Chapter Sixteen

"At least he went down in style" Nagisa shook herself off then ran towards the Virus console

Shizuma watched her in a daze, her mind and body still pumped from the recent fight as she tried to calm herself down. Barely did she hear the shrill alarms change into a droning steady rhythm, overlapping it was a monotonous voice speaking before the alarms came on once more. Slowly her mind filtered it all and her awareness came back as the etoile scanned her surroundings. Shizuma checked herself over for any serious wounds, thankfully only knocks and scratches she could tell, before walking over to Nagisa. Her partner was tapping furiously away, her face set into a concentrated frown as all her energy focused on stopping the machine.

Before Shizuma could take one more step Nagisa slammed a button down and raced over to her, grabbed her arm in a vice grip then pulled her away behind her. Not wanting to fall down or her arm be pulled off Shizuma followed her partner closely and quickly. It was safe to say the etoile was confused as they left the obs deck and ran down the corridors.

Shizuma and Nagisa raced down the corridors the alarms filled the air and the constant shaking of metal grinding against its restraints. Shizuma screeched to a halt nearly barrelling into Nagisa, the young woman had stopped so suddenly. Peering around her Shizuma couldn't see why, there was no one in front or any obstacles that she could see. Nagisa walked over to the side, there was something on the floor which the etoile couldn't see.

"Nagisa?" Shizuma asked

Nagisa turned to face her, a puzzled and disturbed look on her face, but then yellow eyes fell on what was in her hands. A bloody serrated knife held gingerly. Her eyes widened when she put the two pieces together, admitting she was wrong about how her partner could handle herself.

"Is that what I think it is?" Shizuma pointed to the knife

"Yes. Thing is Shi I remember it being in The Shadow rather than on the floor. Where are they?" Looking really uncomfortable about it

"I don't really care kitten; they got some of what's coming to them and nicely delivered too. Now let's get out of here" Shizuma urged her.

"Outside interference has been rerouted. Searching for target." One yelled out into the still darkened control room.

Everyone muffled their curses as they waited for more information. Miyuki and Tamao stood ready and waiting, whilst Momomi still lingered by her console giving the poor man more unsettling vibes and Kaname stayed seated as she squinted around. Everyone was on edge. It showed when a loud thud of the door being opened making a few jump from their seats. The amount of effort gone in to protect their intelligence made them all bone weary and their nerves shredded. Chikaru and Shion looked around in shock at the fatigue of those present.

"I heard the red alert, I didn't think it would be this bad" Chikaru softly murmured to Miyuki as she stood next to her.

"The Trojan Horse put up one hell of a fight. Thanks to quick Intel we managed to block it off at the main instead of here." Miyuki informed her

"Ahh that would be from..."

"M! The Virus has been fully diverted to a sub branch. Code name…" the man seemed embarrassed "Haystack"

A soft giggle echoed the silent room, quite a few eyes landed on Chikaru. It really wasn't the time to start giggling; to them nothing seemed funny at all. Shion crossed her arms and gave her a mini glare with M and Tamao looking on in bewilderment.

"Sorry. That's Nagisa's temporary blocker for the Virus. If it's attacking that she's diverted it somewhat. Unless the main console is destroyed or the right codes put in, it will keep on attacking."

"We can only wait then…" Miyuki turned to face her personnel "Lower security level to level three. I want rotating shifts so everyone can have a break. I want eyes on that blocker at all times; let me know the second anything changes."

A chorus of "Yes ma'am" filled the room as some scattered and the rest relaxed in their seats a little. The darkened room seemed to shine brightly all at once, as the red lights went off and the bright lights came back on.

"You did what?!" Shizuma squealed

"I diverted the Trojan Horse somewhat but not completely. How many times..."

"No the other thing" Shizuma managed to get out as they ran along the corridors

"Oh that" Nagisa looked a bit sheepish as she rounded the corner "I accidently, unintentionally mind, may have set the self-destruct off as I was hacking into the sub routine of the Virus."

Shizuma caught it all as quickly as Nagisa said it. It still amazed her that she set the thing off in the first place, all the while dragging her down these corridors to god knows where. Shizuma barely caught the numbers of the floor they were on as it as soon made clear where they were. The sub deck. The bottom floor of the whole submarine. Wrestling the door open they entered quickly, finding the area a mess like the rest of the sub. The last shudder certainly did a number on the place. The etoile scanned the wreckage looking for anything they could use to escape as the annoying monotonous tone counted the timer down. Nagisa manoeuvred her way past the rubble to go deeper into the room.

"Why are we here?" Shizuma called out to her softly, just in case of remaining soldiers were feeling murderous.

"Don't you remember? Dear me, has my etoile forgotten what shipped the Virus in the first place?"

Shizuma caught the words she used; peering closer at the woman in front noticed a subtle blush on her cheeks. Not entirely sure if it was from all the running or the slip. 'My etoile huh? Has a nice ring to it. So I guess I'm not the only one after all. Focus…Focus! How on earth… wait how does she think that will help us?' Coming up beside her she now saw what her partner had in mind, with only a few minutes left to spare it really was the only choice available. Nagisa looked approvingly at the vessel in front of her, giving it a quick glance over. No noticeable dents or gaping holes spotted and as far as anyone knew it still worked. The mini sized sub was their ticket out. Shizuma slammed her palm on her head which brought Nagisa twirling to face her.

"What's wrong Shi?"

"This is your plan?" pointing to the mini sub

"Yes. How else are we to get out of here? We don't have long left, you drive." Nagisa set off.

With mouth hanging open at her sudden job description Shizuma followed Nagisa with her eyes. Until it became far too much for her. Shizuma stormed quickly after her and grabbed on tight to her arm.

"What do you mean I drive?"

"You mean you can't?" Nagisa looked aghast at her

"When did I get to drive a sub at Miator? Who do you think I am?"

"Surely it can't be that hard" Nagisa tried to reason with her "You're the etoile for goodness sake!"

"I may be the etoile but I'm no James Bond. Shit!"

Looking downright scared Nagisa didn't know what to do as she glanced from agent to sub. Shizuma bit her lip as she tried to come up with a better escape plan. Yet the final minute of the countdown was drawing that much closer. There was no more time.

"I guess there's a first time for everything. Let's go" Shizuma ordered as they both scrambled quickly into the mini vessel.

10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…0

"M! News on the Trojan Horse!" Tamao shouted

The three women; Miyuki, Chikaru and Shion the two latters had stayed for the outcome, rushed to see what was happening. The Military joined them soon enough, each holding a cup of hot tea in their hands.

"The attack has finally stopped. No more signs that it's still activated." Tamao informed her yet no smile graced her face

"Phone call for General Kenjo. Line one" A woman called out indicating a phone near her.

The General quickly made her way over there, reaching for the phone the woman politely gave her the space needed and also the privacy. During that Kagome rushed into the control room, with her eyes only seeking her dear friend and ran over. Chikaru was more surprised since the girl barely left the safety zones or if she did she was accompanied by herself or the two troublemakers. A whispered discussion again ensued. There was one person who didn't like it.

"What is it with people and hushed conversations today?!" Miyuki complained with hands on hips.

"You will know sure enough M. Be a little patient." Shion told her

"That's strange coming from you" M teased her

Their banter came to abrupt stop when Chikaru straightened up, still staring hard at her underling. With shrug of shoulders and a somewhat sad expression Kagome raced her way out, no doubt to find her friends. Chikaru turned to face the others, with Momomi joining with them a second later. There was something wrong. Chikaru Minamoto was known for her motherly nature and kind aura yet this seemed to deflate her.

"What is it Chikaru?" Shion asked her worriedly

"Our agents in the field are usually tagged. However Kagome can find no trace of them. It suddenly stopped emitting about ten minutes ago." Chikaru stated

"What!" Tamao blurted out

"That's not all" Kaname loudly interrupted them boldly making her way closer to stand next to her second. "Reports have come in that there are lifeboats floating around near where we expected them to be. The local military are now picking them up, no sign of your agents M."

"The sub?" Shion asked

"Again we were told by the rescued men that the self-destruct was activated. I've asked one of them to check out reports of any underwater explosion."

A man stood from his seat and made his way quickly over to the General. A document was passed on to her with a sorrowful face. No good news.

"I'm sorry M, there was an explosion. The size you would expect from a submarine."

It had been a daunting day and seemed the news kept on getting worse. M's two top agents were MIA and no clue if they were dead or alive. A gentle squeeze of her arm pulled her out of it, as she stole a glance from Tamao who gave her a reassuring smile. A smile of her own soon made it to her own, one smaller and whimsical.

"I don't know why you're fretting so much" Momomi sniffed "Their trained hard for these types of missions. We all have been. Astraea chose us well each for our own skill. Aren't you forgetting something that they could have used?"

Confusion and startled looks were passed her way, the Colonel never really praised people or comforted as far as they knew and her attitude is always one of sly and manipulative. However it did get them to think. A wide smile from Tamao lifted their spirits as she exclaimed her hope.

"The mini sub of course!"

In an isolated cove on one of the many small isles, on a forgotten beach hidden away were signs of activity. A small vessel which had seen better days, since dents and loosely held panels were clearly visible. It was half parked on the golden sands as the tide hid the rest. Other pieces of debris littered the once clean beach, all shapes and sizes were washed ashore. A loud humming of an engine was heard, the noise becoming distinctly louder as it passed overhead. A small plane was circling, assessing the wreckage down below. The pilot caught a quick glimpse of something moving, just as he was about to head on back. Making doubly sure he circled one last time with nothing new coming to light headed on back to make his report. Down by the beach, hidden further beyond the planes sight were signs of movement, as one young woman tried to gain a higher vantage point.

"What are you doing?" Shizuma pulled Nagisa down by her side, the latter emitting a loud yelp of surprise.

The etoile pulled her into her arms, wrapping her up tight. Nagisa just stared into yellow eyes, those that had captivated so many with their intensity.

"Why are you signalling for rescue?" Shizuma playfully glared at her, letting one of her hands drift down her back relishing the touch.

"What do you mean why? Mission complete. All I want now is to give in my report so I can have a long hot bath, after that dunk in the sea. Plus I don't fancy making M mad, she gets too scary" Nagisa spoke hurriedly, trying to delay the wandering hands on her person.

The knowledgeable etoile knew what Nagisa was trying to do, raising a brow at her obvious stalling. She moved in closer, her hands held on tight to her, as she aimed for those soft lips she had barely touched but craved for. Shizuma got no resistance from her captive, as her lips finally tasted and savoured Nagisa's, getting lost in the moment. True she had kissed Nagisa before, but not like this, to feel much more than she had done before. Breaking away slightly to gulp in some air, she dove back in with passion, bringing her crush in closer to her. Shizuma wanted more, not for the satisfying pleasure as such, or for conquest as she had done numerous times in the past, but something much more than she had never dared to dream of. The simple kiss deepened, as a hand tangled into Shizuma's silver mane, pulling her head firmly and deeper into the souls searching kiss. Never ending the lip lock, Shizuma pulled Nagisa more securely against her, their bodies melding together, as she let herself fall back on the ground. They were lost in their own world, not worried about anything but each other.