Consequences

16 - That Was Too Easy

Pearl!" Garnet yelled as she threw a Homeworld gem in the pale gem's direction. Pearl caught the warrior on the end of her spear, and Peridot was quick to bubble the gem behind her.

As soon as that gem was out of the way another filled its place. This repeat pattern had been going on for almost an hour and a half.

The Homeworld soldiers may not have been very experienced, but there was strength in numbers. The Crystal Gems had all received a few good hits on themselves, and one time, Amethyst had to use her little vial of Rose's tears so she wouldn't poof.

The only thing that kept the Crystal Gems from being completely consumed by Homeworld was the fact that a good number of destabilizers, collected by Peridot's metal powers, were hovering around the Crystal Gems as a sort of barrier.

The barrier had gaps, however, and Peridot couldn't fling her destabilizers at everyone.

"Hey, guys!?" Amethyst yelled over the sound of battle, whipping the spiked ends of her weapon at a gem to hold her off. "There's way too many people here! We can't last like this forever!"

Amethyst had a point.

Pearl and Peridot glanced at Gernet, to see what she'd command, but didn't dare keep their eyes away from the raging battle any longer than that.

The gems struggled against Homeworld, as Garnet thought.

Well, if Steven and Lapis were already back on the ship, they could just go, right? But this entire mass of gems would just follow them out.

Plus, there were bound to be more challenging beyond the ship itself.

Maybe, if they slowly backed away from Homeworld, closer and closer to the door, they could get out in time to shut it behind them. Then, Garnet could punch a dent in it, so it wouldn't open.

That would keep the opposing party out for long enough to get to the Ruby ship.

Garnet allowed herself to be slowly pushed backwards, further and further towards the way out. Pearl, Amethyst, and Peridot, seeing that Garnet was moving backwards, followed.

They had to stay together, because if one of them got separated from the others, it wouldn't take long for them to be completely overwhelmed.

The Crystal Gems were practically side by side now, the destabilizers Peridot kept hovering in the air growing tighter next to each other, offering more defense.

The Homeworld gems were closing in around them. Garnet's back was up against the wall, and she used it to push a blue gem into a yellow one. The gem she was fighting got back up, charging at her again.

Garnet ducked under the longsword the gem swiped at her with, and met the blue gem's stomach hard with her gauntlet. The blue gem doubled over, and Garnet poofed her.

"Peridot!" Garnet yelled over the shouting of the battle, as Peridot bubbled and sent away the gem. Peridot looked at Garnet expectantly. "The door!"

Peridot thought that wasn't such a good idea, but she wasn't about to object, as everyone needed to refocus their attention on the Diamond's minions.

Peridot uncertainly, but quickly, let her fingers dance across the keypad by the door. Amethyst and Pearl, seeing the interaction, dropped the fight and ran toward the opening as the door slide away. Garnet followed, but not before grabbing a smaller soldier and swingin her in a semicircle, getting herself, and others she hit, destabilized.

Garnet jumped back through the entrance as Peridot quickly tried to close the door.

Peridot was too slow, and garnet had to, regretfully, grab a destabilizer from the air and use it to keep forthcoming gems from rushing through the doorway. Pearly helped with her spear, and Amethyst whipped anyone who tried to come through back. On top of that, Peridot's destabilizer collection were now forming a solid rectangle in front, leaving very little holes for any Homeworld gems to come through.