In the heart of Homeworld, stood a dazzling skyscraper, resembling an enormous shard of blue crystal. It was a research hub which developed pioneering new weapons and technology. Despite rebellion being so rare, especially on Homeworld itself, the building was highly secure, due to the sensitivity and potential for destruction, much of the work done there, possessed.

Inside, lights flashed and sirens wailed. Platoons of Agates and Jaspers raced back and forth, looking high and low for the reported intruders who had triggered the alarm a few moments ago. Towards the top of the building, two Peridots stood at a control panel, tracking the interlopers. Although seemingly of similar builds, a keen observer would notice that one of the Peridots was barely half the size of the other, due to having been made in Era 2, a fact which she compensated for, with the use of limb enhancers.

"Intruders in Floor 17, Sector 9!" The Era 1 Peridot screeched, her words transmitting to the building's security, through an earpiece she was wearing. "Wait! Floor 5, Sector 22! NO! Floor 62, Sector 12! Floor..." She squinted and read the information on her display. "'I'm a dumb clod who...' UGH! We're being hacked!"

"I thought you'd never figure it out..." The Era 2 Peridot smirked.

Her coworker turned to her for an explanation, surprised to be looking directly down her hand-mounted laser cannon. With a flash of light, the Era 1 Peridot's body was blasted away by laser fire, and her gem clattered to the floor. The other Peridot shifted over to the centre of the console.

"Intruders have split up!" She instructed the building's security, through her own earpiece. "One is heading to the roof, the other to the ground floor exit. All troops converge! Do not let them leave!" A small panel was projected from Peridot's hand, and she made some adjustments on it, with the use of her freely-floating fingers, altering the frequency of her earpiece. "Okay guys, I've taken the control room and I'm downloading the weapon schematics. I'm distracting the guards, but we need to get out of here now! Rose, how are we doing on that?"

Several floors down, the infamous Rose Quartz stood in a room, with a dozen Gems, of various cuts, all recently relieved of their physical forms, and suspended in pink bubbles. Rose was at a console of her own, scrolling through a listing of various starships. Before long, she found the fastest one, which could fit Rose's team, a sleek, aerodynamic vessel called the Starbolt. Rose swiped the display over to the side of the console, where she retrieved a small, white crystal.

"I've got the ship's access codes." Rose replied to Peridot. "Everyone get to the landing bay, and we'll get out of here."

Rose and Peridot left their respective stations and raced through the facility, quickly but carefully. It seemed as though Peridot's decoy had worked perfectly, as neither ran into any trouble, until they reunited, a short distance away from the loading bay.

"The weapon?" Rose asked Peridot, as soon as they saw each other, wasting no time on pleasantries.

Peridot summoned one of her screens, displaying the downloaded data. "Got it. Now we just need to wait for..."

"Rose... Quartz..." A sneering voice interrupted.

From a corner, between Rose and Peridot, and the landing bay, a green Gem strolled into view. She had upwards spiking, dark green hair, pointed shoulder pads, and a unibrow-like yellow, zigzagging beam above her eyes. Her rectangular faceted gem took residence on her forehead, like Peridot. Behind her, two Jaspers and two Agates stood in formation, swords and spears in hand, and anxious expressions on their faces, unlike their smug-looking commander.

"Emerald." Rose greeted. "You're looking well."

"You are a special kind of ridiculous, Rose." Emerald sneered. "White Diamond finally agrees to the peace treaty with earth, and what do you do? Break into a Homeworld facility! You're really making this too easy..."

Peridot winced fearfully, and braced her hands' weapons. Rose stood perfectly still, without even summoning her shield. Emerald seemed temporarily off-put by Rose's lack of concern, but she quickly regained her composure.

"B... but wait everyone!" Emerald said, in a sarcastic voice, to her backup. "I don't know if we can take on the mighty Rose Quartz with just us! Except... I have these!"

Emerald clenched her fists and a device appeared in each hand, resembling a green, metal stick, which branched into two, lightning bolt-shaped points, with crackling, green electricity dancing between them. Peridot yelped in fear and alarm upon the sight of them.

"Ever seen an Era 2 destabiliser before, Rose?" Emerald sneered. "A single touch of this and you're in a bubble, heading straight to Red Diamond. I bet not even your famous shield could withstand it."

"Maybe not..." Rose smiled. "But he can." She nodded to the space behind Emerald.

Emerald winced, unwilling to turn her back on her opponent, despite knowing, on some level, that it wasn't a trick. Sure enough, behind Emerald, a pair of thin, boney hands grabbed the scalps of both of her Jasper guards, and united them with such force, that their forms disrupted instantly. The Agates span around, in response to the noise, only to see the newcomer thrust both arms at them. From his hands, two projectiles flew, too fast to track, but leaving behind trails of smoke, and two more destabilised gems.

Emerald finally looked away from Rose and, with a loud, battle cry, charged at her new adversary, thrusting her weapons at him. Emerald's attacker seized the destabilizers by the shafts, causing green lines to zigzag up his arms, and him to wince painfully, before forcing them around, in Emerald's hands, and plunging them into her abdomen.

"Excellent work, Andrew." Rose smiled, as Emerald's form exploded, and her gem fell to the floor.

"Took you long enough." Peridot rolled her eyes.

Andrew closely resembled an 18-year-old human. He was tall and skinny, albeit slightly muscular, had lightly tanned skin, and sleek, black hair, with purple tips, combed over one of his eyes. He wore a shirt with sleeves torn at the shoulders, and baggy jeans. Metallic rings decorated the top of his ears, and the side of his lower lip. Despite seeming to be a human, Andrew possessed a pair of red gemstones, one with a triangular facet, in the palm of his right hand, and one with a square facet, in his left.

"You're welcome." He sarcastically replied to Peridot.

"Come on, let's go." Rose urged, leading her two allies down the newly vacated corridor, and towards the landing bay at the other end.

Minutes later, a single ship flew from the side of the tower, and, before anyone on the ground could question its authority to leave the building, while it was on lockdown, it blinked away into the sky, vanishing in a split second.

-x-x-x-

Despite its more linear exterior, the Starbolt had a spacious, circular interior. Peridot had set the ship on autopilot, to fly to earth, before joining Andrew and Rose in the centre.

"I'm afraid... it's as we feared." Peridot said, sadly, while she scrolled through the data on her screens.

"So, the weapon... it's..." Rose began, fearful to complete her sentence.

"Well, they've no way of testing it, of course, but yes, theoretically, this weapon will separate all Gems on earth, from organic life..." Peridot sighed.

Andrew looked at the palms of his hands and winced. "So that means... we'll..."

"Best case scenario... your moms will come back... but either way... You, Penny and Amelia will... will..." Peridot visibly fought back tears as they welled in the corner of her eyes.

Andrew gritted his teeth and cried out angrily as his anger overcame him. "Red Diamond can't do that! White Diamond agreed! She said to her, specifically, that..."

"… that Gems on earth are to be left alone..." Peridot finished. "Not Gem hybrids. If anything, by... erm... doing what she's doing... she's enforcing White's order by bringing the original Crystal Gems back."

"So, we go back!" Andrew suggested. "We destroy the weapon ourselves!"

"A suicide mission." Peridot reluctantly concluded. "The hub was one thing, but the weapon is already aboard Red Diamond's ship, en route to earth. The chances of the three of us sneaking aboard and destroying it are next to nothing!"

"So?" Andrew demanded. "When has that ever stopped us before? Rose, you've told me so many stories of the Crystal Gems' heroism, what would earth be like, if you'd let unfavorable odds discourage you!?"

"This is different, Andrew..." Rose said, her voice carrying a rare hint of anger. "The stakes are much higher here. If we lose this fight, then we won't just lose our own lives, but your sisters too!"

Andrew looked like he wanted to argue some more, but didn't, knowing that Rose was right. "So, what do we do?" He asked, quietly.

"I assume you were successful in your mission, back there?" Peridot asked.

Andrew pulled a small, metal and glass container from his pocket, with a tiny, red shard floating inside it.

"Good... then the first thing we do, is call Penny." Peridot said.