Chapter 19

Stella refused to listen to Shiro's words and rushed over anyway, grabbing him by the collar of his bloodied tunic.

"Hang in there Shiro! You mustn't sleep! Talk to him. Come on, I know you won't leave me here alone!"

Shiro tried to mutter a response, but could not muster the energy to say anything. His eyes were on the verge of closing. Shiro knew he needed to stay awake, but he just could not keep his eyes open. Shadow looked at Shiro, satisfied that his job was done.

"I am only here for the White Death. The rest of my men will take care of you all. Young lady, spend your last moments with the traitor wisely before you join him in the netherworld."

Stella only sobbed harder, oblivious to Shadow's presence or his words.

"Shiro… Shiro… Please stay. There are still a lot of things we haven't do together. We haven't gone on dates, haven't taken walks by the beach, and haven't watched the sunset together. Don't go… I love you."

"I'm sorry. I love you too Stella." These were the last thoughts that filled Shiro's mind before blackness descended over him. Stella saw Shiro's eyes closing and felt his body going limb. A sense of despair overwhelmed her as she cried her heart out. At this moment, the overcast skies overhead opened up, as if the gods were crying with her as well.

Over the other side, Celine and Vince were trying to hold out against the endless onslaught of the Guild henchmen while trying to evade the torment of gunfire from the helicopters overhead. The pouring rain only added to their misery. In the distance, the flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder served to remind them the bleakness of their situation. Looking over, Celine saw the outline of Stella kneeling over Shiro's body with Shadow towering over them. Whatever the situation was, it could be nothing good. As much as she wanted to rush over to Shiro's side, she knew she could not abandon her post. If she had to die, she would die fighting for a cause she believed in. As the fighting dragged on, she was shot in the leg. Even so, she refused to accept her death, still continuously firing in the belief that they might just somehow pull through against all odds. Vince himself was not any better, having been shot in the arm. That rendered him to be unable to utilize his sniper rifle properly. He could only use one hand to fire, but due to his injury he was unable to stabilize the rifle from its powerful recoil, and thus most of his shot went wide. He, also, was not willing to back down. They were being pushed back against the coastline of the island, and with the helicopters and henchmen closing in on them, they were fighting with their backs against the wall.

Suddenly, a missile appeared from the surface of the water and rushed towards one of the helicopters, sending it exploding into the waters. Everyone was stunned by the appearance of an unknown third party. Reeling from the shock, the helicopters began zooming in over the water surface, trying to find the source of the attack. Another missile appeared and another helicopter went down. The helicopters fired blindly into the waters, hoping to hit whatever that was sending the missiles against them. Celine and Vince were surprised at this sudden development, but they certainly were not going to complain. As the old adage went, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". Suddenly, a monstrous machine surfaced from the waters. It was a submarine. The bullets from the helicopters were simply bouncing off the submarine's armor. Shadow cursed his luck. The submarine was not something that his current forces could take on. Signaling a retreat, Shadow grabbed onto a rope lowered from one of the helicopters and left the scene. At least he had taken care of Shiro; he would take care of the rest another time.

Vince and Celine rushed over to Shiro and a still sobbing Stella. Vince looked at Shiro and took his vitals, before heaving a sigh of relief.

"He's alive, albeit barely. It would seem that Shadow's spear missed his heart. He's only knocked out due to the loss of blood. He will survive. Though there is no saying if he will fully recover from this."

Stella hugged Shiro even tighter.

"Thank goodness. Thank goodness."

Celine was relieved as well, but her attention was soon turned towards the figure that had disembarked from submarine and heading towards them. Celine raised her pistol and kept the figure in her sights. Even though it was a fact that those guys on the submarine had saved them, their intentions were still unclear.

"Celine, you are still uptight as ever. But I guess that's a good sign that you are still doing well."

Celine froze. The voice, it was very familiar. Then it struck her. It was her former superior during her time at the police, Chief Superintendent Lee.

"Chief Superintendent Lee! What are you doing here? Aren't the police under the control of the NWO?"

"I am no longer you Chief Superintendent, just call me Lee now. Precisely it is under the control of NWO that I am here."

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since your disappearance after going off after White Death, I have been investigating the Guild in hope of getting some information. It was then I realized that the NWO has been tampering with the information on our servers. After the NWO's announcement wanting all nations to hand over control of various national assets to them, I was on my guard, ready to jump ship any moment. When it was announced that the NWO wanted to capture you all, I came to the conclusion that the NWO and the Guild were the same and promptly fled. The people here on the submarine consist of personnel from all over the world that refuse to accept NWO's dominance over the world through military threat. You can say we are a rag-tag coup d'état force."

"Even so why are you all here? Or rather how did you know we are here?"

"It was coincidence, or perhaps it was fate. Call it whatever you want. We just happened to be in the area when we received information that a convoy of NWO helicopters was headed to this remote island. Since it was highly unusual for NWO to mobilize its forces to such an isolated area, we got a hunch that you guys might be here. Turns out we were right."

"I don't what would have happened to us if you guys haven't showed up."

"The fact that you are still living means that your time is not up yet. You don't have to think so much about the others. I suppose the guy in bloody white clothes over there is White Death?"

"In fact, he's my long-lost brother. It's a long story, I will tell you over a cup of coffee or something. But for now let us load up on the submarine and treat his injuries as well as ours."

The group with the exception of Shiro, along with the other members of the coup d'état force were gathered around the table discussing their next course of action. Shiro was still in a coma ever since passing out on the island. The doctor onboard the submarine had done everything he could to heal Shiro's wound and mentioned that it was up to Shiro's willpower to wake up from his comatose state.

The plan laid out before them was obvious enough as much as it was audacious. According to their information, there was another battleship similar to the ones that the NWO used in its assault on Israel currently based in Antarctica. It was undergoing finalization works and would take off in two weeks. Their plan was to sneak into the Antarctica base and steal the battleship before it took off. However with a defense net protecting the area on top of expected tight security, it was going to be no easy task. However it was common consensus among everyone that it was imperative that they take control of the battleship if they want any decent chance of going against the NWO forces.

The meeting soon ended, and Stella excused herself. Entering the medical room, she sat down beside Shiro. It had been ten days since they left the island, and Shiro had been in a coma all this time even though his wound had been healed with the aid of the medical facilities on board. She wondered when he would wake up, yet seeing his peaceful sleeping posture, she did not mind if he slept longer. After all, he had not had a good rest for a long time. Holding into Shiro's hand, she wondered what was he dreaming about in his long sleep.

"Shiro, you won't leave me alone right?"

Another three day passed uneventfully, and they were on course to reach their target in time. So far they have managed to roam the ocean undetected, but they were sure that as they approach their target, security would be much tighter. Stella alternated her time between the meeting room and Shiro's bedside. Celine stepped into the medical room.

"Brother has been resting well hasn't he?"

"Yea, but he's such a lazy guy. We are all here slogging away while he's getting all the rest."

"If it's for your sake I am sure he will wake up."

"He has to wake up for his sister's sake as well."

"I guess. Anyway, you have not been getting much rest, being by his bedside all this while. I can take over while you go get some shut-eye."

"It's ok, I'm fine."

"Brother is so lucky to have such a nice lady taking care of him."

"I love him."

"I'm sure he loves you too."

"Thank you."

Stella held Shiro's hand and placed her side of her head on the bed. Suddenly, she felt Shiro's fingers moving. Jolting up, she stared at his hands.

"Celine, I swear I felt his fingers move!"

"I saw it too."

Shiro's finger moved again. This time there was no doubt. Slowly but surely, Shiro stirred, and for the first time in thirteen days, he opened his eyes.

"Shiro you are finally awake! Thank goodness. We were thinking you were going to sleep forever!"

Shiro looked at Stella blankly.

"Who are you?"

Stella was stunned, but maintained her composure.

"I am Stella, don't you remember? That lady over there is your sister."

"Stella? Who are you? I have a sister?"

"You don't remember anything?"

Shiro shook his head slowly.

"Where am I? Who am I?"

Slowly, the truth sank into Stella's head. Shiro had lost his memories, again. Holding back her tears, she ran out of the room in disbelief