I own nothing, except the oc's I create along the way, otherwise Steven Universe would be a lot darker, and some characters would have already died.
This story was taken down and is being revamped due to changes in the Steven Universe lore about the rebellion, and a whole slew of new information that would've made this fic completely horrendous if it stayed in its previous form. An update on A New Rome is coming soon, don't worry. Leave your comments in the review section. On to the story
Chapter 1
Old Enemies
Above a far flung Homeworld colony, a battle rages between a Homeworld fleet and Rebel Gem forces set on eradicating the Diamond Authority.
"Divert all power to the forward batteries, lets blast them to oblivion!" Yelled the shipmaster, an emerald who had been recently made to fill the rank of shipmaster for her Diamond. She was in command of a gem cruiser, the Diamond's Edge, in the fleet of White Diamond, with High Admiral Emerald 7CK, their greatest fleet commander, leading the fleet. They were engaging a force of enemy ships belonging to a rebel cell calling themselves The Spirit Insurgence, one of the many rebellions that have sprung up since The First Rebellion, over the colony world of Fortuna.
"Aye aye shipmaster, forwarding all power to forward batteries," said a peridot. A whirring noise increasing in volume filled the bridge as the guns readied to fire. Energy gathered at the tips of the weapons, coallating into a large, bright ball of green energy at each barrel. The guns fired with an ear drum shattering boom, the beams of energy hurtling towards the enemy cruiser firing at a homeworld frigate. The impact of the projectiles shook the bridge and the entire ship, the gems in the bridge cheering as explosions riddled the enemy ship until it burst into a blinding supernova.
"That'll teach them to attack the Gem Empire!" yelled a Tiger's Eye, on of Emerald's lieutenants as she cheered their victory along with her fellow soldiers. All the gems on board cheered and whooped in joy, then a beeping noise interrupted the cheerful atmosphere.
"Shipmaster, two rebel frigates have jumped from warp space, and are sending out fighters to overwhelm us," a peridot reported.
Emerald then tapped a comm piece on her ear. "All pilot crews, report to your fighters and await my signal," she ordered. In the hangar bay, Nephrite crews rushed to prep their fighters, running to and fro, prepping their energy cannons, making sure their targeting systems were operational, and awaiting the signal from Emerald.
As all this was commencing, the rebel fighters flew past the bridge, chasing down stray imperial gem fighters from previous dogfights. The imperial gems try to outmaneuver their enemy, shooting down a few as they went, but ultimately they fell to the overwhelming numbers of their foe. All of a sudden, Emerald barked orders to the pilots to take off and shoot down any enemy star fighters they see. The pilot crews took off with speed, forming into their squadrons and targeting enemy fighter squadrons.
"Get our cruiser in range of those frigates, NOW!" Emerald yelled, the peridots scrambling with the controls, moving the ship away from the various dogfights towards their target. "Prime the cannon batteries and missile launchers, I want those frigates turned into scrap the moment we get in range," she said.
"Aye aye shipmaster, prepping main batteries and missile launchers," a peridot responded.
As the cruiser made its way to the rebel frigates, it had to maneuver around battles between gem forces and the rebel battlegroup. Two gem cruisers and a rebel battleship were dueling off their port bow, the homeworld gems desperately trying to gain the upper hand. The homeworld cruisers firing their cannon batteries and missile launchers at the enemy ship, all the while homeworld and rebel fighter squadrons dueled in the space between the ships, no clear winner emerging from the fighting. It seemd that the gem cruisers would be destroyed by the battleship, until the battleship's shields gave way under their barrage of fire, giving the homeworld cruisers the opportunity they needed. Shots from the two cruisers tore through the battleship's hull plating, torn apart by the concentrated plasma blasts until it was decimated. The homeworld cruisers now focused their anti-aircraft fire on the rebel fighters and gunned them down in droves. As the cruiser moved closer to the frigates, Emerald heard the frantic and panicked cries of imperial gems asking for assistance before being abruptly cut off as a homeworld battleship near their position was torn in two by two rebel dreadnaughts. She shuddered. It unnerved her how once loud and vibrant voices could be so violently and suddenly silenced and turned to look at her crew. She dreaded that fate befalling them, or herself for that matter. She resolved to the best of her ability to not let it happen to her crew, or die in the attempt.
A ruby, observing through the transparent window panels in the bridge of the cruiser, growled angrily at the destruction of the homeworld battleship. These rebels had been causing the Empire much trouble for the past five cycles (A cycle equals 30 Earth years), and they had cornered them over one of the colony worlds in the outer reaches of Homeworld territory. They had laid a trap for the rebels, an unprotected colony world about to begin production of new gems, weapons and warships. It was too much of an opportunity for the rebels to miss, and they had engaged the rebel flotilla once they took the bait.
Many good, loyal gems were needlessly slaughtered in this rebellion, and that made her hate the rebel gems even more. It was a pointless loss of life, loss of skilled gems that can never be truly replaced, despite there being millions of each gem type, save for the diamonds themselves. Many of her comrades she had been created with had died by their hands, of wayward gems who thought they were special, were different than everyone else. Comrades she could never get back. Memories she had looked back on fondly were tainted by their shattering, and now they only caused her unending grief. The fact that rebellions still existed, that they slaughtered thousands, if not millions of loyal imperial gems, destroy countless colony worlds, waste so many resources, and insult the entire gem race by betraying it for an ideal, and had the gall to call it all just, honorable, made her sick.
She pushed her thoughts into the back of her mind for later. Right now, she had a job to do, and that was to guard the ship. To many gems, she was uncharacteristically tall for her gem type. Usually rubies would be small, runtish foot soldiers, cannon fodder in a way. This ruby however, towered over her counterparts, reaching a Jasper's midriff in height, and was bulkier than most rubies. Not to mention her increased levels of intellect when compared to other rubies, though that wasn't saying much. Her gem even was different than most rubies, with her gem being a new type of ruby, a Royal Ruby to be exact. Her gem type was to be an upgrade on the regular ruby design, smarter, faster, stronger. The sole purpose of her existence was to create a better ruby soldier, a test to see if White Diamond's experimental new cannon fodder worked as intended, though she didn't know this. In fact, she hadn't been made aware of her true purpose, being informed by her Diamond that she was a ruby, like the thousands of other rubies in service to the Diamond Authority.
"All batteries and launch bays, fire on those Frigates!" Emerald ordered.
"Aye aye shipmaster, firing batteries and launchers," a peridot said.
A continuous stream of plasma blasts and missiles streamed from the homeworld cruiser towards the rebel frigates, the enemy ships trying in vain to flee the battle. The first frigate went down in flames, escape pods jettisoning from the remains of the ship. The second ship imploded, leaving no survivors. Suddenly, a holovid of a Peridot appeared on the ships holovid screen. "Shipmaster Emerald 3LM, I have urgent news," she said.
"Well spit it out. I'm in the middle of an all out battle and I can't afford to lose," Emerald said with a huff. She was beyond annoyed that she was disturbed while fighting the rebel forces. It made her lose her concentration and that could cost her the ship, her crew, and her life.
"Yes shipmaster, I am here to tell you the terrible news that High Admiral Emerald 7CK has fallen," she said.
All the gems in the bridge were stunned into silence, their minds trying to comprehend the information the peridot delivered.
The ruby was especially hit hard by this development. High Admiral Emerald 7CK falling in battle?! How could this be possible?! The High Admiral had served the Authority for nearly eighty cycles, participating in countless battles and campaigns more complex and horrendous than this. It seemed like a practical joke gone wrong. A gem of her status and experience felled by mere rebels when she had faced worse, nearly comical if the situation wasn't so dire. Ruby 1VZ had personally never met the High Admiral in person, but the pride she instilled in her subordinates and the awe she inspires when her flagship, The Will of the Diamonds, takes the field had led her to respect the high ranking gem in a way comparable to how she viewed the Diamonds. Not on the same level, but just one level below. Her death at the hand of these rebels only steeled her resolve and her hatred. She vowed to the Diamonds and on her gem a vow she would hold onto forever. To Destroy. Every. Single. One of them.
"Yellow Diamond has taken command of the fleet and has ordered a full frontal assault on the rebel forces, Peridot 2FD out."
The holovid flickered off, but none of the gems even noticed, still trying to comprehend the mind boggling information that was given. Suddenly, a beeping snapped one peridot out of her trance, and she looked at the message, only to gasp in horror.
"S-s-ship master Emerald, a fleet of rebel dreadnaughts have jumped from warp space, and are attacking the fleet."
A flurry of transmissions were filling the bridge.
"This is the Titania, we are being overwhelmed! Need immediate reinforce-"
This is the Avalon calling for assistance, we won't last long out her-"
This is the Retribution, we are being boarded, SEND HELP!"
The transmissions ended, the gems staring at the comm unit in horror. A 'thunk' made everyone turn their heads towards the ceiling, two more following.
"We are being boarded, everyone to their battle stations," said Emerald. As she turned around the gems were still staring at the ceiling, waiting for whatever made the noise to come crashing through. Emerald, frustrated, grieving and furious, shouted, "WE ARE BEING BOARDED, EVERYONE TO THEIR BATTLESTATIONS!"
The gems hurried to their positions, the quartz, topaz and ruby soldiers prepping their weapons and digging in for the fight at hand, the peridots manning their automated turrets, and the rest of the crew grabbed old gem weapons that no one ever used, and readied themselves for battle. The shipmaster pulled out a plasma blaster and pointed towards the origin of the sound, the soldiers following her lead.
As the homeworld soldiers waited for the battle to commence, the anticipation almost palpable, three buzz saws cut through the hull of the ship near the entrance to the bridge. They circled around until they formed an almost perfect circle, then withdrew and the circle of metal fell to the floor, with dozens of rebel gems dropping from the hole, bringing their own blasters to bear as they charged the homeworld gems.
The ruby soldier raised her blaster and fired it in quick succession, shattering a large rebel Quartz gem that had tried to charge her. She downed two more rebels before she was forced behind cover by a barrage of fire from the rebel gems, catching a few homeworld rubies off guard, shattering them in an instant. Her mind filled with images of the shards of her close comrades, scattering across the ground on a distant backwater colony world. She never got to recover them, the battle they fell in demaded nearly everything she had to offer and she couldn't stop fighting to collect their remains despite how badly she wanted to. When the battle was finished she looked for their remains, hoping desperately beyond hope that they were still there. To her dismay, she couldn't find them, the oppresive sorrow gripped her very being. She mourned for them for at least three cycles. Then her sorrow had, over time, morphed into an unending rage and hatred. She held onto that hatred, using it to fuel her actions on the battlefield from that moment on. She screamed a horrendous war cry and rushed a rebel position, nearly unaware of her actions as she butchered half a platoon of Quartz soldiers before she was driven back to the Imperial lines, firing her blaster in rapid bursts, taking down multiple rebels with each burst of plasma.
Over the next few minutes, the sounds of blasters firing, the clang of metal against metal, the screams of the dying filled the ship, with neither side gaining an advantage over the other. As the battle raged on, the homeworld gems started to gain the upper hand as the flow of rebel soldiers began to lessen until they stopped coming. Seeing this opportunity, Emerald moved from her position behind cover and charged the remaining rebels.
"Their reinforcements have stopped, all forces advance and slaughter any rebel you see!" yelled Emerald.
The gem soldiers yelled in victory and surged forward to overwhelm the enemy, killing the rebel gems in droves
As the Quartz, Topaz, and Ruby soldiers celebrated their victory, their celebrations were cut short when a major tremor shook the ship, knocking a few gems off their feet. A rebel dreadnaught had caught the cruiser in its sights and was sending volleys of shot their way. After a particularly large tremor, a Peridot informed Emerald that their communications array was down, and most of the ships systems were offline. As the crew rushed to their battlestations, Emerald called over her top lieutenant.
"We won't win this battle with the ships we have. There are simply too many rebel ships in this sector, and we can't call in reinforcements with our communications array down," Emerald growled as she pondered what to do.
"What are your orders, shipmaster?" the Tiger's Eye asked.
Emerald made to answer, but paused as she began to think. After a minute of this had passed, she had a solution.
"Lieutenants!" yelled emerald. A Topaz and a Tiger's eye ran forward and saluted. Their armor was designed to show their rank as well as to protect the gem of the soldier that wore it. It was elaborately crafted, with intricate designs etched into the metal covering their chest and lower body. On their breastplate were two stars on the left side of the breastplate, symbolizing their rank as lieutentants. They carried curved rectangular shields with the Diamond authority sigil across the front, and plasma rifles strapped to their backs.
"I need you two to take a company of soldiers and use the escape pods to get to a homeworld vessel, or a colony with a working communications array, and relay a command to any flotilla within a reasonable distance to join the battle here at all haste."
The two lieutenants saluted and said, "Yes shipmaster, it will be done."
The ruby was somewhat displeased with this development, though her displeasure was overshadowed by the grief consuming her. She and a few hundred of the soldiers and crew of the ship, along with two lieutenants were to leave the ship and rally reinforcements from any nearby homeworld systems. She had hoped to stick around for more fighting, but recognized the soundness of the plan presented by shipmaster Emerald that she overheard. What they were to do after they accomplished this mission, she didn't know. She was a soldier, and soldiers were not to be bothered with those kind of details. They made their way to the escape pods near the aft section of the ship, all the while the ruby, at the head of the group, scanned her surroundings with her few remaining ruby comrades.
They soon reached the escape pods, there were fifty in total, and the ruby and her fellow soldiers were ordered to wait until the rest of the crew entered the pods first, before entering themselves. The ruby, Ruby 1VZ, entered one pod, and found herself sharing the space with two Peridots, four Quartzs, two of them Jaspers, a Bismuth and another Ruby. She sat next to the ruby, feeling more comfortable next to a gem of her caste and type. After a minute of waiting, their pod rose from is position and sped after the other escape pods, whom had already sped off into the star speckled inky black blanket of space.
'Well, we aren't dead yet, so that's good.' the ruby thought. She had hoped for the best, but was slightly tensed incase they were to be suddenly exposed to the vaccum of space. When she saw that they had made it beyond the cruiser, and a few other ships, she had relaxed after breathing a sigh of relief. However, she was proven wrong when her escape pod was violently shaken as incoming fire glanced off of the outer plating of the pod, the craft finally being thrown off course by a particularly large explosion, sending her and her fellow gems careening off course into the abyss that was space.