Lennon79

Valkyria Chronicles: Lions of the South

Ok, we'll have a very brief section of downtime before the afternoon muster, then head off for the first proper mission.
It only took six months.

Valkyria Chronicles: Lions of the South

High atop the observation tower, Meulemann extended one hand expectantly to another officer, grinning slyly at his comrade's annoyance. '... Ambushing is a coward's tactic... but fair's fair. Take your damn money... sir.' She stalked off to the ladder in a tiff, disappearing down the ladder with fire in her eyes. Squad Six was in for one hell of a beasting... Tarquin had taken a bit of a shine to Squad Four, part of the reason he hadn't assigned them a Lieutenant like the other squads; there was always the option to do so later, he reasoned, or else take command personally. He keyed the tannoy system. 'Cease fire, cease fire. End exercise, I repeat endex. Squad Six, assemble at your starter area and await Lieutenant Gelens' instruction. Squad Four is dismissed and to reassemble on the parade square at 1500 hours. Well fought, all of you.' With the show over and a few hundred ducats burning a hole in his pocket, Tarquin took his leave and stopped in at the NAAFI before heading back to his office. Regimental Command had recently issued warning orders for a large scale offensive and he had volunteered his company to be the vanguard; now he just had to plan the damn thing...

---

'You know what, I think we did...' Harald's reply conveyed more relief than it really should, revealing how uncertain he had been about the plan. In all honesty he had expected it all to go tits up, perhaps due to one of the more individualist squad members doing something out of turn. It was proof of the squad's growing sense of cohesion that the plan had actually worked out. Once everyone had rallied on his position, Harald removed his helmet and sparked up a post-combat cigarette. His trademark laid-back grin had grown even wider than usual. 'Cracking good job, team. Woe betide the poor bastards who let you flank that tank; they'll be on PT for the next twelve hours.' Despite the inherent unfairness of the match, Squad Four had come off very well; only a handful of casualties versus an entire squad with armoured support wiped out. But his expression hardened. 'Pat yourselves on the back, but listen closely. I will not tolerate a single casualty in the real thing. Jatmoore, keep your head down as you run or you'll lose it. Meyers, pick your targets with more care and only fire when you've got sound cover; they had you marked from the first shot. And you, Bons... Don't be a bellend. Stay in cover when you fire.' Ignoring Alonso's dirty glare, the Sergeant dismissed the squad and sent them back to the barrack house. There were a few hours before next duty and they had acquitted themselves well in the exercise; they had earned a bit of rest.

SAO: Living in Aincrad

If her first impressions of the boy had been bad, they were nothing compared to what Pyotr thought when he replied. He squealed like an overexcited puppy, grinning idiotically... In hindsight, this may have been a mistake. She had two options; she could try and stick it out, enjoy the advantage of number and hopefully attract someone more reliable, or she could ditch him and try again.

. . .

She went with option two. 'A-ah... Sorry, I think I mistook you for someone else...' There was no way she could stomach this much hyperactivity; Pyotr would have to find someone on her wavelength, even if it took a bit longer... Not that she had much time anyway. 'But no, that wasn't me. I'm looking for m-my... uh, yeah my friend from... school. Kinda.' Blatant lie though it was, it ought to be enough of a figleaf to cover her escape. Pyotr took a few tentative steps away, smiling blandly... and stopped when the guy appeared to be following her. This is gonna be a pain in the arse... I'll feed him, then skip out while he's distracted. 'I... um... I'm really sorry for getting confused. Do you know where the nearest tavern is? My... friend might have gone there. I'll buy you dinner.' Despite her rosy smile, the inner Pyotr was sighing irritably. Why the fuck did I have to do this to myself... Could at least have snagged a girl, would have been less creepy... And he was creepy, if only by her own rather harsh standards. What kind of nutjob acted so airy-fairy hours after being sentenced to death in a damn game? Eager to wash her hands of the entire affair, she offered a fairly convincing fake grin. 'You look like you've been grinding, so you must be pretty hungry right?'

@Animal

SAO: Living in Aincrad

Pyotr and Cam-Cam could also do with a third person, or else the entirely of my postage from now on will be her secretly loathing him.

SAO: Living in Aincrad

^Why not? Timeskips were what killed SAO in the first place. I vote for bare minimum skippage.

SAO: Living in Aincrad

It's basically a mug of hot flour drink. Tastes much better than it sounds.
Not sure if you can get it outside the UK though...

SAO: Living in Aincrad

Rest up and have a Horlicks. Works wonders.
On a different note, any fellow Britons voting today?

SAO: Living in Aincrad

Pyotr,
Several hours after GM announcement,
Town of Beginnings

SAO ale was pretty good, if a tad weak. After a good seven pints, one might have expected to feel a bit drunk but nope, stone cold sober. Lazing by a small stream on the outskirts of the Town of Beginnings, a lone girl over-armed another empty bottle into the water and watched with muted apathy as it exploded into light. It was all she could summon the will to do since Kayaba Akihiko delivered his damning message to the population of Aincrad; grinding for levels now carried with it the risk of death and the majority of the other players had lapsed into a catatonic state. Even worse were the idiots who had gotten all fired up for survival and protecting the weak and all that bullshit. Still, it hardly mattered to Pyotr... With her family away for a week in the real world and having not told anyone that she had bought SAO, she was starting to come to terms with the inevitable. Dehydration was a pretty bad way to go, but she probably wouldn't feel it from within the game, right? ... Right?

Perhaps it was escapism that led her to the digital bottle, but she had found herself spending almost all of her hard-earned Col on booze and was therefore bitterly disappointed to find that alcohol didn't even work properly... Kayaba was bad enough for committing what was essentially mass murder, but the prick could at least have given the condemned some way to ignore the all-encompassing fear at the back of their minds. And she was afraid, oh God yes... Since the announcement, Pyotr had given every hostile NPC a wide berth, regardless of how weak. Earlier in the day she had watched inexperienced players fall to boars and wolves, at the time laughing at their ineptitude... Now the memory of it made her guts churn...

Suddenly her head jerked up and Pyotr realised just how emo she was being. Fuck, just play some Linkin Park and be done with it. In a strange way, the knowledge of her own imminent death was kind of liberating. Suddenly societal norms no longer applied; alcohol no longer had an age restriction, she no longer needed to get a job and could punch all the babies she wanted. Minus the child abuse, SAO was a pretty good place to live your last few days. She stood up and stretched, refreshed by her fatalistic epiphany. 'If I'm going down, I'm gonna do it in style.', she muttered, ignoring for the moment the cringe-worthiness of her own words, Pyotr surveyed the area. Even though she said that, she wasn't about to head off and die in heroic battle alone... The least she could do was drag some poor soul down with her. Ah, she thought, an unpleasant smile creeping across her face. There's a likely candidate. The poor soul in question was... well, a rather camp looking... boy? Maybe? His flouncy gait and unusual appearance made him an ideal candidate for a throwaway scapego- valued party member. As the boy pranced past, Pyotr raised one hand in greeting. 'Hey there, Mr? Probably... You look like a reliable... person?' She couldn't help but phrase that as a question. To her very critical eye, there was nothing reliable about this waif... 'Are you in a party or anything?' Something told Pyotr to keep her greeting brief; he looked like the kind of guy who could talk for both of them, which suited her.

SAO: Living in Aincrad

SAO: Living in Aincrad

Alright then.
Fair warning, I think Cam-Cam will get on Pyotr's nerves very quickly XD