An Unlikely Alliance of Evildoers

Admiral Jack, the Diamond Armada, and Callie's Unrequited Attraction

The massive fleet of Trilliant Splitters, Destiny Destroyers, and Sun Incinerators, accompanied by the Pear Shimmer, dropped out of warp. Admiral Jack, in his personal starfighter, the Asscher Slasher, served as the Supreme Commander of this Great Diamond Armada (GDA). Under his command, they had scored , only suffering minor casualties. Yellow and White Diamond were so impressed by this victory that they assembled the Gem army, otherwise known as the Great Diamond Military (GDM) and sent them on a mission to "defeat the enemy and restore honor to Gemkind," at least in White's words. This was reportedly part of a quest to expand the empires of the Diamonds. This reasoning served as a cover story for the truth. White and Yellow only wanted to send off this army to be rid of them. Once Blue realized this, she dropped her original opposition to the deployment of the GDM. The Diamonds soon realized that Steven had been right: they needed to change. However, this would be on a path he would have disavowed. The Diamonds wanted to consolidate their control on Homeworld, changing from cult-like imperial rule into a full-on oligarchy which would rule over the citizenry with an iron fist. Although they agreed to not tell Steven about this development, none remembered the message they had sent him to get his attention. They all expected that the "Earth," the GDM would be warping to, could roundly, and easily, defeat their forces. After all, it had an advanced civilization which had mastered space travel technology. That is why White and Yellow originally saw it as a "threat." When Yellow and Blue Pearl noted that the whole invasion could be a diversion, allowing them to increase their power, they changed their goals. However, for the Diamonds and those Gems who had been swept up by the jingoistic sentiments on Homeworld, promoted by the Diamonds themselves, not everything would go according to plan, since the GDA did not arrive at the correct coordinates.

The small docking bay of the Pear Shimmer unlocked, with the Ascher Slasher entering gracefully, with huge blast doors closing behind it. Before the ship landed, Jack flipped a switch, activating the autopilot, and spun out of the cockpit, his wooden shoes making a loud clacking sound as they touched the cold metal floor. Apart from a grey monotone uniform, he still wore a sash about his waist, like his normal white kimono robes he had worn for years. The sash attached to a scabbard encasing his magical samurai sword, a weapon forged to defeat Aku, the worst incarnation of evil, and anyone who stood alongside him. While he would be fighting the evils of the world with his sword, given to him by the gods of his world, the combined mind control of Blue, White, and Yellow overpowered this duty. A petrified Peridot came running up to him. His left eyebrow moved up, unsure of her reasons for being concerned. "Ma'am, why are you so scared? What's there to worry about? We arrived at that planet named 'Earth', right? We can finish off their armies and bring glory to the Diamonds."

The Peridot continued to shutter. She did not want to upset him. At the same time, she knew that lying to him would be worse, resulting in severe, unrelenting punishment. She breathed deeply and gazed into his black eyes, nervously fidgeting with her hands, frightened by his possible reaction. "That's the thing, sir. We aren't near Earth. None of these planets show up on any of our star charts. I don't know what system we arrived in...we aren't supposed to be here."

Jack did not take kindly to this revelation. He complained and stepped closer to the Peridot. With an irritated expression on his face, his demand could not be more evident, even without speaking a word: he wanted to know about any other problems they had encountered because of this "error." She stuttered, hemmed, and hawed until a few words spat out of her mouth. "Uh...sir...I think we...uh...traveled in time...into the future. We tried to get in touch with Homeworld using our instruments and we have received no response yet."

Jack became even more irritated. With no forces to back them up, they were no better than sitting ducks. An unforeseen enemy could be waiting behind any of the planets, ready to strike at a moment's notice. At least, that is how he saw it. He groaned and issued an order. "Soldier, the only way we can win is to know what we are up against in this strange universe. Inform your fellow Peridots and anyone with technical knowledge to scan as much of the area as possible. I'll issue subsequent commands to the rest of the armada."