After that test had been successful, Shockwave had intensified the tests and procedures that he performed on Elita One. Her mental state continued to deteriorate because of it. She continued to speak nonsense to herself and laugh at the oddest of things.
One day, during one of his tests, Shockwave was putting incredible stress on Elita's spark. From what he could tell, her time halting ability had been activated once again for when he blinked she was unconscious. She also now had an odd white crack in her helm. That was of little concern to Shockwave so he continued with his tests.
Little did any of the Decepticons know, but just outside of the very base that they were standing in, outside were two Autobots spies.
One, a femme, disguised as a part of the wall she was leaning against.
The other was a mech, who was completely invisible.
"Mirage. You come back yet?" Chromia whispered.
"Yes ma'am." The invisible mech replied.
"What did you see?" Chromia asked.
"This is indeed Shockwave's current base of operations. He was in a lab...experimenting on Elita One." Mirage replied.
"What? Really? You saw her?" Chromia demanded.
"I believe so ma'am. From the pictures I've seen, and the way you've described her. I am almost certain that it was Elita One that I saw." Mirage answered.
Chromia sighed. "Alright. Let's head back. We're gonna raid the place and save my sister."
[Ironhide.] Chromia called into her comm. link.
[Yeah? What's up?] Ironhide replied.
[She's here. Elita is here.] Chromia told him. Over the comm. link, Chromia could here Ironhide filling his stock of blasters and readying his bombs and grenades.
[Whenever you're ready dearest.] Ironhide replied.
Chromia smiled.
Shockwave had just put Elita One back in her cell. They had made so much progress in the past couple of cycles.
From what he could tell, the reason the power of Vector Prime could be unlocked within Elita One, was because she had an unusually strong connection with the Matrix of Leadership.
He would look into that right after he reported to Lord Megatron.
BOOM!
Shockwave fell to the ground from the explosion that had occurred just down the hall he had been walking down.
He saw his troops falling back through the hole the explosion had created, shooting at an unseen enemy.
Then they were cut down by something invisible. Then he made himself visible once again. A white, blue and red streaked Autobot. The spy Mirage.
Then out came more Autobot soldiers led by the weapons expert Ironhide and the femme Chromia. When she saw Shockwave, Chromia's faceplates morphed into a look of pure rage and malice.
"SHOCKWAVE!" She screamed and she pointed her tonfa blasters at him.
He was outnumbered and out gunned. To remain in his current position would have been illogical, so he turned to retreat.
"Go get 'im 'Mia. We got this here." Ironhide said. Chromia nodded and took off after the Decepticon scientist.
Shockwave was headed towards the Escape Passage.
He activated the Emergency Protocols. All of his recorded data would be transferred to a hard drive waiting in the Passage as he escaped. Then all the computers and machinery used to originally record that data would self-destruct.
Shockwave began running down the corridors once again when two shots flew past his helm.
"I am NOT letting you escape this one Shockwave!" Chromia yelled.
Shockwave transformed and sped down the corridor. Chromia growled, transformed, then took off after him.
They continued the chase right to the Escape Passage. Shockwave transformed and pounded his fist against the trigger to close the door.
As Chromia got closer, the door began to close. She transformed and sent four shots flying through the closing doors.
The shots missed Shockwave as he moved quickly out of their way. However, the shots flew behind him. They hit several walls, including the one where the hard drive was supposed to be made.
"No." He spoke as he walked over to it. He could see the hard drive amid the charred rock. The disk was burnt and broken, but not completely. Shockwave was sure that some of the data could be saved, but not all of it. Shockwave held the disk tightly as he made his way down the passage.
Megatron would not be pleased...but perhaps he begin work on his next few projects. He brought up his saved projects document on the small computer on his own cannon.
Several different project ideas that he had not yet begun came up. Two of them caught his eye.
Project Spacebridge. Yes, he had been looking into the ancient technology used for galactic travel.
Then the other, Project Predacon. Perhaps the bit of information gathered from his time controlling experiments could aid him in the cloning of an extinct species...
Chromia sighed. She didn't get him. Scrap.
[Yo, Chrome Dome.] Ironhide called.
Chromia growled. [Ironhide. You know I hate it when you call me that. Brings me depressing memories. Plus, I am not in a good mood right now.] Chromia replied angrily.
[Sorry 'Mia. Wasn't thinkin'. But, you gotta get over here. We found Elita.] Ironhide continued.
[What? You did? Where are you all? Is she alright?] Chromia asked frantically as she ran down the corridor.
[No. She ain't. In more ways than one.] Ironhide answered.
[What do you mean?] Chromia asked.
[...you're gonna have to see for yourself.] Ironhide told her.
When Chromia found the rest of the Autobot team, she ran straight to Ironhide.
"Where is she?"Chromia demanded.
"'Mia. Calm down. She's right next over there but you shouldn't just—barge right over there." Ironhide said as she pushed him out of the way and walked over to where he pointed.
Ironhide sighed. "Dear Primus I love that femme."
Chromia pushed every bot who dared to cross her path. Her little sister was obviously in bad shape. She had every right to be by her side.
Then Chromia heard Elita's voice. "LET GO! You're gonna try to hurt me!"
Chromia ran right through the Autobots and to the sound of Elita's voice. When she got past the crowd she could see several Autobot soldiers trying to hold Elita down. She was fighting against their grip, kicking screaming and punching.
"Elita! What the frag are you all doing?" Chromia demanded.
"Ma'am." Mirage spoke from behind Chromia. "I am afraid that Elita One is in quite the unstable state right now."
"What do you mean?" Chromia asked. Mirage pointed at the pink femme.
She was thrashing and growling at the Autobots holding her down. She had a crazed look in her optics, much like a cornered animal. Then she saw Chromia.
"You! You all left me there! You left me there to rust! All of you! You all want to hurt me!" Elita screamed. Mirage sighed sadly as he took out a syringe. He calmly walked over to the crazed femme and injected the anesthetic.
It took a few moments to take full effect. Elita grew quieter and she stopped resisting the Autobots holding her. Then her optics closed and she off-lined.
Chromia looked at her oldest, and closest friend as the Autobot soldiers dragged her away. What did Shockwave do to her little sister? What could he have possibly done to her, that turned her into whatever she was now?
"We are going to keep her locked in a secure holding facility. I recommend that you tell Optimus Prime yourself ma'am." Mirage spoke.
"Yes. Of course." Chromia replied.
Optimus. She had to tell Optimus. She remembered the day she had told him that Elita had been taken. He had locked himself in his quarters for three days and buried himself in his duties.
"Chromia. We're headin' out now." Ironhide interrupted.
Chromia sighed and nodded.
(I would have stopped here but I said that there'd be fluff. And I wanna right the fluff. So yeah, just consider this part as the next chapter.)
Chromia walked through the halls of Autobot Command. She passed by several dozen Autobots on her way to the War Room.
When she came to the large sliding doors that led into the War Room, Chromia stopped. Then she entered the code to the War Room and walked inside.
At the moment, only Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus were present. It looked like they were in deep conversation about something she didn't care about at the moment.
However, knowing Ultra Magnus, she saluted the two mechs respectfully.
"Commanders." Chromia spoke.
"Chromia. You're back with good news I hope." Optimus replied. Chromia winced.
"Good...and bad." Chromia said.
"What do you mean by that?" Ultra Magnus asked.
Chromia sighed. "The place we found was indeed the new base of operations for Shockwave. We destroyed it."
"And?" Optimus asked.
"...Elita was there as well. We brought her back here—"
"That's excellent!" Optimus exclaimed unexpectedly. "Ahem, now, where is she?"
"She...in the holding facility down below." Chromia said.
"What? Why?" Optimus demanded.
"When we found her...she was not well. With my previous training in psychology I believe that Elita One is not...sound of mind." Chromia explained.
Optimus and Ultra Magnus stared at Chromia. Then Optimus stood up.
"Take me to her." He ordered.
They were standing together in the elevator that was taking them to the lower levels where the holding facility was placed.
"What is she like?" Optimus asked.
"Unstable." Chromia answered simply. Then the two Autobots heard the beeping that told them that they had reached their destination.
Optimus and Chromia walked past many holding cells, all the way down to the last row.
"There." Chromia spoke.
Optimus' optics widened when he saw her. Elita One was held back by many chains and energy cuffs. She was thrashing and pulling on them as she tried to force them off. The cell was soundproof so they couldn't hear her screaming and yelling.
"What—did they do to her?" Optimus asked in a strained voice.
"I have no idea. She's also in bad shape physically. She has several wounds all over her body but mainly around her spark chamber. There's also a crack along the front of her helm. It can be easily closed with a quick bit of welding, but it will leave a permanent mark." Chromia replied.
"Can she be treated?" Optimus asked.
"I h—yes. I believe she can." Chromia answered quickly.
"Very well. See into that please Chromia." Optimus stated as he turned towards the exit.
"Yes. Of course." Chromia replied sadly.
Elita had been with Autobots for several months. She didn't get any better. She continued to lash out at everyone and anyone who came near her. She spoke nonsense to herself and complained about how they had left her.
Chromia continued to get more and more depressed as she continued to try to help her sister in spark wrenching vain.
Optimus didn't show any signs of such emotions. That didn't surprise Chromia, nor did she blame him for doing so. Optimus had trained himself for a long time to keep his emotions in check. Besides, if he broke down, the rest of the Autobots would soon follow suit. He was their beacon of hope after all.
However, one day, everything changed for the better.
Chromia was headed down to the holding facility to visit Elita once again, when she was met on her way by Optimus.
"Optimus! What are you doing here?" Chromia wondered.
"I am coming to see Elita. Just as you are." He answered.
"If you don't mind me asking. Why? I thought that you were busy." Chromia replied.
"I miss her as well you know." Optimus said. "This has gone on for long enough. I-I want her to come back to us."
Chromia looked at the Prime. She had known him for a very long time. They had been friends for a very long time. She missed the days before the war, and she knew that he did as well. She also knew that where he was the Autobots beacon of hope, Elita One was his.
They walked down the corridor of cells side by side just like they did the first day Elita was brought there.
They walked up to her cell. She was still fighting like an animal against her restraints.
"Let me in." Optimus spoke.
"Optimus! What do you plan on doing? Talking to her calmly?" Chromia demanded.
"Yes." He replied.
"Optimus we've all tried that!" Chromia protested.
"Please. Chromia. Let me speak to her." Optimus pleaded. Chromia looked him right in his optics, and gave in.
She inputted the code to open the cell doors and Optimus walked in. Alone.
Elita glared at the giant mech who had just walked in. Optimus looked at her sadly.
"Elita." He spoke. "You remember me don't you? It's me. Optimus. Or rather, Orion."
Elita's optic twitched. "Yes. I remember you. You were one of the people who abandoned me as well."
"Elita. I am so sorry we took so long to find you. And I also apologize...for giving up at one point. If it wasn't for Chromia's stubbornness I doubt we would have ever found you at all." Optimus said.
"So you admit it! You left me! You wanted to hurt me just like he did! You wante-" Elita's rant was cut off by Optimus walking over to her and claiming her in a tight embrace.
"Ariel. I am so sorry. You were hurt greatly. I understand that and I am so sorry. But please...find it in your spark to forgive us. To forgive me. I cannot lose you. Please. I cannot lose my beacon of hope. Not now." Optimus whispered to her.
Elita sat there quietly in his arms. Optics wide and staring at the ceiling. His presence and words were so comforting. She hadn't felt like that in so long. Then she began to choke up.
"O-Orion. I-I'm sorry. Shockwave had me trapped in a cage for so long. Hurting me so much. I...I had given up. On you. On Chromia. On the Autobots as a whole. He took my hope away. I believe that's what broke me. I am so sorry that I caused you this much grief for so long." Elita spoke as she wrapped her own arms around Optimus' frame.
"But never again. I swear upon my very spark that I will never lose hope again." Elita vowed.
"Yes. I do as well." Optimus assured her.
Chromia watched in pleasant awe.
"Little sister." She whispered to herself.
After that, Elita was let out of the holding cell. However, she was not yet fit to go back into the field. She was still traumatized and had to undergo therapy, both physically and mentally. Optimus and Chromia never left her side.
Elita, being the prodigy that she was recovered well and quickly. When she was given the okay to renter the field, she was closely guarded by her big sister.
Soon she was once again Elita One. The greatest femme warrior. Infamous among the Decepticons and loved among the Autobots. Some called her fearless. Others called her a genius. While a select few called her family.
Elita sighed happily at the memories of her recovery. She closed her chest plates, got up and walked out of the cave. Then she transformed and began to happily make her way back to the Autobot base.
She couldn't wait to get back. To her potential new family. To her big sister. To her love.
Yeah. There you go. It wasn't much, but that was my very first attempt at writing fluff. There'll be more in future stories so tell me what I can do to make it better.
Comment and review!