Chapter Text
Hessonite 1F9L, cut 9AB liked to think herself as a calm gem. One who could easily keep her cool under pressure. But the sight strewn out before her was unlike anything she had ever borne witness to in her existence prior.
It was 12 11 4, in the outskirts - the no-gem’s-land, that was where she saw them first. The desolate spaces on the borders of quadrant three and four, and the space between their forces and enemy lines in quadrant two. They were almost beautiful, with the light from distant stars reflecting off of their piano black surface. Ships with a sleek black hull, with no guns or armaments to speak of. Odd portents, large and terrible dropships that moved slowly, the crafts barely breaking the speed of light throughout the entirety of their grueling path. And it was grueling, the ships were not armed with any means of offense, but their defensive capabilities were awe inspiring. Squadrons of ships were dispatched to take down the mysterious black vessels, yet not even an entire fleet could slow a single ship’s slog through the cosmos.
How she missed those centi-cycles when these ships were nothing more than a mystery, an oddity, something dangerous, sure, yet ultimately unknown.
But she was wrong. They were an omen.
The first ship landed on YK-937, a simple mining colony. By the time the behemoth of a vessel had entered the atmosphere, she had already gathered together all of the high-most generals and captains of the Yellow Court together to watch, just so that they could all know what they were dealing with. Camera robonoids had filled the colony, lenses trained onto the vessel to identify, clarify, and classify. Four entire battalions were deployed on the planet, to a mere mining colony. The tides of entire battles have been turned with less, yet she wanted to be ready, just in case anything went wrong.
She thought it was overkill.
She thought she was prepared.
The generals of the Yellow Court held their breath as the drop ship’s doors opened.
And she screamed.
Limbs, so many limbs came pouring out of the vessel, each armed with some unfamiliar weapon. Like a mighty wave they washed over the battalions of troops. The planet was overtaken, overrun, consumed within mere moments. A centi-cycle later and the full might of the Yellow Court was mobilized to blot out the ships from the face of the galaxy.
It was all in vain.
If a drop ship got shot down, the horrid shards would fall to the poor colony’s surface and reform anyway. Barricades and defensive lines were formed, intricate lattices of force fields and warships. Yet the drop ships would just crash themselves straight into defensive lines of fleets and blockades all the same. The worst ones… the worst was when a few drop ships were split open and blown apart in space.
She thought they were safe, that they had managed to stymie the advance of the horrid mass.
She was wrong.
She was forced to watch in horror as the gems reformed, clinging onto the very vessels that had blown their craft to pieces. She had to listen as pilot and soldier alike screamed and begged for help, for anyone to save them from the beasts that ravaged their ship.
Then the screaming stopped…
The com lines cut off soon after.
It hurt, this much was true.
Yet deep down, she felt like she deserved it.
There was a human saying that came to her gem, one that was oh so applicable at a moment such as this.
“A good captain goes down with her ship.”.
And lo, it was “going down”, planet by planet, system by system, the terrible black vessels came and went as they pleased. Yet here she was, holed up in a meeting room with a bunch of upper-crusts, as the Court of her Diamond fell apart around her. She was not the High Captain, but nevertheless, she was still in charge.
* * *
Red Diamond watched in awe as the carnage played out over the screens in her throne room, the sight of the sheer horror and violence was nearly enough to move her to tears. It hurt, truth be told. It hurt to see all of those gems snuffed out like so many embers in a harsh wind. Sure, the gems may have been her enemy, and yes, the more gems that they got out of the fight now increased the likelihood of her own survival, but they were still gems. They were still alive, they could still feel pain.
And this much loss of life, this massacre?
She knew that the assaults on HK-1 and Concordia were necessary. Objectively, each attack was integral in the path she took to get here. If it wasn’t for the plan Timeweaver drafted to assault HK-1, she never would have convinced the Rectificator to join her ranks, her Banner wouldn’t have been able to gain as much territory as it did, and she never would have been able to get her hands on project Silex. If it wasn’t for the assault on Concordia, she never would have gotten her hands on the breaking point, she never would be capable of posing a lethal threat to the Authority, she wouldn’t have any leverage when she reunited with White.
But this?
This was too far.
Revenge was one thing, but this was ethnocide.
Sure, it made sense. These creatures that the Artist designed were stronger than the gems that they were opposing, so of course they would overcome and shatter the weaker gems that were put on the front lines under White’s rule. But this? This was cheating. These creatures weren’t stronger out of any gained wisdom or inherent nature. Stars, they were barely even alive! Strong gems weren’t replacing the weak through this, it was just senseless violence and pointless loss…
She flinched as a memory flashed through her gem.
In that moment, she regretted her vow at the start of Era Four. She wanted a war that would make the very Stars tremble… and lo, her vow was upheld, her decree as a Diamond brought forth into reality. She got a war that wiped an entire Court off of the face of creation - an army that brought the Authority to its very knees... but it was at the cost of so, so much wasted life.
“My Pearl…”, Red forced her voice to remain steady, as she opened up the com line, “Are you with the Artist and Apostate?”.
“Yes, my Diamond. We are preparing for warp and the second phase.”, a silent blurb of text appeared on screen, the shadowed Pearl no doubt communicating with her gem silently.
“Good. Please… let it be enough. Let the shattering stop.”, her voice cracked at the last moment, a tear making its way down her face, “The Artist has shattered enough on this cycle. I am going to order her to begin the second phase, so be ready.”.
“Yes Master.”.
It was all she could do to close the screen before she started weeping in earnest.
* * *
Yellow Diamond paced nervously back and forth through the throne room, her form illuminated by the many, many screens that filled the room.
“The last bastion of troops on Facet 1 have fallen my Diamond.”, Jasper 1F1L Cut 2AT reported.
She bowed her head, grief washing over her gem, its weight feeling foreign to her.
“Thank you, High Captain…”, her voice sounded raw to her ears.
“Now even Cancri has fallen…”, Stevonnie spoke up from somewhere behind her, “We don’t know what their alliance is, or what they’re after though - they only attacked colonies under the Yellow Court.”.
“Alliance, your Radiance?”, the High Captain turned to look at Stevonnie.
“If this was the Red Banner, they would have struck down every colony in their way… these adversaries sailed right past multiple colonies of other Courts, in some instances deliberately moving around other Authority colonies, just to get to those under the Yellow Court…”, Stevonnie replied.
“Whoever they are, there is little doubt that Red herself is not also aware of what is transpiring, and is plotting to take advantage of this opening as we speak.”, she paused, turning back to face Stevonnie and the other Diamonds gathered.
“My Diamond, the Mars beacon is picking up numerous Red Banner ships entering warp.”, Melo Pearl’s voice filled the silence.
“Do we have a projected destination yet?”, White Diamond spoke up, her tone filled with urgency.
“Readings show that that they are headed towards the razed Yellow Court colonies.”, Melo Pearl replied.
“Which ones are they going to?”, Stevonnie turned to Melo Pearl.
“Pulling it up now, my Diamond.”, Melo Pearl replied, summoning yet another screen from her gem.
“All of those planets are military…”, Blue Diamond hummed, “But all that was left was just ravaged gems, are they after the weaponry?”.
“Unlikely…”, Stevonnie frowned, “The Red Banner has never been wanting for military assets… Melo, see if we can access the security feeds of those planets.”.
“Yes my Diamond…”, Melo nodded, pulling up the requested feeds.
Moments later, the Diamonds watched as the Red Banner vessels entered the planets’ atmosphere. The throne room was quiet as the ships touched down on the planets’ surfaces, the hoards of gem monstrosities clamoring around the foreign crafts. Yellow found herself holding her breath as the Red Banner drop ships opened their doors, a seldom few Peridot gems trailing out of each vessel. A spark of anger flew through her gem as she watched the crowd of monstrosities part and make way for the new Red Banner gems.
“Red, that conniving!”, White seethed before cutting herself off, “How did she manage to hide an army of this size and strength from our Clarities?”.
“It is possible that these troops were formed deep in enemy territory under a clarity barrier.”, the Lustrous Pearl spoke up, “As a result of the distance, they could be out of range of Star Sapphire’s ability to see past barriers.”.
“Hey, ahh guys? So, figuring out how this all happened is great, but we should really be paying attention to where they are headed now.”, Stevonnie spoke up, continuing to pan through the feeds from the invaded colonies.
“Where are they headed?”, Blue Diamond leaned forward, watching the gems on screen, “They’re headed towards the warp pads?”.
Stevonnie stood up in shock from their throne, quickly rushing towards the terminal.
“The warp pads! They mean to overtake our network!”, they began rapidly pulling up more screens on the terminal, Melo Pearl quickly moving out of their way as Stevonnie pulled up a com line to Dot, “Dot PLEASE shut down all the warp pads for the Yellow Court!”.
“What!?”, the Peridot balked, “We- We can’t just, that’s over 78,000 pads! Shutting that many down would overload the system! We can’t just delete an entire Court’s worth of data! I-”.
“IF YOU DON’T THEY WILL BE AT THE DOOR OF OUR PALACE WITH AN ARMY!”, Stevonnie screamed, cutting the smaller green gem off.
“Y-Yes my Diamond! I’ll do my best!”, Dot squeaked, her screen closing out as the small gem got to work.
“We didn’t have to yell like that.”, Stevonnie mumbled, before an angrier expression overtook their face, their fists trembling in rage, “Lives are at stake, and she wasn’t doing enough!”.
Growling in frustration, their Radiance turned away from the com line and pressed a button on the terminal in front of her, an alarm blaring through the palace in response.
“Begin lockdown of the palace and assemble the Garnet Guard in the throne room, this is not a drill.”, their voice blared through the entire palace, “Prepare for an imminent attack originating from the Homeworld hub. PLEASE HURRY THIS IS NOT A DRILL!”.
* * *
“So given the time that it takes for these new soldiers to reform from shattering, you’re saying that bubbling the shards could stop them?”, Chrysoberyl sighed, looking over the hastily assembled reports written by the certified Kindergartners of the Yellow Court.
The Peridot across the room shuffled nervously, nodding along to Chrysoberyl’s question.
“That is what we project based on our robonoids that we deployed on Cancri. Howev-”, she began to reply, before the sound of a blaring alarm cut her off.
“Begin lockdown of the palace and assemble the Garnet Guard in the throne room, this is not a drill. Prepare for imminent attack originating from the Homeworld hub. PLEASE HURRY THIS IS NOT A DRILL!”.
Chrysoberyl stood up in shock, her body phasing through the many screens of notes.
My Stevonnie, I have to get to them now.
Her gem felt like it was on fire as she raced to the hub. She hated to admit it, but she never felt the same after Concordia. Before the Conductor, using her abilities were difficult, certainly - but after? After pushing herself past her limits to save her Steven, using her abilities hurt. Each and every millicycle spent invisible, every single step she took when moving as fast as she did - it felt like she was being ripped apart. But still, she didn’t have time to care about frivolities like pain or the number of cracks in her gem.
Her Stevonnie, her Steven was in danger.
And so she moved.
In a blink, she found herself inside the Homeworld Hub - and in a blink, she was thrown into chaos. She had hoped to beat the enemy to the hub and warp straight to the throne room, but she was too late. Everywhere she looked, gems were screaming in terror. The warp pads lit up, the sound of arriving passengers carrying over the din, and there before her were those creatures. No longer confined behind a screen, or obfuscated by pages and pages of reports, the mysterious enemy was staring her down in the here and now. Drawing her blades, she took a breath and assessed the situation. A group of fusion troops was headed towards the back of the hub, and another was making their way towards the front.
Can’t take them both on, time to prioritize.
The front held more warps pads for other colonies, as well as maintenance and service facilities for the warp pads. As for the back, it just held more warp pads, as well the - Stars, the reason she herself came here! The Diamond warp pads!
Her gem, her entire form screamed in protest as she ran towards the back. Her grip tightened on her blade as she watched one of the fusion soldiers raise its weapon on the Jasper guard that was guarding the door. The weapon hissed and snapped, and the guard was just gone, not even shards were left. A lone Red Banner Peridot gestured towards the large ornate door, two fusion soldiers behind her snapping to attention and beginning to ram themselves into its pristine surface. The gate shuddered, but held true. The Peridot glared at the obstacle and ordered a third soldier forward.
And the gate cracked.
There’s no time to fight my way to the gate, I have to stop them, NOW.
The air in the Homeworld hub bent and pulled as she ripped through the fusion soldiers, the pale green streak of light leaving only a vacuum of air and bubbled gem shards in her wake. Her form stilled, her blade embedded deep inside the Peridot’s gem. The Red Banner gem screamed in pain as her shards fell to the ground, her form dissipating soon after.
“Too much at once, can’t do that again… gotta pace myself.”.
She bent over, her hands on her knees as she caught her breath, each hitching shudder sending a bolt of pain through her form. Her gaze fell on the gate, the once proud barrier now had large hunks missing from its construction, allowing enemy access to the most secure warp pads behind its protection.
“They can’t get access to those pads, and destroying the control terminal won’t be enough.”.
With a grunt she pushed herself through the opening and into the pad room. The thought of what she was about to do hurt, to even consider desecrating a place of so much history ran against the very cut of her gem.
But the thought of losing her Diamond because of her own inaction hurt worse.
She grit her teeth and shook off her indecision as she embedded her blade in the pink warp pad. With a twist, the pad separated cleanly down the middle, rendering it wholly useless. A sigh fell from her lips, and she continued to work. Each pad was easier than the last, and after a short moment, all five pads lay broken before her.
Nodding to herself, she made way for the palace. Everywhere she looked, High-Court gems were rushing about, securing various corridors and locking the palace down, according to their Radiance’s orders. Thankfully, none of the fusion soldiers had managed to get as far as the palace, but based on how each and every other colony fell to those creatures, it wouldn’t be long until they reached the palace walls.
Fortunately, her high rank made it all too easy to get through the many many blast-doors and energy barriers, and make her way into the throne room.
She paused for a moment, taking in the sight of the full Garnet Guard. The strongest gems under all of the Authority were assembled and armed with the best weaponry the Authority could design. For on this cycle, the throne room and the very Diamonds themselves were placed in harm’s way.
What a horrifying time to exist.
Shaking herself from her stupor, her gaze met her Stevonnie’s, and she made her way into the room.
“Chrysoberyl, I am glad you made it safely.”, Stevonnie smiled as she took their side.
“It was difficult. I will not lie.”.
“I saw that you broke the warp pads to the throne room.”, White Diamond leaned forward, “You bought us precious millicycles that allowed us to fully lock down the palace. Thank you Chrysoberyl.”.
“It is my duty, your Radiance…”, she bowed in a Diamond salute.
“The fusion soldiers appear to be coming in from the pad at as steady rate now…”, Yellow Diamond spoke up, glaring at the screens in front of her.
“S-shouldn’t shouldn’t Dot’s system be working, my Stevonnie?”, Chrysoberyl faltered.
“It was initially…”, Blue Diamond began, “Dot herself was overseeing the shutdown, however a group of enemy troops gained control of the console and reopened the pads.”.
“The group that was headed to the front of the hub… no no no…”.
“We haven’t been in touch with Dot since.”, Stevonnie’s tone was sad, “I’m sorry for your loss, she meant a lot to us all.”.
She faltered, staggering forward at the news.
Dot… It’s my fault … I’m, I’m so sorry…
“They appear to have redirected the troops now though.”, Stevonnie’s voice was grim, “They’re climbing the front steps now.”.
Chrysoberyl dried her tears and took a battle stance.
“Then we will be ready for them…”.