Unstable Loyalties

Chapter 17

It had been a week since Lightning was taken. Everyone was worried out of their minds. Bismarck rarely slept, often pacing the floor of her room. Yamato was often distracted, thinking about what had happened to Lightning. Essex... she lost all her positive energy. The shipgirls were hit, hard. Ratchet was constantly trying to break the cloaking, forsaking his rest. He was more cranky, throwing wrenches at anyone, excluding Optimus, who interrupted him. Optimus was very worried, but he concealed it well. He still had a duty after all. But on the inside, his spark ached when he thought of Lightning, all the more wanting to find the Nemesis II and rescue Lightning. The mood was somber, sure, they did win some battles, but did not find Lightning, the battles they won were empty. Bismarck could not bear to stargaze, until one night, Optimus and Bismarck sat there together, stargazing. No word were needed they remained in a comfortable silence. 

On the Nemesis II...

Lightning was having it the worst. Sure, they did give her food and water, but only to keep her alive. In fact, she had not drank any water since yesterday. She was parched, her throat burning and her lips cracking. Yet everyday, she was still tortured. Each day was worst than the last. She had cuts and bruises everywhere, the pain was killing her on the inside. She still refused to crack. This frustrated Unicron to no end. Lightning just watched as the metal door creaked open, Windslash stepping into the room. He activated his holoform, holding a pocket knife. He grinned as he dug it into Lightning's arm, dragging it and leaving a huge, gaping wound. Blood slowly oozed out of it as Lightning hissed in pain. The agony was so familiar, it almost felt numb. 

"Speak!" Windslash growled, hitting Lightning hard from the back. She coughed, the crimson substance trickling out of her mouth and dripping onto the floor below. 

"Never!" she spat as more blood dripped downwards, causing her to flinch. Windslash just narrowed his eyes as he hit her harder, Lightning enduring it the best she could. 

In a dark dungeon a few rooms away from Lightning, a midnight blue cube glowed on its stand, the soft light pulsating. It was impossible to chain it up, the Sirens realised. It just burnt through whatever was placed on it. As Lightning screamed, the cube seemed to release a large burst of light, glowing brightly and withholding the storm within.

Back at base...

Ratchet was standing in front of the monitors, the shipgirls with him. The shipgirls had learnt valuable information about codebreaking during intelligence missions in WWII, so they were trying to help Ratchet break the cloaking code. They had decoded part of it, now, they just tried a few more possible combinations, hoping it would work. It had taken them a whole week to get this far and as Essex typed in one more combination, a set of coordinates popped out on the screen. 

The three shipgirls' eyes lit up when they saw this and Essex just screamed, "Yesssssss! Finally!" The 'bots all looked up when they heard this, wondering what was going on. 

"We found the Nemesis II," Bismarck explained more calmly. 

When Optimus heard this, her ordered, "Autobots, roll out!" 

"We are going to save you, just hang on a while longer..." Yamato whispered as she activated her wisdom cube.

Once they had arrived on the ship, the 'bots started shooting the surprised Chaosbringers while the shipgirls ran down the hall, Yamato covering for them, firing at the Sirens who came their way. 

"We have to get her wisdom cube first!" Bismarck whispered as they headed down a dark gloomy hallway. 

"Look!" Essex exclaimed, pointing at a soft blue light coming from one of the rooms. 

"You really think I will let you get away with this so easily? Ahahaha!" Tester #125 shrieked as she fired multiple shots at Bismarck, who dodged them, firing in retaliation. Essex aimed her bow, shooting arrow after arrow at Tester, who was hit by one of Yamato's shells. Essex let out a pained cry as she was hit, but continued attacking. Bismarck's eyes flashed in fury as she shot at Tester again, only for Tester to fall to the ground, dead. Behind her, Optimus stood, his servo a blade that had killed Tester. 

"Optimus, go and get Lightning! We'll get her cube!" Yamato yelled as they hurried down the corridor. Optimus just nodded, sliding on his mouthguard as he continued down the hall. 

Lightning, who had been in the same room with Windslash, looked up when she heard fighting. Gathering all her strength, she kicked Windslash as hard as she could before screaming at the top of her lungs. 

"You..." Windslash hissed. But before he could finish his sentence, Optimus entered the room, firing and slashing at the Chaosbringer while Windslash growled, transforming his servoes into guns and shooting at the 'bot. 

The shipgirls' had their own problems as well. They had successfully dispatched of all the Sirens, but the cube still glowed brightly, burning anyone that touched it, even Bismarck. 

"What if we... pick it up together?" Essex suggested. Exchanging a glance, the battleships nodded as they tried it out. Amazingly, it worked and they removed the cube from its stand. Once off the stand, which had been restricting its powers, the midnight blue cube flew through the air, heading towards a certain room. Quickly, the shipgirls rushed towards it, only to find that the cube was right in front of a very battered and weak Lightning. The cube activated, surrounding Lightning as a burst of power flooded through her, breaking the chains, causing her to fall to the ground. Lightning's eyes were filled with hate as she drew her bow, releasing the bowstring as a single flaming arrow shot out, hitting Windslash straight in the spark, killing him. 

Lightning felt the remaining strength she had drain away as she fell, Bismarck barely catching her as the world turned black...

Chapter 17 is up! Time for a break. I'll try to post again later if possible... Bye for now!

~Lightningstar out