The Elsewhere Saga: Emerald Rising
Book Two: Vengeance
Chapter One: Rebirth
Homeworld, Cancer Sector, Science District. Era 2, Year 5,744.
A flash of light illuminated the sky.
"Vibro-coils in place." A familiar voice sounded through the darkness. "All systems are in the green. She should be conscious by now."
The light impacted with the ground, sending a devastating shockwave across the land, destroying every Gem in its path.
"Almost ready. Peridot, are resonance drivers fully charged?" said the voice.
"Indeed, My Heliodor," said another Gem. "Ready to activate on your mark."
The light finally reached her. Her body burned, her heart was filled with fear. Her mind spilled empty, filled with only mindless savagery. Spines erupted from her back. Dozens of eyes sprouted from her head. Her mouth widened into a gaping, tooth-filled maw.
"Activating exo-shell in three...two...one…"
And just like that, Emerald's nightmare ended. She was thrust back into the waking world, opening her eyes with a jolt. For just a moment, the room around her seemed to flicker, like a viewscreen with bad reception, before becoming clearer. As the static parted, she was given a better look at her surroundings: a laboratory of some sort, with all manner of machinery that she had never seen before. Instead, she was focused on the three Gems that stood before her.
The frontmost Gem was a Heliodor, a medium-sized yellow Gem, with a pentagonal gemstone on her chest. Her short yellow hair covered one of her eyes. Next to her stood a truly massive Gem: grey skin, black suit, and long white hair. An Onyx. On Heliodor's other side was a nervous looking Pearl, pink in color, wearing a short skirt and slippers, with her hair in a bob. Her gemstone was on her belly.
"P-Pearl?" Emerald said weakly. She tried to walk forwards, but stumbled down due to her not being used to this new body.
The Onyx hurried forward to help her up. "Easy there, Mera," she said. "I know you're eager to get up and go, but you only just got back to us!"
"I thought I told you," Emerald said, half in irritation, half in amusement, "not to call me 'Mera.'"
Onyx chucked. "Heh, good to have you back, My Emerald."
The Pearl, who had been timidly standing back this whole time, took a few steps towards the green Gem. "My Emerald, is that really you?"
"Pearl…" Emerald stepped forwards, reaching out to place a comforting hand on her Pearl's cheek. "Of course it's me."
However, Emerald gasped in surprise once her hand came into view, for it was not her hand at all. Rather, five green rods, hovering just above her arm. Making matters worse, Emerald noticed that her arm was not her arm either, but rather a metal imitation.
Close to panicking, Emerald examined the rest of her body. Her entire frame seemed to have been replaced with green metal. Even more worrisome, her gem, normally located on her right forearm, was nowhere in sight.
"Emerald, Emerald, calm down, everything's alright!" Heliodor assured her.
"Alright?" said Emerald. "What happened to me? Where's my gem!?"
"Don't worry, everything's okay," said Heliodor. "Here, let me show you the schematics. That should put you at ease, yes?" The Beryl then walked over to a computer, pressing a few buttons on the keyboard. The monitors showed several images of Emerald's current appearance, including blueprints for individual pieces and a full-body diagram. Going by the pictures, Emerald learned that her face was now displayed on a screen, and a piece of green metal or plastic imitated her hair.
"So...you built a whole new body for me?" Emerald said as she scanned the schematics. "How did you manage this? I thought I was...corrupted."
"That was the issue," Heliodor said. After you succumbed to your corruption, I worked tirelessly to find a way to cure you. Unfortunately, even after centuries of research, I just couldn't find a way. That's when I came up with the next best thing. I call it the exo-shell. It allows a Gem to interact with the outside world while still being inside of their gemstone. The best part is, because it reads your internal code rather than generating an entirely new form, you won't revert to your corrupted state." She pressed another button, showing that Emerald's gemstone was connected to several wires within the exo-shell's chest cavity. "Your gem is located here. It's inside the shell, so there's no risk of it being accidentally cracked. Pretty neat, yes?"
Emerald examined her new body once more. "It...it's unlike anything I've ever seen," she said. "How long has it been since I was corrupted?"
The three other Gems glanced at each other. "Emerald, I won't lie to you," said Heliodor. "It's been five millenia, going on six."
Understandably, Emerald was taken aback by this news. "Six...thousand?" She looked as if she was about to pass out, but she quickly regained her composure. "Would you care to fill me in on what happened in that time?"
"Of course," said Heliodor. "Follow me, if you would." The others did so, tailing her as she exited the lab and walked through the larger facility. Emerald gazed at the sheer scale of Homeworld's industrial revolution. Not just the facility, but the cityscape outside the window, were all filled with technological marvels the likes of which Emerald could only have imagined before.
She felt-or rather, her mechanical fingers detected, it was hard for her to explain-Pearl's hand brush up against hers. She looked down to meet the smaller Gem's gaze. "My Emerald, I-I'm glad to see you," she said quietly.
"I am, too," Emerald said warmly, taking Pearl's hand in her own. "Tell me, how were the years I missed?"
"Okay," said Pearl. "Morganite took care of me while you were gone. Goshenite, too."
"Goshenite?" said Emerald, remembering the name of her old rival.
"Yeah, I couldn't believe it either," said Onyx. "She sorta mellowed out after you disappeared. Guess someone took that stick out of her Gem."
"As you can see, Gemkind has made incredible progress in the fields of science and technology," Heliodor announced as though she was giving a tour. "We had to. With the Interlopers' constant attacks, we-"
"Hold on. Did you say the Interlopers?" Emerald said, releasing Pearl's hand to rush up to Heliodor. "You mean that in six thousand years, they're still an issue?"
"Unfortunately," the yellow Gem said. "Here, allow me to explain…"
The tour group arrived at another laboratory, which they entered. This one was seemingly dedicated to Interlopers, as images, reports, and even samples of the grey robotic menaces filled the room.
"Your killing of the Interloper Generals did wonders on crippling their offensive efforts," Heliodor said, walking past a Scavenger unit on a table. "Though, 'killing' an Interloper is a bit of a misnomer."
"How so?" asked Emerald.
"Well, you see, in my research, I've found that simply destroying an Interloper's body isn't enough to kill it. They're less robots, and more artificial intelligences. All Interlopers, from Scavenger to General, are simply bundles of coding stored at their home base, the Oculus. This code remotely pilots these bodies from there. Think of it like destabilizing a Gem without damaging her gemstone: she'll just reform later."
Emerald studied a diagram of a Carnivore-type Interloper. "If that's the case, why has destroying the Generals affected their strategy? Shouldn't they have just been rebuilt?"
"Unfortunately, I don't rightly know," said Heliodor. "My best guess would be that by being defeated, they were subsequently demoted and reduced to mass-produced bodies."
"The question is, demoted by whom?" Emerald wondered aloud. "Aside from the Generals, do we have any more intel on their leadership?"
"Not yet," said Heliodor. "Whoever's in charge must operate from the Oculus. Speaking of-"
"And the Oculus, where is it now?" asked Emerald?
"Oh, right." Heliodor displayed a map of several of the galaxies surrounding Homeworld's. "The Oculus is located right here, only one galaxy away from this one." The screen zoomed in for a close-up of the planet-sized object. As it's name suggested, it resembled a massive, red eyeball. "Homeworld forces have it locked down for now. We can't scratch it, even with our improved tech, but we have enough firepower to keep it in place for now."
"Hopefully it stays that way," said the green Beryl.
"Indeed," Heliodor said. "Anyway, speaking of Interloper leadership, I'm sorry to report that Pythoriax is still alive." Heliodor pressed another button, showing an image of an Interloper on the screen. This one was a bit taller and skinnier than the standard troops, and had its hands clasped behind its back.
"Pythoriax?" said Emerald. "Isn't he the one we accidentally bisected over at research station Locus?"
"The same," said Heliodor. "Interlopers are pretty difficult to take down, so he must have survived the ordeal."
"Apparently," said Emerald. "So he's the one leading the charge now?"
"Yup," said Onyx, previously occupied with some Interloper reports. "If we wanna take down the Interlopers, again, we gotta take him out. Again."
"Then there's no time to waste," Emerald said. "We'll go right to Yellow Diamond, and request a strike against him. Let's move."
Emerald made to exit the building, but was stopped by Heliodor. "Yeah, today might not be the best time for that," said the latter. "What with the trial, and all."
"Trial?" Emerald asked. "And who's trial would that be?"
"Oh, right, I forgot to mention," Heliodor continued. "So...turns out Rose Quartz survived. They captured her on Earth."
Emerald was silent for several seconds.
"Whuh?"