Lars was having a pretty good day.

Not only did he get to humiliate Emerald again, but he also got a visit from Steven and Connie. While the kid still could get on his nerves, Lars had to admit he missed the endless positivity Steven brought.

As well as the snacks he brought.

Lars was in the middle of a particularly tasty candy bar when the main console flashed red.

"Boss!" "Captain!" The Rutile twins chimed in unison. "It looks like we're being pursued." "Multiple Targets incoming."

"An entire fleet?" Lars got up from the captain's chair to take a look for himself.

"Not big enough to be a fleet." One responded.

"Each one's smaller than an escape pod" the other finished. As they looked over the radar a series as footsteps echoed from the lower floor. The three looked over to the staircase as Rhodolite ran up, Padparadscha under her upper arm. Fluorite crept up not long after.

"We heard the alarm. Are we under attack?!" The two gem fusion yelled. She quickly plopped the Sapphire into her proper seat as she ran to her own position.

"The alarms have sounded!" Padparadscha yelled. Lars gave the off colored gem a quick pat on the head as he returned to his seat.

"Alright everyone, usual positions!" Lars exclaimed, "Emerald's probably just trying to spook us. This'll only take a couple minutes, as usual."

"Um, Captain," Rhodonite said with her usual hesitance, "I'm getting a visual, and I don't think these are from Emerald. Putting on main screen."

As the monitor flickered to life, they saw a dozen oblong, silver objects. A seam ran along the ridge of each one that was outlined in a deep black. As a few of them passed the sides of the ship, they saw each one had a massive white diamond was emblazoned onto each one.

"It can't be" "This is not good" The Rutiles grimaced.

"Oh Sweet Prism we're doomed!" Rhodonite chimed in. Fluorite simply sunk back down the stairs.

"Why, what are these things!" Lars yelled. Everyone simultaneously looked to the resident Sapphire, who simply sat with her usual glassy smile.

"3..." the left Rutile said

"...2…" the right Rutile said

"...1" Lars finished.

"Oh no!" Padparadscha exclaimed. "White Diamond's forces are on their way!" The gems all grimaced as their fears were confirmed. Lars, however, was more confused.

"White Diamond?" The human asked, "I thought there was only Yellow and Blue Diamond."

"While Yellow Diamond and Blue Diamond are the current dual sovereigns of Homeworld" Fluorite began slowly, "...They are but lesser diamonds... compared to White Diamond."

"White Diamond is high sovereign of the Gem Empire." left Rutile said, which was then finished by Right Rutile, "She the oldest Diamond, has the most colonies, and is the most powerful gem alive."

"If she's so big and powerful, why wasn't she at the Trial?" Lars asked, recalling his introduction to Homeworld. The gems all looked at each other, before Fluorite piped up again.

"White Diamond… doesn't come to Homeworld anymore." she droned. "Not long after the war's end... she left to colonize other planets... and simply never returned."

"She still has sway, though" Rhodonite added, "Back before I came to be, my Pearl half was in the the room when Morganite met with one of White Diamond's gems. She was just a Topaz but Morganite acted like Yellow Diamond herself was standing there." Rhodonite looked like she was going to continue, but a blaring ring from the sensors caught their attention.

The pods had begun orbiting around the ship, evenly spaced so any chance of escape was made much harder. The Rutiles began tapping at their terminal, but it kept flashing red.

"Our weapon systems are being jammed!" They said simultaneously.

"Well that's just Fantastic!" Lars threw his arms up. "What else can go wrong?"

It was at that point where the pod directly in front of them opened up. As the two halves began separating, a series of white and grey shapes were revealed. These shapes began to float together until they became vaguely humanoid, with the two shell halves becoming massive shield arms.

The rest of the pods did the same thing, until a dozen humanoid robots were watching the orange ship.

"I just had to say something." The human muttered under his breath as he covered his mouth. He took a deep breath before steeling his nerves. "Alright, gems, prepare yourselves! I can only assume that they're gonna board so we need to be on our toes." Despite his words, the Off Colors didn't budge.

Not that he could blame them.

The robots began moving in unison. Their fingers crackled with energy, and within moments they began firing bolts of white light at the hull of their ship. The massive lurch caused Lars to fall out of his chair.

"What are they doing?!" the human asked as he tried to get his footing.

"Energon halters, it looks like" Rhodonite replied, the sensors in front of her flashing neon red. "In any other ship we'd be stuck, but right now we have a few minutes before complete shutdown."

Lars sat back in his chair and contemplated his situation. As of right now he had two choices. He could either allow himself and his crew to be captured, or run and risk his ship being destroyed.

The revived human steeled himself before shouting, "Ready the warp drives! We're jumping out of here!"

The Off Colors grimaced, but nevertheless began the preparations. As Fluorite went to prep the engines, Rhodonite began typing commands into her console

"Two minutes to shutdown, captain!" The normal sized fusion cried out. On the monitor, the crew could see their mechanical assailants grouping into a ring in front of them, energy crackling between them. "Whatever you wanna do, you should probably do it now!"

Lars looked ahead at the wall of machines and electricity slowly forming in tense silence.

A moment passed.

Then another.

A loud ringing emanated from the engine room. But still, Lars sat in silence. By now everyone was concerned.

It was at this moment Padparadscha seemed to catch up with the situation.

"We must escape before it's too late!" she cried, breaking the silence.

"NOW!" Lars yelled. One of the Rutiles slammed her hand onto the console, and the group felt as if they were pushed back as they jumped into warpspace. The lights flickered and a quick CLANG rang out upon the hull, and a few seconds later gravity came back all at once.

A few minutes passed in silence as the gems and human caught their breath.

Once he felt he was suitably calm, Lars looked over to Rhodonite and asked, "Ship Status?"

"A few of our systems are rebooting, but it looks like power is starting to come back. As for engines-"

"Now's our chance! We must warp!" The smallest of the group interjected. Lars and the fusion gave her a quick glance."

"... As for our engines," Rhodonite continued, turning her chair to face the stairs. "Hey, Fluorite, how's the engine looking?"

The massive fusion poked her head through and responded, "A bit overheated… but still working."

Lars sighed in relief, "Great. We should probably find a planet to land on and let the ship cool down. Rutile, can you see if there are any in the sector?"

"On it, captain," left Rutile said, turning to her console, while the other Rutile leaned back slightly and asked, "Captain, how did you know the right time to warp? A second to soon or too late and e probably would've been fried."

As the pink human responded, he rose from his chair and cracked his back. Magic or not, humans aren't exactly designed for warp travel.

"That would be thanks to Pads," he explained, pointing a thumb at the unaware sapphire, "Her Past Vision somehow always makes her yell things out at the most uncanny moments. I figured that she'd probably realize what was happening with perfect timing."

"A bold move," Fluorite interjected with a chuckle, having slinked onto the bridge, "... but effective in the end."

The Off Color captain responded with a sigh as he slumped back into his chair.

"I just hope we don't have to deal with any more of those in the near future."

A few quadrants away, two gems ruminated over a monitor.

"Interesting," Sodalite mused, smirking at the Peridot beside her. "Veeeery interesting."

"So, they managed to evade the Cubics." The Peridot retorted, "Any gem with good enough reflexes can do that."

"But you have to admit, you were a little impressed." The Grey-Blue gem responded, looking over the footage they extracted from the Cubics. The entire altercation took place over the course of three minutes, but it had managed to make the Sodalite more intrigued than before.

"I suppose it was a little impressive," The green gem admitted before looking over some reports to look nonchalant. "But hardly proof that they're worth more than anyone we already have."

Sodalite pondered this for a moment, before walking over to a terminal near the room's single door.

"You're absolutely right, Dot." She began, before pressing a button on the terminal and saying into it, "Carnelian, to the bridge."

The Peridot made a noise somewhere between a squawk and a shriek.

"My Clarity, you can't be serious!" The technician had a look of panic as Sodalite walked back over to her.

"Oh, I'm dead serious," She responded with a cheshire grin, "you yourself said they needed a challenge."

"But Carnelian, My Clarity?! Surely there's a-" Peridot was interrupted as the door opened.

A massive gem walked into the room. She easily matched Sodalite in height, but vastly beat her in sheer mass. Most of her body was covered in blindingly white cloak and hood, but a glint of red could be seen beneath her hood.

"You called, my Clarity?" Her voice was higher pitched than one would expect from such an intimidating frame, but it had a gravelliness to it that made up for it.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Carnelian." Sodalite began, her voice slipping into a formal monotone. "I know you're not a big fan of long explanations, so I'll keep this brief; I have a group of intriguing individuals I'm observing and would like you to test their metal. I will supply you a transport and the coordinates of the sector they're most likely in."

"And when I find them?" Carnelian asked.

"Beat the tar out of them." Sodalite's simple response pulled a laugh from the larger gem.

"Done." The cloaked gem turned to leave before her captain called out.

"And Carnelian?" she called, "try not to shatter them; I'd very much like to a word with them once you're done with them."

Carnelian chuckled.

"No promises" she yelled over her shoulder as the door closed behind her.