Forewords

We're done with the Artillery Twins, now it's time to bring back the Soviet Red Army, and the Romanov Gunship.

How will the Daughters Of Liberty escape from Malkrantia to Necopolis?

"Entire team is babies!"


Chapter 28: Romanov Rematch

Time: 1145 Hour; 11th of August, 2125.

Location: International Meeting Hall.

Another meeting between the nation leaders and LT was held at the almost perpetually empty International Meeting Hall.

"Zis is unacceptable!" Adolf Von Duer expressed his disappointment, and then smacked his desk (back at his office in Necopolis) three times, shouting "Fegelein, Fegelein, FEGELEIN!"

"It was true. For five young girls who managed to defeat Asahi and Chugoku, they have managed to get halfway across Mother Malkrantia, defeating any Soviet squadron as we say..." Tasnil Dimitri explained to the others.

"Really? A band of five teenage girls in frilly dresses blasting their way through the military forces of three different nations?!" President Snow Valleys expressed his disgust. "This is even more bizarre than what the Asahian comes up in their Anime!"

Prime Minister Takatsu Suzuki, who was also present, feels insulted by the Registanian president's rant. "Is that some kind of insult to my nation's industry?"

"CAN WE AT LEAST GET BACK TO TOPIC?!" Lt shouted, and all the nation leaders are immediately silenced.

LT looked at each of the nation leaders, before speaking again. "Back on topic. Now that you all have witnessed the capabilities of these magic-casting girls, you know what a dangerous foe they can be."

President Snow looked like he was going to say something, but he was instantly cut off by LT.

"Especially to you, Registan, who would never hit a child soldier under any circumstances, not even when threatened by said child with nukes. And also insisting that Clarke's Third Law is always right."

The president felt like he was hit in the gut by a sledgehammer, and decided to shut his mouth.

"Back on topic again..." LT resumed while adjusting his collar. "As you all saw on the news, two Gunships, specifically, the Kabutom and the Tiangong are crippled much more by these five girls than they both have by the STICK Army during Operation: Extinction."

The STI CEO looked at Prime Minister Takatsu Suzuki and Ambassador Goh Chungming, the latter whose hands are good as new despite the third degree burns from the day before. Both nation leaders understood what LT meant by that look.

"The Kabutom Gunship, designed to withstand metal-melting laser beams on every inch of it's structure, has lost all of it's weapons and both frontal engines." The Asahian Prime Minister said. "What's much more humiliating is that it's power weapon, the Sonic Cannon, is destroyed by a feudal-age katana."

"The Tiangong Gunship, reinforced with bulletproof hull, has also lost all of it's weapons and frontal engines." The Chugokuan Ambassador said. "Those girls exploited the weakness of the Gatling Shotgun: under the Tiangong itself, which no enemy had ever thought of using, and destroyed it with debris from the escorting helicopters."

The other nation leaders gasped after hearing what the two just said.

"And you all heard from the news how they both 'got their butts handed by five young girls'" LT added in, and they gasped once more.

"I know I shouldn't be speaking..." President Snow spoke. "But can't we at least reason with them?"

Everyone stared at the president upon hearing that.

"Every other nation except yours are now treating them as child mercenaries, and everyone knows mercenaries can't be reasoned with." Prime Minister Arthur Williams chided.

"Not only that..." LT added. "These girls, who calls themselves Daughters Of Liberty, are under orders from a woman, emphasize woman, who would start a genocide just for her own amusement."

Everybody was shocked by the last few words.

"Woman... Genocide... Amusement?!" Snow stammered with the words hanging from his mouth.

"Yes. They're Communist child mercenaries working for the lady dictator of a hidden rogue Communist country where magic can be seen every second." LT blasted in more information. "Still think they won't be much problems to take care of? These Daughters Of Liberty and their superior are obviously a threat to mankind!"

...

Location: Tassoburg, Malkrantia.

"The coast is clear."

Sanae signaled the others to indicate the absence of Soviet soldiers at the moment.

Everybody snuck out of the alley silently.

"Let's move on before they come back for a recheck." Reimu suggested. The red-white then looks eastward. "On second thought, let's hide for another minute."

The Daughters Of Liberty did, and went back into the shadows of the dark alley. Cue a squadron of three V-01 Zappers flying, one after another, dangerously close to the concrete road, the tip of their wings were almost scraping the skyscrapers.

"Are they doing their job of trying to catch us, or playing chicken?" Youmu hung a lamp on the phenomenon.

"The coast is now clear, again." Reimu took another peek and said. "Let's move on quickly."

...

A bit further down east, the Romanov Gunship are watching the Daughters Of Liberty making their getaway westwards.

"Vy slyshali, chto skazal diktator..." [You've heard what the Dictator said...] The pilot reminded the copilot.

"On poluchil "Ubit' Docheri Svobody". ["Kill the Daughters Of Liberty" Got it.] The copilot acknowledged.

...

"Dunno why, but I have a bad feeling about this, ze..." Marisa told everyone.

"She's got a point. This is too easy..." Sakuya noted. The lack of Soviet military hardwares nearby doesn't help with the situation. "It's like they have some tricks up their sleeves."

Sanae took this opportunity to look back the direction the girls came from, and what she saw made her went pale. "Guys, we've got a slight problem here..."

Everyone turned around to find a familiar colossal mass following them.

The Romanov Gunship.

"Daughters Of Liberty, Communist child mercenaries, your execution has been ordered on the spot by the Dictator of Mother Malkrantia." The pilot said. "Now, die."

The Romanov Gunship then deploys several missiles from it's missile compartments at the underside, which flew straight up as soon as they cleared the aircraft. The Gunship then turns it's machine guns and semi-auto cannons at the girls and started firing.

"Damn, we almost forgot about this thing!" Reimu expressed while evading a cannon shell. "And how did they know our group name?!"

"There's a good chance we're being spied upon by the nation leaders." Skauya explained while throwing knives at the descending missiles and exploding some of them. "That, or we're being watched by the Summers Technologies Industries themselves."

The Romanov continued firing it's small turrets and deploying missiles. "Child mercenaries like you never should have existed in the first place..." taunted the copilot.

Youmu drew the Roukanken and deflected every machine gun bullets fired at the girls. "Maybe most of us are Communist, but the five of us are not really children anymore. We're already at least 25 years old." The half-ghost said and sent a sword beam at the Gunship, destroying one of it's machine guns.

"It doesn't matter. Mercenaries must die. So do Communists." The copilot responded.

The Romanov started deploying missiles at very small intervals, and the girls now find themselves shooting the missiles that are descending toward them more than they are at the Gunship.

"You used to be Communists yourselves, so shut up!" Sakuya shouted at the pilots, throwing dozens of knives at the underside of the Gunship. This caused the coverings of the missile compartments to dislodge and spill every un-deployed missiles, which exploded as they hit the ground.

"Bad, bad, girls..." The pilots expressed as they flick another switch.

It became immediately apparent what the small tubes next to the cockpit are...

...Ray guns...

The Ray Guns both fired uninterrupted streams of laser beams down the street at the girls, going right through any suspended traffic posts or concrete bridges as though they weren't there. When the lasers stopped firing, the holes left on those structures were smoldering.

"Holy...!" Sanae exclaimed.

The Romanov turned and aimed the Ray Guns at the Daughters Of Liberty, firing another stream at them.

The girls evaded the deadly stream and returned fire at the Gunship. Some of the danmaku impacted the windshield but didn't do any damage, others hit a semi-auto cannon enough times to explode it, leaving a small burning stub of the weapon behind. The Ray Guns are too small to be targeted.

"That's it! Time for something different!" Marisa said as she threw a small lump of unidentified object at the cockpit of the Romanov, which attached onto it's tough windshield.

The pilots looked at the object, then to each other, and then laughed tauntingly. "Is that vhat you Communist pig-dogs called 'something different'? It will take a lot more than that to break this windshield, made of an alloy called Orichalch."

Marisa did not respond, as she pulled out the mini-hakkero and aimed at the object. Now the pilots realized what she planned.

"Magic Sign: Deep Ecological Bomb" The black-white fired a single shot at the object, which then begins to crack and glow. The object then exploded in a brilliant flash that blinded everyone for awhile.

When the flash dissipated, the Romanov was revealed to have lost another semi-auto cannon and 2 more machine guns to the explosion, as well as having a cracked windshield and one of the Ray Guns dislodged.

The pilots doesn't seem to be hurt, other than a small trail of blood flowing out from a corner of the main pilot's mouth. "Damn you!" He said angrily, before turning the Romanov around and leaving. The destroyed weapons are still burning, with the flames being fueled by the leftover gunpowder from the weapons themselves.

"I guess that settles it..." Reimu said in relief.

"Hey, Marisa..." Sanae turned toward the black-white. "Why didn't you use that Spell Card back in Asahi or Chugoku?"

Marisa turned toward the green-haired shrine maiden and said, "Well, Mima-sama told me to save non-danmaku Spell Cards for emergencies, as those are powerful if not stronger than the Master Spark. And boy, was she so correct about it."

Sakuya interrupted the conversation. "Perhaps you can thank that spirit after we finish our mission and get back to Gensokyo. But for now, we should get going..."

"She's right." Youmu added. "It looks like the enemies saw that beam being fired, and are coming back.

It was true. Up west, multiple Tengukiu Tanks and Voshtov Helicopters, with the same three V-01 Zapper Fighter Planes behind, are approaching the girls fast.

"Gosh darn it!" Reimu cursed as she prepared several paper charms to be thrown at the Soviet squadron.

Youmu jumped up front with the now-repaired Hakurouken drawn out. "I don't think so!" She then sends a sword beam at the lead V-01 Zapper, tearing off it's left wing. The damaged fighter plane began to lose altitude and eventually crashed into the street, knocking over Tengukiu Tanks as it slid on the highway with what momentum it has remaining.

The half-ghost sent another sword beam at the second V-01 Zapper, this one straight at the cockpit. The pilot of that plane ejected just as the projectile cuts the aircraft in half, and each half crashing into the skyscrapers on both sides of the street, raining glass shards and concrete debris down at the Conscripts who frantically tried to take cover in the buildings.

A third sword beam was sent at the third and last V-01 Zapper. This one successfully evades the attack, but the pilot then finds that in the process, the left turbine was smashed by a signboard it has impacted. The fighter plane flew up for another few meters before losing all momentum and falls straight down toward the street below. The plane exploded as it crashed, taking out two Voshtov Helicopters and a Tengukiu Tank with it, with the pilot still inside the cockpit.

"They obviously forgot all about OSHA Compliances. Well, at least they were better than Gensokyo at the trope..." Sanae commented.

Youmu sheathed the Hakurouken and quickly turns back at the other girls. "Now's the chance!"

The Daughters Of Liberty hurriedly took off to the air, as the remaining Soviet Conscripts and Tengukiu Tanks fired their weapons at the escaping girls. They were then stopped by the commander who lifted a hand, signaling them o cease fire.

"Zabud'te ob etom, oni nakhodyatsya vne diapazona i slishkom bystro..." [Forget it, they're out of range, and too fast...] the commander said. "Pust' snaypery delayut svoyu rabotu..." [Let the snipers do their job...]


Afterwords

Sorry this came so late. My mom has just became addicted to Chinese dramas, and I have to wait until she ate up the battery of this computer before I get the chance to update. Damn parents... Especially those who came from the countryside. My mom grew up in the countryside, where even TV signals are commodities, let alone Wi-Fi...

Do you have similar problems with your parents?

Nothing relevant to the story to say in this Afterword.

Shout-out index:

"Entire team is babies!" - Get out of here, Mr Heavy Weapons Guy! We don't have Sandvich here!

"...OSHA Compliance... at the trope..." - So is Sanae a Troper of TVTropes before moving to Gensokyo? That being said, that's some usage of the No OSHA Compliance trope, and if Gensokyo's OSHA compliance is anything to go by...

That is all. "Do tekh por..."