"Dutch? Dutch? Oh dear god, he's sleeping again." An exasperated female voice muttered.

Smack!

"Ow!"

"Wake up buttercup."

Dutch raised his hand half-heartedly at his assailant and gave him the finger. "I heard her the first time Aden."

Standing at the same height as Dutch, with shaggy blond bangs that fell over his deep brown eyes and possessing a smooth curved body structure covered by desert yellow fatigues, John "Aden" Darand grinned back at the insult. "Just making sure."

"Alright, you two. Jump's coming up and we only have a small window before the defenses find something wrong with us." A brunette with flaxen, shoulder length hair, sharp, emerald eyes, matched by patrician features and a streamlined memorable body.

Dutch sighed and stood up. "How much time do we have Nora?"

Casually checking a PDA lying on a table next to her the brunette glanced at Dutch before replying; "20 seconds from when the door opens. Accounting for the time it takes for the doors to actually open and close, we have about 8 seconds max to get off of this C-130 before the local defenses notice that this plane is displaying a rather larger radar signature than normal."

Dutch nodded at the information and picked up a parachute next to him. A black duffel bag, secured with metal links connected to the parachute. Beside both of the bags lay a battered helmet, the helmet had seen him through many such operations in the past it had become something of an old friend to him.

"What's inside?" Dutch asked as he donned the chute and the helmet. The straps clicked in place.

"Local weaponry. A 5.56 KH-2002 rifle and a PC-9 ZOAF aka the SIG Sauer 226. On the ground, we got a cache inland with a HS.50 rifle and a RPG 29 as well as more ammo for your rifles. Anything else, you gonna have to loot them." Nora answered as she strapped on her own chute.

"30 seconds!" A measured voice crackled over the intercom from the cockpit.

The trio walked calmly towards the back of the plane. Dutch looked at his partners grimly and asked, "Do we want to do this?"

"Absolutely." Nora returned. "Hell yes!" Aden shouted enthusiastically.

"We're right over the drop zone! Opening the doors now!" The pilot hollered.

A whirr precluded the opening of the plane's aged cargo doors. A great roaring of air drowned out the monotonous hum of the airfcraft's four monstrous engines as the worn cargo doors slowly moved out of their positions. As Dutch looked at the great blackness that stretched out before him, an altitude counter flickered on his helmet's heads up display.

3000 feet.

"Go!" The order crackled through a mini radio in the helmet and the trio ran out the door.

Immediately, a feeling of weightlessness overcame the group as they plummeted through the air.

2989 feet.

Dutch looked around. Nora had tucked her body into an arrowlike shape, gaining speed faster than her companions and leaving them behind. Aden on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying his weightlessness by doing tricks that would usually be impossible on the surface. Dutch simply took in the icy star studded sky above him.

2431 feet.

All was going as smoothly as a jump could go.

BOOF!

A blast, so loud that Dutch could hear it rip through the whistle of the wind rushing past him reverberating through the air.

The trio turned to see a portion of the starry night sky obscured by a black cloud. Another blast lit up the sky, leaving an inky black cloud blocking out the stars in its bright wake.

'Flak!' The trio thought. Of all the dangers that you could throw at an airborne attacker, flak would rank at the top. Warheads designed to fly close to aircraft and fill the air with shrapnel around them that would easily shred apart any human like paper. No body armor could stop shards capable of piercing metal like a hot knife through butter.

Dutch, Nora and Aden spread out instinctively, each flying off in different directions. The flak blasts gradually intensified and soon, the entire night sky was filled with blots of smoke and gouts of flame.

934 feet.

'Too fast!' Dutch screamed in his head as he fell straight down like a bullet. Soon he had to pull his chute and the flak would rip him to shreds.

Holding his position, Dutch let his body scream towards the ground at terminal velocity.

687 feet.

Almost there.

423 feet.

Dutch reached for his release cord, but hesitated.

251 feet.

Just a bit more.

120 feet

Dutch ripped the cord. The parachute blossomed outwards and upwards, the air resistance pulling its shape out into the iconic mushroom shape that characterized every parachute. The duffel bag, propelled by inertia, jerked on the chute and Dutch felt the harness tug at him. The duffel bag chose this moment to fly upwards, the result of energy dissipating.

The bag flew into his wires and the parachute tangled up.

Dutch's glide down to earth turned into a free fall. The earth appeared to be rushing to meet him like a long lost friend.

80 feet.

'OH CRAP! OH CRAP! OH CRAP!' Panicky curses formed a mantra as thoughts skittered through Dutch's mind. This had to be every paratrooper's worst nightmare.

20 feet.

Dutch crashed onto the sand-

-And he woke up.

Panting softly, his eyes flashed to the ceiling above him. Adrenaline coursed crazily through his body,

'It's over. In the past.' he thought as he slowed his breath. Once his body had calmed, he took stock of his surroundings.

Lying on the floor, check. Blanket on top check. Mysterious thing pressed against him that is really soft, check...what?

Dutch looked beside him to see Vale resting against him, her arms draped around him. Her translucent wings folded in and her rumpled dress and blouse all showing signs of being slept in.

'She's like a goddamn me magnet. A really cute and useful magnet.' Dutch thought as he smiled and stroked Vale's soft, silky hair. The being reacted to his touch by pressing closer to him.

'Female body structure..' Dutch mentally croaked as he felt her body against him. Every - single - part.

'Retreat!' Dutch thought as he carefully eased himself away from the sleeping entity. Once he was out of her hands, he draped the entirety of the blanket over Vale, making her look like a sort of cloth cocoon with her head sticking out.

Getting up, Dutch left the room and sat on a chair in the center of the map room. Looking at the interface, he just recycled everything that had happened to him since he entered Gensokyo and played it.

Magic.

Because of magic or more specifically, his lack of it, Dutch stood at a distinct disadvantage. The most important being he couldn't upgrade his capabilities.

In the short time he had been in Gensokyo, he has been shot, sliced, superlasered, sent from point to point via portal and not to forget, almost blown up into nothing. And to counter this experience, all he had and still has is a diamond knife, a pistol, carbine and an anti-material rifle. As well as the equipment that he had requested from Yukari.

Looking back, he had actually done pretty well.

But there would have to be upgrades.

Dutch was no fool. The Don't fix it if it's not broke strategy tends to ensure that your next opponent will outthink you in a battle. And if his myriad of experiences with magic had told him anything, it's that sooner or later, he's gonna pull the losing side.

Better have it and don't need it than need it and don't have it.

But how could he upgrade his guns?

While wrestling with this problem he remembered something and grinned to himself. Why limit yourself only to guns when you have magic stored for your convenience?

Tengu Village

Non-Tengu quarters

*Insert reality distortion sound!*

Renko and Maribel landed on the floor upside down.

"Oops! Sorry, I must have got the coordinates slightly wrong. Are you both okay?" Yukari asked through her gap in reality as our duo groaned as they tried unsuccessfully to untangle their legs.

Click!

Renko peeked through her upturned skirt. A crow cawed back at her.

"That was an awesome shot. Thanks for your contribution!" Someone blocked by the crow said.

The crow cawed again and took off. It's flight revealed a black haired tengu, wearing a white cotton blouse and black shirt. Her lustrous hair gleamed in the light and her face had the triumphant expression of a treasure hunter striking gold plastered all over it.

"Destroy those negatives. Please." Renko whimpered as she moved to a better sitting position.

The tengu smiled. "No can do. It's all in the good name of information."

A rainbow colored danmaku bolt whistled past the tengu, almost hitting the crow that was coming to land on her shoulder. It cawed in protest at the near miss.

"She said please." Maribel warned, her hand aimed at the tengu.

The tengu smiled and slipped out a leaf shaped fan with a flourish. She slashed the air before her gracefully and a groove appeared on the wooden floor between Renko and Maribel. It should be noted that the distance between the two of them could be measured in mere centimetres.

"As a journalist, I am obliged to protect my material. Secondly you almost hit my familiar. Do you really want to start a fight here?" The tengu murmured with a voice which seemed akin to the calm before a storm. Renko and Maribel stood up quickly, both of their faces set.

"Aya, destroy those negatives. Now." Yukari said through her gap.

The Crow sighed. She reached for her camera, opened its innards and took out a pair of negatives. She threw the negatives into the air and with a flick of her fan shreds floated down like confetti.

"Done." Aya answered, the pain of the task clear on her face. Those were perfect shots.

"Good. Seeing as the two of you are standing perfectly fine, I assume that the two of you are okay. Back to the topic. I left you close to where Dutch is. He's just down the corridor to the left at the intersection. He's been slightly damaged while he was separated from the two of you but Ran is with him. Goodbye." Yukari finished before closing the gap hole.

Renko and Maribel walked down the corridor, leaving Aya behind. She looked at their disappearing backs, cocking her head in thought for a second before following them."Wait up!" She called as she hurried after them.

Renko turned to the reporter warily. "Why are you following us?" She asked, slightly annoyed by the relentless tengu.

"The clean and honest Aya Shameimaru is at your service! Gensokyo's finest reporter/editor for the Bunbunmaru newspaper!" Aya answered.. She had just totally avoided the question. "You are outsiders, aren't you? New to Gensokyo?" She continued.

Renko sighed. "Well, relatively new is a better term. We have been here for a couple of days." As much as she would like to shoo the eager tengu away, she and Maribel were here for Dutch and she really didn't want to start something up.

"Wow! Can you share your experiences? The readers would like to know the view from the outside." Aya answered, her notebook out and flipped to a blank page.

"Maybe at a later time." Maribel stepped in, her voice final. Aya looked at the smiling face of the blonde, there was a saying that the one who could say no with a smile on their face is the fiercest one of all. Fearing an intervention from Yukari on the heels of whatever this blonde would do, she complied. Renko flashed a thank you smile to her best friend.

The trio turned at the intersection to see Ran leaving the room. The Kitsune turned to the trio and smiled. "Ah, you're here. He's inside." She walked past down the corridor, holding a container of blood stained bandages and red water. The smell of alcohol filled the air. She disappeared down the corridor.

Renko flashed a worried look to Maribel, one her friend returned. That definitely didn't look like slight damage to her. Judging from the color of bandages, that was a lot of blood. Just what had happened while he was gone?

The trio approached the door. As they got closer, voices drifted through the paper walls.

"...wasn't trying to hit her on purpose. If I did, I would have killed her." Dutch said.

"That's, like, totally awesome that you fought back without trying to hurt her. Man, this is a great scoop!" Another voice answered, jovially.

Aya gritted her teeth.

Renko slid open the door revealing Dutch, sitting up in bed, talking to another tengu. Like every other tengu, she had a Tokin, this time purple, which covered the top portion of her head flanked by a pair long, snaking pigtails. Her attire consisted of a white cotton shirt with a purple trim at the collars and a thin black tie with a black and purple checkered skirt. Below them, her legs were adorned with a pair of knee-high socks and red geta sandals. She also had a hand phone pouch, occupied by a yellow hand phone with a brush keychain.

Dutch looked up and brightened at his visitors. "That was fast. When Yukari told me you were coming, that was only half an hour ago. Did she gap you here?" Dutch asked, his right forearm protected by a bandage. The cloth, despite looking fresh, had already gained a slightly pink tinge.

"Yes she did. How did you.." Maribel trailed off as she pointed at the bandage. Dutch raised his right arm. "This? Oh many things happened." He answered.

Aya stared at the other tengu with distaste, who returned the favour equally.

"So you finally managed to find something before I did, you copycat." Aya said to her other, the tension between the two clearly rising. Her crow simply scanned the room.

Hatate grinned back. "And an interview too." She answered, a taunting note to her voice.

Aya sighed. "Alright, you win this one." Her withdrawal instantly defused the tension in the air. The three humans in the room relaxed.

"Exactly what sort of things?" Maribel asked Dutch once the atmosphere had been defused.

Dutch shrugged. "I'm not at liberty to say. But I can assure you that it's not life threatening." He answered.

'Well, with my capabilities, it should not be.' Dutch thought to himself snidely.

Renko looked at him and opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a knock on the door. Ran slid the door open and entered.

"Dutch, Lord Tenma requests your presence." The Kitsune asked. Aya gave him a surprised look. What does Lord Tenma want with a human?

Renko and Maribel both had the same reaction. Yukari had briefed them on the society of the tengu and they knew Lord Tenma stood at the highest of the tengu society. Just what exactly had happened to Dutch that would warrant such a leader of the village meeting him.

Hatate smiled knowingly. After all, it was her spirit photography that caught Dutch's battle with that vengeful ghost. She could only report them to Lord Tenma as she should.

Dutch nodded. "Very well then. I shouldn't make such a higher up wait. Where is the meeting place?"

"Right here in this room." Lord Tenma said as she entered the Guestroom.

Aya and Hatate dropped to their knees in respect. Both displaying various signs of shock at Lord Tenma coming to meet a human, not the other way around. Renko and Maribel stood there gaping before following the tengu actions.

Dutch simply dipped his head respectfully towards Tenma.

"Please rise. This is an informal meeting. No need for such formalities." Tenma said. Aya and Hatate rose dumbly, still unsure what to make of this situation.

"It seems that this room is a tad overcrowded. Can the uninjured please leave the room?" Tenma continued, her tone a gentle yet firm prod.

The tengu and the human left the room, leaving Dutch, Tenma and Ran inside. Once the door closed, Ran took a seal from inside her clothes and pasted it on the sliding barricade. The sealed twinkled brightly releasing a gentle tinkling sound.

"The room is secure." The nine-tailed Fox-woman stated as she and Tenma sat down on a pair of chairs.

Dutch gave Tenma a quizzical look. "Quite a journey just to meet little old me, don't you think? Shouldn't I be going to the palace, instead of you here?"

Tenma smiled at the human's direct question. "Even at the palace, gossip can spawn from the slightest of things. Your first visit stirred up a storm amongst the Hanataka, which is common for them. But after your attack, the wolves have gained an interest in the rumors. I believe you wouldn't want to be identified by the wolves, do you now?"

Dutch shook his head. A whole village worth of vengeful wolves was not high on his lists of things to have.

"Which is why the meeting place is here. Don't worry, there are ways to leave the palace without being spotted. Your role in this will be kept quiet. Just as you requested." Tenma finished.

Dutch nodded. "So what is the reason for this meeting? All information relating to the attack I have already told you." He said.

"Not all of it. Your wound. That didn't come from a tengu, did it?" Tenma asked, a grave look on her face.

Dutch glanced at Ran. The shikigami answered his unspoken question with a nod. Acknowledging the permission given, he returned to Lord Tenma.

"No it didn't. It came from a lunarian assassin drone spent to eliminate me. But I don't see why it relates to the tengu." Dutch asked.

Tenma sighed bitterly. "How much do you know about the history of Gensokyo?"

Dutch shrugged. "Extremely little. A quick glance through yielded nothing that was of value to me so I did not take a look at this. I was planning to come back to them at a later time."

"Very well. You did miss one part of Gensokyo's history that is relevant to your situation. A thousand years ago, long before the formation of the hakurei barrier, Yukari Yakumo commanded an army of youkai and invaded the moon." Tenma said.

Dutch whistled quietly. "That must have been an awesome sight. But seeing that the Lunarians still exist, I assume that the army was defeated?"

Tenma nodded. "While the Lunarians were caught by surprise, infighting amongst the different fractions of the youkai army slowed their progress long enough for the Lunarians to muster up a defensive line just beyond the outer settlements. Afterwards, systematic attacks at the weak parts of the army as well as the problems arising from putting groups of different youkai in one place ensured the army's destruction."

Dutch absorbed the information. "Okay, so the Lunarians can actually plan an attack. But how does this relate to now?"

Tenma continued. "At the time, the forces holding the defensive line were subpar compared to the youkai army in terms of strength. In single matches, a youkai was superior to a lunar rabbit. To make matters worse, intercepted messages told of personal shortages all along the line. If the youkai army made a concentrated strike at one point, it would shatter the line. So to counter the personal shortages, the Lunarians used their magics and created an army of golems."

Dutch frowned. "I take it assassin golems formed part of this army?"

Tenma nodded. "They provided the Lunarians with a force to temporary hold off the youkai army until a better response could be mustered. But what I'm talking about relates to the golems. It seems that after the invasion, the golem army was deactivated and destroyed. It seems that some of the Lunarians view the golems as an insult to their purity. The golem army was gone."

"But obviously with my wound, that's false." Dutch returned.

Tenma affixed her eyes on his bandage. "With your wound, it means that the Lunarians still have at least a portion of the golem army operational. Which means that Gensokyo is in great danger. An invasion by the lunar forces would easily isolate the youkai and ensure their destruction. While the standard golems are weaker compared to the your average youkai, their numbers and weapons may grant the needed advantage for victory."

Dutch's face darkened. "So I may or may not have just unlocked the key to Gensokyo's destruction." He muttered.

Tenma shook her head at the young human's inference. "No. You simply managed to reveal the presence of the army. A world's problems simply does not originate from a single man. In fact, you did spectacularly well."

Dutch merely nodded, his expression showing that he did not share Tenma's sentiment. "Well then, with that out of the way, I must ask if anything else is intended for me for the next couple of days." He asked.

Ran spoke up. "Yukari-sama has several places for you to go. She will be occupied for a couple of days and so will be unavailable to you. She requests that you head for the shrine at the top of the mountain. They are expecting you and your companions."

Dutch sighed. Really, with all the things he's done for the past few days, you would think he would give up the journey and take a well needed rest.

"Very well. As much I like this bed, the faster we get to the shrine, the faster I can get it over with. Lord Tenma, I thank you for your hospitality. Maybe one day when I have some free time, I'll return to your great village and sample what it has to offer proper." Dutch said, respectfully bowing in bed to the tengu boss.

Tenma accepted his bow with a nod. Nothing else needed to be said between the tengu leader and the secret soldier.

Outside

At the same time

"Gah!" Renko shouted as she and Maribel waited outside the room. They could not hear anything coming from the room and her other possible sources of information, Aya and Hatate, had disappeared off to god knows where citing vague reasons.

So it was left to the pair of humans to wait out whatever was going on in the room. Something humans are not well known for.

"What the hell is going on inside there?" Renko hissed as she pranced around, seething with fury. Maribel simply leaned against the wall appearing lost in thought. She was just as angry as Renko about the shut-out but a lot more composed compared to her best friend.

"It must be connected with whatever gave him that wound." Maribel answered after careful consideration.

"Exactly! And he just won't tell what happened. It's infuriating! Men!" Renko raged as she continued her back and forth movement up and down the corridor.

Maribel smiled. "Technically he's still a boy. Or young man."

"Whatever! That doesn't mean he should keep secrets from us. We can handle ourselves." The enraged brunette shot back.

"Can we?" Maribel whispered, hidden emotions stirring in her eyes.

Renko turned to her blonde friend. "What are you trying to say?"

"Ever since we met him, he has protected us from danger. Repeatedly, I might add. He may be hiding something to protect us." the blonde sighed.

Renko grew silent at the statement. "But we learned danmaku. We could at least protect ourselves." She answered, a slight tinge of denial in her voice. Even her own words sounded slightly hollow to herself. After watching the fighting capabilities of a couple of the inhabitants of Gensokyo, she felt weaker and weaker with each passing second.

Especially after seeing Dutch's fight with Flandre. If Marisa wasn't there, it was likely that Dutch would have died.

"Ohhh~ but do you really believe that?" The questioning voice of the gap hag questioned her with the question.

Renko and Maribel turned around to see Yukari gazing at them through a gap.

"You! What's Dutch up to that we can't know about?" Renko growled, none too intimidated by the awesome power of the gap youkai.

Yukari seemed surprised, if her face was anything to go by. "He hasn't told you? Ah well, that's for him to decide. I won't tell you unless he says so. It may do more harm than good~."

"Aaargh!" Renko yelled as she punched the wall next to her. The sound of flesh on wood reverberated down the corridor. Renko withdrew her fist, red from the impact, and stomped down the corridor.

Maribel gave Yukari a apologetic smile. "She doesn't like secrets." She explained.

Yukari nodded and hid half her face behind her fan slyly. "At the current moment, Dutch is keeping secrets from you for your own safety. The best way to make him reveal the secrets is to make sure that he doesn't need to care about your safety. Do you understand what I am saying?"

Maribel frowned. "You mean get stronger?"

Yukari laughed as the gap hole began to wane. "Oh dear, why would I suggest such a thing?"

Maribel watched the hole disappear in silence.

Mayohiga

Yukari leaned back against the chair.

She had done her part. How Renko and Maribel would proceed on from there would be their own choice.

Sighing lazily, she opened another gap.

"Kanako, did you receive the package?" The gap youkai asked as the mountain goddess stared back at her through the gap,

Kanako nodded. "Interesting group of humans you've acquired Yukari. Two humans with magic potential and a human with an artifact. One would be suspicious given the circumstances."

Yukari laughed. "Don't worry, they are harmless. But we have an agreement?"

Kanako nodded.

"Good." The creator of Gensokyo closed the gap, relaxing against the chair she closed her eyes and let out a satisfied sigh.

Phase one complete.