"You know that's not true, I understand what you're going through. Garnet and Pearl always look to me to be the next Rose Quartz, and no matter how hard I work; I feel like I'm never going to reach their standards."
Steven.
The five Lions of Voltron zoomed through space as they approached the Castle of Lions; Shiro led the way in the Black Lion, followed by Keith in Red, Pidge and Peridot in Green, Stevonnie in Blue, and Amethyst in Yellow.
"Castle of Lions, this is Takashi Shirogane; are you there?" The Black Paladin asked through his comms device.
"We read you, Shiro," Matthew informed over his comms.
"We're glad to have you all back," Allura added in over her communicator. "How did the mission go?"
"We were able to save the people, and there were zero casualties," Shiro told the Princess. "I'll disclose the rest once we're docked."
"Say no more; I'll have the hangar opened for you any tick now," Coran assured Shiro. "And it's done."
"Thank you, Coran. Black Paladin, out." Shiro said as he deactivated his communications to the castle and opening one to the rest of the Paladins. "All right, everyone; form up for a landing."
"Roger!" A cluster of voices responded; Shiro recognized Keith, Stevonnie, Pidge, and Peridot; but he did not hear Amethyst sound off.
"Amethyst, are you there?" The Black Paladin asked. "Amethyst?"
"Oh… uh… yeah… I'm here." Amethyst replied in a rushed; disinterested tone. "What did you need Chief?"
"I didn't hear you sound off when I said we're going be landing," Shiro stated. "Is everything okay?"
"Um… yeah… I'm fine; I didn't hear you... is all." Amethyst quickly answered; which Takashi caught notice of. "I'm ready for landing."
"All right then, group up with the rest of us," Shiro ordered.
"Roger!" Amethyst responded as she did as she was told. Shiro knew something was bothering Amethyst, but now wasn't the time to ask her; he also knew pushing her into talking won't help. Hopefully, it's just a matter of needing some rest; but whatever happened down there with Jasper affected Amethyst, and he sincerely does hope that she's okay.
Matt, Lance, Coran, and Allura, who was holding the Space Mice in her hands, stood in the hangar as the five lions entered and landed; the Paladins exited the lions and walked over to greet their fellow teammates.
"I'm glad to see you all in one piece," Allura said to Shiro. "Did you encounter the Gems?"
"Like Peridot suspected; the Homeworld Gems were there to repair their ship," Shiro stated. "They took the locals hostage and threatened to destroy the town. But we were able to stop them."
"Plus, we fought and beat Jasper!" Steven's side of Stevonnie exclaimed with excitement.
"It just shows how far we've both come in our training." Connie's side of Stevonnie further stated.
"Oh, Garnet and Pearl are going to be so proud of us when they can come back," Steven said, like a little kid who wanted to tell his parent's good news.
"They definitely will," Shiro told the two teenagers with a smile, before returning his attention to Allura. "Anyway, we stopped the destruction and Hoarfrost has agreed to give us aid with repairs whenever we are nearby."
"That's a reasonably fair deal," Coran added in. "The castle could always use new improvements."
"And, what of the Homeworld Gems?" Allura asked.
"They escaped," Shiro stated. "However, we made sure no one was hurt."
"That is good to hear," Allura said with a nod before she caught sight of Amethyst; who was outside of her Paladin armor and sporting a white top instead of a black one. "Amethyst…"
"Oh, this." Amethyst interrupted the Princess. "Yeah, I reformed; but I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Allura asked, knowing that a Gem reforms when they are poofed.
"Positive," Amethyst answered as she walked passed the Princess, down the hallway. "If any of you need me, I'll be in my quarters."
"She… doesn't seem okay." Lance pointed out. "Did something happen?"
"Amethyst fought against Jasper on her own," Stevonnie answered. "It didn't go well for her."
"Ah, a case of wounded pride." Coran interrupted. "It happens to the best warriors."
"The mission was also an exhausting one," Shiro added in. "She probably just needs some rest."
"Yeah, and Amethyst is as tough as they come," Peridot stated. "No way she's going to let this keep her down for good."
The Castle of Lions – two days later.
"Chief, I have a herd of Razorfiends about to bite my ass, I need assistance!" Keith's sharp voice rang out between the comlinkers as the Galra made evasive maneuvers against the Tyranid bio-combat ships.
"Don't worry, Keith, we're going to your position right now!" Pidge replied while Peridot pointed towards the Razorfiends that were chasing the red lion.
A few hours ago in the early morning hours, the castle had intercepted a request for help from a small merchant fleet of Baltromites who were being pursued by the Tyranids. The paladins came immediately and reached the chains as quickly as possible only to find four pairs of hive ships.
The S.O.S was nothing more than a trap orchestrated by the Tyranids and the paladins found themselves embroiled in a frenzied space battle as the castle quickly reassembled its defenses.
The hive ships unleashed a legion of Razorfiends: dark-looking 100% organic combat ships.
While Pidgidot managed to successfully shoot down the bio-ships with Keith firing a hellish blast from his mawcanon towards an open collegiate ship.
Shiro summoned a mawblade and stabbed into the space beast and emerged from the other side unharmed while Stevonnie and Amethyst fanned out to cover the black lion from the bio-ships.
"I would like to know how they tricked us!" Connie's side asked firing and destroying the tyrannical ships.
"I think it was the work of a Genestealer, The Tyranids despite being aggressive creatures, they are very smart and they turned the remaining survivors into hybrids!" Coran communicated with his gaze towards the fender panel. Several Razorfiends tried to sneak through the castle through the particle field. Without any result.
Amethyst smashed a ship with her jaws and crashed into a herd of other Tyranid ships destroying them on the spot. Then he attacked a battered hive ship, evading the pellets it was firing at him and showering the monstrosity with laser fire and explosions.
"Ha! How did you like that, you bastards!?" Amethyst puffed up only to be silenced by a shower of plasma which caused her to lose her cortol for a moment. "¡AAHH! What the Quiznack was that!?"
"Paladins, Regroup!" Shiro called everyone. "There is only one way for this to end quickly, and that is Voltron."
After re-checking her maneuverability, Amethyst called out to Shiro. "Chief, I think using Voltron against these Tyranids would be over the top.
"You say 'Over the top'? These things show up nonstop on hive ships!" Peridot manitably replied.
"You have to eliminate them quickly with the yellow lion shoulder cannon, Amethyst." Pidge said to the purple gem.
"We can't go on like this for long, Amy." Stevonnie accompanied the green paladin's plan.
"I'm just saying that we can do this ourselves!" Amethyst declared with an annoyance boiling inside her.
"Amy, this is not the time or place to discuss whether or not we should train Voltron!" Keith said raising his voice tone.
Amethyst now glared at the hive fleets and how they made fun of her for her weakness.
"Ugh ... well, let's do it."
Without another thing to say, they formed the legendary defender and summoned the shoulder cannon and fired a horde of glowing beams snaking and destroying the ships and Tyranid Ships.
The ships let out terrifying screeches of agony after being hit by Voltron's shots, some left unmoved and others completely destroyed along with the Razorfiends accompanying them.
"Well done paladins." Coran congratulated the team on their victory against the Tiranidos. "The princess is about to open a Teladuv portal, let the Weblums take care of the leftovers."
With Shiro nodding, Voltron dissipated and the lions escorted the castle toward the portal.
Everything in the Castle of Lions was normal after their fight against the Tyranids; Shiro and Allura were monitoring everything from the main control room. Matt, Coran, and Lance were in the castle's engines to make sure the ship remained functional and at peak performance. Keith was in the training deck… as usual. Pidge and Peridot were in the hangar, testing out the formers prototype for a stealth generator for the Lions thanks to an idea Pidge got from reading about the Lictors; working under the name of team Pidgidot. While Amethyst sat on the counter of the kitchen, using a loud Altean cooking device, which functioned similarly to a battery-powered whisk; cracking and dropping multiple eggs into the mixing bowl for her next culinary creation.
After cracking and dropping her seventh egg into the bowl, which was instantly pulverized by the whisk; she began to hear chatting from the hallway as she spotted Steven and Connie walking by.
"I hope Keith doesn't mind if we share the training deck with him," Connie said to the boy.
"I'm sure he won't mind; the room is huge after all," Steven stated. "After our confrontation with the Orks, we need better ways to defeat them."
"We may have had a victory against Jasper," Connie said. "But I feel like there will be more fights to…" Both Connie and Steven jump at the loud sound and turn to it; realizing it came from the kitchen, and spot Amethyst dropping eggs into the bowl.
"As I was saying." Connie began again. "I feel like there will be more…" Amethyst dropped another egg into the bowl.
"Physical fights against her!" Connie quickly shouted over the sound.
"Hey, Amethyst." Steven greeted the purple Gem.
"Yo," Amethyst responded, giving Steven the peace sign. "What's up?"
"Connie and I are heading to the training deck," Steven said. "Do you want to come?"
"I can't; I'm making egg salad." The Crystal Gem answered as she dropped another egg into the bowl.
"Are you sure?" Steven politely asked.
"Positive," Amethyst answered in a disinterested tone while dropping another egg into the bowl.
"Well, you know where we'll be if you change your mind." Steven lastly said as he and Connie left; while he didn't say or show anything, Steven knew something was bothering Amethyst, and Connie could sense it too.
"Sure, whatever." Amethyst lastly said, turning off the whisk. After a few moments of quiet, she lets out a sigh and hops off the counter to follow the two teens; deciding that some active training might get her out of her funk. "On second thought; wait up you guys!"
"I'm glad you decided to join us," Steven said to his sister figure, just as they and Connie walk into the training room; spotting Keith practicing against another combat drone… at this point, everyone in the castle has lost track of how many robots the young Galra has wrecked already; but they all knew that it was a lot. "Pearl has always told us that the best awards in life come from perseverance and positivity."
"And punctuality," Connie added in. "She's very strict about that one."
"Of course, she is." Amethyst joked.
"Hey, Keith!" Steven called out to the young man, who halted his training session.
"Yeah?" The alien answered back.
"Would you mind not destroying that one? Connie and I would like to get some training in." Steven politely asked.
Keith let out a sigh and sheathes his blades, before turning to the robot. "End training session." With those words said, the robot deactivates and stands as still as a statue. "It's all yours."
"Your combat skills are quite amazing." Connie complimented. "If you don't mind me asking, who taught you how to fight."
"All young Marmora members are to be trained by a high-ranking agent, and whomever that agent is will determine our role in the organization," Keith explained. "I had the privilege to be trained by three; Ulaz and my parents."
"You know, despite all of our battles with them; it occurred to me that we know very little about the Galra," Connie stated. "Well, outside of Zarkon's loyalists and what you've told us about the Blade of Marmora."
"Your point being?" Keith asked the human girl.
"I mean, not all Galra are bad," Connie said. "And I highly doubt the Galra following the Empire are doing it because they are evil. So, I'm just saying, that it wouldn't hurt to get to know more about them."
"You want to learn more about the Galra?" Keith asked again, wanting to double check that he understood what Connie was saying.
"Yes… yes, I do." The teenaged girl answered.
"Well, I can teach you the basic of Galran culture, and how they translate into the Empire's and Marmoran beliefs," Keith answered. "And I think knowing more would give you an edge when we encounter them in battle."
"I'll take that as a yes," Connie said with stars in her eyes.
"I'll be in my quarters when you're ready to learn," Keith said as he began to walk out of the room.
"I'll stop by after..." Connie began, stopping after Steven places a hand on her shoulder.
"Actually… you can go with him now if you want, Connie," Steven told his Jam Bud. "I need to talk with Amethyst… about Gem stuff."
Connie knew what Steven meant and gave him a nod. "All right, we'll do some training later." The teenaged girl said, giving Amethyst a quick, concerned, look before running over to Keith. "Hey, wait up."
As soon as Connie left the training room, Steven turned to his fellow Crystal Gem; determined to find out what is eating at his Gem sibling. "So, Amethyst. Are you doing okay?" The Half-Gem asked.
"I'm doing fine, bro," Amethyst answered. "Why?"
"Well, you just don't seem to be yourself," Steven answered. "Is everything all right?"
"Ugh... why is everyone asking me that, I'm fine." The purple Gem answered in a manner that said she was done with being asked questions. "Now, let's do some training!"
"Okay…" The teenaged boy answered; not believing his Gem-sister. "Well, I think we should start with a warm-up; like, laps around the room."
"You're making it too easy," Amethyst said with overconfidence.
"If you say so," Steven said, before turning to the still deactivated training drone. "Um… Mr. Robot?"
The training sentry moves its body and turns to the two Crystal Gems. "How I may be of service?" The humanoid machine asked in a calculating tone.
"Amethyst and I are going to race each other, would you mind keeping track of laps?" Steven requested.
"Very well." The robot answered, running to a nearby corner of the room and extending out its arm. "The race will be two laps long; mark your lap by touching my hand. We'll begin when you are ready."
"Oh, we're ready Freddy!" Amethyst shouted as she spin-dashed to the opposite side of the room while Steven kept up with her on foot.
"On your marks." The training drone said as Steven and Amethyst prepare to dash. "Get set… … … Go!"
With that, Amethyst and Steven are off; the purple Gem spin-dashes across the entire room while the Half-Gem can keep up with her on foot, with both hardly breaking a sweat as they tie on the first lap. During their second lap, Amethyst holds the lead at first; but Steven eventually pulls ahead of her and takes the win.
"That… was… fun!" Steven said as he huffed; walking towards Amethyst and raising his hand to her. "High-five!"
But instead of high-fiving him, Amethyst just walks past him; much to Steven's disappointment, and increasing his worries.
"To start off, Galra culture revolves around absolutes." Keith lectured Connie as the human girl sat on his bed with intrigue. "A common philosophy has been passed down since the beginning of the first Empire; long before Zarkon: Victory or Death. While the Blade of Marmora has adapted the philosophy into Knowledge or Death for our agents to live by." Connie continued to remain silent while taking notes on a holo-pad, as Keith proceeded with his lecture; everything Keith has told her made sense and aligned with what she had seen of the Galran people. "As you have seen firsthand, the Galra are strong-willed to the point of being stubborn, and spit in the face of death; at least those who have any honor, that is."
"What do you mean by that last part?" Connie curiously asked.
"Most Galra, including Zarkon's fanatics, are willing to throw away their honor to save their skin," Keith said with some disgust in his tone. "Take Commander Sendak for example, he may have been a monster at his core, but he had a respectable sense of honor; it's what earned him Zarkon's respect. The so-called "loyal soldiers" of the Galra Empire would stab each other in the back if it meant getting their weaselly hands on more power."
"But that doesn't make sense." Connie pointed out. "Earth had many powerful empires like that, and they collapsed in roughly five hundred years or so. From what you described, the Galra Empire should've followed suit, how has it remained strong for 10,000 years?"
"Because there is one thing Empirical Galra fear more than death: Zarkon," Keith explained. "Aside from strong wills, the Galra also respect self-discipline, focus, and grit; which their current Emperor owns. This has led to Zarkon being worshiped like a god; one who isn't afraid to cut down anyone who opposes him."
"So, that's how he's maintained order for so long," Connie said, feeling a little disturbed of how frighteningly close this all reminds her of the totalitarian regimes she has read about in her history books. "It's like the humans of the Imperium, they have the God-Emperor of the Mankind for almost more years that the Galra."
"Yes, only the thing that the humans of the impire are most fanatics that the Galra." Keith answered. "As I was saying; the original Galra Empire, or the Empire of Daibazaal, as they were once called; consisted of an imperial family and a structured class system where the military held most of the power."
"What's Daibazaal?" The teenaged girl asked.
"Daibazaal… was the Galra home planet," Keith answered.
"Was?" Connie questioned.
"The planet was destroyed 10,000 years ago," Keith answered. "I was told it was because of Zarkon, and his desire for power."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Connie said with sympathy.
"Don't be; I wasn't born there," Keith said. "But many agents of the Marmora, especially our leader, was. It serves as a reminder to the lengths Zarkon is willing to go to get what he wants, which is why the Marmora was created."
"I'd like to hear more about the Blade of Marmora." The human girl stated. "Unless you can't tell me, because of the whole… agent thing…"
"The amount of… sensitive information I reveal is determined by how much trust I can place into a person to keep that information a secret." Keith explained. "I can't reveal too much for that reason."
"I understand," Connie said. "But I'd still like to know more about them."
"Very well," Keith answered. "With the Empire's tyranny spreading; a Galra soldier by the name of Kolivan brought together a group of warriors equally displeased by Zarkon's rule and created the Blade of Marmora; with the sole purpose of sabotaging the Empire from within. However, unlike other rebellions against the Galra; the Marmora is a highly secretive society, one known for its brutal trials to test one's worthiness of the cause and may only pass by activating their Luxite Blades." The young Galra continued as he pulled out his dagger and transformed into its sword form; which made Connie's eyes light up like stars. "Luxite is a rare metal that is virtually indestructible and has a unique ability to alter its physical structure when Galran blood touches it. The rest is classified."
"So, when you say that Galran blood can transform luxite; does that mean anyone who has Galra blood can do it?" Connie curiously asked.
"Yes. Many of our agents aren't even full Galra." Keith answered clearly. "However, Galran genes are very recessive; many half-breeds usually don't exhibit any visible traits until after they are fully mature. Even then it's not always a given."
"This is all very fascinating." The human girl stated as she continued writing down her notes about all that she's heard. While the intellectual part was having the time of her life, the warrior part couldn't help but wonder what Steven and Amethyst are doing right now.
The two Crystal Gems have gone through several training exercises including strength training, endurance training, perception training and many more. Now they were on their final test, agility training; the goal: Defeat multiple training robots as fast as they can without getting hit, themselves.
Amethyst spin dashed to the side, so she could dodge her robots attacks; while Steven wove around the room and avoided the attacks of his robots. One Steven enemy bots leaped forward to strike him, but the young Half-Gem summons his shield and deflects the attack; deactivating the machine at the same time.
Amethyst summons two whips from her gemstone and furiously attacks her opponents; who successfully dodge each strike. "Stop moving!" A frustrated Amethyst as she finally struck down one of her opponents.
During Steven's battle, he decided to enlarge shield and toss it at his enemy robots while shouting, "Boomerang Shield!" With a mighty toss, the shield bounces off each robot and deactivates them; however, it soars past Steven and unintentionally ends up hitting Amethyst's targets as well, deactivating them too. "Oh sorry, Amethyst. I didn't mean to…"
"Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!" Amethyst cursed out loud; much to Steven's surprise, as she storms out of the training room. "What is wrong with me!?"
"Amethyst!" Steven called to his Gem-sister; deactivating his shield as he follows her with worry.
"All right, the stabilizers are… stabilized." Peridot told Pidge as girls work on installing the Green Lion's new stealth generator; wrenching some screws into place. "How are the light refractors?"
"The light refractors appear to be at full power," Katie informed Peridot as she read the data on her computer.
"Has the climate adapter been accounted for yet?" Peridot questioned as she rushes over to Pidge look at the computer.
"I'm running that patch now and should be done a few ticks," Pidge explained as she typed away on her device. "And there we go. Should I begin the test run?"
"Go on ahead," Peridot said, with Pidge entering the code.
A turbulent humming sound echoed throughout the room as the Green Lion began to flicker; with her colors changing at random. "Okay, it just needs a little more stabilizing," Pidge said as she typed away with the Lion continuing to flicker. "And…" After a moment, the flickering stopped, and the alien vehicle disappeared from the sights of her pilots. "It worked!"
"Yes! Go team Pidgidot!" Both girls shouted at the same time in excitement; high-fiving each other.
"After a few more tests of confirmation; maybe we can eventually install some stealth generators onto the other Lions." Pidge hypothesized.
"Then we can get like a… Stealth Voltron." Peridot said with stars in her eyes. "Now how cool would that be?"
Before Pidge could answer, she was interrupted by Steven's, and Amethyst's arguing voices behind her; as they walked into the hangar. "Amethyst did I do something wrong? If so I'm sorry." Steven tried apologizing to the purple Gem.
"You didn't do anything wrong, and that's the problem." Amethyst coldly responded.
"Where are you going?" Steven asked with concern.
"I'm going to take Yellow out for a flight; I won't be gone long." The purple Gem said as she stood before her Lion. "Yo, Yellow! Open up!"
The mechanical lion just remained as still as a statue before a confused and frustrated Amethyst.
"Yellow, open up!" The crystal Gem ordered as the Lion continued to do nothing. Amethyst yelled out in frustration as she marches up the Yellow Lion's paws. "Yellow! It's me, Amethyst! Now open…" As soon as Amethyst laid a hand on Yellow; she was suddenly pushed back by an expanding yellow dome, which caused her to fall on her side.
"Amethyst!" Steven, Pidge and Peridot all exclaim as they run to their fellow Paladin.
"Amethyst, are you okay?" Steven asked.
"Well that's just great, even the Lion thinks I'm useless!" Amethyst angrily pouted, punching the floor.
"Use… what are you talking about?" A confused and worried Steven asked.
"I'm talking about you, Steven," Amethyst admitted; with both Pidge and Peridot realizing that they should back away and give the two Gem siblings some space. "You're supposed to be the rookie, but now you're better than me at everything. Now I'm the worst Crystal Gem."
"Why would you say that about yourself?" Steven asked with worry.
"Because of what happened with Jasper." Amethyst began in a hurt tone. "It turns out we were both born on Earth; she came out looking like the way she did, and I came out like… like me. Then I saw you and Connie fight as Stevonnie, and you reminded me of Rose… I've been a Crystal Gem for thousands of years who spent all that time trying to be as strong as her, and you managed to achieve that strength at the age of fourteen. It makes me wonder if… if I was even needed at all."
"Amethyst…" Steven began with a sigh. "That last part is not true; you can do so many cool things... like summon two whips for crying out loud! Then you have that spin dash! You are needed Amethyst because the truth is; I've always thought you were better than me. Do you remember our fight against the Orks? You literally beat a Mekboy after our run."
"That was only lucky! Orks are only stupid bags of green flesh and muscles, anyone can fight Orks with any trouble." Amethyst says pointed his finger to Steven Belly. "You have Rose's shield, you can create bubbles, and you can fly for quiznacking sake!"
"It's technically floating." Steven pointed out. "And I sometimes forget to use any of those during tense situations; while you can remember everything. Face it, I'm worse than you, and I'll prove it. Let's go back into the training room and fight to see who's the worst."
"Fine then, may the worst Gem lose," Amethyst said as she stood on feet and shook Steven's hand; rushing to the training deck together.
"Shouldn't we stop them?" Pidge asked Peridot, while they watched the two Crystal Gems leave.
"In my experience; when quartzes' get into a fight, it's usually best to stand clear and let it play out." Peridot honestly explained.
"I'm ready to lose, big time!" Amethyst said as she tied her long hair into a ponytail bouncing on her toes.
"That's what you think; I'm about to get clobbered so bad that I won't know what hit me," Steven replied, entering his comfortable fighting stance.
"And most importantly." Amethyst began as she summoned her whip. "Now holding back!" With that said, Amethyst spin dashed towards Steven.
The Half-Gem quickly leaped out of the way but then realizes his body is tied up and thrown to the ground. However, he immediately summons a bubble to absorb most of the impact; leaving a small crater in the room. "That was amazing Amethyst." Steven complimented.
"No, it wasn't! You're the one who's amazing!" Amethyst rebuked as she summons another whip and ignites both of her weapons on fire. She wraps them around Steven's protective bubble and flings it into the wall. Steven prepares for impact when spikes pop out of the bubble and cut through the whips; freeing him. "Oh, that was awesome!"
"That was an accident, and those aren't awesome!" Steven replied as he disperses his bubble and goes in for a diving kick, which Amethyst managed to dodge. Steven then summons his shield and throws it at Amethyst; hitting her right in the face.
Amethyst shakes her head and looks at Steven. "That was great." She complimented.
"No, it wasn't!" Steven argued back as he leaps into the air to perform another diving kick. Amethyst manages to catch Steven with her whip this time and slams him into the ground; causing debris to fly everywhere as the Half-Gem appeared unharmed.
"This is exactly my point. This is exactly Jasper's point!" An exhausted Amethyst shouted.
"You're wrong!" An equally exhausted Steven barked back. "You're wrong, and so is Jasper!"
"But it's true!" Amethyst screamed in self-disappointment, admitting defeat as she plops on to the ground. "If Jasper is anything to go by, I'm not supposed to be small, and everyone acts like that isn't a problem; but it is too me."
"Amethyst, have you been bottling up those feelings?" Steven asked.
"What do you think? No else can understand what I'm going through." Amethyst said.
"You know that's not true," Steven said as he sat next to her. "I understand what you're going through. Garnet and Pearl always look to me to be the next Rose Quartz, and no matter how hard I work; I feel like I'm never going to reach their standards."
"Well, you're more like Rose now than you were before," Amethyst admitted. "I still remember when you were that little kid who couldn't fend for himself and always need our help; now, you're a teenager who saved not one, but two planets, while being a Paladin of Voltron. If anything, I'd say you're better than Rose at this point. And I'm sorry for acting like a total clod earlier."
"It's okay, just don't be afraid to talk to me next time something's bothering you," Steven said as he hugged his Gem-sister.
"I will," Amethyst replied as she hugged Steven back.
"What happened here?" Connie's voice asked as Steven and Amethyst turn to find her and Keith standing by the recently opened entrance; discovering the training room to be wrecked.
"It's a long story." Both Crystal Gems said at the same time, blushing from embarrassment.
The Sun Incinerator – Unknown Region of Space.
Emerald hummed to herself as she fiddled with her Diamond Communicator, as the rubies watch their captain with interest; while Jasper couldn't care less as she leans against a nearby wall. While she kept it under control, the orange quartz was fuming with rage over the fact that she lost the chance to bring Rose Quartz and or shatter her.
"Almost there and… Yes!" The green Gem yelled with excitement as she got the patterns of the octahedral device to match. The communicator begins to levitate out of her hands; making a soft humming sound as two diamond-shaped holo-screens materialized.
Upon taking their full, proper shapes; the screens flickered as two pearls appear on each one. Both gems had a similar build and facial features, but completely different styles that represented the Diamond they served.
Yellow Diamond's pearl sported a yellowish maillot with a diamond-shaped hole that exposed the gem on her chess. Her attire also included puffy, transparent sleeves and thigh-high stockings and yellow slippers to match. She had a yellow pixie haircut that looked somewhat like her Diamond's hair; though hers was more circular than edgy. Plastered upon her face was that smug for days smile that irked many Gems, especially Jasper; who was growling under breath.
Blue Diamond's pearl wore a bluish bodysuit like her yellow counterpart, with a knee-length, translucent skirt that matched, and exposed bare feet. While she has been seen wearing slippers from time to time, she usually chose to have her feet exposed; not that her Diamond cared anyway. The pearl's hairstyle also stood out compared to others; with large bangs concealing her eyes like a hood, like how sapphires like to keep their hair.
Blue and Yellow diamond pearls.
"This is Yellow Diamond's Control Room." "This is Blue Diamond's Control Room." Both pearls said out loud; Yellow Pearl's voice was more arrogant sounding when compared to Blue Pearl's voice, which sounded cutely shy. "State your purpose for making this authorized call."
"I wish to update my Diamonds on the investigation and rescue mission of Yellow Diamond Colony 304-XH-G32."
"One moment, please." Both pearls said as the transmission feed cut off and restored a few seconds later.
"Bask in the presence, of the luminous Yellow Diamond." "And be in awe of the presence, of the lustrous Blue Diamond." Yellow Pearl self-confidently introduced her master, while Blue Pearl humbly introduced her master; as the camera feeds transitioned to the two leaders of Homeworld.
Yellow Diamond, like her sister Blue, was massive in height; dwarfing the pearls in comparison. Her attire was made up of an olive bodysuit with a cut out to expose the gemstone on her chest; which was slightly covered up by a short yellow coat with shoulder pads, as well as wearing yellow gloves with olive boots. The Gems on the Sun Incinerator recognized this as her casual attire; the clothing she wears into battle is far more intimidating and has struck fear in many that have opposed her. The gigantic Gem's hair was done up into a short, edged bob-cut; which looked more like a helmet than it did hair, many Gems even speculate that is a helmet.
Blue Diamond, while massive, looked shorter when compared to her sister; but that is probably due to her hunched posture, one that she's had ever since… the profoundly devastating loss on Earth. Her attire was composed of a blue robe that touched the ground and slightly covered the gemstone on her chest. She had long white hair with inward curls that made a visible cradle underneath her chin, and a broken expression that was full of remorse and self-blame.
Yellow Diamond
Blue Diamond
Second and Third members of the Diamond Authority and leaders of the Gem Imperie.
"Ah, Emerald." Yellow Diamond began in an all-business tone. "I was expecting your transmission."
"Thank you, my Diamond." Emerald humbly said as she, Jasper and the rubies saluted the matriarchs. "I felt that there was a need to inform you of our mission."
"What is the status of your investigation?" Yellow Diamond asked.
"I'm afraid it's was just like the other colonies, my Diamonds." Emerald somberly began. "The population is gone."
"Oh dear." Blue Diamond sadly said while Yellow tightened her fist in frustration.
"Have you at least found out who is responsible for these crimes against the Authority?" Yellow Diamond asked, wanting the answer to be that they did. "Let me guess: Orks? Tyranids? Or that dirt bags of the Tau?"
"No my Diamond… we found something…" Emerald respectfully said to Yellow before turning to Eyeball and Army; who hand their captain a slab of metal. "This is the outer plating of a robot Jasper destroyed; the only hint we have to who created it is this symbol." Emerald further stated as she showed it to the Diamonds, whose eyes widened in surprise; recognizing it.
"The Galra," Yellow said with disdain.
"You know them?" Emerald carefully asked.
"We've had an encounter with them in the past." Blue Diamond answered. "And that's all you need to know."
Emerald had no idea what her Diamond meant by that but decided not to ask… fearing she may get put on an aquamarine's hit list for saying the wrong thing.
"Thank you for your report, Emerald. You and your crew are to return to the nearest colony or station under Diamond control." Yellow Diamond said. "Now, unless there is any further information you wish to bring to my attention; I'm terminating the transmission."
"Oh, I think that there is something more you should know," Jasper spoke up, garnering everyone's attention.
"Was I addressing you, Jasper?" Yellow Diamond asked, recognizing her ruthless warrior.
"No, you weren't… Yellow," Jasper responded; making the rest of the Sun Incinerator's crew sweat bullets. "Your emerald left out some important information."
"And what would that be?" Yellow Diamond asked, her tolerance slowly running out.
"During the mission; we've encountered resistance from off-colors and organics," Jasper informed. "And you'll not believe who is leading them… the same Rose Quartz."
"Rose Quartz!?" Blue Diamond spoke up, with shaking anger in her tone; clenching her fist with spite. "It's bad enough what she did on Earth; now she has to spread her blasphemy beyond that miserable… Agh! Emerald, these are your new orders; find and shatter Rose Quartz… no, I want you to bring her to me so that I can do something far worse than that!"
"Calm down, Blue. You look like you're just about to crack your gem from the strain." Yellow told her sister, before turning back Emerald. "Disregard that order and head to the nearest colony or…"
"Yellow, we may never get this opportunity again!" Blue protested. "We should take it while we…"
"No, Blue…" Yellow quickly responded back. "We've come so far ever since… I'm not going to let a witch-hunt undo all of that."
"But she's the one…" Blue began.
"I know." Yellow interrupted. "But we have bigger problems… our people are being abducted by the Galra and my other colonies have troubles with the Tau and the Chaos; who are doing God knows what to them. Our responsibility as leaders come before personal vendetta's."
"You're one to talk." Blue angrily said under breath, referring to the Cluster; before deactivating the communication.
Yellow Diamond lets out a frustrated sight while pinching the bridge of her nose. "Is there anything else, I should know?" The matriarch asked in a passive-aggressive tone.
"Well… maybe… my Diamond." Emerald nervously said, breaking the silence caused by that tense argument. "When we encountered the organics and Rose Quartz, they had odd looking ships."
"Explain what you mean by, odd." Yellow lowly demanded.
"The ships… were shaped like lions," Emerald answered her Diamond; who then looked at the green Gem with disbelief and some fright in her expression.
"Are you sure?" Yellow loudly asked; wanting absolute certainty.
"I'm positive, my Diamond," Emerald answered. "But what does…"
"You are to carry out your orders and head to a nearby colony or station under Diamond control, understood!" Yellow Diamond ordered as she deactivated her transmission before any member of the Sun Incinerators crew could salute or affirm the order.
Yellow Diamond Colony 293-GQ-P21 – Unknown Region of Space.
"So, after so many millennia." Yellow Diamond began with disdain in her tone; as she walked past her worried Pearl and stared out of her balcony into the night sky. "He's finally returned."
"Who… my Diamond?" Yellow's pearl nervously asked.
"Pearl, delete all trace of this communication before it reaches Homeworld." Yellow Diamond ordered. "Then, I want you to contact my best scientists and blacksmiths across all my controlled colonies, via a private line; they'll have much work to do."
"As… as you wish my Diamond." Yellow Pearl nervously said. "Is there anything… you wish for me to tell them?"
"As a matter of fact, yes." Yellow Diamond said as she turned and looked down at her pearl. "Tell them that it is time to resume work on an old project."
