Characters created by: Rebecca Sugar
Chapter 10: Special Guest
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Entrance Gate Of Area 51, Silver State
A swarm of RV's and other vehicles were driving toward the front gate of Area 51. One of the two guards in the booth turned to see them.
As a truck pulled up next to the booth, Joshua, who was in the truck bed, stood up as the two guards emerged.
"Captain Joshua Madison. United States Marine Corps."
The guard saluted him, and he did the same. The guard spoke as he lowered his arm.
"I'm sorry, captain, this is a restricted area. I can't let you pass without clearance."
"Okay." said Joshua, "Come here."
The guard took a few steps forward as Joshua opened the metal crate from the Gem fighter.
"You wanna see my clearance?"
He took out the Gem laser rifle, the likes never seen before by even the personnel at Area 51.
The guard was shocked. Turning to the other soldiers gathered around, he spoke.
"Let 'em pass. Let 'em pass!"
The soldiers backed off.
"Get the hell outta here!" said Joshua as the truck and other vehicles drove through the entrance.
Meanwhile Down In The Main Underground Research Facility
Descending from a ladder into the gem fighter craft was Peridot, Dr. Doberman, and two other researchers.
"Watch your step." said Dr. Doberman.
Peridot stepped down into the familiar craft and looked around as Dr. Doberman spoke.
"So, we don't know about most of this crap, but.. Some of this is pretty obvious, though. Well, if we're somehow wrong about it, you can tell us the correct purpose for them."
Dr. Doberman grabbed hold of a knob next to the main cockpit console.
"This little doohickey is connected to the-"
He pulled on it, and the knob broke off, with wires hanging out. He was a bit embarrassed.
"Well, i-it was connected to the engine."
Peridot nodded.
"That is correct. They are used as a kickstarter for the engine."
Dr. Doberman turned to one of the researchers behind him.
"W-will you take this? Here."
He handed the researcher the knob and turned back to the console.
"Oh, and this is the steering mechanism."
He pressed a button, and two controllers lifted up and opened, and lights turned on where the controller's buttons were.
Peridot nodded.
"Correct."
Next, Dr. Doberman pointed to the console screen, displaying a series of lines and dots.
"And this… Well… Honestly, we don't know what the hell this crap is…"
Peridot turned to behind her and pointed to her laptop, which was resting on the floor of the craft.
"May I have my laptop there?"
One of the researchers picked up Peridot's laptop and handed it to her.
"What?" said Dr. Doberman in curiousity.
Peridot spoke as she opened up her laptop.
"What you are seeing on that screen is what they use to coordinate their ships."
Her screen displayed the same series of lines and dots.
"Huh." said Dr. Doberman, "To be honest, you're making us look bad. But, I can't blame you, really. You are from their planet."
Peridot softly laughed.
Meanwhile outside the craft, another researcher ran into the facility.
"They got one! They got one, not shattered!"
Back in the craft, one of the researchers overheard. He turned to Doberman,
"They got one, not shattered."
Dr. Doberman was surprised.
"Jesus… Peridot you'll be alright by yourself, right?"
"I'm fine by it."
"Okay. Oh- And, don't touch anything."
Doberman walked to the ladder and went up, leaving Peridot alone. Peridot called back to him.
"Why can't I touch anything? I know how this craft works."
She turned to the console and touched it twice in defiance.
"Here. Here. Jeez…"
Airfield-One Minute Later
A group of soldiers and researchers ran over to the truck housing Joshua and the Gem. The truck stopped, and Joshua jumped off the truck bed.
"Right here. We got her in the back of the truck."
The soldiers took the little box containing the Gem from the truck bed.
Dr. Doberman and the Gem group came running out over to the truck.
"Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh boy." said Doberman repeatedly as he ran.
They stopped next to Joshua. Doberman took the box from the soldier as well.
"How long has she been in her Gem?" he said.
"About three hours."
Garnet intervened.
"I'd imagine that Gem is in a hurry to regenerate. Three hours is extremely alarming. That would've provided a good amount of time to regenerate."
"We need to get her into containment!" said Doberman.
Johnnie Coolidge emerged from his RV, with Jeremy behind him.
"I need a doctor! Please, I need a doctor!"
He ran to the crowd.
"Please, my son's sick! There's something wrong with his adrenal cortex! Please!"
As one of the researchers opened the door, Johnnie grabbed him by his lab coat, turned him around, and shoved him towards the wall.
"If you don't do something now, my son will die!"
Doberman spoke from beside Johnnie.
"Okay! Do something!"
The researcher nodded.
"Okay, Davidson, Marles, come with me. Just show us where he is, and we'll help. Let's go."
Johnnie let go of the researcher and directed them towards the RV. As that was occurring, Doberman opened the door while holding the box.
"Okay! Move it! Move it! Move it!"
Meanwhile Back Underground
In one of the main rooms, Secretary of Defense Townsend was typing on a laptop. General Adams, who was standing nearby, looked to him.
"As the former head of the CIA, you knew about this place."
Townsend looked up to him as he continued.
"When were you planning to tell the rest of us?"
"It had been deemed classified."
General Adams coldly stared at Townsend.
"Who should've told us about this place when they first arrived. Before we launched a counter-attack that cost the lives of hundreds of American pilots!"
"There's no way we could've known that our fighters would be that ineffective against their attackers." defended Townsend.
Just then, President Eisenstein and the rest of his staff walked in. Townsend turned to him.
"Mr. President."
Then, one of the army captains with Eisenstein spoke.
"What little information we have is right here."
He pointed towards a map of the world, displaying lines of the estimated route of each Gem SLD on Earth. Eisenstein stared.
"Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia… Destroyed…"
General Adams intervened.
"If you calculate the time it takes to attack a city and move on, we're looking at the complete destruction of every major city in the next 36 hours…"
"We're being exterminated…" said Eisenstein.
Just then, Major Seldomridge and Joshua walked in.
"Mr. President. This is Captain Joshua Madison."
Eisenstein and Joshua shook each other's hand.
"Captain."
"Mr. President."
"Well done."
Eisenstein turned to Major Seldomridge.
"Where is it?"
"We have it in our containment lab, sir."
"I want to go see it."
Eisenstein walked out, with the others following. Joshua looked to General Adams and walked to him.
"General, I'm really anxious to get back to El Toro."
Adams stared at him.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you?"
Joshua was curious.
"El Toro has been completely destroyed…"
General Adams then walked off. Joshua stood with his head down. He turned back to the General as he walked away.
Meanwhile At The Ruins Of El Toro
A truck drove up the the entrance fence to the ruined El Toro base. It stopped, and from the driver's door emerged Talia. She walked up to the fence and looked on at the ruins of the base. The charred remains of fighter jets, and small flames. She became filled with a sudden depression, thinking the worst happened to Joshua.
Back at Area 51, Peridot stared at a television screen. A breaking news broadcast showed. A male reporter could be seen.
"Breaking news from here in Houston. An alien ship has been sighted heading straight towards here. The President had already ordered the immediate evacuation of ANY city that would be targeted by these ships this morning."
The broadcast cut to a view of the city of Houston, Lone Star. A Gem SLD could be seen far in the distance from the city skyline.
"Now, in case you've been living under a rock for the past two days (Which doesn't sound like much of a stretch after all that's happened), these ships are extremely hostile. So, if you live in Houston, or any neighboring area around it, get out of there quick."
Meanwhile In Houston, Lone Star
The sun was setting upon the horizon in Houston. People were running frantic through the streets. Cars were attempting to get through the crowdedness quickly. A Gem SLD could be seen distantly, heading towards the city. Cars were leaving by the main highway. Most of them were exceeding the speed limit, and others decided to jump the curve and drive off the highway to get past traffic.
Back in the ruins of El Toro, Talia was holding a box of supplies. She set the box next to two men.
"These should last us a while."
She noted Betty Eisenstein nearby, laying with a blanket over her, slowly reaching for a bowl of soup. Talia walked over.
"Don't worry. I'll get it for you. Just stay still."
She handed Betty the bowl. Betty looked over to Zack, who was sitting next to Frederick, playing with a toy dragon.
"He's your son?"
Talia nodded.
"He's my angel."
"Was his father stationed here?"
"No. He wasn't his father… But, I like to think he wanted the job, though."
Betty decided to break the momentary silence that resulted.
"So what do you do for a living?"
"Oh. I'm a dancer."
Betty smiled.
"Oh. Ballet."
Talia softly laughed.
"Heh. No.. Exotic."
Betty's smile turned from a endearing one to a more awkward type.
"Oh… Sorry."
"Don't be. I'm not. It's good money. Besides…"
Talia looked back to Zack.
"My baby's worth it. Zack, can you come here, baby?"
Zack laid his toy dragon and walked over. He sat himself over his mother's lap.
"I want you to meet the First Lady."
Betty shook Zack's little hand.
"Hello." she said.
"Hi."
She looked back to Talia.
"I didn't think you'd recognize me."
"Heh. Well, I didn't wanna say nothin'. I voted for the other guy."
Once again, Betty smiled.
Area 51
In the containment room of Area 51, Dr. Doberman and three other researchers were surrounded by computer devices. In the middle of the room, resting on a steel table was gemstone of the Homeworld soldier Joshua found.
"Alright, life support monitors recorded."
"So if we screw up, it's all recorded."
Dr. Doberman looked to the life support monitor.
"This gemstone seems to be giving off a high amount of energy. Specimen appears to resemble an Amethyst."
He turned to a screen that showed the gemstone from above.
"Alright. Let's do this."
He took hold of two controllers. Both were used to control one long crane over the gemstone. One controller moved it left and right, the other moved it up and down.
"Let's take a look at its chemical composition."
Dr. Doberman lowered the crane, and as a result, the gemstone on the screen became bigger the closer the crane got. The crane gently touched the gemstone, and an adjacent screen displayed new readings.
"Strange. The chemical composition seems alien."
One of the researchers noted the energy readings change significantly at the corner of his eye. He slowly turned to it and studied the readings.
"The energy readings just spiked immensely."
Suddenly, the room was engulfed by a bright white light. The researchers covered their eyes. Once the bright light dissipated, they uncovered their eyes to see the gemstone rise. It hovered over the table and flashed continuously. A silhouette formed, and soon created more detailed features.
The large Amethyst landed feet first onto the steel table, creating a large dent in the middle. She grabbed the crane, yanked it off of its wiring, and threw it opposite to the researchers. They stared at her. She slowly turned her head back to them and gave a cold gaze.
One of the researchers ran over to the sealed door. At that moment, the Amethyst darted over to the others. She grabbed Dr. Doberman by the throat and lifted him from the floor. She started to choke Doberman. He was wheezing while struggling. Then, she threw him to the wall, and he was near unconscious. The Amethyst then turned her attention to the other two researchers.
The researcher struggled to open the air-tight door. He turned to see the Amethyst staring at him. She ran to him, and he screamed.
One Minute Later
The door into the facility opened, and President Eisenstein and the rest of his staff walked in. They all turned to the rows of glass showing the containment room. All they could see was a mist obscuring the view inside. Major Seldomridge slowly walked up and pressed a button.
"Dr. Doberman?"
There was no answer. Soon enough though, the mist cleared up a tad, revealing Dr. Doberman, barely breathing, but conscious, laying on the floor. Major Seldomridge spoke with relief.
"Dr. Doberman. Thank Go-"
Suddenly, a tray flew from the mist and hit the window. Seldomridge stepped back, startled. President Eisenstein noticed the three other researchers, dead on the floor. Then, as everything cleared up, the Amethyst could be seen, standing in the middle of the room. The whole staff stared at her.
"Release me…" she said very faintly, "Now…"
President Eisenstein walked up to the glass and spoke.
"I know there is much we can learn from each other if we can come to a truce… Can there be a peace between us?"
The Amethyst stared coldly at him.
"Never…"
Eisenstein turned to General Adams, and then back to the Amethyst.
"What is it you want us to do?"
"We want you to die… Every single one of you… Yellow Diamond must have her wish fulfilled… This planet must die…"
She walked to the glass. She balled her fists and began hitting the glass. It started to crack.
"Die!"
"Shoot her!" ordered General Adams.
The staff drawn their guns. They all fired at the Amethyst, breaking the glass. The force of all the bullets caused the Amethyst to be flung back, and hit the ground hard. Eisenstein and his staff stared at the wounded Amethyst, all except for Major Seldomridge, who ran over to the struggling Dr. Doberman. He stared at Doberman.
"Dr. Doberman…"
Doberman slowly drawn his eyes to Seldomridge.
Meanwhile, the President spoke to his staff.
"These aliens are not going to stop… All they want is to destroy this planet…"
Seldomridge walked over to the Amethyst. Her gem was cracked, and her body was glitching. He drawed his gun and shot her gem three times in anger. The gem was shattered, and she was poofed away. Eisenstein stared from nearby.
"Nuke 'em… Let's nuke the bastards…"
He walked off, and Townsend stared at the trashed containment room.