Unstable Loyalties

Chapter 16

Everything was blurry, the shapes and colours mixing together. Lightning groaned as she opened her eyes. Her head was pounding and she felt so weak. What had happened? Suddenly, everything came rushing back to her. The battle, that vial and... her cube. She sighed as she gazed around. Lightning was suspended in the air, hands and feet chained. The cold metal pressed into her skin as she strained against them, growling when pain jolted up her legs. Where was she? It was so... cold, freezing, almost. Just then, the door creaked open and Unicron and Windslash stepped in. 

"Unicron" Lightning spat, "What have you done to me?" Unicron just grinned, his sharp teeth glinting. 

"Oh... to you? Nothing, except remove your precious wisdom cube, now, tell me, where is the Autobot base?" 

"I'll never say! Not over my dead body!" Lightning yelled as she struggled against the chains. 

"That can be arranged," Unicron snarled as he nodded at Windslash, leaving the room. Windslash's red optics looked over Lightning before he took out an Energon prod, pressing it into Lightning's skin. Lightning gritted her teeth as tears trickled down her face, refusing to scream. She just did not want to give him the pleasure of torturing her. 

Blood flowed freely from the wound as Windslash hissed, "Tell me, freak, where is the base?" Lightning just glared at him, her electric blue gaze scorching him as he hit her again, causing more blood to gush out. The pain was like fire and Lightning could not help but let out a cry of agony. Hearing this, Windslash smirked and continued striking her. Pain spread through her like wildfire and blood splattered the ground below as she withheld another scream. She was covered in cuts, blood and dirt but her eyes remained bright, blue flames of fury dancing within as she gazed at the Chaosbringer with hate. The chains tightened around her, digging into her skin and drawing blood. Please, someone, save me... she thought as she endured yet another hit.

Back at the Autobot base...

Bismarck looked ahead, her eyes dull as she recalled the look of fear on Lightning's face. Optimus was keeping a cool face, but deep within, he was extremely worried. Unicron was even worse than Megatron, who knows what he could do? Yamato buried her face in her palms. She had been the closest to Lightning when the Sirens came, yet she could not do anything, she was powerless. How she hated that feeling. It brought back such painful memories from the war... Yamato let out a sob as the tears ran down her face. Essex looked exhausted, she was so worried... Lightning's wisdom cube was gone, hidden somewhere the Sirens took it. Without a wisdom cube, a shipgirl is powerless, healing and enhanced abilities gone. How long would Lightning be able to last? 

"Lightning will be fine, won't she? She has enhanced abilities that can protect her, right?" Jewelblade whispered, fearing what answer she would receive. 

"No," Bismarck replied, sounding defeated, "A wisdom cube holds all our data, our life force and all our enhanced powers. Without it, we cannot fight." "The only way for us to find Lightning is to find the Nemesis II, however, its cloaking is incredibly advanced and so far we have not found it yet. Lightning is probably somewhere on the ship, as well as her wisdom cube," Optimus spoke. Flare just listened to all they said. To be honest, he was quite jealous of Lightning and really wanted a chance to put her down. 

"What if she... willingly switched sides?" Flare spoke up. 

Bismarck's eyes held a look of fury as she snapped, "How dare you suggest such a thing! Lightning values loyalty above all else, she would never turn her back on us! Besides, this is proof!" Bismarck took out Lightning's captain's hat. Essex let out a shocked gasp when she saw it and her eyes dulled even more. 

"No..." she whispered. "She would never take this off unless it was by force..." Optimus and the original team recognised its significance and were now convinced that she had been taken against her own will. 

"That is just a cap!" Flare protested, "She must have joined them, why else is she always being targeted by them? Because they want to help her get back!" 

"Enough!" Optimus yelled as he slammed his clenched servo on the table. "Lightning would never abandon us. Flare, think about the severity of you words!" Anger flashed in Optimus' eyes as he glared at Flare. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Team Prime was shocked by Optimus' outburst. He was usually very calm and rarely showed emotions. 

"I... I'm sorry..." Flare stuttered as Bismarck just huffed, turning away and stalking out of base, the other shipgirls following her. 

The three shipgirls were in Bismarck's control tower, Yamato shaking as sobs wracked her body. 

"I... I could have done something!" she choked out, "It's all my fault..." Bismarck just held Yamato's hand tight, internally blaming herself for not doing something as well. Essex was silent, her eyes downcast, for the first time, she felt defeated. 

On the Nemesis II...

Unicron glared at Tester #125. 

"What do you mean by the experiment is lost?" he roared. 

"The lab blew when the experiment was completed, nothing was left except for that one vial and we used it up when extracting Lightning's wisdom cube. It would take millennia to create and perfect another one, in other words, it is nearly impossible," Tester said, shaking her head slightly. 

"All the more the reason to make sure the pest does not escape. Do not kill her just yet, she holds important information that we have to... get form her. There has to be a reason to make her crack. All we need is time. Make sure that the Autobots do not find this ship at all costs," Unicron ordered, "Windslash, you are to keep the girl alive and once some of her strength recovers, feel free to torture her however you want." An evil grin appeared on Unicron's faceplate as he thought of the many ways to harm Lightning. She would suffer!

Yay, another chapter in a day! Next chapter will probably be tomorrow so bye for now!

~Lightningstar out