Ah…This is getting very much so complex. Things will get deep from here on out. Which is why YOU NEED TO BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN CHOOSING THIS PATH FORWARD! I cannot be more serious! People die, things blow up, and it is all on a timer. BE CAREFUL! I don't own Steven Universe or its characters, ideas, ect. If you have a criticism or critique, leave a review. Special thanks to Dante Watterson, LexBoss and BlissfulBloom for providing OCs and ideas. Choose wisely.

God bless, JPLegends

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: Unbeatable Odds (Decision)

"So the rebel Crystal Gems and the weakling humans," Yellow Diamond said, her eyes bound on the planet. "Shot down one of our Skywatchers, killed a Diamond and released the Onyx in custody." Yellow Diamond is currently looking over the blue and green rock that is Earth, some of it shrouded in cloud and smoke. With the progress they've made against the planet, an aligned planet is fighting for their survival.

And it should not be possible. But they are actually putting up a fight.

Nuclear weapons, primitive laser weapons, and a complete lack of what the Homeworld has in the technology department. And it is happening. They fight with extreme precision, violence, vigor. And it would not be possible without a certain team of Gem rebels.

"We have lost communications in those regions, two of our Skywatchers, and we're not able to get anywhere without having a fight on the ground anymore," Yellow Diamond says, looking down at her Pearl. "Plus, an Onyx in the middle of a theatre of war…

"It's about time we changed our strategies. It's time we stopped fighting the humans and weed out those rebels."

"And how do we do that, my Diamond?" Yellow Diamond's Pearl asks anxiously.

"Leverage," Yellow Diamond says, staring at a large spiral of smoke. "We will find something valuable of theirs, exploit it, and use it to lure them out of hiding. And stomp them out like the pests they are…

"But I get ahead of myself," Yellow Diamond says, sitting down on her throne. "Keep the Supernova with the fleet. Send a command to our Peridots over in sector X2L to bombard the area from orbit. That'll get rid of anything fast. Can't wait to see our new field made of glass…"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The UN Base's atmosphere was so thick you could cut through it with a knife. Steven and Connie ran into the war room while everyone was scurrying about. McKreavey was barking orders at soldiers and terminals were going online and off. Amethyst ran forward to Steven. His face was pale and he felt like he was going to vomit any moment. Amethyst grabbed his shoulders and said, "Steven, everyone's here except Soren! Where's Soren? What happened?!" Steven couldn't answer. Amethyst backed up, her hair covering her face. Steven turned to cry in Connie's shoulder.

"We have no time," Garnet said, her voice cracking. "That…thing just stopped its rampage. It's even more powerful than it was before."

"What thing?! What's going on?!" Pearl shrieked, sweating bullets. Steven finally piped up. His voice was small and it raised a few billion octaves.

"Onyx. He ate Blue Diamond and Soren." Amethyst ran off into a separate room. Garnet looked away, concern growing on her face. Pearl's face had an emotion that no human mind could comprehend.

"Nononononononononononono," Pearl mutters. "This isn't happening. This isn't happening."

"It is," McKreavey says, pulling up data from the terminals around him onto the desk. "Not only that, but we detected a large warship coming in from orbit. Radio signals confirm it is coming to decimate the forest. The cannon on that thing has more TNT than a Tsar Bomba. No wait…six Tsar Bombas."

"So, what, the only choice we have is to run?!" Connie asks, sounding more worried.

"No," Steven says. "We're not leaving without Soren."

"Steven, that cannon isn't going to leave much of anything left," McKreavey says. "It's fight or die. And the situation looks it's going to be more or less of the latter."

"Forget escaping," Pearl says, surprisingly calm given the circumstance. "The Onyx has the unique ability to sabotage any weaponry and use it for its use. And it has a Skywatcher."

"Had a Skywatcher." McKreavey says. Pearl shakes her head.

"No, the ship is damaged but as long as it is intact, it'll be functional for use by Onyx," Pearl says. "The gem powers the machinery and the experiment that was run on Onyx was trying to get it to harness even more power against gems by using gems. In case an outbreak ever happened. Or a rebellion."

"And you know this how?" Connie asks.

"You learn a lot of things working under White Diamond, Connie," Pearl says. "And I know what you'll ask. The Onyx wasn't used on the Gem Rebellion because we made sure the experiments went wrong before we declared war. And now we have a defective Onyx thirsty for our gems! WE'RE ALL GOING TO BE SHATTERED!"

"Pearl, get a grip," Jewel says, rubbing the side of her head. "Panicking doesn't get us anywhere."

"True," Connie mutters. "It certainly doesn't go well in XCOM."

"What does a grip get us, Jewel," Pearl asks. "We're doomed."

"No," Steven says. "No. I refuse. We're going in that ship. We are going to get Soren back. We are going to defeat Onyx. We are going to destroy the ship. And we are all going to make it out alive. How much time do we have, McKreavey?"

"Five hours." McKreavey responds.

"Five hours until this forest is leveled," Connie says. "Whatever happens, Steven, I'm at your side." She takes his hand and squeezes it.

"We're talking unbeatable odds," McKreavey says. "Suicidal. If this doesn't work, we all die. The chances of us all surviving are…slim."

"It doesn't matter. We've faced worse…I think," Steven says. "First thing's first. How do we get in the ship?"

"It's currently hovering just above the tree line," McKreavey says. "We have jets. We can make a mad dash for the ship and get as many people as possible in that ship."

"It's suicide," Garnet says. "The armaments on the ship will be functional and Onyx isn't going to be careful about preserving power."

"This entire plan is a suicide mission in the first place," McKreavey says. "People are going to die. And to be frank, we haven't got much of a shot."

"If this is going to work, we need as many people on that ship as possible," Jewel says. "And it would be safer to take another route."

"We don't have much of a choice this time around," Steven says. "What are our options for getting past those weapons?"

"A mad dash for the ship would be faster and could potentially surprise the enemy," McKreavey says. "If our target is the hole we made in the side of the ship, it would be an export and then we would have to get what's left of the ships out of there."

"We're not going to have a way out?" Connie asks.

"No," McKreavey says. "Like Garnet here says, the weapons aren't going to have any restraints on them. If they try to stay and fight, we're not going to have much of an air force left. Then again, we weapons free on that thing, it's likely there's not going to be much of our jets left afterward."

"Fine, let's confuse the weapons then," Steven says. "Do we have things that can do that?"

"Missiles, smoke, flashbangs, EMPs, flares," McKreavey says. "We have plenty. We don't know if it'll work. They could have no effect on the corrupted weaponry. That, and we'd practically be flying blind through it all. We'd be taking a huge risk."

"We lose people either way." Garnet says, her posture slouching.

"Okay," Connie says. "We can take a dash to the ship. It's a guaranteed method and it'll get people onto the ship. But no one will know if it will work. Or we could bombard the ship with everything we have to confuse the weaponry, and charge from there. It's not a guaranteed method for success and no one will know if it will work."

"I don't like our odds." Pearl says.

"Homeworld is tearing Earth apart, Pearl," Steven says, finally cracking. "The odds were never in our favor. It's been an uphill battle ever since they touched down. How do you fight something like that?" Pearl looked at Steven, about to talk back. "You don't," Steven interrupts before Pearl can get a syllable in. "Sorry for interrupting. But we made it this far. We need this victory. If we don't get it, we die." There is silence for a moment.

"Well spoken," Garnet says. "So, what do we choose?"

Death is on the horizon. People will die. The clock is ticking. It all starts here. Five hours to get the mission done. Should they make a dash for the ship or overload the weapon systems? Choose wisely. If you choose wrong, things go south. Not joking. You had better be careful. Have fun.