Welcome to the Universe! It's been a week of intense planning, but we've finally finished planning the finale of the Steven Universe Shattered Trilogy! If you've been here since the beginning, thanks for coming back and if you're new, I hope you enjoy the story as it continues.

We've made several changes to the lore and characters since the beginning and now that it feels like our own unique spin on the Steven Universe story, we're happy to finally take the characters to a definitive final place in their arcs.

Please, if you enjoy or hate what you're reading, leave a review so we can know what you'd want us to do. Even if you don't have much to say, a review would go a long way in letting us know someone's actually reading so we can be motivated to keep writing for you guys. So without further ado, let's get started!

Welcome Home

JASPER'S MASSIVE bat-shaped spaceship zoomed through space, moving past planet after planet that showed no signs of life. It had been three years since they embarked on their journey, though they were unsure of how much time had passed on earth, and they were drawing closer on their destination: Home World.

The orange gem in question, former Commander under White Diamond, walked through the main living quarters of the ship where Connie, who was now 18, Ruby, Sapphire, Lapis, Amethyst and Lion sat by the windows of the vessel, and made her way to the cockpit. Waiting for the door to slide open, she stepped into the pilot's chambers where Peridot and Greg commandeered the ship, glancing at the small holo-map on the dashboard between the two.

"How far off are we?" Jasper asked.

"Just about a few minutes," Peridot answered without looking at her. "We're receiving life signals from a planet nearby so it's gotta be it."

"I wonder why there's been no life for the past week since we entered this star system." Greg said.

"It's probably because the inhabitants fled from the Diamonds or were killed off by them." Jasper said.

"Well, let's hope it's the former." Peridot shivered. "It'd be unnerving if they could clear out so many civilizations just like that."

"I suppose." Jasper headed out of the room. "I'll tell the others we'll be arriving shortly."

Greg glanced back as the door shut and he turned to Peridot. "Hey, can I pilot the ship now?"

"No."

"Oh, c'mon, it'll only be for a few minutes."

"You want us to simply crash on Home World? I can't trust you on this." Peridot said.

"Hey, I was a Plumber once." Greg frowned.

"Yeah, once, a very long time ago and you barely remember anything." Peridot said. "You don't even know how to initiate a hyper jump."

"Come on, it's getting boring just sitting here doing nothing."

"I said no!" Peridot shut him down, aggravating the man who sat back and frowned.

PEARL LOOKED around as she walked the streets of Oval Town alongside Gen, smiling as she saw the rebuilt houses on either side of the cobblestone road and people moving past her. She looked to where the Oval used to be and was in awe at the statue of Mira that stood in its place, seeing the flowers resting at its feet and a small crowd of people paying their respects.

"I can't believe you rebuilt so quickly." She said.

"The Breakfast Kingdom works pretty fast – I'm surprised their food based materials actually make strong buildings." Gen said.

"It looks magnificent." She turned to him. "What did you do about the garden that Rose left behind?"

"It was a tough decision, but the people decided to simply leave it be." Gen explained. "To our surprise, it radiates with Gaia Energy as well and it helped the forest regrow."

"I guess Rose really was connected to the earth, for better or worse." Pearl looked to the forest in the outskirts of the small town.

"So, where are you now? Have you found what you're looking for?"

"We're close to Home World now, I can feel it." Pearl paused for a bit. "Whether I'm ready or not, we'll just have to see I guess."

"Well, just stay safe, alright."

"I'll come back as soon as I can, I promise." Pearl held his hand.

Gen tried to speak when Pearl vanished, leaving a slight trail of light on his hand where she last touched. Their connection was slipping the more time passed and the space between their talks was widening, making him wonder if one day they wouldn't see each other again.

In Jasper's ship, Pearl sighed as the holographic projector in the middle of her quarters disconnected, moving over and turning it off entirely.

CONNIE LOOKED out the window in the ship's main area, astounded by how different space looked depending on which area you're in or how far from a star you were. "So, we're finally heading to Home World, huh? I'm not sure I'm ready honestly."

"Heh, I know I am." Amethyst, who sat across her, stretched back in her seat.

"Sure, except I beat you yesterday in sparring practice."

"You beat me? Bullshit!"

"Bitch, I beat your ass and your know it!" Connie smirked.

"Yeah, and you lost the other day." Amethyst retorted.

"True, I admit that."

"I guess it's a tie then." Amethyst crossed her arms.

"Yeah, but one day you won't be able to match me."

"We'll see about that, kid." Amethyst chuckled.

Connie laughed then paused for a bit, her mood souring. "It's too bad Steven isn't here for this though."

"He hasn't contacted you yet?"

"He didn't leave me any way to in the first place." Connie said. "I just hope he's okay wherever he is."

"Well, I say good riddance; he can stay gone if he wants!" Ruby, who sat on the other side of the room with Sapphire across from her, yelled.

"You were just complaining about how you missed him this morning." Sapphire said, keenly reading her book.

Ruby scoffed. "Surprised you even heard me while reading that crap."

"She's still reading hentai?" Connie asked.

"She hasn't put it down since yesterday." Ruby said.

"You know that stuff will rot your brain, right?"

"I can't believe she won't share any with me." Amethyst said. "Though I coulda just used my phone, but it doesn't work so far away from earth."

"Why do you even read that anyway?" Connie asked Sapphire.

"I don't know." Sapphire shut the book. "I don't even find it arousing, but I'm still interested anyway."

"Yeah, you're just a pervert."

"You got that right; sex with her was always the kinkiest shit." Ruby laughed. "Rarely happened though since we were almost always fused."

"Ugh, I don't wanna hear about that." Connie cringed.

"And neither do I." Jasper said as she walked into the room. "Stay focused on the task at hand; we're here."

"Whoa, we are?" Connie got up and followed her as she headed into the cockpit.

"Yeah, we are." Peridot said as she heard Jasper, Connie and the others enter, standing up and gesturing to the window. "Welcome home!"

Connie's eyes dilated in awe as she took in the magnificent large purple planet adorned by the light of the nearby sun, amazed at the shimmering lights on the surface of the planet and the many interconnected asteroids that floated around it. "It's so beautiful."

"I wouldn't be so taken by its appearance." Pearl said as she entered. "It's a heartless rock I have no fond memories of."

"Well, it does look amazing." Greg said.

"I've had some fond memories from growing up with Rose." Jasper said with a sigh.

"This's your mother's home, Blood Quartz." Helio, who Connie didn't see when she came in, said to a dark-red skinned toddler gem garbed in black clothing and a black breathing apparatus who stood beside him. "What do you think?"

Blood looked to the planet and slowly moved up to the window wordlessly, stopping beside Jasper and holding his hands up to her. Smiling, the orange gem picked the child up. "I wonder if this's the first and last he'll ever see of this place."

"Why does he have to wear that all the time?" Connie gestured to the child.

"Gem children have trouble breathing in their first years of life, so that helps filter the air for them." Pearl said.

Jasper nuzzled Blood and moved over to Helio, handing the child to him. "Take him to his chambers; he shouldn't get caught up in this."

"Sure." Helio took Blood and stepped out of the room.

"Aw, the kid's adorable!" Greg said, getting a glare from Jasper that sent shivers up his spine.

"Alright, let's prepare for our descent." Peridot returned to her seat, turning to Jasper. "Where do you want to land, chief?"

"Take us to Region –,"

"This an emergency! Repeat, this is an emergency! Requesting immediate backup to the Third Home World Sleeper Outpost!" A male voice came on the ship's computer.

"Who's that?" Connie asked.

"It's one of my soldiers." Jasper said, rushing to the control panel and pressing a button. "This's Commander Jasper, what's your status?"

"J-Jasper? Commander, we're under attack!" The man said in a panic.

"What's happening?"

"The M –," Static interrupted the line. "Home World is –,"

The transmission cut. "Soldier?" Jasper asked. "Lieutenant Grey Topaz, what's happening?"

"Uh, guys …" Connie said, pointing to Home World up ahead.

Jasper looked up and backed up in horror as explosions ripped through four of the asteroids around the planet. "What's happening?"

SOUNDS OF screams and laser fire filled the air on the surface of the Third Home World Security Outpost, the soldiers of Jasper's rebel militia scrambling as they were attacked from all sides by an enemy they never anticipated. Aircraft were knocked out of the sky and the ground cannons were ripped apart by the attacking forces, pushing the soldiers back and cornering them at their base.

"I can't believe these bastards would do this." Grey Topaz frowned as he opened fire and backed toward the main building of the Security Outpost.

"Lieutenant, help me!" A fallen soldier called out from beneath a pile of debris.

"Hang on!" Grey Topaz ran up to the man and tried to get the rubble off him.

An explosion knocked him to the side however and Grey Topaz looked up to see the outpost go up in flames. He got to his feet and panted, seeing the Moss slowly overrun Home World's forces and destroy the asteroid itself. The creatures were made entirely of green living matter, taking up misshapen horrid humanoid forms for combat and shifting into a liquid-like state to corrupt and destroy machines and non-living matter.

A mass of Moss spread rapidly across the ground toward Grey Topaz and he fired at it with his laser rifle, unable to stop the entity as it surrounded him! He shut his eyes, awaiting the inevitable when a sonic wave washed over him, shattering the Moss around him and causing it to scatter like broken glass on the ground.

"What the?" Grey Topaz looked to his left to see Lion running through the battlefield and engaging some Mosslings nearby. He squinted, unsure who the gem was, when he heard Jasper's ship above and looked up, smiling as he saw the orange gem standing by the hanger doors. "Commander!"

Jasper leapt off the ship and came crashing with a punch that cracked the asteroid for several meters around her and knocked back Mosslings nearby. Summoning her helmet around her gemstone, she fired a green photon beam out of her hand, incinerating more of the Moss around her and freeing some of her men. Jumping out of the crater she made, she entered the fray.

Standing from the hangar of the ship, Connie watched as the Moss spread further and further like a green stain over the asteroid, horrified as she saw no end to it. "What is that?"

"That's the Moss, a Home World bioweapon used to obliterate enemies without being detected. They have no energy or heat signature and won't be spotted until it's too late." Pearl frowned. "They were just a fabled dream when I was on Home World, but it seems they've finally completed its creation. Disgusting."

"Well, so basically keep on your toes, right? I go this." Amethyst moved past the two and jumped off the ship.

Amethyst shape-shifted into a large bird as she descended and zigzagged between the Mosslings attacking Jasper's men, wrapping the creatures with her whip that she held in her beak and ascending back into the air, transforming back into her normal form and tossing the lassoed creatures upward, igniting her weapon and incinerating them in a massive explosion that lit the sky!

On the ground, Jasper wrestled with a Mossling and grabbed its neck, smashing it against the ground and blasting it point blank with a photon beam, disintegrating the creature. She rose up and saw more of the creatures nearby when Grey Topaz ran up to her. "Commander!" He called.

"Grey Topaz, what's the situation?" Jasper asked.

"We've lost most of our men already and our cannons are down."

"What happened? Was there a spy among you?" Jasper asked.

"The Moss are attacking us indiscriminately – even soldiers loyal to the Diamonds are getting killed here." Grey Topaz said.

"What madness is this?" Jasper frowned.

"We have to evacuate, we can't fight them like this."

"It's just the Moss, it's no match for us."

"You don't understand, the asteroid's been corrupted." Grey Topaz explained, stunning Jasper as she realized what it meant.

In the ship above, Connie donned her space helmet and prepared to jump onto the asteroid when tremors rippled through the craft, nearly causing her and Pearl to fall off their feet. "What the?"

"Something's hit the ship!" Peridot cried. "We're going down!"

On the asteroid, Jasper watched in horror as a gigantic mass of Moss shot out of the ground, struck the ship from below, and dragged it downward! Reacting quickly, Jasper flew toward the spacecraft when another swathe of Moss erupted from beneath her and bound her, pulling her further away. She struggled against the pull when she looked at the asteroid from above, horrified as the green entity and ripped through it, slowly demolishing it from the inside!

Amethyst burned down a Mossling from nearby and was bound by another as well, forced to watch as Jasper's men nearby were gutted like fish. Grey Topaz watched as his comrades died around him, seeing his Commander hung helpless above him and her ship burning to the ground. With all hope lost, he typed on a keypad on his gauntlet and looked up to Jasper.

"I'm sorry, Commander." He pressed one more button.

Jasper went pale as she realized what he'd done, hearing the main building of the outpost erupt in flames as the asteroid began to self-destruct! The blazing fires engulfed her men below and Grey Topaz watched as the Moss was incinerated, smiling as he was swallowed in the blast as well.

"Grey!" Jasper cried out, immediately getting knocked aside by the shockwave.

The security outpost's explosion sent Jasper, Amethyst and the ship that held Connie and the Gems flying outward and crashing towards Home World below! The aircraft broke apart in the heat of re-entry and the gems were separated, falling like meteors to the ground below.

LIGHTS SHIMMERED in the sky above as a chunk of Jasper's ship hurtled to the ground and smashed against the sandy rise of a small pink desert, kicking up dust and coming to a creaking stop. Steam rose from the vessel as it slowly cooled and one of its doors flew open as Helio kicked his way out while holding Blood Quartz in one hand, using his free hand to pull out Connie who fell unconscious and giving way for Pearl and Ruby who squeezed their way out and collapsed on the ground gasping for breath.

Helio looked around, expected a barrage of Home World soldiers to attack when he saw the faint lights of the asteroids in space exploding one after another. "Home World's defenses are down …" He sifted his mind in confusion and turned to see Jasper standing a few feet away looking blankly into the distance.

"They're all gone, all of them …" Jasper said shakily. "My armies have been wiped out."

"How do you …" Helio cut himself off as he heard radio static from her gauntlet. "They found us out?"

"It doesn't make sense, I was thorough …" Jasper shook her head. "I had very few sleepers and I had soldiers in far off systems, how did they find them all?"

"Jasper –,"

"Everything is gone, Helio!" Jasper yelled. "Our last chance to defeat the Diamonds is gone!" Her tone softened. "Those were my brothers; I fought with them for years and they're …"

Helio saw the emptiness and grief in Jasper's eyes and walked up to her, hesitating to speak, and she embraced him tightly, wordlessly seeking comfort in him.

Connie groaned as she slowly came to a few feet behind them, seeing Pearl who sat beside her. "What happened?"

"I think we might've lost already." Pearl said, looking to Ruby who searched around their crashed portion of the ship.

"Nobody else is here." Ruby walked up to them. "We gotta go find the others."

"But where do we start?" Connie stood up.

Pearl looked around, trying to think, when she saw small buildings peaking in the distance. "I think I know where we are."

"Is this …?" Ruby asked.

"Region Pink." Jasper said as she stepped away from Helio. "The home of Pink Diamond."

"Is that a military camp or something?" Connie asked.

"No, the energy signature from there is too low." Jasper said. "Come on, let's see what it is."

Jasper, Helio, Pearl, Connie and Ruby traversed the patchy desert toward the buildings they saw, coming closer and realizing that it was a small town with damaged old structures. In the town were several low level gems with numbers tattooed on their necks that immediately turned their attention to them as they arrived, the weaker among them backing away as they sensed Jasper and Helio's power.

"Stop right there!" A small Carnelian ran up to them and held out a rusty spear. "Who are you? State your business before I gut ya!"

"Watch where you're pointing that, you little runt." Jasper snapped the weapon like a twig.

Carnelian yelped. "Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Everybody run and hide!" She darted off, annoying Jasper.

"I'm sorry about that." A blue Pearl walked up to them. "She dropped out of training, but still feels she's has to fight somebody." She chuckled then gasped as she saw Pearl, her eyes wide in awe. "Whoa, you're a pearl! You're so pretty!"

"I haven't seen another pearl in a long time." Pearl said, chuckling uneasily as Blue Pearl shook her hand eagerly.

"You haven't? Oh, you must work for a high ranking commander or something." Blue Pearl said, looking to Jasper. "And you sure look like a commander, oh – where're my manners!" She curtsied. "Welcome, Commander … uh …"

"There's no need to kiss my ass, I'm not a commander anymore." Jasper said.

"Really? With your energy level? And they cast you aside to this place?"

"What do you mean cast aside?" Connie asked.

"Oh, you're a peculiar looking gem; must've failed shape-shifting training or something." Blue noted. "Well, this's the Slave Village, all of us here are deemed unfit to live in the inner cities because we have nothing to offer in service to the Diamonds, so we toil away in the mines run by Bismuth." She pointed to a mountain range behind her.

"Wait, Bismuth is here?" Ruby asked.

"Well, no, she went missing a few years ago, but we still follow her strict schedule and do what we can." Blue Pearl said with a smile. "If we fail here as well, we get shattered."

"That's not something to smile about." Connie said.

"When you toil away for the Diamonds, you learn to take their bullshit and like it." A Pink Pearl frowned as she walked passed them. "You guys must've been in the highest rank in Region Blue to be this ignorant of what's happening on the ground."

"I'm sorry, but we're in a bit of a rush." Pearl interjected. "We're trying to find the inner city; do you know where it is?"

"You wanna find the inner city? I'm sorry, but that's not a good idea." Blue Pearl said.

"Who's tryna go to the inner city again?" An old gnarly male voice came.

"Oh, Old Topaz, they're just passersby, there're not from here." Blue Pearl said hastily to a large old yellow-skinned gem with a scar across his face clad in a dark coat.

"Slaves or not, yer not gonna get into the inner city." Old Topaz said.

"And why is that?" Pearl asked.

"Haven't ya heard? Rumor has it Black Diamond has awoken and his forces are coming this way."

"There're male diamonds?" Connie raised her brow. "And what do you mean by 'awoken'?"

"Wait, did you say Black Diamond?" Jasper asked with a frown.

"Yer heard me, soldier." Old Topaz growled.

"Then that means they want to wipe out this village." Jasper realized.

A PIECE of Jasper's ship fell out of a portal for transport ships and crashed into a small river in a park, instantly sinking to the bottom. Bubbles gathered on the surface and out of the depths came Lapis who carried Sapphire onto the grassy bank. "Don't get any hentai fantasies off this shit." She dropped the smaller gem on the ground.

"What? I just read it for amusement."

"Yeah, sure, tell yourself that." Lapis waved her hand, drying herself instantly and looked around, her face paling as she saw where they were. "Fuck."

"What's going on?" Sapphire turned around, fear written all over her face. "Oh man."

The two blue women tensed up as a large highly advanced, white and sterilized city filled with grey and white buildings and airships traversing the skies spread out around them. The people who they could see in the distance were all clad in white and all had some kind of prosthetic or cybernetic enhancements to them.

"We have to get out of here quickly before we get detected." Lapis said, shape-shifting and altering her face, changing her clothes as well to fit in with the residents.

"Region White." Sapphire said, doing the same. "This's probably the worst place to end up in right now."

"Wait, where's Peridot?" Lapis looked around.

"I don't think anyone else was in the ship." Sapphire looked to the river behind them.

"We need to find her." Lapis walked off.

"Hold on, we can't just go running blind; we'll get spotted that way."

"But what if she gets hurt? Or –,"

"Lapis, calm down, she'll be fine." Sapphire said, seeing the panic in her eyes subside. "You really care about her, don't you?"

"She's the most important thing to me." Lapis composed herself and walked toward the street nearby. "Let's find a way out of here."

Sapphire followed her onto the sidewalk of a street surrounding the small park, trying not to react to the curious glances some gems sent their way. Crossing the road and bemused the hovering traffic, the pair searched for the city's exit when they came upon a large lateral egg shaped chrome building with a line of gems at its entrance. Unable to resist their curiosity, they joined the queue and slowly entered the premises.

Sapphire and Lapis entered the building and found themselves on a tour of a science facility, immediately dismayed at their find when a hovering screen nearby scanned their brain waves. The two adept telepaths put up a false series of thoughts, masking both conscious and unconscious minds and continued with the tour group, unable to leave at this point without drawing attention to themselves. The facility's AI communicated with them psychically as they went, showing them some of Home World's recent advancements in bioscience.

Nothing particularly piqued their interest until they were shown a massive assembly hall where gemstones were ferried down a line of conveyer belts. The two struggled to mask the horror on their faces, only showing mild amusement on the outside, as they saw the stones forming into gem babies once they were sent under a machine that shone a light on them.

"And here is our new state of the art Gemification Lab designed by White Diamond herself!" The computer said with elation. "Unlike the clunky old gemification of living species, this new method creates gems from the ground up cell by cell! No soul, no resistance, all programming ready to serve Home World at optimum efficiency!"

The tour group erupted in applause upon the announcement, Lapis and Sapphire dumbfounded as the children were carried into tubes that connected to the upper floor into the waiting arms of excited assigned mothers. The realization donned on them the more the watched the cold display, Home World had gotten all the Gaia Energy they needed when they invaded Beach City long ago; they now had the power to create life itself!

"THEY WANT to wipe out the village? Then we've gotta get outta here, right?" Connie said in surprise as she stood amongst Jasper, Pearl, Helio, Ruby, Old Topaz, Blue and Pink Pearl in the middle of the Slave Village.

"There ain't no point leavin' here." Old Topaz said. "If Pink Diamond or her soldiers found us anywhere else, they'd shatter us for deserting our posts. If Home World deems us unfit to live period, then so be it."

"You can't be serious." Jasper frowned.

"Look around you," The old gem gestured to the haggard and tired villagers around him. "There's nothin' we can do to stop this even if we tried."

"You guys have a choice and we don't." Pink Pearl walked off. "If you weren't cast out here, then leave. If not, resign to your fate."

"No, I won't accept that." Pearl walked up to Blue and Pink Pearl, stopping them in their tracks. "You still have a choice; you can decide what lives you want to live."

"We had our entire lives planned out for us the moment we were born and assigned to our Diamonds and they got tired of us." Blue Pearl said. "We've already lived our lives and failed; all that awaits us is death."

"If you still believe in the fairy tales they taught you in education, then you worse off than us." Pink Pearl frowned. "You live to fall in line around here and if they tell you to die then you do it too; pearls exist to serve and that's all." She scoffed and walked off. "I'm surprised your Diamond didn't have you shattered already."

Pearl froze in place as the other two pearls walked off, thinking and turning to Jasper and the others. "We can't just leave them like this."

"It doesn't look like they want to be saved." Helio said.

"Well, we'll save them whether they want to be saved or not." Pearl said. "We need a plan."

WORRY PLAGUED Ruby's mind as she trekked the sandy deserts near the Slave Village, trying to clear her thoughts and calm down. They'd lost their ship, Jasper's armies were gone and they didn't know where the others ended up, but there still had a chance to stop Home World and get back to earth. There had to be.

She pondered this when she heard something crunch at her feet, looking down and backing away in terror as she'd stepped in the remains of a shattered gemstone! She raised her head and felt an immediate coldness fill her as she saw an endless sea of corpses splayed on the ground before her! The scent of blood and smoke was strong in the air, the ripped apart limbs and internal organs lay scattered making her hyperventilate as she tried to articulate what she was seeing.

A shuffling sound cut through her panic however and she turned to her right to see a gem dragging himself from under a pile of bodies, covered in blood and soot. Not thinking about it, Ruby rushed to the man's aid, moving the corpses over and pulling him up to a sitting position. The red-skinned gem had black hair, wore an eye-patch and was clad in a dark coat over a black shirt, pants and boots. He was covered in wounds, but was slowly healing and he looked up to thank her when the horrid sight unfolded before him.

"No, no, no!" The gem panicked, trying to stand and held back by his stinging wounds. "Patchy, Iron Arm! The Slave Village!"

"Hold on, just try and breathe." Ruby said. "What happened here?"

"There was a battle and I –," the gem grunted, holding his side and closing the open wound over his ribs. "The Moss were coming …" He hissed in pain. "They were going to invade the Slave Village and the rubies and I tried to stop them."

"The rubies?" Ruby raised her brow, looking up and realizing that all the corpses were dead ruby soldiers. "Oh God …"

"We tried to stop them, but they were too many." The gem spoke, clenching his fist and holding back tears. "They killed all of them."

"Where're the Moss now?" Ruby asked.

"They must have detoured and gone to wreak havoc elsewhere." The gem said. "The Moss never leave bodies behind, so we must've deterred them enough to change course."

"We have to get you back to the others." Ruby stood up. "Can you walk?"

"I think I can." The gem said, grunting as Ruby helped him up.

Ruby guided the gem through the pile of corpses, keeping an eye out for any others that moved and feeling out for any energy signatures, and she walked him out of the area, heading toward the Slave Village. The man felt too light despite being taller than her and he also looked familiar as she glanced at him, wondering if she'd met him before.

"Do I know you?" The gem finally spoke.

"I, don't know …" Ruby paused for a moment. "I don't think I've met you before, but you seem familiar for some reason."

"Then you must've met my twin sister Leggy." The gem said. "She's a soldier under White Commander Jasper, one of the top tiers in her squad." He smiled. "I haven't seen her in forever."

"Oh, I see the resemblance now." Ruby said, her heart sinking to her stomach as she remembered Leggy's final moments in Beach City.

"I'm Nalar, I was a former soldier under Pink Diamond herself."

"I'm Ruby." Ruby forced a smile.

"Just Ruby?"

"Apparently." Ruby said. "Nobody in my squad thought of anything unique to call me, so I just go by Ruby."

"There's no shame in that; I gave myself this name actually." Nalar chuckled. "You say you've met my sister? How long ago was this?"

"Oh, just a few months." Ruby said. "She's off-world though, but she and her squad were doing well."

"Well, at least she doesn't have to see me in such a sorry state." Nalar said. "I just hope I can see her soon one of these days."

"Yeah." Ruby felt a lump in her throat. "Yeah, she'll be happy to see you again."

Nalar huffed and stepped away from her, dusting himself off and walking with a slight limp. "Come on, let's get to the Village before nightfall."

CONNIE LAUGHED hysterically at the table as she, Pearl, Jasper and Helio had dinner under dim crystal light with Old Topaz and the locals in the community building of the small town. "And I told Yellow Diamond, 'why don't ya shove that medal up yer ass, you old hag!'" Old Topaz yelled in a drunken slur.

"It's not that funny of a story." Pearl chuckled uneasily as she rocked Blood Quartz then frowned at Connie who nearly fell over with laughter beside her. "See, I told you that you couldn't handle Home World alcohol."

"Ah, give her a break, she's old enough now." Jasper said from across the table. "But the old man's bullshittin', you can't say that to Yellow Diamond and live to tell the tale."

"I swear, Yellow and I were that close back in the day."

"Bullshit! The only friends Diamonds have are other diamonds, that's it." Jasper sat back. "Those degenerate shits are so blasé about people that they referred to us by numbers for years until the rubies made up names for the rest of us."

"Wait, the rubies are the ones who gave us names?" Pearl asked.

"Yeah, they're bad at counting, so they just called each other by their species and a unique trait and it spread to the rest of the military until everyone started doing it." Jasper said. "I'm lucky I'm the only Jasper who's just called 'Jasper' or life as a lieutenant in my squad would be hell."

"Hmm, seems that's another thing we have in common because I never got a prefix either." Helio said.

"Neither did I or the other Crystal Gems now that I think about it." Pearl stroked her chin.

"Well, it's not a perfect system, but it's better than the number system." Jasper said. "I'd hate to reach a point where we had gems with six digit names."

"Wait, you're the Crystal Gems?" Blue Pearl asked.

"Well, that's surprising." Pink Pearl said.

"Whoa, fer real? Shit, I didn't think such legends would stop by this lil ol' town." Old Topaz said.

"Hold up, you guys were legends?" Connie said, trying not to drop her cup.

"Well, shit, the Battle of Blue Palace, the Raid of Stormy Creak and the Great Gem War; the Crystal Gems all but led a revolution that pulled many gems out of their shitty servitude to those giant cunts!" Old Topaz said.

"Uh, I wouldn't be so loud, Old Topaz, someone might hear us." Blue Pearl said.

"Ah, nobody of high rank has been here since Bismuth went missing, so who cares honestly." Pink Pearl said.

"I wonder what number I was referred to as." Helio said, still stuck on the previous topic, then chuckled. "I kind of forgot."

"Wait, you're still on that?" Pink Pearl said.

"I was 717." Jasper said.

"1216." Pearl said.

"958." Nalar said as he entered the room, drawing attention to himself and Ruby who was not too far behind.

"Nalar! It's been a few days, where've you and the rubies been?" Old Topaz asked.

Nalar tried to answer when he saw the smiling faces at the table, unwilling to ruin the mood. "Uh, they decided to scout ahead to stop the Moss from getting closer."

"Ah, that's good." Old Topaz said then huffed. "Man, if only I still had my strength." He tapped a large photon axe that hung on the wall behind him. "If me and the boys were still together, we could've taken out the Moss already." He crossed his arms. "Amber Topaz, Lily Carnelian, Undying Ametrine, Rogue Zircon, Wise Jasper, rest their souls."

Jasper frowned as she heard the names he spoke, rising from the table. "Excuse me for a sec." She left the room, worrying Helio who saw the shock on her face.

Helio walked off and followed her and Old Topaz raised his brow, tasting the soup and shrugging. "Guess some people can't handle spicy food."

Jasper stepped into a nearby hallway and came to a stop, leaning against the wall and breathing heavily as it hit her. Helio followed her and raised his brow in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Those soldiers Old Topaz mentioned, those were my old war buddies." Jasper said.

"And what of it? Did they die?"

"Yes." Jasper frowned. "I'm the one who killed them."

Back in the dining hall, Pink Pearl drank the last of her booze and wiped her lip, trying not cough. "Well, if you Crystal Gems are so great, I'd like to see it for myself once we get outta here."

"I thought you guys wanted to stay." Connie said.

"Fuck that; now that we know who you are, we're not just gonna back down and give up."

"You Crystal Gems have done so much for the little guy, we can't just roll over after all you've accomplished." Old Topaz said.

Pearl looked around the room, nearly tearing up with joy at their admiration of them. "Thanks, you guys."

The group continued eating when the doors burst open as Carnelian rushed into the room. "We've got an emergency! We've got an emergency!"

"Carnelian, what're you blubbering on about now? This's isn't the time for games." Old Topaz frowned.

"The Moss are coming!"

MEANWHILE IN space, loud music blasted in the Capsule Corp spaceship as it soared through space, annoying 24-year-old Trunks who moved through the main area cluttered with snack packets and cans into the cockpit of the ship where 23-year-old Goten sat at his chair with his feet on the control panel.

"Goten, what the hell are you doing!?"

"What? it's just Post Malone." Goten sat up.

"Get your damn feet of the controls!" Trunks pushed his legs off and sat beside him, checking on the scanners. "Dammit, I can't believe Goku forced me to carry you along."

"Hey, you know you couldn't pull off this mission on your own."

"I'd have found Kale and Caulifla already if wasn't for you fooling around!" Trunks yanked out Goten's phone from the computer and tossed it aside.

"Hey, I just bought that!" Goten rushed to pick up the mobile.

Trunks shook his head and checked on the ship's onboard computer, excitement spreading on his face as he saw its readings. "Hey, the ship's detected two Ki energy signatures on a nearby planet, and they're pretty strong too."

"Man, you cracked the screen protector!" Goten whined as he picked up the phone.

"Dude focus, we just found Caulifla and Kale." Trunks said.

"Whoa, seriously?" Goten walked back into the room.

"It says the planet they're on is called … Home World?" Trunks became puzzled. "What kinda name is that?"

"Whatever it is, put this ship in high gear and let's find those to chicks!" Goten said excitedly. "I heard they were pretty hot, bruh."

Trunks groaned. "I wish this was a solo mission."

IN REGION White, White Diamond stepped into a large room in one of her various laboratories and slid icons around on a holographic screen before her, dismissing it as she came upon to two glass pods connected to various machinery in the room where Kale and Caulifla lay unconscious. The Diamond looked at them curiously as the containment units scanned their energy readings as the women went into their Super Saiyan forms while out cold.

"Perfect." White Diamond said.

And there you go, chapter one! Hopefully it wasn't too long and unfortunately, I feel some chapters later on may get even longer. There's so much we wanted to cover, so please bear with us if it gets a little weighty.

Don't forget to leave a review, follow or favorite and come back for the next chapter "The Moss". Thanks for reading.