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Sword Art Of War

By: Archer83, Vergil1989 the Crossover King, and Nomad-117
Summary: Nearly thirty years after the Reaper War, the Milky Way galaxy has by and large healed from the wounds of the conflict. Life goes on, but a new generation will be called upon to leave their own mark on history as they fight to survive. Only this time, the battle will be fought in a virtual world, where the threat is just as deadly as any faced during the war.Disclaimer: We don't own Sword Art Online or Mass Effect. Lucky for you dear players, otherwise you'd be stuck in a life and death struggle on launch day right about now.Authors' Notes: Archer83: I blame Vergil entirely for this one, he introduced me to SAO after all. I'm just here for the wild ride!Vergil1989: After introducing Archer83 and Nomad-117 to SAO, we decided to do this, together as one. For the longest time, I hadn't finished the show, but I have fairly recently and started watching SAO 2, so you can no doubt understand the craze as we do if you're here, reading our latest idea lol. That said, this is going to be highly AU given the mixed setting, but there might be a few familiar faces in the crowd from the show popping up in this. We'll see what happens. In the meantime, enjoy fellow Beaters, cheaters, and players alike. It's time for the Death Game to begin!
Chapter 1: Life Goes On

Thessia, The Grand Arcade Mall

November 7th, 2216
Surrounded by a horde of shoppers, the lone young turian scratched at her fringe as she glanced around for her missing friend. Why does she always do this to me? If her mom doesn't kill me, my dad will for letting her slip away. Suddenly, a far worse thought occurred to her, stirring her into desperate action. Oh Spirits. I don't even want to think about what her dad is going to do to me if she finds out.The now very nervous teenager grumbled to herself, shuddering at the very idea as she cast her gray eyes from right to left, trying to locate her small, easily excited asari companion. This was the last thing she needed. Not only was she in one of the busiest malls on the asari homeworld, she was in the center of the giant, monolithic shopping mall on the day of the biggest neural net game release of the decade, looking for her best friend. To coin a human term, a 'needle in a haystack' would have been preferable to the mass that crushed her on all sides. "Valara, where are you?! You know your mom's gonna be upset if we're late for dinner! Valara?!" Talons already tapping at her omni-tool, the turian girl stopped short of running the tracer program her tech minded mother had insisted on installing when she caught sight of her friend at last. "Spirits! You stupid bosh'tet! You scared the crap of me, you know that?!""Sorry! But hurry up already!" Valara shouted back, grinning from ear to ear as she waved her arms and jumped as far as her legs allowed her in an effort to get her friend's attention. The young asari was all grins and bright green eyes as the turian youth caught up at last. Val hardly stopped for breath as she turned back to the front, so close to the end of the line she could taste it after waiting for nearly two hours. "This is it Lenn! Today is the day!""Seriously? It's just a game Val. I don't see what the big deal is." Lenn groaned, having absolutely no idea what said big deal really was as a krogan rudely bumped into her back once she had squeezed into line behind Valara."Hey! No cutting in line turian! Go to the back of the line! Now! After all, you should be used to retreating." The krogan said with a chuckle as he went to shove the girl aside.To his surprise, Lenn side stepped him and pushed the off balance krogan in the side, making him stumble out of line with all the grace of a headless varren. By the time he'd recovered, she was right back where she'd started with Val at her side. "I'm with her sackless. Why don't you go look for your quad instead of bothering us?" Lenn drawled in response, unaffected by the krogan's attitude. She'd been around at least two that were far more intimidating than the one that had bumped her just now. "Unless you'd rather be introduced to my father? I'm sure he could scope and drop you from a mile off easy. Want me to call him for you?"The krogan gulped and held up his hands, his red eyes falling on the blue markings on the turian's face. It didn't help any that he could see something in the asari's face, a dangerous fury brewing in her emerald eyes, that told him in no uncertain terms that she wasn't bluffing. No one had unnerved him with a mere glance before, but the krogan wasn't stupid enough to find out the hard way. "I uh...I apologize. Heheh….I didn't know who you both were. Of course you can cut in.""Good boy. Now run along." Val said, her gaze neither softening or hardening further as she continued to glare at the krogan alongside Lenn."B-but, I've been waiting just as long already." The krogan started to protest, but he had to swallow the nervous lump in his throat."It's not worth your life sackless. It's just a game." Val stopped mid step and glared over her shoulder at her oldest friend once the krogan had slunk away like a whipped varren. Her emerald eyes narrowed to slits as she glared, making the temperature drop like a stone between them. "Dragon Age Inquisition Remastered. That was just a game. Bioshock Infinite Anniversary, that was just a game." Val proudly pointed to the final destination of her little quest, namely the small kiosk in front of them. "This? This is a life changing experience Lenn.""Yeah, a couple of old boring ones. As for this new game being a life changing experience, you'll forgive me if I have my doubts about that." Lenn said with a snicker, not into the whole retro and, ironically, bleeding edge gaming that Val liked. Or Val's dad for that matter from what Lenn knew about her from talking with her. And it wasn't like she was going to waste another rare opportunity like that to have a dumb chat about vid games.Val was lost in her own little world though, and missed Lenn's thoughtful look altogether. "They were classics, my father loved them, and I could see why she was so raving mad about them when she was our age. But you're missing the point Lenn. Sword Art Online is the biggest, and first, completely neural net exclusive game! It's got Common Sense(s) 3.7 built in! Imagine being able to feel a sword in your hand, the wind on your face, smell the salty sea air or the dirt under your feet, and the taste of the food! Everything!""You can feel the wind on your face in reality too Val. It's called taking a walk. And eating? We do that every day. As for the smell-ugh!" Lenn rolled her grey eyes and covered her nose when a volus behind her opened his redundant exhaust port. "Seriously? You couldn't hold that in?" Lenn grumbled aloud, and only received an annoyed scoff for her trouble. "Dough boy just let one rip and you hardly bat an eyelash.""That's not the point Lenn!" Val grumbled and threw her hands in exasperation at the turian's usual lack of understanding. "If you decide to play as a huge armored krogan in this world, then you feel like you are a huge armored krogan. Just imagine walking arround and headbutting things like Uncle Wrex showed us.""Right, because butting heads with random people is the height of fashion." Lenn deadpanned and crossed her arms over her chest."Lennoria, you sound just like your dad when you do that." Val giggled in reply, a small blue hand over her mouth before she gasped when she realized there was a straight shot to the Galactic Games kiosk at last."You know I hate it when you call me that!" Before Lenn knew what had happened, Val had ran ahead, leaving an overly excited biotic flash of dark energy in her wake. "This is my life. Chasing after Val." She mused in feigned annoyance, but couldn't help the wry grin on her face since she wouldn't have had it any other way. They had grown up together, had fought together on the school playground against the bullies that had plagued them, and nothing had changed since. Just like their respective parents had done during the Reaper Wars, only their bullies had been ancient five kilometer tall killing machines."That'll be forty seven hundred credits please." The bored looking salarian behind the counter told Val as he pointed to the shop terminal.Lenn's gray eyes widened in shock, having just caught up with Val as the shopkeeper rattled off the cost for the game. "What?! Val, that's nuts! Your parents are going to kill you! ... And then kill me for not talking you out of this." Lenn protested, but Val was already reaching out to swipe her omni-tool through the kiosk terminal."Who do you think is letting me buy it?" The young asari said with a wink as her transaction was accepted. "The benefits of having two famous parents, they netted quite a hefty bank account by the time it was over."Lenn ran a taloned hand down her face in exasperation. "And you waste it on a game.""Just like you wasted your allowance on a sniper rifle / visor set." Val retorted as the salarian grumbled something about kids and too much time on their hands as he ducked under the counter to grab her purchase."At least mine was practical." Lenn retorted, grinning despite her usual protests about Val's less than respectful antics, which she endured anytime she was around the asari. Which was nearly every day she was on Thessia, and every day Val happened to be visiting Rannoch."Whatever Lenn, and I'm not wasting credits on a game. I'm wisely investing in three copies before the price goes through the cosmic roof." Val retorted with a huff.Lenn's mandibles dropped to her chest at the revelation, just as the salarian came back up and slapped down three small OSDs containing the same game on the counter. "Three?! Why in Spirits name would you need three?!""One for me, one for you, and one for dad." Val said with a knowing smirk as she reached out to collect her vaunted prize.Lenn's eyes brightened as Val tossed the turian one of the three OSDs while pocketing the other two. "Oh… Have I told you what a great friend you are?" The turian asked, and caught the OSD, contained within a transparent box covered in artwork with a deft flick of her wrist. She might not have been into the gaming scene like Val and her father, but she liked them all the same."At least twice today, but I never get tired of hearing it. I'm just that awesome, as my dad would say." Val replied cheerfully before making her way out of the busy game shop with Lenn right behind her."Ha. Ha. What type of simulation is this one anyway?" Lenn curiously asked as she glanced over the old fashioned cover art on the protective case. "Looks a little too sword and sorcery for me.""No magic involved. It's completely realistic, set in a medieval fantasy type world." Val explained, having been surprised at the time that any game developer would take out magic from a fantasy based world. But from what she remembered of the beta, it had actually worked out pretty well for the system they had put into place. It was completely level and skill based fighting, unreliant on a mystic force that could stack the odds against those unable to contend with it. "It is called Sword Art Online after all. Hence the swords. Spears, axes, maces, daggers too, basically anything with a blade or a pointy end."That took Lenn by surprise as she grimaced, her mandibles flaring in annoyance. "Wait. You mean you don't get to use a sniper rifle? Sorry, I'm out."But Val wasn't hearing it as she spun on her heel and put her hands on Lenn's shoulders. "No you're not Lenn. I can't go into this without my wingwoman. Besides, you can make your own stuff outta anything you can get your hands on, if you have the materials and the skill required. Besides, I think it would be cool to see you chopping a monster's head off with a big ass battle axe.""Really?" Lenn's gray eyes gleamed as she gave the box a second look. "Well, I guess it can't hurt to give it a test run." No sooner had the words left her mouth did Val squeal loudly and wrap her arms around the turian's waist, all but crushing the air out of her. "Easy! Choking, not breathing.""Sorry." Val blushed and jumped back, but her grin was as wide as ever. "But I was honestly worried you wouldn't give it a try. I betaed it with dad, so I know all the good beginner hunting spots. We'll be fine!""Hunting spots?" Lenn asked, suddenly unsure about the upcoming gaming marathon."Monsters respawn, but there's going to be roughly a million players all in one game world. That means you have to be willing to go out fast and hard, out into the more dangerous spots once the beginning areas are picked clean. You either get the experience first or you get left behind in one of the beginning areas to grind your exp up on leftovers. Been there, done that, and I don't recommend it." Val explained with another shrug. "It makes resource management that much more important. But it also makes it that much more challenging. Personally I get bored with anything I can crush in a couple days.""Great. Resource management. Sounds exciting. Plus the fun of being attacked at any moment. I get enough of that in the schoolyard." Lenn drawled, hating the idea of having to watch her back in possible hostile territory. She knew enough about games to know that in RPGs and the like, you only got as far as the level of your character, your avatar. You got those levels by earning experience and money to buy equipment, often by taking out hordes of progressively harder enemies and monsters. If there really was going to be that many people around, then all the good 'hunting spots' were going to be hard to come by in the late stages of game."You're gonna love it, trust me!" Throwing her arm over her taller friend's shoulder, Val held up one of her OSD's with pride. "This is going to be the best thing you've done in your entire life. At least with clothes on that is.""Skinny dipping was a one time thing, and I wish you wouldn't bring it up at every chance you get." Lenn grumbled as she looked away in annoyance. "Valara, you're going to be the death of me yet." Lenn grumbled further, but even as the words left her mouth, she couldn't help but look at her own copy of SAO in excitement.Taking a public aircar back to the small, quiet settlement she called home, she sighed as the pair got out. Val mostly called it boring, her father called it 'rustic', but her mother called it a nice secluded piece of paradise, far from the noise and crowds of the major cities. Val loved the city personally, but then again, she wasn't a galactic hero. She didn't have hordes of rabid fans begging for her autograph or asking for pictures.Speaking of the city, it was hard to imagine the entire planet, the entire galaxy, had faced total extinction at the hands of the Reapers thirty years ago. All but the most isolated communities had been fully repaired after the devastation, and even then most of those were all but cleaned up. Yet Val knew it had, having been born almost right after the War was over. She had seen enough holo vids and pictures from that time, and she was truly grateful, let alone glad, that her parents had been part of the reason they were able to enjoy life now. As 'airheaded' as she acted, Valara was far from stupid, let alone spoiled rotten despite what some of her less favorable acquaintances from school said to the contrary.Val was drawn out of her thoughts when her turian friend nudged her gently in the side. "You know, I really like it out here." Lenn mused as she stared at the wide, green hills all around them once they had gotten out of the aircar on the front lawn of the estate.Val snickered as she tapped Lenn on her forehead before turning to her home and leading the way towards the biometrically locked front door. A quick scan would admit them, a measure her mother had insisted on, along with the sophisticated network of security cams, laser trip wires, motion sensors, and a number of combat drones that would only activate under certain circumstances. As annoying as it was, Val wasn't about to argue against her mother, who could be downright terrifying given her knack for knowing everything that went on in the galaxy. "You would. Turians think survival training is a fun hobby.""It is!" Lenn protested. "Remember when we went camping with my mom and dad? It wasn't just camping, it was extreme camping.""Exactly my point Lenn." Val giggled in retort as fond, if slightly painful memories flashed through her head. "Your idea of camping involves being shot at with rubber rounds by a 'funny' ex-vigilante at all hours of the night. And Chitika almost singed my face off!""Oh come on, I thought it was funny. Mom was just messing with you, she wouldn't actually let Chitika hurt you. Not on purpose at least." Lenn retorted, smirking widely at her asari friend."Lenn? Bite me." Val grunted and left her on the other side of the bulletproof glass door that shimmered with a kinetic barrier for good measure.If only I had the nerve... "Nah, asari are too salty. Plus I break out in hives." Lenn continued once she was on the other side of the door as if Val hadn't just slammed it in her face."Gah! I'm not listening!" Val groaned and covered her ears."I could stand to hear a bit more. I find they tend to taste sweet myself." Val forgot her disgust at her nervous friend's sick joke when she looked up and saw her 'dad' standing at the top of the stairs, a goofy grin on her face. "Hey Val, Lenn. I see you two have come back the conquering heroes.""I learned from the best dad." Val chuckled as she tossed her father one of the OSDs, laughing when it stopped mid air with a blue glow and gently floated into the woman's hand."Need the practice." Vivian Shepard-T'soni said with a casual shrug as she dashed down the stairs to wink mischievously at her daughter and her best friend. "And you're damn right you learned from the best kid. I was crushing Hurlocks before I even knew how to read, let alone walk. Of course, I traded my controller for an amp when I was old enough, but I never forgot my roots."Ain't that the truth. Val mused, knowing the story quite well. "So, was operation 'Don't Let Mom Know' a success?" No sooner had the words left her daughter's mouth than Vivian's face started to go pale, about the same time Val saw her mother standing at the top of the stairs, coolly staring down at them. "Uh….hi mom." Val managed to squeak out."You should know by now Little Wing, I know everything and anything worth knowing, especially when it comes to my daughter." Liara Shepard-T'Soni, former Shadow Broker, archaeological professor extraordinaire and Shepard's bondmate, stated dryly, her deep blue eyes twinkling in amusement. "I'll admit, you had me going up until you asked to 'go for a walk' with Lenn this morning. You need to work on your subterfuge. I would have suggested telling me you were going out to shop, just not for what. The best lies contain the most truth.""You'd know." Val muttered and rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment."If it makes you feel better Professor T'soni, she didn't tell me either until we were halfway to the mall." Lenn stated, earning her an annoyed glare from Valara for her trouble.Vivian coughed and straightened the collar of her asari styled robes, having taken to the local attire after living on Thessia for the past twenty eight years. "She also might have 'tortured' me for information the moment you left.""I didn't hear you complaining at the time Vivian." Liara replied, grinning sultrily as she leaned in and kissed the woman on her cheek on her way down to the kitchen."Does screaming count?" Shepard asked with a twinkle in her eye.Val's green eyes widened in horror as she looked away, flopping down on the couch in annoyance. "Ah, gross dad! Seriously?!"Vivian chuckled and grinned as she sauntered down the rest of the stairs, her arms crossed over her chest. "When you find someone you're madly in love with, I'll be happy to return the favor.""You two are such children." Liara stated and shook her head in amusement as she carried in a tray laden heavily with food. "You won't be going anywhere until you eat something, all three of you. Consider that an order.""Yes ma'am." Viv saluted sarcastically and grinned up at Liara before picking up a bowl of what looked like an exotic form of calamari. Asari might have been alien in their preferences for food and drink, but Vivian had grown used to the delicacies that were the norm for them. Besides, it was a small sacrifice to trade in greasy hamburgers and cheap soda for what she consumed these days.Lenn didn't make it two steps towards the kitchen before Liara waved the turian girl over. "I took the liberty of preparing something for you as well, I figured Val would talk you into staying the night again.""Sorry to be a pest Professor T'soni, but I appreciate it." Lennoria replied gratefully."Lennoria Vakarian, how many times must I tell you to call me Liara?" The asari softly asked, smiling warmly at Lenn as the turian turned around and situated herself next to Val. "At least you have proper manners, I don't feel quite so outnumbered with you here." This she directed at Viv and her daughter, as both stopped and stared at each other when they realized they'd been slurping down the side of noodles that had been included with the sushi."What?" Val muttered as she loudly slurped up another noodle. "I like to eat mom, what can I say?""There's eating and then there's what you and your father do." Liara countered, smiling despite her slight annoyance at their immaturity."You're right, need to slow down and enjoy things. Took me forever to stop giving myself a three minute time limit for every meal." Shepard stated, remembering all the hurried meals she and the rest of the old crew had partaken in between battles against the Reapers and their enthralled allies. "But, in my defense, I am curious to see what this SAO thing is all about. That and it'd be a good, safe, proving ground for our future Spectre here." Shepard told her with grin, nodding her head towards the pair sitting across from her."Whoa dad, let's not get ahead of ourselves." Val protested and held up her hands to curtail her father's enthusiasm.Shepard blinked, tucking a strand of graying auburn hair behind her ear. "Hmm? Wasn't talking about you sweetheart, you're a lover, not a fighter. And I wouldn't want you any other way. Lenn on the other hand-"Oh Spirits, this is really happening right? I just know I'm going to wake up any second now... Lenn seemed to sink deeper into the plush couch, desperately focusing on her meal and not the fact the legendary Spectre, Commander Shepard herself, thought she was Spectre material. It was clearly a losing battle judging by her wide gray eyes and drooping mandibles.Oh goddess, I know that look. Lenn, you are such a geek. "Says you." Val cheerfully retorted as she stuck out her tongue at her dad, while ignoring the wide eyed glaze overed look on Lenn's face. "Or did you forget all those times I organized the kids in the school yard during my grade school days anytime the bullies tried their crap?""She does have a point Vivian. I remember many times you rallied us with your words alone." Liara intoned, shaking her head in amusement yet again.Lenn wasn't listening, having only heard Shepard's comment about her possibly being the next Spectre in her family. "You really think I might be a Spectre one day Comman- Mrs. T'soni?""It's Viv to you Lenn." Vivian said with a smirk as she scooped up another sushi roll and shoved it in her mouth. "And if you're anything like your old man, I'd say..." Shepard was clearly getting way too much delight out of torturing the poor teen by drawing out her answer. "Yup. I think you'd do just fine." In about twenty years. Don't need to tell her that quite yet though."Vivian. Please don't talk with your mouth full….again." Liara grumbled, but let it slide since she wouldn't have had Vivian any other way. It was just one of the many quirks that made up the whole package that was the love of her life. And the father of their one and only daughter, although it hadn't been from a lack of trying. A lot of enthusiastic trying. Shepard often mused that maybe it was desperation that allowed her to get into Liara's genetic code at the end of the war, as well as her pants."Love you too sweety." Kissing Liara on the cheek once again, Vivian got to her feet and beckoned the two young 'teens', mentally in Val's case, being that she was twice as old as Lenn chronologically speaking. "Come on squad, we've got ourselves an op to run. And some Noobs to PWN.""I'm not planning on PVPing dad. It doesn't exactly make a great first impression if we want to start a guild right away." Val's voice took on a stern tone as she mock scowled, remembering a particularly aggressive Grand Theft Terminus session with her dad. "And I remember someone telling me, 'A Noob is just an ally you haven't made yet, now shoot that C-Sec officer in the leg, we're in the middle of a damn heist here.'""Good answer kid." Viv replied, glad she was so against the idea of taking down weak opponents just because she could. "I knew I raised you better than that, even if you are a smartass."Sticking her tongue out, Val gasped when her eyes flicked towards a nearby holo chronometer and ran towards the stairs. "Come on guys, we'll miss the launch at this rate!"Liara could only smile as she watched Lenn sigh and follow after her exuberant daughter, who had long since ran up the stairs with Shepard glancing knowingly at their retreating forms. She didn't need the vast network that the Shadow Broker had had access to, to know that Lenn and Val were all but bonded for life. They remind me of myself and Shepard when we first met, save for the slight personality differences. Goddess help us all. Liara mused, and saw that Vivian was thinking the same thing when their gazes met.Guess I can save the 'hurt my daughter and they'll never find the body' speech for when Lenn gets up the courage to ask her out on a date. Hmm. Third, nah, make it a fourth date, don't want to scare her off. Besides, Val could do a lot worse than Lenn. With that thought in mind, Shepard was about to follow after the pair until her omni-tool went off. "Crap. Go ahead you two, I have to take this. It's your Aunt Ash and Uncle James.""Tell 'em we said hi!" Val called over her shoulder, Lenn trailing after her like a reluctant shadow. A shadow that was forcefully yanked into Val's room with a surprised yelp a moment later. "Come on, we're gonna miss it!""Those two might as well be attached at the hip." She mused aloud, grinning as she tapped at her omni-tool and nodded to the image on her right arm. "Hey Ash, how's domestic life treating ya?""Vega got me knocked up again, the charming bastard. How do you think it's going?" Ashley mock growled, grinning despite the fact she felt as big as a whale for the fifth time in thirty years.In the background Shepard could see the rebuilt Vancouver skyline through the windows of Ashley's apartment, giving a subtle nod of approval to her fellow marine. "Let me guess. Morning sickness, irritability, and a craving for... I'm gonna say peanut butter this time.""Wiseass. Vanilla ice cream, but yeah, you got the gist of it Skipper." Ashley replied as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared, before her expression softened slightly. "God, I don't know what I'd do without James. Man obeys my every whim, actually, I think he's gotten a lot better at this whole pregnant thing. Even if I want to kill him anytime I pop.""What was that my glowing Flor de la muerte?" Vega sweetly asked from somewhere off screen."Nothing honey! ... I'm just going to put one between your eyes in about a month from now is all." Ash quietly whispered this last part just loud enough for Shepard to hear. "I'll give him 'Flower of death' alright.""Been learning Vega's native tongue huh?" Shepard asked, chuckling at the scowl her question got from her fellow N7."Um yeah? It's the only way I can keep up when we're yelling at each other…. or screaming at each other, if you get my drift." Ashley replied, a sultry grin forming on her face the moment the words left her mouth. Shepard merely shook her head and smirked in response as her mind drifted towards the rest of their old crew.Unsurprisingly, Ashley had decided to stay on Earth after the war, and naturally James had accompanied her. The other members of her crew and friends had spread throughout the galaxy, doing their respective best to help rebuild and maintain order. Miranda was often with Orianna, helping to rebuild old colonies or to establish new ones. Wrex and Grunt had fun on Tuchanka as far as she was aware, while Tali and Garrus enjoyed life on Rannoch though they called often and visited at least several times a year.She wasn't sure what exactly Jack was doing, but Vivian was reasonably certain it wasn't anything too bad. Jack had been doing quite a lot of good with her teaching at the academy, even if her methods were a bit extreme. Samara of course still pursued her quest for justice in the name of the Justicar order. Jacob and his wife had gone to a small little colony where they lived far away from any danger or excitement. From what Shepard had last heard, it was certainly a peaceful planet, if a little dull.Joker and EDI were another story. From what she had heard, they won the galactic lottery and built their own ship and used it to fly through the galaxy on a neverending 'booze cruise' as Jeff called it. Chakwas was with them, the old human doctor still stubbornly watching over Joker as she did in all the years before. The fact their 'cruise' often involved delivering medi-gel and food, among other much needed supplies to far flung colonies was the more likely reason for her presence.All that aside, Shepard could only smile and shake her head at Ashley's mock anger. "At your age, I'm surprised you didn't break a hip marine.""Screw you too, Skipper." Ashley said with a laugh. "Twins this time. Now I know how dad felt raising us back in the day.""Sheesh. You certainly don't fuck around Williams... wait, maybe you do." Shepard replied, and raised an eyebrow for emphasis."Laugh it up Shepard. I'm dropping off the horde on your ass the next time we're in the neighborhood." Ashley retorted, grinning at the prospect of letting Vivian and Liara babysit for a few weeks while she and Vega took a much needed vacation.If Ashley had hoped to intimidate her, she was sorely disappointed when Shepard merely smirked in response. "Good, we can have a few training exercises, teach 'em the basics. Maybe start with a nice game of capture the frag."Jame's frowning forehead poked into frame, worry lines and all. "I heard that Lola. Better be a paint frag or we're gonna have problems.""Oh, you know me, safety is my middle name James. I figure sparkles and confetti might make for a good explosion. Maybe give Erica a few driving lessons while I'm at it? She's what, sixteen now?"Ashley's reaction was not in the least surprising as she glared daggers through the view screen on her side. "Hell no! I'd be better off taking care of that myself. I still have nightmares about all the times you jumped the Mako over giant canyons and impact craters.""Turning that weird pyramid we found into the perfect launch ramp was a personal favorite." Shepard's emerald eye glazed over for a moment at the happy memory. Well, it had been happy for her at least, she only remembered a lot of screaming and cursing coming from Ash and Kaidan at the time. "Good times.""Damn. Wish I coulda seen that one." Vega said with a shrug before moving off camera."No you don't James. And Shepard, how could I forget? You only bring it up twenty times a year." Ashley grunted and Shepard was sure she was crossing her arms over her chest on her end again."Damn, am I getting that predictable in my old age?" Vivian asked, already knowing the answer as she walked partially downstairs, her gaze fixated on the image on her arm."Yes you are Skipper, but if you ask my girls, they'll say the same thing about me and James. Doesn't stop Liara from putting up with you. According to her it has a lot to do with your charm, but mostly your tongue.""Ashley! That was a private conversation!" A mortified Liara yelped as she shoved her face next to Vivian's and glared down at the snickering marine."Says the ex Shadow Broker. The day you value privacy is the day I croak." Ashley retorted, grinning at the mortified look she caught from the asari."Ladies, play nice. I don't want another repeat of our last Christmas party. I'm still finding loose bits of plaster from when Grunt and Wrex had to pull Jack and Miranda apart." Vivian shuddered, recalling the damage and devastation they had wrought in one of their rare arguments. It had been real interesting, paying for their parole when they were arrested by the local authorities. By the time Vivian had gotten them out, they had kissed and made up. A lot."So, they still going at it? Last I heard, they were working on adopting number three. Cute little hanar, I shudder to think of how that's gonna work with Jenna and Bravis." Ashley stated as she repositioned the holocam on her end and sat down, her face briefly going out of frame in the change of position."They'll find a way. They say Stasis fields are a great parenting tool apparently." Shepard said with a shrug."I'm jealous. What I wouldn't give for a biotic babysitter." Ashley grumbled, and just as she was about to say something, she looked over her shoulder and glared at someone offscreen. "James, shut up.""No way, you didn't say you were calling Lola, so I'm hijacking the rest of this conversation." James protested before sticking his head back into the frame. "Still looking as fine as ever I see. Gray hairs and all."Liara rolled her blue eyes, possessively wrapping her arm around Shepard's as she pulled her towards the couch. "Commander Vega, I'm sure you're quite aware that I can flay you alive, with my mind. So I suggest you stop flirting with my bondmate, she's all mine.""You wouldn't deprive the galaxy of all this finery." James replied and gestured at himself for emphasis. "Besides, I got my own love of my life. Lola's too crazy for me anyway.""Kiss my ass James. Still as flirtatious as ever huh?" Shepard chortled as she sat comfortably next to Liara on the couch. "So, how's life at the Villa? Getting tired of scaring the shit out of the FNGs yet?""Nope, it's legalized target practice. I get to sit on the porch and take pot shots anytime they start lagging. Don't make 'em like they used to, but I try my best with the nuggets they send my way." James replied and leaned back on the sofa next to Ashley on his end."They broke the mold when they made us." Shepard chuckled just as Liara rolled her eyes out of the corner of her vision. "But someone had to step up, and I had enough with running drills twenty years ago Vega. I enjoy the quiet life.""Is that why I keep seeing you pop up in the Armax Combat Arena?" Vega asked, ruefully smirking when Vivian didn't have a ready comeback. "At least you shoot up the place for a good cause. What was the last one, research for a cure for Ardat Yakshi syndrome? You already singlehandedly got the funding to cure Kepral's and Vrolik's, so I know it isn't those two.""Figured I owed Samara a few dozen times over for everything she did back in the day. Same with Joker, despite his non stop mouthing off. Actually, considering I can kick his sarcastic ass guilt free now, that was sort of a present to me." Was Vivian's nonchalant response. Getting to drag Jeff onto the dance floor at our bondmate ceremony without hearing the sound of snapping shin bones wasn't too bad either. She quietly mused to herself with a grin."I always knew you had an ulterior motive." Ashley chuckled and grinned at the camera. "Same ol' Skipper, always three steps ahead of everyone around her.""That's probably why I always beat Traynor at chess. Never wanted to challenge her to a game of Kepesh-Yakshi anyway." Viv mused before a thought occurred to her. Blade of the Night Winds... hmm, I think I just found my new avatar name. Pushing that thought to the side, Viv let her thoughts turn elsewhere. "Speaking of, how are Sam and Kelly doing?""Last I heard they were on Elysium, living in bliss while they kept the orphans they've taken in occupied. Just built a new dormitory too. Something about 'an amazingly generous donation from an anonymous source'. Anonymous my ass. Kasumi probably had a hand in that. Kelly always did talk about starting up a place like that while we were on the Normandy.""And you didn't want her on the ship because she was with Cerberus. Good thing I didn't listen to you huh?" Shepard mockingly pondered as she tapped a finger against her chin. "Wait, what was the great idea you had again, giving her a new identity?"Ashley grumbled something unsavory in the back of her throat before saying, "Yeah yeah bite me Skipper. You were right, I was wrong. Ya happy?""Yep. Good thing you weren't in charge of staffing engineering either." Vivian quipped with a gentle laugh, knowing that Ash would rather eat her helmet than admit she hadn't trusted Ken and Gabby either at first."I get the point already!" Sheesh, thirty years and you haven't changed a bit." Ashley grumbled, but she couldn't help the smirk on her face if her life had depended on it. Ken and Gabby hadn't turned out half bad in her opinion, although she'd never admit it to Vivian. Nor would she be telling her that the couple happened to be coming over for lunch tomorrow.Ash rolled her brown eyes as James planted a kiss on her cheek. "What'd you expect from Lola? She's as stubborn as you darlin', my fiery-.""Shepard!" Vivian's ears perked up immediately at the concerned tone in Liara's voice as her eyes darted to the terrified look on bondmate's face.Ashley's gaze darted off screen as she and Vega turned on the Alliance News Feed on their end. "Skipper." It would have been a cold day in Hell when Ashley Williams ever showed true fear on her face, but from what Vivian could see on her omni-tool, that day had just arrived.She wasn't smiling anymore, and Shepard was about to find out why as she followed Liara's horrified gaze towards the nearest vid screen in the house. The reporter, Diana Allers, an old... grudging acquaintance, was looking just as pale and doing her best to contain her horror at what she was already in the process of explaining. "-scattered reports are coming in. We are still trying to confirm what we've been told, but what information we have suggests that the new neural network game, Sword Art Online, has reportedly trapped every logged in player within the virtual world. It is strongly advised that no one attempt to log in or try to remove the neural headband of anyone already inside. We've already received scattered reports of attempts to manually pull people out of the game resulting in instantaneous death-"Vivian had already crashed into Val's bedroom door long before the newscaster ever had a chance to finish her report. "Valara! Lennoria!" Even as the words left her mouth, Shepard knew she was too late as she saw Lenn and Valara fast 'asleep', securely rigged up in their respective sensory headbands, with the asari on the single bed and the turian sprawled out on the nearby futon. "Shit. Shit shit shit!" Vivian cursed and ran to grab her own headband, only to run into Liara. Shepard cut her off before the shaken woman could even open her mouth. "Don't. I'm not leaving them in there like that, terrified and alone.""Think Vivian!" The asari physically stopped Shepard by pushing her back, glowing dark blue with dark energy from head to foot. "Just stop for two seconds!" Liara shouted, already fully aware of what Viv intended to do. "Don't think for even a moment that I'm not thinking of doing the exact same thing, but we don't know what's really going on. We need to think this through, gather intelligence, find out who or what is responsi-""There's nothing to think about Liara. There's no time to gather intelligence, no time to waste. This is what we do." Ashley stated firmly, drawing both Vivian and Liara's gazes to her omni-tool. "But if it makes you feel better, I've got the basic info right here, James found it posted on ANN's forum. The game creator, Akihiko Kayaba, is a damn psychotic freak going by the manifesto he left behind. It's already trending on the extranet. According to this, the only way for any of the players to survive is to play his sick game and finish it, all one hundred levels. Anyone does that, the game shuts down and the players are logged out en masse.""I'm not letting you risk your life based on the rantings of a mad man!" Liara yelled in desperation, even as she scanned the same document for any clue as to how to free the trapped players some other way. "By the Goddess, Kayaba has clearly suffered a mental break if he believes half of this nonsense. But... I don't think he's lying about the endgame. The idea anyone could actually defeat his simulation has most likely never even occurred to him.""Which means those already on the inside have a chance. Overconfident assholes are our specialty anyway. And I know how you are Skipper, you'll have an army going in no time." Ashley replied, and looked to her side only to see Vega had left the couch."On that note, before you guys even think about arguing, we're already making plans to get to Thessia. All of us." Vega stated, his voice carrying through the link even if neither could see him at that moment, save for the occasional thrown article of clothing, while making it clear he was planning to bring their kids along for the trip. "I'd ask you to wait Commander, but I know better. So do what you do best and kick some ass Lola.""Just get here ASAP. The whole damn crew if you can swing it. We're totally blind, we need more intel even though I plan to jump right in, like usual. I'm probably going to be completely cut off so Liara's in charge of that." Even as the words left her mouth, Vivian turned and hugged Liara tightly against her chest and whispered in her ear. "I'm going to get them back.""I know you will." Liara whispered, and didn't bother to wipe away the tears running down her face. "You always come back. Death couldn't stop you, a VR game will be a cakewalk by comparison."Ashley waited until they parted to inform them of her intentions. "I'm already sending the message Skipper. We'll stand guard for as long as it takes, I'll handle security with James and whoever else that comes along for the ride. You and Val will be safe until the others can get here.""Ash, James... Lenn is in there with her. Not gonna lie, I think I'm the one getting the safer job here. Go easy when you break it to Tali and Garrus, they probably don't know yet. Last I heard, Garrus planned some private time for the two of them out in the wilderness back on Rannoch."Any other time, Ashley would have had a sarcastic retort on hand, but this wasn't the time for it. Instead she only nodded. "No problem Skipper.""We got this Commander, go." James said with a somber nod as he turned back to filling the rest of their friends in on the current catastrophe unfolding before them.As if on cue, Jeff 'Joker' Moreau's face filled Vega's omni-tool moments after he had sent the message. "What the shit?! What kind of sick bastard traps a bunch of gamer nerds in a meat grinder?! What EDI?! Can't you see I'm a little- No I didn't hit the damn mute button! ...Oh right. We're on our way to pick up the crew. There's no way we're leaving you to deal with this mess on your own Shepard.""I know Jeff, thanks guys." Shepard replied sincerely, before deactivating her omni-tool with practiced ease. She slumped down on the side of Valara's bed and sighed heavily. This was yet another goddamn mess to unfuck, one that she was determined to fix or die trying. There was no other way to think about it. Looking up the asari and the love of her life though, Shepard felt her emerald eyes start to glaze over as tears started to form. "I thought we'd get a chance to live happily ever after the War was over. Now some insane jackass is going to get a lot of people killed, but Val and Lenn aren't going to be on that list. I promise you."Don't think about anything else except protecting our daughter and Lennoria." In that order. Liara guiltily thought to herself, knowing better than to ask that of Vivian. She'd protect everyone she could equally or not at all. It was just her way. "I'll handle everything...on my end." Liara promised, her blue hand already rapidly flying over her omni-tool's interface. "I'll put in a call to Feron, have him access what he can on the company that created this Sword Art Online. Maybe we can deal with this problem at its source."Shepard smiled up at Liara even as a tear rolled down her face. "You get us out without me having to do it the hard way... my new purpose in life will be worshipping the ground you walk on.""You already do that." Liara managed a weak laugh despite everything that was currently unfolding."I'll just have to think of something else then." Shepard told her with a deceptively casual shrug as she settled the band on her head and took a deep breath. "I love you." Shepard softly told her as she was just about to activate it."I love you as well... my Commander." Liara replied as she took the headband in her hands and held it up just long enough to give Vivian a deep, smoldering kiss before gently lowering it back down. "Now go in there and show them how a Spectre handles a crisis." With that, Liara hit the activation button, having put her hand over Shepard's. They had vowed to see things through together, and nothing would change that, not even this."Right. Link... start." Shepard said, and jerked once before stilling where she lay, her mind mingling with the countless other players already within the realm of Sword Art Online."Goddess protect you Vivian. And if not, there will be Hell to pay." Liara vowed as she slowly stood to her feet. She had a lot to do to prepare for this newest war, one that would be fought on two fronts if Vivian had any say on the matter, and Liara knew she would be thinking along the same lines. The only difference was Shepard had gone where she couldn't follow, and it terrified her.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Author's Notes:  I'll be separating the roster from the rest of this into a separate 'story' so that things are better organized and also so that I can make any updates that much easier for future reference.  Speaking of, expect a pretty big update on the Black Legion roster in the near future once I get ahold of my remaining partner and we go over what we need to together before posting it up.  At any rate, thank you for your patience guys and gals, and I HOPE this updated chapter works for you folks.  See ya!
Chapter 2:  Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time

Shepard opened her eyes to a world of chaos and screaming as she spun around, noting the large medieval town in the distance with the sun shining brightly overhead. "Just like old times." She muttered aloud, unpleasant memories buried in the back of her mind, but never truly forgotten, resurfaced at the all too familiar sounds of pandemonium in the distance. Even so, she pushed them to the side before charging towards the walled town.  Stone structures and wooden houses and buildings were just visible above the walls, but beyond a quick glance, Shepard had eyes only for the large wooden gates where dozens of desperate people were milling about.  Without a thought, she charged headlong into the chaos.

Alright marine, it's officially time to get this shit unfucked.

The first thing she noticed as she charged forward was a young boy who ran right up to her, wild eyed and panting heavily.  "Hey! You gotta help me! I need to get out of here! Quick, accept my duel request!"  Shepard stared calmly at the frantic young boy blocking her path, all but ignoring the pop up window that had appeared in front of her, before head butting him in the face.  He fell to the ground and glared up at her in disbelief, stunned at her rather blatant refusal rather than any pain he might’ve been feeling.  "What the?!  I said duel me!  I don't want to be stuck here!"

Jesus Christ, he barely looks twelve. Trapped here or not, he doesn't belong in a game like this in the first place. Dammit. I don't have time to hold his hand either, not yet. Time for a bit of tough love.

"Get your sh-crap together then. You can follow me or I'll carry you if I have to, but I have someone here that's trapped, and I'm not about to let her die in this damn game."  Shepard stated firmly and continued pushing forward.

"You came in here on purpose?!  You're crazy lady!"  Without another word, the young human stumbled to his feet and started to run off, no doubt to find someone willing to take him out in a fool's hope of being freed from the game.  He'd also be freed from the rest of his life if someone

did

agree to PK him.

Damn it

.

He won't survive the night, not on his own.

This was the last thing she needed right now, and she only sighed and shook her head.  She had long ago come to terms with the idea that if she didn't give a shit, no one else was going to.  Despite the fact being some sort of paragon of virtue was usually a colossal pain in the ass, but that wouldn't stop her from trying.  With a sigh, she looked over her shoulder and called after the running kid.

"Hey!  At least head towards town." Shepard muttered, as she took a few quick steps back and caught him by the scruff of his neck before he could get far.  He went down hard a second time, but she pulled him to his feet with a single, strong pull of his arm. "If you want to live, you'll go to town, now."

"Lemme go!  Lemme go!"  The terrified blonde boy shouted as he squirmed out of her light grip and started for the surrounding hills.  He didn't get far before Shepard tripped him, letting him stumble to the ground before she scooped him up and slung him over her shoulder. "Hey!  Put me down already you old bag!"

"I tried to be nice kid. This is me being

very

nice by not leaving your whiny little butt out here alone.  So be quiet and enjoy the ride."  With an annoyed sigh, Shepard turned back towards the chaos behind her and took off at a run towards the walled town.  A Town of Beginnings, one of several on the first floor.  Technically there was one central town that bore the name the Town of New Beginnings, but they all functioned the same way.  They acted as safe zones, where no monsters or PKing was allowed, it'd do as a starting point and a place to get her bearings.

I owe Val for getting me into the beta when she did, otherwise I might have been fumbling in the dark.

She was no stranger to gaming, but SAO was a different monster altogether.  Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and their spin offs, as well as their respective sequels, had turned out to be cakewalks by comparison.

Valara, Lennoria, I'm coming.

Shepard vowed, and didn't stop in her mad dash to the town even when a gray pelted wolf appeared right in front of her.  "Bad move buddy."  She growled, and drew the basic straight sword from her back, sidestepping the animal's lunge even with the squealing boy on her shoulder, and decapitated it all in one fluid move.

"AAAHHHHH! You're gonna get us both killed!"  He screamed, tucking his head against her neck before slamming his hazel eyes shut.

"Not today kid."  Shepard ignored the urge to belt out a corny one liner after the wolf disappeared as she continued her rapid dash across the field, just reaching the town gates as another wave of hundreds of people ran out. She blinked when she swore she saw a krogan wearing a dress, among a number of strange oddities of the same variety, but hardly paid them a second glance.

She had far more important things to worry about.  Like the talking migraine on her shoulder. "I'm not a baby you know!  I can walk!"

"Then stop giving me a headache and stay beside me." Shepard growled as she unceremoniously plopped him down, quick to grab his arm before he got any ideas as she opened her game menu with her free hand.

Thank God we pre arranged our starting town.  I should be able to find Val easily enough out of only a few thousand players by checking my friends list for her location.  That is if that bastard GM didn't disable anything between the beta test and the live game.  With any luck, Lenn should be with her.

Shepard hardly broke her rapid stride as she pulled up the holographic interface menu with her free hand, and smirked as she found Val's icon near the town market.

That's my girl, preparing for the Hell that's about to follow. I knew I raised you right.

"Val! Lenn!"  She called out, pushing her way through the masses as they tried to run past her to either gather as much experience and money as they could before the rest of the players, or they were just running, trying to make sense of a senseless situation.  She wasn't like them however, and she had people counting on her.  To that end, she kept calling out for her daughter and her best friend.  Then Shepard saw something, a petite flash of sky blue skin and a familiar set of emerald eyes.  "Val?!"

"Dad? DAD?!"  Val shouted, her eyes wide in shock as she turned, relief flooding her from head to foot.  Before a twisting, creeping dread filled her stomach.  "Dad, what are you doing here?!"  The young asari asked even as she wrapped her arms around Shepard's chest tightly, completely ignoring the blonde boy Shepard had dragged along with her.

"Everyone knows what's going on, so I came here to help you get out of this mess."  Shepard replied, her face buried against Val's neck.  "There was no way I was leaving you and Lenn alone.  Your mom's already getting the old crew together, they're gonna try to fix this mess from the outside."

Val gave a relieved quiet laugh as she finally pulled away and looked up into Vivian's face.  "And by fixing you mean hunting down that psycho Akihiko Kayaba, forcing him to let us log out, and then shooting him in the face?"

"If that's what it takes.  Knowing your mom, the shooting him in the face part will purely be for fun.  If she doesn't flay his skin off with her mind."  Viv stated, smirking as the boy hid behind her leg the moment he saw the expression on Val's face.  Viv ignored him for now, and looked around for Val's friend.  "Where's Lenn?"

"She's fine, she went to try and gather some supplies for what's coming.  I told her we'll need all the stuff we can get so we can start leveling up.  It's the only way we're getting out of here."  Val explained and nodded her head towards the right, where she had sent the turian in question not moments ago.  Cocking her head to the side, she glanced around her mother at the young blonde boy cowering behind her.  "Who's your new friend?"

"Um….uh….Bradley."  He stammered out, his cheeks flushed, and briefly stuck his head out before jerking away again.

"He's a stray, but you know me, I couldn't leave him defenseless." Shepard smiled, honestly proud of the fact Valara had already taken charge of the situation.  "Good girl by the way.  Glad to see all those tactical lessons are paying off."

"Didn't help when I played against you though."  Val stated and put her hands on her hips as she stared at the badly hidden boy. "You can come out now Brad.  We're not going to hurt you... not unless you have some decent loot that is."  She snarked with a grin, rolling her eyes at her mother's disapproving glare as Bradley wrapped himself around Vivian's leg for dear life.  "Looks like you have something growing on your leg there dad."

"Very funny.  Ignore her Bradley, Valara's not as funny as she likes to think she is." Glancing up from the boy, Shepard cocked an eyebrow as Val tried to hide a decidedly jealous frown.  "And I thought you'd know that a good soldier never gives away all her secrets Val.  Come on, let's see if we can get things a little more organized around here.  Start grabbing anyone not running in circles.  If they're crying on the ground, rocking back and forth, give them a kick in the ass.  Better to piss them off rather than let them be desperate and stupid."

"Yes ma'am."  Val sarcastically replied and grinned as she threw her dad a similarly snark laced salute.  Even if they were in neck deep in trouble, it was a defense mechanism to be a pain in her father's ass.  Shepard knew that and only rolled her eyes in retort before leading the way to find Lenn.  Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched by a curious trio standing nearby.

"There's a woman that knows what she's doing." The man in the middle told his equally intrigued friends.  He was skinny as a rail, with hazel eyes, dark brown skin, and messy, short brown hair, a long sword and shield strapped to his back. While he was in basic starter gear like almost everyone else, he was the 'biggest' of the trio, with heavy steel plate mail covering him from the neck down, painted a dark shade of black, due to his skinny frame the heavy armor seemed to swallow him whole.  He had 'rolled' a tanking knight, in terms of equipment and stats, even though SAO had no class system whatsoever.  He gazed at his closest friends expectantly even as he lightly scratched his stubbled chin with his armored gauntlets, his large armored hands seemingly weapons in and of themselves.

"Holy shit Mike, do you know who that is?!" The tallest of the three, Scott, muttered excitedly.  He was chubbier than the others, with short cropped brown hair and light blue eyes. Clad in black medium splint mail with red and white trim, with a long sword and similarly painted shield strapped to his back.  Scott liked to think of himself as a vanguard, in the more traditional sense of the word.  He was a front runner, charging into battle like a berserker, dealing damage, keeping himself mobile while keeping his enemies off balance. His long and strong legs served him well in his chosen tactic as he had no trouble in outrunning most opponents even as his arms rained down blows upon them. His sun kissed skin glinted lightly in the late afternoon sun as he cocked his head in wonderment, a wry grin on his face that pulled the crescent scar on his right cheek taunt.

"Geez, calm down Scott.  I'm fully aware of who that is, but in here, she's like everyone else.  She might be the greatest leader the galaxy has ever seen, but her power's limited here.  Besides, you heard her, she only submitted herself to this damn messed up death game so she could save her daughter. That's beyond admirable in my book."  Mike replied before he pushed off from the wall.  "I'd rather have her on my side than against me."

"Indeed, we should all be so fortunate to have such loyal friends."  The last and youngest of the trio said, gazing at the little family with his dark brown eyes.  Unlike his friends, he had opted for a single 'hand and a half' sword. Also quite unlike his friends, he usually only spoke if he had something important to say.  Dressed in light platemail similar to Mike, Isaac had a gray wolf head engraved in the front of his chest, set against a midnight black field.  While he dealt out damage like it was nobody's business, Isaac preferred to play defensively, letting his opponents come to him, making him the perfect guardian.  One of his nimble fingered hands moved his medium length dark brown hair, which appeared to be almost black, out of his eyes and stared at the reunion in contemplation.  His skin was a paler shade then either of his friends, telling anyone that he didn't get much exposure to the sun.

"So... who's going to talk to her first?"  Scott hesitantly asked, as he turned around only to find Mike and Isaac smirking with their fingers slowly tapping their noses. "Oh,

real

mature guys."

"Says the perpetual hound dog." Mike retorted with a smirk thrown over his shoulder before he started after the legendary Commander Vivian Shepard.  "While you continue drooling, I'm going to see what the resident galactic hero has in mind. Come on Isaac." Isaac only nodded silently before he fell in step beside Mike, leaving Scott to catch up and stumble past them, managing to reach Shepard first.

"Um, hello ladies. Wow... you're really

her

." Scott said in awe, nervously greeting the woman after he ran ahead of his two friends to her small group. With the street pretty empty by this point, it had been easy to catch up.

"Commander Shepard, it's an honor." Isaac said with a small nod of admiration before falling silent again.

Mike subtly held out his hands to stop his friends short when he sensed Shepard tensing at their approach. He'd seen enough vids, both fictional and otherwise, to know that you didn't just run up to an Alliance marine without a damn good reason. It certainly didn't help that the young boy she was clearly protecting darted out of sight behind her yet again. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry for my friend's idiocy, he's always been the thick headed one."  Mike threw over his shoulder towards Scott before facing forward once more.  "But suffice it to say, we figured you'd take any help you could get ma'am."

"Val. Do you know these guys?" The asari only shook her head before Vivian's gaze fell on Scott's information. "Wait... N7FNG_WannaBe? What the hell kinda name is

that

?" Her emerald gaze narrowed to two fiery slits as she spotted an N7 decal on Scott's armor. "And why is

that

on your gear?"

Scott visibly paled as she glared at him while Mike sighed, having expected this to occur in the highly unlikely event ran into the real Shepard. Or any other real life ex or active special forces veteran for that matter. Isaac's expression and stance remained impassive, but Mike was fairly sure he was glaring holes into Scott's head as he fumbled for a response that wouldn't end with him getting gutted. "I um, ah... it seemed like a good idea at the time?"

"Commander, I believe we have more pressing concerns at the moment than my friend's tasteless fashion sense, wouldn't you agree?" Isaac questioned respectfully but firmly.

"He's got a point dad. We need to find Lenn and get ourselves moving, now." The young asari stated, earning a short glare from Vivian, but she nodded and started away. After walking a few steps she paused and glanced towards the faux N7, her own emerald eyes narrowing in annoyance. "As much as I agree with your quiet friend, I'm still going to say it before my father most likely says tells you with her boot in your ass. I'd remove that the first chance you get. You haven't done anything to deserve it, and you're dishonoring those that have." With that, she too walked away, leaving the trio breathing a collective sigh of relief.

"He looks dumb." Bradley offered with a confused hazel stare before darting back into cover.

"Hey you little brat, I'll have you know this is a perfect repli-" Scott jumped when a talon clacked on his armored shoulder.

Turning on his heel, he saw a gray eyed turian teenager staring back at him. "Wow, you must

really

have a death wish fatty."

"Hey! I'm not fat... I'm just big boned, and it's not like it's my fault the damn mirror items altered our avatars." An indignant Scott fired back.

"Right, says the ball of dough that is wearing an N7 he didn't earn, in the middle of a crisis no less. And as you just said, it only altered your avatar, not your armor, bosh'tet. I'd listen to my friend Val, and lose it, fast." Lenn's attention was turned to the front when Shepard called over her shoulder.

"Enough! All of you, get moving. This place is going to be a killing field when the sun does down." Shepard told them in her 'Commander' voice, which usually even managed to get Val to think twice about questioning her.

But today obviously wasn't an usual day. "Dad, relax, you can't PK someone in a safe zone, even if you accept a duel invite, remember?"

"I don't give a sh-crap about made up rules when the stakes are life and death. Besides, the GM could change those rules if he has a mind to. I'm not taking any chances having you two around thousands of scared, desperate people."

I've turned into Jack….today is just getting weirder by the second.

Shepard blanched at the thought, even if her self censoring was only for her new blonde towheaded 'sidekick'.

"Even so, some rules can't be broken, not in a game. And crazy as Kayaba is, I don't think he's that much of a megalomaniac. You didn't hear his introduction to the masses. He was rather kind about all this, in a detached, cold sort of way. Kinda reminded me of Aunt Miranda now that I think about it. But I won't argue the point because I agree with you, mostly." Val retorted as she crossed her arms and glared up at Vivian.

"You can't blame me for being cautious." Viv grumbled, but smirked down after returning her daughter's glare for several tense seconds during which Bradley's worried hazel gaze ping ponged rapidly back and forth between them.

"I suggest heading to one of the other, smaller beginner villages, one with less people, and spend the night in one of the hotels. It's impossible for players to get into a room without permission." Isaac, otherwise known as Dirhael in game, told them and began moving, apparently unconcerned.  "Besides, we can take out anything on the way, earning some experience and money."

"Oh sh-crap!" Everyone turned to stare at Scott as he nervously rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Where's all the scrap everybody keeps talking about, I don't see any..." Bradley asked as he put a finger against his chin and looked around.

"Um, nevermind about that. But it just occurred to me, what if say, I were to send you a duel invite when you're sleeping?" Mike stiffened, surprised by Scott's line of thought since if he was right, that meant they wouldn't want to be caught napping without someone standing guard.

"Brad, cover your ears. Now." Val sternly told the boy before her ‘father’ got the chance. The boy rapidly nodded and did as he was told, slamming his eyes shut as well, just to be safe.  The moment he did, the young asari opened her mouth.  "If I catch

any

of you cheating, I'll personally shove my size nine up your ass."  With that, Val gently nudged the boy on his shoulder to get his attention.  "Brad... Brad?  Okay, we're good."

"Anyone could potentially get you to accept the duel while you're out and kill you, no trouble. Spirits, that's not good." Lenn slapped a taloned hand over her face before giving Scott a grin. "Someone's smarter than they look."

"Scott and I had plans to go PVPing against other PKers, and 'pirate' criminal guilds every now and again. But with this becoming a life or death situation, that's obviously out." Mike explained before anyone could ask why Scott had thought of it in the first place.

Shepard gave the two of them a thoughtful glance, mildly surprised that they had planned to go for the same in game 'career choice' she had initially decided on.  Now, anyone stupid enough to attack a player in her presence was still going to find that out the hard way, and pay a far steeper cost.

"Unless you don't care about the possible consequences." Dirhael all but whispered in response, continuing their earlier line of thought. "If it

is

possible, then we'll need someone to stand guard should we ever find ourselves sleeping outside." Isaac concluded, clearly unsettled by the thought of being killed in his sleep.

"Only a coward would do that, but consider where we are. If today was any example, then we can expect a lot of trouble." Mike stated as he fell in line with Isaac.

"Or someone who really wants you dead." Isaac agreed with his friend. Already he was trying to think up ways to keep everyone in their little group safe, no matter what.

"Okay, that's it. I am officially never sleeping again." Scott concluded with a worried shake of his head.

"Unfortunately we don't have a choice.  This game is as lifelike as you can get.  Short of going to the bathroom, we still have to do everything else such as eating and sleeping, even showering."  Mike replied and ran a hand down his face.  "This just got complicated."

Val grinned and glanced up at her dad with a wink. "Can we keep them?" Wacking Bradley on the shoulder, she gently tugged a hand away from his ear. "You

can

listen now silly."

"Oh….sorry." Bradley blushed and nodded his head in reply as he lowered his hands to his sides.

"There's always strength in numbers." Viv mused aloud, before returning the wink as subtly as she could before rounding on the trio.  Mike gulped when he was the first to see the cold, stern look plastered on her face. "I'm going to say this once. Brad, ears now." Shepard said without even looking to see if the boy heard her. "If any of you try

anything

with Val or Lenn, I will personally rip your balls off and sell them to a krogan.  Brad!  You can stop now."

"We're not exactly helpless though.  Well, Val isn't anyway." Lenn replied as she fingered the daggers on her belt, as well as the bandolier of throwing daggers that ran down one shoulder and to the other side of her waist.  Val simply sighed and shook her head, even as her hand strayed to the shortsword on her back.

"If you are done threatening my friends over irrelevant things then perhaps we could get moving." Isaac suggested sharply with a glare at the group.

"Alright. I can deal with you at least kid." Vivian muttered with a smirk as Lenn started flicking through her item menu. "And our squad mascot here... someone please take his hands off his damn ears." Val giggled but nodded before reaching out to do just that for the second time that day.

"Alright, this is everything the NPC vendors had that I thought might be useful." With a flick of her talon, a small pile of items appeared on the ground in front of her. "It's not much, even with the money Val had after transferring her data from the beta test, but there should be some healing potions, crystals, and the like."

"Not bad Lenn." Val replied, before helping herself to a couple of the healing items before tossing a few teleport crystals towards their new allies while keeping one for herself, Lenn, Bradley, and her dad. "You know how to use those I hope?"

"Of course. Um, mind tossing me one of those bottles?"  Mike asked, pointing to the small pile of healing potions that Shepard and Lenn were rapidly dividing between themselves, while shoving a couple Brad's way.

"You get hurt, I

might

give you one."  Val shot back, grinning as she casually tossed another one to Bradley before picking up one of the beginner level +2 Def bronze bangles. "That should help a little." Shepard didn't ask before she took two of the simple accessory items, slipping one on Bradley's arm before equipping her own. "Equipment hog." Val snickered in response even as she nodded her approval at her dad's actions.

"Beta lover." Viv retorted, smirking when Val stuck out her tongue at her. "And don't try and deny it, you tore apart any game you got your hands on when you were still in diapers. And afterwards."

"Where do you think I got it from?" Val countered without missing a beat.

"Huh, never would have guessed you two were gamers." Mike mused, chuckling when they turned to look at him. "It's actually kinda nice that you have something in common. My folks always gave me weird looks anytime I brought up my hobbies."

"Ditto."  Scott muttered with a knowing frown.

"They also like to beat up butt kissers." Lenn offered with a smirk towards their young charge as she slipped the last bangle on her arm.

"So ah Commander S-, seriously?" A laughing Scott flinched as Shepard cast him another death glare. "Nevermind. Totally doesn't matter."

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Vivian asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Um, dad, you get a chance to glance at your player ID?" Val asked, her cheeks turning a shade darker when she read the name attached to her information card.

"I was busy trying to rescue you and Lenn." Shepard muttered as her eyes flicked to the top left of her HUD. "Oh you have got to be kiddin' me!

SexyCommander69

?! Dammit, Liara must have hacked into my beta account again." Mike had to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing at the revelation, but his quiet snickers were loud enough to earn a withering glare that had him turning white as a ghost. "Not so funny now is it

StarWanderer83

?"

"No ma'am, of course not ma'am." Mike replied in a hurry and raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"Christ I'd take the wannabe Conrad's name over this." Vivian said with a groan, shoving a thumb Scott's way.

"Hey! ... And I would be more than happy to ma'am, if I could." Scott quickly added before a thought suddenly struck him. "Idea! Could you please accept my trade request CommanderSe-hepard."

Shepard's eye twitched at the near miss, but nodded her head when the trade menu popped up.  She smirked when she saw what Scott was trying to give her. She returned the gesture as she sent him something in return.  "Thanks kid. You might just live after all." She replied as her new N7 replica armor began forming to her unique figure without needing any adjustments on her part. The same thing happened with Scott's, except when the light dimmed around the young man, it was revealed that she had sent her simple flat steel breastplate and leather undersuit to his inventory rather than an equip slot swap. Hence why he was now down to his brown leather boxer briefs.

"What the hell?!" Scott roared when he realized what she'd done to him before he rapidly equipped the simple armor she'd given to him. "That was seriously uncool!"

"I thought we agreed to leave the petty insults and threats behind us? If we cannot get along, then we shouldn't travel together, at all." Isaac said bluntly, making it clear he was tired of hearing his friends insulted and threatened the whole time.  That didn’t stop him from remarking on his friend’s choice of boxers though.  "Also, Hello Kitty underwear Scott, really?"

"Don't….start." Scott groaned, a vein visibly pulsing in his forehead, absolutely mortified as he snapped his gaze up to Dirhael's face and pointed a finger in his direction. "And they were plain boxer briefs you jerk!"

"That's not what it said on the back." Lenn muttered quietly to herself. "Cute butt though."

"Dirhael huh? I'm starting to see it's a good choice for you kid." Shepard stated, conveniently ignoring the smirking turian after falling silent for a few seconds. "Alright, I'll play nice from here on, so long as nobody... makes me grumpy." Shepard said, rapidly correcting her original thought yet again for Bradley's benefit.

"Finally." Val grumbled while Lenn only rolled her eyes but nodded in agreement. "Come on, if the map hasn't completely changed since beta, there should be a good hunting spot about a kilometer west of here. The next town over, Genesis, is only another two kilometers beyond that."

"You heard the little lady. Let's move." Shepard told them with a proud smirk as she followed her daughter out of the main city gate.

"That's our cue." Mike said, all business once more before he pulled up his menu. "Might as well make this official and party up. Ma'am, Val, Lenn was it? Mind accepting our invites?" A round of nods was all the response he got, but it was enough for him. A few seconds later saw their group go from three to seven. Bradley, much to their pleasant surprise, didn't need any help in navigating his own menus. "Alright, we'll be able to track each other's health a lot easier this way. The friend invites can wait until we've earned some trust."

"Right." Scott said with a nod, surreptitiously closing his friend invite window as he pulled out his shield and longsword. "Should be fairly safe right around town, but I've noticed a few stray wolves popping up here and there. Better safe than sorry right?"

Vivian glanced over her shoulder at the man, giving him a quick once over. "Huh. Looks like I

might

not have to beat some sense into you after all WannaBe."

"He has his moments." Isaac told her with a shrug.

"Not many though." Mike chimed in, chuckling before his hazel eyes fixated on the first of many enemies they'd have to kill if they wanted a chance later. "Speaking of moments, this one's mine!" With a roar, Mike charged, shield leading. Slamming it into the wolf's face as it lunged, he swung his sword down, piercing its chest. The beast disappeared in a deceptively beautiful flash of red pixels. "One down, twenty thousand to go." He quipped as he sheathed his sword with a flourish.

"Wiseass. Nice moves Wanderer." Shepard admitted as she unsheathed her straight sword, calmly glancing at the blade as she flicked it with her thumb, nodding in approval at the razor sharp edge. The subtle threat was received by the trio of guys but went over a grinning Bradley's head as they gulped once again. "So, what level is everyone at, and do yourselves a favor. Be honest. I'll know if you're lying."

"Three." Mike stated with a shrug. "I had some time to kill waiting on Scott the WannaBe." He jerked his head towards Scott before looking towards their new companions.

"Four. Got lucky and found a bunch of boars while I was looking for him." Scott said with a smug smirk when Mike shot him a dark look.

"Seven." Issac simply stated with a shrug.

"What the hell dude?! Seven?!" Scott asked incredulously.

Dirhael snapped his gaze up and glared, showing his first true hint of anger in the process. "If you knew when to pick your battles, you might not have gotten killed by that angry plant-thing we ran into. I had to finish it off while you recovered in town before this trap was sprung on us." It was the most Dirhael had said yet.

Shepard rapidly thought up a basic plan of attack, with a goal in mind of evening out the group as quickly as possible. "Okay, Dirhael hangs back and watches our backs for a bit. Wanderer, WannaBe, you two block for us while Val, Lenn and I go for a few quick kills. I'm only at two and I doubt they're any higher."

"Hey! I'm three... and a half." Val said defensively. "Beta testing kicked my butt alright?!"

"Since I only just started today, I'm only at one." Lenn grimaced down at her petite blue friend. "Hopefully that'll change soon though."

"Alright, let's just focus on getting everyone to ten right now. Then we should be able to take on the floor boss without any trouble." Shepard rolled her eyes when she noticed Val quirking her eye ridges. "What? Some people read the guide." Val's response was to stomp away, muttering a string of curses with every step.

Before Shepard could follow after her, she heard an annoying tapping on her armored leggings. "Um, what am I supposed to do?" Bradley asked, wide eyed at the thought of monsters that could very easily hurt him back now.

Still, Vivian glanced down at him with a proud grin, surprised he was getting over his earlier, near paralyzing fear so quickly. "Well...while the others are powering up, someone will always be at your side kiddo. We'll protect you until we know there's a safe place you can stay. Until then... how about a few pointers in live combat exercises?"

"Alright!" Bradley replied, smiling widely up at Vivian for her offer. "You won't regret it!"

Shepard chuckled warmly down at the young boy in response. "Just don't lose your cool and you'll be fine."

"And I thought Scott didn't like to lose." Mike observed with a grin when he directed his gaze towards the asari's back.

"I'm not a bad loser. I'm just averse to failure... and unnecessary risk." Scott muttered quietly.

Mike felt his eyebrows shoot up to his red hairline at the 'revelation'. He was fully aware of Scott's shortcomings, having met him and Isaac on another game. "So that's why you begged me for that easy kill in Gun Gale, you were

averse

to that hot blonde thinking you were a crappy shot."

"Mostly." Scott admitted with a huge grin.

"So no throwing knives for the geek, got it." Lenn muttered. "Wouldn't want you to lose an eye."

"You realize no one uses throwing weapons against regular monsters right?" Scott retorted as his right eye twitched.

"They just don't have my finesse." Lenn replied as she pulled a blade from her belt, the empty sheath immediately forming a new one, and casually flicked the small throwing blade towards a nearby wild boar.  The blue skinned beast immediately let out a pained squeal of surprise, falling to its side, dead before it hit the grass and exploding into red crystalline shards.  "Sliced and diced." Lenn stated, a smug gleam in her grey eyes as she sauntered away after claiming her spoils the moment the menu popped up in front of her, her throwing knife among the items listed.

"Sheesh." Scott did a double take, not quite believing his own eyes. "Alright, let me show you how to take out a mob with some style!" Charging towards a boar with his shield and longsword raised, Scott swung at the beast with a yell of triumph. The boar, completely unphased by his attack, idly moved out of the way at the last moment, sending him careening into the dirt when his blade SWOOSHED through empty air.

"Bradley, now pay attention. This is how an idiot fights, with no regard for his own safety." Val stated as Scott missed his target, only for a second boar to charge into his back right as the first brought its sharp tusks to bear on him. The asari slapped a hand over her face before pulling her own sword.  "

This

is how it's done." Scott was in no immediate danger since boars were the weakest enemy in SAO, and since they were hardly doing any damage to the idiot, Valara took her time as she closed the distance between them. "Take the time to analyze the area, make sure there's no one about to stab you in the back. Prepare your strike when you're within range, and

don't

hesitate. Hesitation can get you killed."

"Got it!" Bradley said with a nod as he studied his surroundings.

"A little help here might be nice!" Scott yelped as a boar stepped on his face before kicking him in the chest when he tried to sit up. "Ow. FYI, I think we can feel pain from mob attacks now, just sayin'."

"I can't believe I willingly associate with him." Mike grumbled and blew out an exasperated breath. "You're embarrassing us Scott!"

"I wouldn't be so quick to degrade him." Isaac softly stated, sensing an ulterior motive behind Scott's antics as he theatrically began to moan and roll on the grassy hill. From the way he kept glancing to see if Bradley had jumped in, he was obviously trying to help the boy get over his fear with a little self deprecating humor.

Valara had since closed the distance by this point. Before any of them could blink, one boar had been cut in half before Val took a running leap and jumped down on the second animal's back. The short sword pierced clean through, moments after the asari had jumped clear of the dead animal, stopping less than an inch from Scott's chest plate.

"What the?! What was that?!" Scott yelped, checking the front of his armor to make sure her strikes hadn't pierced it or him by extension.

"To put it in gamer lingo, I 'rolled' an assassin class. I know SAO doesn't have classes, but it's what I chose to build my character around. Single powerful, devastating attacks, built to capitalize on my enemy's weaknesses before they even know I'm there." Val explained as she sheathed her blade just as quickly as she had struck.

"So you hit and run." Dirhael stated, and received a nod from the asari. "It's not a bad way to fight, especially in this game now."

"Only if I have room to move, but yes." Valara replied as she dusted herself off. The few specks of dirt that had found its way on her light leathers, a metal pauldron on her right shoulder, disappeared when she brushed it off. "I know it's a risky way to go, but it pays off well when it works."

"It's when it

doesn't

work that I worry." Shepard muttered before looking towards the distant sun. Created by the game's powerful graphics engines as it might be, it was still a beautiful sight, but it was just another reminder of the gilded cage they found themselves in now. "After all, sometimes your attacks can fail if you don't carry it out perfectly, especially with the higher end ones." Val raised a mildly surprised eye ridge, considering that her father was more of a dive in and play sort of gamer. "What? So maybe I read the guide cover to cover before we got accepted into the beta."

Because I wanted to impress you... and be able to kick your ass at your own game. So much for the latter idea.

Shepard quietly admitted to herself.

Val, to her surprise, only smiled up at her before saying. "Then it's a good thing I have you here dad. You trained with Thane, one of the galaxy's most deadly assassins. I figure something must have stuck in the time you… knew him." She trailed off, immediately regretting her choice of words.

But Shepard merely waved her off, having gotten over the loss long ago. "He was a good man, even if I was still madly in love with Liara when I met him. He'd have loved you kid. As for anything I might have picked up from him, well, I might be able to dredge something up that might work here. We'll have to wait and see."

"Um, anyone mind if I take the next-" When Val and Lenn glared at Scott with equal intensity, Scott held up his hands and backed away slowly. "I'll just uh...wait over here." With that, he quickly retreated behind Mike's large intimidating figure, as if he'd protect him from the combined wrath of Shepard and her blue Mini Shep.

Bradley couldn't contain his laughter any longer and pointed at Scott for good measure. "Bwahahaha! I'm braver than he is and I'm twelve!"

"

Right

. Who was it that had to carry you kicking and screaming again?" Vivian asked, smirking widely as Brad blushed and looked away. The fact he had been a snot nosed, crying mess when they had ran into each other she kept to herself. After all, even she wasn't quite that ruthless. "Alright, we're burning digital daylight. Brad, if you're determined to fight, you better get some practice in now. After we leave here we aren't coming back in a hurry."

"Yes ma'am!" Even as he bravely stepped forward, a small mace attached to his hip which he slowly drew from his belt, Bradley did his best not to let his knees knock together.

He'd done this a hundred times before the GM had made his intentions known. He knew how the game worked, how to fight, yet even Bradley understood just how drastically the game had changed now. To put it simply, it wasn't a game any longer. SAO was, for all intents and purposes, their new reality until they could find a way to escape it, from within or without.

Bradley about jumped when Val put a hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly down at him. "Don't be afraid. We're right here with you Bradley, and we won't leave you behind. That's not how my dad works, and it's sure as Hell isn't how I work either."

Peeking his head out from behind Mike's back, Scott jumped out and proudly pointed at his armored chest for emphasis. "Don't sweat it Brad, we got your back. If your health bar so much as twitches we'll gang stomp the mob. Right guys?" Scott asked, glancing towards the group and getting nods from everyone. "See? No worries buddy. Now turn one of those hogs into a shiksha boar!"

"Scott and his lame puns strike again." Mike muttered, but smirked despite his exasperation at his friend's usual behavior. It was one of his more endearing qualities, even if it annoyed him to no end at times. "At least it wasn't a bangers and mash joke. You trying to impress those girls from London when we were still on Gun Gale was like watching a mag lev wreck."

"Indeed." Isaac quipped, as all three guys grinned, apparently sharing an inside joke.

"I think I've already died and gone to this Earth plane of eternal suffering and torment." Lenn dryly stated as she glared at the trio.

Vivian knelt next to the boy when she saw him hesitate, and wasn't all that surprised. Honestly, she would have been more shocked if he hadn't. "Ignore them. Focus on your enemy, nothing else." Shepard sternly ordered, as sternly as she could with a twelve year old at least. "Distraction can get you into serious trouble." This she directed at Mike, Scott, and Isaac, but Bradley still nodded his head so rapidly she was afraid it'd pop right off his neck.

"Right. No distractions." Bradley repeated and took a steadying breath.

"Be the boar little dude." Scott offered before getting Lenn's armored elbow slammed into his ribs. Isaac merely watched silently, saying nothing, and appearing for all intents and purposes to be an unmoving statue.

When the boar took notice of the youth once he stepped forward, Bradley glanced at the mace in his hand. It was nothing more than a small spiked metal ball attached to a simple wooden shaft, barely half his total height, but it had seen him through thus far. It'd serve well enough for a while longer, and most important of all, he wasn't alone. "I can do this."

Lenn slapped her talons over Scott's mouth before he could give anymore 'helpful' advice when she saw Brad start getting into 'the zone'. "Come on kid." The turian whispered as a familiar red glow surrounded the spiked head on his mace as the boar started to charge towards him.

Taking a calming breath, Bradley ran towards the beast and swung for its large head, easily connecting, and a moment later the stunned boar slumped over and shattered, causing the usual spectacular light show. "Haha! Yes! I

can

still do it!"

"Good job kid." Shepard told him with an approving grin as she playfully ruffled his hair. "First one will be the hardest for everyone, but now it will get easier for you... wait, what the heck?" Shepard's emerald eyes narrowed in confusion and frustration when the reward screen popped up. Other than the boar meat he'd claimed as the loot prize for the last, and only, strike and a little bit of money, Bradley's experience and skill stat on his blunt weapon hadn't gone up at all. Which meant either his character was bugged out, or he was too strong for the area they were currently in. "Um...what's going on kid?"

"Oh….uh….I was one of the lucky hundred thousand players who beta tested." Bradley admitted, his cheeks bright red as he rubbed at the back of his neck and grinned up at the group. "I forgot I had brought my data from the test into the game."

"That's why you know your way around so well. Huh, not bad squirt." Val said with a laugh before a thought suddenly dawned her. "Wait... what level are you Brad?"

"Uh...fourteen?" He all but whispered as he pushed his fingers together and pulled them apart nervously.

"Four-fourteen?!" Val stuttered and blinked in utter shock. An expression mirrored on every face but Vivian's, and even she was doing an internal double take of the young boy.

"I broke my leg during soccer practice so I was in the hospital for most of the beta test. I had...a lot of time on my hands." The blonde boy elaborated and chuckled in embarrassment at the memory in question.

"I'll say." Mike muttered, his tone just ever so slightly jealous, despite the huge grin on his face.

"I didn't get farther than the third floor though. I

could

have gotten to four, but I didn't want to leave my friends behind." Bradley sheepishly admitted, sounding as if he expected Shepard to be disappointed in him.

She surprised the boy by giving him an approving nod instead. "A good marine in the making. You'll go far if you keep up that attitude Bradley. A good soldier doesn't leave their friends behind. And as you seem to know the most about the terrain around here... you're my first scout."

"I won't let you down Commander!" Bradley replied, and saluted smartly.

"I have a feeling you won't." Shepard chuckled and ruffled his hair again.

Scott lightly punched the boy in the shoulder and grinned down at him. "Congratulations kid. That's pretty high praise coming from the Lioness of Elysium, among other things."

"I ought to be jealous, but I think I'll let this one slide Boy Scout Brad." Valara quipped, a lopsided grin on her blue face as she gently whacked the back of Brad's head and rested a hand on her sword's hilt. "Or not." She quipped as he glared at her and desperately tried to get his already ruffled hair under control.

"Valara Alexandra Shepard-T'soni. Let's not have a repeat of the Mr. Rippers incident." Shepard mused, fondly remembering what had happened when a young quarian boy had taken Val's favorite plush varren toy, a treasured gift from her Uncle Wrex, away from her in kindergarten.

First in her class to Throw someone across the room, that's my girl. Ah, memories.

"Frel'Reegar Vas Grabby Hands had it coming! At least I didn't destroy him like Aunt Jack suggested when she heard about it later." Val protested in her defense.

"Right, because that ratty old varren toy wasn't already falling apart. Oh wait, it was." Lenn quipped and chuckled dryly when the asari glared at her next. "Personally I'm surprised it survived for as long as it did. And that you still have it under your bed." Valara choked on whatever she was about to say and quickly spun on her heel. "Thank you for proving my point Val."

"Bite me Lenn." She managed to spit out, completely and utterly mortified now.

"I already told you, asari are too salty for my taste. But if you insist... " Lenn leaned towards the petite asari, pretending to chomp down on her, and making a disgusted face the moment she did. "Blaah! Spirits that's salty." Her little show was soon rewarded with boisterous laughter from Bradley, quiet chuckles from the guys, and a discrete narrowing of Vivian's emerald eyes.

Depends on what you're biting….

Vivian chose to keep that to herself and loudly cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention at once. "Moving on….before I hurt someone. Bradley, you're up front with me. Isaac, Mike, bring up the rear. Everyone else keep to our sides and try not to get separated."

"You heard the Commander. Hmm... do you need a Gunnery Chi... no that won't work... I don't suppose you have an opening for a Major?" Val asked with a sarcastic smirk.

"Very funny. Second Lieutenant, take it or leave it." Shepard sternly offered, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Normally this is where I'd make a joke about where the first lieutenant went missing, never to be seen again, but I'll shut up….this time." Val muttered, not about to be busted down to a private with her dad in charge of their little group. She'd never let Val near a battle site if she continued to press her luck.

"Lance Corporal Vakarian, I expect you to help Val keep everyone in line." Shepard intoned, to which the turian only nodded in gratitude.

Scott seemed giddy at the thought of getting his own rank as they strolled along the countryside. "Oh, oh! Can I be-"

Shepard cut him off with a wave of her arm. "Private WannaBe, stop jumping up and down like an idiot, you'll expose us to the enemy."

"Spawn points….you can't expose yourself to monsters unless you blunder into their spawn points." Bradley clarified, and immediately slammed a hand over his mouth when he realized too late he'd likely just spoken out of turn.

But Shepard merely chuckled and waved her hand. "And this is why you're at the front of the line kid."

"So, what's floor three like?" Mike asked as he kept an eye out for more than monsters. Other players were what concerned him more than anything, especially if any desperate parties came their way, expecting an easy fight.

Shepard held up a hand before Bradley could answer him. "That's, what's floor three like

sir

, PFC Wanderer. Unless of course you'd like to decline, Corporal..." Vivian stared at an awestruck Bradley, just about to give him a nudge when his brain finally started working again.

"Corporal Bradley Darnell, Commander ma'am!" Brad proudly declared, and even threw a not quite perfect salute towards Vivian for good measure once he caught up with her line of thought.

"Better get used to it.  She ran a guild much the same way back in Galaxy of Fantasy."  Val chuckled even as her emerald eyes fell on another pack of wolves off in the distance.  Someone else was in the process of taking them down though, a young man in blue and black clothes, a mop of black hair atop his head, carrying a single steel sword in his hands.

He's good. I can barely track his movements from here.

No sooner had the thought flicked through her mind did the swordsman run through the last wolf before continuing on his own course.  A flash of gray eyes when he turned to regard them was the last she saw of him as he darted away, a black blur against the grassy hill,

"Right, sorry ma'am. Wow! That guy's really good!" Solo players were rare in SAO, according to the few forums Scott had glanced at, so seeing one able to clearly handle himself was not something he had expected.

"Should we steer clear or see if he'd like to join us? Couldn't hurt to be careful though." Lenn asked, respecting the higher rank Shepard had bestowed on her by offering advice.

"I don't think we should approach." Isaac said, drawing all eyes towards him.  "If he doesn't have a group already, then he might not want one.  He might be a soloist for a reason, and we should respect that.  Besides, it's pretty clear he knows what he's doing."  Lenn only nodded in agreement, having come to a similar conclusion from what she'd seen for herself.

"Alright PFC Dirh-" Shepard didn't get a chance to finish before Scott loudly interrupted her.

"Oh come on! Why am I the only Pr-ofusely one glad to be serving under your command ma'am..." Scott lamely finished as he wilted under her searing emerald glare.

"God I hate fanboys." Shepard muttered to herself, shaking her head before continuing. "We'll avoid other players for the time being, just until we establish a firm foothold and a secure HQ."

"A guild hall will cost a lot of money, but if we're careful we can scrounge it up by doing quests and taking down monsters, maybe even the occasional odd job from other players later down the line." Val explained.

"Um...as for floor three, I think you know this already Commander, but each floor of Aincrad is the size of a small moon.  Each one isn't strictly desert or jungle or snow or plains type regions.  Almost every floor has a completely different environment, some are even entirely 'artificial' structures, such as labyrinthine metropolises long forgotten by their 'in-game' creators."  Bradley chimed in, surprising Val for the second time in as many minutes.

"He's right."  Dirhael agreed with a subtle nod.  "The game information posted by the beta testers suggested as much.  But the beta test data might not be the same as the final product we're standing in now Commander."

"So expect anything and everything.  Got it."  With a nod, Shepard gestured for them to get moving.  "Well, forward unto dawn then folks."

"Quoting Auntie Ashley again dad?"  Val asked, already knowing the answer to her question as they continued to press forward, deeper into the rolling hills and empty grasslands before them.

"Bad habit I picked up from hanging around her for so long."  Shepard replied, and sighed, already missing her Gunnery Chief, her bondmate, and everyone else they had left behind.

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers."  Scott solemnly quoted with something other than a grin or a smirk on his face for once.  "Oh right, sir... err ma'am, Commander."

"All three work Private, pick one.  And

maybe

don't quote the more depressing stuff. I don't plan to go out like Saint Crispin."  Shepard retorted, a little surprised and impressed the village idiot knew the quote at all.

"Yes err….Commander."

"Good answer Private."

"Ma'am." Isaac pointed ahead, where another group of dark blue wolves had just appeared in front of their chosen path. "Attack?"

"Attack." Shepard agreed as she pulled her sword for the second time that day. "Watch each other's backs and try not to get chewed up."

"And

don't

pull the whole pack towards yourself. That's the best way to end up as kibble." Val explained as she followed her dad's example with a nod which Vivian returned with a mildly worried but proud nod of her own. "Ready Bradley?"

"Yes ma'am, thanks to you and the Commander." Bradley replied as he pulled his little mace from his belt.

"Good, keep an eye on Scott then. Wouldn't want him to hurt himself again."

Scott only grumbled to himself quietly this time, quickly getting the jist of being on the bottom of the chain of command.  "Permission to cover your um... dammit..."  He trailed off, uncertain as to the word he was looking for.

"Flank?  Permission granted.  And prepare to be drilled on military tactics to within an inch of your life Private."  Shepard said with a sigh before she slashed at the first wolf that made the mistake of coming within reach of her blade.

"She's being completely serious."  Lenn stated, two throwing knives leaving her taloned hands in the space it took her to finish her statement.  Two wolves met a similar fate as the first, both blades finding new homes between their eyes.  "Of course, that's to be expected when you're an N7 badass, a Council Spectre, and a galactic hero, in that order."

"She does have quite the impressive resume Lenn, but she's still as human as the rest of us."  Mike intoned and brought his shield up and slammed it into another wolf's stomach when it lunged at him.  Flipping it over his body, he brought his sword down into the center of its stomach before spinning to face a second.

"Actually, according to her biography written by Dr. T'so-" Scott never got a chance to finish correcting Mike, using his overly extensive knowledge regarding her Lazarus Project upgrades.

"Heads up Scott." Shepard stated and casually sidestepped the wolf that had leaped at her, sending its snarling jaws heading right for his neck.

Scott, much to her pleasant surprise, cocked back his shield arm without a second thought and bashed the wolf in the face before plunging his sword into its exposed back. "Oh yeah!  Nice try Commander, but I was holding back earlier."

"I figured as much.  No one is that useless. Well, maybe Conrad, and even he managed to 'save' my life." Shepard spun around just as Bradley swung his mace, catching a wolf in the side of the neck when it charged at her. She smirked and cocked her hip to the side at the smug look on the blonde boy's face. "Don't get cocky kid."

"Don't get distracted then ma'am." Bradley playfully shot right back. "I remember someone telling me that was important."

"I think we're going to get along great kiddo." Val replied as she laughed and kicked a wolf full in the face before driving her blade into the side of its neck.

Dirhael only smirked and shook his head before narrowing his gaze when he sensed rather than saw another of the pack behind him. He didn't bother to turn around, and simply put his blade at his back and let the wolf slice itself in half when it jumped at him. "Foolish animal should have known better."

"Damn!" Val exclaimed with a massive grin. "I didn't even know mob object detection worked like that in SAO."

"It's all in the name El-Tee. Sword Art. Every martial discipline, every move you can pull off in reality, plus many you can't, are allowed so long as you have the skill. Also, when I was by myself for a short time, a monster leapt at me and my only option was to put my blade in its path."

"Figured it out the hard way huh? I can relate." Vivian said with a shrug before she started to scan their surroundings for any more hostiles.

"Can I try that?!" Bradley asked, beaming at the thought of one shotting a monster by just standing his ground.

"No!" Everyone exclaimed loudly.

"Awwww….fine. Still, we did awesome!" Bradley replied and jumped in the air in excitement when the loot and experience window popped up in front of each of them.

"Joy.  Do we want wolf meat, more wolf meat or... oh look, wolf pelt. This could be useful." Mike said, his hazel eyes shining with interest as he swept his finger down the list before deactivating his inventory box.  When Vivian glared at Mike for some unknown reason, he immediately cringed. "Was it something I said Commander?"

"Nevermind.  Where's this famous hunting spot of your's Val, and why exactly wasn't I invited in the beta?"

"Because you'd have hogged all the good stuff, cough,

loot whore

, cough, ma'am." Val replied without missing a beat and shooting her dad a grin over her pauldron covered shoulder. "As for its location, it's just over this hill."  She pointed towards the distant hill that had a large tree in its center. "The enemies here are your typical goblins in any other fantasy game. Meaning they're able to use crude weapons and tactics to defend themselves. And they are

really

annoying."

"That's

Commander

loot whore. And what makes them so annoying? Are they dangerous? Hard to kill?"

"They attack in groups, but beyond that no. But they do like to mouth off like some idiot I know." Val flicked her eyes towards a quietly grumbling Scott.

"Need me to throw you into a nice cool stream for that burn Scott?" Mike asked and slapped a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Nope, I'm imagining her naked, it makes up for it." Scott whispered back, only to choke back a yelp of fear when Shepard's gaze jerked towards him.

"You know, if I didn't need a decent punching bag, I'd happily throw you to the goblins and let them carve you up for that comment

Private

. Take point."

"Ma'am yes ma'am!" Scott shouted, happy to put some distance between himself and a very pissed off looking retired Spectre as he dashed up the hill.

"Should we tell him you've been dropping points into your listening skill this whole time?" Val asked once Scott was out of earshot, much to Lenn's amusement and her father's silent enjoyment.

"No, let him think my enhanced abilities from the Lazarus Project bled over into the game. Since he's a fanboy, I'm pretty sure he's got my entire history and autobiography memorized from front to back."

"You are just cruel Commander. I like it."  Lenn mused aloud.

"Your father didn't, especially when I'd reset his calibrations everytime he turned around and then went back to looking innocent.  Up until your mom hacked the controls and made it impossible for me to do it any more."

"Yep, that sounds about right from what I've been told by my folks." Lenn chuckled before starting forward, just as Scott activated the spawn point for the aforementioned goblins the moment he got close enough to the hill and its lone tree.  "Looks like we're in business again."

"Gah! Sith goblins!" Scott yelled in terror as a horde of yellow eyed, pale skinned ugly little creatures that barely reached his waist appeared all around him.  As promised, they wore crudely fashioned leather animal hides as armor, and wielded equally simple wooden and stone weapons. "Ugh, and they smell horrible!"  Scott groaned and waved a hand over his nose when the wind blew in his face, carrying their stench along with it.  "Dude, seriously, I have two words for you.  Irish Spring."

"Stupid human die now!" One shouted while another growled out, "Demon! Stab, kill demon!"

"Not this stupid human!" Scott yelled back, standing his ground despite being surrounded.  Blocking a clumsy strike with his shield, he lashed out with the point of his sword, burying it deep into a particularly daring goblin's chest.  Before it had even exploded in a shower of pixels, he had already swung his shield to block another hit, constantly adjusting his footing so he didn't end up tripping over his own boots, or getting stabbed in the back.

"Little help might be nice! ... Anytime now guys!"  Two daggers soon found their marks on either side of Scott, evening the odds in his favor just as Valara appeared at his side, another goblin dead before it hit the ground. "Oh hey, glad you could make it."

"We can't let perfectly good eye candy go to waste now can we?"  Val quipped as she bashed one goblin in the face and quickly ran up its body as it stumbled back.  Using it as a springboard, she buried her blade deep into a second goblin's skull just as Shepard charged in, finishing off her makeshift ramp before it had a chance to strike at her back.

"I don't think she was talking about you Scott." Lenn said as she flipped a dagger between her talons before slamming her hand down on another monster's head.  The blade stuck between its eyes, and the turian simply flicked it on its nose, sending it falling backward where it shattered.  "Dead on his feet.  Poor bastard."

Issac calmly watched, keeping an eye out for other mobs or players, as well as staying close to Bradley in case he got in over his head.  Judging by the frequent multi color explosions going on around him, he seemed to be handling himself just fine for the moment.

Smart kid to have used his time so wisely while he was immobile.

Dirhael mused just as a straggler ran at him, a stone club raised high over its yellow eyed head.  He swung his sword's tip up just as it was within reach, the goblin realizing too late he didn't have time to adjust his path before it impaled himself at neck height.  "Blind arrogance can be just as deadly as any blade."

"Stupid human talk too m-" The goblin promptly exploded before he could finish his retort.

"Clan murderersss! Foul humansss, turiiian and asssariii!" A high pitched, shrill voice called out when the last goblin fell.

"Brad, Val, talk to me, what's coming?"  Vivian demanded, frantically looking around for the source of this latest enemy.

"I don't know, this is something new!"  Bradley shouted back, and Val could only shake her head since she had no idea either.

"My best guess is that it's a mini mob boss." Val stated as she put her back against her father's, her blade upraised as she too searched the area for the threat.

SAO Luminous Sword OST

"In the tree!"  Lenn shouted, and jumped backward just as a shadow descended upon her.  She groaned and was blasted away when a club sized tree branch slammed into her stomach while in mid flight, sending the turian flying down the hill only to fall fringe over heels until she laid still on her back. "Ow… that… actually hurt." Lennoria grunted out, one taloned hand on her stomach as she slowly started to sit up, one eye closed while the other twitched in clear pain. "My HP is down, but I should be- Oh Spirits." Before she could even stand, she saw a huge leather clad she-goblin with a crown of twigs upon her head, leaping towards her with its massive club, ready to deliver the deathblow.  For the briefest of moments, Lenn was frozen in terror as the giant beast brought its club down.

Only for the weapon to be halted when a shield blocked its path.  "Get away from her you bitch!"  Scott roared as sparks flew from the powerful impact.  He hardly felt the numbing vibrations as they raced down his arm from the attack, his sword flaring to life as he swung at the goblin queen, slicing into her shoulder.  A red grid like slash appeared, signifying the hit as 'flesh' gave way under the withering attack, forcing the goblin queen back in the process.  Scott didn't give it time to recover, enraged at the creature's willingness to hit one of their party while she was down as he bashed the queen in the face with his shield.  "Eat this!"

With a primal snarl of rage, the massive club was brought to bear yet again, slamming into Scott's shield like a giant baseball bat. While it interrupted his attack, it didn't slow him down much, but it was enough of an opening to allow the queen to bring her free hand to bear. Said hand was curled up into a large, boulder sized fist which was already on a path for Scott's face.

It slammed into him like a freight train, dropping his HP by more than three quarters instantly as he landed on top of a groaning Lenn. "Is it….normal to have a splitting headache like this?" He asked, in a daze as he struggled to block another blow to Lenn's body with his shield.

"Leave my friends alone!" Bradley shouted as he repeatedly slammed his small mace into the back of the creature's right leg, proving to be a decent distraction and doing a large amount of damage in the process.  When the goblin's leg buckled under the assault, Lenn crawled her way out from under Scott and got out of harm's way, but not before tugging a semi conscious Scott out of danger as well.

"Val! Think you can do that springboard thing again?!"  Shepard asked, already pointing to Mike as he planted his shield into the ground, slanting it so Val could run up and jump off while Vivian and Isaac charged in to distract the goblin queen.

"On it!"  Val shouted, only waiting a split second for Mike's nod as he slammed his pointed shield deep into the dirt, bracing it with his body.

Without a second to lose, the asari took off, leaving a cloud of dust and tore up grass in her wake.  Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as she closed the distance between them, her emerald eyes fixated on the target in front of her.

Let's hope my Acrobatics holds up to this jump.

It was the highest she had tried to jump yet, but she didn't give herself time to think about it further as her leather boots touched metal.  Reaching the edge a split second later, she pushed off with everything she had, Mike letting out a grunt of effort as he put his strength to the test in holding the shield steady.

Pulling her sword, Val gripped it tight in both hands as she raised it above her head just as the goblin queen backhanded Vivian into the tree.  She didn't have time to yell out for her father as Shepard groaned and fell to her hands and knees in front of the monster with Issac rushing to her defence.  Just as the goblin queen slapped Isaac aside with her club, his sword lodged in her chest, Val crashed down on the giant goblin's back, her blade finding its mark at the base of her wrinkled, liver spotted neck.  Val twisted the blade for good measure with a snarl of rage, forcing the queen to jerk upright and stand stiff as a board before it slowly started to fall forward. Rolling off of the creature when it came crashing down, Val spun on her heel, fast as greased lightning, and buried her sword between the creature's eyes out of spite.  It was overkill, but Val was beyond caring, repeatedly stabbing her glowing blade into its hide, only stopping when it exploded in a massive wave of pixels as she crashed to the ground, along with Isaac's sword.

"Everyone alright?  Did everyone make it?! Sound off now dammit!" Vivian called out, one hand against her chest as she struggled to her feet with Isaac's help.  Catching sight of the cold, murderous fury in her daughter's eyes, Shepard shivered as she recalled a similar look in Liara's gaze after she came back from the dead and found her on Illium.

Can't say I blame her though, not after that near miss.

"We're fine Commander." Lenn shouted as she and Scott stumbled up the hill.

"I'm okay." Bradley managed to choke out in between wiping tears off his face.

"I'm still here dad." Val replied, relief washing over her as she saw each of them regroup on the hill.

"Medic! I need medi-gel!" Lenn frantically called out as her gray eyes darted to Scott's HP bar. Her free talon darted all over her armor, trying to find the vial of medi-gel she always kept on hand, only to remember that she didn't have it, not in this virtual death game anyway. So instead she resorted to yelling at the young man in her arms, her gray eyes narrowing in her fury. "Stupid bosh'tet, what were you thinking?!"

"Save the beautiful, spiky girl?" He replied weakly, smiling despite the fact he could barely see at that moment through the red haze clouding his vision.

"Here!"  Val instantly had a healing potion in her hand, which she immediately opened, shoving the open bottle neck into Scott's mouth and upending its contents down his throat. Ignoring his choked gasps, the asari breathed easier when his bar started to rise immediately, going from red to a less terrifying shade of orange, then yellow, before finally stopping on a healthy light green as it slowly continued to fill. "There, that should do it."

"Blegh!  You didn't have to waste that you know." Scott said with a grateful smile. "HP regens over time.  Maybe we should invest in some battle HP boosters Commander, just a thought."

"Just shut up and rest for a minute."  Lenn firmly told him as she gently lowered him to the ground, propping him up in front of her and thunking his head against her armored leggings when he tried to get up.

"Oh, okay."  After a moment he grinned up at the turian girl cradling his head.  "You know, I could get used to this, beautiful."

Lenn let out a growl of disgust, tossing him off her lap and face down into the grass.  "Yup, he's fine."

End Notes; Vergil1989 and Archer83;

Well, that ended on a near disastrous low note, wouldn't you say?  But we're not quite cruel enough to kill off a character in the second chapter. Maybe the fourth or fifth though, I'm nice like that. That was a joke... or was it? At any rate, I hope you folks have enjoyed the story thus far, and I'm curious. I'm wondering if anyone can guess which of the three guys, Mike, Scott, and Issac are our respective characters? Yup, that's right Sword fans, we've decided to make this into a partial SI, sort of a game within a game if you will. Hopefully the new twists and turns we have planned will provide you with a great reading experience. Those of you here just for the epic battles won't be disappointed either hopefully. Anyway, until next time guys and gals, Beaters and cheaters. See ya!

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 3: Team Building

Town of Genesis, Floor 1

November 8th, 2216
"Cheap roach motels, even in a virtual game. Can someone say serious cheapskate?" Val asked as she sat up in the double, very uncomfortable threadbare bed she had all but collapsed in last night. Despite their best efforts, they had barely crossed level eight collectively before she, Lenn, and the rest of the lower leveled among their group had been utterly drained. Only Bradley had come out ahead as a whole, and he too had been dead on his feet by the time they headed back to town. As such, they hadn't argued about the sleeping accommodations when they had made their way to town later that night. Rubbing at a sore spot on her back, the asari glared across the room where Vivian only smirked. Gently poking at a snoring Lenn next to her, Val yelped in surprise when the groggy turian rolled over on her."Don't have school today mom, lemme alone." Lenn moaned, batted away the asari's blue finger, and rolled away in the next instant."Certainly better than sleeping in separate rooms, having to pay for each of them. That money can be used to buy better equipment, healing and teleport crystals, the works." Shepard replied and stood to her feet. Stretching her arms over her head, Vivian nodded to the turian who had since curled up into a ball on Val's side of the bed. "Want a little help with sleeping beauty?""I got this." Leaning closer to the mumbling girl before pinning her to the bed, Val softly whispered in her ear. "Take me Lenn, take me hard." And smirked when Lenn's gray eyes snapped open a moment later, before she nearly jumped out of bed with a cry of surprise when she saw that mischievous emerald gaze locked on her's. "Good morning sleepy head.""What the?! Spirits Val what was that about?!" Lennoria growled loudly as she pointed one of her talons in the asari's face."What? Got you up didn't I? I don't see what the big deal is." Val replied, smiling innocently in response."Wa, wha's happenin'?" Scott mumbled from a very uncomfortable looking chair, with a ratty blanket thrown over him."I could have sworn I heard- nevermind, just be grateful I didn't pull out a dagger on you Val." Lenn grumbled before shrugging back into her armor, she and the rest of the group having changed to far more comfortable 'civilian clothes' before they turned in for the night."I almost forgot that you're not a morning person." Val quipped as she got up and grabbed her own armor from her inventory screen. "Mike, throw something at Scott, he's drooling.""I dont think that something that drastic will be necessary to get him up, but I agree, we have many things to discuss." Isaac told Shepard and made his way to the small breakfast table.Mike casually tossed the piece of the wall he had picked over his shoulder instead of chugging it at Scott. "Take all the fun out of it Isaac." He quipped before going over to the chair where their friend was still sprawled out on. "Hey, dickweed. Wake up already, we got stuff to do." Kicking Scott on the knee, Mike thought better of pushing his chair over and simply shook him. "Hello in there! Yo Scott!""I'm up, I'm up! Christ, can't a guy sleep in?!" Scott muttered to himself as he threw off his ratty blanket and equipped his armor."Not when we have Shepard in our group." Mike replied with a shrug before walking away to get the rest of his stuff together. "We're kinda hoping to make a good impression after all.""Don't worry. I set my standards pretty low with FNGs so I'm never disappointed." Shepard stated, making Mike freeze and stumble on the spot. "That's on day one. On the second day... I like to put them through their paces, see where their breaking point is both mentally and physically.""Didn't we do that yesterday?" Mike asked as he turned to Bradley, who was still sleeping peacefully, sprawled out in his own bed. "I was fairly sure we were going to get ganked by those kobold freaks before we finally quit for the night. Your new sidekick's the only one that came out with most of his face still intact.""It probably helps he's the strongest of us." Lenn grumbled playfully before she reached out and gently poked the sleeping blonde boy in question. "Wakey wakey kid." The turian only chuckled when Brad batted away her finger and turned on his side."Oh you poor dumb little human. Yesterday was her being nice." Val informed him as she reached up and gave Mike a pat on the head."Perhaps, but the fact remains that we got lucky." Isaac replied to Val's sarcasm laden comment. "Your mother is a hero true, but here that means little. This whole game is level and skill based, if the enemy's level is too high, then it won't matter how good you are.""Right, because being able to actually fight has nothing to do with our success." Lenn countered. "You have to earn the levels in question, and to do that you have to actually go out and fight." Firmly nudging Bradley with one of her talons this time, the turian winced when he rolled right off the bed with a heavy thump. "Oops.""Ow. Huh? Oh good morning." Bradley yawned and stretched before looking around sleepily. "Is it time to get moving already?"Gracing Bradley with a kind smirk, Isaac continued his polite debate with Lenn. "I am not disputing that, but you must admit that we got lucky yesterday. Two of us almost died, in our second skirmish no less, I wouldn't call that a satisfactory result.""He's right." Shepard agreed as she stood and headed for the door. "We need to be better prepared for whatever we run into today.""I think we should try to put as much distance between us and the Town of New Beginnings as we can. The other players will soon arrive here, the best we can do to stay ahead of them is head for outlying towns and outposts." Mike decided to add his own two cents.Scott nodded in agreement as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes, thinking that whoever programmed blurry morning vision into SAO should have been shot. "Yeah. I figure most folks are going to gather together in New Beginnings. Strength in numbers and all that. But you get too many people packed in too small a place, bad sh-tuff is bound to happen sooner or later.""We're already on the edge of the known territory, you want us to go further out?" Lenn asked, and wasn't all that surprised when most of the group nodded their heads in agreement. "Alright, but if we get killed, I'm coming back as a spirit to haunt all of you.""Sure, you do that, as long as you're a sexy spirit. You can 'haunt' me all night long if you want to." Scott said flirtatiously and waggled his eyebrows at the turian."Scott, shut up." Mike grumbled, only to look down to his stomach when he felt it growl rather loudly. "I forgot the game forces you to take time and actually consume something halfway edible. Guess we gotta get breakfast before we do anything else.""Food first, then we'll go looking for better weapons and armor." Vivian stated with a nod and was just about to reach for the door, only for Val to stop her with a hand on her arm and a glance towards Isaac."A moment if you will Commander. We have another issue to discuss." Isaac stopped her and gestured towards the empty chair opposite of him. "The matter of your popularity so to speak.""Trust me, the thought had already crossed my mind, what did you want to say about it though?" Shepard asked, curious to see what Isaac had to include as she sat down across from the young man. His username, Dirhael, was becoming more and more well earned the more she talked with him."You have to make a choice Commander, whether you want to be recognized or not." Dirhael said and looked at her in the eye. "If people know that you're in here, they'll undoubtedly come to you, seeing you as some kind of beacon of hope, someone who will keep them safe. And there will undoubtedly be some who will blame you for the deaths of players. I suppose that is in the nature of people, to look for someone to blame when faced with tragedy. If you choose to keep your identity hidden, at least for now, then they won't have you as that beacon of hope, which causes other problems. When the truth comes out then there will be once again people who will be angry with you for keeping it secret, on the other hand your absence may cause them to grow by themselves. Or your absence could cause others to give into despair, since they believe to have no hope of surviving this game. Forgive me for being blunt, but what will you choose, Commander?"Shepard raised an eyebrow, having not expected Isaac, despite the fact that she knew he had a penchant for coming up with such thoughts already, to have asked such a thing. As for the choice he had laid out before her though, that decision had already been made. "People already blame me for what happened during the Reaper War, despite my repeated warnings before they actually appeared. SAO isn't anything new in that sense, but I'm just surprised you'd even consider it like that Isaac. To answer your question though, the choice is an easy one. As far as I'm concerned, we're in this together one way or the other. I'd rather have them follow me if it means we get out that much quicker. Until such a time comes that we find out there isn't a way out, I'm going to fight my damned hardest to beat this game and get us all home.""Hell yeah Commander! Go Team Milky Way!" Scott cheered, shoving his hand into the middle of the group, and looking more than a little disappointed when everyone just stared at him blankly. "Yay..." Scott softly murmured, jerking his hand back to his side.After a short pause, Isaac nodded at Shepard in agreement. "I understand your decision. While both choices hold their own dangers and advantages I thought that only you had the right to decide how to proceed with that problem. Since it is directly tied to your person.""Are you sure you're still a kid Isaac? You've been asking questions most people would never consider." Shepard stated, smiling briefly while she ignored Scott completely. "And you're right, but I've always been about trying to save as many people as I could, regardless of who or what they are. If that puts me in direct danger, so be it, but it's a risk I'm willing to take.""Agreed." Val stated, making it clear she wasn't about to disagree with her father's way of thinking. She was the hero of the galaxy for a reason after all, that had to count for something, even here. But not only that, but Val understood what made her dad such a powerful force. She was willing to make the hard choices no one else was capable of, but she never forgot who she was or where she came from."Indeed, and I never meant to imply that you wouldn't help them Commander. I merely would have suggested obscuring your features, there are cloaks with hoods available which do that quite efficiently." Isaac told her and bowed his head a little in her direction. "I apologize if I offended you in anyway, it wasn't my intention.""Don't worry about it kid. You're asking good questions, bringing an unique perspective that might otherwise be lacking. What most people tend to forget is that I didn't accomplish everything I did on my own. I had people like Brad, Val, Lenn, you, Mike, Scott, and a whole lot more at my side all the way. So keep doing what you're doing.""Um, question Commander?" Scott hesitantly asked, meekly waving his gauntlet in the air."Yes Scott? And lose the hand raising.""What are we having for breakfast? I could go for anything warm that doesn't taste like cardboard myself.""For once I agree with him." Lenn exclaimed impatiently. "One good thing about this game is not having to worry about food poisoning, or mixing dextro and amino based food. Oh, and of course we can eat as much as we want without gaining weight, that's awesome too.""You know Lenn? You might be onto something." Shepard chuckled before getting up from her chair. "Breakfast is on me guys, I spotted a nice little cafe on the corner down stairs.""Yay!" Bradley cheered before cocking his head to the side. "Then what's the plan ma'am?""We'll worry about that when we're on the road Brad. Now come on." She replied cheerfully, smiling down at the youngest of their group before leading the way out of the hovel of a hotel."Well we should probably get some supplies first, maybe grab some of the better gear before anyone else does." Mike pointed out as he followed them out of the hotel. "The basic items are always in stock, but once the high end stuff is gone, the only way to replace it is to buy items from a player shopkeeper. And that's sometimes a bad idea if they're not reliable.""And you worry too much buddy." Scott replied, giving Mike a slap on the back as they walked down to the quaint little NPC run cafe."He's got a point though." Val stated as she blinked when the sun hit her emerald eyes. "I've gotten burned on deals before, it's not fun.""Yeah. How's that five thousand Cor 'slightly used' dagger working out for you Val?" Shepard asked, not even flinching when said dagger whisked past her face to lodge itself in a wall and promptly explode into a cloud of useless red pixels. "Didn't someone say fighting in towns wasn't allowed?""Just because I can't attack you doesn't mean I can't scare the crap outta ya." Val grumbled, a vein visibly pulsing in her forehead as she stomped away. She didn't go far before she sat down at one of the outdoor tables by the cafe's front door, her arms crossed over her lightly armored chest."Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Lenn drawled, to which Bradley giggled quietly into his hands."Oh my god, what's that heavenly smell..." Scott asked as he dashed into the mostly deserted cafe. "I think I just died and went to Valhalla. Oh look, they have paninis!""Isn't that a Norse mythology thing? And they're twelve Cor a piece. Keep looking PFC WannaBe." Shepard stated and physically dragged Scott away by the scruff of his neck."On top of being a Shepard fanboy, Scott's into the whole Avengers thing from the twenty first century. Don't get him started." Mike deadpanned and sighed, hoping against hope that none of their group got him going. The last time someone had gotten into a debate regarding the original Marvel Cinematic Universe, it hadn't ended well."Let us simply enjoy the wonders of virtual food, we can always discuss our personal preferences in fictional works later." Isaac said and pointed towards one of the many empty tables. "That looks like a nice spot, not enough sun to blind us.""I'm fine right where I am thank you very much." Val grumbled, making it clear she wasn't going to move from her chair. "I woke up on the wrong side of the bed remember? With a turian drooling on me no less.""Try not to kill anyone until I get back Lieutenant." Shepard quipped as she headed into the cafe while the others seated themselves around Val's table."Ha! You know what, she's actually kinda funny once you get to know her." Scott observed the moment Vivian was out of earshot, or at least he assumed she was."Shut up." Val muttered before resting her head on her arms which she spread out on the table in front of her."Yes ma'am." Scott replied meekly."So... anyone have an idea of what we should do next? I was thinking that we could-" Mike was interrupted by the veritable avalanche of cheap black bread rolls that landed on the table a moment later.With a flourish, Shepard waved her hand over the small pile of 'edible' baked goods. "Breakfast is served.""Dad….you're not serious right? Black bread, the cheapest crap you can buy? You call this breakfast?" Val asked as she picked up one of the bread rolls and held it before her emerald eyes. "Please tell me you're joking.""Well, if we don't choke to death on it then we will certainly be able to handle anything else this game might throw at us." Isaac stated dryly while regarding the bread disdainfully. "If not, we could always try and throw it at the mobs, that will kill them for sure.""It's not so bad..." Bradley managed to say with a straight face as he bit into a roll and gulped it down before he could spit it out. "It's….good." He choked out, even as his face turned several unhealthy shades of green.Lenn could only blink owlishly at Brad's bravery, or stupidity, she hadn't decided which. Val meanwhile only sighed and tossed her black bread onto the table. "Well, I lost my appetite.""You never fail to impress me Brad." Shepard told him with a proud smirk, ruffling the boy's hair and shoving a steaming plate in front of him. "You think I'd let my people eat this crap? I'm slightly better than that.""Well, to be honest I couldn't blame you for forcing us to eat this." Scott admitted with a small shrug. "We still have to buy more important things after all.""Being able to sleep anywhere, that's something I'll have us practice, but eating slop better saved for MREs? I'm not that cruel." With a grin, Shepard handed Scott his own steaming panini."You officially have the best dad ever Lieutenant Sleepy Head." Scott said with a beaming smile as he shoved the plate under her nose, laughing when her eyes snapped up to the warm food in front of her as Scott jerked his plate back."Yeah, I guess I do." Val agreed, smiling briefly at Vivian as she put another bowl down in front of the asari, before she snatched up her own bowl before Vivian could change her mind. "She has her moments anyway, a lot more than some people I could name.""I'm glad she's so cool." Bradley stated happily. "That bread was….nasty.""You did look a little green around the gills there kid." Lenn replied, chuckling when Brad blushed."Oh thanks for reminding me. Here ya go, bought one in case someone actually had the guts to try that crap." Shepard casually dug into her pocket and tossed Bradley a small wrapped candy bar."Thanks Commander!" Bradley exclaimed overjoyed, looking almost like he just got the best present in the whole galaxy."You're welcome kid. Now eat up guys, we got another long day ahead of us." Shepard told them with a slight smile."Aye aye, ma'am." Mike quipped for the group, as they began to dig in while Vivian rapidly pulled the rest of their meals out of her inventory and slung them around the table before finally taking a seat herself."CO always eats last." She said with a shrug, having gotten used to that fact a long time ago.Meanwhile, Bradley was busying himself with breaking his chocolate bar into seven more or less equal parts and handing them around the table. "I can't eat this all by myself." He shrugged, smiling widely as each of his new companions took a piece of his loot. "Like you said earlier Commander, we're in this together.""Ya know, you're cute when you're not spouting off about all the stuff you've seen." Val teased and ruffled his hair before taking the offered chocolate. "Daring Floor Three scout yet still cute as a varren pup.""Thank you, Bradley." Isaac told the younger boy with a small smile and took his own piece of chocolate. "Normally I would insist that you keep it, but it is chocolate. I can't say no to that.""You are one awesome little dude." Scott said with a nod as he took his share.As Lenn and Mike grinned at the boy, each biting into their chocolate ration, Shepard brought up an area map and displayed it for the group. "Alright, there are two weapons shops and one armorer not too far from here. There's also a blacksmith, but I think we should hold onto our raw ore and loot scraps for now.""Until we come across a reliable player blacksmith with some actual skill?" Val asked once she had swallowed her current mouthful."Yeah." Shepard agreed simply, wolfing down her meal in near record time."I think I will check out the blacksmith, I wanted to take blacksmithing up myself anyway." Isaac revealed in a light tone. "Figured that it would come in handy later on.""That's actually not a bad idea. Maybe one of us should take up appraisal as well?" Lenn asked. When no one stepped up, she sighed and slumped in her chair. "Guess that'll be my job as well. Lazy bums."Chuckling, Scott nodded to the turian girl in agreement. "I'll take that one too, might be handy to have a couple people with that skill. I'm also thinking of taking up herbalist and crystal crafter, so I can craft healing potions, teleport crystals, paralysis poison and antidote crystals, you name it, I'll be able to make it.""Alright, good. It'll be a good idea to have extra skills that can bring in more money if nothing else. With that in mind, I might take a page from Scott's book, it won't hurt to have an extra crafter on hand." Shepard stated, although she didn't include the rest of her thought. In case something happens to one of us."Shall we split up to buy everything as fast as possible or should we stick together?" Mike questioned the group while tilting his head a little sideways.Val leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, her food all but gone at last. With that in mind, her mood had vastly improved, a fact everyone noted as she addressed her friends. "I think we can split up. Unless something changes, towns are safe from PKs and monster attacks, so we should be alright until we leave. Be at the main gate in two hours, but don't go anywhere alone in the meantime. Take a friend with you.""Good thinking Val." Shepard nodded, already coming up with a rapid plan of attack. "Alright, Val and I will take Brad with us and shop for weapons. Lenn and Isaac, you get armor and the blacksmith. Mike and Scott, load up on food, meds, and supplies. We'll all meet back by the main gate like Val said.""Yes ma'am." Most of the group said at once before dispersing across the small town. The sooner they got their chores over with, the better.
Forty-five minutes later…
It had turned out that the selection of items in the small town was limited, to say the least, with the group gathering together far sooner than they had expected. With their Cor reserves nearly depleted, everyone had still somehow managed to get more than enough equipment and supplies. They wouldn't have to worry about broken weapons and armor, or running out of potions or crystals at the worst possible moment, at least for now."This actually turned out better than I thought it would." Mike observed as he hefted a new sword and shield, getting a feel for their weight and balance. "For an outlying town, a ways off from the central hub, we did better than I had hoped." His newer, ebony painted armor was certainly a nice addition. It wasn't much better than his beginning platemail, but it was still an improvement.Scott rolled his shoulders in his new silver and red armor, experimentally grabbing his own new sword and shield off his back. "And you even got us matching sets of armor... you've got good taste Isaac. Red dragons never go out of style.""You're right." Isaac agreed with his friend, glancing at his new longsword before sheathing it behind his back. "Then let us get underway, there is no need to linger here any longer.""Right, let's go." Shepard stated as she hefted her new halberd before taking the lead. "Any idea where we're going?" She asked, looking towards Val and Bradley."I might have an idea. Follow me!" Bradley declared before taking the lead with all speed. "There's a field further west that has a bunch of low level kobolds, like those ones we took out last night. They should be easier now that we're well rested and better equipped.""Let's hope you're right little dude, I'd rather not have to fight against something like a goblin queen again." Scott muttered and glared at the distant shapes of the kobolds they were about to face."Well, if there is, we'll know not to hang around the tree like last time." Shepard said with a shrug, even as she put a hand on Brad's shoulder to slow him down. "But Isaac raises a good point. We need to be careful kiddo.""I know." He murmured, and let his head hang a little. "But we won't get stronger if we don't take a chance right?"Mike pointed to the distant field with a shrug. "I say we slaughter 'em all and let their respawn coding figure it out. Keep at it until we don't get anything out of it, might as well enjoy the safe kills now.""Hmm. I would like to test my new gear out." Lenn smirked, spinning her dagger with a flourish before sheathing it on her belt next to her new double capacity throwing knife bandolier."No time like the present, right dad?" Val declared as she drew her new rapier with a flourish of her own.Isaac drew his own sword and pointed it at the kobolds. Like their goblin cousins, they were small and numerous. Unlike the goblins, these were better armed and armored. "Then let us meet them in glorious combat." He said overly dramatic as he smirked at the rest of the group."Let me guess, head of his school's theatre group?" Shepard whispered to Mike and Scott with a quiet laugh."Actually no. I never participated in any form of acting class and the like Commander." Isaac told her, obviously still able to hear her whispered conversation. "But I do like the classics.""He's just a geek, which is actually a redeeming quality in his case." Mike shrugged before charging into the horde of monsters, shield first. "And he put a lot of points into his awareness skill, might want to make a note of it.""Good to know." Shepard stated as she and Val followed after Mike with Bradley hot on their heels."Hey you! Look at these losers, tryin' to move in on our territory already huh?" Lenn, having just thrown a dagger into one of the few kobolds that were left by that point, was the first to see they weren't alone any longer."Hmm, and here I thought we were about to meet someone reasonable." Isaac muttered, he had heard them approach but since he had been locked in combat with multiple kobolds, he hadn't given them any immediate thought. Now that they weren't in danger though, Isaac was able to use his awareness skill to pick out several more people hiding in the tree line. "These three aren't alone." He whispered to Shepard and eyed their orange player icons with some concern.She didn't visibly react save to put her halberd on her shoulder and nod, facing the apparent leader that had stepped forward. "And you are?" She asked, her emerald eyes narrowing slightly at the arrogance that practically radiated off of the young man in front of her."You're in our spot as a start old bag." The batarian retorted, a smug smirk plastered on his face. The leader's smirk only grew when Bradley took a hesitant step back. Flanking him were a vorcha and a krogan, both of which were lightly armored and wielding short swords. The batarian however was a different matter. He was similarly equipped in heavy armor, but he had an axe and a shield instead of a sword."Are we now?" Isaac questioned softly, his eyes narrowed already analyzing his opponents for potential weaknesses. "And what exactly makes it your spot? I doubt that you won it due to your intelligence, if there is any to find.""Stupid human shut up now and give Bratarc money and loot!" The vorcha growled, his ugly, razor sharp teeth filled mouth pulled down into a perpetual snarl. "Or we end you!""Good luck." Val snarked as she twirled her blade before holding it out before her in a clear challenge. "You have no idea who you've run into, do you?""Another stuck up asari bitch in need of a good mating." The batarian countered and licked his lips lewdly in response. "Perhaps I'll start with you and then get some use out of the old hag next? Gods knows no one else will. Save your fiery little turian friend for dessert.""Go near her or anyone else and I'll happily run you through." Mike growled, all of his previous good cheer gone as he glared daggers at the batarian and his companions. "And you can forget about trying to sneak your buddies in behind us, we're know they're there."Isaac's anger was less noticeable, he merely stiffened and seemed to grow deadly calm. "Come near them and I will rip out your entrails." He told them as calmly as if he had just stated that the sky was blue, his sword securely gripped in his hand.Lenn didn't bother talking. Her hands had already moved to the dagger belt on her chest. The next breath saw both blades flying forward, too quick for the batarian's guards to react before they found their marks, buried in their chests. The vorcha went down first, while the krogan growled in pain and promptly pulled the dagger out of his chest. "I'm not about to wait for an invitation boys. Either fight if that's what you want or get out of our way.""I'm gonna enjoy this... kill 'em all!" The batarian shouted as he charged them, only to pause to glare down at the small human boy standing in his path. With a laugh, he smiled cruelly down at Bradley, raising his blade to slice the impertinent little brat's ear off. "What are you stupid or something hum-""You are." Bradley growled as he brought his spiked mace down on the smiling man's head, hard. The batarian hadn't bothered to defend himself in the slightest, so he was able to completely stun the alien with one hit and dropping his life bar past the halfway point.Mike ran past him and bashed the krogan repeatedly in the head with his shield, with Scott only a step behind him. His opponent got no chance to effectively counter attack since the shield both blocked him and forced him to take one step back after another. That allowed Scott all the opening he needed to cut the krogan down while Mike kept him occupied."You idiots should have just walked away!" Scott shouted as he plunged his blade into the krogan's chest. Normally he knew he would be completely screwed fighting a krogan with a sword, but all things being equal in the word of SAO, he dealt the hostile player a crippling blow as the backtracking krogan's HP dropped into the red.Isaac for his part was facing an asari who burst out of the forest, a two handed sword head high over her head, she screamed at him as she charged. Arrogant, overeager idiot. He thought with a small scoff and easily sidestepped the attack as the asari only hit the ground, allowing him to step on the flat side of her blade. As a result, the sword was ripped from her hands and she stumbled forwards. When she looked up she was met by a vicious backhand strike from her opponent, which sent her into the dirt. A split second later the tip of his sword hovered in front of her face. "Don't move."Shepard, for her part, had already flanked the other three ambushers rushing out of the trees along with Val, charging in so that the young asari could make a couple of quick strikes, disabling two of them, a quarian and a salarian, in a heartbeat. She spun her halberd when another vorcha tried to stab her with a dagger, bashing his head in with the wooden shaft before spinning it the other way, burying the metal blade in his chest seconds later."Bad move." Shepard hissed, and didn't pay him a second glance as he disappeared in a red pixelated storm of particles. The fact the second vorcha had had a orange mark for his icon had certainly helped in her decision to cut him down."We're being cut apart out here Bratarc! We need to retreat!" The krogan roared as he tried to parry away Mike's sword."Never!" The batarian groaned as he picked himself off the dirt floor. "The Hegemony doesn't retreat, not before these lesser beings!""You know how well that turned out the last time?! There isn't a Hegemony left to fight for anymore! Just lay down your weapons and surrender peacefully, you're already beaten!" Shepard shouted, hoping that some of this batarian's followers would see reason before it was too late for them. Much to her relief, most of Bratarc's party did just that, dropping their weapons and holding their hands up in surrender.Bratarc himself had no such desire to give up, especially when he realized who he was up against. "You….I know who you are. Shepard! The Butcher of Bahak! You should have been erased from existence long ago, you and your entire lineage!" Shepard just had enough time to block his first vicious strike before Bratarc slammed the hilt of his axe into Shepard's stomach, forcing her back a step. "I'm going to enjoy making you suffer for your crimes human bitch, then-""Shut up!" Before Bratarc could register what had happened, he saw Val's blade sticking out the side of his neck. With a vicious twist of her rapier, Val yanked the blade free, angry tears streaming down her face as Bratarc screamed in pain, glowing briefly for a moment before vanishing into a cloud of red shards. When it was done, the asari's legs gave out from under her, but Lenn was there in a heartbeat, her long arms wrapped around the asari's back and neck."Val!" Vivian shouted the moment the battle was over and slid to a stop next to her daughter. "Hey, it's alright, it's alright." She crooned as she embraced the asari just as Lenn stepped away, allowing them space. With a jerk of her head, Mike nodded and started towards the players that had surrendered. He wasted no time in collecting their weapons so none of them got it into their head to pick up where Bratarc had left off."I-I just wanted to make him stop." With a blank look in her eyes, Val glanced at the rapier still in her white knuckle grip, before letting it fall to the ground.Mike was able to turn his stunned gaze away from the now bare patch of grass where Bratarc had fallen after he had finished his assigned task. "It's not your fault, he attacked us, you did what you had to.""He should have given up, there was no way for him to win. You did the right thing Val." Scott agreed with his friend, and nodded encouragingly at the young asari. His grin started to fade though when Val continued to cry into Shepard's shoulder, which was no surprise considering what had just occurred here."Violence born of desperation, I should have foreseen it." Isaac said and Shepard could detect a clear note of anger in his voice, though she guessed it was directed at himself."No one can foresee everything, no matter how smart they are." Shepard stated, not about to move from Val's side as she ran her hands across her daughter's back. "Some people are just beyond saving, no matter how hard we try.""Perhaps, but I usually look for mistakes on my part first. It is too easy to simply blame someone else. And I should have expected this, one million players trapped in a death game? It was obvious that some would do something like this, we were just lucky that this group lacked the brains to actually do anything." Isaac argued before he sighed tiredly. "I suppose that's a discussion for another time. What should we do with them?" Isaac asked with a nod towards the shaken group nearby, all of whom watched them with a mix of fear and suspicion."They aren't threats, not now anyway." Vivian stated, and nodded towards the mix of terrified and relieved looks on the group's faces. "I imagine they banded together out of fear, and Bratarc offered them safety and security in return for their obedience." Looking elsewhere, she saw Bradley was being unusually quiet, but she only filed it away for now as she hesitantly forced Val to look her in the eye. "As for you, you did what you thought was in the right. This….isn't how I wanted this to go down, but I think we all knew it was inevitable, fighting other players just to survive. You're going to be fine Val, I promise, but I need you to stay strong right now. We aren't safe out here." As if to emphasize that point, she glared when she heard a deep rumbling laugh not too far to the right."Heh heh, good fight human." The surviving krogan said as he sat slumped on the ground, his HP still in the red as it slowly began to recover."This didn't have to happen dammit!" Shepard growled, yanking the krogan to his feet as she held him by the collar with one hand and raised her halberd in the other. "Have you killed anyone? Yes or no?" The orange icon above his head didn't necessarily mean he had killed another player, only that he had committed some kind of crime. But after what they had just endured, she wasn't about to take a chance.With a sigh of annoyance, the massive alien nodded his head. "It's the natural way of things human, the strong prey on the weak. Clan Urdnot would have you believe otherwise, but not all of us are so stupid as to forget the truth of this galaxy. Go on, do your duty human. I'd expect nothing less from the Lioness of Elysium.""No, I won't." Shepard growled out before shoving the krogan away. "You're a fool, believing only in glorious battle and death in combat, so I'm going to deny you both. I'm going to force you to live, and watch us walk away. Enough blood's been shed today already. Give me your word, on the bones of your ancestors, you won't kill again, or allow anyone to be killed."Grumbling, the krogan hung his head with a heavy sigh escaping his lips. He had been bested by the best in the galaxy, by krogan law and tradition, his life was hers to do with as she wished, and she knew it. What honor he had left was also hers, and he wasn't about to give it up just for a few extra pieces of loot. "You have my word I will do my best in that regard. May I be condemned to the Oblivion of the Honorless should I break it.""Good." With a scowl, Shepard turned to leave, only to spin around and slam her knee into the krogan's quad."Can't blame you for trying." The krogan said with a shrug before turning his back on her and walking away with a noticeable limp in his step."Huh, I expected him to make a final stand or something to be honest." Scott said, surprised as he watched the krogan slowly limp away.Mike loudly cleared his throat and nodded to the unarmed group before glancing at Val, who still hadn't gotten over the shock of seeing her first player death. "Oh… right, sorry." Scott murmured, feeling like a complete ass.Mike only shook his head, and started to walk towards the asari only for Vivian to beat him there. Instead he changed course and stood before the group that had wisely given up. "I don't know what we're doing with you, but I'm fairly sure the worst you can expect is to stew in a cell for a few days, unless the Commander has something else in mind.""That's not fair! You let the krogan walk away, why not us?!" The asari protested indignantly."He gave us his word, believe me that's far more binding than any prison could ever be." Isaac stated quietly, yet loudly enough to be heard by everyone in the clearing."I give you my word-" The asari began, but she didn't get a chance to finish."Nice try." Scott told her with a grin. "You guys better hope Shepard's in a good mood." He leaned closer to the frowning blue alien. "Here's a hint, far as I can tell, she's never in a good mood.""Scott, shut up." Shepard grumbled as she slowly pulled away from Val once she was sure she would be alright, at least for the moment, and only nodded at Lenn when the turian took up her vacated spot. Turning to the group at large, Vivian glanced at Mike and Isaac before focusing her whole attention on Bratarc's former 'allies', for lack of a better word. "I take it I need no introduction. Most of you know who I am and what I'm capable of, so you should already know that I don't take innocent lives as much as can be avoided. You made the smart choice by surrendering when you did instead of following Bratarc's example. Now you have another choice to make. I understand you're frightened, you're desperate, and most of you likely only allied with Bratarc so you'd feel some sense of safety and security in this death game. That doesn't excuse attacking other players, but I'm willing to grant you leniency. Just this once.""Yes, of course. We made a stupid, stupid mistake. Won't happen again, ever." The female salarian blurted, rapidly nodding her head as she did so."What's the catch?" The male quarian asked, only to receive scathing glares from the rest of his companions."Well, if we catch you doing something like this again, we will probably kill you without question." Shepard told him bluntly as she looked at the survivors with cold intensity. "But for those of you willing to make up for what happened here today, I think we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement for all of us. I've taken in criminals, assassins, mercenaries and worse, and made them into something better. Scared players just looking for someone to make sense of this mess shouldn't be much of a challenge.""So run with our tails between our legs or ally ourselves with you, the same woman that killed Matriarch Benezia, Saren Arterius, the remnants of the prothean race, and an entire batarian colony. That's not taking into account all the asari, salarians, turians, krogan, batarians, and vorcha she's killed or allowed to die over the years. Who's to say we won't be next?" The asari asked with a wary glance towards Shepard's group."Still more of a choice then what you presented your victims with I wager." Isaac told them coldly, his eyes never leaving their forms as he looked for any sign of danger.Mike only scoffed and shook his head at the asari's idiocy. "You're a moron. You failed to mention the countless lives she's saved when the Reapers invaded. And I didn't miss how you failed to mention humans and quarians in your little list, or the geth for that matter. Get your facts right or keep your mouth shut.""I'm in! I'll join, won't cause any trouble, promise." The salarian blurted out, and started to cross the field to stand with Shepard, only for the asari to shove her back behind her."Goddess, do you even have a spine Nadola? Or are you just held up by your nervous twitching and blathering?" The asari growled, and blocked Nadola's path when she tried to push past her again."Hey! Twitchy's smart enough to know a good thing when she sees it." Scott quipped giving the asari a smirk, even as his hand never left the hilt of his blade."And it is her own decision how she wishes to proceed, not yours." Isaac was quick to remind the asari.Nadola surprised her former companion when she shoved her out of the way. "They're right. I choose to live, not fall to foolish pride like yours Avana. Was your idea to band with Bratarc, not ours. You spoke for us all when you had no right. Cling to past if it makes you feel better, but I choose to follow another course."The asari narrowed her eyes in anger before she looked at Shepard. "In that case, I decide to walk away from this. I hope we never meet again." The last part was hissed with so much hatred that even Shepard was taken aback."Is she going to be a problem?" Shepard asked once Nadola and most of her group followed after the salarian."Her bondmate was an Eclipse merc. She died on Illium before the war." Nadola replied hesitantly, and looked at the ground between her feet. "Fear she might raise trouble if given the chance later now that she knows you're here Shepard.""With our luck she'll bring friends." Mike dryly stated before handing back Nadola's weapon. The salarian girl nodded her head in thanks as he turned to start handing out the weapons he had collected to those that had stayed. "I'm sure it goes without saying, but we're putting a lot on faith with you folks. Don't make us regret it." He directed the last towards the quarian that had spoken up earlier before directing his gaze to Val and Vivian. "What's the plan ma'am?" He was fairly sure Val wasn't in any shape to fight, not right now, not so soon after... taking her first player down. And Lenn seemed equally distracted by her friend's near catatonic gaze, not that he could blame either of them."Val should return to the city. She can rejoin us later." Shepard decided, not about to put anyone in harm's way. She knew that it was important to level up fast, but she wasn't about to risk her daughter's life for it. "Lenn…." She said at last, and looked towards the turian who didn't hesitate to meet her gaze. "Do you think you can make it back to town safely with Val?""Yeah, I'll take care of her, I promise." Lenn replied and gently pulled the asari after her. She didn't put up much of a fight, which scared her and Vivian both more than any violent reaction on Val's part would have."Commander, I know it's none of my business, but I think you should stay with her. I think another familiar face will help her. And if you're worried about us, don't be, we'll pave the way forward in your absence. Besides Bradley and I are a higher level than you, we'll be fine."Shepard didn't need Isaac to convince her, but she appreciated him giving her a way out. She was willing to trust the young man to lead the others forward. "Alright, but don't take any unnecessary risks. Your first and last priority should be the preservation of the group, not the acquisition of a few extra coins at the cost of one of our own. Lance Corporal Dirhael is in charge, followed by Corporal Bradley and PFCs Wanderer and WannaBe. Their word is law, disobey them and it's your neck on the line." Shepard didn't miss Isaac's wince at his sudden promotion to leader of the group, making it clear the kid didn't like being in the spotlight. He'd just have to deal with it. Before he could protest, Shepard deleted him and the pair of PFCs from her party list just as Lenn did the same, silencing their link to her in the process. Only way they'd be able to contact them now is if they messaged them once they were out of earshot.Mike accepted the gesture for what it was and only nodded at the trio's backs before turning to Isaac before taking in the group as a whole. "Let's move out then, we're burning daylight as Shepard would say. Everyone's able to fight right?" He was relieved to see only Nadola nervously shaking her head. "Alright, we move in groups of six, party up and protect our noncombatant. Nadola, you'll be in charge of tossing out healing potions and crystals when we need them. Otherwise it's standard combat tactics, switch out when your health drops into the mid yellow range and heal if you can. The rest we'll make up as we have to, but be prepared for anything.""So we're going into the vast unknown?" The quarian asked, only to receive a scathing look from Bradley."I've seen enough out here to get the idea of what we'll be up against Inglourious Bosh'tet... huh, good name. What's your real one?" The boy asked, looking up towards the tall, lanky suited alien in front of him in interest."Grev'Koris nar Qwib Qwib sir!" Grev saluted smartly to which Bradley nodded his head and smiled. Mike raised an eyebrow, but said nothing about the ship name even when Scott snickered into his hand.Isaac frowned at Scott's less than polite reaction before nodding to Grev and pointed towards a nearby ridge, loosely dotted with trees. "Alright, Private Koris, go check out the ridge line, and be careful about it.""Look at vas Badass taking charge." Scott quietly whispered to Mike with a chuckle as Isaac rolled his eyes and glared at him. Mike only sighed and followed after Grev without a word to anyone.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Chapter 4:  Sparks

Sword Art Online, it now seems strange to me just how pumped I was for this game. It was supposed to be a paradise, instead it turned into a nightmare, and all because of one man. Hard to believe that a single person could have so much power.

And as if to prove me wrong, I’m now trapped with Shepard, the hero of the galaxy herself, in here. Basically, the person who, above anyone else, proved just how much of a difference a single person can make. Got herself trapped to take care of her daughter. People may think what they want of her, but this out of all the things she’s done, demands at the very least the respect of everyone.

I know, I know. I’m a fanboy and all, but still I feel safer with her around. Not sure if I could have kept my cool otherwise. Heh, kept my cool, I just didn't run around screaming, though I sure wanted to. Never expected to fight for my life, and certainly not in a goddamn video game. Seems like mom was right, these games are bad for the brain.

Still, I’m conflicted about my friends being here. On the one hand, I’m glad to have them with me, as someone I know I can trust and to give me even something remotely close to the normalcy that we all crave.  But on the other hand, I feel guilty for having those thoughts, and for getting them into this in the first place.  I wanted us all to buy this game so that we could hang out together. So that we could actually talk face to face with each other instead of the vid-calls we usually had to use.  I may have meant well, but fact is I brought them into this mess.

I cannot help but wonder, do they hate me? I wouldn't blame them if they did. They never said anything to that effect, but I long since learned that most thoughts stay hidden for a long time, if not forever.  Regardless whether they hate me or not, I brought them into this mess, and I’ll make damn sure that they’ll get out of it too.

Journal entry of N7NFG_WannaBe aka Scott Kristenson, founding member of the Black Legion

================
Town of Genesis, Floor One

November 9th, 2216

Sitting on the bed next to her eerily quiet daughter, Vivian reached out to rest a hand on Val’s shoulder, only for the young asari to pull away from her worried father.  “Easy, it’s just me.” Vivian whispered softly before scooting closer to her again.

“Just leave me alone... both of you. Yes, I can see you Lenn.  You’re creeping me out.”  As Val rolls her green eyes with a glance over her shoulder, the turian girl currently peeking her head in the room quickly darted back out of sight.  Once the door was shut, only then did the asari sigh and pull her long, slender legs up to her chin on the edge of the bed before wrapping her arms around her knees, her head turned so her cheek rested against the top of her drawn up legs.  “I just….wanted him to stop trying to hurt everyone.  I’ve been angry before but….it almost felt like I had stepped outside myself or something….goddess what did I

do

?!”  She moaned, horrified by what she’d done, and rightfully so even if they had no way to know for sure if Bratarc had simply been forcibly logged out or if his mind was truly gone now.

“You reacted to the situation at hand.” Her father told her quietly, profound sadness clearly audible in her voice as she dared to get closer to Val.  When she didn’t flinch away a second time, Vivian gingerly slid next to the girl, one arm snaking around her trembling shoulders.  “They attacked us first, and then he kept threatening us.  You were scared, that doesn't make you a bad person.  That you regret it at all says as much Val.”  She whispered, her green eyes never far from her daughter’s head, her heart clenching a little when Val curled up tighter upon herself.  Deciding to change tactics a bit, Vivian mentally sighed heavily, and let her hand fall to her daughter’s back where she gently made soothing circles.  “There’s one story I never told you….one I don’t like to remember, well...there’s a few things I can name that fall under that category, but that’s not the point.  This one….happened when I was still an orphan living on the streets.”

That got Val’s attention as she slowly looked up, her cheeks damp from her tears as she met her father’s gaze.  Despite the decades between that time and now, and her own emotional turmoil, the asari could see this was not easy for Vivian to revisit, let alone to talk about.  But talk about it she did as Vivian gently ran her fingers over Val’s face, wiping away her tears as she went.  “I was fourteen.  I’d been….alone, for a long time, despite having joined with the T gang not long before.  I was just a scout, a lookout, fast on my feet and quiet as a mouse, one of Thane’s ‘unseen’ if you want to go that far, but despite having the security of a group, I wasn’t stupid enough to trust any of them.  I was never far from the hideout, but I preferred to keep to my own devices, especially since most of the older boys always made little lewd comments in my direction.  I wasn’t interested, but I’d seen what happened when girls my age told such kids no one too many times, so I didn’t hang around more than I had to for that reason alone.  The other involves some of them being involved with drugs, but that’s another story in itself.”

Val remained silent, knowing there was a point to this little confession, and she was afraid she knew what her father was getting at.  She held her tongue though, a good thing in this case since she saw Vivian visibly swallow and sigh audibly this time before letting her gaze fall to the floor between them.  “Desperation makes animals of us all, Valara.  I’d learned that already, but one of the other kids in my old stomping grounds, a new arrival, she hadn’t gotten the memo, and it cost her everything.  She was an idiot, getting hooked up with one of the rival gangs, one of the more violent ones, and it wasn’t long before she was hooked on Red Sand, turning tricks for credits and her next fix, and stealing anything of value from anyone she caught alone.  I’d seen her giving me the stink eye more than once, but I had a reputation already, proving to be smarter and faster than most of the kids on the block, and I knew my way around the area better than anyone else.  The few times someone thought to chase me, they always wound up chasing a ghost.  But even ghosts have to sleep.”

“She didn’t.”  Valara gasped, and she had her answer to her unspoken question when Vivian looked up, her green eyes, so much like her own, met hers once more.  “Goddess….”

“There wasn’t a goddess down there on the street for kids like me Val.”  Shepard whispered, and ignored the age old wound that ached from what had happened.  “I woke up with this girl’s hands wrapped around my throat.  She knew I had credits stashed away, and she knew I’d have come after her with friends, which I would’ve because I was desperate to buy my way out of that place and a few people….at least two I trusted as much as I was able, knew that.  I fought with a fury and strength I didn’t know I had until that moment, and we ended up rolling around my little hideaway, among the trash and the forgotten, broken things I had surrounded myself with.  I don’t remember where the broken bottle came from…..how it wound up in my grasp, only that when the world started to go dark, I woke up sometime later.  She was on her side, facing away from me, unmoving, but I knew what had happened….”

Turning her left hand over, and seeing the tiny little scars along her father’s palm and fingers, Val knew she was telling the truth.  She’d already suspected as much, but having the evidence there in front of her simply drove the point home.  She understood, all too well, and she still regretted what she’d been forced to do even if the girl in question had tried to kill Vivian first.  Grasping the scarred hand, Vivian smiled, her eyes glistening with unshed tears, as she put her free hand over the asari’s own.  “I was picked up by the police shortly afterward, and it was decided I needed a little time in juvie, more to get me off the streets than anything since it was clear it’d been self defense.  The rest is what you’ve always been told, with me getting my shit together, pulling myself out of the dregs, but I never forgot where I came from….of being that scared and desperate.”  Or about the very first girl she’d killed, but that went without saying as Val crumbled against Vivian’s side, both of them sharing their grief over their shared mistakes, their traumas.

Neither heard the pitter patter of feet as Scott walked away, having been guiltily listening to every word shared between them. Despite the information he was now privy to and the friendship that connected him with both Mike and Isaac, he resolved not to tell anyone about what he had heard.  Fanboy that he was, his respect for Shepard hadn’t wavered, if anything, it had only gone up further even as his heart went out to the pair.  Scarred but never broken,

right

, the thought was laughable now in Scott’s mind.  Whoever had coined the phrase clearly didn’t have a clue as to the real person behind the legend.

“-Nadola.  You two doing alright?”  Pausing as his eyes caught sight of Isaac, checking in on their new tagalongs, he smiled when they heard a muttered response from the other side of the door.  “Just wanted to be sure.  You two did good today.”  Scott watched, unseen for the moment, as the door opened, and Isaac stuck his head in on the two, his smile never wavering as they shared a quick exchange before Isaac gently shut the door once more, only then noting his presence.  Frowning, Isaac closed the distance between them, his concern palpable even at a distance.  “What’s going on?”

“N-nothin’ much.  Just making the rounds.”  Scott replied lamely, and sighed when Isaac’s visage didn’t shift in the slightest.  Deciding to go with a half truth, he said, “I guess there’s much more about Shepard that we don’t know.”

“You heard something?”  He asked, to which Scott could only nod.

“I shouldn’t be surprised, but….let’s just say listening at keyholes isn’t the best idea.”  What he’d heard he wasn’t about to say, but he doubted he needed to explain anything further to Isaac.

“I understand.” His friend replied and his eyes softened, catching onto what Scott was hinting at.  “I’ll keep quiet then, you heard nothing if anyone asks.  Today has been trying enough for us all as it is.”

“Y-yeah, for some more so than others.”  Scott replied, and was once more glad Isaac had gotten the hint as he walked towards his own room, every step a chore as exhaustion pulled at his limbs.  “Really need to go on a diet once we get out of here.”  Scott chuckled weakly, but the attempt at humor did nothing to ease the guilt from accidentally listening in on a conversation between a mother and her daughter as he had.

Isaac watched, a silent guardian as ever, as Scott disappeared into his room before turning his gaze towards the single window at the end of the hall.  Despite knowing the bright, crescent moon that stared back wasn’t real, Isaac still found the pale light a comforting sight as his own mind turned to a certain asari and his battle scarred mother.  Tomorrow would be a new day, for all of them, and with it, a chance for new growth would hopefully spring forth.  “Sleep well.”  He offered to the empty hall before he turned in for the night soon after.

Town of Genesis, Floor One

November 10th, 2216

It seemed fitting, after yesterday’s fiasco, that it’d be raining heavily when they stirred for the day.  Making their slow way downstairs to the main hall of the inn, the fire in the stone hearth a few dull embers as the rest of the patrons meandered out to a late breakfast, Scott and Mike were happy to see Val was looking….better, if only slightly so, as she joined their table with Lenn and Vivian in tow.  Isaac, Bradley, Nadola, and Grev were the last to arrive, but only by a few minutes as an NPC waiter moved to ask for their orders.

Once that’d been taken care of, only then did Isaac spread his hands before him and say, “I know you likely don’t wish to think about what we do from here, but there is some business we need to take care of.”  He began hesitantly, and was immediately relieved when Val smiled and nodded for him to go on.

“I’m...okay.”  She assured the group at large, a less than subtle, knowing glance passing between her and Vivian as she said those two little words.  “I doubt I’ll ever forget what happened, but I’m here.”

“That’s reassurin’.”  Scott offered, a far more subtle glance passing between him and Isaac before he leaned back, his hands folded loosely over his slightly pudgy midriff.  “We’d be useless without you three, after all.”

“At least you admit it.”  Lenn chuckled dryly but smiled, just as glad that Val was on the mend even if it was too early to tell if it’d stick.  She was willing to let it go at that though until such a time came that they needed to talk about yesterday further, even as images of yesterday’s fight flashed behind the turian’s gray eyes.  She’d killed one of Bratarc’s men, same as Val, but she hadn’t thought twice about it, not when it came to the asari and her father.  Instead of focusing on that further however, Lenn said, “So what’s on your mind Isaac?  More pearls of wisdom for this band of misfits we’re fast becoming?”

“It’s actually this very thing I wished to touch upon.”  Isaac replied, a little smile pulling at his lips as he ran a pale skinned hand across his clean shaven, equally pale face, his gaze falling on Shepard herself.  “As much as I agree with the desire to save as many people as we can, we can’t keep picking up strays without an idea of what we’re doing with them in the long term.  We’ve no way to feed and house them all, we’ve no guild hall, no army, and it’s still fairly chaotic out there I imagine, meaning power will be in flux until such a time things begin to stabilize.  Trying to rally people now will likely only backfire.”

“As much as it sucks, you’re right.”  Shepard agreed, but was quick to add, “that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to do something though.  As for not being a guild yet, we can start to take steps in that direction.  It was always my intent to start a guild anyway, although now it’d be more to protect as many people as we could than to have fun, taking down the occasional PK group and pirate guild.  To do that, we need to be willing to take this to the front lines.”

“Because by ending the death game as fast as possible, only then would we be able to free everyone.”  Mike agreed, one dark skinned hand going for the plate of food that’d been put in front of him while the other grasped towards one of the glasses of water they’d ordered.  Taking a moment to savor the rich if simulated taste, Mike paused long enough to swallow before continuing on, “Mmm….but that raises its own problems doesn’t it?  The unknown out there, as we’ve already discovered, can be even more dangerous than what we’ve seen thus far.”

“Not if we share the information we discover.”  Bradley offered, his little legs only just reaching the wooden floor.  His unexpected comment was what had their attention as he blushed but beamed under their respective gazes.

“Thankfully, someone else has already started to do that.”  Isaac said as he put a simple little brown booklet in the center of the table.  As Lenn picked it up to give it a once over, Isaac pressed onward without missing a beat, “it’s being written by beta testers, and handed out to as many reliable information brokers as they can find.  It’s a first edition so what information they’ve found isn’t much, but every little bit’ll help in the long term.  It’s a free resource, so if someone tries to sell you one for any amount of money, don’t bother paying.”

“Good to know.”  Val intoned as she took the offered guide, nodding approvingly of what her eyes gleamed as she began to flip through the pages.  “Looks legit from what I can see.”  She mused, remembering well most of what had already been shared during her own time in the beta before she handed the book over to Bradley’s grasping hand.  “You probably know more than any of us though.”  She chuckled softly as she handed it over.  Bradley blushed again but grinned in response before Val returned to her meal.  “But the front lines, you sure that’s a good idea dad?”

“We don’t have to be at the front all the time, not like other guilds that’ll no doubt be out there, but it’d help speed things along to getting everyone out of this if we devoted some time to clearing the dungeons.  Besides, being a beta tester will likely draw its own share of enemies once word gets out.”

Nodding in agreement to Shepard’s remarks, Isaac folded his hands beneath his chin before speaking further.  “I’ll try to get in contact with an information broker I met in the beta… Tell her how that miniboss unexpectedly appeared and to warn everyone that the information isn't one hundred percent accurate.  The guide is just that, a guide.”

“Good thinking, you have someone in mind?”  Mike asked, breaking his silence at last.

“Maybe, she’s a rat, but you can trust her to get things right.”  Isaac stated matter of factly.

“Wait, you talkin’ about Argo?”  Scott asked, and groaned when Isaac raised an eyebrow in equal parts agreement and puzzlement at his friend’s obvious distaste.  “Ugh….I owe her five hundred Cor from the beta test and she’s bound to ask, and not in a nice way.”

“Do I even want to ask?”  Mike wondered, but didn’t wait for a response.  “Not important, but that’ll be your mess to take care of Scotty.”  Scott stuck his tongue out at the obvious Star Trek reference, but the gesture went largely ignored by the rest of the group.  “I know Isaac’s going to ask so I’m just going to come out and say it.  What do we do about your well earned infamy, Commander?”

“What do you mean?”  Vivian asked, having a feeling she knew what he was getting at.

“You’re not stupid, and as we discussed yesterday, many people still rightfully hold you in very high regard.  So much so they thought it a good idea to make religions based around you and your achievements.  That’s gonna be a problem for the rest of us if it’s not handled appropriately.”  Mike intoned gravely.

“Not to mention the fact that while many revere you,” Isaac picked up where Mike left off, his tone just as grave, “others despise you in equal measure, blaming you for their losses, for their failings, for what could have been. Unjustly in some cases perhaps, but it can't be helped I suppose.”

“Woah, back up a bit, what do you mean religions?”  Vivianne asked and held up her hands, feeling a migraine coming at the mere thought.  “Liara told me of widespread admiration, but this… is something different altogether.”

“You were not aware?” Isaac asked her, more than a little surprised by the mere thought, only to receive an astonished head shake in return. “Oh… whoops.  Uh….yeah by the way, you’re revered as a goddess in certain circles, if not at the least a demigoddess.”  Shepard’s exasperated groan as she thunked her head against the table was amusing, but as much as Isaac had to resist the urge to smile, he forced himself to continue forward.  “But you see the problem.”

“Yes….goddess damn it but I didn’t save the galaxy to be revered.”  Shepard grumbled but sighed as she ran a hand across the back of her neck.  “No wonder Liara never liked me watching the news.”

“If it’s any consolation, not all are as extreme in their reverence as those I mentioned previously… some merely view you as an admirable person, someone to emulate or at least follow the example you set, like always striving to better yourself. At least that is the philosophy I’ve encountered among the restored geth and quarians I’ve met.” Isaac explained patiently, a sympathetic smile on his face.

“That’s something I suppose,” Vivian grumbled before turning her attention to Val and Lenn, who suspiciously looked away in a hurry.  “Am I the last person to find this out?”

“Um….no?”  Lenn lamely lied.

“Uh huh.”  Vivian deadpanned, not buying their attempt to gloss over the matter in the slightest.  “See if I rescue your sorry butts in the future.”  Val rolled her eyes while Lenn sheepishly rubbed the back of her fringed skull.  “So what would you three suggest?”

“A full helmet to cover your pretty face?”  Scott chimed in, and held up a hand to forestall any followup from Mike or Isaac.  “No seriously, a big helmet or a nice blacked out hood so you can move around without being swarmed everytime you step outside.”

“Yeah, not the worst idea and probably would be best if you didn’t march up to people and tell them that you’re Commander motherfucking Shepard.” Scott added with a grin before remembering Bradley was just a few seats away from him.  He needn’t have worried as the boy shrugged, before Scott continued, his cheeks a little red from his colorful outburst.  “Just tell them you’re Vivian… or ask them to call you sixtynine, you know, because of your name tag?”

“I’ll make you eat your sword before letting anyone call me that.”  Shepard promised, while silently applauding Scott’s gumption at mentioning Liara’s playful hack of her gamer profile.  “My wife’s sense of humor aside, there’s the other side of the argument to consider.”

“Hope.”  Isaac stated simply, understanding all too well what Shepard was hinting at.  “Names as even half as well known as yours inspire feelings across the spectrum, but yours is synonymous with hope and self sacrifice, of being better than we believe ourselves capable of being.  You took a band of mercenaries, assassins, ex cons, marines, and more, and made them into something better, or as Scott is no doubt thinking, you simply showed them they

could

be better.  Whatever the case might be, having word get out you’re here could prove beneficial, despite the previously stated problems that same news might draw our way.”

“I wouldn’t have put it quite like

that

.” Shepard pointed out with a good natured chuckle but nodded anyway.  “But yeah, how can I help people if I’m supposed to hide?”

“I have an idea.”  All eyes turned to Nadola, and the salarian perked up as she and Grev shared a look.  “We simply let the

rumor

out that you’re here, rather than the fact.”

“Rumors can be almost as motivating as the actual facts, depending on how they’re spread.”  The quarian intoned with a nod of his head.  “The hope of being proven justified in hoping for something in the first place….that can be its own motivation.  I’d know Commander.”  Shepard nor Isaac didn’t doubt it, given what she and Isaac knew about the quarians in their respective ways.

“The hope for hope’s sake alone.  Heh, I can get behind that Grev.”  Shepard nodded approvingly, liking where they were coming from.

“Heh, not a bad idea you two.” Isaac admitted with a wry grin.  “Now I just have to feed some info to Argo… though along with a few false leads to keep her from figuring out the truth too soon… she’ll probably hate me for holding out on her.”

“Join the club.” Scott muttered morosely and sighed. “She already hates me, I don't even want to know what she’ll charge me in the future.”

“You could just pay her back.” Mike casually pointed out with a shrug.

“I’m afraid to find out what kind of interests she puts on her prices.”  They were all surprised when Bradley chimed in, his cheeks turning a much brighter red when he realized he’d spoken aloud.  “Uh….heh.  I might have asked for a few hints when I first started and she was more than happy to help me and my friends out, for a price.  She was nice about it though.”

“Heh, well who’d have thought you had it in ya Brad.”  Val chuckled and ruffled the boy’s hair before pushing her cleaned plate away, one hand falling to her slightly bulging stomach.  “Ugh….and on that note, I think it’s high time we got to work.”

The Eastern Woods, Floor 1

“I hate him right now.”  Mike grumbled as he, and the rest of their group watched Scott openly flirt with a group of young asari maidens.  Having helped them clear a group of annoying goblins, the shortly cropped head of brown locks sticking out like a sore thumb among the sea of blue and purple on every side as he happily added his shortsword to their cause.

“I’d find it hard to believe he was so charming as well with the way he carries on with you, Lenn.”  Isaac stated softly, smiling despite the sharp jab from the turian’s elbow he got for his trouble.

“Bosh’tet.”  Lenn grumbled, but smirked despite her annoyance.  “Still, gotta agree with you, and this plan might just work if we’re this lucky with everyone we run into.”

“Sorry ladies, but I gotta split.”  Scott, knowing he was being watched, smiled and backed away from the heavily armed group of ‘women’, having done what they’d set out to do in spreading the word Shepard was rumored to be about the game.  “You ever need a hand though, don’t hesitate to send a message my way.”  Just because he was on business didn’t mean he couldn’t play along though as he could just imagine the audible eye rolls and groans from his companions hiding among the trees and undergrowth.  Walking away with his chest puffed out and his head held high, he waited just long enough for the group of asari to disappear deeper into the forest, a bright noonday sun high overhead after the earlier downpower, before rejoining his companions.  “And the triumphant hero returns!”

“Hey triumphant hero, your fly’s undone.”  Lenn droned, to which Scott gasped, looked down, and sighed when he remembered he was wearing armored leggings rather than a pair of pants with a zipper.  “Made you look.”

“Do you think they bought it?”  Shepard asked, her face obscured by the confines of the matching black helmet that went well with the N7 replica armor she’d taken from Scott the other day.

“I’d be surprised if they even remember.” Val grumbled moodily. “Looked to me like they had other things in mind.”

“Oh ye who are of so little faith!” Scott declared dramatically as he clasped his hands over his armored chest.  “Did you think I would so easily forget what I was sent to do?  No!  I did not, I told them that anyone who could give me concrete info would get a… reward.”  He trailed off, a sheepish chuckle escaping him at how that’d no doubt sounded.

“Seriously?” Lenn asked flatly and gritted her teeth. “That was your great idea?”

“Oh yeah, pretty genius huh?”  Scott replied, either not seeing the disbelieving gleam in Lenn’s gray eyes or he was choosing to ignore it completely.

“Genius, yes that is… a word.” Val agreed dryly. “How is he still alive again?”

“That is a question I’ve asked myself a few times.”  Mike admitted but sighed before running an armored sleeve across his forehead.  “But he has his uses, and he’s one of my oldest friends, so there’s that.”

“One of your only friends you mean.”  Scott chimed in before he too sighed and let his head hang a little.  “Not that I can talk much since you and Isaac are about the only two people I can name as such.  Elysium’s nice and all, but being one of the few fat kids in the neighborhood pretty much ensured I was never picked for the school volleyball team, and being a consummate gamer and unrepentant nerd didn’t help.”

“Meh, there’re worse things.”  Val offered with a shrug of her shoulders before she and the rest heard the tromp of organized marching off in the distance.  Only one race they knew of could move with a purpose no matter where they went.  “Turians, I’d bet my last shiny Cor.”

“Shall we introduce ourselves?”  Lenn asked, to which the rest of the group nodded their agreement before setting off.

“I’ll take this one.”  Isaac offered, and when no one argued against the suggestion, the pale skinned young man stalked off, silent as a ghost despite the fact he was in full armor like the rest of them.

“Sure, let the squishy human talk to the turians, it’s not like we got one here.” Lenn muttered with an eyeroll and glared at the young man's back in annoyance. “I’m more than just eye candy you know.”

“We know Lenn, but your clan markings aren’t exactly easy to miss, and we’re trying to keep a semi low profile.”  Val was quick to remind her turian companion before patting her on the back.

“Oh, right.  I guess you have a point.”  She admitted, unable to blush but doing her best impression all the same as they soon lost sight of Isaac as he slipped through a thick patch of thorn bushes, unbothered by the grasping thorns and vines that blocked his path as he drew his sword in the same instant.  The sound of fighting just ahead reached their ears, and the rest of the group approached cautiously, spotting the group of kobolds the turians had since engaged.  “Should we lend a hand?”

“Not just yet.”  Shepard stated, nodding approvingly towards Isaac as he cut one kobold down before spinning like a top, his blade finding a new home in a second’s stomach just as it’d been about to strike down one of the turians.  The group’s organized ranks closed up around their fellow in the next instant, with the surviving monsters falling in short order.  Once it was over, Shepard crossed her arms and smirked widely as she leaned against a tree, obscured from the group’s sight while appearing perfectly at ease.  “Nah, I think we can just sit back and relax.”

“Are you unhurt?” Isaac asked the gathered turians in the next moment. “I apologize if I stole some of your XP, but let me assure you that I did not do so to deny it to you, but rather to safeguard one of your own.”

“There is no need to apologize, human.” An older turian assured him with a grateful nod. “I thank you for protecting Quintus, the lad is still a bit green.”

“Aren’t we all?” Isaac retorted wryly but smiled as the group chuckled in turn.  Holding out his right hand once he’d sheathed his blade, Isaac smiled a little wider as the turian commander returned the gesture.  “I am Dirhael, it is an honor to make your acquaintance, and a relief to see a group that can already work together as well as yours.  I fear we will have need of such discipline in the future.”

“Too right, Dirhael.  My own name’s Festus, and you’ve proven yourself capable, perhaps you would be willing to join us?”  Festus offered, a sentiment echoed by the rest of the man’s group without a second thought.

“Unfortunately I can’t.  I’m looking for my friends, though I know that they’re still alive, I cannot help but worry. They went to investigate the rumors about Commander Shepard’s presence in this game, and I haven't seen them since.”

“Then I wish you the best of luck in finding them though I must ask, Shepard?  She’s here?  If so, why hasn't she rallied the other players to her cause?”  Festus questioned quickly, eager to hear more.

“If she is present, I cannot speculate on her motives, though I’d guess it has something to do with the ire she’d cause some players.  I very much doubt that everyone views her as a hero, and if she were to reveal herself, she could prevent the community from uniting if they’re split about the issue.” Isaac replied with a clueless shrug.  “But who can say for certain but the woman in question?”

“Who indeed.” The turian agreed even as his group members quietly talked to one another at the possible news and what it could mean if it was indeed true.  “In that case, I hope you’ll find your friends soon and in good health, so that we may meet again when it is time to kill the boss of this damn floor.”

“I thank you, and may your people’s indomitable spirit go with you.”

“It’s not often a human knows of our beliefs, even in this day and age.  But with that in mind, good luck to you as well, Dirhael.”  Festus replied, pleasantly surprised by the offered remark as they parted ways.

Isaac was all subtle smiles, flush with his small victory in his own right as he soon joined the others.  “Not bad kid.”  Shepard offered, before turning her gaze towards the right, where a just visible path out of the woods could be spotted.  “Might as well continue to spread the good word and see if we can’t find any info about any organized efforts to find the floor boss.  The sooner we join the front after getting the rest of the group up to speed as far as levels and equipment’s concerned, the better in my opinion.”

“Sounds like a plan.”  Grev agreed, his silvery gray eyes alight with genuine hope now that they had a clear plan and a goal.  The quarian had barely taken five steps towards the dirt path before an ear piercing scream reached their ears, and he stopped, turned, and drew a heavy looking hammer from his back, peering uncertainty at Shepard for direction.

“Go!”  Shepard ordered, already charging towards the scream just as the all too distinctive sound of someone being deleted from existence reached their ears only seconds afterwards.  Charging through the trees, she came to a stop on the edge of a large, spider web covered clearing, with a very large arachnid already in the process of charging a terrified group of drell on the far side.  “Shit!  We need to get that thing’s attention!”

“On it!”  Lenn called out as two throwing daggers left her taloned fingers in rapid succession, one finding a new home in the black, pulsating thorax of the giant beast, while the other seared right through its back left leg, cutting through its segmented joint.  When it took another step, the leg buckled and shattered into pixels as it stopped, turned, and glared balefully at the charging group.  Seven red eyes, one of which having already been cut, stared malicious intent in their direction, but Lenn simply spread her taloned hands wide and said, “Come and get it ugly!”

“It’s stronger than us, but we can take it!”  Bradley called out, his little mace in hand as he ducked beneath its grasping mandibles that dripped with some kind of acidic drool before regaining his feet in the same instant.  Shattering a second leg as he went past, the boy spun the other way, his second strike buckling a third leg as he went before he was forced to get out from under the spider, which he saw had a red hourglass on its underbelly.  “It’s a black widow!”

“Poisonous then.  Don’t let it bite you!”  Shepard shouted as the rest of the group spread out, surrounding it as best they could while the drell group watched on, unable to move.  Daring a quick glance in their direction, she saw that most of them were either webbed up against the trees at the edge of the clearing, or they’d been paralyzed, bitten by the spider as indicated by the ‘missing’ pieces from their characters, indicated by red grid like ‘wounds’.  “Definitely poisonous.”  Shepard grunted as she used her halberd’s long length to parry aside the spider’s gnashing fangs and mandibles.  Never staying still for long as she darted to and fro, she kept her bladed weapon always moving, landing the occasional glancing strike, but hers was a dance of distraction rather than elimination.  That task fell to the rest of the group.

A task they were more than up for as Mike planted his shield into the ground, giving Val all the incentive she needed to land on the spider’s armored back, rapier’s point leading.  She didn’t disappoint as, at the same time, Isaac and Bradley continued to dance among the spider’s remaining legs, sword and mace carving through the creature’s underbelly while Scott, Grev, and Nadola did as much damage to its legs as they could.  It wasn’t until the spider jumped backwards before its remaining legs could be severed that things took an unexpected turn.

“Gah!”  Val cried out as she, instead of jamming her sword into the spot between its neck and body, had to grab hold of the creature with one hand while the other gripped her rapier’s hilt as the spider landed some distance away, almost jarring her from its back when it did.  Feeling it tense beneath her, she cried, “It’s preparing to charge!”

“Scatter!”  Isaac called out, already on the move while Bradley and Grev’Koris dove to either side of the spider’s path as far as they could as its skittering legs began to propel it forward at a blinding clip.  Mike was battered aside by one trailing leg, but his shield took the brunt of the assault while Scott managed to slip between its legs at the last second, one a hair’s breath from driving through the side of his neck as it passed.

Nadola wasn’t so lucky though as she gave a cry, the creature’s grasping jaws digging into her right shoulder and the side of her neck as it kept going, dragging her several feet before she rolled out from behind it, unmoving as her life bar began to plummet fast.

“Nadola!”  Grev shouted, hefting his hammer with a furious scream as he charged as the spider shook its abdomen before disgorging a thick stream of silver at his chest.  Ducking beneath the webbing, he brought the hammer down, leaving a web of pixelated cracks in its thorax as its large orb like rear end hit the ground with a dull boom.

“Should we tell him she’s fine?”  Scott asked once he and Bradley had skid to a stop next to the downed salarian, a healing potion in the boy’s hand.

Taking one look at the rampaging quarian and the damage he was doing to the spider, Bradley was quick to shake his head.  “Do you

really

want to get between them?”  He asked fearfully as he upended the bottle into Nadola’s open mouth, a flashing, sickly green lightning bolt next to her life bar, indicating she was paralyzed.

Breathing a little easier now that Nadola wasn’t about to be destroyed, Scott took one look at Koris and visibly shuddered at the sight.  “Meh, on second thought, nevermind.”

The quarian in question was doing his best to pound the spider into the ground, quite literally as his blows shattered yet another of its legs, and pushed it into the ground hard enough for an ‘immortal object’ message to appear everytime he smashed the spider into the grass.

Val for her part did her best to push her rapier into what passed for a brain for this creature, somewhat hindered by both its armor like hide and the fact that she couldn't keep her balance with the hammer blows raining down on it.  But soon enough it didn’t matter as the spider gave a lurch, and fell limp, its remaining legs spread out from its ruined body before she jumped backwards, her feet touching the grass as the monster exploded in a brilliant pixelated storm.  Not that that stopped Grev from smashing the head of his hammer into the ground one last time before collapsing against the metallic handle, panted heavily as his blind rage ran its course.  “She alright?”  Val called out, loud enough for the quarian to hear.

“Y-yes.  I’m fine.”  Nadola herself answered as she struggled to sit up, her body refusing to move despite her best efforts to do just that.  “Apologies...for making everyone worried.”

“We’re all alive, that’s all that matters.”  Isaac replied as he helped Scott to his feet before nodding approvingly at the sight of the group assembling, a little dinged up, but otherwise none of them had taken a direct hit save for Nadola.  “We did better.”  He noted.

“Still not up to snuff, but we’re getting there.”  Shepard agreed as Grev ran to Nadola’s side, an antidote crystal in hand which he promptly used to cure the salarian’s paralysis.  “Nice call out on that thing’s charge though Val.”

“Kinda hard not to notice from my perch.”  Val replied before nodding her head towards the drell group as Mike and Bradley moved to assist them.  “How many….did you guys lose?”  She asked hesitantly.

The leader, or at least who they believed to be the one in charge, stepped forward once she was freed from the webbing, her amphibian like face turned into a sorrowful frown.  “Three, may Kalahari forgive me.  I led them into this mess, thinking we were strong enough, but even our strength paled in the face of...that

thing

.”  She shuddered, unable to help the tremor in her voice as she blinked large, lizard like eyes, both eyelids shutting one after the other before she let her arms fall to her sides.  “My name is Shira Krios.”  How Shepard didn’t react to that, Val, Lenn, and Vivian herself didn’t know, only that the soft, sharp inhale went unnoticed as Shira turned to help the survivors of her group.  “I had heard of Earth spiders before from my late uncle Thane, but this was the first time I’ve ever seen one, that any of us had.”

“You’re a niece to the famous assassin?”  Lenn asked, taking up the role of messenger before anyone else could do it themselves this time around.

Shira stepped forward, her soft brown eyes finding the turian’s gray orbs in the same instant, missing the quietly amused glances the others shared between them.  “Y-yes, although he was a far better man than most would’ve believed.  I suspect you know more than most.”

“You could say that.  I have a….friend, that knows a lot about the old crew.”  Lenn replied, her gaze unwavering despite feeling Val’s gaze on her back.  “They didn’t have to convince me though, the simple fact he worked with Shepard was good enough.”  Shira’s earlier sorrowful frown flickered, turning into a smile at the honest praise as Lenn took a step forward.  “Speaking of Shepard though, rumors are going around that she’s come to the game.”  As before, that got most of the group talking in excited whispers.

Shira though didn’t seemed surprised as she visibly perked up.  “I see.  If that’s true, maybe there’s hope this game will end soon after all.  Even if it’s not, simply knowing she’s trying to help us will be a weight off my mind.  There’s no way someone like her could ignore a situation like this.”

“Not just her.”  Mike was quick to point out, drawing everyone’s eyes towards him when he did, “but you’re right.  She or

her crew

won’t let this continue for long, not if they can help it.”

“My apologies,” Shira offered before letting her head fall, one hand over her light steel breastplate, “it’s….been a trying day, and I just led three of my friends to their deaths.”

“It’s as much our fault as anyone’s Shira.”  Another of her companions offered.  “We let fear win long before that….creature started picking us off.”

“But you looked to me to lead, and I failed when it mattered.”  Shira countered hotly, not about to be persuaded to the contrary.

“So what do you plan to do about it?”  Vivian’s question caught Shira off guard, her head jerking up so quick the human wondered if she’d given herself whiplash.  “A leader’s job is to take care of his or her people, that’s true, but it’s when things fall apart that a person’s character is tested.  So I ask again, what do you plan to do now that you’ve tasted defeat and loss?”  It was a question every marine had to be prepared to answer, but it went doubly so for people like her, who’d been in a position of authority for years.  Just because Shira wasn’t a soldier by trade, a fact made obvious with how she carried herself alone, didn’t matter, only how she responded now did.

“W-what do you propose I do?”

“That’s easy kid.  You can either go to the nearest town and hide until someone else fixes the problem, beating yourself over what’s happened until you drive yourself insane, or you can try and do better next time and press onward despite the losses you’ve endured.  The second choice

is

harder, but would you really let their sacrifice be in vain by not at least trying?”  Shepard asked, and while Shira didn’t have an immediate reply, she was sure she’d figure it out.  “Talk it out among your friends once you get back to town, Shira Krios, but I have a feeling you’ll do alright if you’re able to get past this.”

“Th-thank you.  Let’s….let’s return to Genesis.”  Shira threw towards her companions, who all nodded with grim determination before filing after the pale green drell at their front.  Pausing though, Shira looked over one pauldron covered shoulder and nodded her head, once, in gratitude for Shepard’s advice.  “If we ever

do

see the Commander, we’ll be sure to repay her no doubt selfless efforts somehow.”

“I have a feeling she’ll be glad just to have you around.”  Lenn replied before Vivian could give in and simply tell Shira then and there.