Forewords
I went into thinking of this a while ago...
What would happen to Touhou if ZUN, for some reason, could not make new games or write stories for new manga anymore?
Many people just assumed that either his son will take over the series, or a big shot company will.
I dunno which one is more plausible, but let's hope either of them don't happen anytime soon...
Chapter 20: Way Beyond Ninjitsu
Time: 0600 Hour; 21st of December, 2125.
Location: Kyojinshi Prefecture, Asahi.
Several Yuki-Onna Attack Helicopters flew over the streets and skylines of Kyojinshi, scanning the city with their searchlights for any signs of the Daughters Of Liberty and their contact.
"市には今の時点で任意の場所のターゲットの兆候。" [No signs of the targets anywhere in the city, for now...] The pilot of one Yuki-Onna Helicopter reported to the Asahinese military mission control.
"犯人の捜索を続けます。" [Continue with the manhunt.] Mission control told the pilot. "自由の娘は、最後に見どこまで非常に得ていることはできません。" [The Daughters Of Liberty cannot have gotten very far from where they were last seen.]
...
In a nearby dark alleyway, three bicycles are left lying on their side as the Daughters Of Liberty and Goukei quickly retreated into the shadows after getting into Kyojinshi without being detected.
"Don't think the family who owned these bicycles are going to need them anytime soon, anyway..." Goukei makes an offhand comment in a whisper.
The male Shinigami was quickly dragged by the Daughters Of Liberty down behind a dumpster.
"Get down!" Reimu and Nitori both whispered to Goukei as they dragged him down.
A few seconds later, a Yuki-Onna attack helicopter passed by the alleyway the trio were hiding in. Rather than just passing on, it stopped and turned toward the alleyway.
Reimu dropped cold sweat as the pilot of that Yuki-Onna helicopter continued looking at the alleyway, with its searchlight pointing straight at the dumpster.
...
On board that Yuki-Onna helicopter, the pilot looked down the alleyway with his own eyes for a full minute and then swept the rest of the same alleyway with the searchlight. After that, he elected to perform a scan on the alleyway with the on-board Bio-Signs Detector, ADDS (Air Displacement Detection System) PTID (Personal Terrain Imaging Device) just to be sure.
When all of those came up with nothing notable on their readings, the pilot turned the Yuki-Onna helicopter away and continued his patrols down the street.
...
The Daughters Of Liberty and Goukei held their breath until they are positive the Yuki-Onna helicopter has gotten far away enough. After that, they all sighed in relief.
"Whew, we were lucky on that one..." Nitori commented.
"But I'm 100% positive that every military in the world have ADDS, or Air Displacement Detection Systems installed into all of their tanks, helicopters, planes and ships." Goukei pointed out something. "As far as I know, there is no way one can hide themselves from an ADDS unit."
"Don't worry..." Reimu reassured the male Shinigami. "Yukari once said that the magical miasmas of Sanctuaries and anything coming from them seems to be completely invisible to Outside World sensors for reasons even she doesn't know." She added.
"And that could be why none of the other Sanctuaries ever uses radar or sonar - they can't even detect thin air when there's magical miasmas around." Nitori cuts in. "Yet radios, cable networks and Wi-Fi worked just right."
"And that means we should be fine as long as we don't appear in front of their own eyes." Goukei notes, as he dusts his shirt clean. "Now, I believe we should be heading for Himeji, don't we?"
The Daughters nodded to Goukei.
...
Time: 0645 Hour.
Location: Near Himeji Castle; Kyojinshi Prefecture, Asahi.
A manhole cover in the middle of the main road budged slightly before being opened slightly from under it.
Goukei peeked out from under the manhole, and scanned the surroundings with his eyes to make sure no patrols are present.
But the male Shinigami quickly retreated back down, closing shut the manhole in the process as he sees the bumper of a SUV appearing from around a nearby junction.
It turns out that SUV is in fact a STI SUV. It passed above the same manhole and continued on without stopping anywhere near it.
Since the STI SUV produced no engine noise or tire-screeching noise, it was impossible to tell without taking a peek on whether it has left the premises.
As he makes sure that the STI SUV has left the premises, Goukei opened the manhole completely, and quickly climbed out of it as silently as he could.
"All clear." He whispered at the two people still in the sewers.
Soon, Reimu and Nitori both climbed out of the sewers, also as silently as possible. As Nitori's backpack doesn't fit through the manhole while she is carrying it on her back, the Kappa engineer stacked it on top of her head as she climbed up the service ladder.
"At least it wasn't running today, and therefore had no sewage to tread through." Nitori expressed her relief to the others. "I'd hate to clean my boots of everything the Asahinese public might be throwing down their water closets."
After the two girls had fully exited the sewers, Goukei quickly went to seal the manhole shut again.
"Even if you manage to seal that thing shut, I think the STI still have the ability to see if it was ever moved recently." Reimu told the male Shinigami with a warning tone.
"I know." Goukei responded. "But not at first sight, buying us a few precious seconds at least."
"Let's hope those few seconds are enough." Reimu added, before she quickly makes her way into another alleyway.
Nitori and Goukei followed the red-white shrine maiden into the same alleyway.
...
Good thing for the Daughters and their contact is that the alleyway they took turned out to be a shortcut that led then a lot closer to Himeji Castle.
Just to be on the safe side, the trio stayed in the shadows that enveloped the alleyway they're in, as they looked at Himeji Castle.
"Why are there no IMAF soldiers or equipment anywhere nearby?" Nitori wondered about the complete lack of military personnel near what was established to be an STI outpost.
"Maybe the military knows the STI is powerful enough to defend itself?" Goukei's answer came out as a question too.
"Most likely." Reimu gave a blunt answer, as she continued scanning around the exterior of Himeji Castle. "Now the question is: how do we get in..."
...
Location: CEO's Office, STI HQ.
"As you have instructed, Mr. manager..." The Asahinese STI Agent that managed the Kusanagi Dou outpost reported to LT as a holographic projection in the CEO's Office. "The Daughters Of Fantasy are currently in an alleyway near the Kusanagi Dou outpost, devising a plan to break in and rescue their comrade..."
"Good..." LT told the Asahinese Agent. "I'm sure you remember the plan..."
"Of course, Mr. manager..." The Asahinese Agent replied. "My people and I are acting according to your plans..."
When that is said, the Asahinese Agent dismissed himself from the CEO's Office, as his projection fades away into nothingness.
"Now, for the next part..." LT told himself, as he turns on his holographic computer.
As he waited for the computer to fully boot up, LT placed his attention on the coffeepot (still a teapot used as a coffeepot) and tries to pour a cup of coffee, but found it empty the moment he grabbed the handle.
"What are your current orders, Mr. Summers?" GLADYS's digital voice came and interrupted LT's brief thoughts.
By that time, LT's computer has already fully booted up. The amount of time elapsed from starting up to end of booting up was just 15 seconds.
"None at the moment, GLADYS." LT responded to the AI. "I think I'll get the coffeepot refilled later, by myself."
After dismissing the AI from his office, LT went back to work on his holographic computer.
That work being spying on the Daughters Of Liberty, seeing what they see, and hearing what they hear...
...
Location: Near Himeji Castle; Kyojinshi Prefecture, Asahi.
"Just plain break in?" Goukei expressed his opinion on the plan that the Daughters came up with.
"Yes, just plain break in." Reimu confirms her idea. "When you take into account the fact that the STI's security department alone is stronger than the entire military..."
"And that all of the Outside World has surpassed even the Lunar Kingdom in technological levels..." Nitori added.
"With the STI being smart enough to be prepared for even the extremely unlikely, we will always be fighting them at their own game no matter what we try..." Reimu continued her explanation to Goukei. "...Except for one thing that only we have."
The male Shinigami became confused. "Okay, I get how the STI is super genre savvy and powerful, and that they are masters at just about everything. But the one thing only we have?"
"Magic..." Reimu gave a simple answer. "Its the only thing that the STI doesn't have."
"It was also the only reason we Daughters pulled off the first ever successful raid on the STI Headquarters." Nitori added to the clarification. "Well, the original five Daughters, at least."
"Oh, right..." Goukei gets what the girls are talking about. "Guess advanced technology is not all that intimidating when you are able to literally defy the laws of physics..." The male Shinigami then produces his Shinigami Scythe from his Perception Hammerspace. "Let's do this."
...
5 minutes later...
Location: Inside Himeji Castle.
"If Yumemi was right, and the STI's Asahinese facility is really here..." Goukei said as he searched the interior of Himeji Castle for anything out of the ordinary. "Then the STI must've done a really good job hiding its entrance."
"Knowing the gadgets that they have, it wouldn't be surprising if they can make the entrance blend in with the entire building..." Nitori throws in her own opinion on the matter, while also looking around the castle."
"The walls and floorboards here are all made with such precision that they appear to be completely seamless..." Reimu noted at everyone's fruitless efforts at locating the entrance to the STI facility. "I guess there are times when one has to rely on pure brute force."
That said, the red-white shrine maiden readied a handful of Paper Charms in her hands.
Goukei immediately notices what Reimu is planning. "Are you sure its a good idea to wreck a cultural heritage?"
"Why not?" Reimu replies, as she gets herself ready to deploy the Paper Charms. "We're wanted in the Outside World, anyway."
"Besides..." Nitori added to that sentence, as a pair of miniguns extended from her backpack. "Last I checked on Wikipedia back at the De-Militarized Zone, the HMF doesn't... give a damn about protecting cultural heritages, as the only thing on their mind is protecting human civilization."
...
Location: Holding Cells, Kusanagi Dou Facility.
In a huge contrast to the Holding Cells of The Hive in Registan, the Holding Cells of Kusanagi Dou are brightly lit, with the walls, floor and ceiling covered by bright white sheets of metal that produced holographic octagons on any spot where something comes in contact with it.
As of now, only one cell is occupied.
Behind the Nano-Glass wall that sealed off the cell from the rest of the facility, Youmu Konpaku huddled herself in a corner, simply procrastinating as there is nothing she can do to even kill time.
Then, something outside the cell drew her attention.
"Why are you here?" The half-ghost swordswoman asked with a very depressed voice.
Standing outside her cell are three STI employees - two Master Turks and one Agent, all three are Asahinese.
The Agent tapped his Multi-Purpose Watch once, and a hole about his size is formed on the Nano-Glass wall, which he walks through alone. The hole collapsed back into solid Nano-Glass as soon as he steps through it.
It should be noted that aside from the Zanjutou katana that is only issued to STI employees working in Kusanagi Dou, the Agent is also carrying the Roukanken and Hakurouken with him.
Saying not one word, the Agent slid the Roukanken and Hakurouken across the floor of the holding cell towards Youmu.
Youmu instantly gets what the Agent wants. "You want to challenge me again?"
"You are quite the formidable girl despite all the defeats you have suffered in our previous duels..." The Agent replies, as he unslings the sheath of his Zanjutou with the sword still in it, and drops it on the floor. "I want to see your full potential, so this time..." He continued as he proceeds to take off his Multi-Purpose Watch and drops it next to his Zanjutou. "...You have the advantage..." The Agent then shows his empty hands to the half-ghost swordswoman to prove to her that he is unarmed.
Youmu looked at the Asahinese Agent, then at the Roukanken and Hakurouken which she rightfully owned, both times with doubt.
"I am waiting, young grasshopper..." The Agent said with a tone of honor. "Unless you have decided to become a coward after all those defeats..."
Hearing such honor-fueled insult, Youmu stood up, grabbed and unsheathed the Hakurouken, and then charged toward the Agent with the magical katana raised. Her charge was fueled by insult-induced rage.
The Agent did not even bother to try and dodge the charge. Instead, he used the back of his right hand to push on the flat of Youmu's Hakurouken, swatting the blade out of the way when the half-ghost bought it down upon him. He then swiftly counterattacks with a left-handed Nerve Pinch delivered to her shoulder.
Upon receiving the Nerve Pinch, Youmu dropped to her knee, groaning as she tries her best to resist it.
"I find it... strange that the Nerve Pinch which is favored by every STI operatives in the world doesn't fully knock you out..." The Agent gloated as he releases his grip on Youmu's shoulder. "However, you do have the excuse of literally having only half a soul."
The Agent then bends down to pick up his Multi-Purpose Watch and Zanjutou.
"Three seconds..." He told Youmu, as he fastened the Multi-Purpose Watch back onto his wrist. "An improvement from the last three duels, in which you only lasted two seconds..." He finishes fastening the Watch. "It seems that taking a bullet close to your knee did not hinder your performance. That is an achievement..."
A beep coming from his Multi-Purpose Watch interrupted the Agent's gloating.
Frowning, he looked at the display of the Watch, and tapped on it once with his index finger. His expression immediately went from a frown to an evil smile.
"It appears that your friends have come to your rescue, Konpaku Youmu..." The Agent quickly finishes his sentence, before turning around and exiting the holding cell the exact same way he entered it.
Youmu watched the Agent and both Master Turks leaving the Holding Cells with haste, and also noting the fact that the Roukanken and Hakurouken were (maybe purposely) left in the holding cell with her.
"I want to see what you can do, Reimu..." The half-ghost swordswoman muttered under her breath.
...
Location: Inside Himeji Castle.
"Holy... Shit..."
Goukei's exclamation came out as a stammer as he watched Reimu and Nitori lay waste to one of the wall of Himeji with their Spell Cards (while leaving enough of said wall intact that it wouldn't collapse the whole castle).
There was indeed something out of the ordinary under the wall that got destroyed: a door-sized rectangular piece of the wall somehow isn't scratched the slightest bit even despite Nitori unloading thousands of danmaku rounds from her twin miniguns.
"Found it!" Reimu said, as she puts away her Paper Charms and gohei.
"Only one problem now, though." Nitori added, retracting the twin miniguns back into her backpack. "This thing lasted through a massive beating that would have wrecked a tank. So how do we get it opened?"
As soon as the Kappa engineer finishes her question, the odd piece of wall suddenly faded into thin air as though it was never solid to begin with. Beyond the opening is a barely lit stairway going downwards for about a story, with a fully lit elevator at the end of it.
Reimu, Nitori and Goukei all stood dumbfounded by how the piece of wall literally disappeared into thin air.
"Okay, that was weird..." Goukei pointed out. "But never mind that. Your reason for being here is much more important, right?"
"Yes." Both Daughters answered in unison, as they walked slowly toward the elevator at the bottom of the stairway.
"But taking into consideration what you've said about the STI being prepared for everything..." Goukei raised another point as he followed the girls into the stairway. "I have the feeling the people in here were instructed to purposely let us in..."
"I know that..." Reimu replies, tightening her grip on her gohei. "That's why I want everyone to give them all we got..."
The trio stopped just before the brightly lit elevator.
"Seriously, though..." Goukei tries to raise a point, as well as literally raising his Shinigami Scythe in front of him. "This might be the only time when a Shinigami like me is actually afraid of fighting living, breathing people... I mean, literally everyone in the Outside World acknowledges that the STI is much more powerful than every armed forces in the world..."
"We have no choice, though..." Nitori told the male Shinigami. "With the armed forces being desperate enough as to use their entire arsenal against us, and sees everything not military or government as expendables, we need all the power we left Gensokyo with, just to stand a tiny chance at infiltrating the STI Headquarters a second time."
Reimu kept her eyes fixed on the elevator. "Here goes nothing..." She said.
With that, the Daughters Of Liberty and their contact stepped into the elevator, after which the door closes behind them...
...
Location: Main Entrance Corridor, Kusanagi Dou Facility.
Multiple Asahinese STI employees, ranging from Guards, Turks, Elite Turks and Master Turks took position at the Main Entrance Corridor of the facility, guns and swords both ready at hand.
The Agent in charge of Kusanagi Dou has also taken position, using one of the corridor's many protruding struts as cover, with his Zanjutou in his left hand, and WL-2 submachine gun in his right.
A ding coming from the elevator indicates that it has arrived at the current floor.
All the STI employees prepared themselves for the upcoming fight against the Daughters Of Liberty and their contact.
As the door begins to open, all the Guards, Turks, Elite Turks and Master Turks pointed their SMGs at the elevator, index finger positioned on the trigger.
But before the elevator door fully opens, several objects flew out from the small opening toward the middle of the corridor at a high speed.
Those objects are Paper Charms, and the STI employees knew exactly what they do. As there is no room to dodge in the narrow corridor, all the STI employees crouched down whereas the Agent activated the energy shield function of his Multi-Purpose Watch right before the Paper Charms exploded, creating a shockwave that knocked down five of the STI employees.
Soon after the explosion, the Daughters and Goukei rushed out of the elevator with their own weapons to bear.
"[Artillery-Resisting Barrier]" Reimu's first action is to cast a Spell Card that spawned a strong but stationary magic barrier in front of her, Nitori and Goukei to hold off the barrage of bullets fired by the STI employees.
"Special Kappa Tactics: [Crowd-Control Missiles]" Nitori follows up by firing a series of anti-personnel missiles from her backpack at the corridor, which exploded mid-flight and knocked out three more STI employees.
At the same time, Goukei stood behind the girls, holding his Shinigami Scythe in his hand but not doing anything because the same disadvantage that prevented the STI employees from dodging also prevented him from being able to swing the Scythe in a full arc. "I feel so useless..." He lamented.
After a full minute of being pelted by the anti-material rounds from WL-2 SMGs, the magic barrier that Reimu casted at the beginning showed signs of cracking. The red-white shrine maiden knew its time to finish the current wave of STI employees as soon as possible.
"[Exorcist's Needles]" Declaring another Spell Card, Reimu released a barrage of Exorcist's Needles all over the narrow corridor, randomizing the trajectory of each Needle to make it much harder for the STI employees to deflect them or shoot them out.
As the material that made up the walls, floor and ceiling of the corridor is made to resist all forms of damage, the Exorcist's Needles harmlessly bounced off the surfaces. But that didn't stop them from going off in a series of large heatless explosions, which took out the remaining STI employees as the narrowness of the corridor prevents them from dodging.
Seeing that all the STI employees standing by at the Entrance Corridor have been knocked out, Reimu kept the magic barrier active for a few more seconds before dismissing it.
Nitori also dismissed her twin miniguns. "That was impressive!"
Goukei stood by one side, embarrassed as he puts his Shinigami Scythe away. "Good thing they have a serious disadvantage in this case."
"Not good enough..." Reimu told the male Shinigami. "Despite the disadvantage you said, they still weren't fighting at their full potential..."
Before the red-white could finish her sentence, the Agent in charge of Kusanagi Dou suddenly jumped out from behind one of the protruding struts, and fired a burst from his WL-2.
Reimu and Nitori both raises their magic shields in time to intercept the anti-material bullets.
The Agent's WL-2 started clicking just two seconds after the burst fire, indicating that the current magazine is empty.
The Agent swore in some Asahinese expletive before he turned around and ran the opposite direction of the trio and deeper into the Kusanagi Dou Facility.
"That bastard's getting away!" Goukei exclaimed, as he tried to give chase. But he was stopped by Reimu.
"Don't bother chasing him." Reimu told the male Shinigami. "The people in this facility were already expecting us to begin with. Makes no difference on whether we catch him or not."
"Besides, we are going to be facing more of these people, anyway." Nitori added.
...
The trio casually walked down the Entrance Corridor (well, as casual as already-spotted intruders can be), despite knowing that additional STI employees will be arriving very soon.
Exiting the corridor, they found themselves looking at the inner structure of Kusanagi Dou, which admittedly is just as futuristic as the STI HQ. The facility appears to have six floors in total, with the Entrance Corridor being on the second floor.
"I guess nobody were exaggerating when they said the Outside World was more technologically advanced than the Lunar Kingdom..." Reimu voices her comment on the scene.
"Sure feels like we're in the set of that Registanian movie called Men In Black." Nitori throws in hers.
"Men In Black don't have these kind of structures, a more accurate comparison would be with The Matrix." Goukei corrected the Kappa engineer. "That being said, these people's attack moves do remind me of that movie..."
Before anything else is said, alarms flared to life all over the Facility, as more STI employees appeared on each of the facility's six floors. Some of the STI employees even vaulted over the guard rails to get to the lower floors. STI Supervisory Cameras are also activated, and turned themselves toward the direction of the trio.
"I was going to make a comparison with Ghost In The Shell as well, but I guess that can wait..." Goukei said, poising himself for battle once again. "Bring it!"
The Daughters Of Liberty said no additional words, as they too poised themselves for the ensuing battle, this time their opponents don't have any disadvantages.
Afterwords
Okay, looks like my nephew has decided to join me in Fan Fiction under the penname Private Winters. He announced his presence here by publishing a sort of fan remake of Touhou called Young Maiden's Chronicles: Spirit Dream.
And here's the thing: although the plot of Fantasy Blitzkrieg and Gensokyo Untold are my ideas, the part about the Council Of Sanctuaries and Neverland Convention are actually ideas shared between us. And admittedly, Young Maiden's Chronicles isn't entirely his idea either. The two of us have been plotting the fan remake for quite a while already.
Do check out Young Maiden's Chronicles if you are interested. It also helps build his reputation in here.
Shout-out index:
"...Men In Black." - Way too obvious, not explaining it.
"...The Matrix." - Ditto.
"...Ghost In The Shell..." - Honestly, you shouldn't be here if you didn't get any one of these three references...
That is all. "Sayonara..."