Question Time!

BlueRibbon118: What happens when they run out of ammo/fuel/other supplies? Or are they above such primitive requirements already?

DonnyDonster: Danmaku is used in place of ammo, and Red Legion would be screwed if they run out of fuel. As for other supplies, like food for example, well it's safe to say that they're above all that because they turn youkai, but humans are part of their diet now.


"Firearms in geosokyo all function the same way, so it doesn't really matter what gun you get unless you care about how they look..." - Morichika, Rinnosuke. "The Rise of the Tank; Chapter 2."


Hakurei Shrine

Back at the Hakurei Shrine, Aya continued on pestering the silent Abe. The reporter had her notebook out and like a hyper-active bird, she started blasting him with questions, "How did you get that picture? Can you give me that picture? It'll make my "Shoot the Bullet" series complete!"

Aya reclined back on the gunner's seat and continued, "And how about a job interview? I never seen such a high quality picture before, you can be my second apprentice! We will make a great team, our names both start with an A and they have three letters!"

A exclamation mark appeared on Aya's head and she said, "That's right! I was here to interview you for the Bunbunmaru Newspaper!"

"Pass, tanks don't give out interviews." Abe stated

The tengu reporter sat in a very suggestive and sexy pose and whispered, "I'll make it worth you time..."

Bang, Bang, Bang!

In the background, Sanae was banging the locked hatch in desperation. The shrine maiden was quickly turning red and yelled, "Suwako, Kanako, let me out! I'm not even 18 yet!"

Fortunately for Sanae, the tank replied, "I'm not interested in ordinary youkai, however if you know any youkai that can tranform into owls, eagles, or tanks, then let me know.(1)"

Sanae fell back into the commander's seat and said in shock, "I heard this in an anime before, but I don't remember what it's called..." she got back up and pondered, "Why birds? I can understand tanks, but not birds."

Abe replied, "Well that's because birds can do something I can't do, unless it involves an airplane. I'm always stuck on ground."

Sanae asked, "Didn't flew in your youkai form?"

"I want to fly as tank." the tank stated.

Aya grabbed out her notebook and said, "I see... interesting..." she scribbled something in, "yes, Abe is only interested in having sex with birds and machines!"

The lights inside Abe turned red in panic, red exclamation marks appeared in all of the screens and he said, "Wait, I didn't say that!"

Aya grinned and answered, "But think about the sales and all the birds and machines will come flocking towards you!"

The lights inside Abe turned blue which is a tank's version of a sweat drop and he said, "I don't think machines are alive..."

Aya replied, "Nonsense my precious Abrams, now on to the interview..."

BOOM!

Before Aya could pepper the poor tank with more questions and offers, the Scarlet Devil Mansion turned into a mushroom cloud, and caused everyone to look at the cloud. Sanae climbed out of Abe and said, "It looks like they're in trouble, if I could get Suwako..." she stopped at the sight of two goddesses and a oni; they were both happily drunk, "Never, it's hopeless..." the shrine maiden said with a sigh.

Soisoisoisoi

Sanae looked towards the horizon and saw helicopters being illuminated by the moonlight of the midnight sky.

Aya climbed out and started to take snapshots. She briefly stopped and made a comment, "You know, Nitori was designing something similar to this."

Inside of Abe's turret, the screens zoomed in on the helicopters and it showed the Red Legion insignia, the Bloody Gladius. The tank let out a low growl, "Red Legion is here..."

Sanae's face turned pale and said, "They're here?"

Aya tilted her head and asked, "Red Legion?"

A familiar purple gap appeared behind Abe and Yukari came out. She was still in that casual business wear, except it's covered in the US president's blood. The tank immediately knew whose blood was that because he's a youkai. He instinctively turned his turret at the gap youkai so that his 120mm cannon is aimed at her and ordered, "Explain yourself!"

Aya and Sanae gave Abe a look that told him that he's crazy. Yukari chuckled and said, "Loyal to your country till the very end? I like that, just make sure that loyalty lies in Gensokyo too."

Yukari walked into a purple gap and got back out on the other side of the gap. She's back to wearing her familiar purple dress, she hovered in the air, sat on his cannon and said, "Just for the record, Red Legion was the one who killed him, not me."

On cue, Yukari opened another purple gap and it showed footage of what happened in the White House and said, "Now that I've proven my innocence, don't you guys have a village to save?"

Aya shouted, "WAIT!"

Everyone looked at her and she said, "You never told me who's Red Legion!"

Sanae angrily said, "They invaded Japan and made me a war refugee."

"They also control 60% of the land on Earth now, how did they do this? I have no idea." Abe stated

Aya quickly wrote down what the green and white shrine maiden and tank said. She lets out a mutter, "Yes... I can see it now, 'Red Legion takes over Gensokyo!' Scoop of a lifetime!"

"Ahem!" Yukari cleared her throat and said with a evil smile, "Remember? Human Village? Saving?"

Sanae flew off with Aya and said, "C'mon Abe, it's our turn to be heroes!"

Abe's turret turned towards them so he can watched them fly off towards the village and said, "Sure, you guys go fly without me..." he turn his turret back at Yukari, "I'll just follow the road... all by myself..."

Yukari watched the M1A2AI aka Abe moving along the dirt road and shook her head, "Ran..."

A blue gap appeared and a kitsune wearing a white and blue dress along with a young nekomata wearing a green mob cap and red dress step out. The kitsune got down on one knee and said, "What is it Yukari?"

Yukari said, "Ran, remind me to punish Reimu for not teaching him how to fly..." she looked at the mushroom cloud that was in the direction of the SDM, "Also remind me to punish her for using a firearm."

Ran sweat-dropped and said, "I don't think 70 ton tanks can fly..."

Yukari walked towards the shrine with a grin, "Come, let's drink! Suika's treat~"

Ran waved her arms in panic, "Chen's not old enough to drink!" a purple gap opened under Chen and she fell through, "Where did you take her?!"

Yukari smiled and gave Ran sake, "Keine will babysit her till tomorrow, yes?"

Ran nodded silently and sat next to everyone.

Yukari looked at the village with a serious face and whispered to herself, "Sentient weapon youkai like Abe and Caligula will give those outsiders and Lunarians something to think about because they can morph into war machines, but the question is... who will reign supreme? Abe or Caligula?"

Ran looked at her master with a worried look and ask, "Is something bothering you?"

Her master just smiled and said, "Unleash the dogs of war(2), Ran"

Ran knew what she meant and said, "Gensokyo is entering it's first Spellcard War against a youkaized Red Legion and it's Abe's chance to show that he's strong enough to became the Hakurei's Familiar."

Suika, Kanako, and Suwako started to laugh, but unknowingly to Suwako and Kanako, Yukari used her powers to manipulate the boundaries between soberness and drunkenness, and that made them sober enough to speak clearly. Of course, this would be useless on Suika because she becomes sober and drunk whenever she pleases.

"Familiar? Yukari, you have a weird imagination!" Suika commented

"Youkaized? Is that even a word? Does that mean that the Red Legion soldiers turned into youkai with firearms?" Suwako joked

Kanako calmed down a bit and said, "A Spellcard War against Red Legion..." she panicked, "Wait THAT Red Legion?! The same ones that invaded and controlled 70% of Japan?!"

The shrine went dead silent.

Yukari nodded and said, "Yes, they're here in Gensokyo in force. How did they got here? I do no know." she pulled out her fan and concealed the bottom half of her face, "I do know this; Spellcard battles should be interesting, the surprising part is choosing sides, will the humans and youkai stand united? Or will most of the youkai side with Red Legion for human meat?"

Suwako grinned and said, "Red Legion doesn't stand a chance, it's not like last time when we didn't have enough faith to protect our homeland!"

Her comment caused Kanako to pat her on the back. The shrine's atmosphere was positive again and everyone went back to drinking.

Yukari opened a gap and said, "Ran, stay here. I'm going to tell everyone about this Spellcard war." she looked at the mushroom cloud again and joked, "ara, ara, I hope the Scarlet Devil Mansion doesn't become another Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I might grow a third eye from the radiation~"

The youkai of boundaries walked into the gap and disappeared.


Human Village

Inside the schoolhouse, Keine was currently grading papers for her students when suddenly she heard a bunch of knocks on the door.

Knock, knock, knock!

The school teacher/part-time VDF commander let out a sigh, "Come in."

It was none other then Captain Bailey Hall, the British soldier that fought in the Boer War. He ran up to Keine and said, "Look out the window!"

Keine looked out her window and saw a mushroom cloud made out of danmaku and said, "It's coming from the Scarlet Devil Mansion," the teacher shook her head in disappointment, "Flandre probably got loose. Reimu and Marisa will deal with her, but it's bad for their health to be out this late."

Knock, Knock!

Keine and Hall looked at each other. Keine sighed and grumbled, "Why does everyone insist on seeing me at midnight..."

Captain Hall opened the door and a girl in her teens walked through. She has long brown hair, her white shirt and brown pants was a dead giveaway that she's Rika, the tank girl. Rika smiled in excitement and said, "Keine, I did it! My latest tank is complete and it bounces danmaku like that tank youkai!"

Captain Hall chuckled, "Wow, news about that tank youkai sure spread like wildfire."

Rika pulled both Keine and Hall out of the schoolhouse and said, "It'll take just a bit of your time, the tank is parked right outside!"

The tank in question was a modified Tiger tank. The tank was painted red, green vines were growing out of the turret, and the 88mm cannon was replaced by a giant sunflower. Usually it requires a crew of five, but Rika's Tiger was modified to be a "one girl" tank. She stood on the turret and said, "Outsiders called this a Tiger tank, I'm calling mine a Tiger Type R!"

Captain Hall asked, "R for Rika?"

Rika nodded. She pointed at the sunflower cannon and said, "According Yuka, this sunflower has enough power to eat through twenty feet of depleted uranium armor if it's at the outside world," she then pointed at the vines growing out the turret and said, "and that is a escape pod I made!"

The tank girl gave out a triumphant smile and said, "If we can mass produce this, those youkai will think twice about attacking the village!"

Keine examined the sunflower cannon and quickly realized what it was and asked, "How did you got Yuka to give you one of her prized sunflowers?!"

Rika cringed in fear, "Don't remind me of that hellish moment!"

Suddenly, a gap appeared above Keine and Chen landed on top of her.

A letter fell out the gap, Captain Hall caught it and reads it:

Dear Keine,

Me and Ran are busy at the moment. Take care of her for us.

~Yukari Yakumo

Keine gently picked Chen off of her and sighed, "This is going to be a long day."

Soisoisoisoisoi

A strange sound was heard from a distance, followed by a tremendous boom. Everyone looked towards the west side of the village and saw one the watchtowers engulfed in danmaku flames. Immediately dozens of Cobra and Hind attack helicopters swarm in with firing rocket danmaku at random houses; Red Legion had launched their surprise attack.

Ratta, Ratta!

Automatic gunshots were also heard in the distance and fear was instilled into their hearts becaue the attackers have firearms. Keine got up and ordered, "Captain Hall, get some reinforcements. Rika, take that... Tiger and help out them out."

The Captain gave a salute, "Yes ma'am!" and ran towards the nearest barracks.

Rika smiled and waved goodbye, "Finally, a serious test-run!" she hopped into the turret, the engine came to life and the tank rolled westward towards the battle.

Keine suddenly felt a tug on her dress, she looked down and saw Chen. The nekomata looked at her and happily said, "Spellcard battle! Can I help? I'm really good at this kind of stuff!"

The schoolteacher smiled and ordered, "Chen, go to the northern part of the village. Find the village pharmacy, Eirin and Reisen are still there, get them to help out. After that, get all the villagers in the northern to evacuate to the southern part."

Chen gave her a cute salute and skipped northwards. Keine started to fly towards the east end of the village, her plan was to get all the villagers to the Hakurei Shrine and the southern part is the closest part of the village to the shrine. Technically she could hide the Human Village's history, to make it seem like the village never existed, but it's too late because the village is already under attack.


Northern Part of the Village

Chen flew towards the the northern part, she looked in the mob of villagers running around in panic and spotted a familiar person. The person wore a brown shirt and red overalls, she was the village's residential pyromaniac.

Chen jumped latched on to her legs and shouted, "Mokou!"

Unfortunately, Mokou was shocked by the sudden hug and she fell face first. She pulled Chen off her leg and shouted, "What's your problem?! Can't you see that I'm busy here? Go bother someone else..."

Chen looked at her with teary eyes and said, "B-b-but, I need to find Erin and Reisen..."

Nearly overwhelmed by the nekomata, Mokou quickly turned away from Chen and thought, "That was dangerous, take a deep breath..." she then noticed something falling towards her direction.

A Cobra attack helicopter is coming down towards her and Chen. Upon closer look at the windows, Mokou noticed that it's bloody, which probably meant that the occupants blacked out because of Chen.

BOOM!

The copter crashed into the ground and became a magnificent fireball, but it didn't stopped until it was five feet away from Mokou. The fireball died down, leaving two unconscious Red Legion youkai.

Mokou noticed five ashigaru or foot soldiers armed with what appeared to be locally made Brown Bess muskets. The British musket replaced the old Tanegashima arquebus(3) as the main firearm of the Village Defense Force or VDF for short.

She ordered, "You five, tie up these two youkai!"

"Hai!" The foot soldiers replied in affirmation and tied the two youkai up with a coil of rope and a iron chain.

Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang!

Five shots rang out and the foot soldiers crumpled to the ground.

Mokou saw a T-64BM2 with a platoon of soldiers approaching her, she lightly shoved Chen and said, "Chen, the pharmacy is three houses away from here." she then faced the tank, "I'll take care of this."

Mokou didn't even need to use a single spellcard in this battle, she made short work of the soldiers, but the big problem was that tank. The tank fired it's machine guns to keep her from getting close and if she flew up in the air, she'll get fired on by MANPADs and helicopters, so the entire battle is fought on the ground.

The immortal human pulled out a spell card and said, "Everlasting Phoenix Tail!"

Danmaku spread out everywhere and most of it hit the tank, but then something strange happened, the bullets bounced back. Now that she is forced to dodge her own bullets, the tank turned its turret at the pharmacy.

Meanwhile, Chen ran three houses down and found the pharmacy, it wasn't hard to find since there were mobs of people gathering around there and because Reisen and Eirin was outside; they figured that a Lunarian and Lunar rabbit can provide decent protection.

"Reisen!" Chen shouted as she jumped and hugged the lunar rabbit.

Reisen jumped and yelled, "Eep!" she looked down at her left leg, "Oh it's Chen."

Eirin caught sight of the situation, she grabbed out a needle and smiled, "Chen! Are you here to get vaccinated?"

Chen's tail stood up in fear and she screamed, "No!"

Suddenly a tank shell flew past the everyone and entered the pharmacy.

Boom!

The pharmacy blew into pieces, destroying all the medical supplies. Eirin stood there with the same smile, she took out her bow and her hands were shaking. She wasn't shaking fear, she was shaking in anger.

The Lunarian pharmacist took a deep breath and said, "Good news, our supplies are gone so you won't get vaccinated today, now if you excuse me..."

Twang!

Her bow fired a danmaku-shaped arrow up into the sky and like a Javelin missile, the arrow came down directly on top of the tank's turret.

Boom!

The T-64BM2 burst into flames, leaving three unconscious crewmen. Mokou walked up to the burning wreck and started stomping on it, "I hate this thing! Whose bright idea is it to make something like?!"

Reisen sweat-dropped and said, "Should I stop her?"

Boom!

A explosion was heard and the fiery wrecked tank flew across sky along with it's crewmen and platoon of soldiers. Eirin sweat-dropped and said, "She's fine" she tapped the lunar rabbit, "Reisen, go help the VDF."

"Of course!" Reisen bowed and ran deeper into the village.

Eirin felt something tugging her dress, it was Chen. The nekomata look up and said, "Keine told me to evacuate villagers in northern part to the southern part."

The lunarian pharmacist turned towards an angry immortal and politely said, "Mokou-"

"What?!" Mokou shouted, she was still pissed off about that tank because it's embarrassing to see your own spell card turn against you.

"-go to the southern part of the village and reinforce the VDF that are stationed there."

"Yeah, whatever..." Mokou waved her hand casually and ran off.

Eirin led the remaining villagers towards the schoolhouse and said, "Most of the villagers here, went to me for help, so it's safe to say that the northern part is fully evacuated."

Chen nodded and followed Eirin as they make way to the southern part.


Road to Human Village

Crank, crank, crank

The sounds of Abe's track echoed throughout the lonely dirt road as he cruises towards the Human Village at 65 mph. Normally it's not recommended for an Abrams to move this fast because the tracks will wear down, but this kind of stuff doesn't matter to Abe because he's a youkai. Heck, he doesn't even need fuel!

Everything around him got darker, he quickly said, "Activate night vision!"

His vision turned green, but he still couldn't see two feet in front of him. He switched modes, "Activate thermal vision!"

His vision turned purple, white, black, orange, and red. Even with the ability to detect heat sources, it still didn't help him see.

"Just what is going on?" he thought as he turn off his thermal vision.

BUMP, Bump, SPLAT!

Abe felt something being squished under his tracks and his vision cleared. He saw a unconscious youkai laying flat on the ground, her clothes and blond hair was now covered with 635mm wide marks from his tracks. The unconscious youkai was none other then Rumia, but to Abe, she was just a nameless youkai.

Happy that his vision is restored, the tank surged forward towards the village. He stopped a little under 2 miles away from the village and observed the going battle.


Western Area of the Human Village

Oswald and Fritz, the duo knights of the Village Defense Force hid behind a couple of houses. The danmaku bullets meant that charges were worthless, but that won't scare them.

Oswald rallied the foot soldiers and samurais, "Listen up, we need to charge across like true men! Firearms can kill from a distance, but if we get up close, we'll win!"

The foot soldiers and samurais roared in agreement, Fritz stepped up and yelled, "CHARG-"

Captain Hall interrupted him, "Wait, that's suicide! I fought against native warriors in Africa before, every time they charge, we mow them down with rifle and machine gun fire!"

Oswald glared at him and said, "That's in Africa, this is Gensokyo. Things will be different here! Besides firearms are a coward's weapon!" he turned towards the soldiers, "Charge!"

Captain Hall watched the soldiers charging out into the farmland and angrily ordered, "Musketeers! Provide fire cover for our idiots!"

Dylan, one of the redcoats gave him a salute and gave the order, "Make ready" the remaining three redcoats and Japanese foot soldiers took aim, "Fire!"

All the shots missed, but it did cause many of the Red Legionaries(4) to duck. It was false hope, within less than ten seconds, every single soldier that charged were quickly mowed down by machine gun fire.

Captain Hall shook his head and said, "I told them that wasn't going to work" he fired a shot at unlucky Red Legion soldier and shouted to his men, "Keep up with the fire, we'll fall back when the civilians evacuate!"

Out of nowhere, a female voice shouted, "Earth sign: Meteor!"

Giant brown danmaku fell from the sky and landed on some unsuspecting Red Legionaries. The captain looked up and saw a female VDF soldier, unlike male VDF soldiers who can only use firearms to shoot danmaku or them youkai head on, they can fly and fight youkai on even grounds. The female soldier smiled and waved at the captain and he gave her a salute.

A Red Legionary saw this and seized the moment, he took out a MANPADS and fired missile danmaku at the soldier. The female soldier let out a scream before she fell from the sky and into a house.

Captain Hall pointed at one of the foot soldiers and said, "Take command for a bit" he looked at Dylan, "You're with me, we're going to save her before those youkai could get her."

Dylan's face paled and he tapped Captain Hall's back, "Hall..." he pointed behind him and there was a T64BM2 with it's cannon bearing down on Hall's group.

Captain Hall whispered, "Mother of god..."

BOOM!

A green laser lanced right through the rear armor of the T-64BM2 and it blew up. A Tiger Type R pushed the wreckage out of the way, the hatch opened and Rika climbed out and waved.

Captain Hall sighed a relief and said, "Rika, you're a sight for sore eyes!"

Rika giggled and said, "Sorry, I was busy helping out the others!" she gives a serious look, "By the way, this area is lost. They will over run you at this rate."

The Captain looked at her in disbelief and said, "Already? But how?"

"These youkai are different, just look at the way they fight." Rika stated and pointed at the helicopters and tanks, "they have flying machines and tanks, not only that, but their tactics are very similar to modern outsider tactics."

Captain Hall looked at the house where that female soldier fell in and then looked at the area around him. He noticed that the VDF was quickly losing ground, so there was no way for him to save that soldier. He sighed deeply and said, "Fine, we'll follow you back."

Rika leads the group back towards the schoolhouse, but suddenly...

soisoisoisoi

A hind popped up above the rooftops and fired a danmaku version of the 9K114 Shturm anti-tank missile at Rika.

Captain Hall immediately yelled, "MOVE!"

It was too late. The missile easily penetrated the Tiger's frontal armor and this means that anti-tank missiles can ignore the tank's danmaku and spell card bouncing armor. Time seem to slowed down as Rika watched in horror as the danmaku bullet narrowly hitting her and everything blew up.

BOOM!

Once the smoke cleared, it revealed that no one survived that missile attack. Satisfied, the Hind Gunship quickly leaves to search for more victims. Unknown to anyone else, a ball made out of vines rolled out of the burning Tiger, and it was the size of Rika. The ball stopped several feet away from the tank and opened like a blooming flower. Rika walked out and said in relief, "That was close, I can't believe that safety feature work."

Rika heard some chatter and quickly hid behind a house. A squad of Legionaries dragged a girl with purple hair and eyes. She wore a pink flower-shaped ornament on her head, a green vest, and red skirt. Rika quickly realized that it was Hieda no Akyuu, the ninth child of Miare.

A hand quickly covered Rika's mouth and caused her to panic and swing her arms. A voice whispered, "Shhh, it's me Reisen, you know? From the village pharmacy"

Reisen gently released Rika. Rika turned around and observed Reisen, she wore a white shirt, red necktie, and a blue skirt. Rika pointed at the corner and whispered, "They got Akyuu."

Reisen walked out and whistled. The squad of Legionaries turned around and saw Reisen, they laughed out loud.

"You gotta be kidding me!" One of them said

"Careful men, it's Reisen Udongein Inaba, the rabbit girl." The officer warned

Reisen's eyes glowed and she said, "Akyuu, close your eyes."

Akyuu shut her eyes.

Reisen held out a spell card and shouted, "Lunatic Red Eyes!"

The lunar rabbit's eyes turned red and temporary blinded the men. Amid the confusion, Rika ran in and grabbed Akyuu. The trio hid in a house and watched the Legionaries regain their vision. The Legionaries then proceeded to take the unconscious bodies of Captain Hall and his group.

Rika looked up in the sky and saw Keine, Sanae, and female VDF soldiers fighting Cobra attack helicopters and Hind gunships, but she doesn't see Aya anywhere.

Rika asked, "What happened to Erinn?"

Reisen replied, "She stayed back to escort the villagers to the south."

Rika asked another question, "Where's Aya?"

"Aya's doing her part..." Reisen answered, she looked at the sky, there was a bright flash and then a Hind attack copter went down.

Moments later Aya appeared inside the house and said, "Aya the War Respondent at your service! I just took at picture of the two youkai inside that flying machine and it went down!" she stood on the windowsill, "Oh, most of the village is in Red Legion hands, but the VDF managed to get most of the villagers to move the southern part of the village, from there they'll make way to the Hakurei Shrine. Now, if you excuse me, the pictures are calling me!"

Rika watched Aya fly away and said, "Wait, she could've help us get back!"

Reisen grabbed out two LP-21 pistols that were strapped on her skirt. They are standard sidearms of the Lunarian Imperial Army (LIA) and Lunarian Defense Corps (LDC). The pistol itself was a miniaturized railgun that fired condensed plasma slugs and it looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. Lunar rabbits were usually issued with pistols and rifles that were on par with the armies of Earth, but Reisen was a pet of the Watatsuki sisters and she gets standard equipment and training because of that.

Reisen handed the spare pistol to Rika and asked, "You know how to use a Lunarian railgun?"

Rika said, "It's like shooting a gun right?" Reisen nodded.

Akyuu tossed a packet next to Rika and Reisen and said, "I took this from one of those youkai soldiers, it's a copy of the 'Perfect Memento in Strict Sense'..."

"How did they get that?" Reisen asked

Rika muttered, "Someone probably dropped it or something..." she saw Akyuu's sad face and said, "Don't worry Akyuu, it's not your fault, things like this happens."

Reisen gave her last pistol to Akyuu and said, "You guys are defenseless without firearms..." she looked Rika, "and tanks, but I can still shoot danmaku normally without them."

Reisen held her hands out like a gun and fired a danmaku bullet to prove it. They were suppose to go towards the southern part of the village because it's currently the only spot that's in VDF control and it leads to the Hakurei Shrine. They stepped out of the house, but unfortunately...

Boom!

A nearby house quickly collapsed and a T-64BM2 drove out. The tank saw the three girls and fired several danmaku bullets from its machine guns, the trio quickly ran south because a T-64BM2 was hot on their trail.

Akyuu fired the pistol and the rounds bounced off the front armor and she panicked, "It's no use, the danmaku just bounce off them!"

"Those pistols would've turn that thing into Swiss cheese if it weren't for that seal!" Reisen yelled

Rika suggested, "I killed one before, just try to hit it from the back!" she looked around area and sweat-dropped, "But the village is too small for us to maneuver around..."

"Duck!" A voice rang out and the trio ducked. A orange laser lanced right through the front of the T-64BM2, the tank burst into fires, then the tank blew up and the turret was sent flying. The trio watched in disbelief as a desert-painted tank stopped in front of them. The words "M1A2AI Abrams" was etch onto the 120mm cannon, it was none other then Abe.

The 120mm cannon rose up into the air and the tank spoke, "Are you girls alright?"

Reisen quickly asked, "How did you destroy that thing from the front?"

Abe replied, "I don't know, my best guess is that tanks can still destroy each other like normal." Abe turned his turret so that it's pointing south, "If you head that way, you'll meet up with the rest of the VDF. From what I saw, they were setting up defensive positions there for a last stand."

The tank moved around the trio and said, "I'm gonna go and stop Red Legion before the situation gets worse."

Reisen shouted, "Wait!" she climbed on top of Abe and stood on top of the turret, "I'm coming too, if they succeed in taking the village, then it's only a matter of time before they can make it through the Bamboo Forest of the Lost and reach Eientei."

Abe was quickly exposed to seeing under the lunar rabbit's skirt and thought, "Damn it, now I know why the plug on the top screen was removed... pink panties, not bad, but I still prefer owls, eagles, and tanks."

The commander's hatch opened and the tank said, "Hop in, name's Abe."

The lunar rabbit got in the commander's hatch and said, "Reisen Udongein Inaba, just call me Reisen" she pointed at Rika and Akyuu, "and those two humans are Rika and Akyuu."

Akyuu and Rika climbed up the turret and gave the pistols back to Reisen. Rika gave her a thumbs up and said, "Go get them guys!"

Akyuu got off the tank and said, "Once this battle is over, can we do a interview? It's for my next edition of the 'Perfect Memento in Strict Sense'."

The tank gave out a hearty laugh, "First Aya and now you, sure why not?" with that said, Abe and Reisen parted ways with Akyuu and Rika.


West Side of the Human Village

A M577 which was basically a commander's version of the M113 was parked near the entrance of the Human Village and a Mi-28 Havoc landed near it. The Havoc glowed in a purple light and it changed back to Caligula. He walked into the M577 and met with the commander.

The Legion Commander gave Caligula a salute and said, "General, everything is going smoothly here. The loses are pretty light, it's not bad if you don't look at the loses for aircraft..."

"Aircraft loses are understandable, I was up there with them." Caligula stated, "Continued as planned, make sure to gather as many bodies as you can; Youkai like us eat humans."

"Yes sir!" The commander replied as Caligula left.

After Caligula left and turned into a Mi-28 Havoc, a legionary ran into the M577 and yelled, "We just lost another T-64BM2!"

The commander tried to calm him down, "Relax, did you see what happened?"

The legionary took a deep breath and said, "The T-64 was chasing three girls, but then a M1A2AI Abrams blew it up!"

Another legionary spoke, "AI Tank? Did the Allies build Skynet or something?"

The radioman muttered, "That tank isn't normal, it moves and fights like a living thing" he reclined back and said, "I was spying on a war game that involved the best tank platoons from America, Russia, and China. Each platoon had four tanks, I expected it to be a America vs Russia vs China thing, but nooo... The US Army bought that AI tank out and told everyone to work together to defeat it!"

The commander asked, "And what happened?"

The radioman said, "It was a slaughter, that AI tank fought like a living, breathing monster..." he quickly went back to work and his face paled, "I'm getting a visual... it's the Abrams!"

The commander was shocked and yelled, "What?! The Abrams?!"

Immediately a danmaku bullet enters the M577 and the entire APC blew up. It turned out that Abe shoot through several houses in order to knock out the M577.

"Reisen, go on ahead and take out any legionary you see; they'll be coming for me instead so you can pick them off." Abe ordered

Reisen pulled out her LP-21 pistols and hid herself inside a house. Thanks to a seal placed by Reimu and Yukari, firearms can make youkai and humans shoot danmaku more accurately and quickly. Reisen has two pistols which meant she had a huge advantage over the legionaries.

Caligula hovered above the wreckage and saw Abe. He had his cameras zoomed in and saw the words "M1A2AI Abrams" was etch onto the 120mm cannon. He said, "Damn it, the Allied Army is everywhere. They even sent in that accursed AI Tank! "

Caligula switched on the radio to speak to Abe, "Attention AI Tank, I challenge you to a duel!"

Abe radioed back, "I recognize that voice, General Caligula of the Red Legion! I've fought against helicopters before, this is nothing!"

Caligula laughed and radioed, "Really? You're just a machine, and machines are no match for a living thing's mind, plus the helicopter ALWAYS come out on top when it fights a tank!""

Abe radioed back, "I've fought in many wars for many countries for the past 95 years, so be prepared!"


A/N

As you can see, the previous chapter was short for a reason. Why did Reimu and Yukari setting up a seal? Well back in chapter 2 our friend Rinnosuke briefly explained why they did it, plus it'll be explained even further as the story continues.

Keep in mind that Caligula doesn't know that Abe is a youkai and that goes the same with Abe, but it's only a matter of time before they find out.

Note (1): It's a Haruhi Suzumiya reference. To be more exact, it's a reference from episode two of the anime.

Note (2): "Unleash the dogs of war" is a reference to the play "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare. The actual quote is this: "Cry Havoc and let slip the dogs of war". It's pretty ironic, in the previous chapter, Caligula can turn into a Mi-28 Havoc. In this chapter, Yukari said, "Unleash the dogs of war", could this be a hint of things to come?

Note (3): A arquebus is a early firearm that was later replaced by the musket. It can't penetrate plate armor from long distances.

Note (4): A legionary is a professional soldier of the Roman Army. In Red Legion, the soldiers are called legionaries.