Hello my dear readers, here I am with yet another story.

This time it's the basic story of sword art online built upon the MMORPG star wars of the old republic.

Please tell me what you thought of this prologue in the reviews, and please enjoy the story.

The chapter was beta'd by Panzer_Hippo, thanks a lot for the help buddy.

AN (05/06/21): The chapter was in a few key parts rewritten and corrected, particularly the briefing as well Sinon and Kirito's little talk, thanks to the valuable feedback of Agent94, appreciate the help. A little change in the dynamic between the characters and a bit more consistent approach to Kirito's personality. Hopefully, it's an improvement.

Chapter 1 Resolution

There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality, and then there are those who turn one into the other.

Douglas H. Everett

'I used to run away from reality, immersing myself in various games, in a dream where I can be whoever I want to be and do whatever I want. Instead of trying to solve my problems, I simply shut them out and went to play. But all of that stopped when the dream became the only reality I knew.

When the death game started.'

-0-

Waking up became an unusual experience in the last year and a half for one Kirigaya Kazuto. When he woke up nowadays, he did not find himself in his room, feeling groggy because he played well into the night on various games, and did not feel any pain because of the uncomfortable positions he turned in his sleep.

Now, it was a different experience. Instead of a gradual process, waking up happened now instantly, and as he opened his eyes, the by now familiar surroundings of Argo's starship, the Akihabara's greeted him.

The biggest difference was that he was not Kirigaya Kazuto here, he was Kirito, the Sith Marauder, and the one who earned the name Darth Hodúr and this was not the real world. This was Star Wars The Old Republic Online, and this was the only reality that mattered for the last one and half years.

The hum of the engines around him was a comforting sound as Kirito woke up and with a yawn that was more born out of a habit than any real need, he sat up from the bunk bed he slept in, letting his legs dangle down from the top bed, his hand reflexively opening a menu and silencing the alarm that supposed to wake him up a few minutes later.

SWTORO was supposed to be one of the most hyped and most popular games in this age. The first VMMORPG of the world, made by the very man who made the console able to bring a fully VR world to life, Kayaba Akihiko. Modeled after the successful and still thriving franchise of Star Wars, it was every gamers' dream come true. The first two hundred thousand copies of the game were immediately sold before the opening day and in the subsequent month, three hundred thousand more copies were made and sold just as quickly, with promises made by Argus, the company responsible for the game, to open the game worldwide. Half a million players, just in the firstly released Japanese server, the game was promised to dominate the newly expanded VR industry.

During the beta and the first month following the launch was everything that he ever dreamed of. The game was beautiful work of art, engaging, and as a surprise for an MMO, it had a surprisingly vast story in it, making it enjoyable for all sorts of players. He didn't know how many hours he logged in but during the first month of the game, his life barely consisted more than playing the game. And after the first month, there was no choice, the game became their life.

Kirito dropped down from his bed and withheld a wince at the large sound his landing made. One thing he could never get accustomed to while on a spaceship was the metallic sound even the softest footsteps could cause. He looked back toward the bed, checking if he woke up his bunk-mate but he knew there was very little chance for that. They could be in the middle of a space battle and it wouldn't wake Klein up.

A mop of unruly red hair peeked out from under the sheets as Klein slept without any apparent change. Despite their bodies not moving while sleeping, he still ended up somehow in a haphazard bundle of limbs and if they were in the real world, Kirito was sure the older man would be snoring heavily.

Shaking his head, Kirito walked to the other end of the room where a door led into a small bathroom, equipped with a sonic shower which while not as relaxing as a regular shower or a bath, still felt quite good, despite their bodies being nothing more than virtual data and in theory no need to bother with. But it just became one other thing they got used to in the last one and a half years.

Stepping out of the shower, he quickly re-equipped his undergarments, his eyes inevitably falling on a nearby mirror. A young teen was looking back from it, with short black hair that seemed to try and stick in every direction, a pair of onyx eyes, and a slim, very effeminate face, looking nothing like a hardened warrior who spent most of his time at the Unknown Regions, battling various monsters, Force apparitions, Force users and pirates. It was the face of a kid, not the Sith whose mere name could make others tremble and red players to think twice about stepping out of line.

The face in the mirror grimaced at him as he observed the young face. It hadn't aged at all since the start of the death game, still looking like a 17-year-old, with a very feminine face, despite Kirito turning 19 in a few months. He wondered how his face looked at the other side. Pale, malnourished, probably since his body did nothing but slept in a hospital bed for too long.

He remembered the day when everything changed. It started innocently enough, a new event was announced a month into the game with a promised reward to players who already reached a certain point in their class-specific story chain. Kirito, along with many other players were undeniably excited for the first official event of the game and he made sure to log in ahead of time and farm a little to pass the time until the event activated and close to two hundred thousand players were teleported to an unnamed planet where the event was being revealed.

The Kirito in the mirror grimaced as the young man stepped away and opened a menu in front of him to begin equipping his armor and weapons, at the back of his mind the memories of that fateful day playing over and over as they did many times since then.

He couldn't ever forget as the game master. Kayaba Akihiko, appeared in front of them in a custom avatar, calling himself the eternal emperor after people began to slightly panic as more and more of them discovered that the log-out button was missing from the menu. And when the tension rose to its height, instead of placating them, Kayaba told them the truth. It was not a bug, not a joke gone wrong, it was intentional. That none of them could exit the game, the removal of the Nerve Gear from the outside promised death, and dying in the game meant dying in real life too. Their only hope was to complete the 'event' and beat back the Eternal Empire who came to crush both the Republic and the Sith Empire, the two playable factions of the game.

He equipped his black and red chest plate, moving his shoulders to get used to it. Despite using this particular armor for more than a month, every time he equipped it, he needed a moment to feel comfortable in it. He put on the rest of his armor, a pair of armored gauntlets with segmented, metal gloves, shin guards, and boots, his two custom lightsabers rested on his belt, before finishing his outfit with his iconic knee-length black coat, the front open showing the glowing red lines on his chest plate. As an afterthought, his mask was placed into the helmet slot, though in its open configuration, leaving his face open, save for rectangular pieces of metal equipment resting on the sides of his face, under his ears.

He walked out of the room he shared with Klein, the large ship feeling empty with most of its inhabitants sleeping but he didn't really feel bothered by it, rather welcomed the chance to be alone with his thoughts. He walked through a hallway, in the direction of the cockpit, passing by a lone astromech with yellow stripes painted on who was doing maintenance on a nearby control panel, affectionately patting its head, gaining a twirl in response from the yellow little droid.

Stepping into the cockpit, he found the room empty, after all, there was no need for anyone to remain here while they were in transit, it was all automated thanks to the game's system. Kirito sat down on the co-pilot's chair, looking out of the window, mesmerized by the blue streams of hyperspace outside.

When Kayaba explained the new rules of the game, naturally most people were skeptical, calling it a bad joke, calling Kayaba a madman, and expecting the government to do something and get them out of here. But as days rolled into weeks, and soon a month, with nothing changing, save for people dying, either by suicide or by mobs, people began to lose hope of getting rescued.

It was left to him and a relatively small group of players who dared to venture out of safe zones to brave the dangers of the unknown regions and various hardships. These scattered bands of players slowly began to group together, at first only for raids, and planetary conquests, which were required to be able to move into the next planet. Then, after a few months, they realized that as a whole, cohesive group they had a much better chance to clear the game and free everyone.

This group decided to set aside differences for the most part. It didn't matter if you were a support player or a frontline fighter, came from the republic or the empire, beta tester or not, all players were welcomed. A large fleet was amassed from ships of various designs, smuggler vessels, republic warships, imperial stealth frigates and so many more. That was the birth of what people simply called the Alliance against the Eternal Empire.

"What has gotten you brooding this time?" an amused voice from behind him broke him out of his thoughts, prompting Kirito to turn around in surprise.

Just behind his seat stood a slightly shorter girl his age, smirking at him with a hand on her hip, the other casually resting on the top of his chair. She had thin, pale blue hair that was casually short, with a tuft of hair tied up on both sides of her forehead with hairpins showing a skull emblem and indigo-colored eyes. Her combat attire consisted of a desert-colored military jacket, bulletproof armor of the same color, and combat boots, as well as a white muffler around her neck. She also had a blaster strapped to her right thigh, a thin, futuristic-looking gauntlet on her left hand that Kirito knew contained, among many things, a flamethrower and a carbonite spray.

It was strange to see her out of her bulkier, beskar armor which offered much more defense and tanking capabilities, or the lack of either the iconic T-visor helmet on her head or the cybernetic enhancement over her right eye that offered a large bonus to her sniper attacks. Instead, she wore her more relaxed 'city armor' as she dubbed it.

It still boggled Kirito's mind that despite being in a virtual death trap, girls still found the ability to have 10 or more different outfits for various occasions. He on the other hand had his casual/sleepwear, his combat gear, and a variant of the combat gear meant for the ice planets because if the game replicated something extraordinarily well, it was the feeling of cold.

He was so distracted by his musings that he only belatedly realized that ignoring his silence, the girl sat down to the captain's chair and turned it toward him with a teasing smirk on her face as she caught him looking at her. Cheeks reddening slightly, Kirito cleared his throat, feeling embarrassed.

"You are up early, Sinon. Couldn't sleep?" he asked, not meeting her amused eyes. Sinon and a certain another member of their crew always found the need to tease him in various ways much to his chagrin.

"You are one to talk mister 'I'm up before the crack of dawn, regardless of which planet I am on'." Sinon's catlike eyes watched him with way too much interest to bode anything good for him."But you didn't answer my question, what got you brooding this time?"

"I was not brooding." he defended himself, earning nothing but a skeptical look. Scoffing he turned away back to watching the blue light of the hyperspace. "I just got up early and I came here to think a little before today's battle," he admitted a little somberly.

It may have been a death game but he couldn't help but be amazed by it sometimes. The details, the lore, the sheer feeling of flying through space, the hum of the lightsaber in his hand. Despite risking his life on a daily basis, despite doing everything so they can leave this game and go home, there were many, many days when he felt this one was the real world and whatever was waiting back for him could ever measure up to this.

Kirito wondered how they will cope if they ever get out. Without staring death in the face daily, the danger of attack either from some mob or a rare PKer if you let your guard down and the absence of that strange sixth sense, the system's mimicry of what the Force would be in reality. Most of all, he wondered how they would handle simply going to school, taking their previous place in society when most of them got used to their relative freedom and autonomy. It won't be an easy transition that is for sure.

Sinon didn't seem to believe him, judging by the scoff she let out as an answer but didn't immediately push the subject. Both of them stayed silent, enjoying this short moment of peace but after a few minutes, the blue-haired girl spoke up.

"It's not a weakness to admit that you are afraid, you know." her voice was soft, though she didn't turn his way. "It's completely natural. We wouldn't think less of you for it."

"Who says anything about being afraid?" he challenged her with a cocky smirk."We are doing this for a living. This is where I'm at my best, my zone, there is nothing to be afraid of. Not all of us need at least a hundred meters between us and the enemy."

Instead of getting angry by his insults as she did usually, Sinon only sighed in response to his attitude.

"Why am I not surprised? You are always like that. Whenever it gets tough, you just close up and start acting like a cynical, smart-mouthed asshole." she muttered, more to herself than him, and seemed to let the subject drop. For a reason unknown to him, Kirito felt bad at brushing her off."Suit yourself."

His and Sinon's relationship was very simple. Their fighting styles complimented each other well that they tended to team up in harder quests, they were friendly rivals who always had a witty comeback or an insult for the other. They could end up often enough in verbal spars but neither really meant anything about it. He wouldn't dare to call them friends, but allies or comrades definitely.

He was the first one to admit that he was rubbish at interacting with people. Both in here and the real world, he acted like a cynical, slightly narcissistic asshole, to avoid getting closer to people, because he simply had no idea how to deal with them. Even after the death game launched and they formed the alliance with him as a pivotal part of it, he still tended to play as a solo player most of the time. It was better for him, no need to feel responsible for others, the only life he held in his hands was his own.

The loud sound of an alarm coming to life broke the tense silence between them, prompting both of them to jump in surprise and hurriedly check what was going on.

A moment later the alarm shut off and Kirito examined the window opened up in front of him. After a minute, he gave an annoyed huff before he turned back to the console in front of him, quickly typing in a few commands.

"Rise and shine sleeping beauties," he spoke into a nearby microphone, his voice heard all over the ship, waking up the sleeping players. "We are twenty minutes out before exiting hyperspace and reaching Darvannis. Get ready ladies, eat your breakfast and convene in the communications room in ten minutes," he ordered before sending out a similar message to the leaders of the rest of their fleet that followed behind them.

When he was done, he let out a sigh, leaning back on his chair lazily, before remembering about Sinon's presence. He spun the chair around in her direction, raising an eyebrow at her. She was standing a few feet away from him, refusing to even look in his direction acting like she didn't even hear him.

"Well looks like the assault will start sooner than we anticipated," he spoke up in a light tone, hiding his uncertainty under an uncaring bravado. "Hey about what we talked about..." he spoke slowly as if he was afraid of figuratively stepping on a landmine of some kind.

"There's nothing to talk about." Sinon's answer was swift and resolute, leaving no room for argument.

"Suits me just fine." was his reply as he turned away, ignoring how the lie tasted in his mouth, busying himself with studying the console and its readings in front of him.

A moment later, he heard the sounds of Sinon's steps as she left the cockpit, leaving him alone. Kirito waited until the last echo of her boots meeting the floor disappeared, before letting out a heavy sigh as he slumped down in his chair, in his lonesome allowing his tough facade to disappear.

"Women are hard to understand.." he complained tiredly as he ran a hand through his hair.

A few minutes he stood up with a groan and left the cockpit as well, heading into the room with the holoprojector, dubbed as the communications room.

-0-

"Look who decided to finally show up." an amused voice greeted him as he stepped into the communications room."Now that Mr. Cool graced us with his presence, we can start."

The communications room was a large room located to the left of the hallway leading to the cockpit. In its center stood a large circular holoprojector, where they could communicate with their fellow players, a few NPCs, and even strategize before an assault by projecting the relevant map information through it. Aside from that, the room had a large couch and a few seats in case a meeting ran long enough to stop some people, mostly Klein, from complaining about standing still for too long.

It was also Klein who spoke up, standing next to the projector, smirking at the black-haired sith lord. He was completely armored up, wearing his newest heavy armor, the Energized infantry armor. It was a bulky dark grey armor, with glowing red lines running parallel on his gauntlets, shins, and chest piece. On his left shoulder, he wore a large red pauldron, an ammo belt around his waist, filled with various explosives and grenades while he had a second strapped across his chest. On his side, he had a blaster pistol, while on his back he had his trusty blaster rifle, a Z-13 Huntsman Disintegrator, which made him a menace on the battlefield, along with a large pack that contained spare ammo, explosives, and other equipment that he needed to use on a moment notice instead of storing it in his inventory.

The red-haired man was of the Republic Trooper class, and while many players would call that a 'grunt' class, it was not true at all. He was a true tank, with heavy, advanced armor rivaling the best of the Bounty Hunter class, capable of dealing plenty of damage by himself, without needing to retreat or bother with fancy dodging.

"If it weren't for me Klein, you would still be in bed, sprawled like an eagle." Kirito shot back with a smirk as he stopped next to the soldier, causing the others around them to giggle softly, while Klein's face slightly reddened.

Despite his words and attitude, Klein was one of the few people he genuinely respected and trusted to have his back despite whatever odds they face. While on paper the trooper was just the second in command, he was the one who recruited the members of the strike team, who forced them through countless, pointless drills to make sure they function as a team and everyone knew that as soon as the battle started, it would be Klein's orders which they would follow.

But more than that, Klein was one who accepted him with his sarcastic, and strange personality, who didn't hold his past as a beta tester or as a solo player who exploited the loopholes of the game for his own gain, against him. He couldn't call him a friend but he was definitely a long-time acquaintance of his.

"You wouldn't have photographic evidence of that, would you, Ki-bou?" asked a nasal voice with a mischievous giggle from his right."I would be interested to purchase it, could be useful later."

Looking to the side he met the amused eyes of Argo, the owner of the ship that was responsible for their transportation and the information bonker whose information kept them alive most of the time. She was a head shorter than him, with short golden blonde hair that framed her face and an impish expression. She had a pair of pale blue whisker-like tattoos on her face, something that was her trademark even back in the beta and to this day, Kirito did not know what kind of stats it offered to her. The most reliable information broker found in the game guarded jealously this secret and even those closest to her weren't offered a discount from the steep price she asked for disclosing this information.

She was a smuggler first and foremost, she tended to avoid fighting close and personal, generally only fighting where she didn't give her opponents even a chance to fight back. Because of that, she wore no armor, only a dark grey jacket with a high collar that was made from a material that offered slight protection against blaster bolts. Even that only went down to just above her stomach, leaving her stomach out, something that tended to distract many male players. It also was open in the front, showing a slight cleavage. She had a small metal pauldron on her right shoulder but it served no real purpose, only an aesthetic. A pair of blasters were strapped to her thighs.

Kirito met her in the beta and they formed a sort of comradeship that hinged on exchanging information and helping each other, in Argo's case that meant he had to help build her by now considerably far-reaching information network, and for Kirito, it was to gain an edge over his fellow players. They worked well together, to the point that they teamed up a few times even after the game officially started. And after it turned to a death game, she was one of his only constant contacts for a while.

"Tempting but I hate to be excluded from the loot because of a joke:" he answered her question with a chuckle, to the relief of the red-haired male who relaxed after hearing that.

The little interaction over, he looked over the rest of the people gathered around the holoprojector, it seemed all of the relatively small crew made it in time. Next to Argo stood two girls, the only Jedi of the group.

The first girl was very pretty, arguably one of the prettiest girls in the game. Long chestnut-colored hair that went down to the middle of her back, a regal if a bit pale face with brown eyes that usually looked much kinder but currently were trying to burn a glare through him.

She was Asuna, one of the strongest players in the Jedi Knight class, who earned the nickname Lightning Flash, for her lightning-fast reflexes and attacks. She wore simple but elegant light brown robes over the traditional Jedi clothes, forgoing armor almost entirely, only equipping light bracers for her forearms and shins, and a single lightsaber was hanging from her belt.

She was the appointed leader of their squad. She was a powerful, well-known, and charismatic player, a good tactician, someone anyone would trust their back to. She was also humble enough that she couldn't do everything alone, thus she regelated a lot of duties to Klein, who would be the one ordering them on the ground.

But until then she was the boss and she would be treated as such.

Next to her stood Lisbeth, one of the most well-known players of the less combat-oriented class of Jedi Consular. She had short pink hair styled in a bob, pale blue eyes, and freckles on her face that gave her a cute look. She was wearing a dark green variant of the robe that Asuna chose, forgoing any armor, concentrating on other methods of defense. She had also had a lightsaber on her belt, though it got relatively little use.

Consulars were those who focused on the more peaceful side of the Jedi, like diplomacy, exploring, or studying the intricacies of the force, at least lore-wise. What amounted in terms of the game, Consulars instead of fancy lightsaber skills learned various force powers, as well more skills useful outside combat than their counterparts.

"So just for curiosity's sake, what did you do again to piss Asuna off?" asked Sinon from next to Klein, smirking at him with amusement, no trace of her earlier embarrassment.

She replaced her combat gear with grey, polished beskar heavy armor, the very best a Mandalorian can ever get their hands on. She had a powerful sniper rifle hoisted on her back and her trusty blaster strapped to her thigh. She had the Mandalorian skull symbol on the left side of her chest plate, her bulky gauntlets, carrying various instruments of death from small rockets to a flamethrower. Her belt, similar to Klein, was packed with enough explosives to blow up a bunker, without leaving any evidence of its existence behind. She also had her jet pack equipped, which afforded a lot of mobility to her in the field.

"This time I honestly have no idea." he admitted with a shrug and a small smirk."I didn't even have many opportunities to do anything in the first place."

"Well we are talking about you, usually a single look at your face is enough to piss off people." she shot back with an amused smirk.

He was glad that they were trading barbs back and forth once again, as was their usual. Familiarity like that was good, meant that he didn't need to endlessly worry about that scene earlier.

"I would prefer if you didn't talk about me as if I wasn't in the room." Asuna cut into their talk, with an annoyed glare sent to both of them, which both Sith and Mandalorian shrugged without appearing bothered at all.

"As amusing as it is, with everyone present, we should begin our meeting before the Akihabara jumps out of hyperspace." a new, older, and stern voice cut in, with a generous dose of static slightly distorting the sound.

Kirito's face lost the traces of amusement, turning into an emotionless mask as he looked in front of him, the other side of the projector. There stood 3 figures shrouded in a static, blue light. These three players weren't actually on the ship but were projected through their own communicators from their ships, letting them meet and plan without having to be physically present.

The first was a shorter teen with shoulder-length hair that would have been blue, even without the effects of the holoprojector, with two locks of hair framing his face. Under the brown robe, commonly worn by Jedi, he had a medium-class glaringly white armor and had two lightsabers, strapped on his belt. He had an amused, easygoing look on his face.

He was Diavel, leader of the guild and flagship of the same name, Pathfinder. He was a former beta tester, who commanded a large part of the alliance forces' respect for his kind and helpful attitude and sheer charisma.

The one who spoke stood in the middle, distinguishing himself with his impressive height and build. He was a trooper similar to Klein, only his white armor looked more decorative and polished, with large red crosses on his shoulders and chest. The man himself towered over all of them, muscled and broad-shouldered, with a stern, scholarly, no-nonsense face, piercing, grey eyes, and steel-grey hair that he wore in a low ponytail with a single strand hanging over his forehead.

His name was Heathcliff, commander of the guild and heavy cruiser the Blood Oath. The man had charisma in shapes and commanded the respect of most frontline players, especially those from republic classes, but he had plenty of respect from the rest of them too. He could be called one of the so-called founders of their alliance, a brilliant strategist, and basically the one who everyone turned to if things got rough.

As much as Kirito and the others in the strike team were used to being in the thick of the fight before anyone else, and were called as the spearhead of the alliance's offensive, most would call Heathcliff the one moving that spear. While not inaccurate, the reality was a bit different.

Next to him stood a slender woman, around the age of twenty-five. Her otherwise crimson red hair was now nothing more than a dark shade of blue, which she wore in a ponytail, her hair draping over her left shoulder. She had an alluring, seductive smile on her face, highlighted by the dark makeup above her eyes, on the upper lip of her mouth, and a pair of fang-like symbols on her lower lip.

She wore a short, dark grey robe that just covered her chest, leaving her arms and stomach bare. To make matters worse, it showed an ample amount of cleavage making it harder for young, hormonal teenagers and Klein to keep their eyes on her face. She also wore a slitted skirt that showed off her thighs like some kind of prize. Next to all of that, the double-bladed lightsaber that hung from her belt, or the yellow, slitted eyes staring at you were largely ignored by most people.

She wasn't known in certain circles as the Succubus of the Dark Side for nothing and Rosalia, commanding the light-cruiser Titan's hand did nothing to dissuade that image.

She was a Sith Inquisitor, the parallel to the Jedi's Consular. She similarly focused mainly on her force powers, lightning-based attacks primarily, along with more obscure and less combat-oriented force powers. Rosalia was one of the stronger sith members of the alliance and while she tried to play herself as the de-facto leader of the Empire players, though it was far from the truth.

Most players would name either Sinon or Kirito as the leader of that faction since they were one of the most well-known ones but that was not accurate either. In truth, most empire players were either lone wolves or just simply uninterested in politics that made the life of the average alliance member harder, with the constant conflict between empire and republic players.

Who would have thought that in a death game, where their only goal should have been survival and getting out, people still seemed to hang on to the lore so much that there was an actual rivalry between empire and republic players?

Kirito blinked when he noticed most people were looking at him as if waiting for him to say something. He shook himself from his wandering thoughts, unconsciously his right reaching up and scratching the back of his head.

"What were we talking about again?" he asked with a sheepish chuckle.

The reaction varied from person to person. Klein, Argo, and Liz only had amused expressions on their faces, Sinon remained unaffected, only giving him an unamused expression. Asuna looked ready to murder him, while Rosalia simply grumbled to herself something about disrespect, he honestly didn't care to try and hear what she had to say. Heathcliff's face didn't even twitch as he looked at him, while Diavel had a tired expression on his face as if he saw that situation too many times to gather the urge to care. To be honest, it may have been true.

"You really need to start paying attention one of these days, Kirito." the blue-haired Jedi commented with a shake of his head.

"We were discussing your team's plan to infiltrate Darvannis to clear up the way for our fleet to invade." the commander of Blood Oath answered simply.

"Unless something changed since we parted ways, then there is nothing more than a waste of time. The plan is simple and we all should know our parts." was his abrupt answer, causing Klein to literally facepalm.

"Damn it Kirito, show a little tact," he complained under his breath but his voice was drowned out by Asuna almost exploding.

"I can't believe you, can't you take this seriously? It's not one of your solo hunts, it's a planet-wide attack, and many people will be in mortal danger." the chestnut-haired girl raged as her hand reflexively lowered to her lightsaber but Kirito wasn't worried.

Asuna may have had a short temper but even she wouldn't attack him on the ship. Even if she did there was no point, the ship was a safe zone, where they couldn't cause damage to other players outside of duels.

But more than that, despite her explosive temper, Asuna still had enough sense to refrain from attacking him as it would create nothing but unrest. Threatening him, on the other hand, was a very different subject.

"You could try and show us a proper respect to your superiors, Hodúr." Rosalia stated, uncaring about the other byplay glaring at Kirito with a glare bordering on hateful."As Admirals of the alliance fleet..."

"I didn't realize that you had any authority over me. I'm not one of your fleet lackeys, I'm down on the ground, fighting up close and personal." Kirito cut her off, his eyes briefly turning to red-rimmed yellow as he unconsciously tensed his body and glared at her."Sitting comfortably on your ship, out of the firing zone doesn't earn you any respect."

Despite not being physically in the same room Rosalia flinched and took a step back, suddenly feeling as if the vast expanse of space between them wasn't enough to protect her from him. Kirito was one of the largest reasons that she wasn't as much of a leader as she would have liked among the Empire, might makes right and despite his attitude and other flaws, Kirito who spent almost every waking moment in the frontline was not someone to be trifled with.

To begin with, her position as 'Admiral' was nothing more than a title jokingly added to the players who commanded their largest ships and were responsible to keep a portion of the fleet under control. The alliance currently had 5 admirals with the other two remaining on the base, in case of an attack on either on them or one of the planets under their banner. They all learned from the attack on Ord Mantell, that mistake would not be one they would be repeating anytime soon.

"Kirito." Sinon slowly warned him in a low voice, no one other than him heard her. Meeting her eyes, she looked as bored as he felt but still silently indicating him to not make matters worse.

He sighed in annoyance, feeling a very glaring lack of patience for all of this posturing but relented as he stepped back, giving a significant nod to Klein who gave him a thankful smile. He respected the man enough that he wouldn't undermine his authority. Asuna was a bit of a different matter but he could be the bigger man and just behave for now.

"The plan is not inherently complicated, so there is little room to screw it up. What we know is the Eternal Empire is diverting a massive amount of resources to a factory on the planet Darvannis. From what our scouts and informants gathered, it may as well be a super weapon of sorts, and I don't have to explain why we need to stop it at all costs." Asuna, sensing the argument ending spoke up, her tone level and serious, none of her earlier anger remaining.

If nothing else Asuna's ability to change focus so quickly was something to be admired. Even Kirito remained silent, even though she was reciting info that all of them were briefed before.

"They have a sizable fleet stationed over there but the real problem is the planetary defense grid that would tear our fleet to pieces in moments. For most people, it would be suicide, and we were tasked to do the impossible once again. The Akihabara is the only ship currently available that is capable of slipping past and dropping off a small task force before retreating. From there we will have to deactivate or destroy the two generators that keep the grid online. From then on, the enemy fleet is your problem but making a path for Pathfinder is a priority, to send troops to the ground before we are overwhelmed."

It was a prompt and brief explanation but it managed to get the main points of the plan across. Heathcliff listened with an unreadable face, occasionally nodding to show either he was paying attention or he was silently approving. Kirito honestly could never tell it with that guy.

"So simpler the better?" Diavel spoke up, summarizing her words. In truth, they already talked about this but Heathcliff insisted to debrief the strike team so there was no misunderstanding.

"With so little information available, a fancier plan would just crumble at the first hurdle. And more importantly, the team works better when they have vague plans. Less chance of ignoring it entirely." Klein said confidently, taking over from Asuna. The last sentence was definitely aimed at Kirito, which he confirmed with the smirk sent his way. "We have the best available equipment, the levels necessary to face this challenge head-on, and I trust every one of them with my life," he smirked confidently as he looked over the team, meeting the eyes of each of them, showing how sincere he was. "We are essentially flying in blind, there nothing else we can plan for. We just have to trust in the Force."

Heathcliff had a minuscule frown on his face at the nonchalant way Klein delivered the debriefing but said nothing to refute his points. The silence was broken by Diavel who snickered at the whole situation before nodding to Klein.

"Well, if it's you guys I know you will deliver. I wish you the best and please, do leave some for us. I'm getting bored up there." he said with a joking tone.

"I see. Carry on then, Strike team. May the Force be with you." Heathcliff said in a cool, measured tone, giving a nod to everyone before he signed off, his hologram disappearing.

Rosalia glared at Kirito with silent hatred and without a word followed the stern man's example. That left the blue-haired man the last, who shook his head, with a 'what can you do' expression before signing off with a last wave to the team.

With the meeting over, the resident sith lord let out a tired sigh, barely to withhold the yawn that threatened to come out during their talk. Give him a planet-wide battle against the best of the Eternal Empire over the constant and annoying politicking of the alliance. There was a reason he tried to play solo as much as possible, he simply didn't have the patience for it.

"What a drag. A waste of time as usual." he complained before shaking it off, ignoring Asuna's silent glare and Sinon's bemused one as he turned to Argo."How long until we arrive?"

"5 minutes and we will exit hyperspace close to our objective." the Rat reported as she checked a small computer-like machine on her wrist. "Better get ready before we hit the atmosphere," she said as she started to walk in the direction of the cockpit.

"You heard the pilot, everyone to your positions and hang onto something. It's gonna be a rocky trip." Klein declared in an authoritative voice as he turned into the direction of the cargo hold where they will exit the ship mid-flight.

"I'm hurt, Klein-bou. Don't underestimate my awesome piloting skills." Argo's voice came through the comms in a faux-heart voice that caused Klein to chuckle to himself.

"Your skills are the only reason I believe we even have a chance to land in one piece." he shot back with a smirk. Kirito didn't pay any more attention to it as he moved away to the cargo hold.

He stood in front of the closed ramp, with his arms crossed. Seeing the others were lagging a little bit behind, he used that few precious moments to gather himself. Closing his eyes, he thought about the possible opposition, the kind of enemies they would face but most importantly how they should proceed after that. Their best bet would be to attack the two generators at the same time but it would be risky if either team was surrounded, not to mention who to send where. He may have worked reasonably well with Klein and Sinon, but he hasn't had much chance to fight along with Asuna or Liz with the odds so much against them, so he was worried about their compatibility.

"Why am I not surprised that you stand there brooding by yourself?" Asuna's exasperated voice caused him to open his eyes and look at the Jedi with a deadpan as she walked up next to him.

"What's with you and assuming that I am brooding whenever I just stay silent and try to think without people annoying me?" he asked back with a frown, leaning on the nearby wall.

"Well you got the face for it and what else do we supposed to think when you stare off into space with that deep frown?" she challenged but huffed when instead of responding, Kirito looked away with that very same look on his face.

To tell the truth, it wasn't like they hated each other or anything like that. Their relationship wasn't as bad as it looked at first glance, it was simply a case of bad compatibility, nothing more. Well, a little bit of dislike on Asuna's part and exasperation on his but nothing serious.

She seemed to fight against herself, unsure of how to speak up or not and Kirito was in no hurry to help her decide either way. The silence was welcome because eventually, he would do something anyway to piss off the Jedi Princess.

"How do you do it?" she asked so quietly that Kirito could easily pretend he didn't even hear her. He was tempted but in the end, he spoke up anyway.

"Do what?" he asked, feeling a little clueless, tilting his head to emphasize his point.

"Remain so confident. All we know is there will be heavy opposition and we barely have enough people to form a party. Just how can you remain so aloof when possible walking to your death?" she mumbled, unable to face him.

The two didn't tend to talk much and he guessed the only reason she asked him was that out of all other members he or Sinon was the most likely to be honest with her, instead of offering platitudes or empty words. Still, it didn't make this conversation less surreal to him.

In the end, Kirito's reaction to all of that was to simply laugh, prompting her to turn around furiously. She was about to figuratively and literally tear into him when he held up a hand, asking her to wait.

As soon as he got his laughter under control, he straightened up but there was a smirk on his face.

"Sorry, sorry." he apologized, holding up his hand in surrender but could hardly keep the smile out of his face. "I'm an asshole most of the time but certainly not suicidal. If I believed there was no chance of us pulling this op-out, I wouldn't even be here. The odds are against us, that's for sure but all of us are more than capable to look after ourselves and do our job. We may have our differences and different ways of looking at things, but your skill with a lightsaber is something I can acknowledge without a problem. And I know when we are out there, you will have my back just as much I will have yours. I may not like working with others much but I can acknowledge that it has its benefits. I believe the same true for the others." he told her sincerely, deciding that honesty would make her less likely to lash out.

During his speech, Asuna's face gradually reddened, with what looked like steam escaping through her ears. For a moment Kirito feared that she would attack him regardless, instead she cupped her face with her hands and turned away from him once again.

"Idiot. Don't say a thing like that or I will..." she mumbled but almost nothing reached the sith lord, who scratched the back of his head in puzzlement.

"*sniff* look at you, having emotions and seducing innocent maidens. You almost sound like a person. I'm so proud of you.." the obnoxious voice of Klein came from behind the black-haired teen, surprising him. The man sounded on the verge of crying.

Instead of his face, Kirito could only look into the blank eyes of the helmet the trooper equipped in preparation for the combat in front of them. His helmet was white with a wide, red stripe in the middle. It had two small, black eyes, two tube-like proportions on the side of his face, imitating fangs or rather tusks, with a breathing filter resembling a frown on between them. It was not the most intimidating helmet around but it fit the style of a republic trooper and honestly, it looked cool with Klein's armor.

Behind him, looking equally amused and curious, were Liz and Sinon. The bounty hunter's face was, like Klein's, hidden behind the iconic T-visored helmet of the Mandalorians, her body language betraying nothing of her thoughts. Still, Kirito felt uneasy for some reason as he looked at the bounty hunter.

"What does that suppose to mean?" he grunted, feeling a little annoyed. He honestly wasn't that bad. But he was ignored as Klein turned to Sinon.

"It feels as if it was yesterday when he acted as if everyone was beneath him, acting as if he didn't care about his friends, not even acknowledging the greetings of his oldest companions. He was such a murder-happy, sarcastic sith lord back then. But look at him now, he has feelings, he is finally a real boy." at the end, Klein finally seemed to lose the battle against his feelings, began to loudly sob in happiness behind his helmet.

"Klein, that was literally yesterday." Sinon deadpanned as she crossed her arms and stood there in an aloof manner.

"Don't tease them too much, Klein. Our resident Sith Lord is just trying to seduce poor, innocent Asuna to the Dark Side." Liz teased with a sly smile much to Asuna's chagrin. Kirito only blinked, not completely understanding.

"Wouldn't surprise me, he sometimes gets into his role too much." this time, the smirk in Sinon's voice was easy to hear but the Sith Lord was not amused.

"This coming from the girl who purposely let the Krayt Dragon enter into a berserker state and almost killed us because you thought the fight was too easy?" Kirito shot back with a smirk but the Mandalorian only shrugged in response, not appearing guilty at all.

They would have continued to bicker among themselves but a shudder went through the ship that forced them to quickly grab into something nearby or risk losing their balance.

A moment later their comms crackled into life, Argo's voice coming through it.

"This is your Captain speaking. Strap in ladies and gentlemen. We left hyperspace, any moment the targeting computers of the Eternal Fleet will have us in their crosshairs. Thank you for choosing The Akihabara, please join us for the return flight. If you survive that is." with one cackling laugh the smuggler went silent, concentrating on getting them down in one piece.

The five members of the Alliance Strike team looked at each other, all amusement was gone from their faces. They lined in front of the door leading out of the ship, preparing for a quick exit, with Kirito in the middle, Klein and Liz to his left, Sinon and Asuna to his right.

He never really told the others but he always hated when they descended in the middle of a battlefield. Not because of the inevitable fight on their hands but because he always felt vulnerable in a ship that was being shot at. It's not like he didn't trust Argo and her skills, he did because it saved his life many times but because he could do nothing. For all of his skills, his equipment experience, if the ship is destroyed, he will die without being able to do a damn thing about it.

He knew it was an irrational fear, Argo got them out of bigger messes without a single scratch on her precious ship but he couldn't simply ignore it. But if he can't ignore it, he may as well make use of it.

After all, what a Sith was to do if not letting his emotions fuel him?

Peace is a lie, there is only Passion.

Kirito felt his smirk widen as a small laugh escaped him. Despite how it may look to he was not immune to fear nor to anger. He just hid it better because whether he liked it or not, people tended to look at him, either to follow or just gain hope. But in spite of how it looked, he very much felt all those emotions warring inside him,

He didn't notice it, but his eyes once again turned red-rimmed Sith yellow as he prepared for the coming battle.

"Hey, Sinon, do you remember our talk in the cockpit?" he called out to her and since she stood next to him, he didn't even have to shout to her.

The noises of the battle outside and the ship itself around them kept the others from noticing him speaking up, Sinon his only audience. He could already feel her glare drilling into him, despite not looking her way. It only prompted his smirk to turn wider as anticipation filled him.

"I lied. I do feel fear. I fear dying, I fear not doing enough and leaving nothing behind. I'm absolutely terrified of jumping from this ship while turrets shooting at us but more than that, I'm terrified of not making a difference."

Meanwhile, the ship rocked violently as the Akihabara entered the planet's atmosphere and the number of turrets intent on shooting them down increased in number. Yet, despite a few hits hitting them, their shields held firm and their pilot made maneuvers no other could replicate, keeping them in the air and their time to jump was fast approaching.

"But you know what? That's perfectly fine. Fear keeps me alive, keeps me from charging into situations that are way over my head. But more than that, I also feel excited about the next battle. Will I finally meet my match, find someone who totally outclasses me, forcing me to find new ways of defeating them? You can talk about all of those noble ideas, fighting for those who stayed back, fighting to get back our lives but in the end, I fight because I'm good at it and I enjoy it. I simply crave the challenge. That's all there is to it."

Through Passion, I gain Strength.

It was hard to tell but they seemed to slightly slow down, and all of them knew what it possibly meant. They were about to jump off the ship, into a literal battlefield. It would be out of the question if it was out in the real world but here, where they were different, had skills that defied logic and the rules were different, it was their usual cup of tea.

"Get ready, approaching the drop point." Argo's voice crackled in their ears.

"This is it. You good Kirito?" Klein asked as he checked his equipment one more time, more out of a nervous habit than anything.

"Was that ever a question?" he shot back as he reached to the side of his face, where his ears and his jaw were protected by black metal-like pieces.

He pushed a button just under his left ear, causing the pieces to expand and soon a black mask covered his face from the nose down to the chin. The mask had a snarling face where Kirito's mouth was, accented by bright red lines, it was fairly reminiscent of menpo, a facial armor used by Japanese samurai, during the feudal era, that was used to secure their helmets.

Relating to the game, it gave a slight increase to his combat stats since it served as a combat oxygen supplier. More importantly, with his eyes that almost literally glowed with malice thanks to his immersion in the Dark Side, it made him look both cool and intimidating.

Argo suddenly directed the ship to dive down vertically as they entered the atmosphere but they didn't feel it thanks to the ship's own artificial gravity. The engines began to protest loudly as the smuggler forced them to work over their usual limits but despite the shaking, groaning and the space battle around them they held up and they were approaching the drop zone.

"Here comes your stop, guys. Do come back with lots of rare loot for me." Argo's voice sounded on their ears, making most of them either smile or laugh at her usual attitude.

The door in front of them opened up, a large gush of wind, forcing them a step and those who didn't have any mask on to shield their faces. The sounds of battle became louder and they saw various fighters fly around them, with turret lasers trying to pin the Akihabara down. Down on the surface, they could already see the ground forces of the enemy mobilizing in a frenzy. It seemed like Argo's reports were correct. The Eternal Empire was here in force, something really valuable must be down here on the planet.

Other people might have been unnerved by this, most would call it hopeless with such a small group with no promise of backup arriving in time but those people weren't the best of the best, like the five calmly waiting for their moment to jump. They were crazy without a doubt but more than that, they could get the job done.

Through Strength, I gain Power.

"See you down there ladies." Kirito chuckled as he suddenly charged forward, ignoring the surprised cry that came from Klein and the shout of 'idiot' from Sinon.

At the edge of the ramp, he jumped forward, a slight red glow around him, indicating the use of the skill, Mad Dash that allowed him to sprint forward very fast in a short burst along with a brief moment of invulnerability.

He felt the world spinning around him for a moment, as he exited the gravity of the Akihabara and the gravity of Darvannis took hold of his body and began to plummet toward the ground. Soon he heard the others jumping up from behind him and Argo's pulling up the ship and flying away from them.

He spun himself around, to keep his feet toward the ground, giving a last look to the Akihabara as Argo turned around, keeping the various turrets and fighter's attention on her as she retreated to outside of the atmosphere to wait for the rest of the fleet to join in. And for them to deactivate the defense grid.

Kirito let an excited smile grow behind the mask as they fell toward the ground, with turrets firing around them. It took a while to get used to, but in an effort to keep things fair, the turrets were unable to actively target them while they were in the air. On the ground it was a different thing, usually depending on the difficulty of the planet.

Seeing the odds they had against them and the constant paranoia they faced because of Kayaba's tricks, it was a safe bet to prepare for the worst.

The ground was rapidly approaching, there couldn't have been more than a thousand feet between him and his landing point. He could already make out the grey, blocky forms of the sky troopers, the Eternal Empire's battle droids, gathering below them, ready to gun them down the moment they touched down.

What they didn't know was that they would never get the chance.

Through Power, I gain Victory.

Soon, only a few hundred meters were between him and his destination and he faintly heard the others above him activate their jetpacks to slow their descent down and land in a favorable position. It was not a bad tactic, it was the safest way to land after jumping out of a ship, and in a world where death could mean death in every sense of the word, most people went for the safest options.

Too bad safest didn't equal most effective. He far more preferred the offensive approach, anyway.

Kirito bent his knees slightly as he raised his left hand next to his chest and closed it into a fist. A faint red glow appeared in his fist that slowly expanded to his whole body. It was one of his most frequently used skills when dealing with multiple opponents, an AOE attack called Smash.

It was a fairly basic skill of Sith Warrior's skill tree. It was initiated by him punching the ground, channeling the Force through it to create a large impact around fifteen feet around him, causing enemies inside the range damage and even knockdown and stun enemies with less than stable footing. It didn't deal all that damage but was useful for getting a little breathing room in a fight against multiple enemies.

The difference between other people and him was that Kirito was a high-level player at level 60, one of the strongest players in the Alliance. He acquired through a series of confusing quests a passive skill called Rage Spike. It allowed him to charge and use a strengthened version of various skills, the Smash among them. The only downside was that to charge a technique, you had to stay still, and depending on how much time he spent charging, the stronger the skill would be.

Fortunately for him, in this scenario falling to the ground didn't count as him moving, since his body remained still, even as he fell with a speed close to terminal velocity. Which meant he was able to gather a decent charge for his chosen form of landing.

Through Victory, my chains are Broken.

A group of sky troopers looked up as they heard a loud shot, just as Kirito landed in the middle of them. At the exact moment of his landing, his fist slammed into the earth, releasing a red, ominous wave of power around him that launched away from the unfortunate droids violently. The wave expanded to close to thirty feet before dissipating, leaving small cracks on the ground and creating a sort of landing zone for the others.

The droids that were in the epicenter of the attack were either knocked down and out of commission for a few moments or the more unfortunate, who were closer to the initial attack were in pieces.

"Stop right there, rebel scum. Under the authority of Eternal Emperor Valkorion, we demand your immediate surrender." a pair of Eternal Knights, the Jedi equivalent of the Eternal Empire stood in front of him with all their golden armored glory, backed up by another group of sky troopers. Or as Klein calls them, scrap heaps.

The knights, more intelligent than the droids but still nothing more than computer-generated mobs, leveled their lightsaber pikes at him, the glaring blue plasma blades pointed straight at his heart. The droids behind them raised their blaster rifles, waiting for an order.

In his ear, he heard Asuna curse him through the communicator with Liz trying to calm her down while also trying to not laugh. He heard a pair of jetpacks as Klein and Sinon touched down and the lack of large impacts told him that the two Jedi found much gentler ways to touch down than him.

Two snap-hiss of two lightsabers and the sounds of blasters discharging told him that his comrades engaged with enemies of their own but at that moment he didn't care.

Kirito had a massive grin on his face, behind his mask as he stared down the knights, his excitement growing. That was what he craved deep down, a worthy battle, that put every one of his skills to the test.

"What, what are you," one of the knights cried out as he took several steps back, away from the sith lord, his weapon no longer pointed at him. His whole body was shaking so badly that it was a wonder he didn't fall.

Kirito was surrounded by a pitch-black aura this time, the silhouette of a large, grinning skull appearing behind him, capable of striking fear into NPC and players alike. And while the latter could easily shrug off as soon as they came to terms with it that was nothing but a skill, it was hard to swallow that instinctual reaction.

It was like staring death in the face.

THE FORCE SHALL SET ME FREE!

Two blades, red like blood sprang forward from his lightsabers as he removed them from his belt, before he crossed them in front of his face, forming an X. The red glow, coupled with his mask and reddish-yellow eyes was intimidating enough by itself that may be the use of the skill, Oppression was a little uncalled for but it became a habit of his to start fights with incapacitating the enemy this way.

"My turn." was the last words those knights knew before all they knew was pain and terror.