Chapter 32:
There are a few certain things you can do during a crisis.
Generally, it's a good idea to stay calm. It won't do you any good to start panicking when your life's on the line. Panicking leads to your fight or flight response kicking in and while it's good for a burst of adrenaline to get out of an immediate hairy situation, it's not so good when you're confronted by a larger force looking to play Duck Hunt with your grey matter.
So that's what I did, taking slow, deep breaths until my thoughts were centered and my limbs weren't jittery from pre-fight anticipation. I willed the rush of anxiety to subside and managed to focus long enough to take in the situation at hand.
This wasn't SAO, I reminded myself. I was wearing an Amu Sphere, not a NerveGear. There was no death here, there wasn't a mistake I could make that would microwave my brain. Sure, things looked bad now, but we weren't down for the count yet. As long as we were still breathing, we had a chance at turning things around. We just had to be smart and absolutely careful.
I sighed and looked around. The second thing to do in a tense situation is to take stock of your surroundings. Use anything and everything to your advantage. The ones that could think on their toes and use their environment to their benefit would win the day. I think Sun Tzu said that once.
The store was still empty and the dirty windows facing out to the street would keep anyone from getting a clear look inside. The bodies of the people we killed had vanished in a shower of pixels, leaving a knocked-over table, a mess of poker chips, and playing cards on the floor as the sole evidence anyone had been there.
Argo was still pulling at the door that led to the basement, though she had resorted to planting her foot against the concrete wall next to it and using it as leverage to pry it open. I considered making a wise-ass remark about how maybe she should try pushing, but thought better of it.
I peeked outside again. The crowd had grown even larger, bigger than some squads I've seen. I could barely make out their outline through the grime of the storefront windows, but I could see enough to know they had us heavily outgunned and outnumbered. We wouldn't survive a straight fight.
"Maybe if we tell them we're not home, they'll go away," I suggested.
"Aki, if you're still in there, say something before we light the place up." I heard a voice say.
"Okay never mind. I'm starting to think this was a bad idea," I muttered. I looked over my shoulder at Argo, "How's it coming?"
"Not great. This door ain't movin' for the world." She said as she strained against it one more time then huffed and gave the door a hard kick. "Gotta find a key or somethin' to get it open. We're mince-meat otherwise."
The door was one of those solidly built metal ones you see installed in warehouses or factories to stop intruders. Sturdy and capable of taking a lot of abuse. Huh. Now that was peculiar. Why would there be an anti-burglary door keeping us out of the basement of a rundown building? I took a cursory glance around for anything that could open it, but nothing stood out.
"We need to do something quickly because they're going to start shooting," Noya said with urgency. I chewed on the inside of my cheek, mind racing with a million half-finished thoughts, then stepped over to the only window in the room. After making sure there was no one was there to blow a hole in my head, I forced it open.
"Noya, get outside. Argo, keep looking for a way to open that door. Sinon, how are things looking out there?" I asked.
"Fifteen hostiles all lined up in front of the store and on the rooftops across the street." She said with undeterred calm. Leave it to her to still keep her cool when things got rough.
"Okay, we can deal with that. Just have to regain the advantage," I said. Noya met me by the window, but I stopped him before he could clamber out of it. "Give me a few grenades. I have an idea."
To his credit, Noya obeyed without missing a beat. He transferred five frag grenades into my inventory, then climbed out the window into the store's sandy backyard.
"Sneak around these buildings and set up somewhere to hit the mob from the side. Tell me when you're in position but don't shoot until I say so." I said.
"Copy that. Good hunting," Noya said. He dropped into a low crouch and disappeared into the shadows of one of the neighboring buildings.
"Keep me updated on how things are going in here," I told Argo as I holstered my sawed-off. "I'm going to go out and distract our new friends."
I stepped back out into the store and crossed the room to hug the wall next to the entrance then peeked out the window to my left. Some of the people outside were already aiming down the sights of their guns.
There were about half a dozen on the rooftop across the street from us already. On top of it all, some of those closest to the shop were carrying automatic shotguns and shifting their weight from one foot to the other, practically begging for a reason to jump into action. If I didn't act soon, they'd get their wish.
A bright glint came from the hills overlooking the mob; the scope of Sinon's rifle, reflected sunlight. Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice she was there.
"Sinon, the second you hear explosions, take out the guys on the rooftops," I said.
"Roger," she replied.
I summoned a grenade into my hands, squeezing it tight. The third thing to do during a crisis is arguably the most important. After all, it's the one that could very well decide whether you live to see another day or not.
Knuckle down and do what you have to.
I cleared my throat, and shouted in a loud, firm voice, "Listen, this has all been a grave mistake!"
That caught a few people outside off guard. One of them, a broad-chested man in basic kevlar and desert camo, stepped forward, running a hand over reddish hair cut close to his scalp.
"I'm afraid I find it hard to believe that several gunshots were the result of a grave mistake," he said.
"Look, it was just a poker game that got a little bit out of hand," I peered down at the grenade in my hand and hooked a finger around the pin. "Aki was up several thousand credit and he got a bit too big for his britches. He bet his store that I wouldn't beat him. And...well...one straight flush later, he was ready to tear my head off."
"So he's dead then," the man said in a way that was more a statement than a question.
"Unfortunately, yes. I didn't want it to come to that, but he drew first. You know how GGO works. Kill or be killed. I acted the same way any of you would have."
"Look, we're coming inside and confiscating your weapons. Sounds like this whole thing can be resolved if you just void the bet," the man said. That wasn't good. Noya still wasn't ready. I had to buy more time.
"No! I won it fair and square. It's my store now. I'm turning it into a bakery. I'm going to sell cupcakes and sugar cookies and you can't stop me!" I said. Somebody outside actually shouted 'You fiend' and I had to work hard to keep myself from laughing along with some of the others outside. Nice to see some people still have a sense of humor.
The man who addressed me earlier rubbed his chin and sighed. "Sir, it's really in everyone's best interest if you surrender peacefully. I don't want to start a shootout in the middle of town, but...we do what we have to in order to keep this town secure."
Another voice suddenly spoke into my earpiece. Two simple words came through that sent my heart pumping and my nerves alighting with anticipation.
"In position," Noya said.
Showtime.
"But I already made bomb bombs for the grand opening and everything!" I shouted.
"Ya mean 'bon-bons'?" Argo asked.
"Nope," I yanked the pin free and hurled the grenade through the window. Glass shattered. Shouts of surprise and orders to get away were cut short by a deafening shockwave so fierce that dust fell onto my head and the wooden floorboards rattled underneath my feet. I didn't slow down. I pulled another grenade out of my inventory and pulled the pin as I shouted. "Sinon, Noya! Take them out!"
By the time the next grenade flew, I heard the sharp pop of Sinon's rifle and the raucous clatter from Noya's submachine gun. One after the other, I threw every grenade I had, their explosions pounding against my ears like I had a front-row seat to a fireworks show. Once I was out, I risked a look outside.
Chaos and confusion enveloped the streets. The guards who weren't caught in the grenades' blast were scrambling to get to cover, but between the mayhem I wrought and the crossfire coming from Sinon and Noya, the street had become a kill zone. A man aimed at me and tried to return fire, but several bullets hit his left side, courtesy of Noya, distracting him long enough for his head to fly apart into chunks from a round shot by Sinon.
I brought my MP7 to bear and gunned down a legless man crawling desperately away from the shop, then shifted my aim to fire in short, controlled bursts at a player trying to enter one of the nearby buildings, catching him in the meat of his left thigh. He cried out and collapsed onto the ground. He grabbed his pistol out of his holster, firing at me with wild abandon. Another burst put him down for good.