Chapter 9: Lightning Strikes!
Rose restlessly walked back and forth, only to stop periodically for a few seconds to glance at the white oval gemstone lying on her table. She made sure that the gemstone had no signs of cracks. If they were, she would heal them using her tears.
Oh Pearl, why did I let you go look for them? It wasn't the first time her dear friend had risked her life in the line of battle. Sometimes, she fought valiantly and sometimes, she fought blindly. Rose didn't know if this one counts as valiant or blind. When the soldiers returned with her gemstone, she immediately prioritised her friend's well-being.
She had sent patrols to go look for the Ruby and Sapphire, fearing for their safety. One of the soldiers told her that when they found Pearl's gemstone, the Gems assigned to her were both shattered. This worried her since Homeworld had never penetrated this deep into their perimeters before, let alone undetected by Bloodstone's outer patrols.
Then, she heard a shimmering sound coming from behind her. Rose turned around and saw Pearl's gemstone floating as it was surrounded in a body of light. It started taking shaped until it materialized into the tall slender Gem that is her friend.
Pearl dropped to the ground, still woozy from the recovery. She retained the same appearance she had before but there were bruises on her arms and legs because she had quickened her reformation.
Rose was relieved and upset at the same time. "Pearl, you know you shouldn't speed up your recovery."
"I'm sorry, Rose." Pearl said as she slowly rose up. "But I can't just stay in my gemstone and do nothing while you weep for me."
Rose was touched. She helped her up. Her bruises looked like she was beaten by her master. It gave her a bitter reminder on why she rebelled against her leaders. All Gems should be free. That was her rallying call that gathered her army. She was taught by Pink Diamond that love can inspire people, and Rosean Gems were known for their love and compassion. She was no different. Even today, she still mourns for her Diamond's death. She was the reason this rebellion even started. Her belief was what guided her.
"Rose…" Pearl said nervously. "I have a question to ask."
"Sure, what is it, Pearl?" Rose replied. She was used with her asking questions. It was mostly about the Earth or why life here was so important.
"Do you believe… that I can be your second-in-command?"
The question caught her off guard. Instead of stepping back and recoiling from the surprise, Rose moved closer to Pearl and crouched down, making sure she was at the same level as her. "Of course I believe in you, Pearl. Why would you ask such a question like that?"
Pearl looked at her sweet face, feeling slightly happy and then shook away. "It's nothing, Rose. I was just asking. That's all."
Rose knew her too well to know that she was hiding something from her. She made her look at her and said, "Pearl," Her deadeye stare slightly frightened the pale slender Gem. "What happened back at the forest?"
"I-I… There was this Gem. He told me—"
"He?"
Pearl nodded. "Yes, the Gem took on a male form. He told me that you lied when you told me that you believed that I can be your second-in-command. Then…, he tried to kill me."
Deep inside, Rose could feel the anger boiling inside of her, but her Rosean demeanor kept it cooled. Instead, she hugged her friend. Pearl's thin body was slowly cushioned by Rose's plump and soft arms. To her, it felt like she was getting hug by a huge pillow monster.
"Those are just lies, Pearl." Rose said to her in soft and motherly tone. "Don't ever listen to what those Homeworlders say about you." She then released her from her embrace. Pearl wiped a tear away before Rose continued. "Now, any chance you know what that Gem was?"
Pearl took a moment to remember before saying, "I think he was a—"
"Rose Quartz!" A soldier suddenly barged in, looking exhausted. "The patrols… they found Ruby and Sapphire!"
Rose was never more happy to see her small red and blue friends. In all that delight, she quickly hugged the two. Then, Ruby yelped, causing her to release them.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did my hug hurt you?" Rose asked.
"No, ma'am." Ruby assured her. "It's just my right arm. It just recently got shot and regenerated."
"Oh dear."
"But it's okay. Rubies are designed to be very resilient. To us, it's just a flesh wound." She patted her arm to prove it, but winced in pain. "Well, kinda."
"There were two Homeworld soldiers chasing after us." Sapphire said. "They destroyed the physical forms of my escorts, two more Gems and…" She looked at Pearl and was surprised by her quick recovery (even though she didn't show it). "Pearl."
Rose could feel the anger seething through Pearl. She laid a hand on her shoulder to calm her down before turning to Sapphire and asked, "Do they know about our base?"
Sapphire shook her head. "I can't say. When we fused, there was a possibility… but the chances were… slim."
"You two fused? Again?" Pearl was surprised.
"Yeah, we had to get away from those Homeworlders." Ruby said. "We nearly slipped away, but they knew it was us. Thank goodness for this Gem over here." She motioned her hand to the Gem beside them, a Dravite.
"Thank you for finding and bringing them back here." Rose thanked her.
"I was just doing my job, ma'am." The Dravite said. She had a sullen look on her face. "But two of my friends risked their lives to distract those Homeworlders while I brought these two back."
"I'm sure they'll be fine." Despite all her optimism, Rose was deeply worried. Whoever those two Homeworlders were, they were dangerous. They manage to defeat Sapphire's escorts, Pearl and four more Gems. Blue Diamond wasted no expenses to retrieve Sapphire. She wanted her back and Rose knew why.
Before she could rally a search party to look for the Dravite's two friends, another guard approached her.
"Rose, an Emerald just approached our perimeter." The guard said. "She says she's one of us."
"Bring her inside."
The Emerald was brought in and placed in the center of the field. Rose, Pearl, Ruby and Sapphire felt pity for her condition. She was in rough shape and was shaking, possibly from surviving the Homeworlders' attacks. When asked, Dravite confirmed that it was one of her friends.
"How did you manage to escape?" Pearl asked her.
"I crawled away while th-they… finished off Aquamarine."
A sudden silence descended on the group. Rose could only give pity to Dravite who had lost a friend. She wasn't the only one who lost someone close to her. Many had, but they still fight to ensure that their sacrifices would not go in vain.
"Oh no," Sapphire's terrified expression broke the silence. They looked at her, worried and confused.
"What's the matter, Sapphire?" Rose asked.
"Homeworld… They found us."
A deafening boom erupted above the skies before dozens of dropships emerged. The whole base went under full alert. Gems scatter, trying to find their equipment while some who had ranged weapons tried to fight back.
"H-How?" Pearl asked out loud. "How could they know where we were?" She turned to Rose who was staring worryingly at the dropship-filled sky.
"B-because I brought them here," Emerald hesitantly revealed to them.
Dravite felt like she was hit by a brick at her friend's sudden betrayal. In a sudden burst of anger, Dravite grabbed the green Gem by the collar. "Why!?" She asked, "Why did you bring them here?"
"I'm sorry. I was forced to by—" Before Emerald could finish answering, a cracking sound pierced through the air. Rose placed a hand on her mouth to conceal her gasp as she saw a large gaping hole that penetrated through Dravite and Emerald's body. Their physical forms crumbled.
"Targets down." Sol looked down at the scope of his railgun, watching the rebels scatter at the sight of the Lightning Division's dropships. They lay prone on a small hill, 200 meters away from the rebel base. Morganite's plan to use the Emerald to pinpoint the rebel base worked.
"2 for 1. Nice." Morganite complimented Sol's shot by patting him in the back.
"Thunderfist, this is Helios, do you copy?" Sol contacted the Gem in charge of the attack.
"Loud and clear, Helios. Nice work on locating the rebel base. We'll take it from here."
"Copy that. Helios out."
The two stood up and trekked down the hill, making their way towards the enemy base. They brandished their weapons and came out from the forest like a pack of wild beasts. Sol loaded a new round into his railgun and fired it at a panicking rebel. He opened the latch, loaded another round and fired it at another rebel before opening the latch, repeating the process again. As he was busy picking off the far away rebels, Morgan hacked away at every rebel he saw. Not long after, the dropships started dropping Homeworld Citrines into the enemy base. Some summoned their weapons and crash down onto the rebels, finishing them off with a single hit from their fists or heavy weapons.
"Oh look, it's raining Quartzes." Morgan pointed at the sky after he killed a rebel.
"Good thing they're on our side." Sol added. They were then interrupted by a rebel charging at them. She was killed when a bright yellow object crashed into her, immediately shattering her. The yellow object revealed itself to be none other than Thunderfist himself.
"Well, if it isn't the Beryl mercenary and the Feldspar." said the Citrine. The commander of the Lightning Division was a headstrong and fearless Quartz Gem. Wearing a scaled armor of hammered bronze and mail, he leads his soldiers with his mighty maul and his exceptional 'shock' tactics. "Now what are you two waiting for? We have a battle to win here!"
"Thunderfist, remember our priority." Sol reminded him. "If you see the Sapphire or a three-eyed red-and-pink Gem, capture it."
The three assaulted the enemy's base, tearing through rebels and gathering the rest of the Citrines. The 3rd YD Quartz Division was called the 'Lightning Division' for a reason. They were occasionally deployed as shock troopers, charging at the enemy head-on with the intent of destroying them before they were able to mount a proper defense. They were numerous, fast and resilient. But most of all, they were Quartzes.
Sol shot a rebel coming at him with his railgun before summoning his dagger and jabbed it at another rebel. War was chaotic thing to be in, he knew that. Everywhere there were Gems fighting and dying, buildings being destroyed and burned. In all this commotion, it was hard to tell a Homeworlder from a rebel except for the diamonds on their armor.
The ground seemed to burst with lightning every time the Citrines attacked. They were always like that. These yellow variant of Quartzes were created with the ability to generate electricity through their bodies. But with proper training, they were able to channel it through their weapons.
Thunderfist brought his maul down onto the ground, releasing a burst of electricity that poofed three rebels. Morganite was tackled down, blocking a battleaxe aimed at his face with his hatchets. He kicked his attacker away and plunged his hatchet at its neck. The rebels lacked discipline and training. They were no match against an army of well-trained and well-equipped Quartzes. Sol jumped over a wounded Gem and ignited a couple of rebels with a flick of his hands. They screamed and shrieked before the Citrines ended their agony.
As the Lightning Division pushed forward, they encounter a set of improvised barricades. It was crudely made, likely from Earthen material. Rough walls no thicker than 2 inches were fortified by jagged wooden spikes. Behind them were two dozen rebels, armed and ready for them. But their faces betrayed their courage. They were cowering in fear, yet the refuse to admit it. At the distance was a pink flag bearing a rose entwined by thorns. Sol knew what that flag meant. She's here. He thought. A small smile crept up his face. The leader of the rebels is here.
"Citrines, execute Rolling Thunder formation!" Upon Thunderfist's command, the Citrines' bodies began radiating with electricity before they charged through the barricades, smashing everything that stands in their way. The ground exploded with tremendous shock as clouds of white smoke rose up into the sky. The Lightning Division's tactics were simple yet effective: Strike fast and strike hard.
The stunned rebels weren't able to fully recover before a second wave was unleashed. It was a brutal massacre with sparks and gem shards flying around. By the time Sol, Morganite and Thunderfist walked through the now-destroyed barricades, there were only two surviving rebels. One of them made a futile attempt on attacking the three but was pummeled to the ground by a Citrine soldier. The other rebel –knowing that resistance would be her demise– surrendered.
The clamor of battle still roared throughout the base and outside of it. The rebels tried to escape through the forest, but Thunderfist's soldiers hunted them down, one Gem at a time. With most of the base's facilities secured, Sol and Morganite headed towards where Rose Quartz's flag stood flapping. Below the flag was a lilac-canvased tent.
"She was here…" Morganite remarked disdainfully as he beamed at the pink flag.
Inside of the tent was a mess. Rose Quartz must have been in a hurry to retreat. So much that she had forgotten to take the map that was lying on a table. Sol swiped a finger on the partially-rolled map and found himself staring at the largest discovery the Homeworld Army had uncovered.
"We have successfully taken over their base!" Thunderfist proudly declared as he entered the tent with two Citrines beside him. He took a moment to inspect the interior of the tent before setting his yellow eyes on Sol. "What do you have there?"
"Something that would greatly benefit our cause." Sol said, smiling. He waved at Thunderfist to come forward and showed him the map. The Quartz's eyes widened in disbelief once he took a closer look at the map. First, Thunderfist muttered in a very low tone as his right index finger trailed the X's that dotted across the map. A few seconds later, he slowly chuckled before erupting in hearty laughter.
"You two should deserve a reward for this." He said.
Yes, speaking of rewards… "I trust you managed to find the Sapphire?"
Thunderfist shook his head, a clear indication that the target was gone along with the other high priority targets on Homeworld's list. Sol could hear Morganite grunting over the frustration of losing the Sapphire for the third time. For him, losing a target meant an overdue on his pay.
Without saying a word, Sol walked towards a stool and sat on it, releasing a breath of exhaustion. His muscles were sore from the fighting and his equipment was starting to weigh down on him. I think Blue Diamond may need to drop the 'capture' order and warrant a 'kill' order. He thought, holding a growl under his throat. Because I'm done playing hide-and-seek with her.
Author's Note:
Sorry for the long update. I've been a bit busy lately. Currently I'm accepting ideas for future chapters (this doesn't mean the next chapter is based on your ideas but it may include some) but NO OC's. So please share your ideas in the comments.
Thunderfist is actually a really interesting character. Think of him as a Nord from TES who enjoys mead, fighting and a sense of honor (I'll explain more on the 'honor' part later).