Log Date 4-11-18
Chapter Four
There was a long moment of pause and then two before Peridot couldn't bear to keep her eyes closed any longer. The buzzing of electricity paused and Peridot gaped as the destabilizer mere centimeters from the crack in her facet. The Homeworld gem was not looking at her but at the door just behind her. She noticed the rumbling had gotten louder and louder until neither of the pair could ignore it.
Her gem seemed to be spared by the unexpected disruption and a loud drumming bang pierced the air. The metal frame of the ship shook so hard that both gems were sent skidding across the deck.
Alarm lights flickered overhead and Peridot lifted her head to look up at the ceiling in confusion. Those were most definitely not part of the take off procedures. The ship groaned underneath and the Era One gem quickly got to its feet. It seemed that the other didn't have any clue what was going on by the look on her face.
The other roughly released her grip on Peridot and shoved the Crystal Gem into the floor. "Don't move," The Homeworld gem spat before lifting the destabilizer up and away.
The floor rumbled and there was a deep seated whine that echoed through the whole ship. Her own heart went cold with dread, the ship wasn't taking off- they should've been launched into orbit by now. The Crystal Gems weren't safe!
Why isn't anything working!" The Era One slammed her fists into the controls, sending a large crack through the board and effectively ruining it.
Peridot lifted herself up to her feet and used the wall to steady her aching limbs. The Era One gem was distracted, her focus was on the sparking console- not that there was anything that could fix it. Peridot had really done a number on thing and had no doubts that it was nigh irreparable.
The only sound in the containment area was the high pitched whine of the smoking control system and the harsh curses being muttered out from the Era One. A faint sound caught her ear and Peridot turned. It grew louder and louder and she couldn't help but notice that it sounded distinctly like it was coming this way. Or that it sounded distinctly like hard footsteps against reinforced metal.
A small breath escaped her and she felt a nudge in the back of her mind. It was something faint, something low. And it dangerously felt like hope.
There was a loud crackle of the intercom and Peridot couldn't help but drop open in disbelief.
"Hello? Is this thing on?" The intercom made a high pitch squeal causing the gems in the hangar to wince. Peridot intently listened to the two indistinct voices talking rapidly.
Peridot's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open slightly, 'Is that who I think it is?'
"No, no! I think you actually have to press-"
"-does all gem technology have so many-"
"-yeah, all you gotta do is hit the button.
"-oh, it's already on?"
There was a long pause and a bit of crackling before the garbled voice came in much more clear, "This is your flight crew member Big Ame speaking!"
"With copilot Steven!" A new voice interrupted with a bright cheer to the young voice. There was a slight break it the pitch and Peridot could hear distinct rustling.
"Today's flight to the Homeworld place has been uh... regrettably canceled due to some technical difficulties." There was a rough breakage in the pitch and Peridot could practically feel the pair grinning. "Sorry 'bout that boss lady gem ma'am. I'd fix it but it ain't my area of expertise-"
A laugh unwillingly bubbled up from Peridot. She had never been so thrilled to hear Amethyst and her big mouth. She tried to take a few steps but her own injuries and the shaking of the floor prevented her from moving much from the wall.
"Ohh! Hi Peridot! I can see you through the weird monitor thing! Is this how your ship was like when you first flew here?!" Steven enthusiastically asked. Peridot could hear the pressing of random buttons over the intercom and had no doubts that the two were messing around in there. "Woah! There are two Peridots?! That's freaky!" Steven continued, "I don't really like the look of the other one Peridot, it doesn't look very nice-"
"Where in the name of the Diamond Authority did you two clowns come from?!" The Era One gem suddenly barked, seemingly coming out of a stupor. Walking forward, she stuck her limb enhancer into a section of the wall and a video feed appeared. It showed both Amethyst and Steven sitting in two separate wheelie chairs as they both had a hand wrapped around the intercom mic. A cold dread of fear washed through Peridot as the Era One's eyes flashed with something indecipherable.
"What do we have here? A runty Amethyst and-" She paused for a moment and scrutinized the screen. "I don't even know what clod of dirt you ruptured from." Her eyes slid over Amethyst and narrowed in on the design of Steven's shirt. "A star," She murmured.
Steven's face was pressed up against the screen. "Peridot! You're hurt!" He exclaimed, his eyes widening as he took note of her stature. "Don't worry! We're gonna get you right out! Garnet and Pearl should be-"
Amethyst opened her mouth and leaned down into the mic to say something but was immediately cut off by a hard fist the the side panel. The Homeworld gem's eyes narrowed and the feed was cut off for good. Electricity sparked from the smattering panel and Peridot took an edging step back
The ship tumbled again and Peridot herself fall to the floor. The veteran didn't even seemed phased that her ship was being destroyed from the inside out by Amethyst and Steven in the control system. In fact, she seemed almost thrilled, which made it all the more scary.
There was a screech of metal and the indistinct sound of fighting down the halls. Peridot breathed in and it seemed both the Era One and the Era Two gems had the same thought. Someone was coming.
The Era One gem bared its teeth and swiftly walked forward toward the door. Peridot made a noise of protest, "Don't you dare touch them-"
Her weak threats were silenced with a sharp kick to the stomach.
"Quiet! It's time for the real gems to play."
Peridot slowly let out an agonizing breath and pushed to her feet as her legs almost came out from under her. Her gem pulsed with every breath but the slowly widening cracks were too deep and there was no way to dissipate her form unless she wanted to be even more vulnerable than she already was.
A large, fist shaped dent appeared on the metal of the door and Peridot's ears rung with the sound. Peridot could do nothing but watch as the door burst open with another hard bang.
The pipes still streamed hot air so at first it was hard to see anything beyond the the thick haze of smoke lingering over the door. Peridot's eyes scanned the hangar, after an agonizing moment- two figures appeared in the smoke. As they came close, their figures were revealed.
Garnet came first, her gaze firm and a commanding aura arose from her. Her own line of sight reflected back in the shades and she gave a shaky grin, "Hey Garnet." Peridot spoke, consequently splitting her the cut in her chin more. Her brusies seem to flare under the gaze and Peridot became distinctly aware of her tattered clothing and broken visor. She must've looked like a total stranger. "Mission didn't go as planned…"
Garnet's gaze rested on her for a long moment "I can see that." Garnet finally spoke, readjusting her shades as she stepped over the rubble. They exchanged a look but the gaze was interrupted by a flitting figure that appeared in the steam.
"Peridot?! Peridot!" Pearl spoke, jumping through the door with her spear raised. "Thank goodness you're alright!" Her bright blue eyes meet Peridot's and the green gem is taken back by the soft look of concern. Pearl's gaze raked up and down her figure and Peridot bit her lip as the intense gaze rested on her forehead- no doubt Pearl had already taken note of her cracked gem. Her cheeks burned a dark green and she stared down at her toes.
Pearl's nostrils flared and there was a flash of something dark as the lithe figure turned towards the Era One gem. "Garnet." Pearl lowly warned, her spear twirling in her grasp. "That's a-"
"I know Pearl. I know." Garnet spoke as something passed between them that Peridot couldn't read. The oldest members of the Crystal Gems squared up and Garnet took a menacing step forward. The Era One gem seemed delighted at the motion as she herself confidently strided forward. Her limb enhancers steamed and a long, deadly looking weapon was reformed.
"I've been waiting a long time for this." The gem spoke, her words coming out more like a hiss than anything else. Pearl and Garnet's eyes trained on the Homeworld gem. Peridot watched as Pearl immediately summoned another spear except this time- it had the triton addition on the end of this.
Peridot was surprised, she hadn't seen that brought out in a long time. Pearl never used it for training and Peridot only knew of it because she had heard all about the forge from Amethyst. But she had never ever seen them pulled out, let alone used. The green gem took one look at the faces of the two eldest of the Crystal gems, this was serious.
It seemed there was an unspoken start between the two sides because in one single explosive moment, all three gems charged each other.
The room was enveloped in a flurry of quick movement and loud gun fire. The Era One gem was expertly dodging both of the Crystal Gem's movement and countering them with a few quick moves of her own. It seemed that the limb enhancers were not just good for data streaming but had a whole lot of offensive fire power. Crackles of electricity pierced the air as high powered bullets trailed after Pearl.
Garnet quickly stepped in front and held her fists together like a shield, sending the bullets ricocheting off. Peridot herself shrieked at the sudden rain of bullets and curled in to try and block the onslaught from accidentally piercing her.
Pearl had jumped high in the air, using Garnet's back as a springboard and flipped before coming back down to the ground with a deadly speed. The Era One gem jumped back as Pearl's spear pierced the floor with a defeaning crack. She didn't have a chance to recuperate before blocking an onslaught of quick jabs and vicious blows. Pearl's spears were being twirled separately in each hand with the dexterity and grace of an expert combatant.
The veteran seemed to expect this as she met each attack easily. A bubble of electricity spiked out and Pearl flipped back to avoid the barrier between the two. Pearl panted slightly from her crouched position and gave Garnet a slight nod.
Peridot held her hurting arm to her chest and stumbled back a few steps in time to the shaking floors. She took in a small heaving breath and glanced between the two opposing sides. The tension in the air was thick and it made her leg tingle with the instinct to run.
But she was afraid, afraid to even really move a single step. As much as she hated it, hated her fear, she couldn't help but choke every time she caught a glance of the destabilizer still crackling in the other's limb enhancers. It would be so easy to just finish her off in this state. Peridot clenched her teeth. The Crystal Gems weren't scared of anything, yet here she was, quaking over the mere thought of the Era One gem. And despite everything she had told the Era One Peridot and herself, she was still just as afraid as she had always been.
Pearl flipped back through the air, her movements graceful as the were deadly. Her sharp gaze seemed to catch her eye and Peridot's antsy movements stopped. Her green eyes met the other's soft baby blue and she could see the look of concern on Pearl's face. The green gem had never been much good at hiding her emotions, especially when she was upset.
The younger gem resolved herself, 'Get a grip, you're fine. You're a Crystal Gem.' Everything would be okay now, they could beat this gem! She just needed to get up and fight! Pushing her body up, Peridot trained her eyes onto the Era One gem. It was a peridot they were fighting! Who knew more about how to fight a peridot than Peridot herself!
It was true, she wasn't strong enough or quick enough to dodge the full frontal force of the other. But- the Era One peridot wasn't even paying attention to her. This was her opportunity for a sneak attack of sorts! She could get the advantage.
Peridot's eyes scanned the rubble that was scattered across the floor and her gaze came across an thick piece of metal piping that had been blasted from the ceiling. Her captor's back was turned, this was her chance! Pushing herself off the the wall, Peridot scampered over to the other pile of rubble. Lifting her eyes up, she ducked behind the pipe. It solid metal through and through. One hit with this would at least send the gem spinning for a moment long enough for Garnet to take them down.
The floor rumbled with Garnet's strength and bits of metal flew over her head as a gauntlet grazed the wall, just missing the Homeworld gem's head. The Era One gem jumped back and put an arm on her blaster to steady it. Peridot took a deep breath, 'Now!'
Jumping up, she focused her mind on the heavy pipe. Her gem glowed a soft green and she strained to lift it up in the air. Pain emulated from the cracks but Peridot paid no mind. She could do it! She was a Crystal Gem too! The pipe finally lifted up into the air, lazily rotating up high. The green gem grinned under the strain and directed her mind to her enemy.
"Here you go you clod!" Peridot shouted, bringing attention to herself before wildly heaving the large pipe towards the group. The moment she let it go, she realized in an instance that she had miscalculated her throw. The Homeworld gem, surprised at her sudden appearance instinctively ducked at the shout. The pipe sailed over her captor and instead clipped right into an unsuspecting Garnet. The fusion was quick and had her gauntlets up in a fraction of a second to block the pipe but the weight of it knocked her slightly off balance.
Peridot's eyes widened as Garnet stumbled back from the heavy pipe. It sent her slamming back into the wall with a hard grunt. Wasting no time, the Homeworld gem lunged. Peridot's mouth dropped in horror as the bladed destabilizer went for Garnet's chest. It seemed that the fusion was saved just in time by Pearl's triton. She expertly parried the blows from the destabilizer and sent the other spinning back.
She stiffened at her own folly and burned red as both Pearl and Garnet leveled her with a look. Her own chest tightened with the embarrassing feeling of failure but even that was overtaken by a sharp pain in her head.
Squeezing her eyes shut, Peridot clutched her head and cried out in pain as her facet seemed to burn. It was because of this that she didn't even get to see the bullets coming straight for her.
"Peridot!"
The Era One Peridot sent a another wave of bullets but this time Garnet came forward and her fists slammed into the floor. A rippling shockwave through the reinforced metal and knocked not only the veteran but Peridot herself tumbling to the floor.
Bullets flew overhead and her own shriek was lost in the loud whine of the gun. The bright flash of light blinded her. It was in another moment that she felt her body go weightless as a pair of strong arms wrapped around her.
Peridot kicked at the restrictive hold, "Let go of me you clod!" She spat, fighting her captor's hold. As her vision cleared, her fighting stopped as she realized that it was not her captor but in fact Pearl who was holding her.
She could make out Garnet's form in the fire fight and she felt herself being set down on the other side of the room behind a pile of rubble and debris near the cells. Pearl's gaze flashed with concern and stature loomed over Peridot's hurt form. She briefly flitted over the green gem, carefully tracing cuts and bruises with her eyes.
"I need you to stay here." Pearl spoke, her voice low but firm as her eyes peeled up over the console to make sure the other gem was still occupied. "Keep hidden and wait for my signal until you can leave."
'Stay here?' Peridot's mind worked a mile a minute despite the pain and she frowned. "But then what am I supposed to do to help?!" Peridot spoke, her voice cracking with a little bit of realization.
"You're not going to do anything but hide, you need to keep yourself safe!" Pearl's voice was tight with authority and her eyes hardened out of maternal concern and the seriousness of the situation. "And right now priority number one is getting you out of here with your gem intact!" Pearl's fingers gently ran over Peridot's facet and the green gem immediately flinched back from the touch.
Whatever Pearl saw in her face seemed to prove her point and Peridot scowled at the look. "But I want to help too-"
"Absolutely not! This is way beyond your training and not only as your teacher, but as your friend I don't condone it." Pearl's voice brooked no argument and Peridot found herself hard pressed to find anyway to argue her point. "Promise me that you're going to stay safe." Pearl spoke, her eyes flashing back to the heat of the battle before settling back on Peridot's injured form.
"Are you listening to me Peridot?" Pearl's voice was firm and Peridot squirmed under the intense look.
"I promise," She murmured miserably, her chin moving down to hit her chest. This wasn't fair at all, she was a Crystal Gem too!
Pearl's shoulders seemed to relax just slightly and she bent forward on one knee. "Thank you." Peridot felt a soft hand under her chin as something warm and soft pressed up against her forehead, just above her facet. She grimaced slightly at the touch as her cheeks grew warm.
Pearl disappeared from her view and her quickly put her hand up to wipe the skin where the older gem had kissed her forehead. Peridot scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. Her body ached with the action but the green gem didn't seem to care.
She hated that Pearl had to go and have her hide. She didn't want to hide. Peridot had spent so much time having others fight her battles for her. This was her mission and she didn't want to be sidelined.
Waiting a moment, Peridot pushed herself up and peeked her head over the console. A slight sliver of trepidation filled her as she watched the battle. She couldn't just jump back into the fight. Pearl was right in the fact that she was outmatched. Charging in would not only get herself hurt but then she'd get in trouble with Pearl and Garnet which would not be fun.
But she didn't need to fight head on to be of help! There had to be another way she could help. The sparking of the console caught her eye and Peridot's eyes widened in remembrance. She had forgotten about the download.
Looking past the pile of rubble, she made sure no one was watching her before sneaking past to the console. Scampering across the floor, Peridot dove behind the console just as another flurry of ricocheted bullets grazed past her head. With a gulp, the green gem slowly eased her way back to the panel.
What she discovered was a mess. Peridot shoved debris off the console and stared down at the fired circuitry in trepidation. Her heart sank as she caught sight of the smoking hole where her rewired recorder should've been. It seemed that along with the system, it had been fried as well. The screen was fuzzing out and Peridot could barely make out any of the numbers that were glitching on and off the broken screen.
Though despite the mess, something caught her eye. She choked back when she realized what she was looking at. It was the ruby! It's stocky stature and red gem gleaned out from its transposed position underneath the console. It seemed that when the ruby was blasted across the room, it went sliding underneath the console.
Peridot examined the downed gem and her face lit up. 'No way, it can't be…' But it was. Peeking out from underneath the gem's body was her recorder! It seems that on its way down, the ruby had hit the side of the console and sent the data chip skidding underneath the console. All that data wasn't lost at all!
The green gem giddily slid herself under the console. It was a tight fit but she could easily maneuver herself. She was designed for this kind of tech work so fitting underneath a console was child's play. Scooching herself close, Peridot put two hands on the chip and tugged. It wouldn't budge.
Her brows narrowed and her lip firmed. Bracing herself, Peridot stuck a foot against the ruby's body and began to pull once again. "Come one you stupid-" With a final hard tug, the chip came free and both the ruby and Peridot were pulled apart from each other. The green gem smiled down at her prize with a smug grin.
Everything was intact! This would be a perfect success to show the Crystal Gems that she hadn't completely failed. The image of the pipe slamming into Garnet and Pearl's hard look filled her mind's eye. This would make up for it! She'd prove to them that she, Peridot of the Crystal Gems was awesome at missions.
But as soon as she tried the move, a hand reached out and clasped around the chip. Peridot choked and turned. The ruby's eye snapped open and it's intense gaze zeroed in on Peridot.
The two stared at each other, Peridot's owlish eyes widened in alarm and the other's dazed in confusion. The green gem bit her lip and slowly began to pull the chip towards her. The ruby pulled back, much more gently in almost a confused manner.
Peridot frowned and tugged again and this time was met with a hard pull of resistance. "Gimme it!" Peridot spoke, pulling hard with a frown on her face.
The ruby shook its head and met her own gaze with a childish scowl. "There is no way I'm letting some traitor have anything from Homeworld!" The ruby growled, yanking both the chip and peridot back. The green gem's head smacked up against the underside of the console and she let out a yelp. How did the ruby even know that!
"This is my recorder!" Peridot indignantly spat, yanking hard to pull the chip more towards herself. "It's mine and you can't have it!"
"Oh yeah? Well it's gonna be mine now!" The one eyes gem yanked again and this the recorder went in their direction.
Peridot grit her teeth. "Let go! You don't even know what it is!"
"So? If you Crystal Gems want it then I want to make sure you can't have it! I'll never let you traitors have anything!"
With the final shriek, both gems pulled so hard that it went flying from both their grips. Spinning out from under the console, both gems glanced at the recorder and at each other before lunging for it.
"It's mine!"
"It's mine!"
Authors Note: Yes, the Crystal Gems did come to save the day! I couldn't just let Peridot die all alone with no one to save her. But it's not over yet, I still got some ideas left! Just a quick note, I'd like to thank all my followers, favorites and reviewers! It's you guys that keep me writing! I appreciate you!
