Scottish highlands, underneath Loch Ness
"Amethyst for the last time, no we will NOT be using this gem to 'prove' the existence of some monster humans believe in!" Pearl threw her arms in the air as she exclaimed, exasperated, her voice echoing through the eerie subterranean cavern as if nature itself had emphasised her point.
"Aww c'mon, why you always gotta be so killjoy P?" Amethyst answered back nonchalantly "I mean, imagine how many views we could get on TubeTube." She added, if only to further annoy Pearl, prompting them to finally bubble the corrupted gemstone before teleporting it back to the temple for safekeeping.
"But that's exactly why we shouldn't! Humans s-" Pearl stopped her tirade mid sentence, quickly going into a combat stance and drawing her spear as she saw Garnet in front of them having stiffened to a halt mid-step. Then Amethyst, while being slower on the draw, followed suit soon after with the same seriousness.
Pearl immediately took to surveying the area for any possible threat, though the only thing her suddenly heightened senses could pick up was the pitter patter of water droplets falling from stalactites on the roof and the scurrying of an occasional crab on the damp cavern floor.
"Yo, Garnet what do you see?... Garnet?" Amethyst asked, wanting to break the tense silence. But it was not until after a few more weighted moments had ticked away that Garnet finally answered.
"The flow of time has been shifted onto another course - a hundred channels have been blocked off, but in turn another hundred have been dug." She paused for a moment "Where they lead to now is... uncertain."
Despite having answered, and in doing so showing that she had heard the question, Garnet sounded eerily distant which only served to further the discomfort and unease the other two currently felt.
"What d'you mean by that?" Amethyst questioned, definitely lost on what meaning the vague statement could have. Though this only prompted Garnet to enter another tense silence as she pondered what to say in return.
"Something has just caused a huge shift to occur in what futures are possible and which ones aren't." She stopped and took a moment to think "What that something is, however, is uncertain, but whatever event that caused this felt as if it occurred somewhere far off, distant." Garnet answered as she did her best to hold her stoic demeanour.
"Distant? As in… no" Pearl whispered the last part, dread's icy grip immediately clamping down on her psyche as she drew a conclusion. "We can't fight them alone!" She whispered.
"Wait wait, hold up a moment - you guys aren't talking about… " The younger gem trailed off. Amethyst couldn't help but overhear Pearl's frantic whispering, and while she had not fought against the forces of the Empire herself, she had seen enough of what their actions had caused to rightly fear them.
"Amethyst, Pearl." Garnet said with a commanding tone to summon their attention away from their errant thoughts. As they looked to their leader she landed a firm grip on their shoulders. "I have a feeling that this time, if they do come back," She paused, summoning some grim confidence for her next words to try and reassure her fellow gems.
"Then we won't be alone."
#####
Homeworld
"WAAAAH!"
Though they did not need to have ears to hear, the psychic aura being emitted by the being's call of distress still forced each one of them to grab the sides of their heads in agony, grimacing a little more each time their minds fought against it to take a few steps backwards in a futile attempt to lessen the pain.
Though their steps did little in that regard, it had at least brought them away from the being's line of sight and eventually, for what felt like eternity, the hammering blows on their very soul gradually lessened until they were mere prickles as the being's fear filled wails teetered off into confused sobs.
Despite the de-escalation of the situation the off colours still stood back, each wondering with some puzzled guilt in their hearts - what could they have done to warrant such a reaction?
"Maybe it's… because of us." Rhodonite muttered pessimistically, kicking the dusty ground as she spoke. The other off colours seemed to share the sentiment, their postures slackening as they looked down at their imperfect forms in shame.
Except for Fluorite, undeterred by her companions' attitude and the earlier reaction of the pod's occupant she gently moved to look over them once more. This time making sure to not make any sharp or sudden movements that could possibly be interpreted as aggression by the being.
It seemed to work, rather than crying out in fear the small being, which was currently nestled inside a mess of tubes and wires, simply stared her with the same guarded curiosity they had eyed it with earlier. It kept its limbs tightly bound to its person as if in self defence - which was understandable - Fluorite knew her size was quite intimidating to the other off colours when they initially met, but it seemed that her maternal demeanour had won out.
She waited for a few more moments just to make sure the being was placated, all the while softly smiling in an effort to calm them down enough so that they and the off colours could converse. The being continued to look at her in return, eyes glossy from recently formed tears. Their expression managed to both be firmly neutral while practically prompting Fluorite to speak.
By now the other off colours' curiousity had won over their fear and one by one they walked over to the pod, each movement slow and measured as to not undo Fluorite's efforts. Though each one of them still stood some distance away as an act of caution.
"Hello there." She said while waving at them "My name is Fluorite, what is yours?" Though it was a simple question it should go a long way to establishing an identity, if the being was a gem that is.
"Gooh gaa." They gurgled out.
"Goo gah? That sure doesn't sound like any kind of gem I've ever heard of." Rhodonite commented quietly in an effort to not distress the being.
"Maybe they're not a gem at all then?" Left Rutile suggested. "The symbols on their pod certainly aren't gem glyph." Right Rutile then added.
"Pthbrrh goo gaa da bee boo." The being spluttered out while trying to wiggle free from the pod.
"Do you think they're trying to tell us something?" Rhodonite questioned.
"Oh my, I have just had a most interesting vision! Whatever the being will say next is devoid of any meaning at all, how mysterious!" A chippy Padparadscha called out from the background. Normally her late premonitions were of little use, but the other off colours knew that, at least, they were always accurate.
Rhodonite initially cringed and blocked her head again upon hearing just how loudly Padparadscha had called out, though after a few moments had passed without another soul gnawing screech she relaxed once more with a huff. "Huh, thanks Padparadscha." She said, sounding half grateful and half shaken. "But we can't just keep calling them 'it' or 'the being' forever." She added with a shrug.
The rest of the off colours looked to eachother and hummed in agreement as they all realised that it would certainly get awkward after a while. Fluorite, being the one nearest to the pod, looked over the symbols again. This time for any meaning or inspiration she could get from them so that she could formulate some sort of name.
There was the bold black script on the bottom, the diagonal cross and two bars. It appeared to be some sort of alien script, but she wasn't well versed in that subject so that was immediately given up on. Indeed, the Empire seemed far more partial to extermination rather than study of any aliens they found in their colonisation efforts, so it was unlikely many gems had any significant amount of knowledge on the matter at all.
Then came the symbol of a sharp faced creature stamped in black ink on the top of the pod. Perhaps another alien or a creature from a planet they lived on? Though again, not a subject that she had any understanding in.
"Hrrrnh grreh!" The being kept sputtering as its tiny limbs struggled in an energetic display to escape the confines of the pod, their job only made harder by the remnants of whatever liquid that was previously contained inside now serving to slicken the pod's inner surface.
'Energetic… that's it!' Fluorite looked over the creature symbol once more, there were also four bolts of electricity arcing away from it to consider. 'Bolt' She mused, gem names often alluded to their role in the running of the Empire, and by extension the way they acted - and as she thought over it the being was quite like a lightning bolt - strong and energetic, despite their tiny size.
Fluorite couldn't help but let a small laugh escape as she moved to pick up the being to help them in their current predicament. Their display was honestly quite adorable, the determined expression they had on contrasting with the chubby face it was plastered over while its tiny limbs fluttered about. Though as she moved to pick it up she heard the dissuading whispers of the other off colours coming from the background, the previous incident still fresh in their minds.
But it seemed the caring, almost maternal, attitude that Fluorite constantly exuded won out. As she leant over to grab it the being faced her - its one minded focus suddenly being replaced with curious caution. Though much to her surprise as her arms moved towards the being it reciprocated by lifting its body and arms to meet her, likely finally deducing that she was no threat and meant to help.
Fluorite slowly cradled the being out of the pod with her bottom pair of arms, then using her upper pair she wiped off the remaining fluid on their face. The action elicited them to wave their arms about and quietly whine in protest, but aside from that they stayed relatively calm. She smiled as she looked down upon the newest member of the small band of off colours, gem or not she knew they were an outsider like them and would need protection from the ever vigilant forces of Homeworld.
"Bolt" She chuckled warmly while looking down at them. "I think it's a lovely name."
A/N:
I probably should have mentioned this last chapter, but there will be no Great Crusade coming for Angron, at this point he is now in a totally different universe.
Despite Homeworld not having any food or water Angron shouldn't really need any sustenance to stay alive. There was an incident where some scout marines were buried under rubble for roughly 2 years and most of them were still alive once dug out, and seeing as Primarchs have far superior genetic modification he likely can go for longer than that.