TouhouGaea: Strange Neighbors (Sanae Route)

[Hello Purvis]

>"Hey! We're on your side!"

[Oldmansour]

>"Hey! We're on your side!"

>Calling out to the temple groundskeeper elicits no response from her.
>"Kochiya-sama, I don't think-" Fuu starts to say to you, but Gordon interrupts her.
>"Are you blind, woman?! That girl needs help!"

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>"She's a youkai. She'll be fine."
>To the battle! These invaders must be stopped!

[Oldmansour]

>"She's a youkai. She'll be fine."
>To the battle! These invaders must be stopped!

>Declaring that Kyouko will be just fine, despite the fact that you've yet to actually ascertain that yourself, you decide to leave the poor youkai to her own devices and get to the fighting. You hear Gordon say something rather quietly, for him, as you leave him and fly towards the temple. The sound of wings tells you that Fuu is following close behind you, but both Thursday and Kogasa seem to be going up again.
>As Kyouko flies over your head, you can see that her dress is battered and burned, possibly from that explosion that sent her rocketing towards you. She also has what looks like an arrow imbedded in her lower back. You're also not entirely certain she's conscious. This puts you a bit edge. That youkai may not have been the strongest boss you've faced, by far, but she was still plenty tough. Would take a bit to do that.

>The scene on the temple grounds resolves into one looking like not unlike a war. No less than 30 figures are present, nearly all of them in the air, and all of them exchanging fire. About two dozen of these are riding those wheel-less bikes, which upon closer examination, bear a passing resemblance to bulls, with horn-shaped handlebars, a rocket engine port in the rear, and a saddle for the riders. Half a dozen of these riders appear to be human men, in long, dirty, battered brown or black trenchcoats, each wearing cowboy hats. Except one very muscular fellow with green skin, who is wearing nothing but hideous orange pants. The rest of the riders have more variety among their clothing, albeit the same hats, but they are definately not human. They seem to humanoid dogs, for lack of a better term: canine heads, fur, tails. And every one of them, canine and human, is wielding a gun or some sort. Mostly handguns, but some rifles are in evidence, and all of them laser weapons, firing rippling beams of white energy at the Myoren temple defenders.

>Of them, not all are in evidence. Ichirin and her nyuudo counterpart Unzan do not appear to be present. Nor does Nue, though knowing her, she may not be recognizable at the moment. Same is true for that new arrival, the tanuki, but you think you can account for her presence. There is a rather large brown bear- and by large, meaning about 15 feet tall, wrestling with an equally large mountain lion outside the gate surrounding the temple. The bear has a bushy brown and black striped tail that has no business being on a bear. The sounds of the two animals wrestling and roaring almost drown out the sounds of laser fire, danmaku spreads, engines roaring and people shouting.


Since this is running a bit longer than I'd expected, I'll end this as part one rather than give you a massive post to read at once, and describe the positions and situations of the taoists, the other UFO crew, and the bigger names among the villains in the next post, as well as anything else you can think of that you wanna know.

[Hello Purvis]

>Where's the thickest clump of biker dudes? It seems a lot of good could be done by danmakuing them up.
>And then snagging a bike later!

[Oldmansour]

>Where's the thickest clump of biker dudes? It seems a lot of good could be done by danmakuing them up.
>And then snagging a bike later!

>The bulk of the riders are flying and swooping and rising away, flying without much grace, but all providing a moving target. There are, however, four that are almost completely stationary at the moment, raining laser fire down on top of... a giant green leaf barrier. The riders are currently facing away from you, and you can't make out who's on the other side of the leaf, but what seems to be a grey tail occasionally flicks out into view.
>Shou appears to be the biggest bruiser among the Myoren crew present, with Byakuren oddly nowhere in sight, but Shou definately has her hands full. With that Taoist Futo. The two of them are exchanging bullets and lasers, although neither appears to be using a spellcard at the moment. But the 'prince's' minion isn't Shou's only problem. On the ground below the two is a tall man in a black vest and brown leathers. His skin his dark, his ears pointed, and his face angular and severe. His eyes have no pupils, just an empty white glow. He wields a metallic, futuristic crossbow, and he has a pair of large bat-like wings protruding from his back. The fangs give him the look of a vampire. He levels his crossbow at the tiger youkai, and a spread of five lances of red energy burst from the tip and fly at Shou. The tiger banks left to evade most and uses her spear to deflect the last. But this leaves her vulnerable to Futo, who pummels her with a spread of arrow shaped bullets.

>Murasa may also be in over her head. That hermit, Seiga, and her zombie slave, have her on the run. Neither one of Miko's followers is what you'd call fast, but between the two of them, they're putting out more shots than Murasa seems to be able to handle. The ship ghost conjures one of her anchor-shaped wedges of bullets and swings it in an arc in front of her, making both it, and the incoming fire vanish. She gets no repreive, however, as someone you can only describe as a humanoid pig, wearing a blue uniform of some kind, hurls a large boulder at her. She springs backwards, but the rock smashes into the ground in front of her with considerable force, enough to send Murasa careening backwards. A youkai with colorful wings and an almost as colorful outfit swoops into the gap, firing petal-type bullets at the pig man, but a dog-rider flies over her head and blasts her with an energy beam, knocking her off course and almost out of the air altogether.

>To your amazement, there's a troop of fairies flitting about the battlefield, about ten or so. There are two of them that are bigger than the rest. One is strange to you, with long brown hair and PANTS, of all things, but the other one is your old pal Cinnamon! The fairies seem to following the lead of a youkai with large white wings, a white tail with gold streaks in it, and a simple white gown, as she duels with Tojiko of the taoists. The youkai wields a spear, the human-ghost-thing wields a straight sword, and the fairies seem to be devoted to keeping the riders off the pair. Their danmaku doesn't seem to be doing much to the riders or their machines, but they are being warned away from the dueling women.

>Hatate is in evidence as well, but she seems to have found an opponent that's as quick as she is. He is a tall, gangly looking man in raggedly clothes, with dirty black feathered wings and a bald head capping an ugly face. His bare feet end in ugly claws dripping black ichor. Hatate is sending round bullets at him, both moderate and large in size, while he returns fire from a rapidly firing laser pistol that looks like an uzi, and an odd looking pistol-thing that fires dozens of small darts- a flechette gun. Neither combatant lands any hits on each other, yet, but they leave a trail of feathers behind them.

>There is another youkai present as- at least you think it's a youkai, taking cover behind a crashed and smoking riding machine. Her black hair looks very windblown, and she shows burns on her exposed skin. She is not returning fire, but seems to simply be hiding from the lasers being aimed at her by the dog-riders buzzing about her.

[Hanzo K.]

>Alright, let's drop some lightningbolts!
(If any of the myouren crew or our allies get hit)>"Sorry about the friendly fire! I'm still getting the hang of this!"

[Oldmansour]

>Alright, let's drop some lightningbolts!
(If any of the myouren crew or our allies get hit)>"Sorry about the friendly fire! I'm still getting the hang of this!"

>When in need of aoe, lightning. Never a bad idea.
>Focusing your will on the sky overhead, beyond the ominous black cloud directly over head, you command the sky to unleash hot electric death. In answer, three streaks of white-hot electricity cut a zigzag from the clear blue, falling towards the ground. To your surprise, however, the lightning bolts do not emerge from the bottom of the black cloud like you'd expected. They seem to vanish into that ominous blackness.
>That is not to say they had no effect. Though you hear no sounds of impact, a terrible, gutteral snarling noise rumbles forth from the cloud, which seems to tremble slightly at the experience of eating a trio of lightning bolts. The sound sends a jolt of terror running through you, and hero though you are, you find yourself suddenly afraid of what lurks concealed by that black cloud. Fuu, for her part, takes a rattling breath and drifts backwards in the air, visibly frightened.
>On the plus side, the beam of yellow energy drilling its way into the Myoren temple roof seems to shrink just a tad.

>Although none of the players on either side make a move in your direction, you do see a number of heads among the aliens turn in your direction.

>As the snarling noise fades, the two giant duelling animals begin to shrink down. The mountain lion exudes a sickly yellow glow around itself as reduces in size, reforming into a scorpion, albeit a scorpion that runs about six feet from 'head' to torso, not counting the tail with venom-dripping stinger. Simultaneously, the brown bear with the tanuki tail shrinks down as well, its body twisting and elongating, stretching out into the form a 9-foot preying mantis.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>Oooh, shapeshifter fight!
>No, wait, we can't watch that right now!
>...Dammit.
>Okay, time for that cloud-thing to die. Lightning the shit out of it.
>Are we able to contact Kanako and/or Suwako in any way?

[Oldmansour]

>Oooh, shapeshifter fight!
>No, wait, we can't watch that right now!
>...Dammit.
>Okay, time for that cloud-thing to die. Lightning the shit out of it.

>Despite the coolness of the scene unfolding below you- not that the rest of the battle is dull!- priorities! That freakyass cloud's gotta go.
>Since they did at least something the... whatever, didn't like, you decide to feed it some more lightning. Your efforts this time, however, are somewhat underwhelming. Not a single spark answers your mental summons, let alone any full blown lightning bolts. Guess you can't spam lightning bolt yet.

>Those battling beneath the cloud, at least among the good guys, seem unaware of your involvement at this point, still having their own hands more than full. Shou, recovering from the barrage she just ate from Futo, straightens and holds her spear out in front of her. She starts spinning the polearm before her, which not only serves to deflect another spread of danmaku from Futo, it also generates a rather hefty gale of wind, pushing the human backwards through the air, slowly but surely, while the mat-bat in the dark blue cowboy hat manages to hold his ground. You see his head turn, and you think you see him call out, but between all the other sounds of combat, the words are drowned out. At least two riders, coming from different directions, seem to be angling in towards her for a shot.

>Shou seems to be holding her own, for now, but Murasa appears to be in trouble. Knocked prone by that pig man and his boulder, she winces and tries to regain her feet, but two of the riders flying overhead open fire on her. She waves her hand before her and a curtain of blue bullets appears and blasts towards the two riders. The lasers impact against the bullets and explode in a transparant cloud of white energy, neutralizing most of the danmaku, and the remainder miss their target. Another rider flies into the gap behind her lasers and discharges his rifle, but the ship ghost lets loose a blast of water from her hand, which blocks the attack. The rifle-armed human lines up another shot, but that multi-colored youkai, evidently recovered from getting shot moments before, flies right at him, and gives him a solid kick in the chin as she passes him, then goes evasive to avoid the pistol blasts from the two riders following her. The human nearly drops his rifle, and almost falls off his mount, but manages to hang on to both. Seiga and Yoshika, however, seize the opening, and both unleash a fairly massive swarm of danmaku at the prone captain of the palanquin ship.

>The white winged youkai's duel with the taoists' Tojiko seems to be the only thing going right for the good guys. She seems to have the upper hand on the ghost, her spear flashing almost as quickly as Shou's. Tojiko raises her free hand to fire a small spread of danmaku, but the winged youkai drops down in evasion and rises up for a stab with amazing agility. Tojiko is barely able to keep her spear off her. And with the fairies' efforts, none of the riders in their vicinity can get a clear shot at the lancer. At least for now. There's a lot more riders than there are fairies.

>Both the leaf barrier and crashed machine that are serving as cover for the other unidentified youkai and who you assume is Nazrin seem to be holding up for now, but you know that can't last forever. There's just so many of them... Including the Taoists, no less than thirty enemies are arrayed against the Myoren temple defenders.

>"There so many of them..." Fuu whispers, unconsciously echoing your own thoughts. "How can we beat them all...?"
>To your far left and above you, one of the canine riders makes a turn to the left, breaking off from the fight and heading in your direction. One of the humans sees this and follows him, this just above your current height and closer to you, but still on your left.

>Are we able to contact Kanako and/or Suwako in any way?

>Your patrons goddesses have always been able to hear you, when you call for them. Other people have to look, and dream, for their guardian angels. You've had yours since you were born, and they've always been by your side.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>"Kanako, Suwako, I could use a little help."

[Oldmansour]

>"Kanako, Suwako, I could use a little help."

>"What good could the goddesses do?" Fuu asks you. You get the distinct impression the tengu reporter's in a bit over her head.
>In response to your prayer comes the voice of... Kanako? You think. There's an odd interefernece in communication between you and the wind goddess. Her voice smaller, more distant, than it should be. "Sa  e?   at's wrong, the    ppe rs to me something dis      g your voice.

[Hanzo K.]

>Let's let off a few choice 'words'. "Damn! Something's getting in the way!"
>Ah, we almost forgot about those guys didn't we? Let's head for that rider that broke off after us at full speed and boot 'im right off his ride!
>Just like in Kamen Rider!

[Oldmansour]

>Let's let off a few choice 'words'. "Damn! Something's getting in the way!"
>Ah, we almost forgot about those guys didn't we? Let's head for that rider that broke off after us at full speed and boot 'im right off his ride!
>Just like in Kamen Rider!

>Kanako's voice returns, a little stronger this time, "I did 't ra    you to use tha  k  d of lan   g  , young lady."
>But there's time to fix the phone lines later. Now you've got a couple punkass aliens on flying machines to KO.
>You can see the human's cocky smirk on his bearded face as you and he approach each other. His face is an open book: Flying cowboy obviously don't think too much of yet another little girl all up in his skies. Time for a well-placed dose of boot to the head!
>He starts to level his pistol at you, but you're obviously moving much faster than he'd anticipated. His face changes to an expression of shock as you barrel towards him. and deliver a flying mantis kick to his forehead. His hat goes flying from his head, and he drops his pistol, but give the ugly cock some credit, he actually maintains his one-handed grip on his handlebar, and flies underneath you, still mounted, but reeling and dazed.

>His dingo buddy, however, being farther away than the human, has time enough to close a bit of the gap between you and he, he doesn't look at all pleased at your treatment of his buddy. Which he demonstrates by discharging a pair of rippling laser blasts at you.

[Hello Purvis]

>Move to the side and give him a face full of snakes!

[Oldmansour]

>Move to the side and give him a face full of snakes!

>One of the canine's lasers would have missed right anyway, but you deftly evade the one that was on target as well. Shot came in a bit faster than you had thought, but a pistol laser's got nothin' on the lasers you've fought and beat! And it's a safe bet nothing this joker's seen begins to compare with the firepower you can bring to bear.
>Unleashing a barrage of snake shot at the dog man, you see him try to pull up and away, but this time, he's not dealing with an outnumbered, overwhelmed Myoren crew. Your burst of snake-style bullets impact heavily upon his chest, and a few strike the front of his ride, leaving dents where they hit. You hear his yelp in surprise and pain as your bullet stream is too much for his one-handed riding grip to overcome. He falls the nine or so feet the ground, crashing and rolling on the grassy field beyond the temple gate. His ride fares no better, rocketing off and to your left at a steep upwards angle.

>From behind you and above you, you hear another energy discharge, followed by Fuu letting out a yelp of her own, and then electricity crackling.
>To your left, you hear another set of engines igniting.

[Hello Purvis]

>Take a quick glance toward those noises.
>Do we know how to operate a motor vehicle? Or a bike?

[Oldmansour]

>Take a quick glance toward those noises.

>A glance behind you reveals Fuu surrounded by a shell of electricity, and the rider you booted flying past her and away, another pistol in his hands. The hatless human is banking to his left, evidently to get back to the safety of numbers of his buddies. Fuu, her expression a mix of terror and outrage, seems to have other ideas. She stratches out her right arm, pointing at the rider, and the static shell around her gathers over her arm. "YOU WA SHOCK!" She shouts, sending the electricity around her out at the retreating human. Both he and his ride are surrounded by blue and white electricity, and you can faintly hear his "aAaAAaAaA!" over the other sounds of battle going on around you. Something on the back end of his mount explodes, and both it and its rider find themselves in a 50 degree arc downwards towards the ground.

>The second engine sound seems to have come from Gordon, as thin black smoke is coming from behind him, and he seems to be flying under his own power. Guy must have a jetpack! Both he and Thursday are moving forward and towards the ground. And he does NOT look happy.
>The other member of your little group, Kogasa, is now supporting Kyouko, who seems rather shaken, and they both head in your direction.

>Do we know how to operate a motor vehicle? Or a bike?

>Only peripherally. Getting your driver's permit was on your list of things to do back in the outside world, but Kanako-sama moved the shrine, and you, to Gensokyo before you managed to get around to it.

[Hanzo K.]

>Nicely done Fuu, we'll have to pick that up sometime!
>Let's bombard that runner with some snake shots then!

[Oldmansour]

>Nicely done Fuu, we'll have to pick that up sometime!
>Let's bombard that runner with some snake shots then!

>After making a mental note to have a chat with that tengu about her rather impressive electroplay skills, you decide to add injury to injury by attacking the shocked rider and his crashing ride. Because Fuu apparantly didn't do enough damage on her own.
>Your stream of fire catches the evidently stunned man in his broadside. You hear him emit a 'whuuuuf' sound, before the force of the danmaku carries him sideways off his ride. He hits the ground after falling about 4 feet or so, landing on his side, his ride impacting the ground heavily and what pieces don't fly off as shrapnel flatten into a metallic pancake.
>Despite the fact that you've demonstrated perhaps excessive force on an enemy that was likely beaten already, Fuu at least seems rather satisfied.

>Kogasa, as she and Kyouko pull up near to you, looks down at the smoldering hulk of the human's ride, then at the battle playing out on the temple grounds. "Sure are a lot of them."

[Hanzo K.]

>Nod. "Yeah, wonder where they came from?"
>Smile in our usual hammy way. "Not that it matters any, because I'll just send 'em right back to wherever it is!"
>Let's fly off to the next big group of biker dudes and unload a bunch of frog shots!

[Oldmansour]

>Nod. "Yeah, wonder where they came from?"
>Smile in our usual hammy way. "Not that it matters any, because I'll just send 'em right back to wherever it is!"
>Let's fly off to the next big group of biker dudes and unload a bunch of frog shots!

>As you fly towards the rest of the invaders, you hear Kogasa issuing what sounds like orders to Fuu and and Kyouko. Smart girl. You on the other hand need no direction. You're a bloody hero.
>The only true grouping of the riders in the air are the four- Correction, three- canine riders pouring fire down on that leaf shield, the other one must have buggered off while you and Fuu were downing the two that broke off the cloud. But still, that's three essentially open targets. Perfect place for landing some more bullets, especially since they're all back on to you. And whoever's underneath that shield will definately appreciate the relief.
>Charging them from the rear, you unleash a barrage of unfocused frogshot at them. More targets, more area. The middle ride, your shot takes right in its' engine, a beautiful shot. The engine explodes, as does half the back end of the thing, and the rider suddenly has other things to worry about than the danmaku pummeling his back, as he and his machine are taking a sudden plunge towards the ground 8 feet below.
>The guy immediately to his left doesn't fare much better. You don't take his engine as cleanly, but you do a number on both him and his mount. He himself catches the majority of the shots, and this has the effect of making him simultaneously yell in surprise and pain, and goose his throttle, making him jet forward and towards the ground.
>The third rider is a bit more fortunate, not being neatly lined up with the other two and off to the right somewhat, and being beyond the most effective parts of your fan of bullets. He still catches a few, and he definately forgets about trying to penetrate the leaf barrier below him. But his ride stays in the air, and he manages to stay on it. He weathers the impact of your shots gamely, but he cranks his throttle and vectors off to his right and up. He doesn't go too far however, before making a sharp turn and heading back your way, firing his pistol at you.
>You seem to have drawn attention from other riders as well, as to several feet to your left and above you, another canine rider looses a laser bolt at you. As does the rider about a foot and a half behind him.

[GuyYouMetOnline]

>Like we can't dodge that.
>Evade and return fire.

[Kilgamayan]

> http://i43.tinypic.com/2147485.jpg

EDIT:

> Well, posting THAT sure backfired. Thanks a lot, Backstrom. >:|

[Oldmansour]

>Like we can't dodge that.
>Evade and return fire.

>Bunch of dog-men with guns? Against you? Puh-leeze.
>Granted, these lasers are a wee bit faster than the average Gensokyo laser, and you've drawn fire from multiple sources, but nothing you haven't handled before. As a matter of fact, as nearly all these lasers are being fired at where you are, rather than where you're going to be, you take the expedient step of flying upwards and back a little bit. Although one of the lasers, a bit higher than its fellows, still manages to graze your foot. It leaves a faint numbness and an electrical tingling in your left foot, and you're pretty sure it singed your sandal. Now they're ASKING for it.

>Deciding to finish what you started, you fire a swarm of more basic bullets at the first guy, with the damaged ride, who survived your wrath before. Somewhat surprisingly, he pulls his ride over to starboard and away, and manages to clear them. Not a bad driver, that dog. You start to trace a pentagram spread to give him what for, but have to abort before it forms, as the other two riders fire on you again.
>These two lasers prove to be no match for your evasive skills, as a little lateral movement takes you out of harm's way. You return their fire with your own; a star shaped burst of danmaku, prompting evasive action from these two as well. One is far enough removed from the spread that his portside turn takes him out of harm's way. His buddy, the second rider that fired at you, is not so lucky, and your bullets buffet him and his ride. Nothing explodes on the machine, but the engine on it cuts out, and it makes a sudden change from flying machine to rock, dropping from the sky.

>The one that escaped your star-shot rather nimbly turns back towards you, but he doesn't get the chance to fire another blast before a swarm of kunai-shaped danmaku flies up around him from below. Caught by surprise, the canine yowls as he is peppered by shots, and his machine veers to the right. You've the impression its driver was not completely in control of that maneuver.
>It is at this point that you feel a laser blast you in your back. Having taken a few lasers since arriving in Gensokyo, you know what they feel like. This one comes with a bit more physical force than you're used to, and a lot more pain. You are momentarily stunned, and drop a few inches before righting yourself, a burning numbness spread across your back.

> http://i43.tinypic.com/2147485.jpg

EDIT:

> Well, posting THAT sure backfired. Thanks a lot, Backstrom. >:|

>Better luck next game. <3

[Hanzo K.]

>Spellcards
>"Oooh...You guys just earned even more punishment!"
>Let's ramp up the winds to full power! Tornadoes, typhoons, hurricanes, the whole nine yards!

[Oldmansour]

>Spellcards

>Spellcards on hand:
>Esoterica: "Gray Thaumaturgy" (100%)
>Wonder: "Night with Overly Bright Guest Stars" (100%)
>Sea Opening: "The Day the Sea Split" (100%)
>Great Miracle "Yasaka's Divine Wind" (100%)

>Bombs:
>Frog Sign: Wily Toad
>Snake Sign: Orochi of Ancient Times
>Current bomb energy level: 100%

>"Oooh...You guys just earned even more punishment!"
>Let's ramp up the winds to full power! Tornadoes, typhoons, hurricanes, the whole nine yards!

>Time to show these kludge boys who they're messing with. Nobody but NOBODY shoots Sanae Kochiya in the back, and gets away with it! You start to wave your arms about in the air, stretching your will out to summon forth the full force of the fours winds. Forget blowing these guys back to Kansas, they'll be lucky if they stop at Kucamunga!
>However, before you can set more than a bit of a decent breeze going, another laser blast, probably from the same guy that shot you the first time, catches you in the back. Now that one downright HURT, and you actually tumble from the sky, only stopping yourself a few inches off the ground.

[Hanzo K.]

>Alright, that hurt! Rocket back up to our previous altitude!
>"Okay, now you've made me mad! Snake Sign: Orochi of Ancient Times!"

[Oldmansour]

>Alright, that hurt! Rocket back up to our previous altitude!
>"Okay, now you've made me mad! Snake Sign: Orochi of Ancient Times!"

>In which direction did you wish to launch your bomb?

[Hanzo K.]

>Towards the bonehead that shot us of course!