With the war having begun, both sides attempt to keep the scales tipped in their favor. Meanwhile, the Crystal Gems try a few more ideas to break their captivity.
...
As both sides advanced and made contact with each other, various gems and weapons clashed. With each side needing all the manpower (or rather gem power) they could muster, no gem type was absent from the battlefield. If the individual was able to put up a decent enough fight on their end or bring about some advantage to their respective side, then they were involved. As the battles took place with each gem, many encounters were easy to determine who would be victorious, such as the occasional quartz versus pearl, while other skirmishes dragged out as both parties involved could hold their own, such as a couple rubies versus a jasper. While each common gem had advanced and began their battles, the main forces on both sides had stayed put for the time being. With the diamonds from either group overseeing the battle to try and determine who the battle would tip in favor of, they watched on as gems fought.
"Seems like his army can hold their own well enough." Blue noted.
"Yes well, we did know that my brother is still a tactician of sorts. It's not like he's using unknown gems to us either. A majority of this army are gems that were aligned with Homeworld originally." said White.
"Speaking of that tactician point, seems that he planned on winning this off of strength and strategy here. With the mixture of enhanced gems in the fray, they'll have an obvious advantage and will need to be identified quickly. If we can manage to poof them early on, that should allow us to focus our efforts on the more troublesome groups and some other gems, like his little posse over there. I won't speak for Steven here since he can't be poofed nor do we know if he'll even be fighting in a large effort here, but the other two are concerning." Yellow explained as she noticed something on the battlefield, to which she responded by commanding a couple gems to relocate their efforts.
Noticing Yellow's efforts, White spoke up. "Yellow, I want you in charge this time around. We all know your the better tactician when it comes to commanding an army, as you have the most experience with it. If you see something that we can do here, let us know and we'll oblige."
"Hmm, very well White. I'll see what I can do then. If that's the case however, I need you both prepared as well. Me and Blue may have to join the fray here soon enough should this fight begin taking a turn, which will result in you leading some White."
"That is fine Yellow. While I may not be as well versed in battlefield tactics as you and Black are, I can still manage to identify a poor situation when I see one." Giving a nod of confirmation to the eldest diamond's comment, Yellow went back to commanding gems, pointing out flaws and weaknesses in the battlefield. If this is where Homeworld and it's defenses fell, then they be sure to put up a decent enough fight.
As gems began to be moved around and some battles were beginning to become difficult, Black Diamond noticed Yellow's efforts. "Seems that they have a well versed tactician themselves. I had heard of Yellow Diamond's ability to lead an army versus the other two, but to see it in action. I must say I'm impressed."
"Indeed my diamond. Impressive as it is though, I would guess it should still be in vain. They haven't quite noticed our peridots on the high ground yet, or if they have, then they aren't doing anything about it, either of out inability or that they believe them to be of little concern at the moment. Regardless though, with them in play, we should still be able to relocate ourselves as necessary in a better fashion then our enemy. After all, we have multiple sources overlooking and changing the battlefield, while they only have three, which could also be argued that only one of them is worthwhile in a defensive aspect." Earl noted.
"Right you are Earl. Even with Yellow's abilities, this battle is going as planned so far. Though I believe it will be a bit drawn out, we should still hold victory by the end of it. With that being said though, I believe we can afford to give our forces a bit more of an edge out there. Red, your up. Go have your fun." Black said.
"Got it BD. I'll try to leave some gems out there for everyone else." the ruby said as she began charging into battle, leaving Black, Earl, and Steven behind."
"With Red on the field, that should cause some turmoil on our foe's part. Steven, be ready. I believe that your time will be coming up here soon as well."
Receiving a nod of confirmation from the young hybrid, who had a mixture of determination, sorrow, and a hint of relief on his face, Black continued looking onward to the fights that were taking place.
-Meanwhile, at Beta Facility-
The Gems had tried everything they could think of to break free of their current predicament. Once they found that fusion was unsuccessful, they began attempting to focus their attacks on a single point where the barrier was dented, to see if all their efforts combined would be able to break through. Although the dent grew deeper and had also widened, the group found that the barrier still stood it's ground without giving a single sign of breaking.
"What the heck is this stuff even made of?! Amethyst said as she made another whip lash at the wall out of anger.
"I'm not sure. If I had to guess, they probably used several layers of it though if we're having this much trouble." said Connie.
"Whatever it is, we need to keep going at it. The longer we sit here, the worse off that battle could be going for the diamonds." Pearl noted.
"No duh Pearl...how exactly do you suggest we keep going at it? We've thrown everything at this thing and we've only gotten a few bumps in the wall." said an angry Amethyst.
Before the conversation could escalate into a bickering fight, Garnet stepped in. "Enough, going at each other isn't going to free us any sooner. Pearl's right though, we can't just keep sitting here doing nothing."
"Well then, what do you suggest we try then fusion since brute force obviously won't work." said Jasper.
"I've actually been thinking on that one" said Connie. "We might not be able to bring the wall down with our force here, but what about our outside forces."
"What do you mean Connie?" asked Pearl
"I mean, do you all remember what we're surrounded by? We're on an island surrounded by water. "What if Lapis could use that and get us out?"
As the group looked to the aquatic gem, she gave a look of regret. "Sorry guys, but it won't work. I tried it earlier and I couldn't reach the ocean water. Without being able to see it, I can't direct my powers well enough to command the water from here. Besides, with that much water, I don't want to risk bringing the facility down on us or drowning you Connie."
"Well, since that idea won't work, anyone else got anything" asked Bismuth.
"I might..." said Garnet. "Although Connie's idea won't work, it does give me an idea we could try. Lapis, how much water is in that canteen?"
"Exactly? I'm not sure. It's full right now though if that helps any.
"Do you think you could encase all of us with it, even if only a little?"
"If we all stand next to each other, maybe. Why though?"
"Please do it. I'd like to try something."
"Alright, get close everyone." As the group huddled in close enough in a fashion similar to that of people coming together for warmth, Lapis brought out all the water from her container. Although it was close, it was found that the water did allow everyone to be encased in it at the waist as if it were a large belt circling around the group.
"Ok, so now what?" asked Amethyst.
"Just give me a second." Garnet said as she began to hold out her hands and concentrate. After sometime and silence, the group soon found themselves encased in a bubble.
"Wow G...I didn't even think of that one. How you get the bubble around us though?"
"We can usually only bubble other people or objects, but not ourselves. So I bubbled Lapis' water, which in turn, bubbled us. And if I give enough focus to the bubble then I should...be able...to..." she said as she began to struggle as she attempted to work the bubble. Soon enough though, the group found themselves going through space. After a few moments, the Gems found that they were within the throne room with the other two bubbles containing the guard from Beta. "...send us away...to the throne room..." Garnet continued as some exhaustion had come over her. Seeing the fusion's plan had worked, Pearl popped the bubble while Lapis retreated her water into the canteen once more.
"You okay Garnet?" asked Bismuth.
"I will be...I just need a moment...bubbling ourselves like that and sending us away without tapping it from the outside took some effort." Once her composure was regained, the group began heading to the nearest warp pad. Once at the warp pad, the group met up with Squaridot, who was still hard at work trying to gain access to the warp pad's history of use.
"Your all back...how'd you do that though? The warps here haven't gone off since everyone departed to engage Black Diamond."
"We'll fill you in later. Right now, we need to get to the battlefield. Where are they right now? asked Garnet.
"In quadrant thirty, I can take you there. I need a moment to put some pieces back on the warp pad though."
As the group awaited for the technician to have the warp pad back to it's normal status, they silently hoped that they wouldn't be too late in joining the war effort.
...
And now the Gems are freed and are able to join the effort (as soon as Squaridot gets done undoing everything she had been up until that point). Let's hope that they don't join in the battle too late.
I wasn't too sure initially on having a bubble trip to the throne room being used as the escape since it seems (to me anyway) a bit forced to be able to work. I thought of the idea and liked it, but got to thinking 'How they gonna ship themselves away...can't exactly put overnight on that to have it miraculously work'. Although I'm not too giddy about the idea, I threw in that the change in it's use required focus and energy, so I can live with it well enough. Just glad I was able to think of something creative to get them out of there.
Thanks for the support and patience guys. I do apologize as chapters have been coming out slower this past week. Hoping to get back to the regular posting here though. As I usually say though in some way, shape, or form, thanks for coming out. Hope Saturday is going good for everyone and that the past week wasn't too much a pain in the arse. Hope to see all of you once more in chapter 33, where we continue the war effort for Homeworld.
Go To War by Nothing More.