Parts Unknown, Time Unknown
The sounds of men running and working filled the air. Officers were walking behind the working men, keeping a watchful eye on everything. Maribel was surprised to see that she was transported to another place and time. But a small part of her had expected it when she had decided to turn in for the night.
She can see a fleet of ships directly in front of them, but at a far distance away. They were arranged in what looked like an uneven crescent. Maribel decides to move to the poop deck to get a better view. On top of the deck, a man in an ornate uniform with a chest full of battle honors was looking through a telescope. Another man stood next to him, tapping his foot nervously.
"Admiral Nelson, I think that you may want to take you decorations off your coat."
"Nonsense, Hardy. It's too late to be shifting a coat. They are military orders and I do not fear to show them to the enemy."
"Looks like Captain Blackwood's inviting you aboard the Euryalus."
"Mr. Pasco, if you would, tell him that I appreciate the offer but I'll stay on the Victory." Admiral Nelson turns back to Flag Officer Hardy. "I can't very well run from my ship."
"What about letting the Temeraire lead the line?"
"I rather lead the line myself." He turns to the signal officer. "Mr. Pasco, I wish to say to the fleet, ENGLAND CONFIDES THAT EVERY MAN WILL DO HIS DUTY. You must be quick, for I have one more to make which is for close action."
"If your Lordship will permit me to substitute the confides for expects the signal will soon be completed, because the word expects is in the vocabulary, and confides must be spelt."
"That will do, Pasco, make it directly."
The lieutenant begins to pull down the flags to change them. Maribel watches the scene, knowing that sometime important was about to happen. A loud noise was heard, and a volley aimed at them passed wide.
"We need more speed! Deploy every sail!" The boatswains began to work the lines. The weak breeze kept the British ships moving at a snail's pace. Another volley was fired at them, this time it hit closer. More of the Spanish and French ships began to fire, trying to find the perfect range. For the next forty minutes, cannon balls were hitting the water all around them. Then some of them started to hit. Maribel screamed in fear when one slammed into a cannon crew and instantly killed two of them. The psychologist threw herself on the deck when a cannon ball tore off the steering wheel.
"Sir, the wheel's shot off! We'll have to steer her from the tiller!" A warrant officer yells.
"See to it that we're not disabled." Admiral Nelson watches as more cannon balls hit the ship. A splinter from one of the volleys takes off a buckle of one of Flag Officer Hardy's shoes. "This is too warm work Hardy, to last for long." The rain of projectiles kept coming, adding more dead and wounded to the cabins below.
"We're in range, sir!" A gunnery petty officer yells out. A cannonball flies into the ship, taking down eight marines instantly.
"Sir, who should be our first opponent?" Flag Officer Hardy asks.
"Take your pick, Hardy."
"That looks like the Bucentaure."
"A wise choice." As the HMS Victory moves across the stern of the French flagship, she was engaged by the French Redoutable and the Spanish Santisima Trinidad. Maribel stood up, only to throw herself back down when a cannonball flew so close to her that her hair waved in its wake. Marines all around were climbing the lines to try and get a better shot. Some were hit and fell onto the deck or in the sea.
Maribel looked up and then the ship began to shake as it unleashed a raking broadside. It devastated the Bucentaure, sending massive splinters flying in her gun decks. The volley was made even more effective as it was fired from only a few yards away. She looks around and is astonished to see Nelson and Hardy walk around the ship, calmly guiding the sailors. Musketfire rained down on the ship, as snipers on the opposing ship opened fire.
"Fire on the Redoutable, lads! Don't let her get too comfortable!" A petty officer calls out. But the French ship was too close, deck hands began to throw lines, locking the two ships together. On the French ship, infantry began to gather on the deck.
"All gunners, get ready for boarding!" Flag Officer Hardy yells out. The gunners stopped firing and ran to grab muskets. Grenades began to hit the deck, thrown from the other ship.
Maribel couldn't stand due to the amount of lead flying through the air. Then she looks at the mizzentop of the French ship. Her eyes widen at what she sees.
On top of the mast, Yukari Yakumo sat with a musket. She opens the pan and pulls a cartridge from a gap. The youkai tears off one end and spits it out. Then she pulls the hammer back halfway and pours a little of the powder into the pan. Closing the pan, she brings the musket's muzzle closer to herself. Pouring the rest of powder into the barrel, she reverses the cartridge and stuffs it in. Drawing the ramrod from under the barrel, she rams down the cartridge until it bottoms out. Giving it one final slam, she returns the rod to its holder.
Bring it up to her right shoulder, she looks around for her target. Maribel instantly knows who she's looking for. Admiral Nelson is busy speaking with a warrant officer and pointing to the main mast, with no regard to the lead flying all around him. Yukari sees him and brings the musket into line. She stays like this for a few seconds and then pulls the trigger.
In slow motion, Maribel could almost see the musketball as it leaves the barrel and goes into his left shoulder. The admiral stumbles and falls to a knee. Flag Officer Hardy turns around and watches as he falls to his side. Rushing to him, he calls out to the nearest marines and sailors.
Yukari has a tired look on her as she disappears into a gap. The Victory erupts in chaos as sailors and marines begin to surround their fallen admiral. The crew of the Redoutable are forming up to board when another British ship, the HMS Temeraire, comes up to their starboard side and unleashes a devastating volley that hits many of the French crew.
Maribel scrambles up on her feet and runs towards the gathering. A marine and two sailors gently lift Nelson up and begin to carry him to the lower decks. She stops short when a piece of paper glides in front of her. Picking it up, her eyes widen for the second time in less than five minutes. The paper was a dispatch, detailing how Admiral Nelson was planning to continue his push and completely decimate the combined Franco-Spanish navy and then land an army that would use the scorched earth doctrine.
She couldn't believe what she had just read. They psychologist had always felt that the British were justified in bring down Napoleon, but if they were going to destroy everything to do so, she wasn't sure anymore. To add even more confusion, she could tell that the entire crew was devastated when they saw Admiral Nelson fall. It was as if their father had been shot in front of them. She turns the paper around but sees nothing on the back.
Running after the small group carrying the wounded man downstairs, Maribel stops and watches him advise a sailor on the operation of the tiller. Even with a fatal wound, he's calm and knowledgeable. She follows the procession as it reaches the surgeon. They place him on a bunk and bring him lemonade and watered wine. The surgeon is called away to tend to more wounded and the chaplain leaves to fetch towels.
By himself, Nelson closes his eyes. In a voice that barely reaches Maribel's ears, he speaks. "You…lengthen this war…by doing this…Lady Yakumo."
"It had to be done, Admiral." Yukari steps forward from the shadows. "The course of history is kind to few, even if they are good."
"Even if…I save lives…"
"Some are meant to end their lives today. Others are given more time. It's my responsibility to keep history on its rightful course. Even if I must become the necessary evil. For all that it means, I am truly sorry that it had to end like this. I am sorry both to you and Lady Hamilton."
"I just…have one…final question…is there anything…after this?"
This made Yukari pause. A pained look appears on her face. "I'm not sure." She looks away. "For some, there's something. For others, I don't know. Personally, I believe there's something waiting for us across the river. For someone that I still care about, I want to believe that she's in the never ending grassy plain where she can watch the stars in peace for the rest of time. I don't care where I go, as long as she's in peace."
"I hope...that when…the time comes…both of you…can enjoy that…grassy plain…together."
"Thank you, Admiral. Your caregivers are about to return, I should take my leave. A little bit of consolation: history remembers you as one of the best admirals to have ever lived. Hundreds of years after today, your actions are studied at elite military schools everywhere. Godspeed, Admiral Nelson." Yukari turns and disappears into the shadows.
Maribel hears the footsteps of a large group. She runs above deck and can barely see anything due to the amount of smoke everywhere. The ship shook once more as both a volley slammed into the side of the Victory. Maribel stumbles and almost falls down the stairs onto the middle deck. Grabbing hold of the rail, she steadies herself.
A cheer erupts as the Redoutable strikes her colors. More British ships reach the giant melee, sending cannonballs in every direction. The return fire forces Maribel to drop to the deck again. A cannonball hits the deck a few feet from her and goes straight through the weaken wood. Another cannonball lands next to a cannon crew. One of the crew members grabs it and reloads it into the closest cannon.
A lieutenant begins to grab marines and sailors to compose a prize crew. Once he has enough, he grabs a line and swings onto the surrendered ship. The price crew follow him, once they land, they beat the French crew into submission. On the other side of the Victory, the gunners were firing close range broadsides. A return volley slams into the ship. One cannonball bounces and heads straight towards Maribel. She closes her eyes and waits for the impact.
Scarlet Devil Mansion, Gensokyo
It was early in the morning, but Tenshi and Meiling had been training for hours. The gatekeeper was helping her to develop her unarmed fighting style. Sakuya was back in her normal maid uniform, keeping a close eye on the pair. Remilia was sipping a cup of tea and watching them. After a particularly exhaustive session, Meiling had called for a break.
Tenshi had taken a seat in the shade created by the gatehouse, discussing her training with Meiling. The chief maid had brought out a pitcher of ice cold water and was impressed with Tenshi's quick progress. She elbows Meiling, "If she keeps on like this, we might hire her to help you out."
"Who knows, she might even challenge you for head maid."
"I can't do that," Tenshi felt a little uncomfortable. "I can barely handle my studies, much less handle so many under me."
"Don't worry about it." Sakuya laughed. "I doubt that Milady would accept such a change. She's come to think of all of us as family. She would take on Van Helsing to protect us."
"Anyway, Tenshi, you've picked up hand to hand fighting really fast." Meiling nodded. "It does help that you have a good teacher. But, I want you to try sometime for me."
"Am I going to have to stand still while Sakuya tries to hit an apple on my head?"
"Not this time. I want to see how good you are at reflecting projectiles." She stands back up. "I'll start off slow and if you do good, we're see if you can come close to my record. It'll be harder for you though, since you don't know how to handle chi yet."
Tenshi wipes the sweat off of her forehead and gets on her feet. Walking to the middle of the garden, she assumes a ready stance. Meiling assumes her own and takes a deep breath.
She unleashes a lighting fast crescent kick that transitions into a reverse round and finishes in a butterfly kick. Rainbow colored danmaku flies from her kicks towards Tenshi. The Celestial focuses on bringing her magic into her hands and begins to destroy the projectiles with strong punches. Every other punch requires her to spin so that she build up enough momentum. She builds a rhythm that starts out slow but speeds up as more projectiles come closer.
Once they get too numerous for her hands, the Celestial begins to use her feet to kick them away. The pair keep this up for the next ten minutes. Tired out, they both let themselves fall back into a sitting position. Sakuya gives each one a small tower to wipe their sweat. "That was impressive, Tenshi. But I'm not sure how much it might help against bullets."
"That wasn't designed to go against bullets," Meiling explains. "It's supposed to simulate going against a tough and slow opponent and to emphasize the power of each strike. You really did good, Tenshi."
"Thank you. It does make me feel better knowing how to fight like this." Tenshi rotated her wrist. "I did have a few close calls with my sword getting stuck in the middle of a fight."
"Well, with what you learned today, that should be less of a problem." Sakuya nods again. "Have you ever thought about carrying a backup, like a knife or a tomahawk?"
"I feel a lot better with the Sword of Hisou. It's been with me ever since I first got into Heaven and I feel weaker without it."
"I understand." Sakuya patted the pocket watch she always kept on her. "But if you do decide to use knives, I'll be happy to show some of my techniques."
"It's nice to see how much effort you're putting into this," Yukari laughed as everyone jumped. She had opened a gap behind Sakuya and had her parasol at the ready to defect any knives. "Don't mind me, I'm just going around the neighborhood." She accepts a glass of water from Sakuya. "The aftermath of the battle's still not clear. I've been going around talking to everyone."
"Is it as bad as the Dragon Palace?"
"No, everyone seems really impressed at how you rushed to the line without any evidence of self-interest. Eirin's also talked to me about that scroll you gave her yesterday. That's something I would have expected from the outside world, but never His Lordship." Yukari forces a dry laugh. "I'll have to keep my eye on all of this myself. Ran will be disappointed."
"Milady would like to know when you're sending Maribel and Renko off on their assignment." Sakuya asks.
"Soon. I have to have the kappas give them some tools and I might have Keine give them a quick history of Gensokyo. But rest assured that I won't send them out ill prepared. It's my responsibility to make sure everyone in Gensokyo makes it through this war."
"Have you found any leads on who's pulling the strings in the outside?" Tenshi took a bite out of a peach she always carried.
"There's one. The United States has recently gone through a change in leadership." The gap youkai pulls out a picture. "This man is the one in charge right now."
Tenshi, Sakuya and Meiling look at the picture. The gatekeeper takes a sharp breath that nobody misses.
"Meiling, is something wrong?" Sakuya studies her with a close eye.
"I've seen that catfish before…"
"Catfish?" Tenshi stares at the picture and then notices the pin on his lapel.
"It's the same catfish from my dream." Meiling gives Sakuya a sideways glance. "Remember when you dragged me into the library when I fell asleep after those earthquakes?"
"It was Lady Patchouli that threw a book at your head."
"Anyway, I had this dream where a disaster god kept sending assassins that shape shifted after me. He finally came out and said that he wanted to take over Gensokyo. It was Taisui Xingjun."
"He's back!?" Tenshi had to sit down for this. "My father made me study some of the reports about him. All of the worst disasters on the planet were caused by him to achieve world domination. There were also some records about an invasion of the moon that almost succeeded."
"How did he manage to take over an entire country without anyone noticing?" Sakuya asked. "Everyone knew what was happening before World War II but thought that giving in would stop it. Is the same thing happening now?"
"He operates by having his minions infiltrate the higher levels of governments and militaries." Tenshi shook her head. "That would explain a lot if he's doing the same thing this time. And if he's had a head start, we could get overwhelmed extremely quickly."
"We're always going to be outnumbered." Yukari motioned at everything around her. "Gensokyo's a small place to start with. The only nation that we're bigger than is the Vatican, but they would never fight in any wars."
"Isn't Switzerland thinking about becoming our ally?"
"I'm going to give their Federal Council a call later on. Hopefully they join us, but at the very least, they're stay neutral." Yukari shrugged.
"Switzerland, hmmm. They're not someone that NATO would mess with." Sakuya said. "They stayed out of both World Wars just by having their entire population ready to fight. I trained with a few of their units back in my day, they could give the Lunarians a run for their money."
"Even then, we're still outnumbered." Tenshi looked at the ground.
"But we're not outclassed." Yukari gently raised Tenshi's head. "Didn't you see how well we did yesterday? That was the first time many of us had ever been in actual combat against anyone. We were using weapons that we weren't fully familiar with, but we still held the line. I'll admit that the Lunarians did save us at the worst part. But that still doesn't make what we did any less impressive."
"But it's going to be worst next time, isn't it?"
"It is. They know what to expect now and won't be fooled as easily. But we're getting more regiments of Royal Foot from the Lunarians and we have your artillery. Don't be so pessimistic, you're doing great. Just keep it up."
