17: 45 (135 minutes to the next explosion)
Artemis Briefing Room, 20 minutes away of Hachijo Island
Everyone was sitting in the briefing room and listened quietly as Sohel explained everything that had happened in the last three days. Once he finished, Mitali said, "Oh. A lot has happened to you and Princess. But eh? That's really interesting. A secret mission for just you and Princess. Sounds pretty interesting. Staying together, only having each other to rely on. You guys are that close already, eh?"
Mitali looked at Annabelle with a clear, salty smile and said, "I didn't know that you're like that. Can't let my guard down around anyone, can I?"
Naomi chimed in. She said in a cold voice, "I agree. I thought of her differently."
Annabelle was sitting in the chair next to Sohel. She put her face close to Sohel's ears and said, "See? I told you. You think normal friends would act like this?"
Sohel couldn't answer as he saw four piercing eyes staring at him. Naomi quickly stood up, went behind Annabelle and held her shoulder.
As Naomi pressed on it, Annabelle looked at Naomi and said, "Oh, that hurts, Medusa."
That salty smile from before appeared again on Naomi's face as she said, "Uh, can you get up? I want to sit here."
Annabelle said, her voice clearly hinting that she was just playing, "Ehhh? But I'm sitting here."
Naomi didn't say anything, but her smile got wider and her grip got tighter. As Annabelle actually felt pain, she said, "Ok ok. I'm getting off. Go ahead and sit next to your crush."
Annabelle got up and sat down in Naomi's seat as Naomi sat down in hers.
All this time, Jacob was trying hard to hold back his laugh while Naoki silently stared at them. He said, "Can we get to planning now?"
Sohel felt really awkward, so when Naoki said that, he jumped on the topic and said, "Yeah, yeah. So, let's plan a course of action."
Sohel looked at Annabelle and asked, "Princess, how much ammunation do we have on board?"
Annabelle said, "Let me run a quick check."
A few seconds later, she said, "Artemis hadn't been restocked for combat as it wasn't supposed to face combat. We only had one 105mm shell, four 40mm explosive shells, two 40mm smoke shells, and 400 rounds of 25mm bullets. And while we do have our gear on board, we don't have much ammo to support that. We have only three magazines worth of bullets for each of our primaries."
Sohel held his chin and said, "Hmm. No problem if it's a small group. But we will have trouble if it's a big army... ARIA, are we close to the island?"
ARIA replied, "Yes, captain. We should be able to station over the island in three minutes."
"Good. Send some drones down for recon once we get on top of the island."
"Yes, Captain."
Sohel then looked at everyone and said, "Everyone, get ready. It doesn't matter if it's a small army or a big army. We need to fight and win. Failure is not an option. Is that clear?"
Everyone replied in sync, "Yes, Captain."
They got up and made their way to the middle of the aircraft. Sohel said, "Medusa, Blast, as both of you are already in your combat gear, can you go and check up on the sisters while we get ready?"
Both of them nodded and headed towards the sleeping room while everyone else got inside the Arsenal
They quickly wore their combat outfits and readied their weapons. Once Sohel was done, he took out a spare plate carrier from a compartment and handed it to Naoki. He said, "Take it."
Naoki took the plate carrier and as he wore it, Sohel took out his sidearm, his trusty M17, and the only spare magazine he had. He held the pistol by the barrel and held it in front of Naoki. He said, "Two magazines, thirty-four rounds. Make em count."
Naoki took the pistol and said as he inspected the chember, "I will. Thanks."
All of them got back to the briefing room. Just as they sat down, ARIA said, "Captain, the sisters woke up. They're trying to get up and are currently hustling with Leiutenant Medusa and Sergeant Blast."
Sohel stood back up fast. Mitali said, "What? How? I'm sure I've given both of them enough anaesthesia."
Naoki cleared Mitali's confusion. "Their bodies have been modified for years to withstand harmful medications. The fact that they even fell asleep in the first place goes to show that they're 'defective' subjects."
Sohel said, "Let's go and see what's the commotion about. Princess and Mitali, stay here and review the drone footage. Try to figure out their numbers. Naoki, come with me."
As Sohel got out of the briefing room, Naoki followed him as he thought, "What's with this dude? I'm technically his superior, but here he is, ordering me around." He sighed.
When Sohel and Naoki entered the room, the view surprised both of them.
Jacob was laughing his heart out as Lola sat on the bed with her hand to her forehead and Naomi holding off a clearly agitated Mimi. The situation was serious, but Sohel could see why Jacob was laughing. The way Naomi was handling Mimi almost looked like how a parent would hold off their tantrum-throwing child.
Sohel walked in and said in a tone to gather their attention, "What's happening here?"
As Sohel said this, she slapped Mimi away and took out her knife. She pointed the knife at Mimi and said, "Stay down. Next time, this knife will be stained with your blood otherwise."
Sohel said again, "LT. I asked what's happening here."
Naomi didn't move her attention from Mimi until she believed her to stay down. She then put the knife back in her beltholster and looked at Sohel as she stood up.
Sohel asked, "So? What's the problem here?"
Naomi replied, "They've gone insane."
Sohel didn't understand and just showed a curious look. Lola cleared his confusion by saying, "Mr. Choudhury, you're going to fight against Dr. Ito, right?"
Sohel looked at Lola and answered, "Yes."
"Then take us with you. Please."