25 NOV., 2013, NEAR THE GENSOKYO BORDER


"Oh, her? Yeah, of course I know her." The fairy said slowly, looking over her shoulder. "It's gonna' take a while… It happened a long time ago." She took a deep breath and collected her thoughts. "…Did you know there are three kinds of shrine maidens?" she pulled her hand up, and stuck three fingers in my face to emphasize her point. "Those who seek strength, those who live for pride, and ...Uhhhh... Right! Those who can turn the tide of battle! Those are the three… And her? She was a true maiden."

She was an Ice Fairy they called 'Solo Wing Fairy'. She was a colleague of the woman I seek. Ten years ago, there was a war that engulfed Gensokyo... The Gensokyian war. And in that war was a shrine maiden who trailed across the sky, and disappeared from history. She was a lone human who inspired both fear, and admiration.

She is the woman I seek.

And so… With the words of 'Solo Wing'. The curtain rises.

"It was a cold and snowy day…my favorite kind…"


2 APR., 2003, LAKE ELF, GENSOKYO


Two F15Cs fly low over the lake, one, with it's right wing colored navy blue, and the other, decorated with dark red stripes running over the wings.

"Whoa! It's starting to come down!" Solo Wing Fairy said over the radio as a flurry of snowflakes landed upon her cockpit window.

"Brrr...It's really starting to get cold..." remarked the other pilot.

"This is Base Command. Guess all you guys made it up! Hachiko 1, Hachiko 2, maintain present course."

"This is Hachiko 2, roger that!" The blue winged plane speeds ahead, taking the lead.

"Bearing 3-1-5, Youkai bombers approaching! Nobody wants to bail out into a lake of ice. We're counting on you flight leader."

"This is Magician 1, all flights, prepare to engage."

The red striped plane zooms ahead, passing by Solo Wing. "Let me take the lead on this one."

"Hey!" Solo Wing objected, but she was already left in the dust.

Hachiko 1 hit the throttle, and sped up next to Magician squadron.

Magician 1, TAC name 'Thief' signaled her over the radio. "Glad you could make it up here... 'Miko'. Always good to have new pilots in our ranks."

Solo Wing finally caught up with the rest of the flight. "Yeah, Miko...! I've heard a lot about you, they say you've got the guile it'll take to win this war. Don't get to full of yourself though, everyone here already knows I'm the strongest." she remarks smugly. An audible laugh is heard over the radio from the rest of the squadron. "H-HEY! I HEARD THAT!"

"Give it a rest, Solo Wing." Thief replied. "And let the real pilots show you how it's done." Magician squad speeds up as the Youkai planes come on radar.

"Yo, Miko." Solo Wing calls out over the radio. "You focus on the bombers, I'll handle the escorts, alright?"

"...Roger that." Miko replies.

"Alright, c'mon! Let's show them that we're more than your average mercenary!" And with that, the two F-15s kick up on the throttle and zoom ahead, ready to engage the enemy flight. Hachiko 1 and 2 fly close together, and let fly their missiles at the Youkai planes. Already bagging kills and turning tightly, positioning themselves behind the enemy squadron. Miko fires two missiles at a bomber, blowing apart it's wings, causing it to crash and burn. "Nice kill!" Solo Wing remarks as she opens fire with her Gatling gun, heavily damaging the engine of an enemy SU-35, sending it spiraling to the ground.

"You girls are pretty competent." Thief remarks. "But watch this." A low beep is heard over the radio as the leader of Magician squad switches to her QAAM missiles. Quickly locking on to two planes, she fires both missiles. One has it's body blown apart, destroying the plane instantly, the other suffers less damage, but it's engine begins to sputter.

"This is Ghost 10, my engine is malfunctioning! I'm pulling away!"

Thief calmly holds position behind the retreating plane. "Hey, Miko. How about you finish this one off?"

Miko pulls up next to Thief, easily locking on to the crippled plane. She holds her finger over the fire button for a second, but then pulls away. "...Nah..." she replies. "The plane's out of commission anyway..."

Thief just scoffs and lets fly another missile, blowing the plane apart. "Huh, and I thought you were suppose to be tough. Guess I heard wrong."

"Hey, Miko!" Solo Wing calls out. "If you're done messing around, we've still got 2 more bombers to deal wit- Uhoh... Radar just picked up about 10 more fighter jets coming in from the east. I'll break off and engage them, okay?"

"Roger that Solo Wing." Miko responds, already opening fire on the enemy bombers.

"...Call me 'Fairy'." with that, the blue winged aircraft breaks off from the group, and speeds off to engage the enemy.

"Can't let you have all the fun!" Thief yells out, and her plane breaks off as well.

Miko just sighs as she shoots down the last two bombers. She hadn't expected this to be so competitive.

"Hey...uhhh, Miko?" Fairy says over the radio. "One of the planes slipped past us, an SU-37 it looks like. Whoever was flying it was pulling off some fancy tricks, could barely hold a lock on em' for more than a second." Miko slowly gazes down to her radar, sure enough a single enemy contact speeding right towards her... then two missiles.

Miko banked upward instinctively, and flipped around. She got a glimpse of the SU-37 for half a second before it flew underneath her, still following the missiles. Continuing the loop she sped up, giving chase to the enemy plane. Letting fly on her missiles, she deals a lethal blow to the Youkai fighter.

"Base command to Hachiko team. The enemy attack unit has been successfully intercepted... I'd like to see how those Youkai cowards report back to their superiors."

Solo Wing Fairy pulls up next to Miko. "Miko...I've got a feeling you an' I are gonna get along just fine...

...Buddy"


The Gensokyian War is shrouded in mystery. But now, a decade after peace accords, a portion of the records was finally released.

I quickly got a hold of it.

Wanting more details, I quickly acquired information from unknown sources... There was a reason for my obsession. The roots of the war lie in the Gensokyan federal law review that took place in season 118. Gensokyo, suffering from economic strife, permitted it's eastern territory to secede... And the Scarlet Devil Mansion was born.

But Gensokyo's economic trouble did not subside.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the situation. The land's superpower, Hakugyokurou continued to flourish.

Amidst the economic panic, an extreme right-wing party took power within The Scarlet Devil Mansion, aiming to bring strength and stability to the house. And on August 12th, 2002, with the discovery of hats in Gensokyo, the Scarlet Devil Mansion began to invade its neighbors.

Touhou Combat 0: The Gensokyian War

It was the beginning of the Gensokyian War.

Unprepared, each territory fell quickly before the might of the legendary Scarlet Devil air force. In just a few days, they occupied all territories except for the human village. In response, the occupied Gensokyian government military, placed all their hopes on a joint operation between Hakugyokurou, and the mercenary forces. This of course can be found in any history book. But I noticed a strange similarity in the material I gathered. There were several accounts about a mercenary, all followed by the codeword "Maiden". But most of the information was incomplete. Still, I was intrigued.

I decided to pursue the history of the Gensokyian War through this mercenary. I was certain I would find something there.

Would it be the hidden truth behind the war?

Or just another battlefield legend?

I wasn't able to meet the mercenary herself. Actually, it's questionable if she ever did exist. But thanks to some old friends in the military, I was able to track down several individuals who knew her.

'Solo Wing' is one such woman.