Date posted: 9th October 2021
Thanks to TC for the brewing advice!
Someone asked how the Wall sounded like. I don't know about you, but to me, just pretend he sounds like TF2 Soldier. With that out of the way, let's head in!
Chapter 7: Hot Coffee
Shino's bathroom, like all personal bathrooms, was a sanctuary from the stress and demands of 21st century life.
Their small apartment had three bathrooms, two in each bedroom and one guest bathroom (just a toilet and a sink), which by Tokyo standards was extremely luxurious. Her bathroom was spartan; the only things that could be considered decoration were the pink curtains which came with the apartment and a little shelf by the toilet.
She let the hot water submerge her, washing away the rigors and discomforts of the day. Then she put her hands on her face and squealed like a schoolgirl.
She could not remember the last time she was this happy. Her mouth was hurting from the smiling, her heart did that thing when it went doki doki doki and refused to calm down. She had to recite a childhood meditative mantra to calm herself, which she had not done since her first few days at the academy.
She had no idea what possessed her to bite Kirito's hand when he tried to pat her on the head. Some sort of primal nature of her cat form somehow transplanted into the real world. She had been lectured by her elders on the corrupt nature of video games, but she didn't realise that spending a lot of time as a cat would make her a cat. All that time cuddling into him while riding must have overrode her senses. It must have been the same with Kazuto too; patting someone's head is not something you do to your friends.
Then it dissolved into a series of nyas and tickling, and ended with a makeout session on a couch. When she was young, this was definitely not how she imagined her first kiss to be. At least she could die knowing she did the bare minimum of kissing the opposite sex.
The entire scene replayed in her head. His warmth, his smell, his face. Kazuto wasn't what she would call traditionally handsome, more boyish despite his age. Now she imagined him with long hair and violet eyes, and her attraction to him increased two-fold. Perhaps it was because she had known Kirito longer than she had known Kazuto. Perhaps she was wholly under qualified to self-diagnose.
Shino opened her eyes and slapped herself. She was a grown ass woman! Not some schoolgirl with a crush! She was supposed to take a brisk shower and get back in the game, not daydream about her new boyfriend. Yeah, she had a boyfriend now, so what? Now they're going to do normal couple things like go on dates, wear matching clothes, and have sex.
She looked down and suddenly felt self conscious about her body. The last time they were at Suguha's gym, she couldn't help but notice his eyes on her, over her arms and stomach. She exercised to excel, not to be eye candy, yet it made her excited, wanted.
It made her feel like a woman.
Shino dried herself before exiting the bathroom and found Kazuto waiting on her bed. His long silky hair was undone and reached to the small of his back, his violet eyes twinkling with mischief. He wore nothing but a silk bathrobe that matched the colour of his eyes and both his wrists tied to the bed board with fluffy pink handcuffs.
"Why, aren't you a delight?" Shino said, ravishing Kazuto with her eyes. "I'm going to do unspeakable things to you."
The soft boy struggled helplessly against restraint. Kazuto's fluffy cat ears twitched.
"What are you … going to do to me?" he whimpered.
Shino grabbed Kazuto by the knees and spread him apart. "Have my way with you."
"Ahh… N-Nya… Please d-don't stop, Sinonon…"
Shino bonked her head against the shower stall with an audible bang, snapping out of her daydream. Then she switched the shower's temperature from hot to cold.
The cover for Gun Gale Online was pretty uninspiring for most part. It featured Very Serious Men wearing Very Tactical Armour wielding Very Cool Guns standing on a pile of rubble, surrounded by all manner of monsters - raiders, robots, mutant - chopper filled skies, and of course, a very big explosion in the background. It was absolutely not representative of GGO, a game where taking cover and shooting people half a kilometre away was the norm.
But the one thing that caught Kirito's attention on that fateful day he deleted SAO off his NerveGear was the power armoured warrior on the cover. It wasn't slim or fit armour that pervaded so much of sci-fi - it was big, bulky, angular; mechanised panapoly for the techno-barbarian of the end of the world, not the knightly plate of space travel. The space marine (could it be called that if they never went to space?) wielded an axe and shield, looked completely bulletproof, and was the most out of place thing on the cover.
It looked so cool.
To Kirito's utter dismay, melee was in fact, not viable. There were no Sword Skills, guns were fired from there yonder, and power armour was in fact, non-existent. Oh sure they appeared here and there on statues, and posters of NPCs (mostly Glocken's military generals), but he had never seen an actual NPC wear the thing. Even though Sinon had explained that to him quite well, this did not stop him looking up online on how to get power armour. Most questions were usually met with "You have tanks, why wear power armour?" and the most common replies were, "Because it's cool AF."
Now, standing before him, power armour was the last thing he wanted to see.
The chainsword in the Thunder Fighter's roared to life and it came down to him. This was not the first time Kirito died, it won't be the last. He closed his eyes and resolved to wake up back at Glocken.
The sword swooshed past him down onto the pavement, throwing chunks of tar and sparks against Kirito. From up the battlements, was Nikita and her smoking pistol, and the slightest scratch on the transhuman's vambrace.
"The enemy is upon us! Fight, damn you!" she ordered, and the rest of the Zakon I Dolg snapped out of their terror, Kirito included.
Kirito brought up and unleashed his new Scorpion Evo 3 at the techno barbarian, emptying half the mag at point black into his breastplate, the power of the gun catching him off guard as the recoil jerked his aim upward. It worked to his advantage as the round struck him in the chin, and the swirly «Stunned» symbol appeared.
As quickly the bullet tore off the chin, it grew back. The bar of his HP ticked back right up.
Kirito was no Sun Tzu, but he knew the value of retreat.
He jumped back, his years of SAO instincts taking over, only to recall that this wasn't SAO, and he had like twenty kilos of gear strapped on him - so he simply tripped and fell on his ass.
A mere second after he did that, the rest of Zakon soldiers poured their fire into the boss, a storm of lead threatening to overpower him. Instead of retreating, the Thunder Fighter, true to his nature, fought back. His chainsword came to life, and he jumped up towards the battlements, a good two meters, and swung. A Zakon with a Saiga died on the spot.
The rest of 2nd Company scattered, their training taking over. The major leaped off the battlements outside of the compound, and the Thunder Fighter followed after. The sergeant and the commissar, who were on the ground, chased the mob out of the gates, shouting all sorts of orders.
A thousand thoughts crossed through Kirito's mind. His heart rate doubled, his hands were shaking. He was absolutely terrified, and if VR games could replicate human biology in more detail, he might even have needed to change his pants.
The foremost thought was one thing: he was having more fun in this one DLC that he had the last four years of SAO.
A shout from the back brought him out of his stupor.
Kirito turned around and saw Vladimir, waving him over. ""Hey, get over here! I got a plan!"
He stood up and ran into the fire station, only to briefly stop to haul a logged out Sinon with him, and hoped the rest of the 2nd Company were able to hold off the massive monster.
The infirmary had been completely scrubbed clean thanks to the serious cleaning of Zakon. It was impressive how quickly Vladimir was able to set up his lab with all his chemistry, computers, and other gizmos. The fact that this was all possible in practice made him think that GGO as a game was more advanced than Kirito gave it credit for. He dropped Sinon on a nearby chair.
"So, what's this plan?" he asked.
Vladimir adjusted his glasses. "With the data from your PDA, and from what Sinon-san has told me of the boss fight, I think I'm able to figure out the weakness of this Thunder Fighter."
He picked up a flask of weird looking gloop and started heating it up with a bunsen burner. "Do you know why so many mobs in GGO are so spongy?"
"They have a lot of HP?"
"Well, yes, but technically speaking, they have those because of their biology."
The gloop came to a boiling point and started bubbling. Vladimir continued, "Take the Colossi around the Wastes: yes they have thick skin, but not much thicker than kevlar. What they have is a strong regenerative rate - HP regen in game terms - due to their organs. GGO, originally being a mod for SAO has, as you know, pretty detailed biology which mostly goes unused. Akihiko Kayaba was one of the world's top neurologists before he got into game development. Most of his partners are also top doctors and scientists that are able to replicate much of the human body for VR."
"Get to the point, doc."
Vladimir began stirring the beaker with a spoon. "In short, most enemies in SAO, and in GGO, have very advanced replicated organs. SAO however, was very gamey, and simplified to the point of only a few organs being functional. But GGO? A shot to the liver means instant death, more or less. Bleeding out is a real cause of death. Real first aid benefits you greatly. Of course, players would never feel such a thing, but the effect is the same."
Gunfire and explosions rang outside. A quick check at his HUD revealed that a good number of the Zakon had already died. "Yes, yes, and?"
Curiously, he poured the goop into a mortar and began grinding it. "If you want to kill a Colossus, you need to kill it in one shot, and this goop is the key to doing it."
Kirito snapped his fingers. "Like a more advanced troll!"
The scientists allowed himself a smirk. "Heh, reminds me of the Confederation of Troll Clans back on Floor 20."
His violet eyes widened. "A fellow SAO refugee, huh?"
Carefully, Vladimir poured gloop now turned powder onto a piece of paper. It was a bright green glow, and to Kirito, looked very familiar. "Hey, that looks like …"
"Do you have your sword?"
Wordlessly, he unsheathed the arming sword and held it out. Vladimir grabbed onto the tip, and started rubbing the piece of paper over the blade. The light blue metal of the plasteel now shoned with a tinge of green, as if being lightly spray painted.
"You must strike this through an important organ; heart, liver, brain. This will grievously injure him, if not kill him instantly. It will shut down his self-healing and make way for gunfire to kill him."
He looked at his own sword and found a sense of uneasiness at it. Him? Fighting that massive thing? "This isn't SAO you know, I'm not superhuman here. Why not put this in a gun?"
"I don't have an ammo bench! If I did, I'd be making bullets for the APC's turrets!"
"You want me to stab that sci-fi Hellknight?! If 5.54 rounds can't penetrate it, what makes you think my sword can!"
"Plasteel blades have a huge amount of «Armor Penetration», equivalent to that of .50 cal. No, I don't know why that is; I assume it's a relic from when GGO was an SAO mod."
He checked his sword's stats at a quick glance and found what Vladimir said was in fact correct. The damage was in no way comparable to an actual .50 cal but the armor penetration was roughly the same. "You're right. We might have a chance."
Another explosion rocked outside. The HUD on both men put the Zakon troopers down at twenty-three soldiers left.
"Do you have a plan?" asked Vladimir.
"Absolutely none."
It was at that time Sinon came online. The cat raised her butt in the air and stretched, almost expanding twice her length. She looked at both of them. "Oh hey, you two. What's up?"
Then she glanced at the corner of her HUD. "We're under attack!"
"She says we're under attack," he translated.
Vlad adjusted his glasses. "You're fifteen minutes too late for that conclusion, Sinon-san."
Kirito brought her up to speed and acted as translator. She was cool and calm at the news. "Can we not run him over with the company's APCs?"
"Most of them are still logged out, they won't make it back in time," said Vlad. "Of the forty Zakon members, only thirty are around, and those ten logged out players are the only people who know how to drive the APCs! Besides, they're locked by guild members anyway and the three of us aren't."
Suddenly the handheld on the table came to life, and everyone jumped at the surprise, Sinon half a meter higher than everyone else.
"Come in, come in, HQ. Anyone there?" came Major Nikita's voice.
"Is there anyone else there? Of course not, the rest of them are still logged out!" They could hear gunfire in the background.
"I'm here," said Kirito, answering the handheld. "What do you need me to do?"
"We need someone to bait the boss towards the edge of town. I've lost contact with Commissar Tadao. Can you drive a Russian BTR-90?"
Kirito had never regretted so much in not taking up those free driving lessons back at the Glocken. Vladimir shrugged. "I don't even have a driver's license."
"You still have Lyubimiya," said Sinon.
Kirito scoffed. "And what use is a mechanical horse against a giant that can bench press the APC?"
She tilted her head. "Remember all those times you complained about not having cavalry back in SAO?"
"What does cavalry have anything to do with anything-" Kirito became quiet.
Both swordsman and cat glanced at Lyubimiya 2.0, stabled in the motorpool, charging via the solar panels on her hind quarters. The Gunshot Detector was still attached to her, deactivated.
Vladimir picked up on the idea quickly. "You know, I've always hated how I couldn't roleplay a proper Druzhina back in Aincrad."
Kirito smirked. "I can't drive an APC, but I got something better, major."
There was a specific time period in Tornado Tadao's life that he fell in love with the Western. He didn't remember what age he was, but it was when his father brought him to see an old movie, where a gruff giant of a man dealt all his problems with cold iron. He was far too young to watch the film, understand the plot, or even read the subtitles, but he got the gist of it.
Then his father bought him a toy revolver and nothing was ever the same.
Gun laws were strict in Japan; it was hard to get one for self-defence, much less for recreational use. Tadao owned airsoft reproductions of a Colt Walker and Peacemaker, and the guys at the range gave him shit for not buying a proper airsoft rifle. It just wasn't the real thing. That is until GGO came around.
The gun spinning, the single-action, the reloading (exhilarating!), the spurs, the horse; he'd be lying if he said his grades weren't suffering from playing too much GGO. It wasn't the western he wanted, too many fantastical sci-fi elements to his liking, but as far as he was concerned, it ticked all his boxes.
Speaking of fantastical sci-fi elements, Tadao yelled to his guildmate. "Skirmisher-chan, watch out!"
Skirmisher-chan, 2nd Company's SMG specialist who was laying rounds with her suppressed PPK-20 at his backside, reacted too slowly. She might as well have been pelting the monster with airsoft pellets considering what little effect it had on him.
She was far enough away from the Thunder Fighter's chainsword, but not his sidearm.
The Thunder Fighter turned away from his current targets, a trio of shotgunners doing their best to backpedal from the boss, and whipped around, gun in fist. The BFR .45-70 revolver boomed and struck Skirmisher-chan right in her collarbone, exploding a fist size hole in her shoulder and making her drop her gun. She was dead before she hit the ground.
Tadao cursed. That thing was more cannon than a pistol. Too big, too thick, too heavy, and too rough, it was more like a hunk of steel. Yet it practically looked like a snub nose in his fist. Not a single one of them would survive if they were to suffer a round. The fact the Thunder Fighter was using a chainsword instead of his gun was the only reason they weren't all wiped out.
All around them were the burning and bloodied corpses of his comrades. Six Zakon soldiers had died in the current fight outside the fire station. Three died to the transhuman's sword, three died to his pistol grenade launcher, thankfully, out of ammo. Now they were all running around the ruins of Agia, spreading out, in an attempt to minimise casualties. But it was a failing tactic, they were now prey instead of predators. He cursed at how he left his radio back at base. How quickly the tables turned.
He had no idea where the major and sergeant were. The major had jumped off the battlements and ran into the ruins and the sergeant followed after her, ordering Tadao to stall the boss. It wasn't the first time she did this either, he only needed to have faith in his superior to make it work.
Suddenly, Tadao found himself in the mainstreet of Agia, completely alone. The trio of shotgunners were missing, only him and the boss were left. He did not turn his massive gun at him, and instead elected to charge at him, sword swinging.
Ah fuck.
Tadao holstered both of his Vaqueros and switched for his back up weapon on the small of his back. The Super Blackhawk was a heavy piece that he got from killing a dungeon boss. He only brought it out for the Big Bastards of the game considering how pricey .44 Magnum was. Not too dissimilar from Gregory's Bad Day magazine.
And this was a Big Ass Bastard.
He took a shooting stance, steadied himself, holding the Blackhawk in both hands. He needed to make it count.
The Thunder Fighter was in a berserker rage. He was yelling wordlessly - no, he was roaring, more beast than man. He charged at him, bloodied whirring sword in hand. He was eighty feet away, running straight at him with no regard for cover or his own life.
Tadao didn't waste it.
The .44 magnum round, was at one time, briefly, the strongest handgun caliber in the world. The round penetrated the Thunder Fighter right in his left eye. The boss stumbled, and fell to the ground, his chainsword flying from his hand.
He did not stop.
The Thunder Fighter, in a moment of clarity, reached for his own gun, but even in his pained state, he was just as fast as Tadao was. Tadao's left leg was completely obliterated and he fell, but his wayward shot struck the boss in his sides where there was exposed cabling. The wires snapped and electricity sparked brightly.
One more. He can do this.
The gun? No, too small a target. The chainsword? The engine was just as small. His hand was wobbling too much. The Thunder Fighter let loose two shots.
Tadao closed his eyes and expected the «GAME OVER» screen but the heavy rounds merely whizzed above. The boss tore the black visor off his helmet and clutched his hole of an eye. He plucked the remnants of the round out his socket, the eyeball a pulpy mush.
And to Tadao's amazement, it was growing back.
Tadao's three shots vs the Thunder Fighter's one. He was losing health quickly. Both of them fired at each other at the same time.
Tadao would swear this happened for years to come, but few would believe him. He didn't even know the chance of it happening. One in a million? A billion? He was no statistician, but it had to be on a scale of 'miraculous' or 'bullshit.'
Both rounds launched from their barrels, .44 vs .45-70. The latter swatted the former and both rounds ricocheted off each other. It struck next to Tadao's prone body, making a not so insignificant crater.
He was dying, he couldn't reach the bullets on his belt to reload. The Thunder Fighter seemed to shrug off his lost eye and went for his chainsword. Death approached him - it was only a matter of chance whether it was the NPC or his blood loss.
The Thunder Fighter stood above him. Tadao could barely lift his Blackhawk. He considered killing himself to spite the boss, knowing full well that it was just a program. He chose not to, .44 rounds were pretty damn expensive after all.
Before he could receive the killing blow, a burst of shots hit the transhuman in the back, a series of grey zeros floating above him. Tadao could see a lone horseman, holding a smoking gun in hand and a blue cat on the saddle bow. The Gunshot Detector stood tall and proud on the cyber steed's hind quarters, and at one end, shining and glinting in the morning sun.
"Hey, asshole! Why don't you duel with a swordsman your own size!"
"Nya!"
The Thunder Fighter turned around, immediately forgetting the cowboy who had inflicted huge damage on him. Why, Tadao was almost offended.
The power armoured warrior chased the horseman and Kirito let out a 'hyah!", urging Lyubimaya with a whip of the reins. The cowboy checked his HUD, 4% HP left. He was already a dead man.
Still, at least the company would still live, and for whatever reason, he believed that Kirito was the key to their success. It would be a mark against Zakon I Dolg's reputation if they all died to one boss. A Code Black was just plain embarrassing. Not bad for a guy who insisted on fighting with a sword.
"Heh, you're pretty good," he said to himself before the «GAME OVER» flashed and his consciousness transferred into the closest cloning pod.
Gaming was tiring. He was gonna get some dinner.
If one were to look from a distance, one would see a giant man in plate armour trying to catch up to a feminine looking man with long hair riding a cyber steed cradling a blue cat. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing you would see in the Wasteland.
"How fast is this bastard?!" Kirito yelled. Lyubimaya was going at 70 km/h and the damn thing was catching up.
"Huh, the last time we fought his kind, he was just wearing a towel."
The radio on his chest bow came to life. "Auxiliary, what's your ETA?"
"ETA means estimated time of arrival," Sinon said helpfully.
"I KNOW WHAT IT MEANS!"
"Don't snap at me, auxiliary," the major warned.
Kirito looked back and squeezed a burst shot at the giant chasing him. Despite being the size of a barn, he missed entirely. "Uh, about five minutes?" he hazarded a guess.
"Good. You know what to do. Major, out."
Kirito shoved his SMG back into the saddle holster. It did not fit comfortably, considering it was actually Titanium Wall's Thompson holster, but hopefully the GI would forgive the unannounced borrowing of his gear. He made a left at the junction out of Agia' mainstreet, skillfully guiding his mount through the rubble and ancient husks of vehicles on the road. Or perhaps that was Lyubimaya herself, you can never tell how smart these robots were.
The Thunder Fighter swatted them away like cardboard; flipping cars, jumping a meter into the air despite God knows how many hundreds of kilos of armour on him. He was close.
Kirito came to another junction where a row of ancient stores stood. He spotted a flash of light in the second storey of a clothes shop. Between the two buildings was an alley, and curiously clear of any debris. Why, it was spotless and even sparkling. Trusting his instincts, he went in.
The Thunder Fighter rounded the corner and it was then the trap was sprung.
Major Nikita said to the sergeant, "Now."
A long piece of wire had been rolled out connecting to an unsuspiciously placed traffic cone. The grenade pile exploded right next to the Thunder Fighter, toppling him into an ancient van. It singed his armour, and even left a particularly large dent in his leg armour, enough to pierce it.
It wasn't C4, but IEDs would suffice.
The surviving members of 2nd Company rose from their covers and opened fire. Of the seventeen players, only ten of them had assault rifles, the rest had a mix of shotguns and SMGs.
The Thunder Fighter did not flinch from the storm of lead that engulfed him, he threw himself behind the remains of two cars and belted his chainsword. He tore off the hoods from both and lifted the old engines like they were nothing, used them to cover his torso and came running.
"Holy shit," a trooper muttered.
"Keep firing!" Nikita had scavenged one of the AKs from a dead private and followed her own advice. She flicked to single-shot, there was no point in shooting bursts if they weren't going to hit. "Where's the auxiliary?"
Corporal Dave slapped a new magazine into his SMG, knowing full well how futile it was, and answered, "We ain't seen hide nor hair of him, sir."
"Ammo situation?"
"Low!" yelled the sergeant. He was aiming carefully with his slugs and doing badly. The boss was fast; it was unnatural for something that big carrying something that heavy to be able to run at that pace.
"THE WALL IS NOT AFRAID OF POWER-ARMOURED GORILLA," he declared. His BAR barked and spat fire. "THE WALL WILL FIGHT HIM, BAYONET TO CHAINSWORD, IF NEED BE!"
His BAR ran out, and Titanium Wall switched to his M1 Garand. Like the rest of them, he didn't have much in the way of ammo. Nikita considered sending someone to haul the ammo and mentally kicked herself for not ordering Kirito to do just that.
The worst was coming. The volume of fire had been reduced from a storm to a light shower. Everyone had switched to taking careful shots, but the Thunder Fighter was too good, ducking and weaving from the gunfire, angling his weirdly enormous shoulder pads. It was like watching a boxer's graceful dodging and applying it to a firefight. It was surreal, like looking at a crane on top of a high building. Logic and engineering states that it was clearly safe and secure but a part of her primordial brain screamed that it would tip over at any moment.
He wasn't even seriously wounded! Bit by bit, Nikita could see his HP regenerating.
Nikita's rifle clicked empty, and the rest followed. "I'm out," she declared and her handgun was instantly in hand.
"Out," said Corporal Dave. The rest of the troops repeated the line. An audible ping followed.
"AHA! I HAVE PLENTY!" said the Wall. Then he reached for his pouch and frowned. "I RETRACT MY STATEMENT!"
The gunfire halted, and sensing this, the Thunder Fighter dropped his two engine blocks. Half the soldiers took their sidearms, the other half pulled out blades.
"Hold fire!" ordered Nikita. "Wait til he gets closer! We can take him!"
"Major, he just soaked all that gunfire! We're gonna die!" yelled a private and Gregory struck him.
"We will fight to the end, because that is what we do! As Zakon I Dolg!" the sergeant said. "Duty!"
"And -" the rest repeated the mantra, but none of them completed it.
Corporal Dave pointed at the distance. "It's the femboy!"
It was a curious sight, and one that Nikita won't forget soon. A black rider on the commissar's old cyber steed, holding their only Gunshot Detector with both hands like a lance, his arming sword hastily duct taped to the end, galloping at top speed.
The Thunder Fighter turned around, and noticed his enemy. He took a stance, standing his ground, holding his chainsword in both hands. The bastard was actually going to cut him down!
Kirito was a hundred meters away from him when a blue blur clambered onto the boss' back and onto one enormous pauldron. Sinon swatted her claws at his one remaining eye and the Thunder Fighter screamed and dropped his weapon.
He wasn't sure how he did it, he certainly didn't order Lyubimaya to do it, or perhaps the cybersteed had a more advanced AI than he thought. Sinon jumped away to safety moments before Lyubimaya leapt and Kirito drove the makeshift lance right into his chest. The plasteel blade cut through the adamantine like a nail through iron. He lost his grip and let go of the lance as it snapped in half.
The boss let out a death yell, coughed out dark red blood in splotches, as the poison goop shut down his HP regen. It was the same kind of poison from SAO called Chimera Spit, a pricey and rare poison valued by Aincrad's monster slayers. It had been reborn in GGO through Vlad's chemistry skills. Kirito felt a sense of déjà vu, recalling the first time he used the poison on a Forest Troll.
Finally, the Thunder Fight fell like a great tree and the crash echoed through ancient Agia. Silence descended.
The rest of the Zakon I Dolg gathered around the giant's corpse. The power pack still hummed and the servos whirred. His chainsword sputtered and shut down, as if dying with its master. The players gasped and gawked at the thing that had given them so much trouble. Sinon clambered onto the chest, very proud and very smug. Kirito dismounted from his horse.
Sergeant Gregory raised his fist, "Three cheers for the cat!"
"Hey, wait a minut - AAH!"
Gregory threw the cat into the air as the Zakon troopers cheered on. "Hip-hip, hooray! Hip-hip, hooray!"
Sinon merely folded her arms over her chest, and closed her eyes. "It's good to be appreciated."
Kirito merely leaned back against his horse and smiled. He could see Vladimir jogging towards them down the road. Nikita approached the swordsman. "You're paying for that Gunshot Detector."
Kirito did a double take. "Wh - I literally saved you guys!"
"At the cost of guild property, yes. We'll take that out of your paycheck."
"Y-you don't even pay me!" Kirito stomped his foot, not caring how childish he looked. Why wasn't he being praised?!
Down the street, Vladimir was yelling. No one could hear him in all the cheering.
The Wall sat on the boss' corpse and from a pouch produced an energy drink. "ALL IN A GOOD DAY'S WORK. THE CAT IS A BRAVER WARRIOR THAN I. I SHALL DRINK TO YOU, MIGHTY FELINE WARRIOR."
"Nya," Sinon agreed.
Corporal Dave pointed to the scientist running down the street. "Do you hear what the egghead is saying?"
So engrossed in the celebration that no one noticed that the Thunder Fighter's healthback jumped from 0.005% to 3%. A gauntleted hand grabbed onto the Wall's head and crushed it like a grape with a squelchy popping sound. Sinon was in the air when everyone turned around and pulled out their sidearms, emptying their mags into the boss' head, turning his skull into fine bone meal.
Vladimir finally arrived at the scene. "I should have warned you - these Thunder Fighters have redundant organs. They've got two hearts and all sorts of biomancer stuff in them."
"Gee, ya think?" Kirito snapped. "Wait, did you say Thunder Fighters?"
Vladimir raised an eyebrow. "Of course. There's a small army of them. It's all over the forums? You don't think there's only one of these, do you?"
"That thing's not a boss?!" asked Dave.
"No! It's an elite enemy variant!"
Before their souls could leave their bodies at the black news, Nikita resumed command. "Alright, troops! Back to HQ!"
Nikita put down the radio and turned towards the rest of the surviving troopers. Of the logged out ten members, only five had returned. Of the surviving sixteen Zakon troopers, ten had logged out, leaving her a skeleton crew of ten, plus the three remaining auxiliaries: the swordsman, the scientist, and the cat.
"I just got to talking with Tadao and the rest. They'll travel back here sometime tomorrow. It's pretty late," she said as she looked out the window. It was eleven in the morning, but in Japan, it was already eleven PM. "Usually we can hire NPC taxi services for that, but our account isn't bottomless."
"What does this mean, sir?" asked Corporal Dave. For once, the player looked like his avatar's age. "We don't have enough men to mount a proper defense of the fire station. We can log out, and rely on the scrap turrets, but …"
"I'm thinking. Sergeant, your opinion?"
Gregory stood straight, a dignity to him despite the events of the last few hours. "Major, with all due respect, we should retreat. This town is an active warzone, and who knows when the Republic will send more troops. We can make our way to Volos on the frontlines, maybe biotuned ourselves to some cloning vats."
This, as Kirito understood it, is why solo or small group players had a hard time accomplishing anything on the battlefield. It needed organised guilds to complete objectives. A man with a gun was not the answer. The answer was many men with many guns.
"Well, regardless of your answer, I'm sorry, but I have to log out soon," said Kirito. He had been playing for nearly fifteen hours. His record was twenty-six in SAO in a single session, and the game itself called 119 to log him out. He got an earful from his parents that day. He was twenty-five years old now, he just didn't have the mental stamina to play that long, even with the break he just had.
The major nodded. "It's fine, you've done your duty. We'll take it from here."
"Perhaps not," the radio crackled. "I've need of soldiers. Do you hear me, Zakon I Dolg?"
It spooked everyone. The major reached the radio again. "Who is this? How did you get our frequency?"
"That doesn't matter. What matters is I have supplies, ammunition, and most importantly, cloning vats."
"We don't need your cloning vats, stranger."
"The vats at Volos are all filled up. Republic infiltrators are sabotaging them. Volos will fall soon, the only way to stop this is to cut the head of the snake. Do you think you can take on an entire team of Thunder Fighters with only forty men? You've almost lost your entire company to only one."
Nikita was visibly angry. "Identify yourself!"
"I've sent coordinates to you. Go there with your entire company and you will find sanctuary in the hills. Over and out."
The radio clicked dead. Nikita was merely staring at the handheld. "Stupid roleplayers, acting all mysterious."
Kirito was about to comment something about pots and kettles but decided that silence was golden.
"Orders, sir?" asked Gregory.
Instead of answering, she brought a finger to her lips. Everyone took the hint and left the office.
"We move out. You can stay in the APC and logout there. Vlad, I want you to check the radio, we might be bugged. Don't worry, auxiliary, others can bring up the rest of the bikes and pack all the equipment."
"Cool, I sure love spending an hour cleaning up the toilets for a base we've stayed for a grand total of five hours."
It may have been his fatigue, but he was sure he could see the major's mouth turned upwards for the briefest of moments.
"I'll pack my samovar," said Vlad. "I call dibs on the Harley-Davidson."
Kirito gathered his kit, including his two rifles and plopped himself in the uncomfortable seat. He understood then why some players preferred bullpups. His plasteel sword was in rough condition but he brought it all the same, as was the massive chainsword as his trophy. Sinon crawled onto his lap, purring not unlike his own motorcycle. She was very soft, and he wondered idly if the landlord allowed pets in the apartment.
"You did well today, Kaz. I'm proud of you. Do you want coffee?"
"That would be great, Shino-chan. Thanks," he said, as he returned to the real world.
The smell of roasted coffee filled the kitchen, the sweet aroma was energising on its own. It wasn't often that Shino brought out the Ethiopian beans; she hoarded it like one would save wine for special occasions, but in this case, she felt it was very special. Only the light of the kitchen was on.
She poured the dark elixir into two bright red cups. A single mug of this would keep her awake for a long while, not that she needed it. Shino had mastered the skill of power naps and ensured she had a proper eight hours of sleep. In the event of not getting enough sleep, she drank black coffee instead. Peak performance demanded she minimised her sugar intake. Besides, Kazuto called her Shino-chan and she made sure that the coffee was the best coffee he'd ever had.
Now here she was adding cream to her own mug. Like a complete profligate. Damn Asada, you really are letting yourself go.
"Kaz, coffee's ready! Do you … want … to …"
Kazuto sat on the sofa, snoring. Not five minutes out of the game, he was already out cold. Shino simply smiled as she placed his mug on the table.
The night was cool, winter was fast approaching. As Shino enjoyed her coffee, her mind wandered back to the game. They had been putting so much effort into it, and despite lacking fingers to kill things with, she had been enjoying herself immensely. She didn't have much in the way of friends in GGO, at most friendly acquaintances like Vladimir. Meeting Kirito in-game was the second best thing to happen to her in a long while.
The best thing was the real meat and flesh person himself. She studied his features, peaceful and serene. His hair had been growing out, almost reaching the nape of his neck. He was becoming not too dissimilar from his avatar minus the purple eyes. His mouth was just slightly open, inviting.
Did she dare? She licked her lips, still recalling his taste. He also tasted like pancakes. Just a little peck, it couldn't hurt?
No! That was weird, smooching someone in their sleep. They hadn't even gone out on a date, or gone shopping, or done whatever couples did. Pretty boy can just lay there snoring. Besides, there's nothing wrong with staring.
Kazuto adjusted his position as he lay on the armrest of the sofa using it as a pillow. His blanket slipped to the floor. Sighing, Shino placed her drink on the table and reached for it.
Only to have two arms grab her into a hug. "Mmm, kitteh …"
When Shino thought of the day she was going to be atop a man, this wasn't the way she envisioned it. She could feel his heartbeat through her chest, the two somehow synchronising in harmony. Kazuto reached for head and started patting it. "Yes, good Sinonon. Who's a good girl? You are," he mumbled in his sleep then gave a kiss atop her head.
Her face was flushing red. His hand reached for the small of her back and he tucked her under his chin. Oh boy, Asada, you're really in it now.
There was no way for her to untangle herself from the Kazuto Trap without waking him up. Making peace with the situation, she reached for the blanket and somehow awkwardly covered them both. She yawned, thankful she didn't drink much.
She curled into him, not too dissimilar from her current avatar, and sleep overtook her.
GREETINGS AGAIN, READER. I, TITANIUM WALL WILL TAKE OVER FROM HERE.
HOW ABOUT THAT HOT COFFEE SCENE, EH? NOTHING BEATS A STEAMING CUP OF COFFEE TO END THE DAY WITH. WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE'S AN ALTERNATE MEANING TO HOT COFFEE? GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE GUTTER, SOLDIER.
AS WE'RE ALMOST REACHING THE END OF SINONON, THE WALL HAS AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE.
FROM THE 31ST OF OCTOBER TO THE 6TH OF NOVEMBER, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE KIRIARGO PROMPT WEEK! THAT'S RIGHT, IMPATIENT MERCHANT PRINCE FANS. YOU ARE GONNA GET SOME MORE FLUFFY AS ALL HELL ROMANCE COMING SOON. WE'VE ALREADY TEN WRITERS ON THE LIST, AND HOPEFULLY, WE'LL HAVE SEVENTY CHAPTERS OUT VERY SOON.
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN WRITING ABOUT THE BEST RAT GIRL? OR EVEN THROWING OUT IDEAS? JOIN US AT THE SAO FANFICTION CENTRAL DISCORD SERVER HERE: discord . gg /z9Pz3Jzc7y (remove spaces)
MAKE YOUR SHIP PROUD. UNCLE TITANIUM WANTS YOU TO READ MORE FANFICTION! HOO-AH!
