow before pushing open the tent flap and motioning everyone inside.

"What's with your getup man? You look like the old man." Klein asks with mist coming of his mouth, earning a friendly smack on the helmet from Agil.

"This is a german Fallschirmjager setup. German paratroopers essentially. I'm trading in my tank for a little bit."

"Why? I thought you loved your tank."

"I do, but every armored column that rolls out past Aachen gets blasted to smithereens. There's a pair of railway guns a couple miles behind enemy lines that need killing." He responds, walking up to the supply officer.

"Good day sir, what can I get you?" The NPC asks, holding a clipboard.

"These seven need winter clothes, camouflage is preferred."

"Yes sir." The NPC replies as winter jackets and other items appear on the table. "The snow sure snuck up on us eh sir?"

"That it did." Stonewall chuckles with a smile as he purchases the clothing, turning back to everyone and handing them their stuff one by one. Each of them received a light beige trenchcoat, a scarf, thick wool gloves and winter boots.

"So this railroad gun…What exactly is it? How well guarded is it?" Kirito asks, putting on his trenchcoat and relishing in the familiar weight.

"Well, it's the region guard, a gigantic artillery piece on rails. There's an entire tank company dedicated to guarding it, and probably twice as many infantry, as well as two anti-aircraft battalions. The 82nd tried to destroy it yesterday morning and failed miserably."

"How many people is the 82nd?" Asuna asks, putting on her jacket.

"Twenty-nine people."

"And you're going to try?" Klein asks in disbelief.

"Not by myself no, but I'm trying to find people that are willing to come along."

"Well you can count us in!" A familiar voice yells outside, just as the tent flap is pushed open to reveal Nguyen and his boys, all clad in infantry winter gear and carrying their personal weapons. The Vietnamese tank commander smiles as he high-fives his American friend.

"I thought you went to help Rift with the attack on Bourges?" Stonewall asks, scowling at the Canadian.

"They said they didn't need us, and sent us back up here," he says with a smile, "Something about having manpower to spare. Lovely weather too… reminds of real life Montreal in December."

"I'm not gonna argue with it. I've got three days to come up with a plan and execute it." Stonewall sighs, "Then I've also gotta get the group together for it."

"Shouldn't the battalion command pick people for it?" Lou asks.

"Well, since I told the battalion commander to go fuck himself after he bitched at me for failing to hold Aachen, I'm having to do everything for this operation." Stonewall chuckles, looking over at the ALO players. "So what d'ya'll say? Wanna go behind enemy lines and raise some hell? I'd be willing to train y'all with your weapons some more, and I'll buy you the mission-appropriate equipment."

"Stonewall, speaking of weapons, do you think I could try yours?" Klein asks, eyeing the FG42 with interest.

"The firing range is open, Sir." The supply NPC replies to Klein, motioning towards the tent flap leading to the range as Stonewall nods.

"Come on, I'll show you how to work it."

As the two players walk out of the tent, Lou looks at those remaining, noting the significant lack of extra anti-tank weaponry.

"Hey uh… think maybe we should have more than one person with AT?"

"Probably." Agil responds, hefting his MG42. "Won't be me though, I've got enough gear on me as it is."

"It'll be more weight for me," Sinon adds seriously, "I don't think carrying AT weapons would fit my playstyle."

Nguyen looks at the brown haired sniper and nods.

"Yeah, non. You're better off keeping your head down and sniping people as well as pulling recon duty. You'd probably be able to take enemy commanders too."

Dick merely shrugs and grunts as he heads to the supply clerk.

"I'll get a bazooka."

After a few moments looking through the list, a Panzerschreck appears on the counter in front of Dick. Nguyen looks at him in curiosity.

"Bro?"

Dick picks up the Panzerschreck, checking down its sights with a satisfied smirk.

"It's bigger so it'll blow bigger shit up." he answers gruffly, "Got a problem fucking big shit up?"

"Hmm, Fair enough," Nguyen replies with a smile, just as Klein and Stonewall start shooting on the gun range.

"So what will everybody else carry?" Roscoe asks, looking at the ALO group.

"Panzerfaust 60's." A feminine voice replies from outside, just as Aria pushes open the tent flap and steps inside, wearing Fallschirmjager gear like Stonewall.

"Why not 100's?" Nguyen suggests, "In case we run into heavy armour."

"100's will work too, some form of panzerfaust that isn't the 30." She responds, walking over to the supply clerk. "I need eighteen magazines of FG42, four Stielhandgranate, four Nebelhandgranate, and a SRC-300."

"Yes ma'am. Would you like all of that transferred to your inventory?"

"Everything except the SRC-300. Put that on the table." Aria responds before her previously empty magazine pouches and bandolier fill with ammunition and grenades. A green radio pack pops into existence on the table, and she puts it on her back, making sure she's able to unsling her FG42 without any trouble. As for Nguyen and his crew, they wear American winter kit along with M1 helmets. Brown trench coats, wool scarves and gloves replace their tank uniforms. They each requisition additional ammunition, extra rations and emergency first aid kits.

Before long, the shooting in the range stops, and the two players walk back in.

"Okay! I really like that gun!" Klein cheers while Stonewall walks over to the supply clerk where the Canadian tank crew are looking over their new acquisitions.

"Copy my gear to the letter and put it on the table. I'll pay for it."

"Yes sir." The clerk replies, supplying the gear as the requisition points disappear from Stonewall's inventory. "Anything else, sir?"

Stonewall briefly looks back at the group, thinking for a moment before turning back. "Three crates of Panzerfaust 100's… and... four bundle grenades."

Kirito's head perks up at hearing "bundle grenades".

"Bundle grenades?" he asks as he moves up next to Stonewall, "What are those?"

"They're anti-tank grenades, basically one of these grenades I have on my belt, with six other grenade heads strapped to it. Very basic, but effective." explains the American as he points to one of his grenades.

"You can also use them against people," Roscoe adds, "Takes a good arm but anyone inside in a room, trench or foxhole won't have a nice day after that."

"Well yeah, because there won't be much of a room left." Aria snarks, grabbing Stonewall's attention.

"Oh, hey! You're home!"

Tony lets out a small laugh as a nostalgic look appeared on his face.

"Yo remember that time in Caen?" he says with enthusiasm, "When Dick chucked one of those down a basement?"

Roscoe and Lou roll their eyes in annoyance at this.

"And almost brought the whole building down on us." sighs Roscoe as he shakes his head.

Dick looks at them with a disgruntled look.

"Fuck you assholes. At least I got the fucking battalion commander and his entire staff." he replies as he gets away from the supply clerk.

"See, you can't argues with results," adds Tony with a laugh while finalizing his requisition. The tankers, now infantrymen, move to another corner of the tent where they start inspecting their gear and guns.

Stonewall sighs at their bickering and waves Klein over to the table where his new equipment is sitting. "Put all this shit in your inventory, then swap it out for what you have now."

The ex-samurai does as he's told, swapping all the webbing and clothes out for the Fallschirmjager equipment, then he grabs his FG42 off the table and stands in front of a mirror. "Hey, this is comfortable, and looks cool! Alright!"

"Alright people, let's head over to the explosives range. Y'all need practice with anti-tank weaponry." Stonewall yawns, stretching his arms above his head. The Canadians nod in agreement.

"We're probably the best people to teach you how to use them," Nguyen boasts proudly as he rests a Panzerfaust 100 on his right shoulder, "Using tanks teaches you pretty well how to kill them."

Stonewall nods in agreement, picking up a crate of Panzerfausts by himself. "Someone grab the other crates and follow me."

Dick and Agil grab the two other crates and pick them up easily before following Stonewall to the explosives range. The rest of the group follow close behind, noting the tank wrecks that are downrange when they stop along a line of sandbags. The sound of explosions can be heard around as another group of players test out explosive weapons.

"Alright people, listen up!" Stonewall yells over the noise, putting down his crate and flipping open the lid, retrieving a Panzerfaust before holding it up to show everyone. "This is what we'll be using as our light anti-tank."

"Allow me to demonstrate, ladies and gentlemen," Nguyen declares while he saunters up next to Stonewall. Moving the Panzerfaust from his shoulder and holding it in his hands,

"First, you remove the safety pin," he instructs in a very serious voice while going through the necessary movements, "You then raise the sight. In doing so, the weapon is armed. Do not do this needlessly. I saw players blow themselves up thinking it was a good idea unsafing the Panzerfaust before accidentally hitting the trigger. Needless to say, they had very bad days after that"

He then crouches, resting the weapon on his shoulder and pointing at a target downrange.

"This is how you hold it before firing. Tube rests on your shoulder or can be inside your armpit. Before firing, make sure no one's behind it and that you have roughly 4 meters clear behind you… otherwise, it'll be a mess. You aim using the squares here and by guessing the range." A few surprised exclamations were heard, "To shoot, squeeze this." He says before squeezing the trigger.

A small blast sounds out with a blast of flame out the base of the tube, and suddenly the large head of the weapon is gone. Seconds later, a Sherman further downrange explodes in a cloud of smoke and snow.

"I'll be damned Nguyen, you actually hit something for once." Stonewall mutters, looking through a pair of binoculars at the Sherman. A large, black hole scars the side of the tank.

"That's how you kill a tank with this thing." Nguyen says, beaming, as he discards the tube and gets up, "So who wants to practice?"

After a few hours, and many disposable launchers, the former ALO players finally get the hang of their new weapons. Agil manages to understand the fastest, but meanwhile everyone realized that giving a Panzerfaust to Silica was a last resort given how nervous she got.

Once practice is over, Aria takes a truck off to round up some players for the raid, and Stonewall leads everyone to a tent tucked back in the woods, meeting a couple players bearing the same insignia on their shoulders as he does.

"Welcome to platoon HQ." Stonewall mutters, stepping inside the tent and moving to a table covered with maps, flags, pencils and counters. Behind the briefing table, there's a blackboard and a corkboard with various pictures pinned on it. Along one wall are tables stacked high with radio equipment, a chair behind each of the six microphones. Along the other wall, military bunk beds occupy most of the space, some bunks occupied by logged-out players.

"Alright. Here's the plan, gather 'round." Stonewall instructs after scowling at one of the logged-out players. "Here in Bergheim is the 800 millimeter railway gun Schwerer Gustav."

Murmurs could be heard across the tent as the American points to a black and white picture of a massive artillery piece sitting on two parallel railroads. Around the tracks are multiple, deep craters who scar the ground. Snow appears to be filling them, meaning it's a recent picture.

"The area has been continuously pounded by bombers trying to kill the damn thing, but no luck in scoring any direct hits. This does however, mean that the rails it would normally use to scoot outta there are destroyed. We're seizing the opportunity, and we go in tonight, also known as three hours from now."

Nguyen stands up and walks up to the table. He scratches his chin as he looks at the map before clearing his throat and leaning on the table.

"How are we getting in there?" he asks.

"We're going to be joining a bomber swarm in gliders towed behind by C-47's. With any luck, we'll be able to slip in unnoticed because the Pact players and Anti-Aircraft will be busy with the bombers."

"So hiding behind their radar signature?"

"No, but we'll be far enough under the radar that they won't be able to detect us." Stonewall replies. "We're working with the 13th Paras, along with the 8th Mountaineers, and some inlaid guys of the twelfth Pioneers. They're the only wehraboos I can stand to work personally with."

Nguyen nods but Kirito raises his hand.

"Any idea what we're gonna face?"

"Good question, glad you asked. The answer to that would be no." The American replies cheerfully. "We're going in completely blind. The 82nd got their asses kicked so hard none of 'em even got a good look at what was attacking them."

The players' face all take a more serious look.

"That badly?" Nguyen asks with a raised eyebrow.

"It took eight minutes from beginning to end."

Kirito is deeply in thought, his face marked by his concentration.

"How exactly did they proceed?" he says, "Perhaps understanding what they did can give us an idea what not to do?"

"Well for starters, they did a paradrop. That left them scattered, and they couldn't bring as much equipment. The commander didn't join the jump, and monitored the situation. They tried to attack the anti-aircraft batteries to open up the window for ground attackers, and didn't regroup beforehand. Some were mauled by groups of beasts, and some were taken down by gunfire. Does that help?"

The former ALO player nods before getting a smile.

"Yeah, so it's gonna be a nice little challenge."

Nguyen cracks a knuckle and gets a realization.

"So by using gliders, we won't be scattered all over the place. Eliminating the main weak point that the 82nd had in their plan. I like it man."

Asuna raises her hand as well.

"Do you have any suggestions for any special equipment that we might not have right now?" she asks seriously.

Stonewall stares distantly at her for a second, then slaps the table with a smile and points to one of the players gathered nearby. "Go get a crate of Welrods. Ammo too."

In return he smiles and nods, giving a snappy salute. "Yes sir, I'll get some improved personal aid kits too."

He runs out with one of the other players, leaving Stonewall to continue elaborating on the plan.

"To be perfectly clear, we are to avoid contact whenever possible until we are within a reasonable distance of Gustav."

Nguyen scoffs at this.

"Indeed… I don't wanna get hit by that thing." he shudders, "I don't see anything else we can get?" He pauses for moment before a lightbulb lights up in his mind, "Maybe more demo kits and the likes? We are taking out a fucking railway artillery piece."

"The Pioneers should be bringing plenty of extra demolitions. I've got some on me, and so do the Paras."

"Alrighty… I think we should be good for that then. Maybe more rations?"

"Oh for the love of…"

The sound of boots can be heard as five dozen players were walking to their waiting gliders. The droning of engines mixed with the sound of marching while a light wind blows up some snow on the dark airstrip. The sky above is lit by a half-moon, sometimes obscured by a few dense clouds.

"How did that song go again?" Nguyen mutters from behind his squad leader, Stonewall and his fiancé. Following them with excitement were the ALO players and the crew of La Montréalaise.

"Ah yes," he mutters again before starting to sing, "He was just a rookie trooper and he surely shook with fright..."

His terrible singing soon gets on his American friends' nerves. Aria stoops over and wheels around, smacking the tank commander with a handful of snow.

"Quit that! Your singing sucks!"

He screeches as the cold snow falls down his uniform. At the same time, Lou and Dick start laughing. The other players all have smiles on their faces as well. Bantering always makes things more entertaining.

"GAAH! TABARNAK! Fuck it was just to get us in the mood."

"Thanks Aria for saving our ears!" Lou exclaims between bursts of laugh.

Nearby, the forty or so players in Fallschirmjager equipment all laugh, toting crates into their glider and securing them. Stonewall motions for everyone to board the glider, and walks over to talk to the other glider, ensuring everyone is ready.

"Everyone got everything they need?" Aria asks, securing a box of ammunition in the center of the walkway.

The players begin going back through their inventory, making one last item check. One by one, they close their menus, signalling their readiness as Stonewall enters the glider and sits, checking his own gear.

"Gliders two and three are ready."

"Everyone in our squad is good to go," Nguyen reports from the back, "Let's get this show on the road then. You ready pilots?" The two pilots raise their thumbs.

The sound of the engines intensifies as the Waco glider starts moving forward, pulled by its C-47 towplane. Momentum builds up. The gang can see the C-47 lift off the ground, soon followed by their glider.

"This is amazing," Liz comments as they feel the vibrations of their craft moving through the skies.

"Yeah it is!" Nguyen answers from the back of the passenger compartment where he is seated with the rest of the Canadians, "You guys like it?"

Leafa smiles while she answers.

"It's different from flying in ALO. There, you're flying with your own wings unlike here where you have to rely on a plane. I'm the fastest flyer in that game," she boasts.

"Oh nice!" praises Roscoe, "How does that work though?"

"It's pretty simple really," the blonde player explains, "You have to imagine having muscles on the middle of your back moving imaginary wings. Or you can use a controller."

"Which one's better?" Tony asks in curiosity.

"Definitely the first way since you can also fight better without having a hand busy with controlling."

"It's probably hard to get the hang of non?" Nguyen asks, "Though must feel more rewarding."

Leafa smiles again.

"Yeah, I got a rather funny story with my big brother and his first time flying in ALO."

Kirito groans from the middle of the group while Asuna giggles next to him, her hand resting on his.

"Feel free to tell us all about it," the medic says.

The next moments are silent save for the sound of droning engines and Leafa's voice.

"...So as he flying towards the Sylph capital at breakneck speed, I asked him if he knew to land and Onii-Chan tells me he can't. He's going too fast for me to explain so he ends crashing face first into the highest tower before crashing into the ground."

Everyone bursts out laughing at this, with some of them holding their sides while Kirito glares at everyone with annoyance on his face.

"Kirito my man," Agil exclaims, "I wish I could have seen that."

"I'll say," Klein adds, "Never thought I'd hear about you messing up like that."

"Heh, flying sounds like it'd be a blast." Stonewall chuckles. "Especially if there's nothing but you between flying and falling."

Aria smiles and puts an arm over his shoulder. "We might have to check it out."

"Yeah. Or maybe we can put some credits towards magic engines." Lou chuckles.

"I… don't know about that." Aria replies, pulling a ring out of her inventory and putting it on her finger. "None of us have put much points into magic aside from me."

"Isn't that your Ring of Lycan?" Nguyen asks, eyeing the ring before its owner puts her glove back on.

Aria replies only with a nod as all the ALO players look at her in confusion.

"Ring of Lycan…? What is that?" Asuna asks.

"Ring of Lycanthropy. It's a dungeon reward item that you can level up. Put simply, when you put magic into the ring, it turns the user into a very intelligent werewolf." Stonewall explains. "The more magic you put into it, the more damage you'll do, and the more agile you'll be."

"It has passive effects too. Detection goes up, plus I get a fifteen point strength, endurance, and agility boost." Aria adds, rolling her shoulders.

"With bonuses like that, why do you ever take it off?" Klein asks, with nods of agreement from Sinon and Kirito.

"Because the downsides are I take 1.5x more damage when I'm human, and in a tank, it makes the noise and smell unbearable." Aria yawns.

"I noticed there was a magic skill when I checked the skill trees. How much can you do with it?" Asuna asks, her interest shared by all of the ALO players.

"Enchanted items, light illusion magic, summoning, and magic engines, which I'll say are very expensive."

"How expensive?" Leafa asks, leaning forward in her seat.

"Just a hair short of a million for a decent one." Stonewall sighs while Leafa sighs in defeat.

"So expensive that I don't even consider using magic," Nguyen adds gruffly, "I ain't no wizard… my Thompson does the job good enough." He says as he pats his weapon.

"Your Thompson is loud though. Meanwhile I can dispatch a whole squad and they won't know I'm there until it's too late." Aria grumbles, playing with the ring through her glove.

Lou scoffs from his seat. The glider gently rocked left and right as it kept flying. By now, no one noticed the droning of the C-47's engines anymore.

"Not as bad as his mouth."

The crew of "La Montréalaise" start chuckling at this while Nguyen glares at Lou.

"So how'd you guys meet? We've got plenty of time for a long story." Klein asks. The Vietnamese players clears his throat.

"It's a very long story. I met Dick when I was in my second year of high school. Stayed close ever since," Nguyen explains.

"Nguyen still didn't confess his love for me though," grunts Dick as he stretches his arms, "I've been putting up with him for all these years."

"Fuck you man! Must I remind you that time at Roscoe's place IRL when you were puking your guts out and telling me how much you love me?"

Dick glared at Nguyen and crossed his arms.

"Hey fuck you asshole! I never said I loved you," he barks back, "I said I was grateful to have you as a friend and I wanted you to know if I died or something."

Another sigh was heard.

"Goddammit guys, can you focus on Klein's question?" sighs Roscoe while rolling his eyes, "I met Tony here in music class back in high school."

"So you guys went to the same high school?" Silica asks curiously.

"Nah," Lou answers casually, "We all went to different schools and colleges. I met Nguyen here during a college party with common friends. A few days later, I get on the bus and I see that fucker again. Turns out we lived in the same part of town IRL."

"I more or less created the whole crew here," Nguyen explains, "I met Tony here at a college protest before he introduced me to Roscoe. We ended doing airsoft together where I invited Lou and Dick to join us before hopping on VRMMORPG's together on GGO."

"You guys had fun in GGO?" Sinon asks, "I still play sometimes on the Japanese server.

"It was fun times but it lacked a little something." Tony says, "So when War-Torn came out, we gave it a try since we're more into military stuff."

"I used to do PR for War-Torn. I met these guys working at a PR booth in Quebec." Stonewall says with a smile, nodding towards the crew of "La Montréalaise".

"Yeah we went to this VR convention in Montreal out of curiosity," Roscoe says as he remembers the past, "VR was just starting to come into Canada and I'm a game designer. Went there for a conference on the Amusphere to see the potential it had and how could I work with that."

"The Full Dive system and the World Seed caught my interest," Dick adds, "I work as a programmer and the challenges looked fascinating. Still amazing how they worked it all out."

"I ended up wandering around the convention. I was interested in how the technology could be used for educational purposes," Nguyen explains, "Imagine how you can use VR to allow people to visit places that no longer exist today. That's how the War-Torn booth caught my attention."

"Yeah, I saw this asian-looking dude wandering around, then he looks at me and just starts making a beeline for the booth. I figured I had a nerd who was going to criticize every aspect of the game." Stonewall chuckles. "Turns out he was more interested in the game than how accurate it was. We talked for a bit and he left, and next thing I know he's dragging three guys and a caveman towards the booth with this big shit-eating grin."

Tony, Lou, Roscoe and Dick all roll their eyes and smile, confirming the truth while everyone else has no trouble imagining who was the caveman.

"And I met Stonewall at… uh…" Aria looks to Stonewall nervously, and he smiles prior to looking at the ALO players.

"I met Aria at a physical rehabilitation center in Louisiana after I broke my back in a motorcycle accident. Took a turn on a wet road too fast and wrapped myself around a telephone pole."

"So… you healed up?" Sinon asks, looking at the seemingly able-bodied American.

"I wish I could say I did. I'm a paraplegic, it's a wheelchair for life for me."

"Then how are you..?" Asuna starts to ask before she stops in realization.

"Dex and Mikey helped. I have full functionality in War-Torn thanks to them. The miracles of VR, eh?"

Asuna nods with a sad smile.

"We once had a friend who was able to have a normal life thanks to VR," she says mournfully. Her eyes are glistening lightly as the memories rush back in her mind.

"Oh?" Nguyen asks.

"Yes, her name was Yuuki Konno. She was known as Zekken, the Absolute Sword and was the best player in ALO. Unbested by anyone in that world." Asuna explains as she leans back in her seat, "She was also one of the bravest and kindest people I met. Everyone who met her, loved her."

"She sounds like a great person… Wait a sec!" Nguyen exclaims, "Did she- What happened to her?"

"Yuuki had AIDS because of a contaminated blood transfusion at her birth. Her whole family were infected as well and she was the last one to die."

Nguyen unclips his helmet and pulls it off. He bows his head in respect.

"When I met her, she had been full-diving for two years. She volunteered to test a device called the Medicuboid." Asuna continues.

"Yeah, I know someone whose has a relative using it." Nguyen interrupts, "Simply marvelous."

"I have a friend who's using it." Stonewall adds. "Y'all might get to meet her later."

"Yes, thanks to Kirito, Yuuki was able to enjoy a normal life before dying."

Roscoe and Dick turn their heads towards the dark haired player.

"How did you do that man?" Roscoe asks in amazement, "You're still a kid no?"

Kirito shrugs.

"I created a special camera that allowed people in VR to interact with the real world," he answers, "The Audiovisual bidirectional communication probe allowed Yuuki to come to school with us and enjoy some of the things she couldn't before dying."

The original War-Torn players look at him in awe.

"Hmmm…" Stonewall hums in thought. "Think you and I could talk about that again after this mission?"

"Sure." Kirito answers.

The tranquil flight has been going on for an hour. During that time, tales had been swapped between the former ALO players and their friends in War-Torn. Then, the peaceful flight is suddenly interrupted by the sound of distant explosion and cannon fire.

"Holy shit," Nguyen mutters as he looks towards the front of the glider. He sees bright flashes light contrasting against the dark night sky. Sometimes the flashes are followed by a long trail of flames, a stricken bomber falling out of the skies. Sometimes, there are players getting out… sometimes not.

"Looks like the 8th is gettin' some." Stonewall agrees, sitting up straight in his seat. "Buckle up folks."

"One minute to drop." The pilot of the glider announces, looking back at everyone. A light above starts shining green.

"Roger that." Stonewall grumbles, fastening his harness. Beside him Aria gets up and helps the ALO players, explaining how to get out of the harness before sitting back down and strapping herself in.

"Alright people, here...we...go!" The pilot cheers, just as the wire is detached from the nose of the glider and it drops a few feet, starting a controlled descent. Whistling fills the group's ears as the glider descends. Suddenly, the glider shakes and the pilots start swearing.

"Dammit!" yells one of them as he struggles with the controls, "Wind's bit stronger than I thought!"

"A bit stronger!?" the other snaps, "We're getting blown off course!"

A few of the players pale as they hear the pilots.

"How far off course are we?" Stonewall asks, looking at a map in his lap.

"Not far yet, it's actually pushing us towards the objective."

"Well that's good… I hope."

Nguyen shakes his head.

"If we get too close, they'll spot us and blow us out of the skies."

"We can try an emergency landing at the alternate LZ, but it'll be a rough landing."

Stonewall looks at the map for a second, then nods. "Do it."

The glider starts turning towards the right as it dives towards the ground. The whistling intensifies as it picks up speed.

"Are you sure this is safe?!" Liz screeches as a queasy look appears on her face.

"It's perfectly safe if you have a good pilot!" Stonewall laughs back.

"Are these guys good pilots?!" Leafa asks, making Stonewall grin.

"Beats the hell outta me!"

"YEEHAW!" Dick yells before roaring and laughing.

"Brace for impact!" One of the pilots yell as the glider starts to ease its descent. The whistling transforms to loud crashing sounds as the glider hits the ground. It bounces over the rough ground, shaking its occupants. Sounds of things breaking start mixing in with the noise of groaning metal.

"Is this thing starting to fall apart!?" Klein shouts as he looks around nervously.

"Shut up tabarnak!" retorts a redfaced Lou, "You're jinxing us!"

The group are rocked around inside the glider as it screeches to a halt. It turns slightly to the left before completely stopping.

"Holy mack… we made it," Nguyen says in amazement.

"Unhook! Everyone out!" Stonewall orders, undoing his harness in two deft motions and standing up, readying his rifle prior to opening the side door and running out into the snow. He is soon followed by the rest of his team. They feel the chilly air as they get out of their glider with mist escaping their mouths.

"Jesus. I think we cut it a bit close." Stonewall chuckles, looking at the trees around them. The glider's left wing is touching a massive tree.

"Well… we won't have to worry about having to hide this thing eh?" Nguyen remarks as he looks around him. A Dark forest surrounds them and their glider. All is quiet, the AA guns having ceased fire and the other planes gone away. There's no sound of animals around them.

"Man, that was fun!" Kirito exclaims as he meets up with Nguyen and Stonewall, "I'd like to do that again."

"I'll keep it in mind. Let's keep the volume down now. Everyone grab a Panzerfaust from the crate and let's get a move on." Stonewall's reply is hushed, and as Aria kneels down beside him he takes a moment to scrutinize his map prior to heading back inside and grabbing a Panzerfaust. Nguyen organizes a rotation so that some players stand guard while the others go back to the glider to get a Panzerfaust. Meanwhile, Sinon climbs up a nearby tree and keeps an eye out for anything.

Within minutes, everyone is ready, and Stonewall hands Aria the handset for the radio. "Alright. The other gliders made their drop, so we've got some catching up to do."

"How far off course are we?" Kirito asks as he moves up next to Stonewall. The American kneels down and pulls out a map, shining a dim red light on it.

"We're here at the alternate landing zone. The main LZ is a kilometer to our south-east, but the rally point is only a klick to our east." He explains, laying his finger on the points in subject. "We'll meet up at the rally point, then we'll assault the gun, disable it, and get the hell outta dodge before the entire regional garrison comes crashing in on our heads."

Meanwhile, Silica looks at Pina. The dog seeming relaxed, yet alert.

"Anything unusual?" Asuna asks as she looks around the dark woods

The younger girl shakes her head.

"Pina didn't sense anything unusual yet."

Silica says as she holds her carbine. Looking over at them, Agil whispers as he checks his weapon.

"Probably they're all distracted with cleaning up after the last air raid."

As everyone within earshot agrees to Agil's theory, Aria jogs past, snow crunching under her feet, her radio antena sticking up above her head a solid two feet.

"Moving out in two minutes, rally up on Stonewall." She whispers, "Spread the word."

Everyone nods and begin moving towards where Stonewall, Kirito and Nguyen are kneeling. The three are looking over a map, and the latter two nod in agreement before the group leader puts the map in his jacket. Sinon climbs down from her tree to meet them.

"All right everyone, we're moving out," Kirito whispers, "Single file."

The group quickly forms a file before marching out through the quiet and dark forest. There's no sound except for their steps through the cold snow as they walk. Weapons in hand, everyone looks around them for anything suspicious.

"So far, it's pretty quiet," Kirito whispers to Stonewall and Nguyen.

"Rather unnerving," Nguyen answers, "lt's too quiet for more liking," he adds, tightening his grip on his Thompson.

"I'd rather it be quiet. Things being loud on a mission like this usually means things have gone completely sideways." Stonewall grumbles, checking his FG42 for the umpteenth time since leaving the glider.

"I think Agil was right," Kirito replies quietly, "The other team must be too distracted by the rest of the raid."

Nguyen grunts in approval.

"Let's hope soooo- halt. Halt!" Stonewall hisses, dropping to one knee to examine several pairs of tracks in the snow. The others quickly follow and look around anxiously, scanning the horizon with their weapons raised. "One of these is being dragged, but there's no blood."

"Something's not right here," Nguyen says as he moves up to Stonewall.

"I'll say… are there prisoner mechanics in this game?" Kirito asks as he inspects the tracks before looking back at the rest of the group, "Silica, can you come here with Pina?"

As the handler and her dog jog up to the front of the line, Stonewall looks up at Kirito. "There are, but nobody ever surrenders." Hushed murmurs can be heard behind them.

"You'd have to be a fucking idiot or noob to do that," Nguyen says contemptuously, "Maybe they patched the poor sod well enough he stopped bleeding?"

Kirito nods before turning to Stonewall.

"Do these tracks lead towards our objective?"

"In the general direction, yes."

A small hmmph can be heard from Nguyen as he places his hand on his chin, thinking about something.

"Maybe they set up a guardhouse on the way we were supposed to go." he remarks, "They might have brought him there to fully heal him and head out again."

Pina sniffs at the tracks and growls, just as a small box of text appears above her head.

"Six players passed by here… but only five are enemy?" Silica responds with confusion in her voice. Stonewall, Nguyen and Kirito gasp.

"Maybe some unlucky flyboy got knocked unconscious when he bailed?" Nguyen proposes as his eyes widen, "That's the only idea I got."

"If that's the case then we've got to save him!" Kirito argues firmly.

"Alright, just keep your voice down!" Stonewall hisses. "We'll go bail him out of trouble, but if it gets in the way of our objective we'll have to leave him. Which way Silica?" Kirito and Nguyen nod in agreement

The handler looks at Pina, then points in the direction of the rally point.

"Well… looks we were heading there anyways," Nguyen quietly remarks before smiling at Silica and Pina, "Thanks girls!"

Kirito checks over his Carbine as he nods in approval.

As they walk through the forest, following the trail, Aria moves up to the front of the line. "Contacts, straight ahead of us. Wood smoke and people."

Meanwhile, Pina's hackles are raised up as she stares in the direction the tracks are heading, backing up Aria's claim.

"Spread out." Stonewall orders, "Sinon, see if you can get eyes on what's ahead of us. Climb a tree."

"Understood."

The sniper nods as she moves towards a tall tree, scrambling up the trunk to sit on one of the branches. She spots some smoke and upon a closer look, sees a wood cabin, a dull orange light leaking through the windows. She equips her binoculars and begins scanning the cabin's window.

"I've got someone tied to a chair inside," she hisses, "They look kind of short."

"Anyone outside?" Stonewall asks, kneeling by the tree.

"...Not that I can see."

"Must be undermanned," Nguyen remarks, "Or bloody incompetent. Guys, think we can get closer?"

"There's no one outside," Sinon confirms after a few moment, "Must be undermanned Nguyen."

"Everyone, line up. We'll advance as one group. Kirito, Klein, and Liz, we're going in first."

"The rest of us'll secure the outside," Nguyen reports as he points to the rest of the group, "Sinon, if you see movement, engage them."

Slowly, everyone moves forward, staying near trees should anyone get the drop on them. Nothing happens on the approach, but as Stonewall and his breaching team line up there's laughter inside, and the dampened smell of fresh food. Nguyen's team quickly report that all is quiet around them.

Stonewall fixes the bayonet on his rifle, and Klein follows by his example before the American steps away from the door and launches himself at it, using his shoulder. The door easily gives way, and he barges in, raising his rifle to find four players in Italian uniforms sitting at a table, with a fifth halfway between a pot of pasta on a stove and the table.

The sound of a plate crashing to the floor is soon followed by the fifth player speaking, staring wide-eyed at the commandos. The rest are frozen in place, trying to understand what just happened.

"Oh shit."

A quick series of gunshots followed by yells of pain can be heard by the commandos outside. Stonewall comes out a moment later.

"Clear!"

Nguyen motions for everyone to enter.

"Smells good," he remarks as he enters the warm cabin, "Mamma mia! Turns out they were incompetent losers."

Taking a good look around, he notices the warm fire, a nicely laid out table, an open wine bottle, five glasses and dishes of pasta. Lying against the left wall are bolt-action rifles, still shining new while a large pot sat on the stove. On the ground, there's a mess of spaghetti and a broken plate. Nguyen also notices that there's no radio of any kind. The room is well furnished with a nice couch and coffee table in addition to the dining table. Kirito, Liz and Klein are each scrutinizing the place.

"Wow, they were really dangerous," Dick snidely remarks as he enters. Once Sinon gets in, they close the door to shield themselves from the cold.

"A real bunch of amateurs," Klein adds, "I don't usually play this kind of game and I know you don't do this. Cozy little place though."

Meanwhile, Asuna moves over to the stove, sniffing the contents of the pot and taking a taste.

"They completely used the wrong type of spices for this sauce," the medic says in disgust followed by laughter from the rest of the party. Silica is standing next to Pina who is cleaning the mess.

"If anyone wants a well-fed bonus… now's the time," Nguyen remarks, "Someone keep an eye on that door though." Dick nods and places himself with his shotgun pointing at the closed door.

"Oh my god… how can you be so dumb?" Roscoe exclaims, "They should have set up watch before eating."

"We're talking about Italian wannabees," Lou answers, "They need their pasta first. Anyone wants some? It's free food."

"The real dumbass here is the prisoner." Stonewall laughs, opening the door and walking into the next room which turns out to be a small bedroom with a desk. "Infantry gear, and noob gear at that!"

"Don't hurt me!" exclaims a short, dark haired player with glasses dressed in a relatively clean American uniform though it's clearly a warm weather uniform, "Or else the Alliance'll get you." The unfortunate player is tied to a chair near the door and looks nervously at Stonewall.

A series of footsteps can be heard as Nguyen enters the room.

"Kirito's taken over for me in the other room. Man learns fast-whoa what the-!?" he exclaims as he raises his Thompson.

At the same moment, the unknown player unties himself and, in a blur, equips an M1903 Springfield but with no scope. Pointing it at Stonewall, he pulls the trigger… with no results. The Vietnamese player starts laughing again.

"Okay...I'm not sure who's winning the "Idiot of the Day" prize between those five dudes or you kid." he says as he looks at the new player, "Just… just stop. You're embarrassing yourself kid."

Stonewall steps forward and grabs the rifle, wrenching it out of the player's hands easily. "Easy there kiddo. I'm just gon' take this before you shoot your eye out."

Nguyen sighs in annoyance at the kid's antics.

"Do you realize how bad you are? You got captured by the Italians… Jesus christ." he groans before looking at Stonewall. "Bro, did he forget his safety or did he forget to pull back the bolt or he forgot to load his gun?"

"He left his safety on."

"Urgh… no wonder he got captured sheesh."

The player squirms around until Nguyen glares at him to stop.

"We're Alliance players dumbass."

"Nobody surrenders in this game. So you've made a gigantic fool of yourself. Congratulations kid." Stonewall laughs, making his way out of the room with the M1903 in hand. Nguyen escorts the former prisoner out of the room who still has a nervous look on his face.

"Well we found someone alright… this kid…" he says with annoyance. The rest of the group are divided between those who guard the house and those who eat. Asuna is standing next to the stove as she adds some ingredients to the sauce. Sitting at the table are Sinon, Silica, Aria, Roscoe and Tony while the rest stand guard. Klein, Dick and Lou are guarding the doorway while Liz, Agil, Kirito and Leafa each guard a window. The two gliders pilots are sitting on the couch. As they hear their friends enter the room, they turn their head and see the rescued prisoner.

"You alright kid?" Agil asks though the player is too nervous to answer.

Leafa, standing nearest to the room, has a look of surprise appearing on her face while her eyes widen in disbelief as she sees the newcomer.

"RECON!?"

Authors' endnotes

Well… that was an unexpected development. What's he doing here?!. I hope you enjoyed the pasta humour as much as we enjoyed writing it. The Panzerfaust going off prematurely comes from a German called Die Brücke. It's about a bunch of kids defending a small, backwater footbridge and one of them does exactly what I wrote… but the Panzerfaust goes off as he's grabbing from a crate. Needless to say, kid didn't make it. Morals of the story?

Don't use untrained child soldiers. It ain't worth it and it makes difficult for everyone.

Don't unsafe a weapon if you're not using right afterwards.

-Goodalwayswins98

Cliffhanger! Muahahaha! - SirStonewall

Tune in next time for Chapter 5: Surprise visit!