And now, the battle continues!
The continued battle had taken some unexpected turns as it carried on. The Crystal Gems were forced to fight a war of attrition thanks to their lower numbers and were quickly losing steam as the Homeworld forces never wavered. There was also the major disadvantage that they were not trying to spill any shards, but they all soon dreaded that permanently ending the lives of several Homeworld gems may be the only way they could survive. There only major advantage was the battlefield which, while it was serving them well as it gave them shelter from the opposition's heavy artillery, would only matter so much.
The Crystal Gems decided to take a brief reprieve from the battle by staying within the boundaries of the force field, a fact which greatly upset the assembled invaders. The only exception was Topaz who seemed completely frozen after Steven's heart-to-heart. They shouted and jeered at them as they regained their breath. Peridot, Lapis and Steven in particular were feeling the strain, being the most unfamiliar with war. To make matters worse, Garnet had gone inside the temple on a vision and returned soon after with grave news.
"All of the bubbled gems are gone. Homeworld must have stolen them somehow."
"WHAT?!" shouted Bismuth and Pearl, both knowing that many of those captured gems were fallen comrades from the old days. The others looked more disturbed at how they had managed such a heist without raising any suspicion. That is until Bismuth remembered an earlier event and felt her spirits drop like a stone.
"They sent something through the warp pad. They tried to shut down the force field by sending some peridots in the same way." The blacksmith felt guilt override her as she felt responsible. She told Steven to get back into the fray when she could have told him to stay in and monitor the pad in case they pulled another stunt.
"Wait, how could they just override the warp pad? Is that even possible?" asked Amethyst, hoping that this was all some misunderstanding.
"Take it from someone who spent centuries repairing these, it's very possible. As long as the pad is undamaged and no interference is present in the warp stream, there's nothing stopping Homeworld from sending something else," informed Peridot, who quickly realized the gravity of the situation. The others all looked at the pad, now realizing how it could be a massive liability. Amethyst in particular looked ready to flee as if a bomb could appear at any minute, but Garnet tried to lighten the mood.
"Everyone, relax. We have enough to worry about now without that. Peridot and Bismuth, you two get to work on a way to secure it after this battle is over. We still have Homeworld knocking on our door and we need to prioritize. There's no point working on a hypothetical when there's a definite problem in front of us."
"Garnet's right, as usual," agreed Pearl, "The issue there is we can only hold out for so long. We need to make a climactic move to turn the tide or else we will be overrun."
"What about a fusion? Opal, Sardonyx, even Sugilite could be helpful, right?" suggested Steven, but Garnet quickly shot down the idea.
"That will get Aquamarine's attention and doom us. One flick of her wrist and any fusion we have is incapacitated. Even Alexandrite was no match for her."
"Well then… What about a different fusion? There's seven of us here, maybe some combination will work?" spoke Lapis, much to the surprise of most of the group. As the one who seemed most uncomfortable with the concept a few days ago, it was incredibly bold on her part. Alas that too was shot down, this time by Pearl.
"While that might be the case, now is not the time to gamble. There are dozens of combinations and again it would still raise that little midget's suspicion. She'd just use that wand to freeze us and then who knows what would happen."
Steven put his hand in Lapis' for the thought, but the gesture meant little in the face of the odds. Just as the considered taking more desperate measures, they looked outside and noticed Aquamarine's vessel fly out of sight. While they could only guess why, the others saw this as the perfect opportunity.
"Well, that's convenient," smirked Peridot. The others could not agree more.
Trying to make the most of the opportunity, the three quickly deliberated on the fusions for the situation and ran out to the porch. They were quickly met by a collection of smug looks and taunts from the assembled invaders who were ready to end their mission and return to their everyday duties.
"Hah, what's the matter traitors?" shouted one vocal ruby, "You ready to come back to Homeworld and face your crimes?"
"Get out here and face us, cowards!" quipped a particularly annoyed jasper.
"What, aren't you big enough to accept your loss or do we need to stomp you some more?!" added a cocky amethyst. Pearl had to chuckle at the irony of the last statement.
At that moment the Crystal Gems, save for Bismuth, paired off and began three separate dances. The others assumed they had all lost their minds or were just taunting them until the forms of Pearl and Garnet melded into a single being of light which flew out of the barrier and into a massive four-armed fusion wearing evening attire.
"Oh, well if the audience wants a BIGGER challenge, I will gladly oblige," spoke the eloquent voice of Sardonyx who noticed the now terrified circle of gems around her. Suddenly their number advantage meant nothing in the face of this surreal new opponent. Their terror only grew as Steven and Amethyst fused and joined the fray as well as the jubilant Smoky Quartz.
"Now, Sardonyx, darling, that's not fair! Let's give these guys a fighting chance! I think your stage presence is making them nervous!" The terror among of the enemy gems grew tenfold at the sight of the three-armed fusion. Just as they thought it could not get any worse, Peridot and Lapis Lazuli (using an admittedly rather awkward dance that was a combination of beginner's ballroom dancing and the robot) merged into Turquoise and flew out of the force field on wings of liquid metal.
"You know, from down here you look almost comical. I suppose that happens when your leading officer is moronic enough to leave in the middle of the fight," quipped the flying fusion as the Homeworld horde finally felt their chances at winning hit zero and broke into a panic. Some started wildly swinging at the assembled fusions while others turned tail and ran for the ships.
"Oh come on now, the show is just starting!" chastised Sardonyx as she leaped dozens of feet into the air and summoned her war-hammer midflight, "At least give us a chance before you ship out!" She then laughed her signature laugh as she tore through one of the still fighters like it was tissue paper and sent into slamming into the ocean. The pilot, a black and green gem with a single eye, ejected from the cockpit but soon found herself running for her life from the towering fusion that continued to smash the ships with hardly any effort. Before long the entire ground force of the supposed "invasion" was running for the hills.
"Aw, I hope you all have room for more, because I've got an act that will blow you away!" cheered Smoky Quartz as she summoned three of her signature battle yo-yos and began creating a massive gust of wind. Try as many of the Homeworld gems might, all of them bowled away from the beach house and forced back to the cliff side by the gust.
"I would concoct some sort of pun for this scenario, but the looks of resignation and anger on your face will be more than entertaining enough," smirked Turquoise as she forced the crashed gem vessels out of the ocean and began melting them down to liquid. As the frightened attackers were pushed all the way back into the rock upon seeing an enormous blob of liquid metal, Turquoise soon shaped all of it into a massive prison cell using the cliff as the rear wall. The few gems who tried to run were quickly smacked back in line by Smoky Quartz with a yo-yo to the face. In only seconds approximately sixty gems were trapped in a forty-food long cell made of their own reconfigured aircraft. Sardonyx applauded at the sight.
"My, my, what an incredible display! I believe that concludes our performance today, unless the audience has any requests?"
"Let us out, you bunch of disgusting freaks! When Homeworld hears of this, you're all as good as shattered!" shouted a particularly testy jasper.
"Hm, that is a valid point," admitted the tuxedo-clad fusion, "Thankfully I have the perfect new display to leave you all speechless!"
She then held out her two right hands and released a massive blast of ice which soon enveloped the shell. The panicked screams of the enemy gems were quickly silenced as they were all frozen solid and ready to be bubbled later. After a brief marveling of her handiwork, Sardonyx bid everyone adieu and returned to Pearl and Garnet. Smoky Quartz and Turquoise soon followed leaving the seven Crystal Gems in a state of shock as they contemplated they had actually won the battle.
Aquamarine and the agate in charge of Satellite Scouter XL4 picked both the best and worst time to check on the battle down on Earth's surface. What was supposed to be a simple retrieval that perhaps involved a light skirmish had turned into a humiliating defeat. By a bunch of gems performing such loathsome, vile fusions that it made the two sick to their cores. They watched as the group broke into an impromptu celebration, cheering and hugging each other on the beach. That was the last straw for Aquamarine who felt her rage boil over and screamed so loudly the agate next to her felt her ears ringing.
"THAT TEARS IT! Send in all our fighters, call for backup, get one of the Diamonds down here! I don't care what it takes, that Rose Quartz will. Be. SHATTERED! Get a line to Homeworld double time while I try to fix this mess!"
"A-At once, Aquamarine," responded the larger gem, fearing for her safety. Just before she could get the transmission started, though, the boom of an explosion shocked them.
"What in the cosmos was that?!" asked Aquamarine, wondering how this situation could get any worse.
"Our scanners detect nothing, but it could have been an enemy fighter firing at us." Her answer came soon as one of the gem fighters exploded suddenly and the two caught a glimpse of yellow blur speeding by.
"Correction, it is an enemy fighter. One of gem construction, but most likely commandeered by the rebels."
That news brought the petite captain to a new level of infuriated. Those clods actually had advanced weaponry?! This just got better and better. The situation continued to grow direr as two fighters were given the order to break formation and shoot down the rogue aircraft. They were almost instantly outmaneuvered and blasted into smithereens.
"You have got to be kidding me!" shouted Aquamarine as she watched more fighters try to intercept the enemy vessel before it could attack the scout ship. Alas, as she watched two more ships get laser-blasted into oblivion she quickly decided a retreat was in order.
"Get yourself and all these gems back to Homeworld for harvesting. Tell the fighters to immediately attack the rebels on Earth. That ought to throw off that ship of theirs and wipe out Rose's insufferable drones in one swoop."
The head agate soon relayed the order for all the independent fighters to immediately break formation and descend on Earth. Aquamarine flew at top speed, which honestly was not much due to her tiny wingspan, but soon found the ship rumbling as the unknown ship continued firing on them.
As she passed by the cell containing the despondent Adamite and Cinnabar, she felt a small lump of joy emerge as she stared at the duo too lost in their despair to notice the barrage hitting them.
"Well, it looks like you two outdated freaks don't have to worry about being harvested anymore. You'll get blown up instead! Hah!" Adamite was not amused by this comment.
"If I had access to any form of rock, I would gladly bury you in enough rubble to suffocate your insufferable voice. And then I'd let you be Cinnabar's plaything once someone unearthed you." The fiery gem only grinned for a second before returning to her hopelessness. The sneer on Aquamarine's face grew larger.
"Well it's a shame that you're stuck in there. Because as long as that plasma wall holds, you are completely helpless-"
Apparently fate had it in for the squat commander as the onslaught by the hostile fighter necessitated the agate in charge to reroute power from all supplementary systems to bolster the shields long enough for their nova thrusters to reach light speed and escape. One of those systems was the holding cells.
Adamite and Cinnabar stared at the flying nuisance for a brief second in shock before the former slammed her against the wall with her burly fist and the latter gleefully ran down the hall leaving a smoke trail behind her.
"Where's an escape pod?" uttered through her clenched teeth.
"Why should I tell you? There's no rock to control here," spat Aquamarine, but regretted that as Adamite's other hand gripped her head and applied a disturbing amount of force.
"Because if you refuse to tell me, I'll let Cinnabar torch every gem aboard this ship. I'm the only one who can control her impulses, and if that is not enough motivation, I could also crush you in an instant. You are a pathetic, sniveling, waste of resources and I sincerely doubt even your own subordinates will miss you. Now answer my question before I grind you to pieces and my partner starts demolishing this ship."
As much as she tried, Aquamarine could not find a way to wriggle out of her grip or reach her wand and reluctantly confessed that the escape pods were on the left starboard side of the craft. Adamite delivered a crushing punch to the sneering gem's body for good measure before running off. She spent several seconds on the floor as the laser fire from the invading ship continue outside and one of the escape pods being launched. For once being silent, she returned to her own ship and made a beeline for the rebel base.
"Man, I've gotta try fusion sometime," remarked Bismuth as the group basked in their hard-earned victory. All seven of them were resting on the beach after such an intense fight and relished the quiet after an unending barrage that took up their afternoon. A few of them honestly could not believe they had come out unscathed, but all of them were thanking their lucky stars and appreciating every moment of training. Steven, however, caught sight of Topaz who still in the same spot at the foot of the stairs outside the force field. The others were wary, but figured she would have attacked by now if she were hostile.
"So, what's your decision?" asked the boy, much to the confusion of the others. He then explained his encounter with the fusion during his unwanted jaunt to Homeworld weeks ago, and how she was desperate for sanctuary from the grasp of the Diamonds. The others were all touched, especially Garnet once she heard about how Homeworld used their relationship as leverage to force obedience.
The others all looked at the stocky yellow fusion with kinder eyes than Topaz had ever seen and realized she had truly found a new home.
"You… really mean it? We can stay and be together here?" spoke the fusion for the first time since her arrival on Earth. While a few were taken aback at her high voice, they all smiled in support.
Steven reached out his hand. "Of course. If Homeworld won't recognize how special you are, we will. Welcome to the Crystal Gems."
Before the yellow fusion could accept the offer, however, Aquamarine's ship came roaring into view followed by several combat fighters. The tender moment was quickly brought to an end as the group realized that the miniscule captain had brought backup.
"Everyone inside!" commanded Garnet as laser fire bombarded the beach, apparently ignoring that one of their own was still in the line of fire. Topaz run inside with the rest, only to ram into the barrier and was forced to duck under the fire as Aquamarine and over a dozen maddened troops ran out carrying portable destabilizers.
"Rose Quartz, this ends NOW!" shrieked Aquamarine, "You and all your traitors either exit your base and come quietly or we'll open fire! That shield's going to fall eventually!"
As she ranted and raved at the Crystal Gems standing on the patio under the protection of the pink force field, she caught sight of Topaz and her anger intensified.
"And as for you, you useless sack of minerals, I'll have you court martialed! You've been a complete failure on this mission, both of you! I hope one of you ends up shattered and the other is forced to watch for your incompetence!"
"Hey! Don't yell at her!" shouted Steven, his temper flaring at the flagrant verbal abuse.
"Oh, you think you can corrupt her just like the rest of your pitiful little band? Well why don't you stop hiding and prove it?"
"Steven, don't let her bait you!" reminded Pearl as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Oh, that's hilarious! The pearl giving advice on anything besides how to hold open a door! What next, is she going to sing into submission?!" Pearl then had Garnet place a hand on her shoulder as the slender gem felt her urge to kill rising.
"You're all even dumber than I thought if you honestly think you could survive this! Even if you beat us, we have millions of gems ready to tear you apart! Heck, we might even just blow up the whole planet and be done with the lot of you! Now come out here willingly or we'll start testing how much laser fire that little shield of yours can withstand!"
The stress in the air was palpable between the two sides as the Crystal Gems were once again outnumbered, though less so this time, but now the forces were armed with weapons that would render them inert with a single hit. And now they actively had heavy-duty weapons pointed at them and Aquamarine's full attention. If that accursed wand could stop Alexandrite dead in her tracks, what chance did they have split up? In the end, however, they knew this was an uphill battle. They considered their earlier victory a miracle by every meaning of the word and they all agreed they would go down fighting if worst came to worst.
No one knew exactly how long their standoff was, but it ended abruptly as Aquamarine undid the bow in her hair and formed her dreaded gravity wand. The Crystal Gems and even some of her own troops raised their eyebrows at this since they had no idea how it would affect a force field, but the answer to that question never came. Instead a blue beam of light shot out and ensnared Topaz. The stocky fusion was immediately rendered immobile and was forcefully lifted several stories in the air.
"Hey, what are you doing?! She's one of your own!" shouted Steven, outrage and shock overwhelming his sense of reason.
"Well, since you seem to be so partial to her, and she clearly needs a lesson in discipline, this solves both problems. Now either you come out or I drag this traitor back to the ship and have her arrested for fraternizing with an enemy of the Diamonds."
Steven and his family were disgusted. They knew Aquamarine was callous, but this was a new level of deplorable. The jaspers and amethysts surrounding the tiny tyrant remained impassive and brandished their destabilizers. They all knew this was a trap.
But that did not stop Steven from charging headfirst with his shield in one hand and a spear in the other, his patience gone and itching for a fight for the first time in his life.
You know, as much as I still despite Aquamarine, I really enjoy writing her. It's like an exercise of how despicable I can make a character before the audience starts cheering when something goes wrong for her. Anyhow, next time is the dramatic conclusion!
Thank you all so much for reading! Please feel free to leave a review!