Hello and welcome.

After much of just sitting around and doing nothing I decided to rewrite my old fanfic (yes, this is indeed me, karl0336), whitout having gained any writing skills in the meantime. Yay for common sense. But hey, new season (of SU), new name (new username) and new me (actually I'm the same lazy brocastinating f ck I've always been).

So enjoy. I guess.


Left Behind Chapter 1

„… wake up… "

Galena awoke.

The first thing she saw in several millennia was the floor, approaching at a worryingly high speed.

She lifted her arms, unsure whether to embrace it or push it away and only succeeded in making the fall slightly more painful than it should have been. As she lay, she became more aware of her surroundings and as any sentient being that perceived the world around them, begun to ask herself questions in a vain hope that staring at a wall would somehow give her the answers. Her first thought was:

"Why is the floor so bloody cold?", followed quickly by

"Why do gems even have pain receptors?" and

"Why am I awake?"

Never really strong at neither the internal workings of floors and gem bodies, she concentrated her awakening mind at the final question.

Why was she awake?

She, like many others, had been detained here under accusations of being rebel elements. She, unlike many others however, had been innocent.

Well, maybe innocent was the wrong word.

Accused of wrong crimes would be more true. And even the crime part was rather sketchy, depending on where you looked from.

Anyways, she had fully cooperated with her captors, was perceived as a small threat and thus had been left alone for most part, in a galena-trance. One by one, other prisoners had disappeared, into the machines of the ancient factory, once made to supply the seeders, now rebuilt for processing the grim harvest of Earth.

Earth.

Memories came back to her, like water breaking through a dam.

Damn.

Homeworld could just replace the word "insane" with "Earth" and no one would question it. Not only because questioning orders was a sign of someone being Earth.

How beautiful it had been. Part of her wished for the dream back, before it had become a nightmare. The slender spires that reached the sky and the sun itself, islands that floated amongst the clouds as if belonging there, temples that seemed to have grown from the rock itself. Gems, friends, companions, all gone, either dead or on Homeworld.

Groaning, she sat up and looked around. She was apparently in the prisons control room. A bar of shining metal like substance gleamed on a table and she crawled to it. At her lightest touch it shifted, shimmered and begun to flow like water between her fingers and across her arm, finally forming a belt around her waist. Finally standing up, she saw a red button on a panel, indicating it was active. Voices could be heard, indicating it was the intercom of the facility. As she slammed the button down a holographic screen appeared in the air. A map was displayed, showing positions of cameras, speakers and other such equipment, mostly broken. One microphone near the entrance seemed active, and Galena hit the gem equivalent of a replay button.

…..

Sometime earlier

….

Peridot felt uncomfortable, slightly scared even. It was logical, as she was walking next to a gem who could manipulate oceans with the wave (heh, get it? Wave. Sometimes it amazed herself how funny she was) of her hand. But even so far inland the silent blue gem could give her shivers.

They had just kind of stumbled on to each other. Peridot was searching for a safe place to hide and Lapis was doing… whatever she had been doing before. Peridot hadn't really pressed the matter. The one time she had mentioned Jasper, .

Anyway, Lapis had seemed like a convenient way to protect herself and Peridot had taken the blue gem's silence to the question "How about we stick together for a while?" as a yes. In fact, Lapis had said very little at all, other than "go away" and "leave me alone".

At least things were improving.

They had started speaking during their nightly camps (which Peridot had been against in the beginning, but quickly agreed when she saw the many eyes that watched them from the forest). Yesterday, Lapis had even smiled when Peridot told the story of how she had sneaked into Steven's home, stolen her foot back and had avoided capture after a massive showdown against the Crystal Gems, in which fusion of the enemy might have occurred. Or might not have. Lapis had found that part a little bit unbelievable, but had let it pass. Peridot had her foot.

But now night was over and Lapis had regained her cold stature.

They were headed for an old factory that the early colonists had used to produce things not present on the colony ships. Peridot didn't even know for certain what they were looking in there. Her logs had told her that working together could apparently improve relations and the better relations you had with someone, the more likely they were to give you information she wanted, mostly about what Lapis knew about the "Crystal Gems" and what she had been up to this entire time. She wasn't telling the whole truth (or any truth at all, for that matter). A secluded area such as this, underground and far away from large bodies of water seemed the safest place to start asking questions.

"We should be arriving to it… now."

Peridot looked up from her finger screen to see nothing but a large mound of rocks.

"It doesn't look like much." Lapis commented.

"That's because it's mostly underground. The minerals that were dug out were used to build the machinery and equipment. Hopefully there's something in there we can use."

Peridot gave Lapis a hopeful look, but the blue gem seemed more interested in staring at the clouds. Grumbling, she activated her tractor beam and started moving the boulders.

….

Lapis thought as Peridot worked. Thought about what had happened. To her. To Jasper.

To Malachite.

Jasper had won.

The thought echoed in her mind.

Jasper had taken control of the battleground that was their collective minds, standing victorious above Lapis, only to be forced back into a battle as Malachite emerged from the depths of the consciousness. A tornado of fury, edging on madness. Lapis had used the confusion to rip the fusion apart, to end the connection and escape.

The rest was hazy.

She had woken on a beach far away from where Malachite had been imprisoned, with her footprints leading to the ocean. She knew Jasper wasn't dead, but had an odd feeling of peace about it. She had done something to her, but couldn't for the world remember what it was.

A rock falling down from the mound and rolling near her changed the strain of thought from Jasper to Peridot.

The green gem had come as a surprise, really. She had been certain Peridot would not last on Earth very long and had to admit that she had tried to scare the slightly arrogant and annoying gem away, but was now somewhat glad she wasn't alone.

Peridot threw a pebble at her to get her attention.

"Earth to Lapis. Wake up! The entrance is cleared. Are you coming now or will you catch up later?"

….

Galena could not believe it.

Homeworld authorities had left a prisoner outside of a cell with a possible weapon and set the trance-call to be "wake up"? That had to break dozens of protocols. It was probably a bigger crime than hers.

And now there were two gems outside the complex, a matter no less concerning.

Correction, the two gems were inside the complex, as the few scattered cameras could tell.

Nearly everything was offline in the center. Perhaps attributable to time, but she doubted time went around with a club and smashed panels with what looked like a battle axe. And lock doors behind her. Even more depressingly, the whole place seemed to be waking from some standby mode, while the few things that still worked here remained stubbornly dark.

She was sealed in with no way out, other than the intruders. Who were they? Friend or…

She paused.

Who would qualify as her friend at the moment? The Rebellion hadn't exactly shown much gratitude. And the only way Homeworld integrated prisoners back into the society was in fragments.

But then again, who would have to know who she was? As far as she could tell, all records in the place had been erased. Talking her way out seemed like viable option.

There's a first for everything. Maybe even treachery.

Galena watched the pair move through the rooms. The Lapis Lazuli and a… Peridot, apparently. They didn't make them like they used to anymore.

Whatever they wanted they had a clear sight, going immediately for the Supply Depot. Her eyes glued to the floating map, she tried to listen to the garbled audio.

…..

Peridot clicked a button and one of the walls of the crate melted away, spilling its contents on the floor. The whole place was pretty bare, anything useful had been stripped. And what had been left behind was slowly being dissolved and rusted by water which had found its way in through the rock and metal. The fact most things here had been made from terrestrial materials such as iron only quickened the process. Cursed oxygen. The planet seemed like some being intent on digesting everything, including itself.

"This place gives me the creeps. Are you sure nobody is here?"

Lapis had given her best at helping Peridot, which, in short, meant that she simply stood around and stared at everything. Some sudden noise made both of them freeze for a moment, until they were sure it was just some other piece of machinery stirring in the depths. Peridot felt a smirk elevation at having a light from her gem while Lapis was forced to stay in darkness.

"The facility was simply put in a standby, in case it was ever needed. It's just the restarting process."

That's it, everything was logical. Or was it? Places like this were generally lost, forgotten after warp was established on the planet. So, why was it left ready to activate itself again?

The depot was different from the other rooms. As it was deeper, the ceiling was much higher, covered by shadows. The place seemed more derelict, more empty than rest of the facility. Every sound, like water dropping from a beam or one of the rusted walkers attempting to move its legs was incredibly loud. Even Lapis's soft footsteps echoed, as she was wearing heavy boots. Peridot pulled one of the energy rods from the crate to examine it, causing others to roll out in a sudden clatter, making Lapis nearly jump.

Just as Peridot was about to apologize, another noise, this time a loud and sharp static rung out from one of the hallways. It only lasted a moment, but the echoes were more persistent and refused to die.

"What was that?" Lapis looked at the green gem, who had already gathered herself.

"Just one of the speakers. Must have short wired from water damage."

"You mean someone used it?"

Peridot was taken aback.

"Of course I wasn't suggesting something as stupid as that. No one is here."

"But why would the speakers turn themselves on for no reason?" Lapis kept asking.

"Well, why don't you go and find out?" Peridot snapped back, but seeing Lapis leaving the room made all of her irritation fade into the background. "Wait! I didn't mean it literally! Come back! Lapis!"

Peridot looked around the now empty room. She could be the wiser one and remain here to continue her task. But suddenly the idea of being alone in the dark seemed a bit less inviting, so she hurried after Lapis, cursing all the way.

….

"Ugh!"

Galena got up from under the console and looked at the map. The speakers had fried the moment she tried to use them, but it seemed to have been enough. The dots were moving in her direction now, inching forwards on the holographic projection. Her room was at the end of the hallway, the only one that was closed.

What if they were hostile? What if they would just smash her and she'd suffer the same fate as other Galenas?

No, now was not the time to have second thoughts.

What if they wouldn't open the door?

Should she try to message them? Knocking? Shouting? Or would that only scare them away? She rose up and started to pace around the room. What should she do?

"That's odd."

For a moment Galena thought she was hearing things, then realized that the intruders had reached her door. Frankly, she didn't know which was worse.

"What are you waiting for, Peridot? Just open it."

The audio systems on the outside still worked. Too bad the doors were soundproof, like all of them here. Otherwise the screaming would never have stopped here

"The door controls have been tampered with. They are locked from the outside."

"So? What does that mean?"

The other voice, apparently the green Peridot, gave an sigh.

"Think a moment with your pretty blue head! Someone tried to make sure these doors stayed shut. And probably for some good reason."

"You're just scared."

"No, I am not! I'm just saying that maybe opening it would be a bad idea!"

Galena listened to the two go on for a bit more and begun worrying slightly if they would ever reach a decision. Maybe they weren't so organized after all.

…..

"Fine! Why don't we just go around and poke under every rock we find!"

Peridot didn't know why she suddenly felt so fed up with Lapis, but the argument had begun to tire her. She slammed a command of her finger screen, nearly stabbing through it. Lapis had started to say something, but suddenly the words seemed to die in her mouth as she stared at something behind Peridot.

"What is it now?"

The green gem turned around and immediately recoiled, taking a big step back to Lapis.

In the doorway stood a gem.

She was gray, about the same size as Lapis, but with a bigger build. Her suit had a dark, matt tone with metallic stripes running across it. It was not a warrior's outfit, but rather that of a worker. Almost white straight hair hung loosely until her shoulders. Her eyes were steel-blue, but had a certain softness to them. Her ace was round, and her brows and small nose game it a slightly stern look

The gem's left hand was raised in an awkward wave, revealing the cubical gemstone embedded in the palm. It also revealed a thin black line running across it, an old symbol used to mark certain gems.

"Criminal" Peridot shouted and formed her arm cannon. The newcomer's belt shimmered and seemed to jump into her arms, forming a long, crude silvery blade. As seconds seemed to slow around her, Lapis jumped in between, blocking the view.

Everything stood still

"Let's try again, shall we? How about we all put our weapons down and talk?"

The green and the grey gem lowered their weapons, but hostility could still be felt in the air. Lapis tried to start with introductions

"My name is Lapis Lazuli, and she is Peridot. What's your name?"

"Galena."

"Lapis! She's marked." Peridot whispered. "She has committed crimes against the Diamonds…"

"The Diamonds aren't here, Peridot. Let's at least try to look friendly." Lapis whispered back.

A sudden startling beeping from the room caused them to jump and made Peridot and Galena to raise their weapons again. The grey gem glanced into the room, at a holographic display that had suddenly appeared in midair.

"Did you bring any friends?", she asked.

"What do you mean?"

Lapis pushed Peridot's aiming hand down and moved closer to observe a map that hung in the air.

"I mean that someone just warped in. The warp pad must have been unblocked and reactivated along with everything else."

"It's those Crystal Gems and their cursed tracking device."

Peridot cursed herself. How had she not checked is this place had warp pads or not?

"The who and their what?"

"The Crystal Gems," Lapis explained to Galena, "are the remnants of the Rebellion. The few that survived and have remained on Earth ever since,"

"And I take you are not on their side?"

"No."

Galena nodded, having expected the answer and pressed a few buttons on the panel. The Peridot had overridden the locks placed on the systems of the makeshift cell, allowing Galena to turn on more of the surveillance system, giving them a wider looks of the place..

"Steven, keep moving. You can take pictures later. Steven!"

"That's the Pearl." Lapis's voice turned ice cold as she stared at the map.

"We are wasting time."

"And the fusion, Garnet." Peridot added as the second voice finished. Galena felt a bit left out as the strange duo was concentrated on the map, until something in her mind rung a bell.

"You mean the Garnet? The Lovers?"

"Yes." Lapis replied.

"And with Pearl, you mean the Pearl? The Rogue?

"Yes."

Galena nodded.

"Anything else I should know?"

"The Steven is…"

"An abomination." Peridot stuck in.

"…the son of Rose Quartz." Lapis gave her a slightly annoyed look. "There's also a faulty Amethyst, but she's no one, really."

"Can we go back to the 'son of Rose Quartz' thing? You kind of lost me there." Galena felt more confused than before, but before Lapis could say anything, they were cut off by Peridot.

"We don't have the time for gossip, we need to figure out what we are going to do about them." She pointed to the four dots that had moved considerably on the map.

"What about others?" Galena asked. "You must have some reinforcements? Or did Homeworld send just you?"

"We're not really with them." Lapis glanced at Peridot. "It's been five thousand years. We'll can tell you everything later."

"Alright…" Galena still processed the information. Five bloody thousand years? She felt off put, to say the least. What other great reveals were out there? Did the sun rise from the east?

"We could try fighting. There's only four of them."

"And die trying." Lapis still seemed oddly calm about the whole thing. "They don't care about anything but themselves. They are merciless monsters."

"They would probably just seal you up in a bubble somewhere and forget about you, especially with that mark of yours." Peridot supported her. "Not that it would be much of a downgrade from this." She did a waving motion towards the room.

"Of course, you are welcome to go and try. We're not going to stop you."

"Fine, it was a dumb idea. Do you have a plan?"

They had one, and it was simple. They would set up something to attract the Crystal Gems, hide in the supply depot and wait for them to pass. After that, it would be a rush to the warp pad, hoping that they would make it there before the enemy figures it out.

…..

Peridot and Lapis were perched on one of the beams in the Depot, waiting for Galena to finish setting up the trap.

"Lapis, why are you being so… friendly to her?"

The blue gem shrugged. "I don't know. Because she was a prisoner? Because we might need help?" she snorted slightly. "Are you jealous?"

"I'm not joking. She is a traitor. How do you know we can trust her?"

"Peridot, why are you here with me? Is it because you care about me? Because you felt bad for me on the ship? Felt bad for keeping me prisoner? Were worried about me after I became Malachite?"

Peridot seemed slightly uncomfortable. "…Well,…"

"You did not. You just wanted to survive. You didn't have a choice. Neither does she. Or, as a matter of fact, us."

Peridot remained silent, falling into thought. Galena finally arrived in the depot and only realized to look up when Lapis called out her name. Her shining blade dissolved and fell to the ground in a puddle, where it formed a pair of large boots around her legs. She jumped, but didn't fall, being held aloft by air streams from the shoes. She floated up to them.

"Good spot, I didn't even realize you were up here."

Lapis pointed to her boots, which seemed to jump from her feet to form into a sword once more.

"What is that stuff?"

"Nano-metal. It was some side project for a robotics development program. It draws power from my gemstone" She waved the sword around and the metal twisted itself around her wrist, constantly changing shape. "Just a fancy tool. Not as strong as a summoned or forged weapon, but good enough. Just takes a lot of willpower…". Peridot shushed them silent and soon enough, they begun to hear footsteps.

…..

"Steven, put the camera away. It's not meant as a toy."

Steven held the polaroid, a gift from Connie, tightly in his arms and paid no mind to Pearl.

"It's meant to take pictures. And I promised Connie to take a photo of a gem monster."

"Well, there aren't any here. I'm afraid to disappoint you, but this place is empty."

"Steven, look here!"

Amethyst had run to one of the walkers and taken a heroic pose, one leg on it as if it was prey she had captured. Pearl only scoffed as Steven snapped the photo.

"Pearl, you took pictures of yourself as well."

"Only to replace the one that was melted by acid.

"And then a few dozen more. You have used more than Steven."

"No I haven't!"

Garnet suddenly rose her arm, signaling everyone to absolute silence. "Can you hear that?"

It was there. A faint voice, accompanied by static seemed to come from one of the hallways. They summoned their weapons.

"Let's go. Steven, you can breathe now."

Following Garnet, they headed for the hallway. Right in the doorstep however, Steven stopped and decided to take another photo of the large room. He aimed the camera high, wanting to capture one of the large cranes hanging from the ceiling.

He pressed the button.

The Polaroid sent out a flash.

And then he saw them.

….

The moment Steven aimed the camera up, Galena knew the plan had failed. They had to run.

She was the last to jump from the ledge, and hit the ground when Lapis and Peridot were already rushing out of the room. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the Crystal Gems returning with their weapons drawn.

She was only able to take a few steps, however, before something curled around her ankle and pulled he the ground. Instinctively she rolled to the left and was just in time, as a white spear dug into the ground where she had been. Some green bolts flew over her head, forcing the Crystal Gems to take cover. Water from a small puddle collected up and hit the Amethyst in the chest, freeing Galena from her whip.

"Lapis!"

Steven, not intimidated by the battle, raced forwards, trying to catch up with the fleeing gems. Peridot shot blindly while running, and while they flew too high to hit Steven, Garnet and Pearl were both forced to stop the chase for a moment, leaving Steven to run through the corridors and rooms alone.

"Lapis, stop!"

Lapis did stop, but only because she had reached her destination. She stepped on the warp pad.

"Lapis, don't go!"

"Bye, Steven."

A beam of light shot up, and when it disappeared, Steven was alone in the room.