A strange whistling sound arose as flaming green debris rained down from the sky, impacting the soft earth; bringing with it a small explosion of dirt and sand. Particles dispersing into the the night air, filling it with a thick few unlucky souls on the shore didn't have time to scream. Alex scrambled over the slippery incline, bobbing and weaving around the various pieces of alien scrap metal littering the ground. He hadn't even gone to the beach to look at the distant spaceship; he had just… BEEN there when the whole thing started.

A loud whistling noise could be heard, and he looked up in time to see a sharpened piece of ship heading straight for him. He attempted to dodge out of the way, throwing himself to the side. He wasn't fast enough.

A huge pain erupted in his left arm as it started spouting blood, the limb severed cleanly from the elbow up. Alex stared in shock at the wound, falling to his knees and clutching the bleeding stump.

He no longer cared about the variety of equally deadly shards falling around him; his entire world had been narrowed to the excruciating pain in his arm.

A pair of hands yanked him from the ground, forcing him to stand and face his rescuer. "We need to go, now!"

Alex just looked dumbly at them. "M- my… arm…."

"Later, you'll DIE here if you do go NOW!" They said, redoubling their efforts and succeeding in yanking him along the ground.

Alex's breathing became more labored as blood continued to flow from his body, the ground eagerly absorbing it. The person was saying something, but he didn't care. He was so tired…

Alex didn't expect he would be opening his eyes again, but to his shock light flooded in from above; dousing his vision in a burning ray. He squinted and attempted to block the light with his hand, only to find he was securely fastened to… something. It was hard to tell, with the annoying ball of blindness hanging above him. Seriously, if this was a hospital, he would have some SERIOUS complaining to do.

He nearly slapped himself when he remembered he had a severed limb, there was no way he should be awake… unless he had so many painkillers in him his nerves were on vacation. He glanced down at it, only to get an even shinier dose of brightness as whatever was on his arm was reflecting it, quite clearly he might add.

The light was suddenly extinguished, and after a minute or two of blinking and adjusting to the room, he could see clearly. He glanced at his left side again, before doing a double take. He had an arm there… it looked exactly like his but… he couldn't feel it. He tried wiggling his fingers, and to his surprise, it responded. Maybe his nerves HAD quit for a while… or he was dreaming.

He attempted to take a deep breath, but was greeted with sharp pain instead. Shifting his eyes downwards, he could see there was a… core thing on his chest where his heart should be. Okay, maybe it was just medical reasons?

...It didn't make him feel any better. He had a growing suspicion he was indeed NOT in a hospital, or at least not one he though was safe.

His suspicions were confirmed when the door melted open, and an alien entered.

Of course, being the dummy he is, Alex's first words were "Why is your skin blue?" He also noted she was dressed very… sterile? Her outfit resembled a tight hazmat suit, the only unprotected part being her messy (also blue) hair.

The blue-skinned person in question simply quirked... her eyebrows. "That's… the first thing you ask? And technically, I'm Cyan colored… uh. Anyway, I'm Aquamarine."

"Okey. So is this heaven or did I magically get transported to another dimension?" Alex asked, slightly delirious from the absurdity of his situation.

"Um… no. You're on a gem ship. I was supposed to find a willing replacement if the main squad got captured so…" Aqua responded, twirling her locks around. "I was going to just straight up ask you, but you were bleeding out so I performed emergency surgery. I think it went well considering I haven't done it yet on a human before."

"...I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that last part. I uh… know I'm indebted to you for saving my life, but do you mind explaining what anything you just said meant?" He asked, wishing very much to rub his forehead in exasperation.

"Well… I'm a gem." She started, turning in a slow circle for good measure. "You're on a ship. In space. And I'm asking if you'd like to help me."

"So you're like the Crystal Gems down on Earth? And… this is in SPACE? ...Okay. And what exactly do you need help with?"

"Well, we were sent here to check on something called the cluster, and scout the planet for the rebel gems. The… 'crystal gems' as you call them are galactic outlaws."

"Really? But… they always punch monsters and save us and… stuff. I don't know if I can believe if they are evil."

"Well… THEY are responsible for the ship crash that killed so many humans like you! When we captured them, they escaped; possibly murdering the crew and crashing the ship back into earth with no regard for life!"

"I don't know…"

"Please, just give me a chance to prove I am telling the truth."

"Aight, fine. Show me."

"Great! I'll get the enhancements ready."

"Uh, what? That wasn't exactly in the contract, lady."

"Well… the injuries you took are far too severe to treat. If you don't receive bodily enhancements, you'll literally be stuck in that bed next to a machine for the rest of your pitifully short life… plus this doubles as a test experiment for the diamonds."

"If I don't want to?"

"I can send you back to Earth with this equipment…"

Alex mulled over the options. On one hand, he would basically sign up for some weird alien cyborg program. On the other, he would be bed ridden the rest of his life. "Yeah, fine. Do as many as you'd like."

A needle entered his arm, and he was unconscious in the next moment.