AN: Here I am, yet again trying to expand my writing skills beyond that of just Naruto fanfics. Don't get me wrong, Naruto will always be in my top five animes/mangas (Still trying to fill the void after the manga ended), but there are just too many ideas running through my head at once, this fanfic being one of them.
On a "totally unrelated" subject, have any of you guys ever played Star Wars The Old Republic? Because what happens in this fanfic will reflect my own experiences with the game, but less stiff and more virtual reality-esque.
Enjoy!
"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine..."
Chapter Start
"It's time for this week's MMO Stream. We began with a promotional video-" "Mute." a male voice called out, pressing the button with the same lettering on a remote and silencing the noise.
A grin appeared on his face as he picked up his NerveGear, the time having finally arrived for the servers of what was hailed as the most anticipated game of the decade to go online.
Star Wars Online, commonly referred to as SWO, was created by Kayaba Akihiko of FullDive Gaming Industries and supported by BioWare, Electronic Arts and LucasArts. It was first officially announced nearly two years ago, but was a decade in the making.
Normally, this would raise some concern in his mind. Games that took a decade to make were usually disappointing, like Nuke Dukem 2 or Quarter Life 3, failing to live up to the hype that was built up over them. But that was not the case with SWO.
He was among the 10,000 that were able to play the beta, and even the starting planets were breathtakingly detailed, as if he was actually there.
Glancing towards the computer screen, he noticed the glowing red clock that had popped up, showing zero days, zero hours, zero minutes, and zero seconds...
The countdown was finished. The servers were now up.
Wasting no time, he pulled the NerveGear over his head and plugged the device in.
"*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*!"
"... Link start!"
-Star Wars Online-
"Welcome to Star Wars Online!" was written in bold text in front of his eyes, a near synthetic female voice accompanying as audio. "Would you like to go through the Tutorial?"
"No."
"Please state your account login ID."
"Login ID... Crimson."
"Verifying account information. Please wait..." A few seconds passed before three windows suddenly popped up in front of him, a fourth one appearing moments later that covered all three of the boxes before. "Congratulations, you were among the 10,000 Beta Testers! In recognition of such, you will be given a Special Reward in your starting inventory!"
"Ok...?"
The fourth window suddenly vanished, leaving just the first three boxes. The one on his left brightened while the other two were dulled down. "Choose your side."
Inside the first box was two symbols: a blue one on the left and a red one on the right, representing the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire respectively.
"Hmm..." Quite the difficult decision. The first time around, he went the path of a Jedi Knight...
And was beaten many, many times by hostile NPCs. But he eventually learned better, though that only applied to the beta.
"I've gone the path of the Republic, maybe this time... an Imperial." he mumbled, reaching out and tapping the red symbol. The window suddenly split into four sections.
"Choose your class."
"Umm... can you please explain the choices?"
"Acknowledged." the voice said. "Class One: Sith Warrior. Sith Warriors are deadly, expert fighters equipped with a lightsaber and the Force. Warriors can rush into a fight with Force Charge and Smash multiple targets with the Force."
As the voice spoke, the top left box began to glow yellow, indicating which class it was.
"Class Two: Sith Inquisitor. The Sith Inquisitor is a master of the dark side of the Force. Inquisitors overwhelm their targets with Force Lightning and lightsabers alike."
"Interesting..."
"Class Three: Imperial Agent. Agents are versatile, cunning and deadly, able to utilize cover and Snipe to take down targets at a great distance."
"And the final class?"
"Class Four: Bounty Hunter. Bounty Hunters are well-equipped and relentless trackers, utilizing a wide array of weaponry from blasters to missiles to flamethrowers."
He had to admit, each class had their own merits and perks, but he was leaning more towards Sith Inquisitor. A Sith Warrior was basically the Imperial equivalent of a Jedi Knight, and rushing into battle never really worked out well for him. The Imperial Agent and Bounty Hunter both used guns for their primary weapons, something that while good for some, was not for him. He'd be giving up lightsaber combat for gun mastery.
"I choose Sith Inquisitor."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Acknowledged." the first box dulled and the middle box lit up. "Customize your avatar."
"Okay... Let's see here..." he mumbled. "Body Type 2, Head 1, Scar 1, Complexion 1, Eye Color 1, Beard 1, Hair 3, Hair Color 21, and Skin Color 14."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Acknowledged." the third and final box lit up as the second box dimmed. "Please state your avatar name."
"Kibishin."
-Star Wars Online-
"Awesome!" the cries of various people almost brought a smile to his face, new players that were chatting away, talking to old and new friends or forming parties or even just taking in the sight of the starting world, Korriban.
Even he had to admit, the desolate desert scenery was as vivid as real life.
"Inventory." Kibishin called out, causing a blue box to pop up in front of him, showing only the first two slots filled with items. The first slot was two Minor Medpacs, something that came standard to every player when they first started, even in the beta, and in the second slot was a box.
He raised an eyebrow at that, unfamiliar with the new item. His hand moved towards the box and tapped on the item, causing a 1x1x1 foot box to appear right in front of him, dropping to the ground unceremoniously.
Kneeling down, Kibishin opened up the box...
Only to find that the box was empty, except for a ball of yellow light, which shot out and enveloped his form.
"Congratulations! You received x1 Grand Crystal Pack, x1 Grand Weapons Pack, x1 Grand Pets Pack!"
Sure enough, the box had vanished from his inventory slot, and in its place three purple items, the first in the shape of a black quartz crystal cut, the second in the shape of a black blaster pistol, and the third being a black outline of... some type of animal, he wasn't quite sure.
What he was sure of, was the item quality of each. Cheap quality was denoted by a grey outline, standard being white, premium represented by green, prototype by blue, custom was orange, artifact was purple, legendary was deep purple, legacy was light yellow, and mission items were a solid yellow.
All three items were purple, not a deep purple, but still artifact quality.
'I'll save those for later, after I reach level 10...' he thought, knowing fully well that the items he would have on the starting planet would suffice until he got to a point where he could get the mission quest for a lightsaber.
"Character." Kibishin called out, causing a new window to pop up. He quickly moved his hand to dismiss his inventory, preferring to check over the items that were currently equipped and his own stats.
Neophyte Robe, Neophyte's Lower Robe, Neophyte Anklewraps, and a Sith Training Blade. His eyes moved from the right slots to his character avatar, which stood at 5'11" with silver hair that covered his right eye, his left being a icy blue color, and his skin being a slightly tan color.
Level 1 - Mastery 54, Endurance 49, Power 0, Critical 0, Alacrity 0, Accuracy 0, Defense 0, Absorb 0, Shield 0, Expertise 0, Presence 49.
His stats were shit, but that would be remedied when he got gear that gave him stat increases and when he found datacrons scattered throughout planets.
"Chaaaaarrrrgggeee!"
"Let's do this!"
"Lerooooooooooooooooooy!"
Kibishin smirked, calmly walking around the crowd of new players that fought the hordes of K'lor'slugs that were in the starting area, whooping and hollering as some leveled up.
"Hey! You there!" Kibishin froze, knowing fully well that the call was directed at him. He quickly turned around to find two people running towards him.
Both had male avatars that were similar in appearance, standing at 6'3" with dark tan skin, and green eyes. They both wore the Sith Warrior Academy armor, and had the Sith Training Blade strapped on their backs, but their hairstyles differed. The one on the left had Hair 2, a short hairstyle that was a red color, and a stubble goatee. The one on the right had the same hair color, only his hair was in a more combed over style.
"Yes?" Kibishin questioned, sweatdropping as the duo panted, winded by the running.
"You... You look like you know your way around Korriban..." the one on the left said. "Care to help a few newbies out?"
"Oh! Umm... sure, I guess." Kibishin said. "What're your avatar names?"
"I'm Indra! Sith Warrior!" the one on the left exclaimed.
"And I'm Asura, Sith Warrior..." the one on the right mumbled.
"Nice to meet'cha, I'm Kibishin, Sith Inquisitor." Kibishin stated, tapping the air twice, causing a window to pop up.
A few seconds later, two windows popped up, one in front of Indra and the other in front of Asura.
"That's a group invitation. Tap the accept button to join." Kibishin explained. Soon enough, Indra and Asura's health bars appeared in the bottom left corner of his vision.
"Alright... now what?" Indra questioned.
"Now..." Kibishin began, a grin forming on his face. "Ever heard of Datacrons?"
-Star Wars Online-
"AAAAAAHHH!" Indra exclaimed, running away from a rather large Tuk'ata.
They had found the first Datacron quite easily, all three reaching Level 3 along the way, though Indra was too impatient to hear what they did and immediately tried attacking the first creature he saw...
Only to end up in the situation he was in now.
"... What an idiot..." Asura mumbled, watching from the nearby cliff alongside Kibishin.
"Well, I'll admit... I never thought I'd see a sight like that... ever." Kibishin said.
"So can you tell me what these Datacron things do again exactly?" Asura questioned.
"There's three Datacrons on each planet, six if you count the ones that are on the Republic side, I think..." Kibishin explained as he knelt down and tapped the glowing cube. "They grant bonus points to a single stat or give you a matrix shard, but I'm not sure how that works. This one right here gives +2 Willpower."
"Sweet..." Asura mumbled.
"Hmm... I guess I should probably help Indra out." Kibishin stated, finding that watching Indra run away from the low-level creature was getting dull very fast.
"How? It will take forever to just simply hit that creature to kill it..." Asura asked.
"Each Class has their own skill tree and abilities. You can activate them by calling out the attack names or if you've used a certain skill enough times you can achieve the same results by just mentally saying it." Kibishin explained, grabbing his weapon off his back and jumping down off the cliff, running towards Indra once he hit the ground. "Shock!" he yelled, extending his free hand as lightning cackled and shot out towards the unsuspecting Tuk'ata.
"Grrrrr!" the creature exclaimed, nearly a quarter of its health having been depleted by the attack and paralyzed by the effect.
"Saber Strike!" Kibishin exclaimed, his training sword emitting a small glow and he landed two strikes against the beast's side, the last of its health dropping to zero not a second later.
"Congratulations! You have reached Level 4!"
"Wow..." Indra muttered, a computer generated breeze blowing by and swaying Kibishin's hair, a hue of red on the former's face.
"... Dude, are you alright?" Kibishin questioned.
"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'm fine!" Indra quickly exclaimed.
...
"Hey, listen. I've got to go offline now, schoolwork and all." Kibishin said, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah, that reminds me. We've got stuff to do for school as well." Indra added. "Asura and I have a project we have to finish."
"Ne, how about we add each other to our Friends' List?" Kibishin suggested, pulling up his action window and scrolling towards the Friends' List icon.
"Kibishin wants to add you as a Friend! Do you wish to accept?" two identical windows popped up in front of Indra and Asura, both quickly pressing the 'Accept' button.
"Alright! I guess I'll see you guys... later..." Kibishin trailed off, his eyes narrowing and a frown marring his face.
"Eh? What's wrong, Kibishin?" Asura asked.
"There's no Log Out button..."
-Star Wars Online-
"What do you mean there's no Log Out button?!"
"I mean its not there! See for yourself!" Kibishin exclaimed, Indra and Asura pulling up their action windows and finding the same thing was missing.
"This is bad... This is really bad!" Indra exclaimed, dropping to the ground and panicking.
"It might just be a server bug. The game did just come out of beta..." Asura pointed out.
"Let's try calling a Game Master. We probably aren't the first ones to experience this bug, so a GM should know what to do." Kibishin said, pressing the 'Help' button.
...
"-I'm sorry, sir! We don't know how this happened! We're trying to figure out a solution as soon as possible!" Instead of the usual call window that Kibishin used during the beta, the trio was greeted with the sight of a GM teleporting to them, a tall man that stood at 5'11" with shaggy brown hair and a beard to match.
"... Umm, are you a GM?" Kibishin questioned, catching the brunette man's attention.
"If you're going to ask about the Log Out issue, I don't know the answer!" the man exclaimed, his hands a flurry of movement from one call icon to another with three more taking its place.
"What about a forced log out? Couldn't you just shut down the server and kick everyone out?" Asura asked.
"I would if I could, but I don't have that kind of admin authority. The only person that has that kind of power is-" the man froze, eyes widened in realization.
"Who?"
"Kayaba! Kayaba Akihiko!" the man exclaimed, every single Help call window vanishing at once. Suddenly, the same window popped up in front of Kibishin, Asura, Indra, and the GM...
As well as every single player in the server.
"Attention, players. Welcome to my world." the screen was a live feed, but the only thing visible was a red robed figure.
"'My world'?" Asura mumbled.
"Oh Kami no..." the GM muttered, a look of horror on his face.
"My name is Kayaba Akihiko. As of this moment. I am the sole person who can control this world." the hooded figure stated.
"Gah!" the GM exclaimed, dropping to his knees as lightning coursed through his body.
"Your Admin privileges have been dropped from Level 9 to Level 1!" the text window popped up above his head.
"I'm sure you've already noticed that the Log Out button is missing from the main menu. But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect in the game. It is a feature of Star Wars Online." Kayaba stated.
"A-A feature?" Indra muttered.
"You cannot log out of SWO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear." Kayaba explained. "Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life."
"What?!" the former GM cried out.
"I-Is what he said true? Can the NerveGear really kill us if we-" "Yes." the former GM replied.
"I don't understand... how is that possible?" Kibishin asked.
"The transmitter's signals work just like microwaves. If the safety were disabled, it could fry a brain." the former GM stated.
"But if we cut the power..." Indra started.
"No, the NerveGear has an internal battery." the former GM retorted.
"Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning, and have attempted to remove the NerveGear." Kayaba said. "As a result, two hundred and thirteen players are gone forever, from both the Galaxy and the real world."
"Two hundred and thirteen?" Indra muttered.
"Dear Kami above..." the former GM mumbled.
"As you can see, news organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths." Kayaba added. "Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal. I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game. But I want you to remember this clearly... There is no longer any method to revive someone withing the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost. And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain."
"That son of a bitch!" the former GM exclaimed.
"There is only one means of escape. To complete the game. You are presently on your starting world, depending on your respective class. A total of four of the one hundred planets available. Each planet has a World Boss, hidden in one of the many Heroic Areas present. Defeat all one hundred World Bosses, and you will clear the game." Kayaba explained.
"One hundred planets? Every World Boss?! That's impossible..." the former GM said. "Even the beta testers never made it anywhere near that far!"
"Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourselves." Kayaba said.
"Huh?" Kibishin mumbled, pulling up his Inventory and finding... a Mirror? Clicking on the item, a small reflective piece of glass appeared in his hands, the same going for Indra, Asura, and the former GM.
Suddenly, flashes of light lit up each and every area, engulfing a players' form until the entire map was nothing but a bright light. When the lights died down, everyone was different...
"You okay, Kibishin?" a feminine voice called out.
"I... I think so..." Kibishin replied, taking a glance at his body.
"What just happened?" another feminine voice asked.
"Wait a minute! Who are you two?" Kibishin asked, noticing that in place of the towering Indra and Asura was two girls. The first stood at 5'4" with long, flat red hair that went halfway down her back and vibrant green eyes. And the second girl stood just a little bit taller than the first, at 5'5" with short red hair that ended at her shoulders and had the same vibrant green eyes.
"Who are we... who are you?!" the second girl retorted. Kibishin glanced down at the mirror in his hands and found that his avatar had changed as well... to his face. His real face.
"Ahh!" Kibishin exclaimed. No longer did he stand at 5'11", he had shrunk down to 5'7", his hair grew out to his neck, becoming more wavy and no longer silver in color, but almost a mixture between blond and a tint of red, giving it an almost pink hue, and lastly his eyes were no longer icy blue, instead they were an obsidian black.
"Oh boy..." the former GM mumbled, his appearance remaining nearly the same as before, perhaps a bit more angular and shorter. "This mirror..."
"What did it do?" Kibishin questioned.
"The Mirror was supposed to be an item to change cosmetic appearances for avatars, but I think Kayaba made it so that our avatars now reflect our real life appearances." the former GM replied.
"That means..." the first girl mumbled, pointing accusingly at the near-pink haired man. "You're Kibishin!"
"And you two are Indra and Asura!" Kibishin exclaimed. "Uhh... just so we're clear, which one of you is Indra and Asura?"
"I'm Indra." the first girl stated.
"And I'm Asura." the second girl added. "But how... how are we like this?"
"The NerveGear covers your entire head with a high-density signaling device. So it can see what your face looks like. And our body and height types are most likely from when we first used the NerveGear, when we had to calibrate it." the former GM said.
"Right now, you're probably wondering, 'Why?' Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Star Wars Online and the NerveGear, do all this? My goal has already been achieved. I created Star Wars Online for one reason... To create this universe and intervene in it." Kayaba stated "And now, it is complete." the video feed began to twist and contort, its signal growing weaker and weaker by the second. "This ends the tutorial for the official Star Wars Online launch. Good luck, players." And with that, the window vanished all together, leaving a silence that even the faintest of breaths could be heard like a bull in a china shop.
...
Then the panic set in. Players all around Korriban began to cry out in a mixture of shock, surprise, fear and outrage.
"This is bad! This is bad!" the former GM exclaimed repeatedly.
"Calm down, uhh... what's your name again? You never gave it to us." Kibishin asked.
"Oh, right! My name is Gokugo, one of the Game - one of the former Game Masters..." the man replied.
"Well, Gokugo, you need to calm down, keep a level head. Surely, you must know something that can help us?" Kibishin questioned.
"I... I didn't know that this would happen! None of the others did!" Gokugo yelled.
"It's okay. Just breath." Kibishin said, his voice leveled and calming. "There's nothing we can do about it now, all that we can do is play this madman's game."
"Are you actually suggesting we just let this whole incident go?!" Indra questioned.
"No, but Kayaba said that there was a way out. Albeit a difficult one, it is not impossible." Kibishin stated. "Which means we'll need to get the gear to live up to the challenge."
"I... I think I know what you mean." Gokugo said. "I know where to go for the right quests on the starting planets, but after that... Look, I wasn't part of the development team, I was just hired on as an admin, so I don't know that much after that."
"It can still help us." Kibishin responded, pulling up his window and searching for Gokugo's name.
"Kibishin wishes to add you to his Group! Do you accept?" the window popped up in front of Gokugo, who quickly accepted the request.
"We'll have to act fast. I fear that the players here will react violently to GMs or anything related to Kayaba." Kibishin said.
"What do you mean?" Indra asked.
"It is human nature to lash out and find a scapegoat. That's always happened in history." Kibishin explained. "Our best bet is to get as far away from the mob as fast as possible."
"W-Well... we're going to have to start right now. Get to Level 10 and unlock the advanced classes." Gokugo mumbled. "If we start saving up now, with minimal spending, we could probably afford a starship of our own..."
"Lead the way, then." Kibishin replied.
"H-Hai!" Gokugo exclaimed. "This way!"
And thus, the game of life and death had begun.
Chapter End
Character Stats:
Kibishin - Male (Sith Inquisitor)
Level - 4
Mastery - 66
Endurance - 59
Power - 0
Critical - 0
Alacrity - 0
Accuracy - 0
Defense - 0
Absorb - 0
Shield - 0
Expertise - 0
Presence - 59
Indra - Female (Sith Warrior)
Level - 3
Mastery - 62
Endurance - 56
Power - 0
Critical - 0
Alacrity - 0
Accuracy - 0
Defense - 0
Absorb - 0
Shield - 0
Expertise - 0
Presence - 56
Asura - Female (Sith Warrior)
Level - 3
Mastery - 62
Endurance - 56
Power - 0
Critical - 0
Alacrity - 0
Accuracy - 0
Defense - 0
Absorb - 0
Shield - 0
Expertise - 0
Presence - 56
Gokugo - Male (Sith Inquisitor)
Level - 5
Mastery - 70
Endurance - 62
Power - 0
Critical - 0
Alacrity - 0
Accuracy - 0
Defense - 0
Absorb - 0
Shield - 0
Expertise - 0
Presence - 62