Chapter Nine: New Enemy


July 4, 2016. Outpost Nine, Lonestar.

Luckily for Falcon Squadron, Sara had been relatively unharmed by her crash. Once the alien ship had been taken down, the remaining squad members had returned to base, and a team had been sent out to retrieve her. They regrouped at Outpost Nine, and in spite of their triumph, they were hesitant to celebrate.

All except Vlad, at least. "Come on, what's with the moping around?" he asked his teammates. "You realize we're probably the first humans to ever go head-to-head with an alien spaceship and win, right? I'd say that's worth a few drinks, huh? Maybe a medal or two."

Oscar was the only one who was listening. "I think everyone's just thinking," he replied. "Tonight was hard on all of us. Park and Manning almost died."

Vlad, irritated, sat down. "But they didn't, did they? We had their backs, like we always do. I don't get what everyone's so upset about."

Oscar leaned over to peer behind his seat, where Emett was talking to someone in the hall. "De Santis sure seems to know," he said. "Maybe try asking him."

Emett was looking at his phone, where Rhodes was looking back. "All I'm saying is, you should have told us before we went out there," Emett said.

"Look, there was a lot on my mind, on everyone's," Rhodes replied. "Besides, it's not like I forgot to put in an ejector seat. The Lightray is designed to function in outer space as well as the air. Suffice to say, ejecting isn't an option once you're that high up."

"That much I can understand," said Emett, "but one of my teammates was put in serious danger because of-"

"I understand, and I take full responsibility," Rhodes interrupted. "And if she had died, I would have taken full responsibility as well. But the fact of the matter is, Agent Park is still alive. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm very busy." He was quiet for a second, but stayed on the line. "Emett, I don't mean to sound harsh. It's just that everyone's been on-edge recently. We have no idea what we're up against, and it's my job to shine some light on that. I'm sorry, but I really have to go now."

Emett nodded. "I understand." Edmund ended the call, and Emett placed the phone back in his pocket, letting out a deep sigh. After a while, he peered into the room where the rest of his team sat. "Leon? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

His teammate stood up and joined him out in the hall. He seemed ignorant of his commander's less-than-pleased demeanor, seeming almost confused as to why he was out here. "Hmm? What'cha need, Emett?"

Sighing, Emett took a moment to find the right words. This wasn't something he intended to jump right into. "What was that up there today?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Leon, tilting his head. "If this is about me disobeying your orders, I-"

"It isn't just the orders," Emett said, clearly irritated. "I'm not happy about that either, but I'm even less happy about your decision to ram into the enemy like that."

Leon was quiet for a moment. "Our weapons weren't having any effect, and it took out Rattler," he said eventually. "It was the only thing I could think of."

"It was the first thing you thought of," Emett replied. "It would be one thing if this was the only time something like this had happened, but I've seen this before. You think the only way to give a hundred and ten percent is to literally sacrifice yourself, sometimes literally. You rush in without even the slightest regard for your own safety the minute things start looking bleak, and-"

"You would too if you felt like as much of a failure as I do!" Leon suddenly shouted. "Do you have any idea what it feels like, knowing I got my family killed!?"

Emett knew this story all too well. "Leon, that fire wasn't your fault," he said, trying to sound gentle.

"No. But you know what was? I stood there and watched, knowing my family was in there, but I was too damn scared to move. The fire may not have been my fault, but their deaths sure were…" He trailed off, his gaze lowering to the floor.

"You were just a kid then," Emett said. "Being scared as a kid isn't an excuse for this martyrdom complex you seem to have! You said you were worried about Rattler-did you stop and think that maybe we were worried about you?"

Leon refused to meet Emett's eyes. "I joined BAINE to protect people who couldn't protect themselves. And if I have to die to do that, then so be it."

Emett shook his head. "To take down one ship?"

"Nothing else was working," Leon seethed.

"Oscar found its weak spot!" shouted Emett. "If you had just waited a few seconds, none of this would have had to happen?"

"Yeah. Alright." Leon looked back up at Emett. "Let's say Sara had died. Or Vlad, or Oscar, or me. Would you have done anything you could to avenge us?"

"This isn't about that," Emett said.

"No. Of course it isn't." With that, Leon stormed off, heading away to who-knows-where. Emett sighed, heading back into the room. Nobody said anything-they knew what had happened. This wasn't the first time the two had this conversation.


July 9, 2016. BAINE Headquarters.

"So...this is what's been giving us such a hard time lately?" said Rhodes.

The deceased alien had been moved from Lonestar up to Delmarva, with care taken not to damage the specimen. At the time being, it lay in a vat of preserving fluid, its armor having been removed for further study. A select few had gathered to catch a glimpse of the invader.

"Yup, Big Red, in the flesh," said Ichigo. "Well, scales. So, you gonna cut this guy open or something? Alien autopsy, see what makes 'im tick?"

"Not just yet," Rhodes answered. "This is our only specimen, so we need to make sure we learn everything we can about it before we put 'Big Red' here under the knife. First order of business: consult the Gems. Now that we actually know what these invaders look like, maybe they can tell us more about them."

"Hope so," said Ichigo. "Only problem is, Garnet didn't really seem too confident in her knowledge of aliens. And I doubt Amethyst would know anything. Maybe Pearl, then, or Lapis. Who did you have in mind?"

Rhodes sat down, spinning his chair around to face Ichigo. "It's times like this," he said, "that we bring in the professionals."


The Next Day.

"So, this is the illusive 'BAINE' I've heard so little about," said the diminutive Gem. "I can't help but not be impressed."

"Mmm." James did his best to not engage with Peridot. From the moment he had gone to retrieve her, he knew she was going to be trouble. She didn't seem to take him seriously, as most of what she had said on their way back to headquarters was either rambling about what she thought of Earth, or well-meaning-yet-passive-aggressive remarks about humanity. The other Gems had assured him that she was on their side; not that this filled him with much confidence.

"Really, I'm not sure why you bother," she said. "If Homeworld does decide to invade, your species won't stand a chance, even with our help."

"Yes, well, we're not dealing with Homeworld right now, are we?" James mumbled. He escorted Peridot (who tried to maintain the air that she knew exactly where she was going) into the lab where the body was being kept. Agents glanced at the unfamiliar Gem as she walked past. Eventually, they reached their destination, where Rhodes was there to meet them.

"Ah, and you must be Peridot!" he said cheerfully. "I've heard a lot about you. The other Gems say you're very smart!"

"Don't patronize me," she replied. "But yes, everything they said about me is true. Except for the bad parts, feel free to ignore those."

With Peridot now at her destination, James trudged off. "She's your headache now," he muttered.

Peridot glanced at his retreating form, then up at Rhodes. "What was that about?"

Rhodes changed the subject. "Nevermind. Right now, we've got more important things to deal with." He began leading Peridot into his lab. "Agent Rook informed you of our situation, right?"

"Earth is under attack from an alien race, and you need my help identifying them. Sound about right?"

"Exactly," said Rhodes. "Now, during your time working for Homeworld, did you happen to come across any alien races that were hostile to your empire?"

"Loads," Peridot said. "Well, not directly, but I heard about a lot of them. There's the Interlopers, the Kalderians, the Yt'joc, I'm pretty sure the Talu hated us at some point-the list goes on. You'll have to be more specific."

"Well, maybe seeing our specimen will jog your memory," Rhodes suggested. He opened the door for Peridot; Hester, Ichigo, and Daniel were all waiting within.

"Hey, welcome to BAINE headquarters," said Hester. "It's good to have you on our side."

"It's good to be on your side," Peridot said. "Especially for you."

"Now then...what can you tell us about this guy here?" said Rhodes. He gestured over to Big Red floating in the cylinder.

As soon as she saw the body, Peridot's brow wrinkled in disgust. "Oh," she said, with the same air of someone who just realized someone they hated had entered the building. "I know exactly what that is."

"And...what is it?" asked Daniel. "You don't seem all that happy to see one."

"That's because I'm not." Peridot stood in front of the vat, her air changing to that of a self-important teacher giving a lecture. "I've had to deal with way too many of these things for my liking. This, my human allies, is a Xevellan, the bane of Kindergarteners everywhere. Whenever Homeworld starts a new colony, the Xevellans aren't far behind. They know the planet's biosphere is soon to be destroyed, so they scour the world for any resources they can get their greedy little claws on while Homeworld does all the heavy lifting. In other words, parasites."

Ichigo regarded the being in the tank. "That would explain why they're after all our stuff," he said. "They wanna get their hands on it while the gettin's good."

Peridot groaned. "You have no idea how annoying it is having to always watch out for these things! Then you have to hope that the Rubies you send for take you seriously, or show up in time to chase them off before they make off with your valuables-if there's one thing I definitely won't miss now that I'm a Crystal Gem, it's dealing with Xevellans."

"So, their entire civilization revolves around picking up Homeworld's table scraps?" asked Hester.

"Essentially," continued Peridot. "It isn't just Homeworld that they chase after, though. Xevel was destroyed a few millennia ago, so they basically roam the galaxies, picking off resources from worlds that are about to end. They're like that one Earth animal, the one that flies around and eats organics that are already dead-what are those called, again? They mentioned them in Camp Pining Hearts, but I forgot the name."

"Vultures?" suggested Ichigo.

"I was thinking voles, but vultures works too," said Peridot.

"So, if these Xevellans are here on Earth, then...does that mean the planet is about to end?" asked Rhodes.

Peridot shrugged. "They probably don't know that yours truly saved you all from the Cluster." She leaned in closer. "Between you and me, this planet wasn't worth sacrificing just for one Geo-weapon that probably wouldn't have been that effective anyway, but what do I know?" She began walking out. "Anyway, wow thanks for having me, but I have to get going, my shows are on."

"Peridot, hold on!" Rhodes blocked her before she could leave. "So, the Xevellans aren't a threat, then? They won't destroy the planet or anything?"

"Oh, no, they absolutely will," Peridot said casually. "Unless something else destroys a planet before them, they'll strip it dry. Look on the bright side: they'll probably just enslave you all instead of killing you. Maybe."

"Is...is there any way we can stop them?" asked Hester.

"You could always try blowing up their mothership, that usually makes them back off," said Peridot. "In my experience, it's usually located somewhere away from Homeworld activity, so try looking somewhere without a lot of humans."

All four agents were lost in thought. It was a lot to take in-the Earth itself was at risk. And given how only one encountered had just barely ended in a victory, they shuddered to imagine what the full force of their attack would be like. "So, what now?" asked Daniel.

"We try and figure out a way to stop them," said Rhodes. "We should start by finding their mothership."

"There's always a mothership," Ichigo said. "But...is anyone else concerned about this whole 'they only go after ending worlds' thing?"

"I thought that was because of the Cluster," said Hester.

"Yeah, maybe it is," Ichigo said. "But I can't help but shake the feeling that these Xevellan guys know something we don't…"

Peridot piped up. "Can I go now?"