A National Affair
Chapter 4: Eyes in the Dust
Morgan had found the facility after only an hour of driving, only to stumble upon a smashed in gate and massive craters and crevices spotting the landscape surrounding the buildings. Said building were likely built as a cover for the underground portion of the outpost, and Morgan didn't currently know the state of affairs for that portion that well. Still though, he bypassed all of the geological obstacles and quietly drove up to the facility.
It had been obvious from the get-go that a battle took place. Beyond the fact that the scenery and infrastructure had been torn apart, the numerous bodies littering the area gave him an idea of what happened. The security team, clad in navy-blue fatigues and body armor, had suffered what initially seemed to be complete annihilation. Amongst the debris had been quite a few displaced limbs, if that was sufficient enough to go by. None of them were moving, let alone breathing, either.
That was what Morgan initially thought. It became obvious that something unresolved was currently in the process of being resolved by the time he navigated his way to the buildings themselves. Along the way, he passed proof that the security team at least managed to kill a few of the attackers, who by any degree, were definitely not human. Not any more, at least.
While Morgan held a broad understanding of many things in the world, his specializations tended to involve human relations, and not any of the hard sciences. Without that, he couldn't properly identity what he was looking at. He had seen them before, somewhere far, far from here, but he never thought they would surface again.
They were humanoid, or rather, had been at some point, given their structure. But most of them had been partially covered in a crystalline form that shrouded their bodies and left them as hulking masses of geological and biological absurdity. Where bullets somehow managed to penetrate, he could just barely make out human flesh and blood. It was thoroughly unsettling to see people converted into such abominations, but he would have to investigate that later.
Crystals grafted onto human bodies. It was an image he didn't like.
Moving on, he stepped over the broken arch of the entrance and heard what sounded like a struggle. Or someone dying slowly and painfully. It was hard to be sure. Silently moving, Morgan made his way across the dust-encrusted floor and towards another destroyed doorway.
Crouched down, Morgan spotted what he could only assume was the last surviving member of the security team. The sheer destruction that apparently went on around him wasn't very pretty, and neither was his shape either. The man was obviously close to death, just barely hanging on to the thread of life with whatever energy he had left from the beating he received before Morgan arrived. While the blood obscured a good amount of the damage from this distance, the agent could see the damage to the Kevlar vest. Considering there wasn't much more than the straps, it was quite telling. The massive tear through the security officer's chest was the most noticeable, however. It was definitely a fatal wound.
Quickly checking his surroundings, Morgan made the decision to check on the survivor and see what he could tell him. It was perhaps a bit pessimistic to assume the other man was going to die very soon, but losing any information he could get would severely hamper his ability to protect any others.
Of course, protection of himself might have been a better objective, all things considered. That point was effectively hammered home when, interestingly enough, a bullet was hammered into his chest.
The first staggered him, but his own vest held strong. The second and third floored him, though. It was apparently a high enough caliber to do that, it seemed.
"Oh fuck! OH FUCK!"
The blow to the head from hitting the linoleum was hardly enough to daze Morgan, but it probably wasn't wise to get up when someone assumed they just killed you.
"I-I just-" There was a slam against the wall the other man was splayed out against, likely from him. "Fuck! I killed a person!"
Whatever emotion possessed the security officer at the moment could have been anything, really. Perhaps it was grief, or regret, or even fear. Morgan didn't care much. He just didn't to be shot again.
Both carefully and slowly, Morgan sat up. His eyes met those of his assailant, albeit briefly. Still, he could see the strange cocktail of emotions in them. Warily, the agent got back onto his feet, much to the surprise of the man opposite of him.
"No, you didn't," Morgan provided, hoping that it would calm the obviously tense situation. "You're a pretty good shot though, even if your arm is torn up. I'm going to walk up to you, alright? I'd prefer it if you didn't shoot me again."
The officer didn't respond. If the hanging jaw was any indication, he might have simply been shocked to the point of being at a loss for words. It was, after all, not every day when you're left for dead, accidentally shoot at a person multiple times, and then see said person get up without much malice in their voice. It was an off-day, to be sure.
Morgan slowly approached, ignoring the fact that disbelieving eyes were plastered on him at the moment. He assessed the damage done to the security officer, whose face could now be seen with a bit more clarity. Tearing off a piece of his polo shirt, the agent gently swabbed away the excess blood. While the man's skin wasn't dark or light enough to make a proper assumption on his ethnicity, the ID tag on his hip at least provided "Dominguez" a general idea of where he might be from.
Dominguez winced, not enjoying the cloth rubbing against fresh wounds. "You work here?" he croaked.
The bureaucrat glanced back to make sure nothing was currently creeping up on them, "No. I'm with the government though. I was sent to check up on this place because either messages weren't getting through or something happened." He whistled at the current state of the building, "And something definitely happened…"
He heard a weak bark of laughter in response, "Shit… You could say that, man… Buncha freaks made out of rock attacked us." Dominguez's face went thoughtful, as if the impact of what had happened was just suddenly hitting him. "… Am I the last one left?"
As much as Morgan didn't want to answer that, he felt obligated to. Mincing words wasn't appropriate at a time like this.
"Yeah." He exhaled through his nose, trying to think of what to do next.
The sheer absurdity of the situation did nothing to dampen what resulted from it. Several people, somewhere between half a dozen and a dozen, were not only dead, but in pieces. Only one was left alive, and that was being charitable. Of course, Morgan had no intention of leaving the man behind whatsoever, but would be able to live long enough to receive medical attention? That was assuming there was even any medical staff currently alive within the facility. Saying the situation was delicate would be putting it mildly.
It probably wouldn't be safe to carry him to the entrance, and less so to just leave him here. Whatever attacked could still be lurking around, waiting to strike them down.
Morgan hummed to himself, finger once again curled near his mouth in contemplation, "Where's the entrance into this place? Did they get in?"
"Nah, we locked ourselves out. Door's a foot thick too… I can't tell you where it is, man. I don't even know who you are," he replied. Dominguez was clinging to conversation, using it to keep himself from falling unconscious. It was an admirable effort.
"Well, I can't let you die here." Morgan's adamant tone seemed to stir some life into the dying man. At least, that's what it looked like to him. "Besides, I can get into facility. I have clearance. I just don't know where the door is."
It was true, but Dominguez could barely make out what was even going on at this point. It was hard to remain lucid, but as the gears slowly started turning in his head, he sighed in defeat. A proud man like him didn't want to admit it, but the only thing he had left to lose was his life, and he was already on the brink of death at the moment. There was no point in giving up when he managed to get this far, much farther than his associates outside. Worst case scenario, everything would go dark and he would be absolved of his responsibilities. Best case scenario, he would live long enough to deliver his boot up the ass of whatever caused this disaster.
Oh, how he would relish that moment with fervor.
"Al-Alright… Help me up, man."
Morgan took Dominguez's right arm, which thankfully suffered less damage than he suspected, and slung it over his shoulder. Grabbing onto the other man's belt, the agent hoisted him up onto his feet. The security officer was gasping in pain, which was a bit gentler on the ears than the scream he wanted to let loose. Dominguez's arm raked across a compartment on his belt with all of the grace of the near-dead, before Morgan propped him against the wall and rooted through it himself.
"Hmm. Percocets?" he muttered, turning the plastic bottle in his hands.
"Hhhh-Heavier than that…"
They were painkillers, obviously, though Morgan had to wonder if they were even meant for human consumption.
Of course, that had never stopped him before, so why extend someone else's pain over something as petty as ethical medicine use? Taking two out, he handed them to Dominguez. Unfortunately, bloodless had parched him, and it took another precious minute for Morgan to find a half-finished bottle of partially evaporated water. Needless to say, both were disgusting. Being on the precipice of death tended to invalidate that, though.
Bracing himself, Dominguez leaned back onto Morgan, pointing towards a gap in the wall that led outside, "The place is on lockdown. No way we'd get inside through the front." He winced and let his hand drop, "Shit… There's a maintenance entrance that I have access to. We-"
"Will go there right now." Morgan tried to give a reassuring smile, though it felt somewhat awkward to do to someone he didn't even know. "We'll get you patched up soon."
And so they walked, moving around all the debris and destruction of the facility's topside façade. It was surprisingly quiet, and definitely disturbing. It made sense, considering what had happened not very long ago. As they walked, Morgan found himself thinking more about the attack.
He had seen something like these abominations nearly a decade back, but they were mindless and uncoordinated. Yet, here they were, their corpses having once participated in an organized attack on a heavily defended research outpost in the middle of nowhere. Sure, mashed together crystallization made for a feasible defense against bullets, but these things still had several human body parts visible in varying locations. Weak-spots, obviously. Anyone trained to use a weapon against another living being would be able to notice that. These things had managed to still tear through the security forces even with that against them.
It was intriguing. He would have to find the main security office and watch the tapes to see what really went on.
"There!"
Morgan snapped to attention, looking to where the security officer pointed at. It wasn't exactly what he'd consider a "maintenance entrance", but it was still a way in. Getting through the steel doors that were probably over a foot thick was a bit of hindrance, however. Thankfully, Dominguez had a swipe-card ready. Strangely enough, he only needed to hold it to the door to get it open, which it did the thoroughly annoying screech. Both men patiently waited as the steel door opened. It was enough time to give Morgan a chance to glance around at the area around them.
There was something peculiar not far from them. Raising a brow, the agent nodded his head towards it, "What's that?"
It was a mound of pink crystals that formed a ring around what seemed to be a hole. Morgan couldn't see how deep it was, but that seemed to be quite the security risk. How long had it been there? Did those creatures attack from there?
"Old mineshaft," Dominguez provided helpfully despite his condition. "Shit is old-old . From way back in the day."
Morgan frowned, "What kind of rocks are those?"
Not bothering to hide the anxiety in his voice, Dominguez exhaled loudly, "Man, I – Fuck, they thought they were diamonds or some stupid shit like that. Some egghead here said it was something called rose-"
The man was abruptly cut off by a scream. They both turned their heads back to the doorway, which was now open and bringing light into a very dim room. Inside that room, Morgan could barely make out the figure of a woman cowering against a group of crates. There was a smell wafting in the air, and the agent grew a bit disgusted at the sight of her pants darkening slightly. He couldn't really blame her. It was likely that she could even see them properly due to the brightness behind them. Shadowy figures looming over you could be frightening things to anyone.
Before he could calm the woman down, the ground shook. It was brief, almost as if something heavy had just crashed against the ground nearby, but it was enough to get Morgan to brace himself against the door frame. Steadying Dominguez wasn't as easy, and he nearly collapsed as a result. Morgan was somewhat surprised when the wounded man managed to steady himself.
There was a roar, and then stomping. It was very close, and getting even closer.
"Shit!" the agent cursed, suddenly realizing how vulnerable they were out in the open. "Go!"
He shoved Dominguez inside, more concerned with them actually surviving than the pain his new ally would be feeling from the fall. By some miracle, the security officer fell to the ground just in time to avoid being hit by the concrete equivalent of a shotgun blast.
Morgan didn't have to react as the wall near him burst outwards, sending large chunks of it straight at him. Careening at him at high speeds, they collided against his body.
It had happened so fast, it seemed as if it didn't happen at all. The only reason he knew that what had just occurred wasn't some hallucination was the fact that he was now staring at a beautiful sky. Which meant he was on his back.
And completely vulnerable.
The maintenance door seemed to seal itself as he forced himself onto his feet. Some of his bones were fractured, and his body cried for him to retreat. But he was still capable of fighting, even if it was obvious to anyone that looked at the man that he was quite injured. Granted, most people would have died from the impacts that he had just suffered, so he was in fact quite lucky. Morgan may not have felt like it, but at least this experience would be another notch under his belt.
Implying he survived, that is.
Shaking away the daze, Morgan squinted at the dust cloud that had lazily occupied the gap in the nearby wall. He could barely make out the imposing figure standing there silently, apparently waiting for him to make the first move.
Morgan obliged. His SIG Sauer was in his hands and trained at his attacked. It snorted, possibly in amusement, clearing away a significant portion of the dust with just that release of breath.
What the agent saw brought a certain degree of dread to him. It was one of the crystalline creatures, though comparing it to the others wouldn't exactly be describing it accurately. Whereas the others were more or less the size of humans, this stood several feet taller than the already six-foot-tall man. Unlike the others, its entire greyish body was completely covered by the strange rocks. Where the face should have been, there were several holes. Through two, he could see the most unsettling pair of eyes he had ever stared back at.
Morgan wasn't a psychiatrist. He didn't know the intricate nuances of the human psyche at the level a professional would. That didn't mean he couldn't see the manic look in the eyes of his enemy, the same look of a man ready to indulge in a reckless frenzy. Such a person was dangerous. When applied to some goliath-like monstrosity? It was usually a sign to bow-out.
But Morgan wasn't about to run away and possibly endanger others, simply because he didn't have the nerve to stand his ground. Dominguez and the female scientist behind that now-closed door would be nothing more than a red paste should this thing break through.
So he did the only thing he could do in spite of his injuries. He distracted it.
Stepping backwards, Morgan forced his aim to steady. The multiple broken bones made that difficult, but if he was still standing, then that meant he could at least try to hold out. As if sensing his stubbornness, the crystallite snorted once more and moved forward. Its long, bulky arms trailed against the ground, digging deep lines through the dirt.
Morgan took aim at a leg and fired a few rounds to test the waters. As he suspected, it wasn't fazed in the least, to the point where it lifted its head and gave a throaty chuckle. The agent continued testing different areas, trying to give the creature a sense of confidence that he was easy prey. That would make it easier to capitalize on any mistakes it might make.
One such mistake happened earlier than Morgan anticipated. The crystallite leaned down on all fours and glared at him. Morgan was going to be rushed, and likely suffer a brutal impact. But that was exactly the position he wanted his enemy to be in.
Taking concentrated aim, Morgan emptied the rest of his clip at its face, specifically towards the right eye. In the ensuing moment, it was hard to tell how fast the creature reacted. As far as he could tell, at least on bullet managed to navigate through the narrow opening and cut into the soft flesh inside. The rest didn't seem to do much else. And yet, the effect was instantaneous.
It charged, bashing into him with the force of a speeding truck. The blow didn't simply send him reeling. Morgan was airborne for a good few seconds before he crashed against the ringed shaft. His back slamming against the rose-colored crystals sent him upwards again, right towards the hole. Morgan barely had time to register the fact he was no falling into seemingly endless pit before his body landed against several rusted pipes. Each gave way until he hit the next, before his head hit something particularly hard.
Unconsciousness took him as he continued to fall.
Elsewhere…
She felt flustered, quite honestly. What other feelings were there when all of your efforts were sabotaged at every turn? The green gem continued to mull over the meaning of the symbol she had found tacked onto one of the Earth warp-pads. It was absolutely mind-boggling. It was some unknown creature crying and holding its arms up in surrender.
It had to be a message. Someone knew she was tampering with the pads, trying to get them online at all costs. And they didn't like her interference.
Leaning back in her chair, she exhaled. She was a Peridot, usually considered the Peridot. Most gems never got the distinguished honor of being considered the "the" in their series. It took a certain commitment and level of performance that showed she wasn't just another Peridot, she was willing to help the Homeworld conduct whatever business needed attending. It had taken well over four thousand years to reach this point.
And now, her efforts were being cut apart by some unknown force. It made no sense, however. Earth wasn't inhabited by any sentient species, and only a few Gems managed to escape the planet following some half-hearted insurrection a few millennia ago. There were no survivors on the rebel's side, she was sure, but what other explanation was there for the symbol?
Were they asking for her surrender? Even in light of these developments, she guffawed as such a notion. But whoever it was, they were still causing a significant amount of trouble for her. This wouldn't look good for her, not at all.
While Yellow Diamond was a reasonable Gem, with an understanding mentality, anyone that was near her for longer than a minute could see that she preferred things going as smoothly as possible, especially when it came to expansion.
Firstly, it was prohibited to colonize planets inhabited by sentient beings. It was both to appease the more compassionate Gems and prevent unnecessary problems from occurring. It wasn't feasible to conquer an entire species and then hope they wouldn't retaliate when their planet suffered around them. That was also the reason that zoologists were employed to move significant numbers of species off-planet before beginning any "mining." They were usually deposited on one of the sanctuary planets near Homeworld.
That train of thought brought up another.
She hadn't considered it until now, but an incident a decade or so back could have been related to her current situation. A Gem ship, looking as though it was hobbled together, crashed into one of said planets.
No one knew what was going on, but the keeper of the particular wildlife sanctuary, Green Diamond, was dead. The planet followed suit, along with all of the inhabitants. The ship had apparently once belonged to a research Gem named Calcite. It was assumed that prolonged isolation on Earth had caused a complete breakdown of her psyche, and that her attempt to return home was some crazed scheme that lead to the murder of one of the most well-liked Gems to ever grace Homeworld.
Following that, Peridot was given orders to send some roboniods to the ship, repairing it for the murderer. If Calcite had gone to those lengths to return home, then it was assumed that she would willingly come. Ultimately, the ship fled back to Earth. The current expedition was both to restart the functions of the Kindergarten and bring Calcite to justice for what she had done.
Calcite was assumed to still be alive. That was the most likely scenario, she figured. It made sense, considering someone had to pilot the ship back to Earth. Perhaps the one tampering with the warp-pads was the gem in question, or maybe a lackey. Peridot, like the rest of Homeworld, was largely in the dark about the situation. For all she knew, Calcite could have restarted the Kindergarten herself and created an army in the meantime. Peridot couldn't be certain.
That was also one of the reasons why Yellow Diamond insisted on a bodyguard accompanying her. Peridot admired Jasper, in certain ways. Underneath that attitude lied cleverness and guile. Being a grizzled veteran of quite a number of conflicts had made Jasper just as distinguished as she was. She wasn't all that worried about her safety with that Gem around. There was a comradery between them, however hidden. Hopefully they could develop their friendship further en route to Earth.
Looking back at the sticky marking that taunted her to no end, Peridot felt reassured that it wasn't going to be her that was going to be surrendering. They would crush Calcite, then resume operations. A simple plan.
"Peridot. We have a development."
The green Gem flinched, caught off-guard by the sudden voice. It was Yellow Diamond.
"What happened?" she replied, feeling uneasy. A "development" usually wasn't something good.
"You'll want to see this." Yellow Diamond's disembodied voice sounded concerned, if anything. "It's a Gem from Earth. She calls herself Lapis Lazuli. Jasper is going to be interrogating her in a few minutes."
Peridot had never heard of that type of Gem before, but nodded regardless, "I'll head to the headquarters now."
"Good. Have you made any progress on Earth?"
The green Gem clicked her tongue, displeased at the lack of information so far, "Not much. But I think we might have a problem on Earth. Something's been sabotaging the warps and my robonoids."
"Hm. We'll discuss this more once you get here. Yellow Diamond out."
And so the conversation ended. Peridot couldn't help but wonder about the visitor. Who was she? What exactly was the function of a Lapis Lazuli? Why did she return to the Homeworld after all this time? Was she just as insane as Calcite supposedly was?
Hopefully, she would figure out soon enough and be able to piece together a coherent idea of what was really going on. Peridot was sure Jasper would be able to extract the information from the Lapis, just as sure as she was in her ability to protect her during their voyage to Earth.
Things would go smoothly, it looked like. Sure, some unexpected variables cropping up might throw them off a little, but the Authority was both experienced and resourceful. There was nothing to be worried about.
A/N: I probably should have finished this weeks ago. It was sitting on my laptop for a while and I finally got off my ass and wrote the rest.
The more I write for this story, the more I realize that it's pretty damn hard to stick to canon, have a character that's doing his thing alongside this canon and sticking to the source material as much as possible. I really don't want to make a stupid mistake or oversight that'll break the flow of the story away from the actual show. That wouldn't be really good.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time.