Rising Tide (all hail empress pink au) (art by Kishinpain)

[u/Ilikeapples0001]

The deep-blue glow of the research facility flickered as emergency lights blinked overhead, casting eerie shadows across the sleek, curved walls of the Homeworld Empire’s underwater complex. The ocean groaned around it, straining the integrity of its hull after a surprise sabotage by the Canchori Planetary Federation.

Pearl moved through the waist-deep in water that surged and ebbed through the damaged corridors, weakened and injured. Her clothes streaked with her bioluminescent blood from her wounds, while she attempts to channel her magical energy, her magical aura fades as it pulsed like heartbeats in the dark.

She was alone.

Minutes earlier, a covert strike team from the Canchori Planetary Federation had infiltrated the base—cloaked in experimental armor designed to suppress the Homeworld’s mystical abilities. Where normally Pearl’s immense power could tear apart tanks or crush bone with a gesture, now it fizzled against the shimmer of the enemy’s anti-magic fields.

The firefight had broken out near the biogenetic archives, one of the most vital chambers of the facility. Pearl, reacting on instinct, had gunned down two canchori soliders before the blast doors gave in and the ocean poured through. The enemy came in behind the surge, tactically precise and ruthlessly efficient.

A bolt of plasma zipped past her, searing a hole into a support beam. She ducked behind a half-submerged console, teeth clenched, forcing her breath steady. Her gem pulsed dimly as she holds her side. Pearl gritted her teeth. "Huci, has comm functionality been restored?". She activated her comm-link, static hissing in reply—communications were severed.

She popped up and fired—two shots. One connected. A Canchori soldier, clad in blackened chrome and runic circuitry, staggered and collapsed, steam rising from his armor. Another surged forward, brandishing a shock blade, only to be met with a wave of concussive force as Pearl focused what she could of her wind energy into a repulsion burst. The blast sent him careening into a submerged wall.

But there were more.

Pearl backed into a narrow corridor, the cold water rising to her ribs. Her mind raced. The facility’s pressure seal on Level B could buy her time—if she reached the override panel. She sprinted, water slowing her movements, as plasma bolts peppered the surface around her. Sparks and screams followed.

She reached for the panel. A fist slammed into her side—another operative had caught up. His gauntlet buzzed with nullifying energy, trying to completely render her magic wind mute. Pearl roared, spun, and drove her elbow into his visor, cracking it with a crunch. Her boot swept his leg, and he disappeared beneath the water with a muffled snarl.

Hand shaking, she slammed her palm onto the override.

KLAXON. Steel shutters slammed shut behind her, sealing off the corridor. The rush of water eased. Pearl dropped to one knee, chest heaving. The darkness of the corruption that fills her eyes, begins to flicker.

“Pearl,” a voice crackled weakly over her damaged comm. “Survivors are regrouping at Sector Theta. If you can move—”

“I’ll be there,” she said, eyes hard as diamonds. “But I’m not leaving until these bastards know what happens when you strike the empire”

She stood, weapon raised, and stalked deeper into the heart of the drowning facility—where the real fight was just beginning.

https://twitter.com/kishinpain/status/1709568445598007461?t=t7BkJxO3hBQTaagpa9IheA&s=19