Chapter 50 - Begin the Assault (1/2)

With a little bit of difficulty and some minor damage to their armor, Gray and the rest of Team 3 were able to "flop" up to the solar farm.

"Ok, snipers get a bead on the main entrance, we have the higher ground and should be able to get a clear shot from here. Everyone else pair up with a sniper and be their eyes to get a wider view and help where necessary." Gray commanded.

Paul paired with Xyra, Yurika with Stacia, Geoff with Caleb, and Gray with Alice. The snipers deployed their tripods and took aim down towards the base's main entrance. The sounds of gunfire and the occasional rocket being launched could be seen from the base's defenses when ever one of the attackers stepped out of the cover of the forest. Giacobbe was still trying to probe the south to draw defenders away from the main gate.

"Giacobbe, sorry for the delay, we're in position." Gray reported to Giacobbe.

"About time! Team 2 is getting beat up, no casualties yet, but once you draw them to the east that should relieve them." Giacobbe replied in the leader chat.

"Beginning attack then!" Gray said.

"Attack?!? Just feint, no need to do a full blow attack!"

Gray left the channel before Giacobbe could say anymore. "Caleb, in your opinion, what is the weakest part of the mechs?" Gray asked Caleb.

"The pilot, if you rattle the can enough the pilot will get scrambled."

"Agreed, but that isn't an option since we're in a simulator. I think the weakest point is the joints, specifically the knees and elbows." Gray responded

"Indeed, the armor plating around the joints is much more segmented and also thinner to allow freedom of movement."

"Yes, now snipers, aim for those joints! I know headshots are all the rage in player versus player (PvP), but that head just houses the primary sensors."

Several affirmatives came from his team, then Gray asked Alice to tap her sniper's camera feed into his HUD so he could see what she sees.

"30 defenders by main gate, 15 by southern gate, last 5 are at the mech hangers getting reloaded or repaired it looks like. Let's take out those mechs in the hangers, they're not moving and if we disable them in a gantry, it will disable that gantry for a bit until they can clear it out."

Gray saw Alice aim for the mech hanger where the mech gantries were, then she said "Kirito, adjust my scope's aim for the wind resistance and range"

"Who are you talking to?" Gray asked befuddled.

"My AI, don't you all have them?" said Alice.

Gray saw Alice's scope adjust slight up and left even though the gun didn't actually move. A mechanical male AI voice said "Calibrated based upon height, temperature, range, and wind speed and direction."

"Yeah, but I thought they were only for training... I didn't hear anything though, did your AI talk back to you?" asked Gray.

"Yes, only you can hear your own AI, nobody else." Alice said.

"Tiara, are you there?" Gray asked

"Yes Gray, how may I serve you?" said a melodious AI voice.

"Can you adjust my aim too?" Gray asked.

"Not at this moment, I have not received enough data to be able to help you with this weapon. Currently, I can only help you with the Standard Laser Rifle, not your equipped Battle Rifle."

"So... what can you do then for me now?"

"If you walk into a forest and cut down a tree, but the tree doesn't understand why you cut it down, do you think it's stumped?" said the AI Tiara emotionlessly

"..." Gray was at a loss for words.

"I am sorry Gray, was that joke not sufficiently bad enough? I researched thousands of them to offer for you since they seem to be the only thing you've ever searched for through our network." Tiara said apologetically.

"It was... AMAZING! Hey, can you send text messages to the channels here? I want you to spam a joke like that every 5 minutes in the public channel!" Gray was starting to get excited.

Gray looked up and saw Yurika, Paul, and Geoff pointing their Battle Rifles at his mech and Yurika said "This would be for the better of the team."

"I... I was just kidding... Really..."

Sadly Tiara said she was unable to send messages as she was unable to interface with anyone or anything else except for Gray. Gray thought it might be better to look into it later to see what else the AI could do for him.

"By the way Alice, why'd you name your AI Kirito?"

"Because I picture him as a self-righteous whiney brat that everyone spends all of their time inflating his ego for him." said Alice