Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1 Resolution

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

Douglas H. Everett

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

When the death game started.'

-0-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-0-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Peace is a lie, there is only Passion.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Through Passion, I gain Strength.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Through Strength, I gain Power.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Through Power, I gain Victory.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Through Victory, my chains are Broken.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was like staring death in the face.

THE FORCE SHALL SET ME FREE!

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

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

Chapter Text

[System Reboot...Successful. All Systems Operate On 80% Efficiency]

[Initiating System's check...No problems found]

[Holonet Access...Granted.]

[Establishing Link...Access Granted. Pin: ****]

[Pin Accepted. Permission Granted, Establishing Connection]

[Permission Requested For Off-planet Access...Granted. Connection between Odessen And Tython Relays Have Been Established.]

[Accessing Alliance Database Level 1]

[Checking ID Privileges...Level 1 Access Granted]

[Loading Database...Accessing Tutorial Record...Tutorial Records Available to Viewing]

[Playing Tutorial Record First Entry Galactic Powers...]

The game's logo, Star Wars The Old Republic Online appeared on the screen as the download was finished. It was soon replaced by a recording of an old man, sitting in front of the screen with a patient, kind look on his face, a pair of glasses resting on his nose.

He wore a grey, clearly militaristic uniform, which was devoid of medals or anything to distinguish itself from a standard uniform, yet fitted the 60 something man very well.

"Is this on? Oh Hello." He smiled as he seemed to fumble with the menu in front of him, only glancing at the screen at times. After a few moments, he finally seemed happy with the settings and turned back to the screen.

"Hopefully everything is working perfectly. My name is Nishida, a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He bowed, even though it was a recording, his kind smile never leaving his face."Outside this game I was one of the people responsible for maintaining the SWTORO's server network connection as per our contract with Argus, the main developer of the game. In this world, I work for the Alliance, mainly as an administrative member, to support the deployment of the combat players as well as maintaining supply lines to other planets under the Alliance's banner. But I am rambling, please excuse me. I was asked to make this Tutorial Guide along with Argo-san, to allow players on lower levels to familiarize themselves with the basics of the game and help them advance safely."

The scene changed once again, now displaying the birdlike symbol of the Galactic Republic next to the hexagonal one of the Empire, Nishida's voice coming from the background.

"The two prominent powers of the setting of the game are the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, the two factions that the player base currently or formerly belongs to. For more than twenty thousand years, the Galactic Republic has been the most civilized and advanced power in the known galaxy. Governed by the Galactic Senate with representatives from hundreds of star systems and planets, the Republic has been the center of peace and progress, a bright beacon in the darkness of outer space. It still far from perfect with corrupt and easily manipulable officials and senators, as well various groups from the inside working for their own end."

"In bright contrast stands the resurrected Sith Empire, born from the Remnants of the Sith of Old who managed to escape the Republic's Purge a thousand years ago. Ruled by the seemingly immortal Sith Emperor Vitiate, governed by the Dark Council formed by the highest-ranking Siths, along with the military. They patiently regained their strength, hiding in the shadows, waiting for their chance for revenge. In a world where might makes right, where power was the only real currency, it was survival of the fittest, even the lowest citizens or slaves were toughened up. Eventually, the Empire revealed itself and the large conflict known as the Great Galactic War was sparked and the fire of war swept through the galaxy."

"The long and bloody war ended with the Treaty of Coruscant which introduced a ceasefire between the two superpowers but all it managed was to postpone the conflict as both factions began to lick their wounds, recruiting and training new agents and ending up in a whole new Cold War. That's where the game's storyline started. This conflict was supposed to be the central point of the game's story. Until the Eternal Empire came. Until it all became real."

The scene was once again replaced by the spear-shaped symbol of the Eternal Empire, a symbol that caused many players to tremble and panic at the sheer sight of it. It was a symbol synonymous with despair to many.

"An entire Empire, hidden in Wild Space, an uncharted part of the Galaxy. They appeared out of nowhere and systematically crippled both the Empire and Republic while the two were busy fighting each other. They were supposed to be a new enemy of the coming expansion, an enemy that would unite players of the two opposing sides. Dare I say, it did exactly that, but not in a manner that any of us foresaw."

The image changed to show a person glaring at the screen, wearing silver ceremonial armor with gold linings. It was a human male, looking around 50-year-old, with a carefully trimmed beard and short silver hair. Despite the various wrinkles on his face, he retained a youthful appearance but his most glaring feature was his eyes. They were a sickly yellow, radiating malice that could be even felt through the fear, striking fear into the heart of the unprepared.

"The Eternal Empire is a totalitarian dictatorship, led by the Eternal Emperor, the immortal Valkorion. Though to us, he is known by another name, Kayaba Akihiko. The man who imprisoned us and is playing God with our lives on the line. He leads the Eternal Empire's conquest, along with his two children, Arcann and Vaylin, and won't settle for anything less than absolute domination of the known Galaxy and the extermination of us players. And behind him a considerable army waiting for his every command."

Another image popped up, this time showing a mass armada of spaceships. of an unknown, alien design.

"The might of the Eternal Empire is the Eternal Fleet, a fleet of droid-controlled warships with immense firepower. They are mostly stated around the capital of the Empire, Zakuul but smaller patrols still pass between worlds under the Empire's sway, as well larger pockets left around more important worlds. To further bolster their military might, their droid army, composed of the Zakuulian Skytrooper model is constantly getting upgraded, along with the inclusion of the force using orders originating from Zakuul, the Knights, and Scions of the Eternal Empire. They are neither Jedi nor Sith, or at least not in the conventional sense."

"But not all hope is lost."

The screen changed now showing a hybrid symbol made out of the Republic's and the Sith Empire's symbols. The left half was the Republic one, while the second half of the circle was the Empire. That was the symbol of the Alliance.

"The Galactic Alliance, also known as Alliance against the Eternal Empire or even simply as Alliance. It's a gathering of various smaller groups, imperial and republic defectors alike who wanted to make a difference. The creation of the Alliance was a gradual thing but something inevitable considering the size of the enemy we face. At first, only shaky cooperation between larger groups of players with the creation of the main base on Odessen and other parties joining, soon it was time to be something more formal, and the Alliance was born 7 months after the death game started and began to successfully several attacks and began to carve a piece for itself among the galactic power."

The scene changed one last time, this time showing a large gathering of players standing in a military parade. Sith, Jedi, Smugglers, Mandalorian, Assassins, and simple troopers of both sides stood side by side, unbothered by standing next to their mortal enemies.

"Players from different corners of life, following different philosophies came together, to stand against the madness unleashed by a mad man. Jedi, Sith those ideologies, hardly matter anymore, no one can face the coming horde alone, only in unity do we have a chance. It's not a fight for survival, it's a fight for our freedom. And if you are brave enough to step onto this path filled with obstacles, I can only say this: thank you and good luck." Nishida finished sincerely before the video ended.

[First Entry Ended...Loading Second Entry]

[Playing Tutorial Record Second Entry: Classes...]

This time the scene displayed Argo's grinning face as she spun around in her chair, without a care in the world. She did this for several seconds before a throat clearing from outside the screen reminded her of what she was supposed to be doing and she stopped with a pout on her face.

"Alright maggots, your favorite information broker is here to give you a little freebie about the basics of the basics that you really should have known already if you are stuck here in this game. But for the idiots who lived under a rock until here is a brief description of the one thing you should consider first when you are building your character: your class."

"Here in SWTORO, you basically have infinite possibilities in the way you potentially can make your character. Wanna be able to drive small fighters or large curriers? You can. Wanna know how to use various traps and explosives to cause anarchy for your heart's content? Be my guest. Wanna pilot a giant planet-sized robot that throws around entire galaxies like a frisbee? Well, we haven't found something like this but nothing says that there isn't one. Maybe you could even find and pilot it. So here is the obvious question: what does a class do exactly? Well, it defines what options and possibilities available to you and how hard or easy to gain access to them."

"There are technically eight classes available to players, but more like four. Four classes on the Republic side and mirroring them almost to a T, there are four classes on the Empire's side. And on that note, let's start a brief description of the first class, Republic Trooper."

The screen changed, showing a corridor. A group of dark grey sky troopers was walking on a tight formation, either a patrol or a scouting group. Suddenly the wall next to them exploded as a large mass of flesh and metal ran through it and into the middle of the pack.

As the dust settled down, the figure became visible. A mountain of a man wearing heavy durasteel grey armor, with a large pauldron on his left shoulder, a single orange line running through it. There was a belt crossing his torso, full of various explosives. Lastly, he was holding a massive rifle in his hands that looked like it would weigh more than an average adult.

"DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU PUNY LITTLE MOUSES CAN STAND UP TO THE WALL? WELL, YOU THOUGHT WRONG! ONLY THOSE WITH THE PUREST, MOST HONEST SOULS CAN HOPE TO STAND EQUAL TO THE DURASTEEL WALL! YOU. ARE. NOT. WORTY." he roared out in a deep voice, before simply grabbing a grenade off his belt and throwing it into the middle of one remaining half of the droid patrol before turning away and facing the rest of them.

As he slowly walked away the grenade exploded behind him, the bright orange light caused by it was reflected on his polished armor, giving it a more ominous look.

Durasteel Wall didn't bother to even slow down as the remaining skytroopers opened fire on him, none of the shots even making a dent on his armor as he raised his weapon and began to pepper them with precision shots, unbothered by the kickback of his massive weapon. He didn't need more than one shot per droid, his rifle's rounds tearing out massive holes into their chests, sometimes simply destroying the head or just ripping a limb or two out.

When there were only three of the droids left, the massive player seemed to get enough of the slow approach and decided to make the end of this battle extra special. Holstering his weapon on his back, he charged forward, shoulder ramming the middle skytrooper, it meeting its unfortunate end between the Wall and the wall behind him.

Satisfied by his work, the player took a few steps back to admire it, not even noticing the futile attempt of ridding his body full of holes by the last two surviving enemies. Then, he suddenly reached out, grabbing the head of one of the droids in his massive hand, ripping it off with ease, only to put a grenade into the place of the missing head. He then proceeded to grab the body by its shoulder and throwing into its comrade, sending both to the ground.

As he walked away, the grenade detonation and once again coloring the background with a harsh orange glow, the recording stopped with the Wall facing the screen, looking like he came from an afternoon stroll, Argo in the background explaining.

"Lorewise, the Special Forces of the Republic military, the best of the best. This class has easy access to heavy armor, power armor that lets even regular people counter and overcome Force users, and many more. Do you want a massive rifle that punches holes into tanks or a machine gun that makes Swiss cheese of whatever standing your way? This is your class. Thanks to various military contracts, Troopers could be anything from combat medics, demolitions experts, to walking tanks with armaments appropriate to the name."

"We didn't start this war. But we damn well sure will finish it." Durasteel Wall's began to talk once again, no longer shouting but no less intense in delivery.

The scene changed, showing a new recording. It was some kind of bar, full of various lowlives, armed to the teeth. And though there was some music in the background no one was partying. The tables have been overturned to act as cover, a full room of gangsters and thugs covering beneath them, all of them facing the front door.

They waited anxiously before one of the braver ones tried to lean out of cover to check things out. That's when the sound of a single shot was heard and the brave but foolish thug fell to the ground, dead. Panicking, all the thugs began raining down shots at the entrance despite seeing no one.

The attacker seemed undeterred as they continued to simply snipe the thugs one by one until the firing stopped, the only ones alive in the room who simply hid better and were completely out of view from the entrance. Those survivors didn't move, nervously waiting for the next move of the adversary.

Much to their confusion, nothing happened for a few moments, until a few small objects rolled into the room. Before they could react in any way, the objects began to emit a large amount of smoke, instantly filling the whole room with smoke that caused the gangsters to cough and rub their watering eyes.

That's when the sound of a roaring jetpack reached them as Sinon flew into the room in all her armored glory, her sniper hosted on her back and her blaster pistol in hand. She began to kill the remaining enemies, who couldn't even aim at her as they struggled even to stand.

A couple of them tried to rush her as she lowered her altitude but she simply activated her flamethrower, spun around, creating a wave of fire around her that those idiots ran into, screaming in agony.

As the smoke thinned out, she touched the ground, seeing that all of her adversaries seemed to be dead she lowered her arm. A quick check through her helmet's readings revealed no one and she turned around, walking toward the far end of the room where a single human in expensive clothes quivered, unable to move from fright.

"No, please! I can give you anything you want, money, men, women, whatever you want just please-" that was as far as the coward got before Sinon got bored and hit him on the head, instantly knocking him out.

She grabbed him by his legs and unceremoniously began to drag him out of the cantina, unaffected by the carnage caused. She only stopped when the wall behind her opened and a large mech with four legs and massive rocket launchers marched out, instantly aiming at her.

Sinon only grunted in annoyance as she simply raised her left hand, a small projectile shooting out from it and embedded itself in the mech's chest, beeping rapidly. She turned away, no longer caring about the clear threat to her life. As the droid began to charge its weaponry the beeping got more intense and just when it tried to fire, the whole mech exploded in a massive explosion. When the flames finally died down, the bounty hunter and her prey were nowhere in sight.

The scene once again paused, showing Sinon's back as she walked away.

"Soldiers of fortune, mercenaries for the highest bidders, warriors of honor and opportunity. Whatever you call them the Bounty Hunter class is not someone many people can run from once they get a price on their heads. Similar to the Trooper class, they have easy access to military-grade, even prototype weaponry. They have a large collection of gadgets available, flamethrower, jetpack, freezer spray among some of them. Their connection to the Mandalorians makes it almost a certainty that the players will become one of their numbers, gaining access to new contacts, weapons, and juicy contracts with a very large payout." Argo explained in the background once again.

"It doesn't matter what the job is. Killing a puppy, kidnapping the Chancellor himself, or even simply delivering a message. I will see it done, so you better ready my payment." Sinon commented before she started moving away, dragging her mark with her.

The scene changed once more, this time showing a group of imperial troopers without their helmets sitting around a large table, drinking and playing pazaak. One person stood out, thanks to his lack of imperial armor, a young man with short green hair, burnt orange bomber jacket, and goggles pulled up to his forehead.

He was dealing a new round, the troopers happily drinking from their cups, laughing around until suddenly all around him began to pass out one by one. Smirking, the young man simply collected all the money on the table, along with the cards, then stood up and sauntered out of the room as if he owned the place.

Getting outside, it was revealed he was inside an imperial base. He touched something on his belt and a moment later his stealth generator kicked in, making him all but invisible to the naked and electronic eye.

He walked past a couple of guards, a few patrols, taking various turns before stopping in front of an otherwise remarkable wall. Seeing no one around he decloaked and immediately kneeled next to the wall and began to randomly push it until he found the hidden mechanism that made the camouflaged door open up with a soft hiss.

"Jackpot." the smuggler grinned to himself as he stepped into the treasury, filled with priceless artifacts, gold and jewelry, and various stolen objects that the Sith Empire hoarded for themselves. He quickly began to fill his pockets with whatever he could get his hands on.

He seemed to forget about where he was exactly as he took his time, examining various artifacts, trying to decide what to pick with him. He was rudely interrupted when five imperials stormed into the room, rifles raised and fury on their faces.

"Kill the intruder!" the apparent leader yelled as they opened fire on him, the green-haired teen barely able to jump behind an expensive-looking statue as shots rained down on him.

They continued to fire for a while until the statue was all but unrecognizable but enough of it remained standing that it still served as an appropriate cover. Suddenly the smuggler ran out from behind it, dashing to the side, leaving himself completely open in the process.

The imperials took the opportunity handed to them on a silver platter and began to fire at the fleeing smuggler, only for their shots to pass through him as the blue static of a holoprojector colored his form.

They didn't even have time to properly understand just what happened when the smuggler in question stepped out from behind the statue, twin blaster in his hands, and made short work of them with only a couple of shots.

"A classic holo decoy. Good old Recon still got it." he said to himself as the last of the imperials fell.

The screen paused just as he twirled his blaster's around a satisfied smirk on his face, Argo taking over.

"Quick, Clever, Answers to No One. Sometimes luck is more important than skill, but it never hurts to have both. That's essentially what a Smuggler is. Stacking up enemies as fast as they stack up credits, Smugglers only survive in this galaxy by being slick, sneaky, and street-smart. Whether sweet-talking an attractive alien or bargaining with a hardened criminal contact, the Smuggler's charm is a notorious asset, and often the ticket to turning around a deteriorating situation. This class has the earliest and easiest access to the best starships be it a quick, agile fighter with illegal modifications or a large freighter with almost impenetrable hull and cloaking technology. They are quick on the draw with various tricks up their sleeve but their largest assets are their far-reaching criminal contacts and the ability to slip behind all kinds of blockades and defenses."

The screen started playing again, showing Recon walking out of the vault, dragging a heavy briefcase with him. Just as another group of troopers rounded the corner he activated the stealth generator, walking past them and none the wiser.

"So, what's in it for me?" his voice rang out as he disappeared completely, the scene turning to the next video segment.

A prison block was shown, with 5 men sitting in one of the cells, lounging on the bed or angrily snarling at the glowing ray shield in front of them. A single sentry, a Knight of the Eternal Empire stood in front of the cell, standing guard. He was in full armor, force pike, and shield in his hands.

A pair of skytroopers walked past on their patrol route, the guard not reacting to their presence. Unnoticed by him, one of them had a small dagger-like object on its back and as they rounded the corner and disappeared from the guard's vision the skytrooper reached out and stabbed a similar dagger to its back. The droid shuddered for a moment its lenses turning into a strange glowing pink before it returned to normal and the two seemingly continued their patrol.

The knight looked up, tensing when another person approached him but relaxed when it was just another knight, waving at them.

"It's already time for the next shift?" he questioned receiving an enthusiastic nod in return."Thank Valkorion, that was one of the longest shifts in my life. I would rather be on kitchen duty than guard these good-for-nothing outsiders once again. Good luck." he said as he walked past the new knight, finding it a little strange that they didn't carry their weapons but wasn't bothered by it enough to voice out.

He suddenly choked on his blood as he felt a thin, deadly blade enter his chest, the tip bursting through his chest piece with barely any resistance. He tried to cry out, to alert the facility to the danger inside but before he could get even a sound out, a second blade this time a small dagger, slashed his throat, only gurgles escaping it as he fell to the ground, as good as dead.

The knight behind him that killed him silently giggled as they wiped out the blood from the blades, their form flickering with static before the hologram faded, revealing a rather short woman. She wore a skin-tight black outfit that dangerously highlighted her generous curves, a belt that was full of various objects, and high heels that looked like they could be used as weapons by themselves. She also had a sniper placed on her back, a small blaster strapped to her right thigh along with another dagger strapped to her left thigh. Her long hair that reached down to her back was half pink and half brown, with white streaks on the pink side.

She smiled at the corpse of the knight as she holstered her rapier on her back, opposite to the sniper and the dagger on her belt, before turning around and walking toward the group of prisoners who watched the proceedings with each other, taking care to sway her hips with great emphasis.

In a nearby control room a group of technicians watched in horror at what happened through a nearby camera but before they could try and alert the rest of the facility the door opened and the two skytroopers from before walked in. They raised their rifles and killed all of the technicians without any hesitation, then simply left and returned to their assigned patrol route, none the wiser.

Back to the young woman, she cheerfully waved at the prisoners who all stood up save for the apparent leader who remained seated on his bunk, looking at the girl with interest.

"Well look who the cat dragged in. I told you boys, didn't I? Those holier-than-thou idiots wouldn't be able to keep us here for long." the leader smirked at her, gesturing toward the cell shield."Be a dear and get us out of here. The Wild Ogres have a little pillaging to do, after that, you can even keep my bed warm if I won't break you, little girl." he laughed, his crew roaring along with it, a few even whistling at the woman's attire.

She simply smiled pleasantly, not at all offended by the catcalls as she released them. But at that moment her smile turned cruel as she whipped out her pistol and simply shot the four men standing in front of her in quick succession, never losing her smile as she strolled into the cell.

"What...what are you, you crazy midget? Do you know who we are? The Wild Ogres are the most feared pirates this side of the Outer Rim, even the Republic fears or mere name! You won't get away with this you hear? You can run to the edge of the galaxy but the ogres will find you and make you pay for this." the leader shaking in fear tried to boast but it soon died in his throat as she stopped in front of him, smiling down at him coyly.

He tried to get up, maybe to make a run for it if he was able to get past her but she simply grabbed him by his shoulders, forcing him back as she took her seat in his lap. Ignoring his fidgeting, she pulled a camera out of her belt and made him pose with her for a selfie.

After that she smiled at him, making him even more nervous before she kissed him briefly. Before the shock could properly set in she was out of his lap and casually walking out of the cell. A moment later the pirate leader began to cough, then choke before falling forward. By the time he fell and she stepped out of the cell, he was already dead.

"Assassin, Saboteur, the Empire's Secret Weapon. The Sith Empire dominates scores of star systems across the galaxy, but not through the power of the dark side alone. Behind the scenes, the cunning Agents of Imperial Intelligence track down and eliminate the Empire's enemies—from intractable Republic senators to traitorous Imperial Moffs to bloodthirsty rebels with Republic ties. They have a large range of abilities, from seduction to hacking, from rigging explosives, to kill silently even in the middle of the crowd. Agents usually have first dibs on prototype technology, exotic gear, and various contracts that can let them through almost every door, for the right price of course. Like the Smugglers, Agents tend to blur the line from good and bad, their allegiances and motivations in a constant fluctuation."

With Argo's explanation finished, the screen started moving again, the mysterious woman blowing a kiss towards the scene before her form flickered and she was once again in her Knight disguise, walking away without a care in the world.

The screen changed showing a battlefield, with various fallen bodies covering it. Some were skytroopers, some republic soldiers, some imperial troops. There was the odd Sith, Jedi, or eternal knight lying around as well. There was a lot of death but no living, this part of the battlefield already had been abandoned, even as starships raged their fight in the sky.

A group of sky troopers was marching through it now, with an Eternal Knight leading them, his force pike held up proudly, even as his armor showed various scorch marks and dents.

"Don't you dare slow down. We must cut off those rebels' escape routes before they can reach their vessels. Not even one of them allowed to even try to take off, we will stop stem, for the glory of the Eternal Emperor." he declared with a passionate voice, the droids behind him could only nod in mute agreement as per their programming as they reached the large canyon that divided the field into two halves and the sole bridge that still stood between them.

Only to abruptly stop when reaching the bridge, they met with a hooded person sitting in the middle of it, completely unbothered by the scenery or the approaching unit.

"You there, rebel scum! Have you come to surrender to your rightful ruler, Emperor Valkorion? Give up your sympathizer friends and you may escape with a lighter punishment. Or resist and die in the name of the Eternal Empire." the Knight gave his ultimatum as he approached the sitting figure, the dozen battle droids following him, weapons trained on the hooded man, waiting for orders.

The figure instead of answering, silently stood up, letting the hood of his cloak fall back and reveal the face of Diavel. The Jedi Knight's expression was void of any emotions as he stared down the approaching group, his breathing even and controlled.

"You shall not pass." he declared, not even raising his voice but still clearly heard.

"Insolent Outlander! Die in the name of the Eternal Empire!" the Knight declared, pointing his spike at him as the droids took aim.

Diavel didn't answer, simply took a deep breath and closed his eyes. A golden glow overcame his form, before harmlessly fading away, then his eyes suddenly opened and he charged ahead at a speed that caught his enemies off-guard.

"Kill him!" the Knight roared in answer and began to charge forward as well as the skytroopers opened fire.

The Jedi smirked as he pushed his right hand forward, a large force push catching the eternal knight and sending him behind his droids, then he grabbed and activated his two blue lightsabers, just as he reached the droids.

By the time the force user from Zakuul stood up, half of his squad was already gone. Diavel was a storm of death, his twin sabers playing a dangerous dance as he sliced the droids into little pieces. Blocking a shot with one of the blades, transitioning it into a slash that removed an arm, he was constantly in motion, his moves precise and controlled, his calm expression never leaving his face.

It was barely a matter of seconds and there was only one droid left, which he finished by plunging his off-hand saber straight into his chest. But before he could breathe in relief, his other arm rose, casually blocking the attack aimed at his back from the knight who finally reached him.

"Die, you insolent Rebel!" the Knight yelled as he locked blades with Diavel, the other looking barely winded.

"You first." was the short answer before Diavel pushed him back, turned around and the two began to trade blows.

The Eternal Knight was good and experienced but he soon began to lose ground, unable to keep up with the Jedi's speed. He tried to use the staff of his force pike but while it was made of a metal alloy that was somewhat resistant to lightsabers, in the end, it still reached its breaking point.

When trying to block a slash to his midsection, Diavel's saber simply passed through it, the pike coming apart in two pieces. The second saber was in close pursuit of the first and with nothing to block it, seamlessly severed the neck of the Knight.

Diavel didn't look particularly pleased at being able to best one of the Eternal Empire's finest and he simply deactivated his sabers and turned back to the bridge and walked away while in the distance the battle continued.

"Valiant, Determined, Guardian of Peace A symbol of hope in dark times, the Jedi Knight stands for the legacy of the Jedi Order—more than twenty-thousand years of protecting the Republic and keeping the peace across the galaxy. Jedi Knights have served as generals, guerilla fighters, and warriors for generations, with few able to challenge their legendary combat prowess, at least lore-wise. As a Force user class, there are very few limitations in front of the players. They have easy access to various sword fighting forms, various Force powers, and even military training. Be the tank that could take out an actual tank or a flurry of movement that no one can ever catch, the Jedi Knight is definitely the most iconic class inside the game but as true for all Force users classes, one of the hardest to use to their full potential too."

Diavel walked away from the corpses of his enemies, grabbing the edge of his hood and placing it over his head.

"Do or do not, there is no try. I must stand against the darkness that is coming." was all he said as he walked away and the scene changed.

The scene showing the inside of a half-destroyed hangar. There were fires everywhere as well as a couple of destroyed ships, with various droid parts thrown across the room. The sounds of repeated blaster shots turned the camera's attention toward the far end of the hangar where a single surviving person, wearing the infantry armor of the Eternal Empire was desperately shooting at something in the middle of the raging fire, fear etched across his face as he tried to run away, only to bump into a wall.

Out of the fire, a large figure stepped out, completely unharmed, almost lazily moving his red lightsaber to block the bolts sent at him. The man wore pitch-black, heavy armor that covered all of his body save for the head and his arms, with the expectation of a pair of gauntlets. He had a pair of large, spiked pauldrons set on his shoulders and a blood-red cape trailed behind him.

His head was bald, save for a few vertical lines of red hair. The left of his face was full of angry red scars that along with his frown, gave his face a rather intimidating look.

"No! Not like this! I don't want to die." the unfortunate soldier cried out as he continued to shoot, only to suddenly stop as he began to clutch his throat, something choking him. A moment later the rifle fell out of his hands as the same invisible force that choked him began to rise him into the air.

The Sith just watched him with an emotionless face before simply closing his raised hand into a fist, the soldier falling to the ground, his neck snapped.

Not giving the fallen soldier anymore thought he turned away and began to stride through the hangar, grunting in annoyance as two squads of soldiers were running towards him. Raising his head he noted an unstable beam above one group. He then casually threw his saber at it, cutting the last of its support, the beam falling at the surprised group, leaving him only one to face.

Catching his returning saber, he crouched down before suddenly jumping across the hangar landing in the middle of the surprised and horrified soldiers. With a few strokes of his weapon, they died too and he was free to continue his rather unworried walk.

There was one single ship left that looked functional: a pair of skytroopers standing guard in front of a frightened young girl who further cowered when his attention turned towards her. She wore expensive clothes, clearly a noble and probably the daughter of someone important.

The two droids opened fire on the approaching Sith but he simply redirected one of the shots back to its owner, killing it before he grabbed the second droid with the force and began to crush it into little pieces. As its remains fell to the ground, his long strides reached the young girl who trembled under the eyes of the man standing above her.

"No! Please! I don't want to die." she begged, tears freely falling from her eyes as she closed them, not wanting to look her killer in the eyes. She waited for the hopefully quick death but was surprised when a rather gentle hand grabbed her arm and helped her up and pulled her toward her shuttle.

"I'm not here to kill you. I won't even harm you if you cooperate." he told her gruffly, rolling his eyes at the surprised look the girl gave him as he pushed her forward. Seeing no better alternative the noble did as instructed, fearfully walking into the shuttle, the sith lord behind her.

A dying soldier nearby tried crawling after them, calling out with a faint voice as he feebly reached toward the girl. The sith only frowned before with a simple wave he sent nearby debris to crush him to death, then walked to the ship, his mission completed.

"Sith Warriors crush their opponents and stride toward their goals with dreadful determination, leaving ruin and annihilation in their wake. Emanating awe and terror at every step, they accept nothing but absolute obedience from their followers. Whether as an invincible Juggernaut walking through enemy fire without a care in the world or slicing through bodies like a demon-possessed, these Sith bring true terror into the battlefield. They have access to various Force training, fighting techniques, and heavy armor, none dare to stand up to them when they are in their element. But be vigilant because the path to the dark side is slippery." Argo explained once again before the screen showed the unnamed sith casually walking into the ship, his cape billowing behind him.

"Let the world tremble and tear itself apart. I am Sith, and I endure." he declared confidently just as the ramp of the ship closed.

The screen changed showing an ancient temple, old and ravaged by time standing in the shadow of a mountain. A small camp was made near the entrance, a group of soldiers as well as a couple of who might be either scholars or archaeologists studying various findings.

A soldier walked through the camp, toward a small on the side. Stepping in, he was greeted by two people. One of them was a soldier, lying on a cot, head bandaged and his armor dirty and damaged.

The other person sitting at his side was a woman who had an excessively tall figure, with glossy, dark green hair so dark that it is nearly black hanging down her back. She has white skin, almond eyes, and a regal face. She was wearing Japanese-style clothing, a sharp contrast to the clothes most people wore. Her feet clad in high crimson clogs peeked out from beneath the hem of her leaf green kimono, a single lightsaber hanging from her obi.

Overall she was a very beautiful, regal person that would take the breath of any young man away. Currently, she was concentrating on the man before her, her hand hovering over his chest, shrouded in a faint light.

The soldier patiently waited until she was finished healing the wounded soldier, who thanked her with reverence but the Jedi only smiled pleasantly.

"Lady Sakuya!" the new arrival spoke up, drawing attention to himself as he stood there with a military salute."Commander Lind's squad finished scouting ahead and found a possible entry point into the lower dungeon. He awaits your okay to go ahead." he reported, his gaze focused on the far end of the tent, instead of the smiling woman in front of him, lest he made a full of himself.

"Excellent news. I will best join him before he sets off another trap in his eagerness." Sakuya giggled to herself as she pulled out a small fan from her sleeve and opened it, hiding her mouth behind it. Giving a reassuring smile to the soldier lying down, she stood up and excused herself.

With purposeful and regal steps she walked through the camp, politely returning the greetings her colleagues and subordinates sent to her. After a short walk, she reached the temple, where a small group of soldiers was waiting, led by a man with a slightly different, bulkier armor with blue hair that was pulled into a ponytail.

Noticing her approach the man snapped into a salute, the others following a moment later, eliciting a small smile from Sakuya which she hid behind her fan.

"Commander Lind, I trust you and your men are ready to move out." she asked in an amused voice as they noticed the previously locked side entrance to the temple. No doubt Lind and his men managed to find the trigger to open this particular door.

"Ready as ever Ma'am." was the sufficient reply and the Jedi only smiled as she led the group down into the temple.

But before they could step into a temple, they heard growling around them, lots of growling that had all the soldiers tense and point their guns around warily.

"Nexu!" cried one of them fearfully as from the bushes and behind the rocks, reptile-like feline creatures with 4 eyes and a dangerous row of teeth climbed out growling angrily at the intruders to their territory.

There were a lot of them, at least a dozen from what they could see, surrounding the small group. Lind was about to order his men to attack when Sakuya put a hand on his rifle lowering it, a mysterious smile on his face.

"Don't be so quick to rush into battle Commander, when there is no need. Leave this to me." she told him with a quiet but powerful tone.

One of the soldiers opened his mouth to object but Lind shut him up with a look. He turned back watching warily as Sakuya stepped out of the protective circle made by his men and walked towards the largest, meanest looking nexu, probably the leader of the pack. Stopping several feet away, she reached her hand out towards him as if asking to pet him, a sort of ethereal light around her as she concentrated.

At first, nothing happened but gradually the nexus growling died, giving way to content and peaceful expression as all looked toward the leader who approached the smiling Jedi. Even Lind was about ready to fire as the large nexu towered over her before simply lowering his head and allowing Sakuya to pet him, even began to purr in the process.

As the soldiers watched on with amazement, Sakuya turned back to Lind, her new pet muzzling his face into her side, amusement clear on her face.

"Didn't I tell you, Commander? Knowing when to fire is more useful than simply firing many times." she lectured him with her ever-present smile.

Lind, who had a sort of exasperated look at him, opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a loud roar, much more threatening and malevolent than the growl of the nexu.

Out of the temple, a large terentatek stalked out, a monster of the dark side and a vicious predator. Its attention was zeroed on Sakuya who frowned at seeing the powerful monster charging toward them. She stopped petting the nexu at her side, its brethren already ran away in fear of the terentatek and turned her attention to a large fallen statue nearby.

"Fire at will, Commander." she ordered softly as she concentrated on the statue, raising it into the air before throwing at the charging beast, stopping it momentarily when it collided with the large stone object.

Lind and his soldiers began to fire at the terentatek but only managed to slow it down, most of the bolts unable to get through its thick hide. Meanwhile, Sakuya focused on her Force Powers, throwing large rocks at it, as well as keeping it off-balance.

It almost reached them, when the big nexu that Sakuya tamed jumped at its back, with its roar, the other nexu quickly joining in attacking the larger monster became overwhelmed by the sheer number attacking him and ended up on its back, and soon died at the hands of the ferocious felines.

"Looks like being friendly pays off, don't you agree Commander?" Sakuya asked with a smile as she scratched the behind the ear of a far too pleased with himself nexu, before he left, with his pack following. With them gone Sakuya's face turned into a calm mask as she turned toward the temple."Shall we move on?"

The captain only shook his head exasperatedly before he shouted for his men to start moving and a small team finally moved to the temple.

"Visionary, Ambassador, Seeker of Jedi Wisdom. Jedi Consulars channel the power of the Force for strength in combat and wisdom in diplomacy. Intimate attunement with the deepest Force mysteries gives Jedi Consulars the insight and empathy to deftly handle charged conflicts that confound even the most cunning Senators and governors—but Consulars know when it's time to talk and when it's time to fight. Out of the other classes, it has the least focus on combat, having access to a lot of skills some might call unnecessary. They are less about lightsaber combat and more about using the Force in a subtle way, shielding their allies, confusing the enemy, and taming beasts. Consulars are mostly seen as Scholars and Crafters but it's far from the truth. If you want a silent killer who could walk through a horde of enemies without even once giving notice or someone who could shake the very ground, you need to look for one of the Consulars."

As Argo finished her explanation the screen changed to a close-up of Sakuya who smiled behind her raised fan.

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

The scene changed once again, now showing the inside of a catacomb of an obviously sith temple. In the middle a large sarcophagus lied, ravaged by time but still impressive looking. A hidden door opened into the burial chamber, a small group of people with various gear, who looked like pirates at first glance, warily stepping into the room.

"Looks clear boss." One of them with a large flamethrower on his back yelled out and a moment later Rosalie stepped into the room in all of her glory, a lumbering mass of muscle, known as a dashade walking beside her.

She looked around the room, like a Queen surveying her subjects, nodding to herself with pleasure

"Excellent. Khem, be a dearie and open that thing for me." she said sweetly to the monster at her side.

It growled to itself in an alien language but did as commanded, walking to the sarcophagus and grabbing the lid on top. For a long moment, nothing gave as he began to try and raise it but eventually, the lid moved away, falling to the ground with a large sound that had many of the men wince.

A moment later movement came from the corners of the tomb, ancient droid protectors coming to life, some grabbing dusty old rifles while a few drawn old but still working vibroblades. The men raised their weapons, forming a loose circle around their employer.

"Do try not to die, or at least kill a few before you do." without showing the slightest care either toward her subordinates or the droids trying to kill her she simply walked in the direction of Khem who was busy killing the few droids that tried to take it on, ripping out limbs without the slightest care.

The sith simply rolled her eyes when a droid armed with a vibrosword tried to stand in her way, with a lazy wave of her hand she sent a torrent of lightning at it. Without even slowing down or bothering to make sure she took it she walked forward, leaving the smoking mess of the guardian droid behind her, stopping next to the sarcophagus.

Her eyes lighted up with delight as she spotted her prize, a Sith Holocron resting among the dust left behind by the body of the owner of this crypt. The small pyramid, containing knowledge forbidden even from sith, glowed with an ominous red light as she raised it to her eye level.

"All this knowledge, all this power is finally in my hands. Nobody can stop me now." she said reverently before crying out in pain as a burst of energy came from inside the Holocron, shocking her slightly and making her drop the Holocron.

"Who dares disturb my crypt? Who dares steal from the great Dark Almage." the force ghost of the Sith to who the Holocron belonged to appeared before her, glaring at her maliciously.

He was a sith pureblood, his red eyes brimming with power even after thousands of years after the death of his body but Rosalie was hardly frightened as she looked down on him like he was something foul she stepped on.

"I don't care." was all she said before she grasped hold of the spirit with the force, her eyes lighting up red as she started to absorb his essence into her, the ghost unable to even cry out in protest and it struggled in its place suspended.

Rosalie grinned as dark side corruption spread over her features. Her skin paled to an unhealthy white, dark veins appeared on her face as her eyes sunk back and took a sick yellow. But after a few moments of struggle, she absorbed the spirit entirely, letting out a tired grasp as she hunched over, using the sarcophagus to keep standing.

After she caught her breath, she began to cackle like a madwoman, gaining the attention of both her men and the still working droid who immediately targeted her, their sensors picking up the Holocron on her person. Rosalie only grinned at them before she raised her hand.

The wind started to pick up, stronger and stronger as it circled around her, quickly turning into a miniature whirlwind that picked up the droids one by one. Her men had the presence of mind to back off and grab hold of anything nearby to keep themselves anchored, while Khem simply stood, waiting for his next order with crossed arms, completely ignoring the storm.

"Die!" the power-hungry Sith roared as she unleashed a literal lightning storm, destroying all the droids with one swift move before their smoking carcasses fell to the ground.

Her men slowly picked themselves up, looking at her in awe as she smiled with satisfaction, the dashade obediently following after her before the screen paused and Argo once again took over.

"Sinister, Deceptive, Prodigy of Force Power. Treachery hides around every corner in the Empire's dark corridors, and survival depends on an individual's natural cunning and the will to manipulate and defeat their enemies and allies alike. The Inquisitor experiments with forbidden powers to not only survive in this cutthroat environment but to excel and seize authority. Similar to their Jedi counterpart, this class offers many options to experiment with. Want to leech away your opponent's life to strengthen your own, maybe cause a literal lightning storm and destroy everything in your path, or maybe be the unseen blade that plunges into the heart of your enemies? It is yours for a price. You will have many options but it will be up to you to live up to your potential."

Rosalie smiled seductively at the camera as she walked forward, putting a great emphasis on the movement of her hip.

"I am the future of the Sith Order, and I intend to reshape it in my image. The Empire and the Sith belong to me." she declared haughtily before the screen faded to black.

"Of course there is a lot more to the game than simple classes and paths you can choose to start with." Argo said as she reappeared on the screen, lunging lazily in her chair, her ever-present grin on her face. "It only provides the foundation that you can use to make your very own character. The possibilities are practically endless, you can become anyone. But for that, you have to brave the world out there, put your life in danger. But you wouldn't be here listening to little old me lecturing if you weren't ready for it already. So my advice?" she leaned forward, looking deadly serious and staring into the screen as if she could see into the soul of whoever was watching this video. "Take the plunge. Take your first step and grab hold of your destiny with two hands and make it yours."

She remained stone-faced for a moment after her small speech but it didn't take long before she burst into chuckles as she retook her seat, and waved away the formerly serious atmosphere.

"Nah, don't have to take me seriously but consider this. After all, we are trapped in this game, it has already been more than a year, sometimes I wonder how long will we stay here? So if you are here with nothing else to do other than to wait for others to try and find an answer, why don't you go out and play? Give it a little thought. And in the meantime, get ready for the next tutorial, we are taking a long and hard look at one of the most interesting and frustrating aspects of the game, the Force." she said before she reached to the side and the recording stopped, the screen turning blank.

[Second Entry Ended...Loading Third Entry]

[Playing Tutorial Record Third Entry: The Force...]

[Error. Connection Terminated.]

[Shutting Down.]

-0-

"Why did it have to cut off just when it came to the good part?" a young girl whined softly, earning a few scolding looks from people around her as the Jedi library's holoprojector died down.

She had rather short, milk-tea-brown hair. She was wearing a vivid royal-blue one-piece dress with golden frills, something that looked quite out of place on a Jedi but looked nice on her. Her outfit was supplemented with a pure white cape, the hilt of a simple vibroblade peeking through from her shoulder.

"I mean we were told that connection to the main Odessen server is wobbly as it is since the relays tend to be destroyed by Zakuul's spaceships." the teenage boy at her side replied somewhat shyly, as he tried to calm her down, lest one of the masters come over and lecture them about how to act in a library. Again. "But I don't see why you wanted to go over these Yuna-chan. These are all stuff we already know."

He looked around 17, he was a thin, timid-looking boy who had decaying leaf-colored hair and light brown eyes. He wore the traditional brown Jedi robes, with only a little armor plating on his arm and shin. He had two lightsabers on his belt, both looking as if they were constructed yesterday, showing no wear or tear.

He was surprised when he found Yuna's finger in front of his face, the girl pouting him with puffed-up cheeks which only made her look even cuter.

"It's important to go over the basics, to be ready for whatever waits outside the relative safety of Typhon. After all, we are about to embark on our own quest, to make our mark on the galaxy and take the fight against the tyranny that rules it. There is nothing wrong with being prepared, especially if we want to make a good first impression on the alliance when we get there, Eiji," she explained passionately and the boy found himself hard-pressed to argue against her.

"Please use my in-game name, Nautilus, you know people tend to be a little irritated by any reference to the real world. And shouldn't you finish your training quest first and earn your lightsaber before thinking about leaving Tython behind?" he asked and privately was delighted at the blush that overtook Yuna's face as she refused to meet his eyes. But then his amusement disappeared as he let out a sigh and frowned at her."You know you don't have to push yourself right? It was my decision alone to leave Tython behind and join the Alliance. You don't have to rush to come with me, in fact, I would be much calmer if you were to stay be-"

He was silenced when Yuna leaned forward and grabbed his right hand with both of hers, raising them up to their eye level as she looked resolutely in Nautilus' eyes. It honestly took his breath away.

"But you know as well as I do, I just can't stay behind. It's been so long since the game started, I don't want to spend all my life here cowering in fear. I want to go out there, to see those distant stars, to experience all this world has to offer, but more than that, I want to help people, to use my power for something meaningful," she exclaimed heartily as she continued to smile at her childhood friend and self-appointed protector. "I know it's dangerous out there, but even if things look bleak, I will have you to save me, won't I?"

Nautilus tried to object but as he opened his mouth no sound came out. In the end, he gave in, a small smile resting on his face.

"Of course I will always be there to protect you." he agreed in the end.

Yuna cheered loudly, catching him slightly off-guard as she pulled him up and began to run toward the exit, tugging him after her.

"Then there is no time to waste. Master Yuan, I am ready for my trials!" she shouted with excitement even as people sent the two of them disapproving looks as they ran through the halls of the temple.

"Yu-Yuna! Please slow down, we will be scolded by the Masters," Nautilus pleaded but his words fell on deaf ears, even as one particularly old-looking Jedi shouted after them.

Just what did he get himself into?

Chapter Text

Stars. Distant suns, hundreds, thousands, even millions of lightyears away. Their light finally had reached the small earth in a remote corner of the galaxy after lifetimes, maybe even after the star it originated from was no more. Yet even long after their death, their effect was felt on the universe.

Maybe that was why he found himself so fascinated by them.

Or because they looked cool. In the mind of a ten-year-old Kirigaya Kazuto, the two honestly meant the same.

"Kazuto, don't stay out for too long or you will catch a cold." his mother warned him as she finished putting away the dishes, calling out to him and interrupting his stargazing as he laid on the veranda.

"Sure," he mumbled, barely paying attention, his eyes fixed on the starry sky up ahead and trying to find as many different formations made of stars as he could.

With his young mind, he wondered if there was any life out there among those stars he looked at with so much fascination. What would they be like? Would they be friendly, maybe similar to humans, or completely different? Would they be like the aliens in Star Wars or like in Star Trek?

He wondered what he would do if he met one of them. Would the alien become his new best friend? He would be the coolest kid in his grade if he had a cool-looking alien as his best friend. And then everyone would have to do as he says if they wanted to meet his alien friend.

Then his alien friend would bring more alien friends with him who would be friends with him of course and soon he would be the most popular kid within the whole school and nobody could call him nerd or brainiac or even dork. They would have to be friends with him or have a lot of aliens angry at them.

His plans of conquering the school, the country, and at last the world through morally questionable friendship were interrupted when the door opened and his little sister poked her head out, an adorable pout on her face.

"Geez, big brother. Did you forget today is movie night? Come back and watch movies with me." she pleaded and with a regretful sigh, Kazuto decided to shelve his plans of world domination. His sister could be a pain in his behind, as he heard Grandpa describe her at one time when she didn't get her way.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." he said as he stood up, mournfully looking at the stars that shined above indifferently to his plight."What are we watching anyway?"

At his question Suguha brightened up as he pulled a DVD case out behind her, showing it proudly to him. Of course, that meant she thrust the object into his face, making him unable to read what was on the cover.

"Since you like those space movies so much I graciously decided we can watch star wars. We can even start at the beginning and watch all other episodes as well," she admitted proudly, her eyes closed as if she was waiting to receive praise for her idea.

Instead, Kazuto only felt dread as he grabbed the case and looked at it carefully, a pit on his stomach opened as he suddenly got a very bad feeling about this.

"Sugu," he started to say, hesitantly, wanting to believe the best of his clingy but still lovable little sister, that it was just a genuine mistake and not ignorance of the highest order."You do know that even if it says the first episode, that's not where we should start, right?"

His hopes had been dashed when in response she frowned and tilted her head to the side.

"Of course it is, everything starts with the first episode, silly big brother. It wouldn't make sense to number them any other way," she explained with the stubbornness of someone who knew nothing of star wars yet dared to state the opposite.

"You should start with the original trilogy, with episode four." he raised his voice passionately, something unusual from the normally laidback ten-year-old."It is the very movie that started that adventure a long time ago, in a galaxy far away, everything that is star wars came from the beginning that is A New Hope. The prequels are fun and all but they are only there to fill in the blanks of the original, so they must come after watching episodes four to six. There is no other proper way to experience Star Wars in its glory."

"But that doesn't make any sense." she stubbornly refused to see the light much to his despair."Next thing you tell me that the sequel trilogy is not a thing"

"That outrageous piece of fanfiction would never stand on the same pedestal that is reserved to the original trilogy. Even the prequels stand above them." Kazuto interrupted her with a hollow voice, a literal dark cloud starting to form above his head.

It seemed Suguha's limited patience reached its limit because she simply got red as she frowned at him before abruptly turning away from him, an angry pout forming on her face.

"Well if you are like that, then you can't come to watch The Phantom Menace with me. Serves you right to be a big meanie, stupid big brother." with that she marched away, closing the door behind and leaving him out but he didn't care at the moment.

He fell to his knees, his belief in his sister completely shattered. Her sister denying the proper order to watch Star Wars seemed like the greatest sin in his young mind, an affront to everything he stood for.

Kazuto simply looked back at the night sky, the stars shining relentlessly, still uncaring about his plight but simply gazing at them managed to calm him down and a lazy smile spread on his face as he reached up a hand, as if wanting to grasp the stars themselves.

"Someday, I want to go up there." he murmured to himself, a solemn promise forming within himself."To see the stars and all they can offer, I will be going there one way or another."

At that time he didn't even realize how quickly his life would change in a few weeks when he would find out the truth about his origins and the subsequent self-isolation from his family and people in general that he would not break out for many years. But even as he fell into the wonders of computer games, as he began to basically devour every article that was talking about a new level of virtual technology that was being developed by a newly discovered genius, one thing would not change.

At the back of his head, at the oddest times, he would remember that promise he made under the stars on that night.

-0-

"From a certain point of view, I got my wish didn't I?" Kirito wondered out loud with a somewhat bitter smile as he looked at the sky."Though I never imagined it would turn out like this."

Above him was the dull orange sky of a fictional planet, recreated into a virtual game that was his prison for more than a year by now. No matter how many worlds he visited, no matter how many times he saw a different sky, even if he intellectually knew it wasn't the real thing, he couldn't help but be awed by it.

Then the effect was broken as a broken fighter sailed above him, doing a nauseating-looking corkscrew before landing in the ground, instantly exploding.

After that, the sky lit up with various lights, or lasers more like as various ships, from small fighters and cruisers of both Sith and Republic make and the occasional dreadnought clashed against the waiting defense mounted by the Eternal Fleet. Finally, the Alliance arrived in force and the battle of Darvannis started in earnest.

"Took them long enough." he heard Sinon mutter in front of him. She was down on one knee, using a piece of wall to stabilize her rifle as she systematically started sniping everything that tried to come their way and looked even remotely unfriendly.

The two of them were under the shade of a recently destroyed control tower, its remains to their back and various rubble blocking the sides leaving the enemy with only one direction to try and come after them, which afforded them a pretty defensible position. Kirito didn't even have to uncross his arms, those idiots droids employed by Zakuul had no hope of escaping the Mandalorian's sight.

After a successful landing, the strike team split up into two groups, each after one of the control towers, to take them out of commission, for their main force to be able to engage the fleet overhead without worrying about the considerable planetary defenses making mincemeat out of them.

On paper that was the plan. In truth, Kirito simply charged forward by himself, toward one of the towers and taking on everything that stepped into his path, with Sinon hurrying after him and watching his back. Thanks to the element of surprise and the ferocity of the Sith Lord, they met little resistance on their trek to the tower, where Sinon quickly destroyed it with a large pack of explosives that was prepared beforehand, while Kirito kept the defenders distracted.

As an explosion rocked the tower and forced the top half to topple over, a similar event went down the other tower, where the trio of Klein, Asuna, and Liz dealt with their assignment. After that, they were told to hold their ground, until the main force arrived and the Pathfinder, along with a couple of transports broke through the blockade, carrying soldiers, players, and NPC alike so the ground battle could start in earnest.

It wasn't a bad tactic, though there was a chance of the enemy sending so many troops that even with the superior position, they could be easily overwhelmed. Fortunately, it seemed the AI that commanded the forces around here had either deemed them unimportant as a threat to commit more forces against them, or the Zakuulian military was stretched far thinner than they were led to believe.

It could even be a ruse and they wouldn't know any better.

"Should we really wait here for them to gather enough troopers together?" Kirito asked into his earpiece, far too laidback for someone fighting for his life a few minutes ago and still in the middle of a battlefield." We are sitting ducks out there, cover or no cover."

Sinon didn't even turn around at the sound of his voice, after staring silently at the sky for so long. The only evidence that she heard him was a momentary pause of her hand as she pulled the trigger before she resumed killing the approaching troopers without the slightest hint of mercy.

"Kind of you to finally join us." Klein's dry voice greeted him, gaining a small smirk as he imagined the exasperated look on the man's face. "Next time I would appreciate it if you waited for orders before rushing off in a blaze of swords. Would help with keeping an orderly formation a lot." from the background of the trooper he could hear the hiss of a lightsaber, grumbling that sounded like Asuna, and the sound of blasters firing repeatedly.

Instead of feeling ashamed or embarrassed at the slight scolding he got from the second-in-command, Kirito simply shrugged. It was not the first time his insubordinate playstyle was brought up and knowing himself well enough, he would receive a few more as well.

In the end, as long as he showed results, not a lot of people could complain about him, that was the beauty of being one of the frontline players.

"Come on, we had to use that element of surprise while it lasted. Also, it made more sense. Out of everyone, I and Sinon are the most used to working with the others, so even with the two of us we barely had any trouble dealing with skytroopers and the odd Zakuulian Knight." he informed the trooper with a small smile.

In front of him, Sinon couldn't help but let out a soft snort, obviously listening to the conversation, as no doubt Asuna and Liz did too. From the actions of his sniper friend, she didn't buy his excuse at all and it seemed neither Klein.

"Cut the crap! We both know that it wasn't even on your mind when you charged forward." he rebuked him without the slightest hint of hesitation but the man didn't sound angry, just a little frustrated."You were always the one to go after your own head, but please for the love of the Force or whatever you believe in, try to at least make it look we are working together. Otherwise, Asuna will have both of our heads."

In the background, he could hear the angry muttering of said Jedi, and Kirito had to force himself to hold back a wince. That woman had one hell of a lung on her and it made even him slightly hesitant to cross her. Her dressing-downs, especially toward new recruits who were a bit unruly and just a bit too much awe was legendary.

Interpreting his silence as a silent plea not to sic the rather violent Jedi on him, Klein simply chuckled as the sounds of battle in the background intensified.

"To answer your question we need to establish a sort of landing zone for our troops to land and the two towers seem ideal. So you just sit tight and hold on until reinforcements come raining down from the sky." the trooper answered, Kirito snorting in amusement before both of them turned to face their enemies.

Stepping away from the wall he was leaning against, he raised one hand toward nearby rubble, a large piece of a nearby wall specifically, and concentrated.

One of the most complicated parts of the game's system, yet a fundamental part of it was the Force. Lore wise, it was an energy field that encompassed and connected all living beings, some even went so far to call it a living entity, some simply classified it as energy to be used. Both the Jedi and Sith Order trained to use it according to their own philosophies, for a variety of purposes.

In the game's point of view, it was another matter entirely. Essentially it was the equivalent of magic and quite a few people were skeptical at how Argus, the developer of the game, would go about making a virtual reality game based on the Star Wars franchise and incorporate its most important asset. Quite a few beta testers had reservations when they first entered into this world but all of them were left flabbergasted by its complexity and sheer genius.

In layman's terms, those players with the Force-sensitivity core skill, which meant the two Jedi and two Sith classes were the only ones who had access to the Force system. Though there had been rumors about a special quest that could award the specific skill to non-Force-user classes but not even Argo, the best in this business heard anything definitive, nor it would make much sense since other classes focused on other skills to compensate for the lack of Force skills.

Rather than just a set of skills that the player could activate on a specific command, the Force was much harder to actively use, especially in battle. The NerveGear that captured the brain's commands to the body and redirected into the virtual body had another function. It read the brain signals with great precision and it allowed it to capture and translate commands that weren't simply sent into limbs but ran much deeper. In layman's terms, it managed to record and somewhat replicate the Will of the player.

For a player to use the Force, first they have to learn to use it and it was a very different task. It was like moving a fifth, completely new limb, that reacted and worked differently for every person and there was no definite guidebook. It did have a few passive skills and various Force powers that you could put points and training into, to strengthen and master it but it was not as easy as pushing a button on the keyboard and making your character deliver the action like in the old days of computer MMO's.

Basically, the system interpreted the will of the player, what they wanted to accomplish, and their focus on the action. Then it accounted for the stats and skills of the player and calculated if the action would happen, its strength, and how successful it would turn out to be. In theory, the will of a player could override the system, causing effects that their character shouldn't be able to cause but so far no one managed to exert their willpower on the system to such a degree. At least not without drastically negative consequences.

Precise control over this system didn't come overnight and even now, he knew players who had a lot of trouble with it. That was probably the reason why the non-force user classes were quite popular despite lacking the franchise's iconic space magic.

Fortunately, Kirito fell into the category who spent hours dedicated to perfecting their craft, getting familiar with each and every aspect of it. Thus it enabled them to force their powers to new heights and most importantly made it very easy to use the Force in the middle of a battle, not just outside of it.

Therefore it barely required any concentration on his part for Kirito to mentally grab and raise the large pieces of rubble around them before launching them at the enemy that tried to approach them.

The Droids were either too dumb or too slow to get out of the way and became nothing more than junk under the heavy pieces of metal, while the few Knights among the group continued to march without hesitation.

Still, they were further delayed which gave Sinon more room to do her magic, so Kirito wrote it off as a victory.

"They are stubborn and surprisingly resilient, I have to give them that. At least they keep the fight interesting," he commented with a grin as he stepped next to the sniper's position, hands out of habit grasping the hilt of his sabers, even though the nearest wave was still far away.

His partner didn't react visibly to his sudden movement, calmly shooting down a couple of foolish knights who abandoned their large human-sized gold shields in favor of trying to reach them faster.

"It took a lot longer for you to break out of that this time," she said at last and Kirio couldn't help but frown angrily at her words as he understood their meaning. "These episodes are getting more and more frequent and longer." there was no accosement in her tone, only a cold detachment, something the sith lord could appreciate.

"Don't worry about it. I'm handling it," he replied stubbornly, keeping his eyes on the slowly advancing group of Force users.

Both of them were careful not to say out loud the underlying issue as if talking about it simply would make it all the more real. Kirito was honestly fine with it, he liked to put the issue into the back of his head and forget about it, not like he didn't have other things to worry about. But it couldn't be ignored forever, the price of power that he was forced to pay.

Unconsciously his hands tightened their hold on his lightsabers, mouth forming into a silent snarl as the murderous rage that shimmered under notice once again erupted. Maybe it was the promise of a coming battle, or simply just Sinon bringing the matter up but it took a lot of willpower to stay his hand, forcing his body to relax. That rage, the urge to fight had always been there to some extent, ever since that first encounter when they learned the game was no longer a game but it was getting worse, harder to control.

Idly, he wondered was it an after effect made by the Force system, forcing the values of light and dark on them to keep true to the lore of the franchise, or was it simply an unforeseen after effect the deep scans the NerveGear took of their brain patterns to accurately translate their will to something that would affect this world? He knew full well it was nothing but idle musings, questions that he probably would ever find answers for but it was a nice distraction. It helped keep back the urge to kill, to rip, and main.

His willpower will run out at some point, he was not fooling himself to believe otherwise but right now they had more pressing concerns on their hand. Concentrating on them helped reinforce his resilience and keep that part of him at bay.

But it seemed his casual words weren't enough to convince Sinon of that. She shot down another Knight that tried his luck before looking up from her scope and sending a brief glare at him that he felt even though he wasn't looking in her direction.

"Don't lie to me. By the time you reached the ground, you were already far gone. It was hard enough to keep the others away from you, less you accidentally turned your swords at them. It's getting worse, don't deny it." she told him, returning her attention to her sniper. Her tone was as cold as ever and he could only hear the barest hint of frustration bleeding through it. But for Sinon who prided herself at her calm attitude, it was the equivalent of screaming in rage.

Sometimes the passive skill to sense the stronger emotions of the people around him was more of an annoyance than a help. It would be much easier not to sense the worry she felt for him, it would make him feel less guilty at least.

His 'condition', if it could be called that, was something he kept very close to his chest. Not even the others on the strike team, maybe with the exception of Argo, were even aware of something not being quite right with him.

Sinon was the only one who was aware of it and knew everything regarding it and even that had been unintentional. A particularly messed up op, the two of them cut off from reinforcements, they were in dire need of help so he acted. He let loose, knowing at the end of it he would have to explain it to her.

Surprisingly she took it well. She questioned him thoroughly, making sure that he was able to control it and it would not make him a hindrance to the Alliance, to her, then with the pragmatism that she was famous for, she simply told him that she would keep an eye on him. She would be watching him, looking after him, whenever he got overwhelmed.

And in the end, she solemnly vowed that if he ever fully lost control, she would put him down before he could go on a rampage.

That promise, that death threat hanging over his shoulder reassured him more than anyone else and he began to appreciate her quiet companionship more and more. It felt to have who he trusted with his secrets, though only to an extent and who had done the same.

Though at times like this, when he felt her worry was completely unneeded, her worry was more annoying than welcome. Still, after a long minute of silence before he sighed, silently accepting defeat in this debate.

"We were cooped up for too long, that is the only reason that I lost control so soon and so violently. And like it or not, we need all the help for this offensive. The defenses are even stronger than what our scouts reported." he explained softly and he wasn't exactly wrong.

The past month he barely got even the chance to farm and work on his levels, he was constantly forced to either oversee the training of new recruits, guard supply lines or prepare for this very battle. It left him just a little bit frustrated.

"You should really talk with someone about this, someone with more knowledge of the subject." she responded after a while, carefully weighing her words."I know that Sakuya had been looking into similar topics, maybe she could offer you help or advice."

"I refuse to beg a Jedi for advice. I will be fine on my own," he replied flippantly without a moment's hesitation. Meanwhile, the surviving Knights almost reached them, he could easily make out their spiky golden helmets reflecting the harsh light of Darvannis sun, most of them carrying a long lightsaber pike and enormous shields.

Despite the situation, he welcomed the coming battle, where he no longer had to think about complicated manners, only concentrate on ending the enemy in front of him.

At his side, Sinon chuckled softly as she stood up from her position and put away her sniper rifle. At this range, it would soon be more of a hindrance and instead, she checked her ammunition for her other weapon, before putting on her helmet.

"I should have known that would be your reaction. I wonder if your reaction is like this because you have gotten too immersed in this game, to the point you really act like the sith you say you are or because she dumped you," she added with obvious mirth.

"For your information, it was I who dumped her, not the other way around and that has nothing to do with it," he replied but couldn't help the embarrassed blush that appeared on his face as he looked away.

He and Sakuya had a thing between them, not long after the alliance was formally formed and they were sort of good for each other for a whole month before their ideals started to clash so much and both decided to end it before either did something they would regret. In the end, they parted cordially and remained friends, in the sense that both did their best to avoid being with each other without others around and their past relationship was taboo for everyone to bring up.

Kirito was more than aware that he and his approach to relationships, both platonic and romantic, was not the most healthy But after more than a year that was spent constantly waging war against a superpower that easily dwarfed both the Republic and Sith Empire and have to do many things his moral compass didn't agree easily, people needed their coping mechanism.

For some, it was pretending that everything was alright, some others found joy in bitching about almost every aspect of star wars they disliked or design flaws they found in the work of Kayaba Akihiko. He, on the other hand, along with a handful of others simply embraced the whole world that was all they had for a long one and a half years.

Their new reality, whether they liked it or not. The end was still far away, their victory was uncertain. It was doubtful that even if they defeated Zakuul they would be freed from this virtual prison, after all, they had nothing but the words of a madman for it. It was easier to block out the world outside, all the things waiting for them, everything they missed, and do their best to cope in the middle of a galactic war.

With a hiss, a pair of red blades appeared at his side. Kirito kept his weapons lowered as his mask slowly expanded and covered his lower face. The Knights were almost on them, they could hear their yells as they encouraged themselves and fellows and demanded Kirito's and Sinon's death.

"I will be fine, as long as I have enemies in front of me," he promised her solemnly, his eyes trained forward. "I will keep it under control but if worst comes to worst..." he trailed off, both of them aware of what he was referring to.

"I know." Sinon agreed solemnly.

The two of them readied themselves for the upcoming fight. Kirito's eyes flashed red as he charged forward to meet the enemy head-on and Sinon's jetpack roared as she took to the skies to support him from above.

They made a good team, it was plain and simple. They understood each other well enough to cover each other, to know what the other was planning. They had each other's back, there was nothing else to it. No complicated feelings, no reasons that made everything more difficult than it would need to be.

They simply worked well together.

"Looks like the party is just starting," Kirito spoke up suddenly, the sith lord indicating toward the sky.

Sinon followed his eyes and she was surprised to see a large hammer-head class cruiser painted in blue and bronze colors slowly descend from the atmosphere, despite the smaller fighters harassing it. She focused her helmet's optics on it, making out a couple of smaller ships following in his wake as well.

Thanks to the strike group, most anti-air turrets were out of commission, what remained needed to be aimed manually and they simply weren't enough by themselves to bring down the large ship or stop it from descending toward the battlefield.

The Alliance's very first cruiser, the Pathfinder, reached Darvannis.

-0-

He watched the Pathfinder slowly descend with a muted awe. Even if he watched cruisers, that one in particular doing it countless times on various battlefields, the effect on him was never lessened.

Tsuboi Ryoutarou grew up with Star Wars, his father, even his grandfather an avid fan of the franchise and by the time he could remember, he was watching the various trilogies, cartoons, and other shows on his father's knee, cheering at every space battle and crying at emotional scenes. As he grew older and he began to play video games, the first ones he tried were of course star wars games. And a part of him never let go of the dream of once again sailing among the stars and taking a stand for what was good.

So it was natural that when SWTORO was announced he was the first out in the shops to buy it, along with his friends. Unfortunately, he didn't get invited to the closed beta but upon the official start of the game, all of that ceased to matter and he dived in without a second of hesitation, to relive his childhood.

Then a month later everything changed, and ever since then, his wish came true in a certain sense. He only wished that the price to pay it wasn't that steep.

Klein suddenly shook his head, banishing those thoughts. He could stand and gape at cruisers whenever he wanted but not in the middle of a battlefield. He peeked out of his cover and raised his rifle, sending a couple of well-aimed shots at a droid that managed to get too close, killing it instantly.

"Heads up, girls! Reinforcements incoming," he called out to his two comrades as he pulled a thermal detonator off his belt and threw it into a cluster of droids, the grenade destroying them with extreme prejudice a moment later.

He, Asuna, and Liz took a stand in the remains of the control tower they brought down. Asuna was in front, the nimble Knight easily sending back any blaster bolt sent her way and dealt effectively with any Eternal Knight that wandered too close. Liz was behind him, in a deep meditative stance, occasionally picking up large boulders from the earth and sending them sailing toward the approaching enemy forces but mostly kept her concentration on Asuna, healing and buffing her up constantly.

Klein was close to her, using a large piece of intact wall as cover. He was her guard, responsible for eradicating everything that tried to get close to the mostly defenseless Jedi and providing cover fire to Asuna whenever it looked like she would be overwhelmed.

It was a simple strategy, optimized to keep them all safe. Thankfully the terrain and the remains of the tower were excellent to fuel the enemy so as long as they could keep up with that pace, they wouldn't be overwhelmed. Nonetheless, the promise of their main force arriving was something that relieved all of them.

Asuna simply nodded in his direction to show that she heard him before she refocused on the enemy in front of her, blocking a thrust from the Zakuulian Knight that rushed her. Her moves were precise and elegant, none of the wild, unpredictable swings that Kirito was known for. She was also fast, to the point sometimes Klein had trouble even following the path of her single blue blade.

Liz only grunted to show she heard him, too immersed in the Force to properly acknowledge him.

When the game first started he made a Sith Warrior account, since who didn't want to swing around a lightsaber at least once in their life but he soon found out that he barely had any aptitude nor patience required to learn to effectively use the Force system so after a week or two he switched over to Trooper and after the game became something else, he decided to make most of his class. Something he didn't regret one bit since he found himself flourishing even in deadly combat.

"Strike team alpha, this is Pathfinder Group one, please confirm your coordinates and landing zone." a deep, familiar voice rang in his ear suddenly, which brought an instant smile to Klein's face as he retreated behind his impromptu cover.

He immediately pulled out a rectangular device from his bag and activated it, a large antenna extending from it. It was a simple amplifier that was used to help their signals get through even through natural interferences and low-level jamming.

It was a useful thing but also expensive and a bit of a pain to lug around with all the equipment. But Klein's opinion on the matter was unchangeable: anything that could help his team to get out of these frankly suicidal missions alive was okay in his books.

"Agil is that you?" he asked with surprise at hearing the familiar voice, a roguish smirk appearing on his face. "Since when do you leave your comfy little bar to join us, idiots, on the thick of the fighting?" he heard laughter on the other end, apparently the men in hearing distance found his comment especially funny.

"Can't leave all the fun to you, can I?" he replied jovially, taking the teasing for what it was."Where are you? The Bulls and I are ready for some action."

"Well then hurry up before we kill all of these scrap heaps." Klein answered jovially."We are holed up in the remains of the comm tower east of the main compound. Most of the anti-air turrets are offline but a few of them are manually operated so watch out for those as you descend. And send a few of your men toward the other tower a few clicks to the west, would you? Kirito and Sinon are holding their ground over there."

"What do I hear? Our almighty dark lord of the sith needs help?" Agil asked back with a barely controlled chuckle. Agil, Kirito and Klein worked together a time or two and the lone wolf attitude of the youngest out of the three of them was legendary among the alliance.

"Perish the thought. Knowing him, he wouldn't even ask for reinforcements even if he faced the entire Eternal Fleet by himself." the trooper replied with a slight shaking of his head.

"Yeah, that sounds more like him. Alright, the bulls are en route to your position, sending a smaller group to pick up Kirito and Sinon. What's our ETA?" Agil asked someone on his end. There was a muffled answer that caused him to groan in annoyance."Sorry Klein, looks like you have to hold out for a while, our ETA is 10 minutes at the minimum."

Klein withheld the urge to growl at it. While they were holding out well so far, he knew well enough how quickly the tide of battle can change. Still, there was no use lamenting about it, only to grit his teeth and simply adapt to the situations.

"Roger that. Do hurry up though," he answered at last.

"Will do. Stay alive in the meantime." with that, the connection was cut off.

Instead of wasting time to put away the amplifier, Klein simply left it there as he grabbed his rifle and peeked out of his corner, immediately shooting a couple of skytroopers who tried to flank Asuna who was holding back three knights at the same time.

"Liz, shield Asuna, now!" he cried out and trusting in his orders followed, grabbed a thermal detonator from his belt, and threw it toward the Jedi Knight who was suddenly surrounded by a translucent bubble.

The detonator exploded, killing one of the knights, injuring and heavily scorching the armors of the remaining two who fell back, crying out in pain. Asuna remained uninjured and a moment later as the shield disappeared she quickly used the opportunity and cut down the knight closest to her.

She swirled around, intent on finishing the fight but Klein took aim in the meanwhile and simply killed the last enemy with a headshot.

"Thanks for the assist, Klein." the chestnut-haired girl said with a relieved smile as she jogged back to his side, before shooting a concerned gaze to Liz who stopped glowing herself and was panting heavily."Liz, how are you holding up?"

It took a moment for the consular to be able to speak but she sent a weak smile to her friend as she climbed up to her feet and grabbed the lightsaber that hung from her bell.

"Tired, exhausted but nothing more. It will be a while before I can use my powers to a degree like that but I am good to continue fighting."

Asuna's face was grim and Klein thought she would tell Liz to fall back and leave the fighting to them. Which would have been alright with him if they had more people other than the three of them at the moment but if she said she could still fight, they could hardly afford the loss of manpower in favor of security. At least until reinforcements arrived.

The commander's and her second-in-command's eyes met and both of them knew without needing to say a word on their course of action. They will both cover Liz as much as possible.

"The pathfinder broke through the blockade and the ground troops are en route." Klein decided it was the best time to inform Asuna of the new development."The main force heading this way with a few I sent in Kirito's way. Due to interference, they won't be here for at least ten more minutes."

Asuna nodded grimly but the tension in her shoulders slightly eased up. The promise of reinforcements was more than they had a minute ago.

She turned around, her eyes moving around the battlefield. The corpses and remains of knights and droids littered the part of the complex that was a large hall at some point but with no walls or ceiling above it, it was nothing more than a patch of land. The remains of their enemies would linger around for a while which would hinder the advancement of their enemies, though it also limited their own mobility.

Still, with Klein who acted as a literal bullet sponge if needed to be, and Liz who was mostly used to fighting defensively with her lightsaber, they had good odds to hold out until the main force reached them,

They would better hurry up though, as at that moment a fresh regiment of droids were slowly advancing their way, which meant that their battle would continue.

"Klein, how are you doing with grenades?" she asked quietly, not taking her eyes off their enemy.

"Not that good." she could hear the frown in Klein's voice even though the modulator of his helmet."What I was able to carry thanks to the limited inventory is almost gone. Most of them I used up during the breach of the tower and the following firefight. Unless Agil and his men bring supplies with them I have to make every one of them count. On the ammo side though, I could keep firing for a long while."

She stiffly nodded. She figured that was the situation but it never hurt to make sure.

"Alright, let's adjust our tactics. Klein, move over there and ready yourself for a long firefight. Take out as many of them before they can get here." she said, pointing toward a slightly elevated ground, that conveniently had a small cover provided by a fallen pillar.

"Roger that. I'm no sniper but I will thin them out for now." Klein saluted sloppily before grabbing his rifle and mowing over to said cover. It would make him more exposed for a possible airstrike and make it harder for him to move away but thankfully the ships were more or less preoccupied with their attacking fleet.

"Liz, I will take point in the melee. Concentrate on the knights, if you see an opportunity, take it. Watch my back and fall back to Klein's spot if it's too much." the young Jedi continued, her very presence commanding respect.

She always had a charisma that even back outside helped her make people see her way and it proved to be an invaluable skill here, with all the hard-headed gamers doing their own thing. Especially a certain sith who wore so much black that it was worrying.

"You can count on me, Asuna." the consular nodded with a determined expression, clutching the hilt of her saber.

"Then let's show those tin cans and fanatics what the people of the Alliance are made of." Asuna declared, pointing her lightsaber at the incoming troops, a challenging smirk on her face. "Everything this world can throw at us, we will beat it together. So do your worst."

Of course, those who invoke the law of Murphy should expect said law to never disappoint them.

As if summoned by the Jedi Knight's words, a shuttle sailed over their head, not one of their own but a Zakuulian model, its cargo hatch opening up and a large object was thrown out of it.

It was a large metal cylinder that impacted the ground just in front of the three members of the strike team, a slight tremor running through the ruins of the tower as it settled down, pointing toward the sky solemnly as if it was a monument of some kind.

Suddenly the cylinder opened up with a hiss, transforming into a large battle droid with four insect-like legs and two very big machine guns at its side. Klein even spied a couple of rockets on its back, making the trooper a bit nervous. Then, at last, a red eye lit up in its middle, instantly focusing on them.

"All systems operational. Targets acknowledged. Primary objective: destroy." it said in a mechanical voice as its attention jumped from one to the other before settling down on Asuna.

"That doesn't look good." the pink-haired girl noted nervously before the droid began to move toward them.

"We can take it." her commander replied but even in her voice, there was a faint note of worry. Clearly, that droid was high-leveled and judging by one look at its armor, will be hard to beat.

Most times a player had no indication of the strength of the enemy and mostly had to guess it based on where the enemy 'monster' was found and the general difficulty of the area. Even then, it was not a foolproof way to tell it. Thus, most alliance members who were fighting constantly, over time developed a sense, or more like a gut feeling to be able to guess if the enemy in front of them was stronger than them or not.

And all that feeling told the three of them that it will be a very hard fight indeed.

"Agil, you guys better hurry up," Klein muttered before grabbing one of his last grenades.

-0-

If one thought of using a lightsaber in real life, what would be one thing that almost every nerd in the face of the planet would love to try with it? Aside from fighting someone who also had a lightsaber, let's keep it within the boundaries of reality.

Most people would say reflecting blaster shots with their brand new lightsaber and Kirito would have to agree to it, before loudly laughing his ass off at the sheer naivety of it.

During the beta, right after he earned and obtained his very first lightsaber, he immediately looked for an enemy with a blaster and attacked it, simply to try and imitate the movies, casually slugging away blaster rounds shoot at him, maybe even try and direct it back to the sender.

It should have been possible in theory. His lightsaber did have the property which enabled and raised his skill at deflecting lasers. He also gained a passive skill recently, reflection training. It was simply the skill to redirect blaster bolts shot at him, and as he trained more at it, he could even start aiming where to send it properly

With the intoxicating feeling of the lightsaber in his hand, and the sheer arrogance born from his success with the vibroblade so far, Kirito carelessly approached an escaped slave nearby, on Korriban that had a beat-up but working rifle in his hands. He expected he would master the skill with the same ease he absorbed various lightsaber forms that were taught to him, along with a relatively small amount of Force training.

He had been very wrong in that assumption.

Before he could even raise his blade he ate a blaster bolt straight into his chest, blowing him back. The second killed him and then he had to spend a whole minute as a Force Ghost, cursing in the place he died before he could respawn.

He thought it was a fluke. He assumed he got this in the bag, he would get a feel for it a few times.

Six other deaths and a half of a day spent boiling in his anger after having rage quit, told him otherwise.

It took him three whole days, a lot of time spent on online forums, talking with other beta testers who decided to go the Force user route before he figured it out.

Despite its name as a passive skill, deflection worked more like an active skill in the sense that you had to concentrate on it. Since it was a Force skill, you needed to reach within and bring it to the surface. In other words, the system had to recognize your will and activate the Force subsystem. After that, you simply had to focus on defending against incoming attacks and the system assists would kick in, leading the user's blade in the path of oncoming bolts and other attacks.

Of course, even knowing it, it was still harder to execute. The system assist was barely noticeable, nothing more than a simple tug at his hands, so you needed to pay close attention to it or eat a blaster bolt regardless of skill. With leveling the skill or as some called it, getting a feel for it, the proficiency would rise, making the user able to deflect more shots at the same time, more swiftly and in time, even send it back.

Like with most things, using that skill with two blades at the same time raised the difficulty level considerably, which was another reason why dual wielders weren't all that popular among the players. After all, people preferred not to get shot at, and with two blades, coordinating each of them was a challenge, especially when even the system got confused and sent the blades in each other's way.

But now, after spending more than a year developing and using this skill, Kirito could appreciate the freedom and defense it provided to him.

"Don't fall asleep on me, idiot!" Sinon grunted, breaking him out of his idle contemplation as she sent a small rocket from her gauntlet to a group of droids advancing on them.

She didn't even wait to see if she took out all of them as the rocket exploded, whirling and letting out a couple of shots at another squad of skytroopers. Her armor was full of scorch marks, the legendary beskar holding out under the punishment so far but nothing was truly indestructible and it would give sooner or later.

Either the armor would give or its wielder would simply die due to the small but numerous wounds that get through the gaps in her defense.

Kirito didn't bother to answer her, only grunting in confirmation, all of his being concentrating on defending against the numerous shots shouted at the two of them.

His blades were like two windmills, spinning at an incredible speed in his hands, both of them doing a flashy and overly complicated dance on its own as they moved between his front, his sides and even reaching past Sinon to be able to counter against every projectile that would kill them with a lucky enough shot.

Not long after they spotted the Pathfinder breaking through the blockade and they started to feel relieved, Murphy's law came into effect.

As unlucky as they could be and as minuscule as the possibility was, the tower ruins they used as cover were soon obliterated. A recently shot down fighter, a Republic make from what little Kirito managed to gather, fell just a few meters from their position, forcing them to scatter unless either player preferred dying in the resulting explosion.

Without the convenient wall to their backs and the ruins' ability to funnel their enemies to one direction, the two found themselves out in the open, quickly attacked by various squads and soon surrounded by all sides. Of course, they refused to surrender, nor would it be an option against the Eternal Empire. Most of the time they didn't take prisoners.

Thankfully for them, most of their enemies who remained were skytroopers, who preferred to shoot from afar. There were one or two knights that lived through the kill zone Sinon made with her sniper previously, but they kept their distance and waited for them to slip up.

It allowed the two of them to take a last stand of sorts, determined to either fight until reinforcements could arrive or at least take as many of these bastards with themselves as they could.

Kirito focused on defense, his blades, and arms a flurry of movement, creating a safety net that kept Sinon overpowered by dozens of blaster shots at once. As proof of them working together so long, the Mandalorian perfectly caught his rhythm, using the brief openings in his defense to launch her attacks and keep most of their enemies at bay, without getting into his way.

Despite taking over at least two dozen droids so far, their enemies' numbers didn't seem to deplete at all and both of them knew it was only a matter of time until one of them slipped up and made a mistake that would cost them their lives.

"Having fun so far, Sinon? I'm having a blast." he joked with a savage grin on his face. An unlucky shot caught him straight in the face and while his mask saved his life, it was destroyed in the process, leaving his face that was full of small scrapes and soot now open.

He quickly threw one of his blades, the red saber, a spinning bringer of death as it cut straight through four of the droids before it was recalled into the hands of its owner who continued his deadly dance without the slightest hint of slowing down.

"Of course I am." she replied with a laugh as she activated her flamethrower, making a ring of fire around them to keep back any of the more brave droids."This date is just like I always envisioned it in my dream. How did you know?"

"You know me. A regular casanova, I am," he replied with a laugh as he once again whirled around, blocking several more shots that were aimed at his partner's back. If this was their time to go, they would go out laughing, that was an unsaid promise between them.

They seemed to hold up for the moment but only one mistake was needed for their story to reach its end. And it finally happened, just as the two finished their banter.

It was just a stray blaster bolt, sent without aim by a droid that was caught in the edge of Sinon's rocket blast, several of its system's sustaining damage but still working condition.

It was a lucky shot. Either Kirito miscalculated its path, disregarded it as not even coming close, or maybe he didn't even notice what with the two or three dozen other shots sent at him. It didn't change the fact that he couldn't stop it properly. It was the first mistake, the one that sealed their fate.

The stray shot caught his off-hand, causing him to drop his off-hand saber, grunting in pain. At any other time, he could have simply fought through the pain, called his weapon back, and continued fighting but not this time. He was against too many opponents, he was forced to change to a one-blade guard, limiting his momentum. He was also exhausted and he simply couldn't concentrate enough while fighting to call his lost blade.

"Kirito!" Sinon quickly noticed his predicament and turned to aid him but that lapse of attention was her undoing.

One of the skytroopers raised their arm and shot a small rocket out of it but it was not an ordinary rocket. When it collided with the bounty hunter's back it exploded with an intense wave of sound that went through her beskar armor without much resistance. She let out a cry as the sonic rocket completely disoriented her as well as damaged her ears, resulting in the debuff sonic disorientation to slow her down.

The droids used the opportunity and began to pepper her with their blasters, sending her to knees, her health points steadily descending thanks to the shots that found the small gaps in her armor.

The Sith Lord let out a cry of rage, seeing his partner down, and rushed toward her but one of the Knights made their move and charged the distracted Kirito, who could only hastily block the slash that would have taken his head off without any resistance.

"For Emperor Valkorian!" the knight like a proper NPC declared his random and by now boring battle cry, further enraging him.

"Get out of my way, worm!" he roared and he reached through the Force to grab his torso and began crushing it.

The Knight let out a gargled breath as he was dangled into the air and dents appeared in his armor as it tried to squeeze its owner. But Kirito was so enraged with the insolent fool that tried to stand in his way that he completely forgot that he was not fighting just one enemy.

He forgot about the droids who were more than capable of exploiting an opening like the one he just gave them.

At least a dozen shots slammed into his back, a shocked gasp escaping him as his concentration was broken and he lost most of his health points in one fell swoop. The only reason that he survived that valley was the high level of his armor.

"No!" he tried to resist in a failing voice but he fell to his knees, his remaining weapon falling out of his hands as he seemed to lose all his strength. Such was the double-edged nature of the dark side.

It was said when you are about to die, your whole life would roll in front of you like a book or a bad movie. For Kirito he didn't see anything like that but even if he did it would have been boring, save for the last year and a half.

What happened instead he felt the world around him slow down to a painful degree. Unable to do anything, just watch as everything happened in slow motion, drawing out the pain and the feeling of failure.

He saw an Eternal Knight, armor dented and dusted, standing before him, pike raised above his head, its tip pointing straight at his heart. He might have shouted something but all Kirito heard was the beating of his heart, a heart that was inside some hospital, stuck in a slowly atrophying body that would soon meet its end, thanks to a large jolt of electricity that would fry his brain.

Part of him always wondered how he would die. What he would feel at that moment when his luck ran out, when his strength wouldn't be enough to pull out a miracle. Strangely, even now the thought of him dying, there was no feeling behind it. Like it didn't matter to him if he died or lived.

Under the arm of the Knight, he also saw the prone form of his partner, as the droid walked to her, taking careful aim. And for once, a strange feeling reared up inside him.

He was a loner, preferring to work alone, not responsible for the lives of other people. Yet Sinon was one of the few who he could stand working together with for a long time, maybe because he knew that he didn't need to watch out for her, that she would be doing fine.

Yet here she was, about to die and he for some reason felt responsible. If he was only stronger, faster if he wasn't afraid to rely more on the force. Guilt, he realized with a clarity of a dying man, he was feeling guilty. It was not a feeling he was accustomed to feeling.

Their eyes met for an instant, Sinon's helmet got knocked off and her face was revealed, scraped and dusty, probably not unlike his own. As their eyes met, he didn't see the desperation in those blue eyes but a determination. A will to never give up.

Her hand reached out blindly, toward her fallen blaster and even as the blue blade of his executioner began its descent, Kirito found himself raising his hand, once more reaching within. His will, that all but accepted death suddenly lashed out, commanding the Force, no, the system to perform one last miracle.

One strung push, one that would knock any enemy off their feet. He didn't even try to aim it at his would-be executioner, but instead toward his partner. Just one second, if he could give her a window like that to act, to get to her feet, she would be alright. She would live and at that moment, for Kirito, no to Kriigaya Kazuto, that was all that mattered. He didn't want to lose anyone else again.

His heart steeled, the Force gearing itself in the back of his mind, he felt as if time started moving once again normally but just as he prepared for his final act, everything erupted into chaos.

Something fell from the sky above, crashing into the ground with great force with a tremendous sound and stopping everything in their tracks. Then several more, smaller thuds followed, with the roar of an engine above their head.

Kirito, disoriented and weakened almost ended up on his face as the ground shook, could only watch with a detached sense of bewilderment as the blade that should have pierced his heart missed him entirely, the owner of the weapon gasping in shock as a blue blade of plasma burst through his chest.

His brain could barely understand as a burst of loud laughter rang across the field, accompanied by the renewed shots of blasters as well as the iconic sounds made by lightsabers.

"HAVE NO FEAR, MY FRIENDS, THE REINFORCEMENTS ARE HERE!" a familiar voice yelled out, his voice easily reaching him despite the general chaos of the battlefield."THE WALL IS HERE FOR YOU. TO HELP TAKE THE LOAD OFF YOUR SHOULDERS!"

Without conscious thought his head followed the sound catching sight of a mountain of a man in metallic grey armor, holding up a blaster fit to his size. He, along with a couple of soldiers, was standing before Sinon who forced herself to her knees, forming a protective circle around her.

Bewildered, Kirito looked around and he saw the skytroopers, as well as the knights, retreated as a shuttle touched down, a couple of soldiers, some wearing the standard republic or imperial armor and some wearing specialized gear and weapons jumped out, accompanied by a few Jedi, Sith and even the occasional bounty hunter or smuggler who brandished minimal armor but two blasters capable of a lot of damage.

They were here, the alliance's ground team finally reached them.

"It's not like you to laze around when a fight is going on, Kirito." an amused voice sounded next to him, just as he felt someone wrap their arm around him and help him into a standing position. The Sith Lord, his brain still lagging slightly behind, just looked at the youth near his age with short blonde hair and blue eyes, who gave him an amused smirk.

"What are you doing here?" the question came out without any filter, Kirito looking at the man in disbelief. He was wearing a mismatched set of armor as if it was welded into one from several pieces. Most parts looked like the armor of an Eterna Knight, with the addition of a blue ruse painted above his heart but he did have a brown robe hung over him, in a similar style to Jedi as well. The hand that wasn't assisting him was holding a blue lightsaber, its hilt having a practical yet regal look to it, and was also colored blue.

"Now is that the way to greet an old friend?" he asked back with even more amusement but Kriito didn't register the words, too surprised by the sudden development.

Eugeo, the former Eternal Knight, traitor to Zakuul, and the first ally the players found in this virtual hell stood in front of him.

Chapter Text

"A man can have anything if he is willing to sacrifice for it." the words echoed in his mind as he laid on the unforgivable ground, his body battered and bruised, despite not even a single blow landing on him.

His arms and legs felt broken in multiple places, even trying to move his fingers or toes evoked a great deal of pain despite them looking outwardly okay, not even his armor had a single scratch on it. His chest felt heavy as if it was caved in and the weight of the world was placed on it. Even breathing hurt, despite his body being nothing but a bunch of data.

What happened, shouldn't have happened but simply thinking this changed nothing.

He heard other groans of pain around him, his mind slowly realizing he was not alone in his predicament but it was working slowly and sluggishly. He tried recalling what led to this, to him being in this position but recalling it was much harder than he would have liked.

With great strain, he was able to turn his head to the left and he spied a body lying next to him, face first and clearly struggling to get up but unable to, as if the gravity itself was increased around him. The man, if he should be called that, was young just like him. With black hair pulled into a ponytail, two locks framing his face.

He was wearing the armored robes of Jedi Knights and he knew him. Not with that face, the man he had crossed swords with several times was much older looking with green skin, blue hair and various tattoos adorning his face. But he knew him nonetheless, the two lightsabers lying next to him and the symbol of the Jedi Order painted on his left shoulder pad with bright blue. Maybe it was a simple instinct, maybe it was that mysterious sense the Force system gave him from time to time.

His name was Diavel, a former beta tester like him, who many called the Hero of Cylon III after he single-handedly held back an imperial attack during an event quest not long after the start of the game. One of the few competent dual blade-wielders like him, the two had clashed many times to discover who was the superior fighter.

Their current quota was 23 to 21 in his favor.

And as if a dam burst, memories started flying in his mind, slowly recalling the events that led them here, lying in the ground, defeated by a foe they never had a chance against to begin with.

He remembered the rumored expansion, how the one hundred currently highest-ranked players were invited to an exclusive quest that forced both Republic and Empire players into an uneasy alliance as they braved the unknown Wild Space in search of something that threatened the galaxy as they knew it. The attack by the Eternal Empire's fleet and them almost instantly overwhelming and capturing the confused players.

It certainly caught them off-guard but there was no alarm. After all, it was just a game, it could be explained as a special event, nothing more. Then they met him and everything changed.

Eternal Emperor Valkorian. That's what their capturers called himself but he used another name after a hundred players were brought in front of him and a galaxy-wide broadcast was started. Kayaba Akihiko.

The avatar he was using was an older, european-looking man in white armor with silver and gold accents. He was rather well-built despite his clearly advanced age, his back perfectly straight and exuding a sense of overwhelming power. He had a grey beard and bright grin eyes that didn't look as creepy as the eyes of most darkside users, yet held even more malevolence in them.

He was looking down at them, with faint amusement as he explained the truth of their new reality. Of being trapped inside, the nervegear killing them if they die in the game or if it was removed from the outside. That their only way to escape was killing him and no help was coming.

Kirito didn't know what to think until all of them were transformed, forced to wear their real faces instead of the custom avatars some spent hours if not days creating. Then the helplessness, the rage, and horror finally caught up to him and all he could do was stare back into those empty, soulless eyes that seemed to practically shine at their despair.

Then the broadcast finished, the line to the other players closed up and they were left alone with Valkorion. A hundred players, the best in terms of levels, stats, and progress at the current player group, stood alone against the tyrant who called himself a god and spoke of deciding their fate.

For some reason, most of their weapons remained on them despite being captured. He had no idea if it was a design flaw, simple laziness or the Eternal Emperor was that confident. In hindsight, they should have suspected some foul play. It was no longer a game, they weren't facing a mob or a player but a goddamn final boss with the powers of a GM.

They tried it anyway.

He wasn't sure who was the one who first moved. It may have been him, could have been the eager-looking Republic Trooper with a twitchy trigger finger. Might have been Diavel. No one knew that for sure but a moment later, those closest to Valkorion rushed at him, no tactic or forethought put into it. The others waited behind, for a chance or opportunity to give a few kicks to the enemy themselves.

It was over before they even realized it. Kirito barely had time to even raise his sabers before something malevolent was unleashed, so strong that its mere presence made him sick. They were pushed back and crushed in the same instant.

As he lost consciousness, all Kirito heard was the faintly amused chuckle of the thing that didn't belong in this world.

He let out another faint groan as he finally remembered what led him here. With great difficulty, he raised his head as much as he could trying to get an idea of what was the current situation.

What he saw made him widen his eyes, as he stared around disbelievingly.

They were still in that wide circular room they were brought on, apparently, no one wanted to move them. All hundred players were on the ground, some groaning in pain and trying to get up and some were still out cold.

In the middle of the throne, in an extravagant throne sat the man who did this to them. Who defeated all of them with as much as a wave of his hand and now leaning his head on one of his hands, watched them struggle with amusement.

"Unbelievable." Diavel next to him gasped out as he tried and failed to push himself up, letting out another groan."Just what kind of insane power is that?"

"It's game-breaking, that's what it is." an unfamiliar voice replied with anger on his other side but he simply didn't have the strength to turn his head.

A detached part of him would have liked to point out that if what Valkorion said was true, it was not a game anymore. At least not one where they were familiar with the rules.

Another round of chuckle came from above their heads, before that thing waved his hand simply, at least all Kirito saw from his downed position and the incredible pressure that kept them disappeared. His body still ached and he was sure his injuries were still rather real but at least he was able to slowly raise himself into a sitting position.

At this discovery a murmur went through the one hundred players, who stood up one by one, eying the Eternal Emperor whose posture didn't change at all. He wasn't even a bit threatened by the people around him. The players were naturally wary of this new development but no one rushed forward to engage him. The message earlier was well received. They haven't stood a chance against him from the get-go.

One by one they stood up, trading uncertain glances with each other. Earlier Valkorion had every guard leave, so it was only them and the Eternal Emperor left but as shown it didn't mean they had the upper hand. Still, there was one question that floated in their minds, what did he want with them?

He could have killed them anytime. He explained the rules of the new game but he could have given them through a broadcast like all the others, so the question remained: why? The question was on the edge of all of their mouths but no one seemed ready to step forward and ask.

It seemed they didn't need to, judging by the twitch of Valkorion's, no, Kayaba's lips as he stood up from his throne, his hands behind his back, looking imposing and dangerous even with such simple movements. Naturally, all of them tensed, ready for a battle that they would no doubt lose.

"Soon the might of the Eternal Fleet will seize your Core Worlds and destroy all who oppose it. It is inevitable." he told them with a chuckle."Both the Republic and the Sith Empire are doomed but you don't need to share their fate."

Kirito frowned but didn't make any move, the previous attempt's result still clearly in his mind. Still, what was the point of it? Okay, he imprisoned them in this game, where death meant true death but even so why take roleplaying to such an extent? Just what was his game? He couldn't understand.

"You don't need to stand against me. Instead, you can kneel," he told them graciously, a hidden smile on his face as he watched their faces ripple with shock, anger, and in a few cases intrigue.

The confusion was understandable. This madman just defeated them without any trouble after telling them that he imprisoned half a million people and basically sentenced them all to death. And now he asked them to join him?

It wouldn't be until months later that Kirito began to feel a sense of understanding. They were the one hundred strongest, most experienced players at that moment, if he would be able to convert them to his cause, they would be able to counter player strategies more efficiently. And knowing what happened, it would have hindered the resistance against the Eternal Forces all the more, with no group of 'veterans' to group around. From a purely strategic standpoint that made sense. If you squint hard enough.

Still, even to this day, he couldn't understand why they weren't killed at that moment, where their defiance was all but assured.

"Join you? In what, murdering thousands, ten thousands of people?" one of the players to his right, a rather short guy in the traditional robes of the Jedi yelled, his face contorted with anger and defiance. He wore very little in terms of armor which made Kirito think that he was a Consular, not that it mattered.

"You would rather die than acknowledge my superiority?" The Eternal Emperor's face remained unchanged, his tone neither showing surprise nor anger. It was as if they weren't even talking about a person but a rather bored NPC or a machine.

"Go to hell!" the player who spoke up a moment before snarled, his hands going to his lightsaber but it never reached as he suddenly choked.

It was so quick that Kirito would have missed if he wasn't watching carefully. He knew of the technique Force Choke, a rather good skill to interrupt enemies attacks, trap them in one place or simply get a breathing room but it wasn't anything like that. It wasn't even choking but an instant neck break.

One moment the player grabbed his throat, then the next his head stood at an unnatural angle, an expression of anguish in his face before the body slowly fell to the ground and nearby people cried out in shock, fear and some even started sobbing.

He heard a chuckle from the monster as he lowered his hand and Kirito warily turned back his attention to him but was shocked at what greeted him.

No longer in his throne, Valkorion was standing in front of him, his frame towering above him, Kirito's head barely reaching the middle of his chest plate. Those unnatural yellow eyes watched him, looking into his soul and there was a definite smile on his face, the kind adults give to small children, who think pooping into a toilet is the greatest achievement in the world.

Worse, they were suddenly alone. The others disappeared without a trace or evidence left, leaving the two in the large throne room

His body was suddenly filled with the urge to run, to step back and get away from that monster who in the simplest sense of the world felt wrong but he couldn't. His legs trembled but he simply was unable to raise it, same with his arms.

He was completely at that monster's mercy.

"My Wrath." Valkorion called out to him and Kirito felt sick at the title, that felt so familiar and alien at the same time."What is your decision? Will you join the fools in death or serve me, as you served once before?"

Kirito gritted his teeth but was unable to utter even a word and what was left for him to do was a glare in defiance, his decision made clear. Something that amused the Emperor a lot.

"So be it," he whispered before his eyes lighted up with an otherworldly purple and power erupted him, not like a wave but a whole tsunami, and as he felt his body pushed roughly back, Kirito knew no more.

But something told him that was not the end of it.

-0-

"Careful with that." Kirito hissed as the adrenaline stim, which boosted his health regeneration slightly as well his stats temporarily was administered into his leg.

He was propped up against a large and somewhat intact wall, Eugeo smiling innocently as he pulled away from the now-empty injector throwing it away, used up. Sinon was next to him, holding her head and trying to clear it, her admittedly minor injuries already healed.

"Don't be a baby. I know from experience it can be hardly felt and I doubt a big bad sith lord like you couldn't stand it," he told with amusement as he straightened up and looked above the cover, his expression immediately turning serious. "Looks like the Wall could use my help. I'm going to join upfront, take a few minutes to gather yourselves." he said, straightening up and intending to leave.

He didn't go far before a black armored hand grabbed his wrist, Kirito grimacing in pain as he pulled himself up, moving his shoulders around to alleviate the discomfort of his slowly fading wounds.

"No need for that. I am still capable of fighting," he said, reaching up for his mask as a habit and frowning when he remembered that it was destroyed. Instead, he reached down and grabbed one of his lightsabers from his belt. "What about you, partner?" he turned to the Mandalorian, while subtly trying to spot where his second weapon had fallen.

Sinon rolled her neck, a wry smile on her face as she raised her helmet, a little dusty and a bit scorched but Mandalorian beskar was not so easy to even dent. Really its durability was so high, some even called it over-powered beyond the norm, ignoring that there were ways to get through it or ignore it, like with the sonic rounds. And it's not like it was easy to come by either. Sinon was as far as he knew one of the five Mandalorian players who were able to assemble a full beskar armor for themselves.

He still remembered Sinon almost blowing his head off on that one time when he tried to inspect her helmet without asking permission first. Getting chased by the slightly smaller girl through the whole ship, everyone laughing at him, despite the precise shots that would have taken off either his head or a rather important organ down there if he was just a bit slower at dodging, it was not an experience one would soon forget.

Especially since neither Klein nor Argo forgot about it, and reminded him whenever they got bored or he was 'too much his broody self' according to the red-haired soldier.

"Was it ever a question?" Sinon's voice shook him out of the painful memories as she put on her helmet and stood up, patting down herself to make sure she had all her weapons on her. "Come on, there is a battle to be fought, not licking our wounds like little girls." she stated simply before she raised her sniper, ready to go.

Kirito only shook his head, but couldn't hide the small smirk on his face. And people said he was taking the whole roleplay thing seriously. Fight long enough and it's easier to separate your game persona, the one who fought and bled in this virtual world than the one you are supposed to be, the one who came from outside. The two of them were just the more extreme cases of this coping mechanism.

"You are stubborn idiots." Eugeo's voice reminded him that the former Eternal Knight was there as well, and Kirito let out a sort of embarrassed smile at ignoring him as he turned back, only to blink at surprise at the silver hilt that the knight held out to him. It was his lightsaber. "Since I apparently can't stop you, I guess I have to make sure you two survive despite your clear wish to not do that." he said, shaking his head but he couldn't help but smile at the two.

A large grin overtook Kirito as he grasped the familiar hilt and activated the weapon, the energy blade letting out an almost pleased hiss as it sprang out and he gave it a few practice swings, to make sure it was working perfectly. Of course, this being a game, it should be working unless its durability reached zero or some status effect was placed on it, which he could check through its window but to Kirito, who basically lived with the twin blades in his hands, was able to tell the difference between a perfectly working lightsaber and a barely operating one that could blow up any second. It earned him funny looks from a lot of other players when he did it, but for him, it was better to make him feel the weapon rather than check out its stats.

Sinon was somewhat similar with guns and other ranged armament but the cyan-haired girl took it even further. She could tell the make of a weapon, its strengths, weaknesses, as well most modifications were done to it, with merely a glance. She was an extreme gun nerd, excuse him, enthusiast like that. The Alliance requested her help many times, whenever they met with weapon dealers they couldn't fully trust, as she was their best chance to catch any sabotage or trick.

Sinon with that ability alone saved thousands, if not more credits to their Alliance, money she quickly took for herself as payment for services rendered, without even a second of thought at other players. Ammunition, rockets, and her other gadgets were not that cheap after all.

Satisfied with the condition of his sabers, Kirito lowered them but did not power them down, after all, they would see a lot of use in a minute or two. He nodded at Sinon, who ran a quick check on her armor's systems in the meantime and he knew her well enough to practically feel the frown on her face as she stood there, glaring at whatever was shown in front of her eyes.

"You ready?" he asked with a gentle tone, snapping her out of her mind as she looked at him. The Mandalorian stayed silent for a long moment before she let out a frustrated sigh, her shoulders minimally slumped to show her unhappiness.

"It's nothing serious, just a little annoying. The sonic blast scrambled a few of my systems, mostly the tracking and self-heal modules. They should be salvageable but it would have to be done back at base and because of that, I will have a slightly lower combat ability available." she answered with a matter of fact tone, sounding like a professional, despite all of them knowing most of them were anything but that.

Kirito hummed in thought. In Sinon-speak, that meant that her armor and its internal system received a lot more damage than she would be comfortable with. Still, she seemed intent on going back to the fray and she knew better than anyone what kind of punishment she could take. Even if he did try to object, he had no ground to stand on, he wasn't exactly the dictionary example of caution.

"Then let's go." he declared simply, receiving a nod from the Mandalorian and a resigned sigh from the former knight.

With that the three of them leaped out of cover, sprinting, or flying in the case of Sinon who took advantage of her jetpack, toward the Wall's position, the two force users deflecting stray shots heading their way with ease.

The Wall was standing in the middle of an open space, his blaster firing non-stop as he held back the oncoming charge of knights and droids by himself, completely unaware of the dozens of shots the artillery was firing his way, only laughing at them in an open challenge.

The rest of his squad were using nearby rocks as cover, the ranged fighters occasionally peeking out and letting out a couple of shots while the force users tended to use nearby objects and the force as a makeshift catapult to make things worse for their enemy.

As the three neared both Kirito and Sinon wondered why did they stop their advance, the enemy didn't seem to have the necessary numbers or weaponry to slow them down to this degree but they soon learned the reason. Just as they came behind cover themselves, one of the more daring troopers was shot at the head, a precise shot that immediately went through the helmet and their head, depleting their health points in an instant. The soldier was dead by the time their body reached the ground.

A player's, especially a force user's greatest enemy, also the reason why nobody tried to go up against Sinon when the Mandalorian had time to prepare. Snipers.

You might wear a strong helmet, might be a master of a lightsaber who could block countless bolts aimed at him but a well-placed shot at the head and most would go down. With a strong enough weapon, and with a headshot even those wearing durasteel armor might go down.

Kirito grunted as he slowed down his pace, his lightsabers taking an even more defensive stance, Eugeo following suit as the two slid next to the Wall who only nodded in acknowledgment of their arrival, then went back to taunting his enemies, drawing all the fire to himself.

Durasteel Wall lived up to his name perfectly. He was a pure tank build, each of his equipment meant to withhold the maximum amount of punishment, offering the most protection, made of the best available materials around. He had a personal shield generator, to further weaken and block any attack on his person, along with a couple of passive skills of the trooper skill tree.

It was not without reason that he was named the Walking Tank among their members. He lived up to the name.

While Kirito and Eugeo took up a position at the front, Sinon simply used her jetpack to get behind the cover, incidentally at the same place where one of their own just died. She offered a bow of her head to the departed player before taking a position and bringing out her sniper, vowing revenge in the fallen soldier's name.

While a large part of the alliance's fighting power was made up of non-player characters, they were easy to recognize. Be it a republic trooper, an imperial specialist, Jedi, or Sith, the NPCs save for the high-ranking and important characters were very generic-looking, basically grunts. Sure they could hold conversations, some having their own extensive backstories, that some wondered how and why the Cardinal system made up but talk more than a half an hour with one of them, and they soon run out of new things to say and will end up defaulting to preprogrammed, monotone answers.

The dead soldier that lied next to her wore a more colorful armor than the regular imperial armor, a bit misshapen since it was made of various armor pieces. Its owner went with practicality and stats, over style, even the colors were off when compared to other pieces. There was no doubt in the Mandalorian's mind that they were a player. Just one more death on that madman's head.

Still, no matter how much she wanted to be enraged at the death of a fellow human, Sinon found herself unable to muster up the emotions. Or more like, she learned how to keep her heart out of the battlefield.

Many died before, because of the Eternal Empire, because of bad luck, or simply by fighting generic mobs. But most deaths definitely were due to their constant struggle, to free themselves of this death game.

She saw many comrades die before her eyes, just because she was a second slower, or just a bit careless. Some of them were friends, comrades, some she didn't even know their name, just another casualty to report later. But like most frontliners, she realized the hard truth. Just as many had died already, many more will die, whether they take a stand and fight or not.

Tomorrow, even today, it might be her turn at last. Or maybe Kirito's. Nobody knew, even the strongest, most experienced warriors could fall due to a lucky shot or a careless movement. They all had to learn the hard way not to dwell on others' death on the battlefield. After the battle, when their enemies are gone, it will be time to mourn but not a minute before that

She instead turned her attention to the scope of her rifle. With her helmet's enhancements and the sniper's initial parameters, it was a child's play to spot something even a thousand meters away. She could easily make out the outer walls of the factory that was their main target, as well as the many turrets and other defenses mounted on it but it was to no avail. Unless she knew where the snipers were shooting from, it would take luck to just chance upon them, out of the countless places they could be firing from.

It was time for defensive measures.

"Kirito. It's time to play bait." she cried out to the Sith who cursed loudly but she didn't wait for anything more, she turned her full attention back to trying to spot the snipers, waiting for her opportunity.

The Sith in question grumbled loudly under his breath before he signaled both to the Wall and Eugeo to fall back for the moment. The former did it rather reluctantly but a moment later, they found themselves behind an available cover, crouching down to avoid the snipers' attention.

"How many snipers are there?" he asked from the Wall, not even trying to waste time with formalities or being polite.

"Three at the very least. They tried to shoot me down but after most of it was absorbed by my armor, they turned toward easier targets," he admitted with distaste.

It was well-known that Durasteel Wall believed the most honest show of courage and honor was to charge ahead, loudly announcing your presence. He felt that snipers, assassins, and most who used stealth generators were cowards and had no honorable bone in their bodies. He showed a similar distaste toward the more subtle force powers, though he especially liked 'bone-headed idiots' like Kirito who preferred to simply get close and personal as he sliced you up to pieces.

Kirito frowned as he peeked out of the corner, noting that a contingent of Knights was slowly approaching them, their shields soaking up most of the shots aimed at them. Their soldiers didn't have much time to slow them down as they constantly had to look out for the snipers.

"Alright. That complicates matters. Any thoughts on how to handle this?" he muttered to himself as he turned to Eugeo who had a complicated look on his face as he looked toward the approaching Knights.

It wasn't really a surprise. Though it had been almost two years since the blond-haired man deserted, he was a former Knight of the Eternal Empire, who had been proud of his achievement. Until the orders of his Emperor clashed against his own ideals to the point he decided they were worthy of his loyalty no longer.

The Sith remembered his eyes widening in pure shock as a Knight suddenly opened the door of his and a group of other players' prison cell and told them they needed to hurry if they planned to get out alive. The rest as they say is history.

Even then, it would be probably the first time Eugeo directly had to go up against his former comrades in arms since his defection. And while some might harbor suspicions to the NPC who had a sudden change of heart, Kirito knew very well the depth of his resolve.

The former Knight simply took a deep breath, a look of concentration on his face, looking over the approaching forces before turning his attention to the two players who were patiently listening to him.

"Their formation is rigid and textbook-worthy as you would say. They might be rather fresh recruits into the order. Meaning it will be rather easy to confuse and break them up, especially if the tactic is unconventional. The problem might be the snipers but it could be a chance to make them reveal themselves so Sinon and the rest can take them out."

"Unconventional, you say? Lucky for you that's my middle name." Kirito answered, smile widening at the upcoming confrontation.

"Wasn't your middle name Danger? Or Massacre like you said last time?" the Wall asked a strangely naive question, his helmeted face tilting a little in question. The player and NPC in front of him could only blink dumbly, caught completely off-guard and even forgetting a little about the sounds of battle around them. "Do you even have a last name, my friend? I only know of Kirito and that Sith moniker of yours," the two remained dumbfounded as the large soldier let out a booming laugh, completely unconcerned. "Well, a man of as many names as you, might be just what our brave knight needs for whatever crazy plan he has in mind." he said, patting Eugeo on the shoulder, inadvertently almost sending the teen into the ground.

"Never change, Wall. Never change." Kirito said with a rather carefree laugh, completely unconcerned.

The blonde knight only sighed, feeling a bit of frustration at the attitude of his companions. He was well aware that the best way to describe them would be fearless but even a lack of fear shouldn't make them take a battle so lightly. Unfortunately, it was more of the norm than anything.

"Can we go back to the topic?" he asked, fighting the urge to rub his head. "Wall, I need you and your men to hold back any droid reinforcements while I go out and deal with the knights. With the troopers out of the equation I will have more room to maneuver and be able to concentrate on defending myself from the snipers while Sinon could spot their hiding places." he explained.

As he expected, he was treated to the booming laugh of the tank of a man, though instead of mocking it seems to be a laugh of delight.

"What a wonderful plan, nothing less than I can expect of you, my friend. It's unorthodox. Reckless. Suicidal. Plain insanity." Eugeo's expression became gloomier with every word added while Kirito only smirked in amusement. "I love it. You will have me and my Lumberjacks watching your back my friend. This, I promise on the name Durasteel Wall," the man's voice gained a serious edge to it by the end, putting his right hand over his heart, closed in a fist as a sign of his resolve and respect.

"Can't you at least try to act as if it was something serious? It could easily lead to our deaths." Eugeo said, with a frown at seeing his friends make light of the threat on the middle of a battlefield. He saw too many of his former and current comrades die because they took their opponents lightly.

"Well, it's just how the big guy is. He isn't one to show fear or uncertainty even in the face of impossible odds," Kirito started with a calm sage-like voice before he suddenly grinned, eyes sparkling with hidden mirth."So when are we charging into that looming group of bronze-heads?"

'Bronze-head' was a slang that began to get popular among alliance frontliners, especially those who encountered the famed Knights of Zakuul. They were formidable opponents and depending on their rank, even a small number of them can change a whole battlefield. Because they wore bronze or gold-yellow armor with very rare exceptions, they were rather easy to spot on the battlefield, especially their trademark full-sized rectangle shields and domed helmets. Nobody knew who came up with that nickname at first but it stayed, maybe in honor of the original trilogy's Imperial Troopers being called Bucketheads. Or maybe it was just easier to say that than Knights of Zakuul and not confuse it with Jedi Knights.

"Alright, wait for my sign-" Eugeo was in the middle of nodding sagely before his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he whipped his head around to face Kirito whose smile never let up."Wait, what?" he exclaimed, caught completely off-guard."That's not the plan!"

The black-haired teen offered only a cheeky grin, uncaring of the shock of his comrade while Wall only looked on with amusement on the scene.

"Well, it is now. Come on, you know as well as I do that it would be suicide to go out alone. Especially with the snipers making things harder You could use the help and it's not like I am weak by any stretch of the definition. I won't slow you, you know that, so instead of arguing, let's get down to business," Kirito explained, not leaving Eugeo much chance to object to his friend's idiotic desire to always be in the middle of the battlefield.

Eventually closing his mouth, the former knight could only sigh at his attitude. While any other time it was admirable that Kirito was always willing to lend aid to him, at the moment it was the complete opposite. Yet there was no arguing with the stubborn idiot.

"You know one day that insane luck of yours will run out," he commented tiredly, grabbing a nearby shield that was discarded by one of the defeated knights, the familiar weight easing his worries a little.

The bright gold shield looked more bronze than anything thanks to the dust and dirt on it, nonetheless, it was in excellent condition all things considered. Putting it on the ground it reached to his chest, providing ample cover as he hefted it on his left arm, taking a stance that he learned as a young aspiring knight.

"There is no luck, there is only the Force." was the cheeky reply from his companion as he idly twirled the hilts of his lightsabers in his hands.

Despite himself, Eugeo couldn't help but grin a tad eagerly, Kirito returned it in kind before the Sith gained a contemplative look on his face as he eyed the shield.

„Actually scratch that, I just had an awesome idea." he told him with a grin that made the Zakuulian native worry as he turned toward a large piece of rubble nearby."They will never see it coming."To add insult to injury he even laughed evilly, a dangerous glint in his eyes, the Wall echoing it, even though he clearly was lost at what's going on.

Sinon could only scoff at the three idiots, from behind her spot, before raising her sniper to her eyes, ready to use the opening they planned to provide her with.

-0-

"So how bad is it looking?" The large black man decked out with a patchwork of gear asked with a forced sort of levity from next to Klein as the trooper lowered the binoculars from his eyes, a visible frown on his face.

The man's armor was colorful, to say the least. His left shoulder was covered by a thick if somewhat dented green armor, his chest piece seemed to be reforged by two others, half of it having a metallic black sheen, while the other a somewhat glaring yellow. His right gauntlet was blood-red in color and seemed to be full of various gadgets. The rest of his armor was a dull silver, nothing exciting. On his back he had a massive machine gun mounted, it was big enough that normal people would have trouble wielding it properly. His belt was full of pouches and he had a pair of blasters strapped to his thighs.

The most interesting part of his outfit was the helmet. By its look, it might have been a Mandalorian helmet once but someone severely modified it. It was dark blue with the snarling face of a silver wolf painted on its left side. A large blue plume was placed to the top of the helmet and the visor of the iconic T-visored helmet was removed, showing the rather gruff face of the man, along with his small goatee on his chin.

It looked more like the helmet of an ancient Greek warrior, although with some cosmetic decorations than one belonging to a sci-fi-based world like the galaxy of star wars. Yet it strangely suited him.

His name was Agil and in his words, he was nothing but a humble merchant who sometimes traveled to the thick of a battle for the best drops and materials, at least that's how he introduced himself.

And everyone who knew him even in passing could tell that it was a big, fat lie.

While Agil did work as a merchant and trader in his free time, it was clear that there was more to his presence on the frontline. He was leading the Black Bulls, a sort of mercenary band. They usually worked with the alliance, with a discount too but in the end, they worked more for the money and the opportunity to loot a lot, than the more patriotic act of getting out of the game. They didn't even make a secret that they were in more for the profit than anything else but none could deny that they were good.

They were usually the first to touch ground in a large assault like this, both to get the first shots in, as well as first dibs in whatever loot they stumbled on. They meticulously scoured the battlefield, making use of everything and anything, earning the nickname of Janitors.

Aside from that, they were a pleasant and reliable company to have at your back. Klein worked with them a lot before, many times he and Agil ended up exchanging jokes and challenging themselves to ridiculous tasks while fighting the forces of the Eternal Empire and other monsters. He considered asking the large giant, with his many different connections to many manufacturers and smugglers, to join their strike team but he knew he wouldn't leave his Bulls behind.

Their group was a close-knit one, that emerged from several smaller groups that tried to fight back against Zakuul by themselves, not long after they invaded. Most of them were annihilated or were captured and what few managed to get away slowly banded together and that core group evolved to the bulls.

He couldn't imagine Agil ever deciding to leave them behind, no matter how much he was offered.

Because as much as that man and his ragtag group tried to roleplay as some heartless mercenaries they were giant softies. Though he tried to be discreet, Klein knew for sure, that a lot of their profits went to support lower level players and other small group that tried to provide for those who instead of trying to fight back, remained in the few places in the galaxy that could be regarded as safe zones and tried to wait it out, until someone saved them.

Unbidden Klein felt a smile coming to his face. What was with all of these guys trying to pass as merciless bad guys and failing miserably

Even Kirito, for all his faults and general attitude, still took the time to look after and dote on his sister whenever he got the chance. Looking at him, one wouldn't think he was a massive siscon, who would probably cut down anyone trying to make advances on his little sister. At least that's how it was before Ossus was...

No, there was no time for thoughts like that, he decided and with a will of iron, he quickly turned his thoughts to the situation at hand. It haunted him, what happened at Ossus that day, it was true for all who were en route on the Pathfinder that day, desperately trying to race against time to lend aid to the trapped players.

That day forever left its mark on them, some lost hope and killed themselves, some only disappeared, trying to hide against the cruel truth, while some simply shook themselves and threw themselves into battle like never before. But even then, the memories of that day would never leave them.

"Could be worse." he answered with a frown, shaking those thoughts away."They holed up in the main factory and it looks like they have some serious defenses left even after we took out the defense grind. I spotted several heavy turrets and of course, the amount of skytroopers they still have on hand is close to limitless. Even approaching the main hold will be a challenge and from the looks of that gate, it will be no child's play to even open it."

Agil hummed in thought, before extending his hand, silently asking for the binoculars. Klein readily gave them to him and the large man surveyed the battlefield himself, while the rest of their men waited around them, looking out for anything suspicious and treating the few wounded they gathered since meeting up with half of the advance strike team.

The red-haired man spared a look at Liz and Asuna who were resting nearby, trying to recharge before the next push, while conversing with a few of the other Jedi who gathered around them.

He was already aware of how mentally draining the use of force and the required concentration could be from his short time playing as a Sith Warrior, back when this was nothing but a game. Long and drawn-out battles could be draining even for normal players like him but for those like Asuna or Kirito for that matter, those who frequently rely on Force powers and the whole Force system, while also constantly fighting on the frontlines, the chance of making a small mistake that would cost their lives were very high.

While there were certainly bone-headed idiots in the alliance who would push forward nonetheless, believing themselves to be so much more clever than everyone else, Klein early on learned that pride meant nothing on the battlefield, not if you wanted to stay alive.

"What about Kirito's group?" Agil asked, referring to the group that went to reinforce the Sith Lord and his Mandalorian partner who were holed up in a different tower and needed reinforcements of their own.

Instead of answering, Klein reached a hand up to his helmet, and a moment later a small camera next to his left eye lighted up and started to project a see-through blue image of a small minimap that Klein had on his helmet's screen to keep an eye on the ever so chaotic battlefield.

Everyone's armor vitals was linked to his, as party leader and one of the few who invested in the exclusive Trooper Skill: Commando tactics. It allowed him to keep track of all members of his unit, their location, vitals and could access special cameras built into their armor, if they had one, to have the most information regarding his men even if they were separated and could plan the best course of action. They even had access to a secured radio frequency, that was slightly harder to jam or spy on, than regular frequencies.

Of course, that very same frequency proved to be unreliable if the distance was large enough and both parties didn't have equipment that could boost and catch the signal. Not to mention, until they were destroyed, the two towers that controlled the defense grid also blocked even his attempts to reach Kirito and Sinon.

It was a useful skill nonetheless but not many bothered with it since most focused more on individual skills than those that worked best with a carefully selected and balanced team.

Kirito was a prime example of that mindset, though he at least was willing to go along with certain commands and tactics, his common sense usually overcoming the bloodlust he practically radiated when on the battlefield.

He frowned as he sought out Kirito and Sinon positions on his map and found them quickly approaching them, or rather the facility they were targeting. Kirito seemed a bit closer than Sinon, the rest of their group probably somewhere between them, he speculated.

Unfortunately, the skill didn't inform him about people not in his party, so all he could do was to believe that those two players, who tended to be either lone wolves or a duo that simply tended to go ahead and wait for no one, for once didn't leave the men sent specifically to save them out in a tight spot.

Still, with the amount of opposition that he knew was standing in their way, how could they move so quickly? Did they acquire some vehicles? They weren't rare but rather hard to use, hard to find and most of the time, they were simply speeders that offered very little protection or attack power. Not something they would risk in the middle of a warzone. Okay, Sinon wouldn't. Kirito, he could sadly imagine doing something reckless like that.

"They are on their way," he replied with a small frown, a bad feeling slowly starting to settle in his gut."Should be here soon."

"How can that be?" Asuna who wandered over while he was a little absorbed studying the status of his party members asked a frown on her face."Their tower was quite a way away, and even with reinforcements they couldn't have moved through the terrain with so many enemies around."

"It's Kirito," was all he said off-handedly but it was clear it wasn't enough to convince her.

Come to think of it, Asuna didn't have much chance to fight around Kirito, did she? Sure they might have been part of the same offense at least a few times but probably not part of the same unit, hence she was unprepared for Kirito's usual code of conduct, meaning disregard orders and charge forward, lightsabers blazing.

Up until a few weeks ago Asuna was a member of Blood Oath and had very little interaction with 'independents' like them. She mostly served on their guild's heavy cruiser, coordinating during space battles but despite her talent, strength, and level she served very little down on the ground, with grunts like him.

While space battles had their own brand of chaos, they were still easier to coordinate and overlook ground battles, at least in his opinion. That's where individuals, like him and Kirito simply ignored conventional thinking and thought outside the box to accomplish their goals, which Asuna was not yet as proficient as their situations would require.

That was one of the primary reasons why so many things were relegated to him, simply put he had much more experience commanding a small team through a dangerous warzone than her.

"Trust me. The regular rules usually don't apply to Kirito," was all he said before he was distracted by Agil's cry as the giant took back the binoculars to survey their surroundings.

"Something's happening in sector 6 and it's heading this way," he said, leaning forward slightly as if he could see whatever was happening more cleanly."I have a hundred credits that it's Kirito."

"I'm not taking a bet like that," Klein said as he took a closer look himself, before lowering the binoculars, feeling a headache starting to form."Am I really seeing an honest to god testudo, using large pieces of durasteel moving across the crossfire of Zakuulian droids, marching through like a tank?"

Goddammit, Kirito. He wasn't getting paid enough for this.