Steven Universe: Homeworld Rebellion
Prologue
If there was one thing Yellow Diamond prioritised above all else, then it would be the constant need for new, more advanced technologies. New ways to conquer and destroy. It had been centuries since the war with the rebels and Homeworld were still licking it's wounds. Because of this, Yellow Diamond had ordered the Research and Development Corps lead by Blue Diamond to construct a new weapon for Homeworld, a flagship vessel that can be mobilized against the Crystal Gems or any threat to Homeworld's authority. Years were spent planning, experimenting and constructing until finally, Yellow Diamond's new weapon was complete. A new type of Warship, much sleeker, faster and considerably more powerful then the hand shaped Warships of old. The Trilliant, a stream lined, silver vessel shaped like a diamond was created. It had taken almost as long to build it as it had to design it, hence why Homeworld had spent a decade on the first ship. Now, it was ready for it's maiden flight.
The shipyards were nestled far away from Lustre City, the Gem capitol of Homeworld. It was built into the side of a deep canyon and was at least a mile long. The ground, walls and roof were all a uniform grey, the only colour in the room came from the huge open area where the loading ramp to the Trilliant was. The noon day sun hung high in the sky, casting a shadow inside the canyon. Gems were bustling around the place, busying themselves with their assignments. Blue Diamond's corps were busy inside the ship, Peridots were checking the various calibrations on the heavy weapons ship, Zircons were programming the flight computers and weapon systems along with the Blue Moissanites. Several Ruby and White Moissanite fusion squads were ready for the delicate task of loading the ship once the Science Corps had completed their work. This was overseen by a Black Moissanite, one of the highest ranking of the Diamond's Moissanites. She paced up and down the line of White Moissanites and Rubies. They all stood to attention.
"Now listen up, you lot. You're all responsible for loading the fuel and munitions onto the Trilliant one Blue Diamond's Gems have finished. It's a very important assignment. I can't stress enough that Homeworld's glory rests on the Gems here and I'm sure you don't want to answer to White Diamond if you mess it up, or Yellow Diamond, if your really unlucky. Am I understood?"
The Gems replied in one unified voice "Understood!"
"Right, quadruple Ruby fusion, form up! Triple Moissanite fusion, take form!"
As per her command, the groups of Gems began to fuse. The three White Moissanites called first jumped into the air and disappeared in a white glow. What landed was a six legged fusion with two pairs of arms which moved in a crab like way. The Rubies jumped onto each others shoulders and formed the large Ruby fusion. The fusions stood ready as the last of Blue Diamonds Gems left the Trilliant. On a raised platform on the side of the shipyard, a Dumortierite monitored her screens. The dark blue Gem, with short white hair and facial markings was, like the rest of her Gem type, a systems operator, a Gem that would reside in a glass tank and control various systems on Homeworld, a living Gem interface. She spoke, her voice projected across the shipyards via speakers.
"Research and Development Corps' assignment complete. Ruby and White Moissanite fusion squadrons are clear to proceed."
The Ruby fusion looked over the crates of fuel and munitions. The stacks were almost as large as they were. They turned to the Black Moissanite and asked "If this is just a performance trial, why are we loading so much?"
The Black Moissanite looked up to them, if her eyes were visible behind the dark visor with it's red eye moving from side to side, she'd have shot a deadly look at them. "Ours is not to question why, only to obey orders. So get loading!"
The crab like Moissanite fusion pushed the Ruby fusion along as they both took the first stack of fuel and walked slowly to the ramp leading to the ship.
"Rebels are bad enough, but the stupidity I have to deal with…." The Black Moissanite muttered to herself.
It wasn't long before night descended on Homeworld. The fusions were still loading, aided by strobe white lights dotted about the shipyards. Black Moissanite was glad to see the loading was nearly complete. The Peridots, Zircons and Blue Moissanites were busy on their screens, still working on the Trilliant from afar. No one really felt safe around all that potentially dangerous cargo. Black Moissanite watched, ever so slightly on edge.
"I'll be glad to see this over and done with."
She turned and instantly saluted. Behind her, Blue and White Diamond. They had come to check on the progress of the Trilliant.
"Well, how's it coming along?" White Diamond asked, her tone was never that of the other Diamonds, she was never so formal. Always to the point.
"Progress is running smoothly, my Diamond. At this rate, we will have the Trilliant ready to go first thing in the morning. Just as Yellow Diamond instructed."
White gave the Black Moissanite a tap on the back. "Good work. Now, don't stand on ceremony, Black. You get back to your work."
Black Moissanite thanked White Diamond and walked over to the fusions. There were only a few crates remaining. The two Diamonds looked over the sight before them.
"Ten years. Ten years to get from some scribbles and an after thought to here." White shook her head. "Amazing isn't it?" She sighed, looking to her sister. Blue Diamond was as straight faced as ever, but White knew that she felt proud, inside anyway. Blue watched the Ruby fusion return from the ship and move to the final stacks of munitions. She then turned to her sister and nodded. "It is indeed.
The Ruby fusion picked up the top crate and moved to the ship. The munitions container below it started to tilt, it had not been placed symmetrically with the others and without the crate on top to balance it, it was hanging precariously off the side. Suddenly it crashed to the ground and broke open, causing one of the explosives inside to spark. The spark brushed against the other crate and gave birth to a little flame. The flame began to grow. White Diamond, still observing the Trilliant, smelt something. She sniffed the air.
"Do you smell something?" She asked her sister. She turned around and almost did a double take. What she saw was a fire beginning to spread around the last two crates of munitions. "Fire!" She yelled. She looked up to the Moissanites and Zircons who had also just realised the impending danger. "Get clear, the whole things going to blow!" Before the other Gems could react, the munitions exploded. The Moissanites and Zircons were caught in the blast, sending shards of shattered Gem and munitions.
Immediately, the alarm sounded and the Dumortierite blared out from the speakers once again. "Emergency, emergency. Clear the area immediately."
The shards of burning debris landed onto the remaining fuel canisters. As the other Gems began to retreat, it wasn't long before they began to catch fire as well. Blue Diamond's arm hovered close to her mouth as she spoke into her wrist device. "Dumortierite, request reinforcements from Lustre City."
White pulled the Black Moissanite to one side. "Where are the fusions?" She asked, keeping one eye on the fire.
"They're still on the Trilliant, my Diamond!" she replied.
White let go of the Black Moissanite. "Get everyone to start fighting back the fire, we need to disconnect the connector bridge! The top priority is saving the Trilliant! Understood?"
"Understood!" Came the reply. She ran off, barking orders at the other Gems. White turned to Blue as she lowered her communicator.
"Reinforcements will be here soon, they are bringing Amethyst Prime and her best Quartz soldiers."
Before White could respond, there was a deafening explosion. The fuel canisters exploded with great force, shooting fire in all directions. A wall of fire was already starting to grow and spread across the shipyards. Flaming fuel had impacted against the walls and were already moving towards the Gems. There was another explosion. The platform where Dumortierite and her glass tank were housed had caught fire. White and Blue turned to the Gems behind them and White pointed to a Zircon, Peridot and a Blue Moissanite.
"Dumortierite's platform is about to go up, you three go and pull her out!"
The responded with a chorus of "Yes, my Diamond!" as they ran to assist. They approached the platform, but another explosion ripped past them, catching the Blue Moissanite and shattering her on the spot. Visibly shocked, the two Gems pushed forward, their Diamonds instructions running deep in their minds. They quickly climbed to the top of the platform and worked on opening the tank. As they did, another explosion rocked the base of the platform. The Diamonds and other Gems watched in horror as the platform toppled over and the three Gems fell to their deaths in a flurry of fire and Gem shards. As White Diamond watched, Blue's wrist device began to beep.
"Amethyst Prime is nearly here."
White turned to her sister and yelled "What good will they do now? We can't get the connector free, so we can't stop the fire from spreading to the Trilliant!"
Black Moissanite spoke up. "With the Quartz's help we might be able to disconnect it manually!"
The two Diamonds exchanged a look then turned back to the Moissanite. "It's worth a try! Get as many of the Gems to help as you can!"
It wasn't long before Amethyst Prime and a group of her Quartz soldiers arrived. They ran into the Shipyards to find it ablaze. A few Moissanites were trying to hold back the fire with foam extinguishers but they weren't having much affect. Amethyst Prime ran up to the Diamonds and saluted.
"Reporting as ordered!"
White looked up at the huge Quartz leader and pointed to the connector to the Trilliant.
"We need your Quartz soldiers to help get the Trilliant disconnected from the shipyards before the fires reach it!"
Amethyst Prime gave an understanding nod as she turned to her Gems and roared out orders.
"Agate! You, Onyx and Chalcedony get that connector severed! Aventurine, with me, we're gonna beat this fire back!"
The three muscular Quartz warriors ran over to the connector, where a group of Zircons and Peridots had fused in an attempt to try and tackle the heavy loads. They ran up to the sides of the connector alongside the fusions, wrapped their huge hands around it and the group attempted to lift. The weight of it was immense, not something easily lifted.
Meanwhile the other Gems had failed to hold back the spread of the fire, but continued to try none the less. One Moissanite was hit by an explosion and sent flying, being shattered in the process. The Black Moissanite grabbed the fallen Gem's extinguisher and called out.
"Keep going everyone! Stop the spread….." Before she could continue, she too was caught by an explosion. Her shattered shards fell at the feet of the Diamonds. White was becoming increasingly irate.
"There must be something we can do, we can fuse, we'll be able to make a difference instead of just standing around, doing nothing!" She took a step forward but found herself held back by her sister. "Let go of me! We've got to help them! If we can't help then what's the point of…."
Blue interrupted. "You are more important, White. More important then the Trilliant or those Gems, not just to Yellow Diamond, but to me. You are not going to risk your life like that." White wanted to respond to that, wanted to tell Blue Diamond she was wrong and that it was her responsibility. But at the same time, she knew it to be true. She didn't want to risk Blue's safety in some foolhardy death or glory charge. "We can rebuild the Trilliant, create more Gems. But there's only one of you."
White gave a defeated look as she took Blue's hand. Without the need to say anything, the two understood each other perfectly.
Amethyst Prime shielded her eyes from another explosion. She turned to the Quartz and fusions working on the connector. "It's no good! We can't stop the fire from spreading, get outa there!"
Grunting as they tried to lift the heavy gangway, Agate shouted back. "We've…Nearly got it!" True to her word, they began to slowly lift the connector. Amethyst Prime growled. "Fall back you idiots! Do you wanna get shattered!?" She jumped as another explosion rocked the shipyard. "Fall back!" She yelled as Aventurine and herself along with the remaining Gems fighting the fire ran back to the Diamonds side.
"What about the others?" White asked. Amethyst Prime was panting. "No such luck."
The group of Gems shook as they lifted the connector and began to tear it away from it's moorings. "Hah! We're doing it!" Agate looked to the shipyard and her eyes widened, she could see the wall of fire heading towards them. "Drop it, we gotta get out of here….!"
But it was too late, the fire shot up the connector and crawled into the ship. The Gems couldn't react before the Gem inside one of the Peridot fusions hands began to melt, causing the fusion to flicker and scream. Suddenly the fusion itself caught fire, resulting in the Peridots shattering. The other Gems immediately caught fire. The Zircon fusion tried to stop the fire crawling up itself but failed, poofing after a short, agonising scream. The Quartz dropped the connector. Without seeing where they were going, they staggered back. With a short yelp, they fell into the canyon below, to their deaths.
White watched with horror as the events unfolded. "We're too late…."
There was a second of nothingness, then the first fireball shot out of the Trilliant. "The fire's reached the engines….." White muttered.
A series of explosions and fireballs burst from the alloy hull of the ship, knocking it from side to side as the sound of creaking burst from the ship. The final explosions tore the ship apart. It was as if it were a flurry of fireworks emerged from the ship, bursting through and sending fire high into the sky. Amethyst Prime, Aventurine and the last few Gems took several steps back as the Diamonds watched. With a sickening sigh and a final explosion, the dead husk of the Trilliant ripped free of it's moorings and sank into the canyon. White was sure she could hear the screams of the two fusions inside. There was a muffled explosion as the ship crashed on the floor of the canyon.
With nothing left to burn, the fires died down and simmered gently, posing no threat anymore. Aventurine looked around the destruction of the shipyard. "Just look at the state of this place…."
Amethyst Prime replied in a hushed, respective tone. "Yeah but it could have been worse. If the Gems who died here didn't give their lives to stop it, we could have all died. Well done, all of you."
White knelt down and picked up a shard of the Black Moissanite's Gem. "There'll be a full inquiry into what happened here. Yellow Diamond will suspect foul play. I'm afraid it's the Sphene's for us all. Good luck everyone. Get yourselves some rest, okay?"
The other Gems nodded and quietly walked off. Blue knelt next to White. "There was nothing you could have done." White clenched the shard in her hand as she got up to her feet. She looked around at the destruction one last time before marching off, never wanting to see the devastation again.
But the work had only just begun.