Unstable Loyalties

Chapter 40

"This is Enterprise of Azur Lane, identify yourselves!" Enterprise's voice came through the radio. 

Lightning's eyes glimmered with hope and she replied, "This is... Lightning, Bismarck and... Yamato, we have escaped." Enterprise was stunned for a moment. Was it really them? 

"You are... cleared to land," Enterprise spoke, unable to believe it. Quickly, she sent a message to the Essex class sisters, Musashi and Tirpitz as well as Akashi and Vestal. They gathered at the airfield and watched as someone exited the aircraft, stumbling. Enterprise's eyes widened and tears fell from her eyes. 

"Lightning? Is that really you?" Lightning just grinned. She looked horrible, in the very least. Blood stained her clothes, cuts and gashes littering her skin. 

"Well, it's been a while," she said. Then, her eyes hardened. 

"Vestal, Akashi, Yamato and Bismarck are inside. Yamato blacked out a few minutes ago, probably from blood loss." Vestal and Akashi immediately headed into the plane, calling Enterprise and the battleships' sisters to come help. A few minutes later, they exited the plane, supporting Bismarck and Tirpitz. 

"Bring them to the Medical Bay so I can dress their wounds, Lightning, you too," Vestal spoke sternly and Lightning dipped her head. 

At the Medical Bay...

"I've done all I can for Yamato and Bismarck, but they are still unconscious. Yamato should wake in a few days or so but Bismarck... whatever Devastator did to her caused hemorrhage (internal bleeding) and she is unresponsive. I have already removed the blood and patched up the wound but... she appears to be in a coma. I'm so sorry, there is nothing else I can do," Vestal sighed, shaking her head. Shock and horror filled Lightning. 

A coma. No... This was all her fault, she should have done something... she should be the one lying on the bed, not Bismarck or Yamato. Most of her wounds were slowly healing, except that cut on her cheek, Akashi said it would leave a scar, for the time-being. The shipgirl had also removed the shard of glass, but the cut was quite deep and there would be a permanent scar. Lightning heard it, but she didn't care. A huge wave of guilt crashed down on her when she saw Tirpitz's reaction. The shipgirl's blue eyes were filled with tears and she looked so distraught. 

"I'm so sorry..." Lightning whispered.

Tirptz turned to her and spoke, "Bismarck wouldn't want you to blame yourself, Lightning. All we can do is wait." 

"Thank you for bringing my sister back home, Lightning," Musashi spoke, looking at Lightning with gratitude in her eyes. 

"It's the least I could do..." the carrier mumbled, feeling hollow within. This was all her fault. 

They shouldn't even be in the Medical Bay! They should be... alright, I should be the one there, not them... her thoughts were interrupted when Enterprise spoke, "Alright, let them get some rest, we can talk about this tomorrow." Enterprise dipped her head before leaving the room, the rest of the shipgirls following. Slowly, Lightning sat down on one of the beds, looking at her hands. They were bandaged up, as well as her legs. She should probably change. Essex had left some clothes for her on the bed. But that could wait. Once the minor cuts had healed, she could clean up. Closing her eyes, she drifted to sleep, but her mind was in turmoil, knowing that if she had not slipped up, her friends would not have been injured. 

A few days later...

Lightning walked down the corridor, heading into the meeting room. It was mostly empty, only Prince of Wales was there. 

"You're early," the British battleship stated. 

"I never liked to be late," Lightning shrugged. 

"Oh, by the way, thank you for taking care of the intel I gathered," Lightning spoke. 

Turning to face her, Prince of Wales replied, "I was just doing my job. It is thanks to you risking your life by spying that we collected the information." Lightning just smiled slightly, bowing her head. However, the battleship could not see her smiling, for she was wearing a mask-like cloth, covering the bottom half of her face. (The mask is the one in the picture above ^^) Bunker Hill had gotten it for her, knowing that Lightning would not want others to see the scar, for it would only make her blame herself further. 

Soon, Enterprise, Essex, Tirpitz, Nagato, Queen Elizabeth and Yamato entered the room. Yamato had woken up just yesterday and she appeared to be mostly healed, just regaining her strength, like Lightning. However, Bismarck remained in her comatose state and Tirpitz, being her second-in-command, took over. The shipgirls sat down at the table and Enterprise gestured for Lightning to talk. 

"Well, during the time I was at their base, I know that the Sirens are planning Project Hakai. It is a missile which can be fired onto a certain set of coordinates. The missile is fueled by what the Sirens call 'Exitrum', which is the exact same substance used to create a mental cube. The missile parts are made from Argenibus, which is very rare and takes quite a while to be refined before it can be made into the missile parts. From what I know, the Argenibus should be ready for use in a few weeks. However, when I was there, I managed to sabotage the Argenibus without the Sirens detecting it. Devastator will probably, still use the missile. When she unveils it, it will be with a huge attack force, so as of now, the missile is the least of our problems." 

"Thank you, Lightning," Nagato spoke and Lightning nodded, sitting back down. 

"So, it appears that we should prepare for a large scale attack and add more defenses if necessary. It seems that, again, another battle will be unavoidable," Queen Elizabeth announced.

"Is there anything else?" Enterprise asked. No one spoke up.

 After a while, Enterprise spoke, "If that is the case, then this meeting is concluded." All of them left the meeting room and Lightning headed to the Medical Bay.

Once she was there, she headed over to where Bismarck lay. Most of the battleship's wounds had been cleaned and she just... looked like she was sleeping. Lightning's hand was trembling as she held onto Bismarck's hand. 

"Please, Bismarck, you have to wake up, we need you to. I know... that its all my fault you are here. You won't be angry or blame me... but I just can't forgive myself, you know. If you just... wake up, I would feel less guilty. I need you, Bismarck, you always know how to comfort me. Now it seems the fight of our lives is coming and... I want to fight alongside you. Please, Bismarck..." Lightning sobbed, tears running down her face. However, she received no reply. Bismarck lay there, pale and still. Sobs wracked Lightning's body as she held Bismarck's hand tight, the both of them alone in the Medical Bay.

And that's another chapter! Yay! Hope it was uhhh.... okay... (My writing is horrible, I know :P)

~Lightningstar out