CHAPTER VI: O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!

"No."

Everyone was shocked to hear Garnet's answer, usually, Steven's talks always managed to convince her.

"B-but-" Steven tried to speak.

"I said no!" Garnet yelled, standing up, making Steven emit a little yelp and take a step back.

"Garnet…" Pearl whispered, puzzled by her outburst. It was rare of Garnet to yell at Steven, and while the idea of freeing Jasper didn't appeal her, she couldn't understand why she would react that way.

"This discussion ends here." Garnet declared, and no one dared to say the contrary.

She was going to enter the temple when suddenly…

Lion's mane lit up…

And someone fell out of it.

Pearl and Amethyst immediately summoned their weapons as they saw the stranger make its appearance. It only took a moment for Steven to realize who it was.

"Oh my gosh! Rhodonite!" Steven exclaimed as he immediately rushed to her side, helping her stand up.

"Stand down gems, she's not a threat." Garnet said, motioning Pearl and Amethyst to lower their weapons.

"Who's she?" Pearl asked as her spear vanished into thin air.

"She's one of Lars' friends!" Steven explain excitedly.

"Oh yeah… how's donut boy doin' in space?" Amethyst asked.

"Captain Lars is in danger!" Rhodonite cried, waving her arms in the air.

"W-what?! What happened?!" Steven's cheerful tone was gone, replaced by one of deep worry.

"We were fixing the nova thrusters, we were going to leave! B-but then Emerald appeared a-and… oh stars she's going to… Captain Lar, Rutile, Fluorite, Paddy! They're all in danger! We have to do something! We have to-" Rhodonite muttered frantically, but she calmed down as she felt Garnet's hands on her shoulders, her grasp firm but gentle.

"Calm down Rhodonite. Tell us everything, so that we can help you." Garnet said calmly.

Rhodonite breathed deeply, then started again.

On Yellow Diamond's asteroid mine, some moments before:

"This piece should go here and… done!" Lars said, helping his crew replace the last piece of the damaged engine's circuits.

"Captain… should… I… try… to…" Fluorite began to ask but was interrupted.

"Yes! Let's check on the nova thrusters and see if they're back online!" Lars spoke excitedly.

Both the Rutile Twins and Fluorite began to check the multiple holo screens on the core's main console.

"Rhodonite? Everything clear up there?" Lars called the fusion, who had remained upstairs to check for any eventual approaching threat.

"There are still some patrol ships passing by but the worst seems to have passed…" Rhodonite replied, her voice trembling but still slightly hopeful.

"Good. Twins? Fluorite?"

Fluorite and the Twins of Rutile turned around, both of them smiling excitedly.

"The nova thrusters are back online!" The Twins announced.

"Then let's get back to the flight deck!" Lars exclaimed, pointing at the stairs.

"The nova thrusters are back online!" Padparadscha announced enthusiastically.

"We know Paddy, but thanks anyway." Lars said as he, Padparadscha and the Twins of Rutile returned to the flight deck, while Fluorite, being the engine chief, remained downstairs to check for any possible malfunction.

Lars waited for Padparadscha and the Twins to return to their positions beside Rhodonite, before pointing dramatically towards the sky.

"Twins? Let's leave this stupid space mine once and for all!"

"Right away Captain!"

As soon as the Sun Incinerator's engine was activated, and Fluorite began to deviate its energy to charge the nova thrusters, the spaceship became visible again. It took only a few moments for the patrol ships and the detecting robonoids to notice the presence of the unauthorized ship, but when all of them reached the site of its energy signatur, it was already too late. The Sun Incinerator was already up high in the sky and in a matter of seconds it would have been able to travel at hyperspeed. Both Lars and his crew cheered loudly. That day they risked more than in any other time in their entire lives, but they still managed to repair the nova thrusters, to escape Yellow Diamond's asteroid mine, and to survive. They won. They, the Off Colors, nothing more than flawed beings for the Diamond Authority, but truthfully so, so much more than that. And that day they proved it. They watched as the stars became more and more visible… then…

Then it all came to a stop.

"What's happening?!" Lars asked, as the ship abruptly stopped moving and became surrounded by a strange, greenish light.

"I don't know Captain! There seems to be no malfunctions but… the ship is completely still… I can't get it to move!" The Twins checked their holo screens, frantically searching for a solution to their problem.

"Fluorite?! Is the engine damaged?!"

"No… Captain… the… engine… is… still… intact…" Fluorite said, emerging from downstairs-

"Then I don't-" Lars spoke but was interrupted as he and his crew heard a familiar laugh.

They all raised their gazes only to be greeted by a very familiar face. The Homeworld's captain they hoped never to meet again appeared on the main screen of the ship, arms crossed and a bemused smile on her face.

"Emerald." Lars hissed through gritted teeth.

"Captain Lars, what a surprise finding you here. Do you like my new ship? The Diamonds gave it to me personally." Emerald declared proudly.

"How can you keep us from maneuvering the ship?!"

"Do you like it? Zero point energy, one of Homeworld latest discoveries and best technology. I'm using it right now to accomplish the mission the Diamonds gave me to redeem myself after our last… encounter…" Emerald explained, her tone becoming more insecure during the last part.

"You mean when we kicked your butt?" Lars asked smugly.

"Silence! I will not permit someone of your lowly kind to talk to me that way!" Emerald yelled angrily, already losing her temper.

"Yeah… sure… but we still kinda did it."

"Ugh! You… you little…" Emerald looked as she was going to explode, she breathed deeply, then she started talking again, "You may have won our latest battle, but this time you won't escape, I will do what the Diamonds ordered and finally redeem myself."

"What did they ask you to do?" Lars asked.

"You know, I'll admit, you really managed to fool me for a moment. I don't know where she is but you really hid her well."

"What is she talking about Captain?" The Twins wondered.

"I have no idea." Lars answered, confused.

"Do not play dumb with me, off color scum! I know Rose Quartz is hiding on my precious Sun Incinerator!" Emerald cried.

"What?!" Rhodonite yelled in disbelief.

"She's talking about Steven." Lars finally understood.

"Steven? Your half gem half human friend? What does he have to do with Rose Quartz?"

"His gem is kinda hers." Lars explained, trying to make it as simple as he could.

"What?! B-but how?!" Rhodonite asked, puzzled by the revelation.

"Is Steven's gem half… Rose Quartz?" The Rutile Twins asked, equally surprised.

"It's a long story, I'll explain later."

"There's no later for you, filthy criminals." Emerald spoke, interrupting the group.

"What are you planning to do Emerald?" Lars couldn't understand what the Homeworld's captain had in mind, what was she planning? Besides stopping them in the middle of their escape, of course.

"I'm executing the orders the Diamonds gave me. As much as I'd like to blow you into nothingness, they told me to find you and to restrain you and now… they're on their way here." Emerald smiled wickedly as she saw terror appear on the Off Colors' faces.

"T-the Diamonds a-are coming?" Rhodonite muttered, her voice slightly more audible than a whisper.

"We have to go! We have to run! They'll shatter us!" The Twins stood up from their position, starting to panic.

"Emerald! Rose Quartz isn't here! She left without us!" Lars tried to convince the Homeworld's captain.

"And after all the tricks and lies to get where you're now, I should believe you? Besides, even if she's not there, at least I'll enjoy watching the Diamonds kill you all. Goodbye Captain Lars. I'd say you were a worthy foe, but I wouldn't say the truth, would I?" Emerald said, before disappearing from the main screen.

Silence fell on the flight deck. After some moments, Fluorite emerged from downstairs.

"Captain… Lars… what… can… we… do?" Fluorite asked.

Alongside the massive fusion, every other member of Lars' crew turned to him, confused, sad, terrified. They were looking up to him, they were waiting for some order or brilliant idea that would save them all, but the truth was that… Lars was as scared as any of them. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak, he couldn't think.

It was in that moment that Steven's words came to his mind.

"It's okay to be scared."

And indeed, it was okay, and that made Lars snap out of it, and make his next decision.

"Get through my hair."

Hello guys! I'm back! Okay, first of all I want to tell you that I'm really sorry about leaving you with a cliffhanger and not posting for so long. I really wanted to give you the next chapter, but I forgot to tell you that I had a "Psychology of groups' dynamics" exam coming, so I had very little time to spend on writing. However, as soon as I finished the exam, I went back on writing, and I wrote and wrote and wrote and I kept writing until I realized that in a single chapter I wrote more than four thousand words. So here is what I decided to do. I broke the chapter into three parts, and today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow I'll post each and every one of them, one a day. So stay tuned because two more chapters are coming really really soon. Wow, I didn't think you'd become so many and that is also part of why I want to apologize again for having kept all of you waiting. Thanks for all the kind comments, the favs and follows, they're very important to me and I won't ever stop repeating that. See you in the next chapter!