Western front, 1915.
Pearl tried to ignore the ringing in her ears as bombs fell all around them. However, aside from the back of their leader's gown, there was little to distract her. The sky above them was blackened with soot and the air carried a foul smell of rot with a hint of mustard gas. All around them were barren hills of dirt spewn with craters and barbed wire. In the distance, over the shrill whistle of bombs and their resulting booms, she could hear gunfire.
Even after thousands of years, the sight of war hadn't become any less disturbing to the former servant Pearl.
"Rose," she said, jogging to walk aside their leader, "A-are you sure-?"
"Yes, Pearl," she responded sharply, "This is the place."
Another explosion, this one closer, and Pearl shuddered as she saw a fountain of dirt erupt from the ground. Like always, Rose was unfazed, even as dirt rained down on her. She stopped the group in their tracks.
"We're here."
They had reached a British army camp. A collection of shady, grey tents and housings, shielded by a vast networks of dirt trenches and rows of barbed wire. Soldiers in brown were running around, carrying rifles and setting up equipment. One of them came from a tent, leading their general over to the Gems.
"General," Rose greeted him.
"Rose," the General nodded, already knowing why she was here. He pointed towards a large tent decorated with a cross. "They're in there."
Rose turned to the others. "Wait here." Alone, she walked over to the infirmary and entered.
Inside lay dozens upon dozens of bandaged up British soldiers on cots, all weak and weary and moaning in pain. However, upon Rose's entrance, they all fell silent and turned to look at her, all captivated by her beauty. Walking over to the nearest soldier, Rose leaned down and placed a gentle kiss* on his heavily bandaged head. There was a pink flash and his wounds disappeared. Rose stood up and moved on to the next cot.
Outside, the explosions were drawing closer. Pearl felt herself growing more and more tense.
"Pearl, relax," Garnet said, noticing her tension. "We'll be fine."
Another explosion. Pearl scoffed. "Ugh, it's bad enough humans seem to go to war every other day," she pouted, "but why must Rose drag us into the middle of them?"
Before Garnet could answer. a siren went off. All the soldiers dropped their gear and dove for cover. Rose came out from the infirmary as the General approached them.
"The Germans are moving forward," he said. "We have to fall back."
"But there's still so many wounded," Rose said. "I'm not leaving them behind."
"Rose, we're about to be overrun!" The General protested.
"Then we'll stop them," Garnet said, summoning her gauntlets. "Gems, on me."
"Oh, great," Pearl moaned, fetching her spear.
"Finally, something to do," Amethyst cheered.
"Be careful!" Rose said as they rushed for the trenches.
Keeping their guard up, the trio ventured deeper and deeper into the maze of trenches, with the sounds of violence growing closer and closer. Until finally...
Garnet halted them. Ahead of them, climbing through a breach in the trench wall, was a squad of German soldiers, all dressed in matching olive uniforms and gas masks and carrying bolt-action rifles. The squad leader was giving orders when they spotted them.
"What the hell was those?!" He yelled, pointing at them.
"It's those Crystal Gem women!" Another yelled.
"Shoot them!" The squad raised their rifles.
"Get back!" Garnet raised her gauntlets as the soldiers opened fire. The bullets struck and bounced off, flying back and striking them in the legs. Screaming, they collasped, clutching their wounds in agony.
Amethyst shrugged. "Well, that wasn't so hard."
Suddenly, there came a wail above them. Garnet looked uo. "Move!"
The three darted in different directions as a bomb struck the trench, blowing it to bits. Pearl flew forward and hit the ground hard, dirt rain down on her. She jumped to her feet, only to see the air fill with mustard gas.
"Garnet!" She yelled, but her voice could barely be heard over the bombs.
Suddenly, something grabbed her from behind and slammed her into the wall. Hearing German, she elbowed her attacker and threw him off before summoning her spear and blasting him off his feet.
Two more soldiers appeared, firing at her. She dodged the shots, then fired back, but more poured out of the smoke, charging at her.
'Ugh, I really HATE war.'
The leader swung his rifle at her. Pearl parried it with her spear and smashed the shaft against his head. She kicked him back into his companions. Another appeared behind her, but she struck him with the butt of her spear. Moving forward, she fired, downing two more Germans before parrying the bayonet of a third and striking him down as well.
Holding her spear out, she rounded a corner...and froze upon seeing a whole squad pointing rifles at her.
"Excuse me?" Came a voice from behind them. Yelling, they turned to see...
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Pearl scoffed.
The Purple Puma grabbed the nearest soldier and began swinging him around like a sack of potatoes, knocking down enemies left and right. Tossing his hostage over his shoulder, he greeted his fellow Gem. "Sup P?"
Pearl rolled her eyes. "Can you at least take this seriously?!"
Puma shifted back into Amethyst. "Hey, I just saved your butt. A 'thank you' would be nice."
"Ugh, Amethyst, you are-"
"Gems!" Garnet appeared further down the trench, knocking out two more soldiers with punches as she did so. "Are you alright?"
Pearl crossed her arms. "Fine."
Amethyst gave a smug smile. "Never better."
"Fall back!" The group turned to see the rest of the soldiers fleeing through another hole. They followed them out and watched as they disappeared back across No Man's Land.
"We did it," Pearl said, actually looking pleased with herself.
"Woo-Hoo!" Amethyst cheered. "Gems 1, Germans 0!"
She was cut short by a buzzing sound from overhead. They looked up to see a squadron of German planes flying towards them.
Pearl's eyes went wide. "They're heading for Rose!"
Garnet held out her hands. "Not for long. Pearl, Amethyst."
"Captain," one of the pilots radioed in. "I've spotted those Gem women. They-what the hell, are they dancing?! What in-?!" There was a flash of light and the man's plane shook and froze in midair, having been grabbed by one of the many hands of Alexandrite.
Tossing the aircraft away, the fusion roared and summoned her bow before opening fire on the rest of the squadron with light arrows. Her torso spun 360 degrees as she rained arrows down on the German planes, blowing them out of the sky with fiery explosions.
Soon, the last plane was gone and the air was empty was silent again. Alexandrite lowered her bow, taking in deep breath after deep breath.
Suddenly, there was a crack of gunfire and the fusion screetched as white hot pain shot up her back. She doubled over, her hands trying to rub out the pain. Her head turned to face the German front line and her second mouth opened and let out a roar of fury.
Lunging forward, Alexandrite charged through No Man's Land, making a beeline directly for the enemy. They fired at her, some shots skimming her body, but the fusion ignored the pain.
With a single leap, she cleared the rest of the distance, landing right on top of the front line. Bending over, she unleashed her breath of fire. German soldiers screamed as fire balls rained down on them, blasting their forces to bits. Guard towers and machine gun nests were reduced to cinders, bunkers became ovens, and ammo belts and fuel canisters erupted, peppering the front line in explosions.
"Decimated?" The German general spat at his officers. "What do you mean 'decimated?!"
"General, there's nothing we can do," one of them responded. "Those women have completely destroyed our forces."
"We have to call a retreat," another advised.
Before the general could say anything else, there came a pounding sound from outside their bunker. With a thunderous boom, the wall exploded, revealing the Gems. The guards raised their rifles, but Pearl blasted one with her spear and Amethyst struck the other with her whip.
Garnet stepped forward, facing the German general and his officers. He raised a pistol, but the Crystal Gem lunged forward, knocked it out of his hands, and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him into the air. Starring into his terrified eyes with her own, Garnet smiled.
"We win."
Upon returning to the British army base, the Gems found were met with cheers and celebration.
"Thank you, Crystal Gems," the British General said, shaking their hands. "Is there anything we can do to repay you?"
Pearl spotted Rose in the crowd, beaming proudly at them. She blushed a little. "Oh, that won't be necessary, General."
"Aw man!" Amethyst groaned.
Rose came up to them. "Come on, Gems. We need to head back to the Temple." She turned to the General. "Your men are some of the bravest I've seen. We wish you all the very best."
As the army continued celebrating, the Gems left the camp, heading for the warp pad. The landscape, while still barren and torn from war, now seemed significantly more peaceful, with the sun beginning to peak out from behind the blackened sky.
Pearl, the cheers of the soldiers and Rose's smile still fresh in her mind, now found herself a bit more at peace with their leader's habit. She hated war and she hated having to get involved in them, but for the chance of saving lives, the chance of generating peace for those in the bleakest of times...
Maybe it was worth it.
THE END
*I figured if Rose's tears could heal, her kisses could too. It seemed better than having her cry on every soldier.