YOU VOTED! YOU DECIDED! YOU CHOSE TO COMPLETELY KICK THE CRAP OUT OF ONYX'S SHIP WITH FLARES, SMOKE, ECT. Just see how this plays out hmm? I won't be merciful. Anyways, I don't own Steven Universe or its characters, ideas, ect. If you have a criticism or critique, please leave a review! Special thanks to Dante Watterson, LexBoss, and BlissfulBloom for their submissions! AND THERE WILL BE ANOTHER DECISION IN THIS CHAPTER! Have fun.
God bless, JPLegends
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: Flying Blind
It took an hour to get the supplies needed. Surprisingly, Onyx's ship did not move at all. It was probably waiting for Steven, his militia and the UN to rear their ugly faces. Onyx did not seem to understand the concept of humans not having gems, so he would have one goal. Slaughter everyone. And it also did not seem that Onyx knew that Homeworld was about to blow the entire theatre of war sky high. Steven waited inside of a plane, what Connie called an Osprey. Capable of sending a number of soldiers from Point A to Point B. Inside was Steven, Connie, Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, and Jewel. McKreavey crawls inside, closing the doors and turning on the television inside. There was a camera feed of this Osprey's camera and other cameras.
"Alright, people," McKreavey says. "We get in, we drop, we get our pilots out. Then they wait until they get the go ahead to pick us up. Ready, on my signal. Fire the supplies." Steven felt the plane lurch, hovering slowly and ominously in the air. Steven's heart was beating out of its chest. Connie's face was blank, she looked like she had seen a ghost. Their hands were entwined, and the grip was so tight you could break concrete. "FIRE! FIRE NOW!" McKreavey yells. There was a 'whoosh' sound, with pops and the sound of gas. Steven looked at the feed of the screen specifically looking at Onyx's ship. It looked corrupted, black and almost like smudged glass. It was demonic. Within seconds, the entire ship was engulfed in smoke, flares and fireworks.
"Co-ordinates locked," McKreavey says. "Moving in." The plane lurched forward, going at an insanely fast speed. This continues for a solid six seconds before McKreavey swears loudly. The plane suddenly lurches on its side, Steven and Connie on their back. A massive surge of heat is felt on Steven's back. The plane steadied and McKreavey, looked at the feed. He turned a knob, searching through the feeds of the many, many planes that are bound for the ship.
"What happened," Pear asked, her voice raised another octave. "What was that?!"
"We just lost Unit 184….and 66…and 13," McKreavey says, rubbing his temple. "We nearly got hit. Our flare idea didn't work. Onyx is getting precise hits on our planes."
"Oh no…" Jewel said, covering her mouth.
"Private, we come home alive, you become a Major," McKreavey says to the pilot. "And you get a week off. Don't fail us!" McKreavey turns toward the team. "We're about to fly blind. I recommend you say your prayers." Steven tried to swallow, only held back by his dry tongue. McKreavey turns back to the feed, looking at it and turning the set knob. Screens are static, and about two screens go static every seven seconds. Their own plane, however, was obviously flown expertly. It lurched from side to side, patches of heat going from here to there. Steven grips Connie's hand tightly, closing his eyes. His gem aches. After about three minutes, Steven feels the ship lurch and hears a sharp metal clench above his head. The plane suddenly shifts balance to the side.
"We just took a hit to the wing," McKreavey says. "We aren't half way to the damn ship."
"How's our people?" Garnet asks.
"About forty percent of our people are on the ship, a lot are dead, and most of our pilots are dead or MIA," McKreavey says. "This isn't the best start to our little suicide mission."
"Don't say that…" Steven says, his heart beating a hundred beats a second.
"You listen, men," McKreavey says. "We aren't here to die for our Earth. We're here to make them die for theirs!" The plane lurches again. Steven falls out of his seat, and falls onto his stomach. "That was the top of the other wing," McKreavey says. "We just passed sixty percent of the flight plan."
"This is hopeless!" Pearl shrieks.
"Don't say that!" Jewel and Steven say in chorus. The plane lurches again, Steven feels heat under him. McKreavey swears loudly.
"Gah, this is bullocks," McKreavey screams, putting down his headset. "We aren't going to live through this!"
"DON'T SAY THAT!" Steven screams desperately. Tears are welling in his eyes. His eyes were clenched shut. He takes a deep breath and looks up at McKreavey. "How long until we get to the ship?"
"Two minutes." McKreavey says. Sweat is trailing down his face. Steven puts his hands on the floor of the plane.
"You can do this," Steven whispers. "Everyone is depending on you. You can do this." He focuses on his desire to protect his friends. Then, the bubble shield expands from his gem. It completely encompasses the plane. Steven feels sweat crawl down his face. He takes deep breaths.
"Steven, are you nuts?!" Amethyst yells.
"You can't last that long, Steven! No!" Pearl yells.
"You…can't…tell me…what to do," Steven says, trying to stay chipper. "I'm…a Crystal…Gem too! Hehe…Ugh…." He feels lasers constantly hit at his shield, threatening to break it. Steven keeps it running. His face is red and completely engulfed in sweat. He breaths deeply.
'How long has it been,' Steven thinks. 'Thirty seconds. Thirty-one. Thirty-two.' Steven counts in his head, trying to keep his shield running. Connie gets out of her seat, cupping Steven's face in her hands.
"Look at me, Steven," Connie says, her face desperate. "You're going to overexert yourself."
"Over…ex…wha?" Steven says, gasping for breath.
"C'mon, Steven," Connie says, getting within two inches of his face. "You have to stop."
"But…if not…we'll die." Steven says, his eyes getting heavy. He tries to fight the urge to collapse on the floor. "You'll…die…on my watch," Steven says. "And I…don't think…your parents would like tha…ugh…" Steven nearly collapses on the floor, keeping himself up. Connie keeps hold of his shoulders.
"Steven, don't be stupid," Connie says. "Just let it go." Steven looks into her eyes, getting lost in them for a few seconds.
And then he passes out.
When he comes to, he is greeted by the dull lighting of the Osprey… intact. He panics instantly. "WHAT HAPPENED," He yells, looking around. "DID WE MAKE IT?! DID…" Connie interrupts him by covering his mouth with her hand.
"We made it," She says, looking grim. "When the shield faded away, we took a hit in the back rutter. We were close enough to make a crash landing. But…" She trails off, looking at the ground next to Steven.
"But…what?" Steven asks. Connie escorts him outside of the plane. It's demolished, looks half melted. The inside of the gem ship is black, and looks like liquid metal. Around the Osprey are barricades and other soldiers waiting. They look tense. The hole was still covered in smoke. Some of it was the wearing out flares. The other was smoke from-Steven thought-crashed and destroyed planes. Even more threatening, there were bags lined up in rows. Most of it looked to be UN soldiers. A few people Steven recognized were crying.
"With those weapons active, we won't have any ride back from the ship," Connie says. "We're stranded."
"STEVEN!" Pearl's voice yells. Steven is suddenly hugged by Pearl. Steven looks at where the sudden action came from and sees the rest of the gems that were on the flight with him. "We were so worried," Pearl says, her face affectionate. "Thank goodness you're safe!"
"Pearl, be upfront with me," Steven says, looking out of the hole in the ship. "What are we going to do?" Pearl looks unsettled, as does Jewel.
"We're stuck without a way back to the UN Base," Garnet says, crossing her arms. "Onyx killed a lot of the pilots getting here. We're stuck until we can get the weapons turned off. We don't have much time to do so. About three hours and twenty minutes to get this done. Yes, you were out for that long." Steven felt like he was going to vomit. "Onyx corrupted machines to work for him so we're going to be overwhelmed in no time. If we are going to act, it has to be now." Steven sits down on a piece of rubble, his head in his hands.
"This was an awful idea," Steven says. "I led us into a death trap."
"This isn't where we wanted to be, but this is where we are," McKreavey says out of nowhere. "It's either fight or die. It still looks like the latter, but I'm surprised we made it this far."
"Steven, this entire fight against Homeworld has been against our favor," Connie says. "But look at us! We did it! We're beating Homeworld back! We have to get through this fight." Steven takes a deep breath and looks around. The UN, the Militia. Everything Steven fought to preserve could die, here and now. He is not about to let that happen. He sucks in his stomach and looks McKreavey in the eyes.
"What are our options?" Steven asks.
"As it stands, if we lose this area, we lose the fight," McKreavey says. "We won't have a way off of the ship and the pressure will keep coming until we all die off. So, securing fortifications at this site is fundamental. And we will fight kicking and screaming all day, but unless those weapons go offline, what's left of our pilots will not be able to extract us. So, our troops essentially need to be cut in half. Half stays here, and the other half goes out and secures any areas we need secured. Which, right now, would be the area that runs the ship's weaponry."
"Where would that be?" Connie asks.
"Well, really, the tech that runs the weapons would work even if destroyed," McKreavey says. "So, we need to get to the computer center that connects the weapons together and place a large amounts of explosives. Like…ANFO. We need a high amount of ANFO, a few fertilizer bags of it. We place the bags, detonate them, and our weapon problems go away."
"We still need to find Onyx." Steven says.
"He's nowhere to be seen as of now," Garnet says, looking into the ship. "Odds are, he'll be after the squad headed out for the weapons systems."
"So, how do we want to approach this?" Pearl asks.
"Onyx wasn't expecting this," McKreavey says. "I'd give us the detonation of the weapons systems as the minimum amount of time until he emerges. So, we could either set up an ambush or confront him head on. Either way, Onyx goes after the team packing the explosives."
"Of course," Steven says, sweeping his hair back. "Another life ending decision. We need to take a step back and realize what's at stake. An ambush would be safer."
"In that case, you'll need an escort," McKreavey says. "Militia members will be assigned to each group. We need assertive, aggressive people for the op to the weapons network."
"Onion," Steven says instantly. "And Lars."
"As for the other team? Your escort?" McKreavey asks.
"Peedee and his dad," Steven says. "Along with the Pizzas and Sour Cream."
"So, that's staff handled," McKreavey says, looking out to the ship. "Steven, I cannot express how awful this mission will be. We should be fine holding out here against the oncoming drones, I'll be here commanding them. But your team out in the ship are going to be knee deep in dangerous territory. Until Onyx is taken out, they will be in constant danger. We could reduce the pressure by deploying your allies, your 'Crystal Gems.'"
"We don't have enough to make sure both groups are equally defended, though." Connie says.
"Unfortunately, that's what the problem," McKreavey says. "We need to deploy all of the gems to one of the groups. It's either yours or the team setting the explosives." Steven's mouth dried up.
"But I…" Steven started before McKreavey raised his hand to signal him to stop talking.
"We don't have another option," McKreavey says. "We either send them out with you or the team out on the explosive effort. With them, each team has a better chance of not getting blown to hell. And it works for each effort. The explosives team can set the bags faster, and your team can prepare the ambush faster. And to be honest, we can take as long as we need with the ambush, considering that we really don't know when Onyx will show his face. But we need those explosives placed and detonated."
"And we need Onyx to be taken out faster," Steven says. "Then, we'll be able to leave faster."
"At the end of the day, a team needs to be assigned to the gems. So, who's is going to be?" McKreavey asks.
You've got it here folks! That smoke and flare plan failed! MISERABLEY! So many are dead! A great start to this little suicide mission! So, you know the choices! And you know the consequences! Which team will the Crystal Gems be deployed to? Steven's ambush set up, or the team setting the explosives? Vote now!