Footsteps echoed through the streets of Homeworld. Many, many, hundreds of footsteps. The common pedestrians cleared the way for the large war party...the Militia of Flames, whispering among themselves.
"Is that the Militia of Flames?"
"This really must be serious."
"I thought they were for conquering other planets?"
Leading the pack were the famous leaders, Carnelian, a muscular brute of a Quartz, wearing nothing but harem pants, a vest, her breasts wrapped in white strips of cloth, like ace bandages. Her outfit seemed to show off her many battle scars and toned body, from bullet wounds from natives of multiple planets trying to fight back, to the claw marks of many a dangerous, exotic beast who dared challenge her. Her lack of armor showed her strength and guts, and the determined glare on her face instantly struck fear in the citizens' hearts. Beside her was Fire Opal, a frightening genetic mix of Ruby, Pearl, and Quartz, emerged from AgniKok, a volcanic planet in a distant solar system. She was practically bred to become a great firebender, a powerful firebender. Even without her massacring flames, she was trained by the great soldier Howlite, whose was the old leader of the Militia until she disappeared without a trace. Behind the two Gems was only a fraction of the greatest militia in Gem history, a team built of the strongest Gems, the most effective fusers, and the newest and strongest of Gem weapons.
Carnelian looked back at her militia and noticed that a banner-holding Pearl was out of place. "Dui!" She shouted sharply. The Pearl whimpered and went back to marching where she should.
"Hehe, I hope these rebels are strong...I'm all fired up to face a real challenge!" Carnelian turned to Fire Opal to express her excitement, cracking her knuckles.
"Let's hope they aren't too strong...We lost a perfectly good Jasper last time Yellow Diamond asked us to deal with rebels. She was a valuable asset, but I can't imagine losing any more soldiers to worthless deviants who are too weak to face us with their flesh." Fire Opal said coldly. She was still thinking about Howlite.
"We have me this time, I'll wipe them all out!" Carnelian smiled, flexing one of her meaty arms with pride.
"Mm." Fire Opal frowned, looking down.
"Right, of course, we have you! You could char 'em to ash! Watching a dragon burn them all would be cool to watch!" Carnelian tried to encourage Fire Opal.
Fire Opal ignored Carnelian and pulled out the letter that was supposedly from Howlite's outfit, then pulled out a map. "We're almost there. They must be hiding in the oncoming trench...clever."
"Let's go! They can't possibly be ready for us!" Carnelian started sprinting towards the trench, which was in sight. "Fire Team, move out! Follow me, and ready your weapons!"
Fire Opal wasn't shocked by Carnelian's eagerness, and she reluctantly followed after her master. After all, she was lesser to a pureblood Quartz, despite being stronger. The soldiers behind her sounded their battle cries and almost stampeded the reluctant Fire Opal with their thundering steps. Although they hadn't brought bombs or any large weapons, Carnelian figured it would be a good time to test out CyberCats, mutated alien panthers whose minds can synchronize with their handlers. Installing handler Gems with the augmentation needed to control the CyberCats was one of the only Gem experiments that worked successfully. Fire Opal could hear shaky breaths behind her, so she turned to see a light blue Gem with brown veins struggling to walk.
She recognized the Gem as the newest CyberCat handler in the Militia. It has been said that the augmentation drains out Gem power, and it was dangerous for young Gems when in use.
"Turquoise!" Fire Opal called as she ran back towards the nearly fallen Gem.
"Fi? You're supposed to be with Master Carnelian..." The blue Gem said softly.
"I have time." Turquoise wrapped her arm around Fire Opal and allowed her to lift her up. "Come on."
"But...I don't even want to do this...Can't you carry me, or leave me here?" Turquoise asked.
"No one asked to be here, but you're supposed to fight anyway, or else there'll be no hope of ever getting out." Fire Opal said.
"You think we'll get to retire or something?" Turquoise asked.
"Of course not. Listen here, there's no freedom here, no such thing at all. You fight until you die, and that's what sets you free for real." Fire Opal said sternly.
"Oh."
"Now, use that thought to power your panther, I see Carnelian and the others have made it." Fire Opal said just as she heard Carnelian yell, "Geronimo!" meaning that she must've jumped into the trench.
"Fire Opal?"
"Yes?"
"What really powers you to fight?"
"I said that already, it's death. It used to be someone, someone worth fighting for, but now that someone is death, who chases me like a dog chases a rabbit."
"Oh."
Meanwhile...
"We haven't received any word from the Militia...I know we sent them the letter, how could they have not read it?" Moonstone asked in the main temple room.
"Maybe they have a long waiting list or something." Rhodonite shrugged.
"Right, sure, let's go with that theory," Gaspeite said sarcastically.
"Hey! It's a decent suggestion!" Rhodonite shouted in defense.
"The Ruby I gave it to ran to Carnelian right away, so there's no excuse." Black Pearl added, crossing her arms.
The four Gems froze as they heard distant battle cries getting louder and louder.
Rhodonite stuck her finger in her ear and twisted it around. "Hmm. I doubt it's this wax buildup." She rubbed her waxy finger on her pants.
"Rho! You uncivilized beast!" Moonstone flinched in disgust.
"What? You signed up for it." Rhodonite shrugged.
THUD!
The four Gems were silent.
THUD! THUD! THUD! Hundreds and hundreds of thuds caused the ground to shake. It was the Militia of Flames jumping down into the trench. Carnelian and the trained soldiers landed on their feet, ready to go, weapons drawn.
"Show yourselves, in the name of Yellow Diamond!" Carnelian shouted, pulling out her shield and her giant morning star.
"It's the Militia! They're attacking us!" Moonstone cried.
Black Pearl changed into her black armor, weapons and all. The Gems had no choice but to fight them, even though they would probably lose. Rhodonite wielded her tomahawk and Moonstone her bo staff, Gaspeite pulled out two laser pistols and twirled them cockily. They got in a makeshift formation, with Rhodonite and Moonstone in the front and Blackie and Gaspeite in the back. They marched to face the Militia of Flames, who were getting hurried into their own positions by a perfectionist Carnelian. After getting everyone in place in the space outside the temple, which was actually quite vast, Carnelian turned to face Rhodonite with a smug, devilish grin that could easily be mistaken for a sunny disposition.
"So, you decided not to join us, eh?" Rhodonite asked.
"Never in a million years, we serve our Diamond with pride. We protect the light of our great planet from devils like you, Cluster!" Carnelian said triumphantly.
Rhodonite chuckled to herself, which sounded almost like a quiet evil cackle. "How ignorant you are..."
Moonstone was surprised at this comeback, she backed up a bit from Rhodonite.
"We don't let the killers of deities go on! No, you must die in a fire...You must die in a fire, only to descend into eternal flames!" Carnelian shouted.
Rhodonite flashed a wry grin. "So be it."
Every soldier in the Militia tightened their grips on their weapons, including Carnelian. The soldiers ran towards Moonstone, Black Pearl, and Gaspeite, closing in on them from all sides. If it weren't for Black Pearl's grenades, they would've been shattered almost instantly. It wasn't as bloody as fights during the Gem War, but Rhodonite had a feeling it would get worse. There were hints of the scents of gunpowder, metal, and blood in the air, mostly gunpowder from Black Pearl's effective grenades. One of the strongest enemies was facing Moonstone, a large wildcat with the smarts of a Gem. Every time Moonstone felt that it had been defeated, it kept coming back. Meanwhile, Carnelian began a face-off with Rhodonite, which consisted of Rhodonite effortlessly dodging Carnelian's attacks with her morning star.
THUD! Another sound of a Gem landing echoed through the trench.
"Great...there's more?" Black Pearl groaned as she tossed a grenade into a crowd of Rubies nonchalantly.
"Master!" The familiar voice of Fire Opal called. Rhodonite and Carnelian looked over to see her set down the weak Turquoise, letting her rest. It wasn't a natural rest, no, the young handler looked like a worn rag doll as she laid there.
"Fire Opal! Just in time!" Carnelian smiled. She looked at Rhodonite. "You're so dead."
Rhodonite swallowed her spit nervously. Despite her fake confidence, Carnelian and Fire Opal scared the tea out of her.
In a quick movement, Fire Opal breathed a wave of flames, poofing a fourth of the army in one blast. The smell of smoke quickly overpowered the smell of blood and metal. Moonstone ran over to the pile of lifeless Gems and began smashing them with her bo staff.
"What are you doing?" Carnelian asked. "That's our own troops, you idiot!"
"Alright!" Gaspeite shouted in triumph as she fired her two pistols, shattering two Quartzes in an instant.
"I wouldn't get my hopes up." Black Pearl grunted as she stabbed another Quartz, pulled out her spear, then waved it so the wet blood splattered onto the floor like her spear was covered in red water. "Geez, this poor thing never gets the chance to be clean, does it?"
"Where is Howlite? Where is she?" Fire Opal asked, her eyes pleading. "That's all I need!"
"That's not all you need, you need to kill them all!" Carnelian yelled.
"She's gone! She joined the Crystal Gems and sacrificed herself for Earth, like me, like us!" Rhodonite said.
"We're doing what now?" Gaspeite asked Black Pearl quietly.
"Then...why did I get a message from her?" Fire Opal asked. She could feel her skin heating up in anger. The ground burned to a crisp at her feet.
"I wrote that message, I figured you'd want to know," Rhodonite said calmly. She gave Fire Opal a patient smile.
Fire Opal's breathing grew heavy, her hands shook, and in that moment, everyone froze in their places. "You...She..." Fire Opal couldn't get the words out, she couldn't get her anger, her disappointment out...but there was a determination about her, a determination to fight for what her master believed in. She had to, for her, for her "mother".
"What's she doing?" Rhodonite whispered to Carnelian, despite their hatred for each other.
"You made her mad, now pay the price, Cluster," Carnelian smiled evilly.
Rhodonite looked back at Fire Opal, who was in the stance she used to create her fire dragon persona. Her fist was firmly nestled into her palm, and a wall of flames surrounded her and blew her braided hair like an ocean storm blows a windsock. The wall of flames morphed into the shape of a giant dragon, who stared down at Rhodonite and Carnelian. Its irisless eyes glared down at Rhodonite, who immediately began to sweat nervously. To everyone's surprise, its head turned to Carnelian. It inhaled a great breath, then exhaled a great inferno, charring Carnelian and to the point where she almost fell over. The dragon threw its head back and roared, which originally sprouted from an enraged scream from Fire Opal, both of which echoed through the streets of Homeworld and shook the ear drums of everyone in the trench.
Carnelian growled to herself. "What?"
The fire dragon leaped over its master and source of energy to claw, char, and poof every Gem in the Militia of Flames, until all that was left was Rhodonite and her crew, Carnelian, and a weak Turquoise. The dragon smashed Turquoise's CyberCat with her foot.
Carnelian summoned her morning star and shield and charged the dragon, but to no avail, just like in training the other day, Fire Opal's dragon swiped her away with its paw as though Carnelian weren't a Quartz, more so a pesky fly. Carnelian tried fighting Fire Opal again, and again, and again, but she wasn't able to destroy the dragon. Why? How is this time any different than the last hundred times? Carnelian was confident in her abilities, so confident that she treated a Gem that was older, more experienced, and more powerful than her as inferior, so confident that she wore no armor no matter what the enemy...but the longer she went at Fire Opal's dragon, the more her confidence faded...
Fire Opal, meanwhile, felt stronger than ever before. In training, she knew it wasn't important, she knew she had to keep her master alive, but here, she was powered by the memories of Howlite, she was powered by her anger of being treated like less than what she is, she was inspired by death and its jaws that were set almost like a trap that never lets you go... She was sick of Carnelian's perseverance, it wasn't going to do her any good in the situation, so in one last breath, Fire Opal yelled with all her might, closing her eyes and tensing her shoulders.
Let it ring, let it ring, let it ring...Hear me roar, and fear me! For Howlite, for death, for life, for love, for hate, for freedom and slavery...hear me!
And with that, the great fire dragon drowned all of the Gems in a sea of fiery orange.
Everything went white.
And then they all died...the end!
I'M KIDDING
Fire Opal's fire can't shatter Gems, it can only poof them. In real life, the melting point of Gems is kind of high, so she'd have to master lavabending before anyone should worry. For now, she just pulled an Aquarius and hurt everyone despite their affiliation. Hehe, classic.
So, this is the first battle of the Second Gem War. Surprisingly, there won't be many of these battles, just little fights here and there. I'm not even sure if this counts as a battle, but then again, the first "battle" of America's Revolutionary War was a sneak attack on Trenton. *shrugs* You never know.
After last chapter's little mishap, I wouldn't be surprised if you guys hate seeing the bold print again...oh well. I learned my lesson, and thanks for the feedback! (Although, I'm not a big fan of reviews telling me to fix a mistake and not actually talking about the story.)
In the beginning, I was expecting both Carnelian and Fire Opal as well as their Militia to join Rho's outfit. Then, I figured, that's boring. At that rate, every stray person who walks into Rho's base would automatically join them, which isn't how it works. I would much rather have Carnelian stay an antagonist that will have a faceoff with a fusion of three characters in the final battle (I'll let you guess.) Fire Opal joined Rhodonite's team for the same reason Pearl joined the Crystal Gems, they joined for someone instead of something. Fi doesn't know about Howlite's corruption yet, but she knows that she sacrificed herself for that cause. Out of loyalty to her master, she is willing to sacrifice herself too...almost like an avengement type thing.
Man, I talk too much.
Oh! Before I go, I bet some of the readers who also read Skimming the Surface are wondering what the heck I'm doing. I'm still planning to continue it, but I'm finding it difficult to write about the Mettaton concert in fear it would be too mundane. I am hard at work on the story arc after the concert, though, featuring everyone's favorite creepy, soulless murderer. ;)
Reviews are encouraged, don't be shy!