Unstable Loyalties

Chapter 13

As the groundbridge closed behind them, Lightning's eyes caught sight of... two upper-class Sirens! 

"Oh come on..." she grumbled as she turned to the other shipgirls, realising they had seen the Sirens too. "Sirens..." Yamato hissed, her eyes narrowed. 

"Optimus, can you and the 'bots deal with Unicron and his Chaosbringers? We have some Sirens to deal with," Lightning muttered. The tall red and blue 'bot just nodded as they began the attack. 

"Oh look, Attacker! The 'Lightning one' is here, time to have some fun! Ahahaha!" The first Siren screeched as she fired her guns, the purple beams pointing straight towards the shipgirls.

Essex immediately launched her planes as Yamato fired multiple shells at the mass-produced Sirens that had come through portals. Raising her bow, Lightning's eyes glowed electric blue as she launched arrow after arrow, twisting left and right. She launched her B-21 bombers quickly along with some fighter escorts, shooting down some of the Siren planes. Growling, she leaped up, landing safely on her plane. 

Attacker was aiming her guns at the other shipgirls, getting ready to fire. Anger and hate flowed through Lightning as her eyes glowed a brighter blue, an electric aura surrounding her as she pulled back her bowstring, releasing it as an arrow shot out, streaking through the air, hitting its mark. 

"You will pay for that, shipgirl! No one messes with Planner's fellow Siren and gets away with it!" The first Siren shrieked, shooting Lightning's plane and knocking her off, causing her to hit the ground heavily. Blood trickled out from her wounds as Lightning signaled Yamato and Bismarck to fire while simultaneously shooting arrows at the Siren. Essex was busy picking off the rest of the mass produced Sirens as Lightning jumped onto another plane, swinging her katana at the Siren. Avoiding a few blows, Lightning gritted her teeth as she twisted, turning in the air and kicking the Siren, causing it to fly straight into a barrage of her arrows. 

Having dealt with the Sirens, Lightning and the other shipgirls sprinted over to where the 'bots were fighting. Wheeljack was throwing grenades and slicing at the Chaosbringers with his katanas and seemed fine on his own. Skystreak was struggling against Lunar and Solar. Lightning, seeing this, rushed forwards, twisting in the air as she sliced the shells open, landing softly on the ground, her hair gleaming as it flew behind her. She raised her katana, swiping left and right, piercing through Lunar's armour. Grabbing her bow, she released some arrows burning through Lunar's metal before heading towards Unicron, who was battling Optimus, leaving Bismarck to continue firing shells at Lunar.

Lightning fired her flame arrows at Unicron, blocking his scythe, giving Optimus time to get up from the ground. Swinging her katana, Lightning narrowed her eyes as she initiated a bombing run. But then, she seemed to sense a more... evil presence around Unicron. Darkness swirled around him as their weapons clashed yet again, causing a huge ball of light to form, neither one intending to give up. Finally, the energy was released, knocking everyone backwards. Shakily, Lightning got up, blood dripping from her arms. Her hands trembled as she readied her bow, but a voice echoed in her head, this is a battle you cannot win. Although she hated to admit it, that was right. Reluctantly, she lowered her bow as Optimus gave the order to retreat.

Lightning was limping as she exited the portal, covered in dust and blood flowing down her wounds. The other shipgirls also had many, but less severe wounds. Flopping down on a chair, Lightning surveyed the extent of the damage. Everyone was injured, in some way or other as well. Lightning just watched, the aura around her dying down as her wounds healed, ever so slowly. 

"Neat work out there, Lightning," Bismarck commented as she gripped Lightning's hand tight, pulling her up. 

"Same goes for you," Lightning replied, smiling. Stretching, she groaned. 

"So... training before sunrise tomorrow?" Yamato suggested as the other shipgirls nodded. 

"Why would you wake up so early just to train?" Jewelbreeze inquired softly. 

"Without training, our skills will not improve. We always have to be ready for battle, no matter the situation" Bismarck answered, her blue eyes icy. 

"You can watch us train tomorrow, if you want," Essex offered as the 'bots just nodded, considering whether they wanted to. 

The next day...

The four shipgirls were already hard at work by the time the 'bots had come to work. Essex was running through flying and bombing exercises. Bismarck and Yamato were having a mock battle. Lightning was practicing her katana skills, dodging, striking and blocking with ease. Grabbing her bow, Lightning shot her arrows, turning and twisting. In the blink of an eye, all the targets were knocked down, arrows straight in the bulls-eye while Lightning stood there, hardly sweating. The newer 'bots gaped at this, but for the rest of the team, this came as no surprise. Angling her flight deck, Lightning launched her planes, leaping from one to the other as the planes flew erratically. Jumping off the last one, Lightning landed on the ground as her planes roared past her. 

She stood there, unfazed as she recalled them. behind her, Bismarck shot shells at Lightning, having finished the mock battle. Lightning whipped around, slicing the shells apart using her katana and dodging a few others. 

"If she always battles like this, even Optimus won't be able to beat her..." Flare whispered to Bluestreak, who just hummed in response.

Turning to face them, Lightning asked, "Is that true?" The two 'bots just stood there like deer caught in headlights, unable to speak. 

"Well then, let's test out that theory," Lightning replied as she nodded at Bismarck, Yamato and Essex. 

"Ready when you are, Optimus," Lightning announced as the red and blue 'bot reluctantly stood up, glaring at the two 'bots who had put the idea in Lightning's head. 

"Begin," Bismarck ordered. 

Optimus transformed his servoes into guns, firing them at Lightning who just dodged his bullets expertly. 

"You'll have to try harder than that, Optimus," Lightning called. Sliding on his mouthguard, Optimus fired with a greater accuracy. Leaping and twisting in the air, Lightning flipped over a bullet, slicing another open with her katana. Shooting her arrows, she aimed them at Optimus who blocked them using his sword. Launching a plane, Lightning jumped on it, launching more bombers and initiating a bombing run. Lightning swiped her katana, deflecting Optimus' blows. Sparks flew as Lightning brought her katana up to meet Optimus' sword. A worthy opponent... Lightning mused as her eyes glowed an electric blue, the aura around her as she swung her katana with force, pushing Optimus backwards. 

Taking advantage of this opportunity, she launched more arrows, knocking Optimus to the ground, pinning him down. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Optimus ready to swing his other sword. Quickly, Lightning dove down as he sword flew over her and thrust her foot upwards, knocking he sword out of Optimus' servo. Pointing her katana just above his chestplate, Lightning questioned, "Do you surrender?" All of Lightning's planes hovered overhead, fully armed and Lightning's eyes glowed brighter as she repeated the question, forcing Optimus to surrender. 

Katana still at the ready, Lightning let Optimus get back up before nodding, muttering, "Good battle."  The other 'bots watched, wide-eyed. No one had ever beat Optimus during battle before. Lightning was very powerful, that was for sure. 

"Shall we continue our training?" Lightning asked, stunning the 'bots into silence. 

"Nah, just kidding, let's go eat," Lightning smiled. Hearing this, a hint of a smile appeared on Optimus' face and Lightning thought, It is the calm in the storm that truly makes all this worthwhile...

That's the next chapter people! Hope you like it!

~Lightningstar out