SURPRISE! ME BACK!
Ehehehe. A lot of stuff happened and posting this chapter was delayed. But i managed to smash out a couple of more chapters. Just need to throw them through the proofing cycle.
Zis one is full of fighty goodness.
SO SATE YOUR THIRST FOR BATTLE!
BIG THANKS GOES TO Ban3 for this and the last chapter!
Oh and Sweebation for helping me when i had a mid-story crisis.
Vault
The energy faded as Dutch stepped off the platform and into the vault.
Tackle!
Dutch yelled out in surprise as an angry Vale smashed into him. He tried to push his daughter off but got a mouthful of wing for his trouble. Vale started to squeeze hard, using her strength to compress Dutch's body.
Still attempting to fight off the entity, Dutch lightly bit down on Vale's wing. She yelped and let go. Spitting out crystalline feathers he gulped in a mouthful of oxygen before shifting into a sitting position. He savoured the feeling of breathing.. It felt wonderful.
Vale checked her wings methodically for any visible damage. Finding none, she gave them an experimental flap and pouted indignantly.
"That was mean. What you said to them." She said as she sat down in front of Dutch, her wings tucked in behind her back.
Dutch sighed. "But it was true. Besides, all was forgiven in the end."
Vale shook her head stubbornly. "Not by me."
"So what do you want?" Dutch glanced askance at her, slightly amused by the strong sense of justice his daughter displayed.
Vale thought for a second before adopting a playful grin. She launched herself at Dutch, her anger already gone. Wrapped her arms around him she crushed her parent with a suffocating hug.
Her victim sucked in his breath. He maneuvered his hand to her side and tickled. Vale convulsed as her sensitive side was assaulted by Dutch's fingers.
It became an endurance battle, both sides attempting to hold off the other. Finally Vale gave up. She relaxed her hands, laughing as her resolve crumbled under her father's relentless assault.
Dutch released his breath and sucked in a fresh one. He continued his assault, now using his hand on both of Vale's sensitive sides. The entity laughed under his attack, her once crushing arms now turned into a gentle hug.
After minutes of joyful laughter, Dutch finally stopped. Vale's laughter subsided as she relaxed against Dutch, her arms still around him. The two lay there on the entry platform, silently resting.
"How did getting bitten on your wing feel?" Dutch asked as he stroked Vale's silken hair.
Vale's cheeks lit up in a gentle blush; "Well, it actually felt kinda...good. Like tickle good."
Dutch grinned evilly, leaned over and started to lightly nibble on Vale's wing.
"Ah! Please, st...! Yelp!" Vale gasped as Dutch continued his assault on her wing. His hands moved of their own accord and now Vale was besieged from three sides. She moaned and yelped as Dutch continued his playful attack on her senses.
Finally, Dutch released Vale from her torture. As she panted, she affixed her eyes on her father.
"That's not fair." She complained.
Dutch, who was now finding out the cons of nibbling on a wing, spat out the last of the crystalline feathers that stuck to his mouth. He gave Vale a victorious smile.
"It's revenge for mind breaking me." He answered. Vale giggled and launched herself for a second hug. Dutch returned it with equal force and again, the two just lay there, holding each other.
'Amazing. I have never had any thought of fatherhood and yet it feels so natural.' Dutch reflected as he pulled Vale closer. The entity was all the more happier.
"So have you decided your special name for me?"
Vale grinned from cheek to cheek; "Da-ko!" She giggled shyly, her foot tracing circles on the crystalline floor.
Dutch chuckled. "As in hug?"
The crystal winged girl nodded emphatically, a healthy glow continuing to paint her face.
"Yes, but I like it because 'Da' is for dad and 'Ko' is for Kotozaki, so Dako!"
"What a cute name from my silly, adorable daughter, I love it!" He gave her a reassuring squeeze.
Vale beamed radiantly. She gave Dutch a loving peck on the cheek and got off him. Smiling happily, she lifted him up and gave him a final arms-around-the-neck hug before flying off, giggling, into the adjacent room.
"Silly, adorable daughter? You accepted her pretty quickly." Vault intoned as it appeared from under the platform.
Dutch gave the orb a sharp look, his prior happiness hidden. "She has already accepted me. It would be foolish not to reciprocate the feeling." He had come to regard the orb with a hint of disdain. It's continued secrecy made him rather suspicious. Although some would say it was his fatherly sense tingling he still did not trust it.
The orb moved sagely, as if nodding in agreement. "Very well, its interesting to continue watching you. At least you provide an alternative to the violence and death that the last owners brought. On another note, I do find the new project you are working on interesting. Using the assassin drone armor as a basis for a suit. Not something your average man or youkai could think of."
Dutch got up and sat on the chair in front of the interface. He turned to face the orb. "Well, current human armor provides minimal if any protection against magic and appropriate magical armor is either far too large or far too advanced for me to use effectively. The drone armor was a compromise between speed and protection and would be perfect for me. Not to mention since its linked to the vault, I can phase it in less than a second should the situation require it."
The young man's shoulders slumped, disappointment evident.
"I seem to have hit a snag though. I need more material for the suit. The vault can't replicate a full set of armor without causing catastrophic structural failure for some unfathomable reason and I need more than one drone to find out why."
Vault changed color. "Well for the structural failure part, it's because you designed the armor into a weave. The original was just a series of layers on top of each other. You will need at least a full drone to experiment on to get the best solution. Something you should acquire soon enough, am I not right?"
Dutch narrowed his eyes. "How would you know?"
Vault laughed knowingly. "My dear fleshling, I see what you see. We both know that those falling stars are not falling stars. Question is what do you plan to do about them? I recommend taking all three for yourself. They will provide useful material."
Dutch nodded at the logic of the action.
Vault started to fade away but stopped. "And, please, come back from this fight. It would shatter the child if you were to die."
Dutch stared as the orb faded into nothing.
Mountain side
Night
The black portal opened silently. Three Assassin drones emerged, the inherent magic in their armor canceling out the sounds of their passage. Clicking to each other, they leapt onto an outcrop and began their ascent up the mountain. Their target was at the very top, in some sort of compound that radiated power.
As they climbed, a mountain youkai, the battle from the day before still fresh on its mind, awakened from its slumber by the intruders in its territory, picked itself up and snarled at the golems.
The golems, programmed to ignore all distractions, carried on their upwards journey, disregarding the infuriated youkai.
Angry at the intruders for encroaching further into it's territory, the youkai increased the volume of its snarls. Any lesser being would have stopped to reconsider its path but the golems halted only for a second, heads tilted curiously, as if unable to understand why the youkai would react that way, before continuing on their journey.
Now out of options and reacting like a wild youkai should, the defender charged the drones. It's claws glinted wickedly in the night light as they flew towards the artificial constructs.
Bad mistake.
Unlike the previous vanquished drone which had only been equipped with the standard load out, these golems came armed with specially designed equipment, just for this occasion. Extra programs ran in their head, essential for efficient use of their weapons. This particular assassin group had never lost a prey in their centuries of service for the lunar houses. They were the lunar civilization's very best.
The youkai stood no chance.
Before it even reached it's targets, a bolt of energy shot up and smashed into its arm, blowing off it's claws. A blade that glowed in the darkness sent the other claw oon a journey to join its brother as the blade separated the claw from its arm in one, clean slice.
Crying out loudly in pain, the youkai started to back away quickly. It whimpered as blood flowed uncontrolled from its amputated hands. It stumbled back as fast as it could, all thoughts of revenge forgotten as it attempted to flee from its aggressors.
A pity its actions made the golems designate it as a target.
The last golem readied its right arm, aimed and fired a shot. The bright beam flew true, striking the youkai in the back. The deathly magic in the beam destroyed the youkai's life force and sent its soul to the Sanzu river. The body dropped and ceased moving.
The golems continued on their journey. By dawn, the scavengers would clean up the mess.
Moriya shrine
Renko pulled herself up from her futon.
For some reason, she could not sleep. Whether it was the unfamiliarity of the shrine or just plain bad luck, she could not shut her eyes and head off into the world of dreams. Huffing in frustration, she stood up and tapped her upper lip in thought. Maybe some fresh air would help.
As she left the room, an empty futon lying rumpled on the gloomy floor caught her eye. Looking at it, she wondered why it was there.
Wait, wasn't that Dutch's one?
Renko frowned pensively. Now where had that guy gone now?
Growling to herself in agitation she headed to the door. If that dumb guy was not anywhere near the door, she was going to hit him. She looked out, surveying the shrine clothed in darkness.
It appeared she would be hitting him after all. The only signs of life she could perceive in the oppressive silence of the shrine were the frogs croaking in the distant lake. Unless she could speak amphibian, she could not find out where he was.
Grinding her teeth at the stubborn young man, Renko vowed to wait for him to return. He had better have a good explanation for her when he returned. She told herself this matter of factly as she sat in wait.
Lake Suwa
The golems ignored the frogs' croaks as they reached the water obstacle charted in their programming. They started along its edge, preferring to go around the lake than through it. As they carried on their journey, they kept their audio sensors on the highest level, attempting to pierce through the noisy frogs croaking. They watched the grove tree line with anticipation.
Boom!
The muffled 14.5mm bolt flew straight down on its journey, the report of its gunshot silencing the softer frog croaking. The drones reacted to the shot, spinning to avoid the shot. Their bodies turned swiftly, attempting to dodge the converted bullet.
But the shot was faster. It struck and exploded against the barrier shield of the lead golem. The shield flashed into existence as it tried to counter the powerful forces in the bolt. Magic tore against magic in an epic struggle for supremacy.
Finally, the shield won out. The bolt explosion dissipated against the erratically flickering shield, the magic spreading into the air like a flower opening. The golems clicked furiously as they searched for the source of the shot.
One of the other golems, pulling the source of the shot from its memory, summoned a ball of energy. Three orbs came out from the ball and shot off, saturating the area of the forest when the shot came from. Three small explosions lit up the grove.
The golems closed in on the spot, expecting to find a dead body. The flickering shield of the lead golem now consolidated back to a solid almost transparent shield, albeit more visible than its partners. It slashed away the branches in its way with fury, its arms a blur of motion as its molecular-sharp blade effortlessly sliced its way through the wood.
At ground zero, small craters occupied by small blue fires showed where the orbs had struck the ground. The surrounding undergrowth was riddled with black, indicators of where the less developed plant life fell victim to the life destroying energies that 'splashed' out when the orbs exploded.
The golems growled, a series of clicks which in some odd way managed to sound annoyed passed between them as they searched for a body. The golems screeched in frustration as they tore through the dead undergrowth, their search yielding nothing.
Then one of the golems managed to knock over an object that had been rooted to the ground. The object gave off a metallic ping when the drone struck it. Curious, the golems clustered around the object, their visual sensors at their maximum for better definition.
The object lit up glowing a crimson red. The exposed claymore mine faced the drones, ready to unleash 500 pallets of hell onto the assassin constructs.
Around them, more red lights lit up. they faced a hodgepodge of directions, some not even facing the right area, the claymore mines nevertheless covered the entire region of the grove that the drones were in. The golems clicked in panic as they realized their situation.
A burst of static at the golems' feet drew their sensors from the "panorama of doom" to a small device wedged securely inside a tree root. A handheld radio, the contraption lit up as it played out static. The static petered out into a recognizable voice, a triumphant tone filled his voice as he delivered a single, three word remark.
"Nice try suckers."
A trio of screeches echoed through the grove before being drowned out by a symphony of explosions.
Moriya shrine
At the same time
Renko frowned as she sat waiting for Dutch.
That damn young man still had not returned from gods knows what he was doing. She was tempted to go out and look for him but she did not know where he was and she would rather not get lost on the mountain. Thus she waited, testily, for him to return.
After waiting for a couple more minutes, She finally decided to return to her room to rest. Tomorrow, she would deliver her vow to him.
Then a muffled boom hit her ears. Renko turned around to see a burst of light bathe lake Suwa in a piercing glow. The light faded and darkness returned to the lake.
Renko turned and ran towards the lake. What ever just happened, she was sure that Dutch was in the thick of it. As her lean legs ate up the distance, a trio of smaller explosions lit up the grove. She increased her speed as she wondered what was happening up ahead.
As she started to entered the grove, a series of explosions rocked the area. Renko fell behind a tree as fire and energy pellets flew around her. She closed her ears to avoid the deafening sounds, involuntarily whimpering in terror as the exploding claymore mines did their job, each sending 500 pallets in a the direction they were set to. Trees broke as the barrage of pallets blasted through the trunks, creating a cacophony of exploding mines and falling trees.
Finally, the storm ended. Renko got up from her position and approached the blast zone on unsteady legs. She expected to find Dutch there, since that was the only place of mention in the grove.
As she approached the area, a sense of foreboding became increasingly prominent. The darkness and confined space in the grove added to the feeling as well. Visibility was poor due to the trees and the darkness made it nigh impossible to see what was meters in front of her.
A falling tree made her pause. The plant should have fallen with a loud crack but instead fell with the sound of wood sliding over wood and continued as it journeyed down to earth. It landed with a crash of leaves.
Renko's expression darkened. What could cause the tree to fall that way? She wondered about this and feeling curious, approached the tree, checking for marks.
At the severed point of the trunk, the wood had been cleanly cut through in a flawless line. So flawless in fact that when Renko touched it, the wooden felt smooth, as if someone had carefully filed the wood away to a fine smoothness.
Renko summoned her sword. She held it up, looking around for what made the slice.
From the darkness, three dots of lights lit up ominously.
Lake Suwa
Another part of the grove
Dutch smirked as the mines exploded.
The drones fell for it so easily. It was a simple matter to fire a shot at a pre-prepared position and quickly relocate before the drone got a fix on his position. The motion sensor equipped mines ensured that he would know when the drones entered the trap zone. After that, it had been a simple matter of pressing the button.
Even through his trap was successful, Dutch was not entirely sure that the drones were down for the count. His earlier battle told him of the golems' defensive capabilities and he was sure that they were still alive, albeit rather down-at-the-heels thanks to the trap.
As he unslung his carbine and gripped the pistol grip with his carapace armored right hand, he stepped out of the shadows offered by the trees of the grove into the night light. The frogs kept silent after the explosions and it seemed that they did not want to cause any more sound. More likely, they had fled the area.
As he approached the trap zone, a scream pierced the forest. Dutch froze as he recognized the voice of Renko. Pushing himself into action, he bounded towards the cry, his arms holding the rifle firmly in his grip.
He cursed the sudden change. Of all the things to go horribly wrong, it had to be her.
Dutch aimed his right arm up and fired into the air. The three bolts flew into the shot, providing a beacon for everyone to head to.
Renko burst out of the darkness of the trees, the three drones hot on her heels. Each one of the golems looked different, both in their weapons and appearance.
The lead golem was armed with a silver sword with inscriptions etched into it. It glowed faintly with a soft blue light and grass near the sword withered as the life destroying energy radiating from the sword annihilated them from existence. The golem itself was a sleek, stealthy black. Light glinted off its armor, a construction of sharp edges and sleek lines. Unlike its former counterpart, it had not been armed with ranged weapons, foregoing them for the sword.
'Interesting. A purification blade. Those are notoriously difficult to build and equally difficult to use in battle. Youngling, you must have made quite a impact among the lunar nobles. To warrant such a weapon used against you is viewed as an actual honor on the moon.' Vault said, its upbeat voice contradicting its words.
'Really now. I would rather they used a normal blade.' Dutch grumbled as he shifted his attention to the next golem.
This golem appeared a mirror opposite of the first one. Halfway down its right forearm, the metal gave way to a large rifle. The rifle, befitting a creation of the lunar civilization, looked as much a decoration as a weapon, at least when compared to Dutch's carbine. Protrusions rarely broke the outline of the weapon and silver light ran down the centre of the barrel. Its wielder was painted in a dark grey which seemed to cause light to literally fall into it. It's single-eyed head had what appeared to be a camera attached to it, its eye changed color as it looked at Dutch. The drone's armor had a flat, bulky look.
'Wow! A railgun! The last entry I have noted that it was in the prototype stage. If you factor in the very long time it takes for Lunarians to get things done, this would be in the completed but expensive stage of its production. The nobles have really pulled out the big guns on you.' Vault continued, sounding impressed from the tone of its voice.
'Just how long ago is this entry?' Dutch asked as he calculated the odds of taking on the drone. If it went by current human railgun prototypes, it at least would be able to shoot through him and onwards. Whatever happens, don't get hit by that thing.
'Using the timeline of humanity...carry the 4 and rounding off to the nearest thousand, we are talking 9600 BC here. Thats the last entry.' Vault answered.
'Holy crap, that is long. Why the hell does it take 11614 years to properly develop a railgun? We got prototypes right now.' Dutch answered, mind blown by the amount of time spent developing the weapon.
'Ah well, Lunarians tend to put off their projects and leave them to a later date...which can take up to decades or centuries before they restart them. Not to mention there was an event at the same time that set back their research by a large degree. So indeed, their research projects can take a VERY long time to complete. Combine that with the fact that there is very little magnetic research that the Lunarians have done and the inability of magic to generate the power required to actually constitute a railgun while having a small portable form and you have a reaaaalllyyyy long time to wait.' Vault explained, slightly embarrassed by the inefficiency of its creators.
'Why would they have little research into magnetism?' Dutch practically yelled. It seemed so mind-blowing that the Lunarians would not have researched magnetism, a fundamental component of the universe.
'Well they have magic for a reason. It substitutes for almost all scientific purposes in their civilization. And why would they waste time on something that is essentially useless to them. Also, unlike human railguns, the lunar version propels magical bolts, not projectiles. But they do the same job.' Vault explained.
'I see. That makes good sense.' Dutch muttered as he took in the next.
The last golem was armed with a wrist shooter and claws configuration on its right hand and looked no different than its dead counterpart. It's accompanying claws had all been lengthened to blade-length and the wrist shooter looked more like a mini-Gatling gun, down to the three barrels that glowed with power. On its left hand was what seem to be an emitter device of some sort. As Dutch watched, two balls of energy emerged from the device. They flew to either thigh of the drone and attached themselves there. There, they turned into cones, which, after flaring brightly, lifted the drone into the air, where it hovered.
'Haha! Unbelievable. They sent a manipulator-class golem to bring you down! Those are the most dangerous class of golem that exists! Youngling, you must obtain all three golems. Not only will they provide useful material for your armor project, they all contain devices that are powerful.'
Dutch grunted. The problem with Vault's advice was not getting killed by them first. Although all the golems looked worse for wear, especially the one holding the sword. Its barrier shield flickered erratically and it's armor seemed damaged.
While the conversation was going on, Renko had tripped over a root and sprawled into the ground. Dutch ran to her and helped her up. After checking her injuries and finding none, he favoured her with a critical eye.
"You're not supposed to be here." He said as he slowly backed away from the drones, Renko following his action. He raised his carbine and aimed at the three of them, constantly cycling through targets. He clicking his rifle safety off, which turned the bolts, he fired into lethal ones.
"Neither are you." Was Renko answer as she summoned her danmaku. The blue hour hands danmaku and second-hand sword contrasted with the black night.
"Touché. You probably want explanations. I'll offer them after we have dealt with these... Aberrations." Dutch quipped as he phased in a dagger bayonet for his carbine.
"I'll hold you to that." Renko retorted.
The three golems looked at the targets. They had faced more than one person during their service but rarely of those of sufficient power to challenge them. No matter. They would finish these targets much as they had always have done.
On an unheard command, the trio launched themselves at the two humans. Dutch fired off a burst only to watch it impact against the flickering shield of the sword golem. He cursed as he realized the inadequacy of his weapon against the sword golem.
"You take the sword one. I handle the rest." He said as he shifted targets. Renko nodded and launched herself at the sword golem. Both met with a clang of swords.
Renko gasped as she felt the presence of the purification blade. It washed over her, a power that drained her very life force, making her actions seem harder. Gritting her teeth, she committed herself to the attack, throwing everything she had into the battle.
Dutch picked up on the gasp but could not turn to find out why. He had problems on his own end. As he avoided a beam of rail-accelerated magic projectile, he turned his fire on the flying golem, peppering its shield with bright energy bullets.
The drone countered with a burst from its Gatling wrist shooter, the weapon spraying out bright bolts of its own in a dull buzz, the rate of fire was so great it could never be matched by anything Dutch had.
The spray of bright danmaku chewed out the ground around Dutch.
Moriya shrine
Maribel's eyes flickered open, her mind still groggy with the cobwebs of sleep.
As she glanced around sleepily, wondering why she was torn from dreamland, she realized something.
She was the only one in the room.
Wondering why this was the case; her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of battle drifting through the door. Curiously, Maribel raised herself and tiptoed to the door, peeking outside.
Bursts of light lit up lake Suwa. Even as she watched, a blue bolt rose from the ground and rammed itself toward the ground.
Recognizing the danmaku, Maribel hurriedly shook herself awake and ran out the door.
Lake Suwa
It was not going well.
Dutch ducked back behind a rock as another burst of bolts chewed into the ground. As he leaned back against the granite, a sense of danger made him move aside.
CRACK!
A beam of light blasted through the rock, leaving a hole the shape of a perfect circle in its wake. The beam continued, only stopping when it struck the ground.
Dutch reloaded and analyzed the situation. At the current moment, he was stuck. If he went out of cover, the flying golem would cut him down. If he stayed in cover, sooner or later, the railgun wielding golem would get lucky and blast him in half through the rock.
He needed something to bring the situation into his favor and he needed it fast.
At least the golems were keeping their attention on him only. If they were to target Renko as well, this would be a very short fight.
Renko was not having the same thoughts.
She blocked another swing and counter attacked with a slash. The drone skillfully avoided the blade and stepped back, taunting her with its sword.
Renko did not rise to the bait. She was exhausted from the fight. The purification blade constantly sapped the energy out of her, making it hard to even lift the sword.
But lift she did because she knew if she failed, she would die. She stood her ground, waiting for the golem to make her move.
It charged at her, bring its sword in a smash. Reno tried to lift her sword but she suddenly lost all energy. She stared helpless as the blade descended.
Then a hail of rainbow bolts flew out of the forest and peppered the weak barrier shield of the golem. It collapsed under the assault, the last few bolts slamming into the armor of the golem. It was enough to bring the golem off balance. Instead of cleaving Renko on half, it passed her and sunk into the ground. Renko turned her eyes to her savior.
Coming out of the forest, her face resolute, Maribel fired another burst of danmaku. It peppered the Golem's armor again. It screeched in anger at the upstart human that dared to attack it.
The screech drew the attention of the other golems. They turned to their partner, taking their attention off Dutch for a second.
That was more then enough for Dutch to phase in his anti-material rifle. He aimed up at the flying golem, now halted in position, as it turned its attention to it's other.
BOOM!
The 12.7 bolt traveled the distance faster then the sound of the shot. By the time the golem heard the shot, it was already experiencing a one-way trip to the ground, it's flight capabilities temporarily damaged by the powerful shot.
The other golem turned back. It quickly brought up its railgun and aimed it at Dutch. By that time, Dutch was already ready to fire.
BOOM! CRACK!
The two shots collided together and exploded. Smoke from the explosion covered the two combatants, obscuring each other from view. The golem stepped back, attempting to get out of the cloud to get a clear shot. It's footsteps sounded through the night, the magic supposed to hide their sound the first to go from the explosion.
Out of the smoke, the golem aimed around for targets. As it aimed around, a shot smashed into its shield. The golem was thrown back by the sudden attack. It tumbled across the ground.
Dutch strolled out of the smoke, visibly wincing. Firing three consecutive black arrow shots was a new record for him and his arm paid the price. It was wrought with pain and extremely sore. Dutch happily phased away his anti-material rifle and unslung his carbine.
The golem picked itself up. It was hurt by the double whammy of the black arrow and it's barrier shield had been destroyed. It picked itself up, struggling to bring its railgun to bear.
Dutch had better ideas.
He fired a burst. The triple bolts smashed into the drone and caused it to stumble back. Dutch fired again and the drone collapsed, now keening in mechanical desperation. Dutch mercilessly fired burst after burst at the golem until it stopped dead.
As he reloaded his carbine, his other opponent, having recovered from the blast, charged at him from behind, using its flight to keep it just above the ground. It swiped its claws viciously at Dutch's head; ready to avenge it's counter-part.
Dutch whirled from the fizzling remains of the downed drone and blocked the swipe with his bayonet. He pushed with all his might and shoved away the drone. He then phased away his carbine and phased in his wrist blades.
The drone went for another attack, stabbing straight ahead, Dutch seamlessly avoided the stab and went for his own stab. He plunged his wrist blades into the eye-slots of his opponent.
The golem screeched and took off, Dutch still hanging on by his blades. Blinded, it flew around erratically.
Dutch held on for dear life as the drone careered around randomly. He expected the drone to drop dead, not get blinded. He hoped that the drone did not fly into something hard and held on, trying to rip out his wrist blades.
Back at the other battle, the fighting had become pretty much one-sided. While hurt none too badly by the combat, the golem was being forced to split its attention between two opponents. Often, a chance to attack was interrupted by either a hail of danmaku or a waiting sword.
As another wave of rainbow and hour and minute hand danmaku peppered it armor, it finally had enough. Gathering the power in its embellished sword, it concentrated the power to the tip, where it condensed into a white ball of energy. It pointed the sword downward and plunged it into the ground.
A wave of purity rushed out, a ripple on a pond's glistening surface. As it washed over Maribel and Renko, All power to their limbs fled from their forms, the result of the purity interfering with their impure bodies. They watched as the golem approached, it's sword held triumphantly in its hand.
It raised its sword over Maribel, ready to cleave the blonde in half. At the peak of its rise, the sword hummed with power as if hungry for the life it was about to take.
Then the combined mass of man and erratically flying drone plowed into it. The trio skimmed across the ground, leaving a groove in the earth as a mark of their journey.
Dutch finally managed to rip out his wrist blades. He released himself from the drone and rolled across the ground. Finally, he came to a stop, battered by the experience but ready to continue the fight.
The two golem stopped a bit further than him. The flying golem was dead, unable to withstand the punishment of the jarring crash landing. The sword wielding golem was close to death too. It's internal systems had been heavily damaged by the impact with its compatriot and it struggled to even lift its own sword.
Dutch walked up to the drone and stared at it in the face. The drone clicked in contempt at the humans that managed to defeat it. Then, in a final act of sacrifice, it stabbed itself with the inscribed sword. The dead weight of the armor crashed onto the ground.
Dutch looked in puzzlement at the drone's actions then remembered the first time he fought it. At the same time, all three bodies flashed before lighting up radiantly.
Hum...
'Shit! Vault! I need the drones captured now!' Dutch yelled as the ominous humming started.
'All right. Capturing drones now. Don't worry, you will be fine.' Vault said as three tendrils came out of the crystal. They all reached for a different golem, one of them reaching across the lake to touch the golem packing a railgun. Then, at an unspoken signal, all three tendrils absorbed the golems. Their task done, they returned back to the crystal.
Dutch looked at his crystal, glowing with blue light. He sucked in a long breath of air and turned to a rapidly approaching Renko, her face as impassive as an especially large, granite boulder.
Whack!
Dutch gritted his teeth as Renko hit his injured shoulder. It was as if she had developed an uncanny ability to sense where he hurt the most. He breathed through his teeth as pain bloomed in his shoulder; he stared at her, his glare accusing his attacker.
"You owe us an explanation, young man." Renko asserted, her face set in grim determination.
Dutch could only nod pitifully. It hurt too much to do anything else.
Moriya shrine
Kanako sighed and finally released the door.
"Fine, you can now go." She said. Sanae gave her a bow before leaving to attend to the returning three.
It may have made her own shrine maiden angry but Kanako believed it was for the best. She wanted to see the ability of the people that Yukari sheltered for herself. Thus she had locked Sanae in the same room with herself to prevent her from interfering.
As she watched Sanae meeting with the outsiders, she wondered how these people would change Gensokyo. She had no doubt that they would change it, just unsure about how the changes would happen.
Well, there could be no better solution than to see it for herself.