Chapter Ten: One Step Ahead

The Gozyos System.

Glass shattered. Air rushed out of the now-unsealed bridge; the Gems within had to hold on to whatever was nearby to avoid being pulled into the void. All except Goshenite, who was slammed against the back wall by Teptromina.

Tenrit was unable to grab hold of anything in time. He found himself pulled away by the rush of air, hurtling into space. Just before he passed into the expanse, a hand grabbed onto his arm. "Got you!" said Nines.

"Looks like I've found you again," Teptromina said. "Though, it might be more accurate to say you found me." Goshenite struggled against his grip. "Suppose I should thank you for that."

Pinned against the wall by her attacker, Goshenite couldn't reach her gem to summon her weapon. "How...how did you know we were coming?" she managed to choke out.

"I have my ways." One of Teptromina's metal wings pressed its tip against Goshenite's forehead, beginning to glow. "Now, why not make this easier for the both of us and stop struggling?"

Goshenite did her best to pull away from the blaster pressed against her head. "Obviously you don't know me as well as you think you do if you think I'll just lie down and die."

"Oh, it's not a matter of knowing you," he said. "I just figured that since I have you dead to rights, I might as well give you a choice. I've often heard that the illusion of free will grants one a control over the masses that even-"

Before Teptromina could finish speaking, Topaz grabbed his shoulder from behind, hurling him towards the broken window. He stopped himself before flying out into space, but this gave Goshenite and the other Gems a chance to summon their weapons.

"And I've often heard that distracting your opponent until help arrives works especially well on those who love the sound of their own voice," said Goshenite.

Teptromina floated to the floor. "Noted," he said quietly, sounding annoyed by his oversight. "Then what do you say to a different tactic?"

Goshenite readied her staff. Topaz swung her flail around above her head. Nines gripped tight to her khopesh, and aimed her blaster at the Interloper. All the other Quartzes surrounded Teptromina, weapons at the ready. "And what exactly would that tactic be?" asked Goshenite.

"Divide and conquer."

The Xenocide was suddenly rocked by a barrage of enemy fire. The second battleship had been all but forgotten during Teptromina's assault. Gems fell to the floor from the impact, exactly as Teptromina had expected.

Flying into the air once again, the Interlopers' leader hurled himself at Goshenite as he had done before. This time, the impact was great enough to smash through the floor, carrying both of them into the ship's inner workings.

"Goshenite!" yelled Topaz, scanning for her in the hole she and Teptromina had vanished through, to no avail.

"Uh...guys?" said Tenrit. "Hate to say it, but we've got something else to worry about right now…"

The Interloper battleship was drawing closer to the Xenocide, weapons preparing to fire again. "Uh-oh. Everyone brace for impact!" said Topaz.

Down in the lower levels, Teptrimina and Goshenite finally came to a stop near the ship's core. Goshenite managed to pry her attacker off of her, and came rolling to a stop on the other side of the room. She re-summoned her vanished weapon, preparing to charge at Teptromina.

"The only reason you managed to best me last time was because you had me outnumbered," said Teptromina. Now that you're all alone, and with my new and improved combat frame, you don't stand a chance."

"Is that so?" Goshenite replied. "I don't know if you've heard, but I didn't become the Supreme General of Homeworld by sitting behind a desk all day!" She charged the Interloper, hoping to catch him off-guard.

The ship was once again rattled by a barrage of cannonfire. Goshenite lost her footing, tumbling to the floor, where Teptromina followed up with two beams from his hands. Goshenite was then thrown up against the opposite wall. "Perhaps life behind a desk would have been more suitable for you…" he said.

"Shut up!" shouted the Beryl, getting to her feet. "What's going on up there?" she muttered.

"What's 'going on up there' is my soldiers finishing the job," said Teptromina. "While you struggle to even survive against me, your flagship is being torn to pieces by my forces. Even if, by some wild twist of fate, you manage to destroy me again, it's only a matter of time before you're sent hurtling down to the planet below."

"T-the planet below…" Goshenite said. Suddenly, she was struck by an idea. She raised her staff over her shoulder, throwing it at Teptromina. As she expected, he simply caught it before it could make impact.

"As I said, you don't have much of a chance at-what?" Teptromina had been momentarily distracted by the thrown staff; when he looked back to Goshenite, she was enveloped in a bright glow. A blinding flash burst forth from her form. "AARGH!"

Blinded by the flash, Teptromina began firing beams in all directions, Goshenite ducking and dodging between them on her way over to a communicator. It was only due to sheer luck that the ship's core was undamaged.

Meanwhile, up in the bridge, Goshenite's team was struggling to deal with the assault. The Xenocide was not in a good state; shields were down entirely, hull integrity was at sixty percent, and the enemy battleship was closing in. "Are the cannons charged yet?" asked Topaz?

"Y-yes, but-" a Nephrite said.

"Then whaddya waiting for!? Fire! Fire!" The crew did so, launching a barrage on the approaching ship. Plasma rounds tore through the hull, causing the fuel lines to erupt. Just like its twin, the battleship was destroyed. "See? What was so hard about that?"

"...That," said the Nephrite, pointing towards the planet.

It took Topaz a moment to notice what she was pointing at. Part of the cloud of dust that surrounded Gozyos-IV was gradually breaking off from the main mass, making its way over towards them. It was then she remembered that it wasn't dust that surrounded the planet. "Oh. Oh."

"Multiple warships inbound!" cried a Milky Quartz. "What should we do?"

"Can we keep firing?" asked Topaz.

"No, are you insane!?" said Tenrit. "We barely have enough firepower to hold off ten of them, and there looks to be ten thousand! We'd be better off just cutting our losses and returning to base."

"That isn't looking likely," a Peridot said. "Warp drives are completely down. And at this rate, engines are likely to fail."

"Well...I always did want to go down fighting," said Nines.

"Don't be like that!" said Tenrit. "There has to be something we can do; some sort of plan, something none of us would think of, like a...a-"

The onboard communicator suddenly crackled to life. "An...ear...e?" a voice came through. "Ca...nyone...he...m…?" A panel next to the call indicated it was coming from the core chamber. As every other Gem onboard was either on the bridge or at their battle stations, there was only one person it could be.

"Goshenite? My Goshenite, is that you?" said Topaz, talking back into the communicator. "Yes, we can hear you! Are you alright? What happened with Teptromina?"

"He's still here, so I don't have much time," Goshenite replied. The communication had stabilized, so her voice was audible now, even if the quality wasn't the greatest. "Listen: you need to take the ship down to the planet's surface! It's the only way we'll be able to get out of this!"

"'To the planet?'" said Topaz. "My Goshenite, did you not see the shard-load of ships they have over there? It'd probably be easier to get through a fine mesh screen!"

"We have to at least try!" she replied. "Otherwise, the Interlopers will eat us ali-"

"They will anyway!" said Topaz, not realizing that the feed had been cut. "Our shields are down completely, and-Goshenite? Goshenite!?"

A blast of energy from Teptromina's wing had narrowly avoided hitting Goshenite, instead destroying the communicator. More beams followed, most dodged, some clipping Goshenite slightly. Each time she tried closing the distance to him, he would simply float to a different location.

"As much as I'm sure you would like to, you can't keep this up forever," Teptromina said, a hint of mocking in his tone. "One slip-up, and I'll have you. And this will all be over."

Although she was beginning to grow tired from the fight, Goshenite refused to let him see it. "And as much as I'm sure you wish it would, shattering me won't change a thing. There's still Gems out there who will fight for Homeworld, fight to destroy you Interlopers. And even now, my crew is doing everything they can to escape your forces so we can live to fight another day!"

Using what little engine-power the ship had left, the bridge crew urged the Xenocide forward. Straight at the Interlopers they hoped to flee. Said Interlopers, although confused that the Gem vessel was speeding towards them, nevertheless opened fire. The Xenocide did not bother returning it. The Interloper ships were too many in number, and even so, they would hopefully be out of range before long. The already-heavily-damaged ship took even more hits, but it soldiered on. The planet's atmosphere grew ever closer.

"So dramatic," said Teptromina. All six of his wings aimed directly at Goshenite, and all six of them fired; though she tried to dodge, he was too quick, and all six hit their mark. Goshenite was once more thrown back against the wall. Her physical form flickered, looking more haggared than ever, but she, too, soldiered on.

Knowing it would be futile, but not having many other options, Goshenite tried once again to summon her staff. Teptromina got to her before she could; he grabbed her by the throat, lifting her into the air and slamming her up against another wall.

"Why must you make this so difficult?" asked Teptromina. "All I want is to subjugate your kind, just as was done in the old days. Is that really asking so much?"

"My...loyalty lies with the-the Diamonds," said Goshenite. "And n-nothing will change that!"

"Pity," he said. He raced away from the wall, fingers still clamped around her throat, over to the core. Goshenite was slammed against it so hard that cracks appeared in its surface. She felt a slight tingle as a small bit of energy leaked out onto her back. "And here I thought breaking your will would be enjoyable. But you're just so annoyingly rebellious. Just like that Emerald character…"

"What...how do you…?"

"How do I know Emerald?" he asked. "I know Emerald because I know everything…"

Although past the initial blockade, the Xenocide continued to take fire. The outer hull was now all but shredded, and the engines held on by barely a thread; gravity was now doing most of the work.

"Hull integrity at thirty percent...heat shields are intact, but they aren't looking good," a Nephrite said.

Now at Teptromina's mercy, Goshenite had only one option. It wasn't a good plan, but she had no choice. Wrapping her arms around him, she summoned her spear.

The pointed tip of her spear emerged from the gemstone on her lower back with enough force to pierce into the already-damaged core. It acted as a conduit, sending hundreds of volts coursing through both Goshenite and Teptromina. Unable to hold himself aloft anymore, the Primax fell, dragging his opponent with him. Goshenite knew what came next; she turned the two of them around in the air, so that he was positioned between herself and the core. This was possibly the only thing that saved her.

The core exploded. Shrapnel was the least of their worries, as a wave of energy surged outwards through the room, hurling them against the wall. Goshenite didn't mind the impact as much this time: she was mostly just glad she didn't take the full brunt of the explosion.

As for the ship, the core explosion rocked it harder than any of the shots were. With no power, it fell like a stone; a meteor, to be precise. Many of the Interloper ships backed off, assuming it was either already destroyed, or would be soon enough.

Although his body was largely shredded, Teptromina was still kicking. "You must really be dedicated to your cause," he said, almost laughing. "You'd doom yourself and your crew just to avoid death at my hands? It's almost impressive…"

Goshenite looked almost as bad as he did. Nevertheless, she was at least able to get to her feet. "Not as impressive as having a backup plan," she said.

"A backup…?"

A calm mechanical voice sounded throughout the ship's halls. "Backup generator online. Restoring power functions." The engines roared back to life, stopping the ship before it could fall any further. The vessel evened out, heading closer to the surface at a much safer pace.

Teptromina did laugh this time. "I'll admit, I didn't expect that. You win this round, Supreme General. But next time, you won't be so lucky. Now I know I can't just beat you with brawn: I have to use brains as well. Until next time…" His glowing eye faded to black as his metal body went limp.

Goshenite tossed the Interloper's inert form over by the wreckage of the primary core-she knew well enough now that he wasn't finished just yet. Rather than wait for him to detonate, she hurried back to the bridge.

"I don't know how...but somehow we were able to pull that off," said Nines.

"Yeah, we did," Tenrit said. "I mean, we didn't really do a whole lot, but we survived…"

"That we did," Topaz said. "But what now?"

"I can tell you what." Goshenite stumbled her way back to her captain's chair.

"Goshenite? What happened down there?" asked Tenrit. "Are you alright?"

"I've been better, but I'll live," she said.

"Where's Tep?" asked Nines.

"I won," Goshenite said. "Had to sacrifice the primary core to do it, but at least he's out of our hair for the time being…"

"Oh, is that what happened?" said Topaz.

"So...this is Gozyos," Goshenite said.

The landscape below consisted almost entirely of scorched earth; it looked almost volcanic. The only landmarks that could be seen in the distance were the stomping forms of Apexes, and the ever-present creeping of Broodmothers. Occasionally, a blast from an Interloper vessel in the upper atmosphere would streak down to the surface. Sometimes, a blast from an unseen Gem outpost would be fired in retaliation. It was obvious that the past five thousand years of this planet had been in war.

"First thing's first: we need to contact a local outpost and get this ship fixed up," Goshenite said. "We'll work out a plan from there."

"Understood, My Goshenite," said a Peridot. She sent out an open broadcast to any Gem on the planet's surface. "Anyone receiving this message, this is the Xenocide of White Diamond's armada. We are in need of urgent repairs, please respond, over."

Everyone waited in silence for some time; no response. "Try again," Goshenite said.

"This is the Xenocide. We are in need of urgent repairs, is anyone receiving this? The Supreme General is on board, repeat, the Supreme General is on board. Can anyone hear us, over?"

More silence. Just when it seemed like they were alone, a voice finally responded. "Xenocide, this is Horizon Outpost. We've heard your call, and have prepared a hangar for you to land. Sending you coordinates now, over."

Although not all were audible, everyone present breathed a sigh of relief. "Understood, Horizon Outpost, we are en route now. Be there shortly; Xenocide out."

"Well...no offense, My Goshenite, but this is sort of a fine mess you've gotten us into," Topaz said. "I just hope we can find something to use against Teptromina in all this…"

"We do know one thing," Goshenite said. "Based on this fight, he learns from past engagements. He's smarter than I thought he'd be. So we'll just have to be smarter in turn."