Mountain top, Bhava-Agra, Gensokyo
The sky towards the direction of the Hakueri Shrine had suddenly gone orange. Every Celestial on the mountaintop had stopped what they were doing and was watching the display. It almost seemed like the sky itself was on fire. The explosions weren't happening in bursts or waves, they were just there.
Tenshi rushes into the small command post that she was near and is surprised by what she sees on the map. Arranged in a wide ring around the boundary, thousands of red Xs were flashing. The flashing symbols meant full artillery companies were firing. The radio that the Celestial kept in her pocket was full of traffic.
"There's too many of them!"
"First squad, come in! First squad!"
"We can't hold off firepower of that magnitude!"
"This is not what I signed up for!"
"CALM DOWN!" This was Nitori. "Keep off the radio unless you're giving updates. The barrier is still holding for now but those explosions are interfering with their radios. I say again: our first line is still active."
The eagerness that Tenshi had felt had disappeared, replaced with a feeling of dread. Then the sky above the shrine began to simmer a little. This really began to worry the Celestial.
"Barrier readouts still look solid. Everyone, hold your positions!" Nitori called out over the open channel. The sounds of multiple kappas yelling over alarms could be heard in the background. "First wave incoming after the barrage ends!"
Looking at the map again, Tenshi can see multiple aircraft start to from up near the FOBs. Flandre was right in saying that Special Forces would be the first to touch the ground after the artillery. The map shows more than an entire regiment was waiting for the shells to finish landing.
"All GDF units: Intel reports that the American 75th Ranger Regiment has been confirmed present. Numbers are estimated at 100% attendance. I say again: the Ranger Regiment is in the area." Nitori's voice came out of the radio again.
Tenshi poked her head out of the command post. "Heads up! Rangers are in the area!"
As the message was repeated, the outer ring of artillery began to designate one team member as security. Tenshi left the command post to get to the higher clearing that let her see almost all of Gensokyo. When she got up there after about five minutes of flying, the artillery attack still hadn't stopped. At this height, she could see that it wasn't just artillery shells, but rockets and missiles were hitting the barrier.
Even though Yukari had taught here that artillery was the deadliest force in combat, Tenshi couldn't help but find the way that the barrage hit the barrier to be beautiful. All of that power was something that appealed to her. It encouraged her to boost her own.
Hearing someone behind her brought her out of her thoughts. Turning around, she recognizes Iku. The messenger had a scroll from the Dragon Palace and a resigned look on her face.
"Eldest Daughter, the Dragon Palace has been talking about your actions during the Yamaxanadu's assassination attempt."
"What have they been saying, Iku?"
"Some were impressed with your actions while others were talking about calling for your resignation. But the majority support you."
"Are the higher ups in the majority?"
"All but one or two," Iku hands Tenshi the scroll. "The Dragon Palace has sent you this. They would like for you to open it immediately."
The Celestial takes the scroll and checks the seal. Seeing that it's still intact, she breaks it and reads the content. Her eyes narrow in confusion and she folds it up after she's done. Giving a nod of gratitude to Iku, she pulls out her cell phone and types a quick text.
"Iku, I need to ask you a question but it has to stay between the two of us."
"Ask, Eldest Daughter."
Tenshi hesitates. "Do you think…that all of this was planned by someone?"
"Eldest Daughter, I don't know what you mean."
"I was just thinking that everything was normal until the barrier started to weaken. That barrier's stood for so long without it weakening, until now. Why now? Is it because of all the incidents? Or is it because we overstepped our boundaries?"
"Does it matter now, Eldest Daughter? If we knew the reason and could do something about it, then it would be different. But the barrier's about to collapse and we have the outside world about to take everything we know away. You should focus on the here and now instead of the past."
"I know." Tenshi planted her sword into the mountain rock. "But I have the feeling that I'm being played by someone that has planned all of this out. And they'll stop at nothing to get what they want."
Iku stepped forward until her mouth was about half an inch away from Tenshi's left ear. She whispered in a very low voice, "Eldest Daughter, watch what you say and to whom you say it to. These are very dangerous times and our enemies are on both sides of the barrier. I can only protect you against so much. Especially if what I'm thinking is true. No, don't ask me about it yet. I still need more evidence."
The Celestial froze for the second time since the artillery started to fall. She could still hear the faint sounds of shells on the barrier so far away. Iku stepped back to her original spot, performing a quick scan of the surrounding area. She then turns and begins to take to the sky, but not before she gives Tenshi one more warning. "Eldest Daughter, be wary of any communication that you get from the Dragon Palace. And trust everything Yukari says."
Tenshi was grateful for the fact that she had read so many outside world political thrillers because it felt like she had just been dropped into one. Iku's words kept repeating themselves again and again. It was obvious that the messenger knew more than she did. And the fact that the she was warned about the Dragon Palace didn't bode well for anyone.
But what did Yukari have to do with this? First Yukari gives her another chance, and now it seems that someone wants to get rid of both of them. Tenshi couldn't think of anyone that would benefit by having Yukari out of the way. Not unless they were wanting to take control of Gensokyo. But that would only work if the barrier was intact.
Looking over at the barrier, Tenshi notices that the shelling stopped. She grips her sword tightly. The first wave is on its way.
Near the Hakueri Shrine, Gensokyo
With the iron rain stopped, Remiu could finally figure out what had happened. Her ears were ringing and her hands were shaking. She was worried that the others hadn't escaped the rounds but relaxed when she looked around. None of the rounds had made it past the barrier, but the shock waves had caused some trees to explode. And now that her radio worked, she could hear Nitori bring everything back under control.
"All units, hold your positions. The first wave of helicopters are 20 seconds out. Looks like their spearhead is here."
Looking over to her side, Reimu could see Marisa dusting her hat off and bring her rifle up. The miko does the same with her M4 and waits. Her bush shakes when her rifle transfers her twitches to it, causing her to focus on slowing her breathing down. For the first time, the sensation of fear begins to creep up on her. She hated having the icy feeling in her stomach.
Those twenty seconds were the longest twenty seconds of her life. Then she saw specks in the sky. It was a wing of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. And it seemed that there were a lot of them. Remiu activates her radio, "Nitori, how many helicopters are there?"
"Looks like over 350, but only about 20 are moving forward. Flandre says that those 20 are going to get in closer and fast rope troops. Be careful, those are most likely troops from the American 75th Ranger Regiment. Stay behind all possible cover and concealment. If you are in danger of being overrun, retreat towards the Human Village."
Remiu sharply inhaled, she knew that they were going to be in for a fight. And a helicopter was getting close to where her bush was. It keeps on getting closer until she can make out the passengers and door gunners. She could also see the pilot looking around to make sure the area was clear. Moving back to hide better in the bush, Remiu brought her rifle up.
She couldn't get a good sight picture on the pilot so she ended up having to aim at the door gunner. Then several ropes were thrown out of both sides of the helicopter. Cursing under her breath, she tried to see which one would have the first soldier. The miko counts at least fifteen of them in full battle rattle pulling security form inside the hovering aircraft.
Seeing movement, she aims at him. She gets her sight picture centered on his torso. Pulling in the M4 to steady it, she waits until she's done exhaling. Then she squeezes the trigger. The bullet springs to life and hurls out of the barrel, a bright red bullet marking her position. The round hits her target and causes him to fall out of the helicopter. But before he can fall more than a few feet, the soldier is grabbed by his comrades. The door gunner starts to fire towards where the red bullet came from, forcing Remiu to leave her spot amid a shower of tracer rounds.
Running towards another tree, she sees her target sit up, but with some trouble. The fear that she felt earlier had disappeared, replaced with a sense of anger. She ducks behind another tree, flinching as bullets send dirt flying everywhere. The Black Hawk turns to face her and moves in. The miko takes a knee and sends more bullets flying towards it, but they aren't having that much of an effect.
Others in the area were more preoccupied with their own helicopters. Then AH-64s began to fly towards the fight and fired their missiles. The forest was full of the sounds of gunfire and explosions. Trees were exploding all around them and bullets were sending chunks of dirt into the air. Remiu was starting to doubt her chances of surviving when she heard a loud gunshot.
Looking over, she spots Marisa on a knee. She had fired the shot and had managed to damage the helicopter. As the aircraft began to smoke and turn around, the witch rotates her bolt and fires another shot. This time, the round caused it to start to lose control. A third shot set the engine on fire and sent it into a tailspin. On the way down, the pair could see soldiers being thrown out of it. The pilot was trying to regain control but slammed his head on the instrument panel. Then the disabled aircraft disappeared behind the tree line and an explosion was heard.
A second or two later, a volley of missiles rammed into almost every helicopter in the nearby area and dealt severe damage. Some of them met the same fate as the first while the lucky ones were forced to turn back. A second volley of missiles dispersed the bigger group that was waiting.
"This is the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Our air defense artillery's having problems targeting those helicopters. You'll going to have to hold them off yourselves until the Tengus get in the sky." Koakuma's voice was strained over the radio. "Lady Patchouli's trying to figure it out but she doubts that we can keep hitting them with good hits."
"Status update: NATO helicopters are offloading their troops outside of the barrier. Be prepared for a ground assault," Nitori called out again. "Armor units have also been spotted in the area. If you have a Mosin Nagant, aim for the treads to disable them. Tengu air support is still twenty five minutes away." There was a pause where someone could be heard yelling in the background. "Russian troops have also left their checkpoints. Be on the lookout for Spetznaz operatives."
Even though they had heard the kappa, Reimu and Marisa didn't move. They were both looking towards the smoke that was coming from the wreckage of the first helicopter. They could sense the White Wolf Tengus moving towards the FOBs, aiming to cut communication from the enemy chain of command. But what had just happened was taking up the majority of their attention.
Marisa Kirisame had just made the first kill of the Battle of the Great Hakueri Barrier.