~Hakurei Shrine~ > Patchouli's Scarlet Library

The Oncoming Storm

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The Dratini Farmer: Kappa Workshop, Youkai Mountain, Gensokyo Back at the workshop, every aircraft was ready to go. Tengu pilots were making mad dashes to their waiting vehicles, while kappas where directing them onto the strip. Aya was still not used to the power that she felt coming from the SU-47. She can see a kappa wave her forward and begins to test her rudders and wings. Once she gets the thumbs up, she pushes the throttle all the way and is pushed back into her seat. The black jet shoots forward and off the side of the mountain. It falls for a second and then has enough airflow to pull up. She goes up to 4,000 feet, waiting for her squadron to from up behind her. Looking around, she can see thick patches of magical flak exploding above the Hakueri Shrine and the Human Village. On her map, she can see formations of enemy aircraft heading towards them. Remnants of the first wave are still dodging missiles and gunfire from all directions.  ?Command to all Black Crows, mission update. A second wave of NATO aircraft are incoming. Intel says they?re mostly fighter bombers and attack cart. All Black Crows, you are cleared to engage.? Aya?s SU-47 turned towards the shrine and turned on full afterburner. The tengu thought about going in low but didn?t want to risk hurting her comrades on the ground with the sonic boom. The rest of her squadron catches up again and moves into formation flying. Her wing mates move forward until they have their wingtips less than a foot from their canopies. They bank to the left and all of them rise up at the same rate. Once they reach their desired altitude, they flip over until they?re upside down. Aya scans around until she catches a glimpse of light being reflected. She can see the fighters break off when they spot her. As one, her squadron breaks off, going in every direction. A red tipped F-22 Raptor catches her attention as it dodges the volley of missiles that hit the rest of the Raptors. Her radio begins to buzz with mostly random activity from every tengu squadron in the air. ?Break off, break off! He?s right behind you!? ?Watch this!? ?Use the flares! Use the flares!? ?Do a barrel roll!? ?What?s a barrel roll going to do?? ?He?s on my tail! Somebody get him!? ?Cut to the left, I got you.? ?Watch out, we got a badass over here.? ?Don?t be that guy.? ?Looks like I just stirred the hornet?s nest.? The Raptor that Aya was tailing knew what the tengu was wanting to do, so it launched itself into a dizzying array of turns and rolls that she found hard to follow. But she still kept going, determined not to lose him. The dogfight began to move towards the interior of Gensokyo. Before she knew it, they were flying over the Misty Lake. The air defense systems of the Scarlet Devil Mansion began to slowly fire at the Raptor, being careful to avoid hitting Aya. Sensing an opening, the Raptor dropped an unarmed missile. But a short burst of red bullets hit it, setting it off well above the mansion. ?This is the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The point defense system is fully online.? Koakuma was on the radio again. ?Tengu squadrons, we can?t hit the fighters without risking friendly fire due to spell circle problems. We?re working on them right now. We need you to keep the fighter bombers away from us so we can hit the bombers coming in.? Nitori joined in as well. ?Most of the helicopters are ready to lift off. Black Crow Squadron 2, we need you to fly cover for them.? That was Hatate?s squadron. On the map, Aya could see them disengage from the fur ball and head back towards Youkai Mountain. She covers them the best she can, but has to focus most of her attention on her prey. Her magic powered missiles are having trouble getting a lock, so she increases thrust to get closer. She gets close enough to see the rivets in the fuselage but is taken by surprise when the Raptor rolls to the side and cuts its thrust dramatically. Aya rushes forward and the Raptor increase its thrust back to the same as before. Now, Aya is dodging gunfire and live missiles. Aya deploys flares to distract the missiles and executes a sharp turn to the left. She dives down, stopping when she?s barely 200 feet from the treetops. To be able to get a missile lock, the Raptor pilot has to get in close to get past the Copper Spell. He shows a remarkable skill level in being able to keep up with the spastic tengu. Tired of waiting for the missiles to get a lock, the Raptor pilot opens up with his machine gun. The bullets begin to graze the SU-47, causing Aya to add even more evasive maneuvers to her flight. ?Black Crow 1, lead them back to the mansion. We got an idea.? Koakuma could be heard trying to catch her breath. ?Reload those launchers right now! Repairers, give me a count on how many spell circles got knocked out! We got company coming in from the west. Get me a lock on them, now! Hurry, hurry, hurry!? The reporter cuts to the left again, flinching when bullets bounce off her cockpit. She can see one of her wing mates being chased by three Raptors. But as soon as they were near the Scarlet Devil Mansion, a volley of missiles slammed into the NATO aircraft. ?Black Crow 5, you?re all clear.? Then the sounds of sparks being emitted could be heard in the background. ?Don?t cross those spell circles! Squad two, reload Lady Patchouli?s launchers! Black Crow 1, I have eyes on you. Bring it in closer.? Aya?s about to cut again when a missile flies within a foot of her cockpit. She reacts instantly, pulling to the other side and deploying another set of flares. Knowing that she wouldn?t be able to do anything while being chased, she decides to turn the tables. She slams the button that disables the G and angle of attack limiter. Then she pulls back on the control stick hard. Thrust down into her seat this time, she waits until she?s angled up at 120 degrees and loses most of her speed. Then she centers the elevator, pitching the aircraft forward. Her form was perfect, the SU-47 hadn?t rolled or yawed at all during the maneuver. And even better, her adrenaline was starting to kick in. Surprised, the Raptor pilot overshoots Aya, giving the tengu the advantage. She locks on his movements, time making sure that she won?t fall for any more tricks. Figuring out that his opponent was serious, the NATO pilot dives down until he?s about 100 feet from the ground. Aya follows him, firing her machine gun all the way. A lucky shot rips through his left wing, causing the aircraft to fishtail for a bit. But her opponent won?t be taken down that easily. Then they remember where they are. Solid streams of anti-air fire come up from the ground, forcing the dueling pair to start a dance to dodge all of them. If it wasn?t for the fact that Aya?s eyes were used to having danmaku everywhere, she would had been in trouble. She could tell that the other pilot was having trouble seeing but still kept going. Then magical flak began to explode all around them, creating clouds of every color imaginable. The pilot becomes determined to at least take his opponent with him, so he starts to get even closer to the ground. The dogfight turns into a game of cat and mouse as both aircraft weave in and out of anti-air fire and the various tall trees. One wrong move could mean the end for either of them. But being the fastest in Gensokyo meant that Aya had the reflexes for this. Every move that the fighter made in front of her, she countered and followed perfectly. She wasn?t fazed at all by the near misses, in fact she was even more confident since she had a cockpit to protect her. ?Black Crow 1, you have the last fighter. The rest of your squadron is being moved to the gateway for the next wave. We can?t send you backup so you?re on your own.? Nitori was almost drowned out by an alarm. ?Third wave of NATO forces is heading for the Shrine. They have armor and air support. Barrier is still up. Green group, stick close to holding sector MG-7!? Aya wasn?t worried about not having backup. She was more than happy to be able to fight such a good opponent by herself. He almost gets the slip on her by braking and going into a slide, but the tengu was an expert in that trick herself. Matching his maneuver exactly, she adds a little power to move up and tap his rudders. He jerks in surprise and Aya gives him some space. She opens up with her machine gun again, this time hitting the elevators and causing an engine fire. The aircraft starts to fishtail again, but regains some measure of control. Aya still keeps on firing, hitting the right wing and setting it on fire as well. Starting a slow roll, the underside is hit by one of Aya?s magical missiles. A small explosion comes out of the cockpit as the NATO pilot ejects. But with the aircraft upside down, he went straight into the forest. The downed aircraft crashes into the forest, starting yet another fire. Aya pulls up, wanting to get a better view of the sky around her. The surrounding area was clear, giving her a chance to catch her breath. She realized that she was so hyped up during the entire chase just now. It would not do to have her reputation of being calm, cool and collective ruined. She checks her map, there was another fur ball happening above the Hakueri Shrine. Not wanting to be left out of the party, she turns and activates her afterburners. Near the Great Hakueri Barrier, Outside Gensokyo It was business as usual for the Sealing Club. A lot of running and looking for old shrines. But something was different about today. Maybe it was the bullets and mortars raining down all around them. And the fact that now an entire company of NATO troops was chasing them. If she had to guess, Renko would say that they had already run at least two and a half miles. Maribel had begun to slow down a mile ago, but had grabbed Renko?s hand. The look in her eyes was begging the physicist not to leave her. In response, Renko had a tight grip on her hand. She swore that she wouldn?t leave her best friend, no matter what. They kept running, even with their sides hurting and their calves seizing up. Their adrenaline boost had hit as soon as the first bullet flew towards then but had worn off half a mile ago. And the mortar team had finally gotten their ranges right, so they were starting to hit closer and closer. Then the bigger guns started to drop shells near them. This forces their pursuers to give them more distance, but does little else to help the pair?s situation. But about two hundred yards in front of them, they can see a large ditch. They sprint to it, trying to ignore their exhaustion. About a hundred yards in, an artillery shell hits extremely close to them. Both of them are thrown forward into the ground from the blast. Shrapnel flies everywhere, narrowly missing Maribel but cutting Renko on the cheek. The physicist barely notices the cut, immediately shaking her head and trying to get Maribel back on her feet. She?s badly disorientated by the blast, with blurred vision and ringing in her ears. But they both manage to get back to running towards the ditch, wanting at least some cover from their pursuers. After what felt like an eternity of running, they finally reach the ditch. Instead of jumping in, the pair just falls in amid a hail of bullets. Trying to catch her breath, Renko sits against the sloping ground. She tries to think of a plan to get them out but draws a blank. Maribel sits next to her, too tired to do anything else. Outside the ditch, the company sets up defensive positions. The front element begins to line up and reload. Then they slowly begin to walk forward. Holding their weapons at the high ready, they?re prepared to fire as soon as they see either of them. Maribel grips Renko?s arm tightly and buries her head into her shoulder. Renko still can?t think of anything but spots a branch next to her. There?s no way that it could get them out of this but she would rather go down protecting Maribel than being defenseless. She grips the branch tightly, and closes her eyes. ?Mary, I don?t think we got a way out.? ?I?m sorry.? Maribel was starting to have tears in her eyes. ?I never should have dragged you here with me.? Renko grabs her in a tight embrace. ?That doesn?t matter, I would had followed you anyway if you tried to do this by yourself.? Before Maribel could respond, a loud roar was heard from the side. It was an unworldly roar that made the hair on both of their necks stand on end. Renko risks a look and is astonished by what she sees. Two giant demons had flown into the middle of the company and were throwing them everywhere. The soldiers had opened fire on them but it was having no effect. The pair hears running from behind them and tense up. Out of the bushes, a kitsune and nekomata hop out and slide into the ditch with them. The nekomata drops to the prone and crawls up the slope until her rifle is out and begins to lay down blue and red bullets. The pair recognizes the kitsune as one of the attendees of the UN meeting weeks before. ?Don?t worry, we?re not here to attack you.? The kitsune spoke in a gentle voice. ?I am called Ran Yakumo and that?s Chen over there.? The two tailed cat gives them a quick wave in between magazine changes. Ran looks to the melee and drops down. ?Get down, you two.? Renko drops down, bringing Maribel with her. Half a second later, a flailing solider flies through the air that they had just occupied and crashed into a tree. Ran brings up her rifle and puts two shots in him to be sure he won?t be a problem. ?We were asked to come help both of you. I know a place where we can go and I can explain everything there.? The pair look at each other for a second before they both nod. Ran calls out, ?Chen, get ready to pull back. How much longer does your spell card last?? ?About ten more seconds, Lady Ran.? ?Lead these two back to the shrine. I?ll cover you.? ?Yes, Lady Ran.? Chen slides down the slope and runs back into the woods while Renko guides Maribel after her. Ran lays down and begins to shoot the officers that she can spot. She waits until Chen?s spell card, Oni Sign: Red Oni, Blue Oni times out before she pulls out her own grenade. When she hears the soldiers begin to regroup, she sneaks a peek and throws it. It hits a solider in the head and lands at his feet. It explodes, sending a mass of purple and blue bullets flying into neat squares. Orbs fly out to form a perimeter and begin to emit bullets in a whirling pattern. Any soldier unlucky enough to be hit by one instantly went down. The remaining officers try to restore order while medics attend to their fallen comrades. Ran knew that their efforts were in vain since, without the Hakueri spellcard rules to hold her back, every bullet delivered instant death. She knew that she should had felt guilt but with everything on the line, she was more concerned with giving Chen a better chance of survival. After a quick magazine change, she slides back down the berm and runs back into the woods. Her spell card, Shikigami ?Banquet of 12 General Gods? won?t last for long when at lethal power, so she has little time to waste. Following a trio of footsteps, she finds Chen, Maribel, and Renko. They barely get done linking up before they?re forced to throw themselves on the ground as an F-18 Hornet flies low overhead and is destroyed by an SU-47 unleashing a hail of rockets into its engines. From the side, an A-10 Thunderbolt II tries to get away but bursts into flames when heavy streams of magical bullets tears into its missiles. The shock of the blast destroys branches that fall everywhere. Quickly raising a barrier, Chen stops branches and splinters from hitting the group. Ran raises her head and pulls her radio out again. ?Nitori, those fighters are getting too close to the ground! What happened to the air defense grid?? ?There?s too many of them for the grid to take and they?re being overloaded,? Nitori pauses as an alarm goes off. ?We got another wave coming in! Looks like the British and French want to join the party. We got a better kill ratio but we?re getting overrun.? Then on the main channel, ?This is the Scarlet Devil Mansion, our targeting spell?s gone out! All we have left are the cannons, but they?re starting to overheat. And we got company on the ground! Patches identify them as the 1st Armored Division!?  ?We have armored units moving to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. All Apaches, move to defend the air defense grid. 2nd Squad of White Wolf Tengus, we need you there as well,? Nitori was starting to go into a frenzy. ?Human Village also reports contact on the north side. And it looks like we have traitors.? ?Damn, this isn?t looking good,? Ran takes a knee and pulls out her cell phone. She types a quick text and sends it off. ?I hope she?s paying attention right now. She?s the only one that can get us out of this mess. Chen, what?s your count on ammo and grenades?? ?I have six magazines and fifteen spell card grenades left, Lady Ran.? Ran pulls out a Colt Single Action Army revolver and holds it out to Renko. ?Take this, it?s not as good as a rifle but it still hits hard. Have you ever shot a firearm before?? Renko shakes her head and holds the weapon gingerly. ?First, get a good grip on it. There, just like that. Then remember the most important thing: never aim it at anything that you don?t intend to kill. Especially since this one is modified to be more powerful. Next, the five fundamentals of shooting: firm grip, breath control, sight picture, trigger squeeze, and follow through. You got the first one down. Breath control is just shooting when you?re on the natural pause between breaths. Sight picture is making sure that you keep looking through the sights the same way every time. Pick a way to position the revolver and shoot it only that way. Follow through is not jerking the weapon as soon as you pull the trigger. Wait about half a second before moving it. That way the bullet won?t miss by so little.? The physicist had a blank look on her face. Ran knew that it was a lot of information to digest in such a small amount of time. ?Don?t worry about remembering all that. Just take it nice and slow and you?ll get it in no time. Now come on, we have to get to the shrine before we get surrounded.?

The Dratini Farmer: Bamboo Forest, Gensokyo A large detachment of the 75th Ranger Regiment hadn?t been expecting that much trouble when they were walking through the seemly deserted brush. But that changed when Reisen had spotted them. Immediately taking down three officers with three shots from her service rifle, she had caused them to disperse. The moon rabbit recognized them as special forces and was eager to show them what the Lunarian Defense Corps had taught her. The fear and nervousness had disappeared when the first round had left the barrel. With the equivalent of an entire company pouring down fire in her direction, Reisen was forced to fall back. Some of the lead elements decide to give chase while the others scan the surrounding areas. She began to weave between trees, dodging bursts of fire. At a downed bamboo trunk, she feigns a stumble, covering the fact that she had armed and dropped a live grenade. The Rangers don?t notice until one of them almost trips on it. It explodes, sending a mass of red bullets that phase in and out randomly. All but one are taken down by her spell grenade. The noise had attracted the rest of the Rangers, keeping pressure on the moon rabbit.  Bullets begin to increase in volume as she kept running. She?s so focused that she barely notices a low flying A-10 leaving a trail of fire and smoke. A bullet zips by her left ear, telling her that they were getting closer. Turning around, she takes half a second to do some calculations. Then she brings her rifle up and pulls the trigger. The bullet hits a bamboo tree at an angle, sending it into two of her pursuers. Another small group of them appear from the left, sending Reisen running again. She recognizes the clearings that she runs through. A few hundred meters, there was a bunker that she had set up earlier. If she can reach it, she can deal a lot of damage to the Rangers and keep them away from Eientei. Another NATO fighter, this time an F-22, was spinning out of control and crashed. From the direction and distance, she guesses that the fighter had probably crashed into some of the Rangers. A little rectangular hole showed her that she had reached the bunker. The hail of bullets made going through the back door too risky, so she slides in through the front. Ignoring the branches and rocks scratching her legs, she lands and rolls. She spots a MG-42 that Nitori had modified and picks it up. Slamming it down on the ledge made by the hole, she leans forward and gets her lane of fire. Movement attracted her eye and she squeezes the trigger. Bright red bullets tear through the first few groups that were caught in the clearing. The rest scattered, racing to find any cover from the waves of death that the moon rabbit was sending out. The kappa had guessed that the machine gun would have to hold off large numbers by itself and added another type of magic to each bullet. It was great not having to worry about causing the barrel to overheat. The water magic that Nitori had infused in each bullet cooled down the barrel with every shot, making it safe to the touch, even after hundreds of rounds. Since the Rangers couldn?t had known this, they were waiting for a pause in the firing that would never come. Then Reisen heard something land next to her. Looking down, she sees a grenade. Quickly reaching down, she grabs it and returns it to the thrower. The rest of the Rangers spot their window and begin to rush forward, throwing grenades as well. Scrambling, she manages to shoot most of them out of the air and ducks when the rest explode all around her. Knowing that she wouldn?t be able to hit all of them with the MG-42 before they overran her, she has no choice but to relay on her ability. Her eyes begin to glow a deeper shade of red and the air all around begins to simmer. The Rangers see that and begin to falter. Reisen increases the power of her gaze and forces them to stop completely. Then the worst possible thing happens. Reisen begins to feel something affect her. She begins to feel extremely agitated and depressed. Memories of her last time on the battlefield replay themselves in her mind. The logical part of her mind knows that somehow, she?s being affected by her own power. It triggers serious alarms, but she?s powerless to do anything about it. Almost as if by itself, her body begins to move forward. Grabbing her rifle, she charges forward with bayonet at the ready. Reaching the nearest Ranger, she kicks him the stomach and slams her rifle into the side of his head. Hearing a loud crack, she steps back and stabs him in the chest. Spotting another, she raise her rifle high and brings it down hard on his helmet butt first. It leaves a deep dent and she finishes him off by punching him in his throat. The rest of the Rangers are stumbling around, badly affected due to her ability. A part of her mind recognized that she was suffering from an attack of shell shock. She couldn?t stop herself, no matter how hard she tried. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees a Ranger bring his rifle up. Reacting instantly, she pulls back and throws her rifle. It flies true and impales her target through the heart. Pulling out her knife, she grabs her next target. Locking his arm into a bar, she brings her elbow down on it. It cracks loudly and bends at a sickening angle. Then she swiftly cuts him in the throat. Throwing the body to the side, she doesn?t slow down to clean the blade. She jumps forward, slamming her shoulder into another of her enemies. A quick cut to the throat and the stomach sends him to the ground. Remembering the MG-42, she retrieves it and holds the trigger down. The machine gun keeps firing and firing as Reisen walks slowly forward. She doesn?t even bother to keep count of how many Rangers she?s taken down but she notices all of the bodies that are everywhere. A loud click is heard from the machine gun, signaling that she?s out of ammo. That breaks the frenzy that she had given up on. Dropping to her knees, she slowly looks around her. Not one Ranger was left alive in the clearing. An entire company of the some of the best soldiers that NATO could send had been wiped out by one former member of the Lunarian Defense Corps. But it wouldn?t be fair to forget that she had gone into a frenzy during the battle. She knew that she had to kill to protect her home and loved ones, but she never wanted to do it like this. Picking herself and the MG-42 up, her legs are shaking too much for her to stand steady. She has to take a few seconds to get herself together and gets her rifle back. Opening the bolt, she notices that she?s empty. Her hand shakes as she reloads and she makes her way back to the bunker. Climbing in, she silently reloads the machine gun. The whole time, she had not noticed that the radio was still on. ?-incoming, I say again, American Green Berets have been spotted near the Bamboo Forest! They?re believed to be after our leaders, mainly Yukari, Eirin, and Eiki. Do not engage them alone!? Reisen tensed up, she was in for another hard fight. Her biggest fear wasn?t dying anymore, it was going into that frenzy and never coming out.  Her knuckles turn white when she grips the machine gun and sights downrange. For the next few minutes, she?s staying deathly still. At the far end of the clearing, bushes begin to shake. Then a figure slowly moves out in front of the bush. A few seconds later, more figures move out, their weapons at the high ready. One near the front has a tube slung from his shoulder. Switching to her rifle, she aims for him. She squeezes the trigger and watches the red blur go straight through the man. He?s flung a few feet as his comrades scatter to find cover and return fire. Taking up the machine gun, she puts suppressive fire downrange. Flinching as bullets hit all around her, she tries to hold them off but can?t keep the side elements. She can feel the agitation and depression start to build up again. She clamps down on it, this time trying to distance herself from the fight. Keeping count of how many rounds she had fired, she knows that she?s about to need to reload. Quickly grabbing for another drum, she takes pulls out a Mauser C96 and shoots at the nearest Green Berets. She grabs the ammunition but has to slam it down on the head of a Green Beret that had jumped into the bunker. Dropping the drum, she spins the man around and uses him as a shield as she fires even more rounds. Now with all of them out of cover, she can count ten of them. Her pistol only has seven rounds left, so she decides to hit their weapons instead. With her sidearm out of ammo, she takes her shield?s sidearm and shoots the rest of the weapons, but it jams before she can take any of the operators down. Dispatching her shield with a quick neck snap she throws him into one of the other operatives. The others rush forward and try to overwhelm her. Reisen crouches a little, adopting a boxing stance. The first one to reach her tries to tackle her but she holds him back easily. Leaning to the left, she makes him stumble and elbows him in the back of the head. He instantly goes limp, leaving the moon rabbit to dodge the fury of punches from the next one. She dodges the punches and then throws a few of her own. Each of them connect, and they all make cracking noises. Her target gets disorientated, making the final punch to the temple easy to land. Hearing steps from her left side, she throws out a kick that catches her attacker in the throat. He falls, and begins to make gurgling noises. Reisen puts him out of his misery with a hard kick to the side of the head. A glint of light was the only warning that she had of the knife that she barely had time to dodge. It misses her eye by less than an inch causing her to jump back. The Green Beret presses the attack, giving the rest of them a chance to surround her. Now, she was being flanked by five of the operatives while dodging knife slashes from a sixth. Three of them rush in at the first time, leaving her with no chance to escape. So instead, she drops to a knee and sweeps her leg all around her. The quick move knocks all of them down, leaving the last three to charge in. She lunges at the one directly in front of her. He tries to bring his knife up but she knocks it out of his hand. Before he lands on his back, Reisen has her knee on his stomach and her elbow on his throat. When they hit the ground, the force of the impact and the knee on his stomach causes his body armor to shatter. Then she pulls her knife and stabs him in the stomach. Rolling off she dodges the kick that was aimed at her head. One of them stabs forward, causing the moon rabbit to dodge again. But she stumbles on the third step. She can?t jump back enough to avoid the knife and gets cut on her cheek. She immediately grabs the knife and turns it back on its wielder.  Then she twists it and throws his body to the side. Everyone in the area is thrown on the ground when another low flying A-10 goes right over their location. Then another SU-47 flies after it, pouring machine gun fire downrange. Reisen?s hearing rings as she gets back on her feet while the operatives had trouble doing the same thing. She takes the opportunity to take down two more by stabbing them in the throat. Now with only two left, she?s going on the offensive. Getting in close to one of the operatives, she unleashes a punishing barrage of punches that leaves no room for defense. She hits with enough force to break his body armor and his helmet. Then she connects with a devastating uppercut that shatters bone. A shot rings out and Reisen feels something hot burn into her arm. She instantly feels light headed due to her sudden decrease in blood pressure. But she still has enough determination to spin around and make her hand into a gun shape. Then a bullet flies from it and hits the last operative in the face. With the last operative down, she inspects her wound. It seems to be light but it will affect her ability to fight. Making her way back to the bunker, she begins to search for the first aid kit. But before she can get far, a rain of bullets hits all around her. Looking at the clearing again, she sees more Green Berets and now they brought along Spetsnaz troops. The amount of bullets that they put down around her block her vision. Reisen reloads the machine gun and gets into position to fire. She feels another bullet hit her shoulder and spins her around. Pulling out her pistol, she sits against the wall. Trying to slow down her breathing, she knows that she has only a last stand to look forward to. She can hear the soldiers getting closer and closer. Bring her Mauser up, she waits for one to get into her line of sight. Her hand starts to shake and her vision starts to blacken. She tries to steady her breath, but it gets short and shallow. Feeling the sweat on her forehead, she knows that she doesn?t have that much time left. The top part of a helmet begins to come into view. But she doesn?t have the strength to pull the trigger. The Spetsnaz operative trains his weapon on her, waiting for her to make a move. He keeps on getting closer and closer. With a sneer on his face, he begins to pull the trigger. But then he gets a shocked look on his face and falls forward. The last things that Reisen sees before she blacks out is an arrow sticking out of the dead Russian and a blur of red and blue next to her. Near the Hakueri Shrine, Gensokyo Ever since the first element had stepped into the general vicinity of the Hakueri Shrine, they had to deal with the devastating attacks launched by Reimu. Instead of fighting in a conventional style, she had adopted hit and run tactics. The blunt of the damage had been received by the American 4th Infantry Division and the British 3rd Mechanised Division. The fittest solider of either division couldn?t keep up with the miko when she used her power of flight to get away from each ambush. And their morale was dropping with each attack as well. Remiu was putting more effort into this than anything else in her life. She wasn?t anywhere near the point of having to slow down. Her ammo was more than three quarters full and she still had plenty of grenades. As long as she kept them away from the stairs in front of the shrine, they wouldn?t be able to fire on the shrine. Running back after she had emptied another magazine and threw a few grenades, she notices a weird feeling in her stomach. Looking up, she can tell that somehow, the sky was different. But she couldn?t figure out why. It was starting to worry her a lot. Deep down, she knew it had something to do with the barrier. The sound of something large and metal began to get louder and louder. Quickly dropping to the prone behind a bush, Remiu sees what looks like a tank make its way through the forest. Trees are knocked down as it slowly moves forward. Grabbing her radio, she tries to spot a weakness. ?Nitori, there?s this thing rolling up here.? ?What?s it look like, Remiu?? ?It?s got wheels, and a big gun turning around. The front looks like an arrow.? ?Give me a minute?wheels and an arrow front?that?s probably it. Looks like we got Strykers. They?re personnel carriers. They can take a good amount of damage before they stop. Do not let them get up the hill!? The armor looks strong, so Remiu takes out one of her grenades. This one is not one of her special spell card grenades, but just a regular magically enhanced one. She throws it and it lands on top of the vehicle with a loud clunk. The machine gun mounted on the top turns to face her and begins to fire a storm of bullets at her. Narrowly dodging a bullet, the miko turns and breaks contact. The grenade goes off in bright red explosion. Since it was magically enhanced, what happened next was a total surprise to the crew. The force of the blast destroyed the suspension and slammed the vehicle into the ground so hard, it was buried half a foot. Looking back, Remiu sees that the machine gun was obliterated by the blast. Turning around, she charges forward and lands on top of it. Being careful to avoid the sharp shards of metal created by the explosion, she takes a knee and wait for the door to open. After a few seconds, it drops down with a loud clang. 9 soldiers stumble out, moving to set up security. Reimu opens fire on them from above, taking them all down before they can react. Jumping down, she enters the vehicle and takes down the two crew members. Dashing out of the wreckage, she can see explosions nearby. Flying into the tree line, she can barely make out a mortar team moving towards the shrine. Bullets suddenly start to come close to her, a hint that she should probably get closer to the ground. Dropping behind a tree, she looks for the source of the bullets. Seeing a squad taking defensive positions a few hundred meters away, the miko runs to the side. Catching sight of her flanking maneuver, they begin to fall back while covering each other. One of them is hit by a red bullet and flails back. He?s grabbed by one of his comrades and is dragged back. Encouraged by her lucky shot, she continues to fire at the retreating men. She hits another and slows down the entire group. Moving forward, Remiu keeps dashing to avoid the return fire. But then the hair on the back of her neck start to stand on end, causing her to run back. She barely has the time to throw herself into the prone before an entire company opens fire on her. Immediately grateful for the small hill that she was hiding behind, she was angry for almost walking into that trap. Rolling to her side, she opens fire with her M4. She keeps firing until she hears a click then rolls back and reloads. But she forgets how many magazines she has already gone through and almost burns herself when she puts her hand on the handle guard. Pulling out her sidearm, she fires until she get a jam about 4 rounds in. It?s a tight jam, not something that she?ll be able to clear before she gets overrun. She?s low on grenades but has two aces still up her sleeve. Hesitant about the prospect of using one of them, she?s forced to play her hand when the entire company charges. Pulling out her most valuable spell card, she activates it. Remiu begins to float, even as bullets hit where she?s at. But the bullets go straight through. Seeing this, the soldiers stop and begin to concentrate fire on her. Even with so many rounds aimed at her, none of them hit. Some of the troops begin to step black slowly, fear evident on their faces. A captain steps forward and begins to fire at her, but it still has no effect. Orbs begin to orbit around her, filling up with every bullet that passes through her. They glow bright, causing the entire company of soldiers to turn and flee. But it was too late. The miko raises her left hand and crosses her right one over her chest. Then she spins and spreads her arms out. The orbs explode, sending spell cards everywhere. They hit every soldier in the area, instantly sending them to the ground. A Stryker was moving forward to support the infantry when a hail of spell cards cut straight through its armor and causes a massive fire. Concentrating on extending the spell?s duration, Remiu started to pool all of her energy into it. Normally, she would had been able to attack indefinitely, but with the added power that she needed to make it lethal, it was draining her quickly. Over in another clearing, she can see a trio of Strykers fire at her. Gain altitude, she looks around for more targets. Before she forgets, she rains another barrage on the trio and moves on. A loud crack sounds a few feet from her. On the ground an M1 Abrams tank had just entered a clearing a few hundred meters away and had its sights on her. In response, Remiu rains down spellcards on it, but is surprised when they barely make craters. She keeps on hitting it, but feels her energy being drained with each spell card. Lowering her altitude, she tries to figure something out. She decides to cut the spell off before she gets exhausted and hurls the orbs at the tank. The orbs hit with a good amount of force and explode. Dust flies into the air, blocking her view of the tank. About a few feet off the ground, Remiu?s energy gives out and she falls. She lands on her feet but falls backwards. Breathing heavily, she can barely lift her own hand up after she sits up. Her heart drops when she hears a rumbling from inside the cloud. Slowly, the tank moves forward, but its armor is heavy damaged. With that amount of damage, Remiu could had broken through if she had another grenade. But she had used the last one and dropped her rifle earlier. And now, she doesn?t have the energy to run away. Even with the massive tank moving towards her, Remiu holds her ground. She still had her pistol and pulls it out. Looking down, she notices that the jam is clear. Pulling the slide back, she brings it up. The first round hits the tank head on but does no damage. She fires another but the same thing happens. At this point, she doesn?t care and just keeps pulling the trigger. Just as the last round hits the tank, it explodes. Hearing a whirling noise in the air, Remiu looks up and sees an AH-64 helicopter flying above. In the cockpit, Marisa gives her a tip of the hat and flies towards the heavier parts of the fighting, raining down magical bullets and missiles. The sense of relief is cut short when a heavily camouflaged Bradley IFV rams into the clearing. The rear door opens and a team of six soldiers dash out. They take up a firing line and begin to march forward, weapons held at the high ready. All of them could tell that Remiu was exhausted and her pistol was out of ammo. The miko?s arm had dropped the pistol next to her, causing them to be extra wary. When they about 10 feet from her, they stopped. Before they could do anything else, a green blur came from the wood line. Everyone in the clearing turned but the blur was already in their midst. The highest ranking member of the team, a sergeant, lost his weapon when a slash cut it into two pieces. Now that the blur was moving fast, Remiu could recognized her rescuer. Youmu Konpaku had used her ability of high speed to get in close enough to not worry about getting shot. She kept performing a graceful dance that ended with the entire team?s rifles being cut in half. With the soldiers now getting themselves together, they began to try to overwhelm her. Youmu?s ghost half rams into one of the soldiers with so much force, his neck is snapped. The marshmallow keeps going and rams into the cannon on top of the Bradley, bending it at a 60 degree angle. With the ability to accurately aim, the risk of friendly fire was too great for the IFV to take. Youmu dashes behind the group in the blink of an eye and swings her sword. The bullets that are created from the slash hit the soldiers, breaking through their body armor and killing them. Now with no more chance of friendly fire, the Bradley accelerates forward, aiming to run over Youmu. The half human jumps on top of the vehicle and stabs right through the armor. Running to the front of the vehicle, she stops then slashes the front part off. The remaining part slows down than stops. A few seconds go by and then Youmu runs to Remiu?s side. ?Lady Yukari sent me to keep an eye on you. We need to get back to the Human Village.? Youmu helped Remiu get back on her feet. ?From what I heard on the radio, we?re getting overrun slowly.? ?I used up all of my grenades and spell cards,? Remiu was having trouble breathing. ?Fantasy Heaven took a lot out of me just now?? ?I saw everything. Don?t worry, Lady Yukari said that she knows what to do.?

The Dratini Farmer: Kappa Communication Relay Post, Youkai Mountain, Gensokyo A few minutes ago, Yukari had left the main room to take a call. Inside Nitori?s office, Yukari was talking on the phone with a potential ally in the outside world. ?I will admit, Lady Yukari, that the evidence that the Americans gave us was suspect. The Federal Court has looked at everything concerning this matter, and most of them ruled in your favor. The Federal Council has also found merit in you stand.? ?I?m pleased to hear that, Mr. President. But would that mean that Switzerland would be willing to become one of our allies?? There was a short pause. ?At the moment, I can only speak in support of Gensokyo for myself. But we are willing to open talks as soon as you can get those in charge together.? ?I understand that the full Council must be in agreement. I would like to open the talks right now, but we are in the middle of a massive attack on our sovereign land.? ?That?s understandable. I wish you luck in pushing back that attack. But, hasn?t NATO technically violated Japanese sovereignty?? ?From what our intelligence services have told us, the Japanese government has been providing support troops and an open borders treaty with NATO. They have enough problems to deal with at the moment, but even the smallest support hurts us. But I?m happy to see that the Americans? refusal to share their proof has made it possible for this lie to be exposed.? ?Lady Yukari, if I remember correctly, the files that you presented at the UN, were those really from their CIA? And couldn?t you have brought those captured soldiers in front of the entire assembly?? ?I may not be human, but I?m still respectful. About the files, yes, they were the originals, straight from the Director?s desk. I also hid his television remote on my way out. From what I heard, he was angrier about the remote than the files. He missed the series finale of one of his soaps.? ?Then why didn?t you pursue this to the World Court? You had plenty of strong evidence against the US.? ?Do you remember the case of Nicaragua v. United States, Mr. President?? ?The case about the US arming the Contras? The court ruled with Nicaragua but the US blocked the judgment by using the UN Security Council.? ?Exactly, Mr. President. The US basically controls the UN and the World Court, relying on them is useless. Any evidence that I brought to light wasn?t for them, it was for all the nations of the world to make their own decisions.? ?That was well played, Lady Yukari. The only problem that I can see is if they take too long to decide to join you.? Yukari was silent for a few seconds. ?That?s a risk I have to take. So far, we?ve been able to inflict massive damage on the invading forces, but they?re starting to overrun us.? ?Lady Yukari, excuse me if I overstep my bounds, but most of you aren?t technically humans. Shouldn?t that make up for the difference in numbers?? ?We youkai are much stronger and faster physically, but we can only take so much pain before we fall. Our White Wolf Tengus are our best fighters, but they can?t hold off a modern regiment all by themselves. They would be able to inflict massive amounts of damage with their normal weapons. But those weapons are outdated, even if they are boosted by magic. And we haven?t had to kill in battle ever since the Great Hakueri Barrier was created so long ago. That?s why I given them weapons that are more lethal than just swords and brooms. I even taught them how to infuse their bullets with magic, making them instantly lethal. It gives us a fighting chance.? ?But what about them using the weapons against your forces?? ?They would have to be able to use magic. From what I know about the outside world, the closest things you have to magicians are illusionists. Unless they can hurt us by making pigeons fly out of our hats, we?re not worried about them. But may I ask one thing, Mr. President?? ?Yes, you may, Lady Yukari.? ?What about the risks Switzerland takes by joining us? You?re about the same size as we are, but you have managed to stay out of a lot of conflicts over the course of history.? ?We?re good at staying out of trouble. It?s because we?re always ready for a fight. During World War II, we shot down both Allied and Axis craft and got apologies from both sides. Nowadays, since our banks store money from various VIPs from around the world, a war would mean that those records could go public. That would be the last thing that some ministers or representatives would want.? Yukari bowed her head. ?I salute you, Mr. President. Even I wouldn?t had come up with insurance that solid. I am grateful that we?re not enemies.? ?Everything has its reason, Lady Yukari. I hate to have to cut this short, but I know that you have a battle to oversee.? ?Thank you for your support, Mr. President. When will the Federal Council take the vote?? ?We?ll be meeting later today. I should have an answer for you tomorrow night at the latest.? With that, the phone was hung up. Yukari stood there for a few minutes. Then she went to Nitori?s desk and picked up a file. It was a brief on Switzerland. The gap youkai knew a little about the tiny nation but was thoroughly impressed when she was done reading. If the Swiss Federal Council voted to join Gensokyo as an ally, it would mean that the story that the United States had given for the start of the war was false. And the Swiss would be able to tie up some of NATO?s troops, giving the GDF a little more space to breathe. But that all hinged on them surviving the current battle. Looking outside the office, Yukari can see that the blue rectangles are slowly being pushed back by the mass of red rectangles and triangles. Above everything, the fur ball above the Hakueri Shrine had expanded to cover half of Gensokyo. The barrier was still up, so at least they didn?t have to worry about artillery. Yukari knew that she still had something else to do, so she opened up another of her gaps and stepped through. Mountain top, Bhava-Agra, Gensokyo Tenshi was still going over the conversation with Iku. Just the way that the messenger had told her to be careful of the Dragon Palace had made her question the scroll that she received. But then her cell phone began to vibrate. She had received a text message from Ran. Reading it, she sighed in relief, happy that she wasn?t wrong this time. Hearing someone land behind her, she looks back to see Iku. She has another scroll and an agitated look on her face. ?Eldest Daughter, the Dragon Palace is still buzzing about your actions. But the Dragon is starting to become displeased with your inaction.? ?I can?t order the artillery to fire. The risk for friendly fire is too much.? ?I know, but the dragon won?t listen to any of us. Here?s another message from him.? Iku holds it out, waiting for Tenshi to grab it. The Celestial grabs it and breaks the seal. Reading the contents, her eyes narrow. ?What is this? Does he really expect me to do this!?!? The oarfish took a step back at the level of anger in Tenshi?s voice. Crumbling it into a ball, Tenshi throws the trash down the mountain. ?That?s not going to happen. I don?t care how important it is, but it won?t happen.? Iku was confused, ?Eldest Daughter, if it?s an order from the Dragon Palace, you-? ?I am not going to withdraw my forces just to protect the Dragon Palace!!! What about everyone else on the ground fighting for their lives and everyone they care about!?! As a Celestial, I have to be able to take the best course of action for everyone! I will not withdraw my artillery just to protect the lazy in their ivory towers!!!? Iku had to turn away to keep herself silent. Then a gap appeared and Yukari walked out. ?I was just around and?oh my, am I interrupting something?? Yukari looked from the oarfish to the Celestial. ?I should take my leave. Eldest Daughter,? Iku bows slightly towards Tenshi. ?Lady Yukari.? Another bow, this time towards Yukari. ?Always a pleasure to meet with the Dragon Palace?s messenger,? the gap youkai returned the gesture with a nod. With a sharp turn, she stepped off and took to the sky, heading back to the Dragon Palace. This left just Tenshi and Yukari to stand in silence until the younger woman spoke. ?You had more plans for me when you got me this job, didn?t you,? Tenshi made it more of a statement than a question. Yukari looked her dead in the eyes. ?I?m sure that Iku has already warned you about the political climate at the moment. She?s one of the few people that saw the crumbs for the evidence that it is. And her position at the Dragon Palace lets her know more than most others.? Yukari looked like she was staring into Tenshi?s soul. ?It?s clear that you know something?s wrong. But you?re not the only one. Those in charge of making all of this happen know as well. I?ll give you this warning: watch everything around you.? Tenshi could only stare back, that was the same warning that Iku had given her before. But she couldn?t stop herself from asking the question that was nagging at her. ?Who?s behind all this and what do they want?? ?I?m sorry, but I can?t say anything about that right now. I told you all I can for the moment. But I would like for you to answer a question for me.? After all that had happened, Tenshi still didn?t know what all of this was about. Remembering Iku?s warning, the Celestial nodded her head. Yukari leaned in close, now she had a deadly serious look on her face. Tenshi almost flinched at the youkai?s change of aura. It was way worse than the time the Hakueri Shrine was destroyed. ?Should anything happen against the best interests of Gensokyo, would I be able to count on you to stand by my side? Even if the threat is from within the barrier?? It took a few seconds for Tenshi to understand what Yukari was asking. Everything was pointing to only one conclusion: Yukari Yakumo was planning to overthrow the Dragon.

The Dratini Farmer: Hakueri Shrine, Gensokyo The shrine was exactly what Maribel and Renko was expecting. A traditional Shinto temple, it had the aura of home. Even with the sounds of gunfire and explosions all around, the pair still felt a sense of comfort as soon as they passed the gate. Reaching the donation box, Maribel found it weird to see not a single coin in it. And now that they were closer, they could see that the shrine was a little run down. Renko was a little hesitant to go in, but followed Ran and Chen anyway. The nekomata disappears in the back room and returns moments later with two AR-15s. She hands them to Maribel and Renko and goes back to get ammo. Ran pulls out a spell card and begins to cast its incantation. Seconds later, a hazy barrier covers the shrine grounds. ?That should keep their artillery and heavy fire off of us for a little,? Ran looks around. ?We?re going to have to hold the shrine until the rest of the GDF can regroup and come back.? The radio buzzes to life with activity, ?-the line, I say again, hold the line! White Wolf Tengus, take out the satellite technicians and the field grade officers! Black Crow Squadron, keep those Warthogs away from the Shrine and the Village! Any Oni near the Misty Lake, armor is your priority!? ?Damn, we?re starting to break. We have to hold the line here,? Ran pulled out her cell phone and read a text message. ?Somehow, they?re getting past the shrine and attacking all over Gensokyo. We need to stop them here before they get to a really bad target.? Ran motioned Maribel and Renko to follow her and led them to a pair of bushes overlooking the stairs to the shrine. Finding a few good sized rocks, she picks them up and tosses them in front of the foliage. ?Uses these as cover. You have modified AR-15s but since neither of you can use magic, it won?t make any difference. Stay behind the rocks and remember the fundamentals of marksmanship: firm grip, sight picture, breath control, trigger squeeze, and follow through. Keep those in mind and you?ll be alright. Chen and I will be defending the sides so don?t think that you?re alone. Good luck.? Ran turned and rushed to join Chen. Renko inspected the rifle, seeing how it operates. Maribel had a wary look on her face, wondering if she would be able to kill anyone. Then they both get in the prone and adjust the rocks in front of them. Once they were ready, they waited. The pair knew that they had the advantage since they were on top of the steep hill that led up to the shrine. But they knew better than to get careless. Renko looked over to Maribel, making sure that she was alright. The magician was nervous, afraid that she would get her or her best friend killed. On the left side of the clearing at the foot of the stairs, the bushes started to move. Poking his head out slightly, a solider was on a knee looking up the hill. The physicist heard a sharp intake of breathe from Maribel. Calming her own breathing, she focuses on the soldier?s center mass. Gripping the rifle and pulling it back tightly, she aligns the front side post over his slowly moving form. She lets out a slow breath and waits until she?s out of air. Then she squeezes the trigger and the rifle burst to life. The bullet travels through the barrel and flies into the soldier?s neck. He falls back, clutching at his wound. Renko flinches as the return fire hits the rocks in front of her and Maribel. Thinking about her first kill, the physicist can?t help but feel a sense of pride at her shot. It was at least 250 meters away, and she had hit her target in an unarmored spot. She may had hit high but her target was still down. Rolling to the side, Renko can see that a squad had moved to defensive positions and were trying to retrieve their fallen comrade. Maribel steels herself to fire on the soldiers. Crawling to a spot where she can see down the hill, she spots a fire team trying to climb the hill through the trees. Aiming for the leader, she closes her eyes and pulls the trigger. The bullet hits the ground in front of the leader. Reacting instantly, they scatter and race for cover down the hill. Behind them, Ran and Chen were facing off against a troop of British soldiers. The pair were moving from cover to cover as fast as they could, sometimes dodging bullets by less than an inch. It was obvious that the kitsune was concentrating fire on the ones that were aiming for Chen, but the nekomata didn?t say anything. Then a squad with a L43A1 general purpose machine gun arrived and pinned the youkai down. Forced to take cover behind a thick tree, Ran pulled out another of her spell card grenades. Throwing it in the midst of the clearing, it goes off. The soldiers jump away but Shikigami ?Hermit Fox Thoughts? takes down most of them. The rest of them flee from the spell card, doing their best to bring their wounded. Chen follows suit with her own grenade, Hermit Sign ?Phoenix Egg?. In the sky above the shrine, cruise missiles were starting to make it past the barrier. One was shot by a tengu pilot and exploded in a large flash. Maribel and Renko had to drip their heads to keep from being blinded from the flash. When she looked up, Renko could see another fire team rushing to get to a group of trees halfway up the hill. Aiming for the one with the machine gun, she pulls the trigger. The shot goes wide and hits a rock. The rebounding bullet then stops when it meets another solider down the line. Seeing this gave Renko an idea. Pausing to calculate a few things, she smiles a little when her eyes follow a path she likes. Firing another round, she can see the sparks on the rock that she deflects the round and sees an officer in the back clutch his leg and fall. Maribel had decided against killing anyone. She was going to have to force them to stay back by laying down suppressive fire. Focusing on a squad that was moving forward, she aims for the ground directly in front of them. They move back to cover, keep them from getting a better position. Then the magician sends another round downrange, this one narrowly misses another soldier?s face. The pair kept firing, holding off the attacking troops for the next ten minutes. Maribel?s side of the hill had no dead or wounded, just a platoon of terrified soldiers. Renko?s side was littered with the bodies of the dead and wounded, even if they were behind cover. Ran and Chen had taken an entire company out and were facing two more. Throughout the holding action, Maribel?s headache had begun to get worse and worse. During the times when she had to reload, she snuck a look at the sky. The cracks in the sky had begun to grow wider and spread. She had also begun to feel a pain in her heart. But she still kept firing, determined to protect Renko?s side. On the other side of the pathway, Renko was reloading. She could tell that her best friend wasn?t aiming to kill or wound. But that meant that eventually, they would overrun her side. Shifting to the side, she shoots an assistant gunner that poked his head out from behind a tree. The rest of the soldiers stop trying to rush forward and concentrate on returning fire. Renko senses something amiss and begins to look around. An explosion hits about half way up the hill, making her jump. Looking to the tree line, she sees an entire company had arrived. There were a few soldiers armed with M203 grenade launchers, and they were aiming at the pair. Renko sees one that is done reloading and is getting his sight picture. Not wanting to risk getting a grenade to the face, she moves her front sight post over him. She pulls the trigger at the same time he does. The bullet is faster, hitting the grenade before it?s fully out of the tube. The resulting explosion engulfs him and every soldier near him. Amazed by the shot she had just made, Renko aims for the other grenade launchers. She counts at least 8 more of them, each aiming at her. Maribel shoots at them, attracting their attention. One of them begins to sight on her when Renko deflected a bullet off another soldier?s helmet into his throat. On his way down, his launcher goes off and hits a small group of soldiers hiding behind a tree. Off in the distance, the pair could see another company move in to reinforce the first. Renko can?t help but groan as the odds keep turning against them. Maribel doubts that she can keep on forcing the attackers back without killing them. They both hope that something would happen to change the tide. Outside the Hakueri Barrier Ever since the battle started, it was easy for the White Wolf Tengus to pass the line of battle and hide near command posts. Every so often, they would do a quick raid and hide in the forest, putting the command staff on edge. The hit and run attacks hadn?t appealed to Momiji, so she just stayed in the forest and sniped random members of staff. Her H&K MSG90 was the perfect complement to her sharp eyes. The FOB that she was targeting was starting to call in reserve units, so the tengu had to keep moving. Catching sight of a solider with an eagle on his chest, she recognizes him as a full bird colonel. Dropping to the prone, she quickly calms her breathing down and takes the shot. He?s thrown back as the bright red bullet shatters his body armor. The guards start to fire into the forest, hoping to get lucky and score a hit on Momiji. Seeing that she?s caused all the confusion she can at that spot, the white wolf moves back into the forest. She remembers another FOB around the area and decides to wreak havoc there. Moving through the forest silently, the sounds of gunfire and explosions were all around. Then her ears hear footsteps in the area. Quickly dashing behind a tree, she stays perfectly still. About 100 meters from her, a small squad of military police were arranged in a wedge formation. They held their weapons at the high ready and were visibly unnerved. Waiting until she had the right angle, she held her breath. She fires, taking down half of the wedge with one shot. Nodding in satisfaction at her perfect shot, she had to move to avoid the return fire. Taking a knee behind a small mound of dirt, she fires two more shots. Now the only one left, the surviving solider turns around and runs. Momiji aims for him but spins around before she can squeeze the trigger. That action saved her from having an AK-12 slammed into her back. Her rifle took most of the blow from the attack and gave her the chance to analyze her situation. A lone Spetznaz operative had managed to sneak up on her. He was putting all of his weight on the weapon, hoping to overpower her. But the tengu wasn?t having any of that. She rotates to her left, letting the Russian lean too forward to counter her attack. Momiji knees him the stomach than rips the weapon from his hands after she drops her own. He doubles over but manages to head butt the tengu, causing her vision to become blurry for a few seconds. She still throws a fury of punches, making the operative stumble back. He wraps his arms around her outstretched one and began to throw her. She lands hard but lifts herself up and sweeps his feet out from under him. Landing on his side, he scrambles to pull out a baton as Momiji kicks at him. As soon as Momiji?s kick connects, she feels an electric shock course through her body. The operative had manage to hit her with a stun baton, but had shocked himself in the process. The pair kept on getting shocked until the baton shorted out. They both struggle to pull themselves together, wanting to get the advantage. Reaching for her saber, she has it halfway drawn when she finds herself getting another shock. She manages to break free of the electricity by slamming the pommel of her saber into his stomach. He starts to wheeze, giving Momiji the chance to recover. Two seconds later, she?s on the attack. Grabbing hold of her saber, she charges forward and elbows the Russian in the face. Then she slams her knee into his stomach, in the same spot as before. His noise is bleeding from the elbow, some of it lands on Momiji?s sleeve. Smelling the blood brought out her white wolf instincts, making her fight even harder. She hears more footsteps getting closer, so she grabs her opponent, spins him around, and uses him as a shield. His body is riddled with bullets from the Spetznaz troops that had just joined the fight. Backpedaling, she looks around for an escape route. Bullets wiz all around her, keeping her moving. She pulls out a magic grenade and tosses it. It causes the others to scatter and gives her the opening she needed. Quickly throwing the body to the side, she dashes to her rifle and then hauls tail out of there. On the way, she puts a few rounds in the operatives. The explosion throws them into even more confusion, as more red and blue bullets fill the air. Momiji is dashing through the trees when she?s spotted by a platoon moving forward to reinforce the line. They shout and begin to pour fire at her. Flinching at all the close calls, the tengu doesn?t bother to turn around and return fire. Taking flight, she?s about to head to the higher levels of the forest when a burning F-35 comes too close for comfort. Out of the corner of her eyes, she can see the black crow tengus locked in a deadly dance with the enemy air forces. Turning her radio on, she?s immediately barraged with the traffic on the channel. ?TANK!!! TANK!!! TANK!!!? ?Move those fairies back, NOW!!!? ?Get that medic up here! Don?t die on me, please don?t die on me. We?re going to patch you up and make you better.? ?The left side?s collapsing! Pull back, pull back!? ?There?s too many of them! We can?t-? ?We lost contact with the Forest of Magic team.? ?Move that gun up here now! Hold them off while we pull out!? ?Get those mortars, they got us zeroed!? Momiji speeds toward the Hakueri Shrine, the rally point that they had all agreed on beforehand. But before she can even get within half a mile of it, she?s shot at by a battalion?s worth of NATO troops. Changing direction, she decides to head for the human village instead. ?Momiji, this is Nitori, come in please.? ?I?m here, Nitori.? ?We?ve been trying to get ahold of you for a while. The other white wolves had to pull back when they got jumped by tanks. The Hakueri Shrine rally point?s out for now, it?s being attacked by at least two battalions. We need you to go to the Human Village and clear out the Secret History Association. They?ve turned against the village and have the defense force pinned down. If the shrine falls, that?ll be their next target.? ?What about the shrine?? ?Ran and Chen are holding them off while the rest of the GDF falls back to their rally points. They also found two humans that are keeping the majority of the attacker at bay by themselves. The village is higher priority.? ?I?ll be there.? In the distance, Momiji could see an attack helicopter rain down star shaped bullets on the ground forces that were trying to boost the attack on the shrine. Knowing instantly who it was, she felt a slight pain as she remembered getting Master Sparked during the feud between the two shrines. But the tengu had her doubts. Even with the magician?s power and skill, it was impossible to hold off numbers that high forever.

The Dratini Farmer: Scarlet Devil Mansion, Gensokyo The Scarlet Devil Mansion was being attacked by US Marine Recon troops that were aiming to destroy the air defense grid. But they had never expected the fight for their lives that the Scarlet Devil and her sister were giving them. And they weren?t alone, with the Dog of the Devil, the Unmoving Great Library, and the Colorful Rainbow Gatekeeper all lending a hand. When the recon units first tried to sneak up to the mansion, they stopped when a giant flare flew into the sky directly above the building. Then a bright red spear flew after it and hit it. The resulting explosion sent fireballs flying into the ground all around the mansion. The recon troops that were within the range of the impact zone were taken down immediately. Before the dust could clear, rainbow colored bullets and silver knives flew out of the cloud. Taking down entire groups of Marines, the storm kept coming. The lucky survivors managed to find cover behind the trees some distance away from the falling flares. On the clock tower, Remilia was observing the battle with a stoic look on her face. She knew the reputation of the United States Marines, the ?Devil Dogs?, but she was confident that the Dog of the Devil was more than a match for them. Inside the mansion, Patchouli and Flandre were casting another round of Royal Flare and Leviathan. The librarian shot the flare straight up, followed by Flandre?s spear right after. A few hundred feet above the mansion, they collided, raining down fiery death. For now, that combination kept their attackers at bay and the air defense grid online. Koakuma was administrating the grid, keeping the teams of fairy maids busy at all times. It was a complicated affair, spell circles would begin to dissipate after a short time, forcing her to split her attention between recasting and reloading missiles. The radio on the table kept her updated on the status of the overall battle, but didn?t raise their morale with the news of the retreats. An alarm began to go off, alerting them that a NATO aircraft was almost in range of their missiles. Quickly making her way to the map, Koakuma sees a flight of F/A-18s on their way to engage the SU-47s. ?We got another flight coming in! Hurry up and get those loaded! You, over there, get a lock and fire when you get a good shot!? Koakuma turned to the map again. ?Where do they keep coming from!?!? The library began to shake again, meaning that another round of Royal Flare had landed. With the way that the flares were falling, they would have to time the missile launch perfectly. Keeping her eye on the map, Koakuma grabbed one of the books next to her. It was a spell book, one that concentrated on fire elemental magic. She was looking for a way to increase the missiles? speed, so they would be able to clear the flares faster. Outside, a fire team of Marines had managed to get past the flares and were stacked up against the fence. They all flinch when the flares hit the ground behind them. Splitting into two groups of four, they began to prepare explosives to breach the wall. Once they were set, both teams ran away from the area and blew a hole in the fence. Quickly moving in before the dust could settle, they all halted when they could see what was in front of them. In front of them, a young woman with short white hair stood ready. She wore a well maintained World War II era German Army uniform in a dark blue color. She held a Karabiner 98K and had a G36 slung on her back. A bandolier of knives was draped on her shoulder. But what had stopped the Marines was her eyes. Not a single man in either team could take their eyes off the blue eyed beauty in front of them. One blink later, a hail of knives appeared in front of her and then flew towards the Marines. They were so shocked that they couldn?t react as the knives rained into them. Once they had all fallen, Sakuya calmly walked behind a large piece of rubble and took a knee. Bringing her rifle up, she began to snipe any movement in the forest past the flares. At the front gate, Hong Meiling was using her manipulation of chi to boost her speed and get in too close for the Marines to shoot. Taking down a sergeant with a kick to the side of the head, she spins around and punches a lance corporal in the chest, breaking his body armor and a few ribs. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see two of them bringing their weapons up. Meiling unleashes a crescent kick that sends rainbow colored crystals flying at them. With their weapons nothing more than twist pieces of metal, they draw their knives and charge in. Even though she knew that she was fighting for her life, Meiling couldn?t help but enjoy the battle. At least all she had to worry about was infantry, the tengu were taking care of the armored units that had tried to charge the mansion. The ground shook as flares landed and missiles were launched, somewhat annoying the youkai. A bullet misses her head by an inch, causing Meiling to jump back. Looking out, she can barely make out the figure of a sharpshooter that almost hit her through flares and dust. Then she sees him go limp and hit the ground. Off to the side, Sakuya had made the shot that kept Meiling from getting killed or wounded. But making that shot distracted the chief maid. If her reflexes were a millisecond slower, she wouldn?t have been able to stop time fast enough. Turning around, she sees a bullet less than a foot away, stopped before it would had hit her. Moving to the side, she finds the source and aims. Letting time continue, she fires. The Marine on the other end of the rifle that was pointed at her only saw her disappear before a bullet came through his scope and then into his eye. Sakuya pulled out another clip, sliding it smoothly into the internal magazine. She takes the stripper clip and puts it back into her side pouch. A Marine jumps out at her from behind some rubble, tomahawk brought up for the strike. Taking a step to the side, she dodges the strike and slams her rifle into his stomach. Then the chief maid pulls out a knife and stabs him between the shoulder blades. Pulling out the knife, she calmly wipes off the blood on the dead man?s clothes and takes up her firing position again. The diligence that she had shown in maintaining her rifle showed when she kept firing with no jams, each shot hitting an enemy in a kill spot. She didn?t even have to boost her bullets? lethality with any magic, her marksmanship did enough damage. The way things looked, the pair would be enough to hold the line. Then the Scarlet Devil decided to join in. Opening up the box that she had next to her on top of the clock tower, she pauses for a bit to admire the weapon in it. Loading a clip of five rounds, she brings up the Springfield 1903 rifle and aims for a figure with a machine gun. She fires, sending a large red beam of magical energy flying towards her target. It hits the man in the heart, instantly killing him and flinging his body into the rest of his squad. Remilia was impressed with the shot, Gunghir was a perfect choice for her. She could see that every eye was on her, so she kept up the performance. Since she didn?t have to worry about accuracy that much, she just squeezed off quick shots. As soon the bullets left the barrel, they curve in flight to go after their targets. Each time the Scarlet Devil pulls the trigger, a life in ended. Her ability to manipulate fate didn?t apply here, all that mattered was her will. If she intended for anyone on the field of battle to die when she pulled the trigger, Odin?s divine spear make it happen. Even the most battle harden veteran was starting to feel the sensation of fear as the bullets rained down on them. Near the Hakueri Shrine, Gensokyo The 1st Armored Division had been pushed back from the Scarlet Devil Mansion by the GDF?s air support and were trying their luck in getting closer to the shrine. Then they ran into the Tiny Dowser General. Nazrin was running towards another spot of heavy fighting when she ran into a lone M1 Abrams. Even though she was supposed to be performing medical duties, but she couldn?t flee now. Running towards the tank, she calls up all the field mice in the immediate area. They being to rush out of their holes, almost invisible to the tank crew. Once they were close enough, the mice began to launch themselves on top of the treads. The ones that landed moved quickly to avoid being flung off and crushed. They made living ladders, allowing their comrades to climb inside the tank. Once they were inside, they attacked the crew and forced them out. With the crew out in the open, the rest of the field mice jumped them. After a few seconds of complete chaos, the entire crew was down and the M1 was empty. Nazrin jumps into the tank, followed by a large group of mice. The rest return to their nests, happy that all of them made it. Organizing the mice into teams, they were able to get the tank moving. After a few minutes of getting used to the controls, they were off. Coming across another lone tank, they fire a direct hit that disables the vehicle. Since the attack was so fast, there wasn?t any chance for them to get a warning out. Now with armor of their own, the GDF had better odds for the defense. Bamboo Forest, Gensokyo For the Rangers and Spetsnaz that were still left after the initial attack, it all went downhill. With her apprentice wounded, the old Lunarian officer came out in Eirin. Every time the remaining Rangers took a step, they were mercilessly attacked by an angry doctor. And it wasn?t the same attack twice. Traps were going off left and right, arrows were taking down every officer that breathed, and explosives were going off in the middle of tactical formations. With the wounded Reisen entrusted to Kaguya and Tewi, Eirin was able to taken on two battalions of Special Forces troops by herself. And what sent fear into their hearts was the fact that the lone doctor was winning. They had never faced an enemy that was so skilled and so determined in their entire careers. For every inch that they traveled forward, they lost half a squad. Reinforcements were beginning to arrive, but that only gave the doctor more targets. A radioman had taken a knee and was trying to call in more support. Eirin hits him with an arrow that goes straight through and hits an officer next to him. The rest of the squad panicked and began to run in different directions, even with the sergeants trying to get them back in formation. A corporal had the bad luck of running right towards Eirin. She doesn?t think twice about drawing her saber and cutting him down. The scream from the dying man attracted another squad that was nearby. As they turn to fire on her, the doctor takes an arrow and infuses it with lethal danmaku. She shoots it into the middle of the squad, where it explodes and sends deadly red and blue bullets everywhere. The entire squad instantly goes down, leaving Eirin to disappear between the bamboos of the forest. A fire had started near the outer edge of the forest, adding to the confusion all around. The thick smoke was being blown into the forest and started to reduce visibility. The odds were being stacked even more against the invading forces. Some squads had even broke from contact and leaving the battlefield as soon as they heard the swoosh of an arrow. The reinforcing British troops had managed to set up a machine gun nest and had caught sight of Eirin. Firing nonstop, they filled the clearing with solid streams of fire. Dropping down to the prone, she prepares an arrow with one of her old spells from the war. Rolling on her back, she draws her bow. Going over the numbers in her head, she knows exactly where to shoot. The arrow?s released and flies true. It hits the back of the nest and explodes in a giant ball of fire. When it reaches the ammo cases, bullets are sent flying towards the soldiers to the sides. Taking advantage of this, Eirin jumps up and rushes into the middle of the closest squad. Her saber comes out and cuts down two of them in one fluid motion. Turning around, the doctor slams the pommel into an officer?s face, sending blood flying everywhere. Then she brings her knee into his stomach, ignoring his body armor being shattered. Grabbing the unconscious man, she throws him into another next to him. She draws her sidearm and fires a shot into a sergeant that was firing at her. The bullet goes straight through and hits another one behind him. Grabbing a confused soldier, Eirin moves him in front of her. Using him as a shield, she starts forward, firing as she goes. Hesitant to fire on their own, the soldiers begin to move back and race to cover. Before they can reach safety, Eirin shoots all of them down. She puts one round in her hostage?s head and runs back into the deeper part of the forest. Finding a small trench near another patrol, she hops in and hides the top with a camouflaged sheet hidden in the hole. Reloading her pistol, she listens for the sounds of footsteps. Poking her head up slightly, she can see another squad arranged in the wedge formation heading across the clearing in front of her. A glint of light catches her attention, and lets her sit this attack out. The compass holder is the one that triggers the trap, his foot tripping the wire strung between two bamboo trees. Half a second later, poisoned arrows are launched at the group, killing them within seconds of being hit. Eirin takes out a map that Reisen had made that highlighted all of the traps that were set. She was lucky that she hadn?t triggered any herself. Halfway out of the trench, she?s forced back by a series of explosions that come from the entrance of the forest. An A-10 had been shot down and had crashed with its entire complement of bombs. From what Eirin knew about the forest, that explosion would cut off reinforcements for a while. It also added to the fires that were already going. Picking up a radio from one of the dead soldiers, she decides to stir up the invaders. She takes a second to think about what she?s going to say and then flips the setting to an open channel. ?To all invading forces, this is Eirin Yagokoro, former Chief Medical Officer of the Lunarian Defense Corps, former teacher of the Lunarian Royal Family, former Commander of the 1st Regiment of Royal Foot and the 1st Regiment of Royal Guards, and advisor to exiled Lunarian Princess Kaguya Houraisan. Veteran of the Lunarian Civil Wars, and the First Lunar War with more than 50 citations for bravery above the call of duty with extreme recklessness to loss of life or limb. I am the one that sabotaged the Apollo 13 mission assassination mission that started the First Lunar War. I am the one that has created immortality. I am older than humanity itself. You cannot kill or harm me, that is against the laws of physics and time itself. You are in my forest, looking to harm those that I protect. You have already wounded my apprentice. For that, I will throw all of you out of my forest. For looking to hurt the princess that I have promised my life to protect, I will kill every single one of you. I will find you and I will kill you.? Throwing the radio on the ground, she shatters it with one step and readies her bow and arrow. Firing it into the air, it explodes into a large flare. The flare was an old Lunarian method of marking targets for total annihilation. Every enemy soldier in the forest froze when they saw the flare, it was bright enough to overpower the sun. The green light casted an eerie shade all over. Through every radio still in possession of the invaders, screams could be heard as Eirin got started fulfilling her promise. No matter how many of them joined up into large groups, they were still cut down by the lone doctor, suffering death brought by her arrows, magic, and saber. Even if they had managed to get a good shot, she was too focused to let it slow her down. Whenever a rare shot did hit her, she would finish taking down the squad and dig the bullet out, not bothering to apply a bandage before continuing. Her uniform would repair itself and cover the wound, giving the impression that she was untouchable. The besieged troops began to call in requests for armor, but with the GDF air units destroying almost every vehicle in sight, they were on their own. Since Eirin had served in every branch of the Lunarian Defense Corps, she was trained in every aspect of warfare, and the long period of peace had done nothing to take the edge off of her skills. With a display of swordsmanship that would leave Youmu Konpaku jealous and begging for Eirin to be her teacher, the doctor ambushed an entire platoon of British soldiers.  Leaving one disarmed, she forced him to watch as the rest of his comrades were cut down. Then she pulled out a small dart and stabbed him in the leg. He falls on his side, withering in unbearable pain. Eirin kicks him the stomach, flipping him on his back. She holds her saber a hair away from his throat. ?Don?t be such a weakling. The poison doesn?t hurt that much, but you?ll be dead within two hours. Get back to your commanders and tell them what happens when my home and family is threatened.? He?s sweating profusely due to the pain, and Eirin?s announcement had sent an obvious streak of fear into him. ?Please?you?re a doctor?help me-? ?No. I?m a tired, former member of the Lunarian Defense Corps. Your rules of engagement mean nothing to me or my former comrades. I did not take the Hippocratic Oath. Be grateful that I am giving you this extra time to live, I?m sure that your friends would cherish that chance.? Turning around, she walked back towards another hiding spot that Reisen had set up. On the way, she could tell that the old Lunarian tradition of total war was still alive in her. She had come to respect the humans? customs of war, but knew that following them now would cause a lot of headache. Looking up, she can see the moon faintly in the daytime sky. In the back of her mind, one question had always been there ever since she had first met a human. Was the Lunarian culture of absolutes and purity really better than the human one of struggle and triumph?

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