Chapter One:
Prelude to War and the Wolf rebellion
For untold eons the power of the Diamonds had stayed stable and rather prosperous. War wasn't untold but there was not a war in which the Diamonds had to retreat so badly and admit strategic defeat than the Rose Rebellion. This war in hindsight was inevitable, to create such a skilled warrior gem race and expect it to stay inside it's caste is impossible.
The Rose Quartz might've been created to fight by the orders of the Diamonds but with it's healing powers and such prowess on the field it was a wonder that the rebellion hadn't happened sooner. I wonder if Pink Diamond knew that before the rebellion or not, I also wonder why did she create such a powerful caste of soldiers? What did she plan to use those armies on? Who did she suspect she'd be fighting with those armies? Original plans for the Rose Quartz soldiers have either been destroyed or are in a so secret location that I couldn't find them or where they might be. All I can offer is speculation on that case but what I can offer is it's fighting capabilities.
Prior to the Rose Rebellion the only war that the Rose Quartz were a part of was the capture of Wolf 359 and the landing of Wolf 359-1. The Wolf 359 Rebellion was a quick and short affair, only about 40,000 soldiers in the rebellion facing off against only 20,000 Rose Quartz soldiers, the Diamonds would show symptoms of what I believe was complacency that would plague the Rose Rebellion. Wolf 359-1 and Wolf 359-2 are the two barren planets in the Dwarf star's system but it's importance was and still is that it was an energy and mineral outpost. But the rebellion on a whole was mostly wiped off most records with few being being able to be accessed by normal gems although I found a very detailed report that most of this history section I am going to be basing off of.
This was one of the many systems Pink Diamond had control over before starting on her first colony on Earth. According to reports and census data Pink Diamond was managing the system well, the orbital mining stations showed a rise in total collected material along with the energy stations around the star expanding rapidly to meet the demand it could output. But towards the end of the 600th cycle of Wolf 359-1 something started to change. Less and less materials were brought in and the reliance of Quartz mining an uprising was always a possibility. Three cycles later, Wolf 359-1's mining station around the planet a mass expulsion of Agates to the command post in the system.
Within days of this happening Wolf 359-1's quartz begun to arm the transport vessels with the lasers used to mine the planet. The Wolf 359-1's leader, Ametrine W21Z sent word to the command posts's regent, Moissanite 9IXO to surrender the system to Ametrine. Moissanite obviously refused and scrambled the small force of guardian ships to defend the station.
The battles that would follow would send hundreds of quartz soldiers into the vacuum of space to wait until rescue. For the Ametrine forces this wasn't usually too long since the sheer number of transport vessels the mines needed to keep up the exporting of minerals. The Diamond forces had to sit and wait for their reinforcements to arrive. In the meantime Wolf 359-2's station also rebelled, but this time they shattered their Agates. All eight of the energy stations however stayed loyal to Pink Diamond since they were mostly staffed with Peridots instead of Quartzs. The defence of the Diamond's remaining stations in Wolf 359 was dire, daily raids by Ametrine's forces would put a strain on the command post's soldiers they could field. By the second month of battle Wolf 359's energy stations eight and seven fell to the Quartz docking and storming the stations before evacuation. The Peridots on board were captured or shattered.
The nearby garrison of Paygan A-14 comprised of 10,000 amethyst soldiers under the banner of Pink Diamond was moved to Wolf 359 to pacify the situation. It did the exact opposite. The transport ship of Amethysts were set upon by Ametrine's forces, resistance was made and some of the boarding party were pushed to the brink of expulsion of the transport ship. A missile hit the command deck plunging the entire ship into chaos. With the inability to speak due to the atmosphere being sucked out of the many holes the ship's command collapsed and the Agates left before the soldiers tasked with stopping the rebellion.
With the capture of Paygan Am-14 and the nearing collapse of arms inside the Command Post all seemed well for Ametrine, even calling herself Queen, but the full force of arms was about to descend onto the system. In the sixth months of the Wolf rebellion the first Rose Quartz army came in, Paygan RQ-1, also known as the Rose Guard. The Rose Guard contained the best known Rose Quartz whom I have not been able to find a number for, so from now one I will call the Rose Quartz just "Rose" even though it feels like I want to glorify her which isn't my intention here today.
The Rose Guard were immediately set upon just like Paygan Am-14, but unlike Paygan Am-14 the Rose Quartz weren't taken by surprise. The Rose Quartz soldiers set up deeper into the ship's hull than the Amethyst's were in their ship. Their swords and shields were at the ready they awaited the first boarding parties to make their way into the ship. The first boarding parties would soon capture the outside of the ships with no resistance. Soon the boarding parties would fight the Rose Guards.
The fighting was intense as the Ametrine forces smashed headlong into the Rose Quartzs. Even with the atmosphere being sucked off ship the Ametrine forces didn't expect the Rose Quartz to not be phased as they cut through the boarding parties. As they had primarily fighting and living in low to no atmosphere conditions during the rebellion and the mining had made the forces of Ametrine uniquely suited to be fighting in these conditions on board. But they never had to fight a losing battle in a no atmosphere environment. The lines of Ametrine soon faltered, the Rose Guard without needing to speak exploited their advantage. The retreat turned into a full on rout, only 2,000 of the original 11,000 would return from that battle.
Paygan RQ-1 managed to dock and relive the forces of Moissanite 9IXO. Energy Stations 7 and 8 were retaken by a daring raid by the Rose Guard led by the Rose. Here we would see the start of her ability to lead an army with the quick capture of two stations with only a handful of soldiers to fight with. And as Wolf 359-1 entered its first cycle since the start of the rebellion the assaults of the boarding parties continued. This time they were met with heavy resistance from Paygan RQ-1's small fighter escort which were kept in bay during light jumps. Even with the reinforcements it wasn't enough to retake either Wolf 359-1 or -2. Rose Quartz 1DA6 would request support day after day with the fighter escort quickly dwindling due to the sheer amount of small vessels Ametrine armed. It would take another full cycle of Wolf 359-1 until the Diamonds moved a finger.
Paygan RQ-2 and Spah (Spacecraft carrier) Am-25 jumped in with support of Paygan RQ-1's remaining fighters secured the space between the closest area a Paygan could jump and the command post. Variscite 22U4 (primarily known as Utahlite post Wolf 359) and Variscite LA01 would come in as commander of the two Paygan RQ units. With 20,000 soldiers under her command the two Paygan units moved forth from the command post to Wolf 359-1. Heavy resistance was met in the skies over Wolf 359-1 but with the support Spah A-25 they were able to make their way to the orbital station and began to land forces on the planet.
Fighting on the station would be the toughest fighting of the rebellion. Most of Paygan RQ-2's entire army would either be shattered or dematerialized within this battle.
A short aside for whomever is reading and isn't familiar with the standard way to build orbital mining stations: A mining station is comprised of 50 floors going either way from the walkway. The majority of the station was a cylinder in the middle of a ring. These rings would be connected with walkways to the majority of the station. The atmosphere generator and energy production/storage along with commander/regent corners would be on the closest floors to the center. As you go further and further from the center the less and less vital everything is. The floors after the the important areas are hangar bays and stockpile areas. These stretch to about floors 25 (plus or minus a floor depending), after floor 26 these would be crew corners for the rest of the staff to run the station and the mine. Most of the times these corners will be rotated out every few cycles around the sun to make sure they don't get too comfortable or too resentful. Wolf 359 was not one of those stations and aside from the first 100 cycles there was little movement of gems too and from the surface to work. In the official report of the Wolf Rebellion this is cited as the general reason for the rebellion and I am going to echo it here although the Diamonds and higher ups certainly took their time to subdue this rebellion.
Paygan RQ-2 Led by Variscite LA01 would take the outer ring with little to no problem. A few boarding parties were sent to the far northern edge of the station but they were pushed back into their pods with stiff resistance by Ametrine soldiers expecting them. The determination and grit shown by the Ametrine soldiers was only matched by the determination and discipline of the Rose Quartzs. With the outer ring taken Variscite LA01 (know known from this point on as simply "LA01") gave the order the all Rose Quartzs in this battle steeled themselves for: charge.
Paygan RQ-2 charged from the outer ring into the walk ways packed to brim with rebels. An account from the official report records a Rose Quartz soldier barely able to move her sword arm over her body to stab into the mass of gems on the other side of her shield. The battle for the causeways drug on and on, LA01 would push forward and let her Quartz retreat and regroup before slamming into them again. Each time they charged back the rebels would give a bit more of land than before and finally after the seventeenth charge the rebels broke. It's told that panic ripped through the rebels like wildfire and without an Agate they collapsed into a rout. Gems would be dematerialized from falling and having such a mass running on top and over them. Rout was total although the unnamed Ametrine tried to reform her lines in the center floor she couldn't stop the flow of rebels retreating, she made the fateful decision to close the doors on her own soldiers. Anyone caught on the wrong side of this would surrender or fight until the last. Prisoners would be taken but post battle they would be shattered or dematerialized and sent for testing.
As LA01 formed her soldiers again for the desperate push into the station itself good news came to her: the Rose Guard managed to make landfall, taking a small dome and basing themselves out of it. LA01 unfortunately had no time to tell her soldiers as they needed to be ready to push themselves into another desperate charge. Around this time the Ametrine general gave the decision to fight in the silence cutting all air to the station. This decision would only lead to their doom as part of the standard gear for Quartz soldiers were given Atmosphere Helmets. Although not really suppose to be used for battle (they were designed incase a Paygan ship's atmospheric hull was broken) they did have com systems and probably could withstand a few hits before broken.
LA01 along with what was left of her Paygan moved forth to force their way into the station itself. A lot of the casualties listed in this report would be solely blamed LA01 on her lack of leadership during the battle of the station but I think it's unfair to list her as the blame for it. She was given a near impossible task of dislodging a stronger army from their dug in position on the station. Her and her forces had to make their way through four locked doors barely two gems wide and fight their way through that gap. A lesser commander and a lesser soldier race probably would've lost this assault but the Rose Quartz's legendary discipline and LA01's presence in the battle swung the scales of war in favor of the Diamonds. Her and her lucern hammer was certainly a presence on a battlefield like we would see with her betraying the Diamonds and helping the Rose rebellion. As she and her soldiers moved forth into as the gap fighting became even more intense than it already had. Weapon clashed with weapon or shield, gems would fall or be shattered left and right in these gaps. Even as so many of their comrades fell before them the Rose's pushed deeper and deeper into the station, taking the center floor and cutting the army literally in two. Fighting from this point onward wouldn't be as brutal as the center floor, the Paygan only losing about 300 more soldiers in the fight but their numbers of armed and ready soldiers fell from 10,000 to only 3,724 soldiers left to fight on.
But during the battle of the station LA01's gem had been cracked slightly, she lost the ability to stand and wield her weapon for the rest of the battle. Rose Quartz Y80A (going as "Y80A" for the rest of the battle) would quickly take command of the situation as LA01 would be taken back to the command post as they wait for limbs to arrive. The rebel army on the station would try to retreat and meet up with the force on the surface of Wolf 359-1. The Amethyst fighters from Spah Am-25 would shoot down five escape pods trying to leave the battle stranding 1,000 soldiers in the vacuum of space. Y80A gave the orders to fight into the bowels before moving upwards and dealing with the small force above them. Much of the battle for the station was already won. Ametrine soldiers unable to talk with each other and coordinate a defense melted upon contact with the Rose quartz line's. Most of the remaining 7,000 would surrender to Y80A and would be rounded up on the causeways. Ultimately the 20,000 Ametrines that were on board the station would fall to 7,000 still standing and 4,000 dematerialized, most would be recycled or shattered out right of the survivors.. The battle for the station was over.
Ametrine W21Z was strangely not present in the battle for the station. While it's debatable whether or not she would've made a difference on the station itself, on Wolf 359's surface it would prove to be what almost won the battle. W21Z was unfortunately not really recorded after her shattering on capture, and little of her actual leadership style was known. She must've been charismatic as Rose due to the fact that she could establish control of a system through her own personality. But her determination would be against Paygan RQ-1's discipline and Variscite 22U4's presence on the battlefield. It was a shame that the Variscite gemstone started to fall out of favor towards the end of the Diamond's Accession because a gemstone specifically made to be a presence on a battlefield and to be a morale boost proved to be very effective when in battle.
W21Z thought if she fought a guerrilla war that she would only lose more slowly, and in all unexpected strategic brilliance this was one area she miss calculated. The 20,000 remaining Ametrine soldier arrayed against the Rose Guard as they landed. What was interesting was that W21Z never got the jump on 22U4 when they were landing. If she did she might've been able to push the diamonds out of the system for another year or two. But what was chosen was chosen.
W21Z decided that the area the Rose Guard landed was good enough for her to attack because of the flat terrain. It gave her an ability to use the numbers to her advantage and might've been able to crush the landing force. One of the tactical gambles that 22U4 took was to match their lines 1 for 1 in length. This dangerously thinned out her lines, making the first shock of the charge even more dangerous. If the Ametrine forces ever broke through her lines she would've been broken in two and destroyed. And yet the lines held.
W21Z was almost a little noble with this battle, not only did she let the Rose Guard unload and form lines but she only attacked when it seemed they were ready. Rose would be in this battle, and this action of nobility would not be replicated in her own rebellion. The Ametrine forces let out a battle cry and charged into the Rose Guard's swords. In the after action report they make note of how strong this initial charge was. "The lines of Ametrine W21Z's forces charged forward, moving like lightening to the row of Rose Quartz soldiers with their shields up. When the two armies impacted an audible thud could be heard over the cries of the battle and the shouting of Variscite 22U4." the report notes.
The Rose Guard would hold, inches would be given as the first charge hit. Swords and spears and axes and whatever else they could wield hit against each other in furious melee. The battle would last for hours as the Ametrine forces continued their attack and the Rose Quartz held their ground. In one section towards the left flank the Rose Quartzs holding that area would either be driven backwards or shattered or dematerialized. There was a serious chance of breakthrough before 22U4 moved there. Her shouting and swinging of her hammer was apparently legendary. Her sea green hammer swung over her head and forced scores of Ametrines to be launched into the air. Her war cry of "GET BACK INTO THE LINES" reportedly confused the Ametrines on the other side. At one point her helmet fell off and she wouldn't notice until the end of the battle.
This was the final push for W21Z, her army was tired by this point and seeing the last glimpse of freedom be shattered they broke. Most retreated into the deep cuts made by the mining, some would surrender, a surprisingly large amount tried to push their way through the Rose Guard to their ships and try to escape. Ultimately they would all be rounded up and shattered. W21Z would be captured by 22U4 herself, the two engaging in furious combat, with W21Z being dematerialized after a blow to the chest. She would be brought before the diamonds and shattered.
With the defeat of W21Z and Wolf 359-1 itself, Wolf 359-2 would quickly surrender with them all being put to reeducation camps
