Missing Peace: Chapter 6

Homeworld, Unknown structure:

Yuri Rozhenko walked quietly through the angular yellow corridors of the strange Gem structure. Keeping the sound of his footsteps to a minimum, he was very conscious of just how quiet it was. A low, electronic hum seemed to resonate from beyond the walls and floor, but other than that there was no discernible noise.

For a building that had been guarded, there was surprisingly no noticeable security on the interior. Given what little Rozhenko knew about Gem society from the briefing he'd received prior to this assignment, it was likely that the concept of disobedience was so alien on Homeworld, that the Diamonds hadn't felt the need for any greater surveillance. He briefly allowed a smirk to break his stoic façade. If there was anything of technological value here, he could take a good look at it uninterrupted.

As he rounded a corner, he emerged into an open chamber. There was a worktable in the centre of the room, and the walls were lined with various screens and consoles. Perhaps some sort of control room? Any free patches on the walls were covered in panes with what seemed to be facial features carved into them. A strange architectural flourish for such a seemingly functional room, he thought, but then, all of Homeworld's architecture was bizarre.

Knowing better than to try to operate the consoles, lest he set off some sort of alarm, he instead searched for any loose tools or parts he could easily carry out. Taking a few small objects from the table, he carefully slipped them into sealable bags, and stowed them in pouches built into his suit. Once he sensed he had everything he would be able to comfortably hide in his jacket, he turned to make his exit.

He only got a few steps before a bright column of light erupted around him.

Rozhenko felt himself lying on a cold stone floor, but as his senses returned to him and he looked around, he realised it wasn't the same yellow floor of the room he had just been standing in. The ground here appeared pale purple, and this place, wherever it was, was so dimly lit he could only see a few metres in each direction of the dim spotlight what was shining onto him from somewhere high above.

He could hear the sound of agitated muttering around him, and peering into the gloom, he could make out a huddled crowd of figures standing around him at a distance. He could make out virtually nothing about their features, but the range of shapes and sizes of their outlines were enough to tell him that they were Gems.

Trying desperately not to allow his fear to be visible on his face, he moved to stand. A mixture of gasps and murmurs went through the crowd as he did, as some of the figures recoiled, while others inched closer to him. In the darkness, Rozhenko had no way of knowing if they were doing this out of curiosity, or malice.

"Enough." A deep yet feminine voice cut through the chatter, and the crowd instantly fell silent. "Bring it here."

A passage formed in the huddle of Gems, as two of them grabbed Rozhenko by the arms, and marched him forwards for a few moments, until he found himself facing what appeared to be a large throne. 'Throne' was the word that had struck him when he saw it, due to how large and raised it was, though on closer inspection (as much as was possible in the gloom) it appeared to be made out of rubble and scrap.

On the throne sat a figure. Rozhenko could barely make out her outline against the silhouette of the throne. She was large, though nowhere near large enough to be a Diamond, and was heavily built. She slouched lazily on the throne, her head resting on one of her fists. After a brief moment, the figure spoke again.

"So, someone stumbled across our hidden warp pad. Would you like to explain yourself, Peridot?"

A small Gem emerged from the crowd. Her silhouette was dominated by her large triangular head, and a Gem of the same shape, which was embedded in her abdomen. Nervously, she spoke.

"Commander, I know you asked that the warp remain cloaked to avoid detection, but when this… creature entered the Diamonds' facility, I judged that you would want to see it for yourself, so I opened the warp from our end and brought it here."

Rozhenko wondered how she could have possibly seen him, when a chilling thought struck him: The faces on the walls. Surely they weren't…

"You judged correctly Peridot." The figure on the throne replied, cutting short Rozhenko's theorizing. Visibly relieved, the 'Peridot' scurried back into the crowd.

"You'll have to forgive the secrecy" said the figure, speaking to Rozhenko now (though he noted that despite her friendly tone, the guards hadn't released his arms). "We wouldn't want Yellow Diamond's court finding the entrance to our little meeting place."

Rozhenko was confused. Were these Gems undertaking some actively behind their Diamonds' backs? That seemed uncharacteristic, but he knew better than to ask too many questions now, in case they decided he knew too much to be allowed to leave. As it stood, if these people were rebels, they might be more inclined to overlook his trespassing.

"Still," she continued, "we're all so glad that you're here. You're going to be so much help."

She rose from the throne and stepped down towards him. He could see now that she was seven, maybe even eight feet tall, with a huge mane of hair that fell almost down to her knees. As she approached him, she lifted his chin gently with a massive finger and thumb. Rozhenko did his best to keep his face as steely as possible, and looked up at her.

"What is it that you want from me?" He said as calmly as he could manage.

The multifaceted Gem embedded in her Sternum glowed brightly, as she reached her hand up to it, and removed from it a blade that was well over a metre long, and almost as wide as his head. In the dim light of the gem, Rozhenko saw her warm smile turn to a smirk.

"You", she said, "are going to help us send a message…"

Author's Notes: And with that, we reach what you could unofficially call the end of 'Arc 1'. I'm not formally dividing the story into arcs, and I'm not planning on having any
breaks between them or anything. Let's just say that we've kinda finished the setup phase now. The story's gonna get into full swing from here on out. Feedback as always is
appreciated. See you in the next chapter!