The Calm Before the Storm: Crystal Temple Roundtable

[Amethyst]

To the average human eye, the myriad of sparkling shooting stars that zipped across the sky the night before would have been an exciting. She stuffed her hands into the pocket's of her striped running slacks, glowering at the sand as she stepped along the beach toward the Crystal Temple. Ame knew better than to spend even a moment admiring the scintillating beauty of the sky, when all those colorful blips were zipping toward the moon. Earth's Moonbase, where Homeworld gems were stationed, and likely preparing for war.

Though, as she looked up toward the ominous full moon, something else glinted through the atmosphere. First, Ame squinted at it, leaning forward a bit to get a better look at whatever it was. Then, her bushy lavender brows shot up as she realized it was a robonoid, hurling through the sky straight toward the Crystal Temple. She grimaced, and scampered back from the beach before the drone smacked into the sand, sending particles of dust flying in every direction.  Her midriff twisted, a tingling coldness shot through her body.

The Amethyst soldier waited a moment, glanced around as she waited for the drone to explode or something. But it didn't-- the drone instead opened up, and began to project something. Ame then looked toward the Crystal Temple before she hollered at the top of her lungs,"Everyone! Get out here, something weird is happening!"

****Below Writing Courtesy of NJ****

First there was static, garbled, hard to see, but then it cleared, starring at the crowd was a Quartz gem, with light pink skin and curly hair, it was hard to tell where she was recording from, the background seemed dark, hard to define, she glanced around nervously before she began.

“I don’t even know if this message will make it to you” Rose began putting her hand on where her heart would be “but I beg that it does”

“You have all done such wonderful work, and you can’t imagine how sorry I am, frustrated and angered that I can’t fight alongside you at this very moment. I truly do want to meet each and every one of you, I want to know who you are, who was brave enough to answers my first message, I wonder how many of you are there, who you are, how many Quartzs, how many pearls, how many Goldstones or Jades or even Opalites, and others are fighting for the planet,” She let out a happy laugh, wiping away a tear “How many gems are working together, fighting alongside each other, forgetting about what they are told they are made for and being who they want to be, loving who they want to love, I wish, I really wish I could see it.” Her voice truly was regretful, sad that she was where she was and not fighting alongside the gems on Earth.

“And I want to come back, but I can’t, something big is happening, its why I’m risking this message, you all have done amazing things, I heard that even from here, and we have been lucky, that tyrant Pink Diamond has been slow for most of this, you have beaten her when she has fought and won when all seemed lost” She let out a smile again, before dropping back into a sombre expression “but something is wrong, something is coming, the ships on Homeworld have started mobilising, its small for now buts it’s getting worse, gems are running around everywhere, I can’t sneak on board, I can’t get back, not with how active it is, and ... ” She trailed off, “... I have tried slowing it down-- we have tried, you’re not the only gems fighting this, there are allies, you’re not alone, I’m not alone. There are gems, just like you, on Homeworld, gems as amazing and brave as you are helping me do what I can from this side,” she gestured around herself. She seemed to speed up again, speaking quietly and excitedly, “--And it’s not just Earth, or Homeworld either, I have heard, I have seen it, gems from all over the empire have defected or are in hiding, scarred, lost and all they just need is that push, the push you are making. Show them, show Homeworld you’re not afraid, show them the Earth. I think the real fight is coming, and this is your chance, use this battle, use this war to make a statement, show them with your actions, let them say ‘We are the crystals Gems and we won’t live in hiding, we won’t live in fear, and you shouldn’t have to as well, come to us, come to the earth, let this be a place where you can be free, where we can all be free, free to grow, free to live, free to love”

“So please, work together, use your strengths together and protect each other’s weaknesses. Please, don’t be afraid to love the earth, to love yourself, to love each other in the coming days, and remember they can take our weapons, take our forms, destroy our temples but they can’t take away who you are and they can’t take away the fact that you, all of you are Crystal Gems,”

Her tone became quieter again, “and to those who may still be afraid, who are not sure to fight, I ask not for you to dive head first into conflict, I simply ask that you look around at the planet you’re on, and ask yourself whether this life, these animals and humans are worth protecting. You have that choice, I fear that the innocent creatures and life on that planet won’t get that same choice.” Tears began to well in the corner of her eyes again, “This is Rose Quartz, and thank you, to all of you. Remain strong, remain loving and always remember that we, that you are the Crystal Gems.” The recorded message ended, showing only their logo, the 5 pointed star.

********

Light Bluegold Opalite

[Light]

Was it a bird? No, it was too big and humanoid. Was it a Lapis Lazuli? Not one either. There was someone flying in the night sky. A gem for sure. Dressed in white tunic and with a pair of big brown wings. The person landed slowly on the sand. The eagle like wings glowed and started to shrink before they would vanish into oblivion. It was obvious now that this gem was a Pearl. A pointy nose, scrowny body and medium lenght hair. His gem was placed on his chest, a mocha brown pearl with a small pit inside, a natural defect. He was a little bit smaller than most Pearls, but still pretty tall compared to many other gems like Rubies or Sapphires.

Pearl spoke to himself while stretching out his back "It has been a while... I really need to stop shape shifting so often." He looked around, more and more gems were arriving. Either by a warp pad, by flying or on foot. Pearl didn't remember ever seeing so many gems on Earth in one place. It was suprising, but also comforting. It seemed that more gems joined the rebelion since his first arrival on Earth. He gazed at the Crystal Gem temple that looked like a fusion of different gems. "It is alright, I am fine, noone remembers the last accident!" He took a big breath and looked up at the temple again "I am Light and I am still a Crystal Gem. And even if I am not... I still have got a reason to be here and fight for this planet."

When looking at the moon Light knew there was something going on in there. It reminded him of the first time he met a certain Smoky Quartz. The gem tried to rule Light into rejoining his makers by scaring him off. He saw that day how Homeworld gems were gathering around Earth''s Moon. It has been years since that day, they were probably more of them now.

Light continued to stay in one place to wait for the other rebels to come. However, he heard a weird noise of something hitting the ground in high speed, followed by Amethyst's request to come closer.

Pearl quickly came to investigate. He noticed some sort of robonoid creating a holographic projection, similar to those he was able to make with his own gemstone. Light took a closer look at it and coudn't believe "Is it her? Yes! It really is her! It is Rose Quartz! Is Pearl also there?!" He jumped up with excitement, nearly hitting another gem who was standing nearby. After being given a creepy glare, Light smiled nervously and continued watching.

Rose seemed like a good mother. But... a sad mother as well, the one that can't help her own child. It was sad to hear this, Light was hoping she would join and lead them. There was no real leader on Earth, Crystal Gems were just doing what seemed right for them. He knew that something had to be done about this.

Light continued to watch the recording. Was it really true? There were more Crystal Gems on Homeworld? Pearl always thout that any off color wouldn't survive few mere human days out there. But it seemed that he was wrong. It was exciting, it meant that maybe, just maybe, rebels had a much better chance of winning.

It all eneded with a five pointed star. Light stared at it, still not sure how to respond to all of this. He only menaged to let out a simple "Woah..."

[Bluegold]

Hearing the call of the Amethyst soldier, Blue had came hurtling out of the temple in a spin dash, she came out of it with her sword drawn and her teeth bared, seeing this projection made a quizzical look appear on her face.

Soon after, Opalite followed, floating out on her wings and landing next to Blue. "We're... Not the only ones? There are more crystal gems than the ones on earth?" Opalite asked, getting a nod from Blue who grinned.

"Looks like we actually have a fighting chance if that's true." The large blue gem stated as her sword fizzled from existence. "If we can win this war, we can live in peace..." She started and looked to Opalite. "Together, and nobody can separate us." To which Opalite grinned up at Blue.

"You think we can win?" Opalite asked and gave had wings a little flap, and getting a nod from Blue.

"We'll have to, once this starts, there's no going back." She says and grins, her sharpened canines glinting in the pale light that was cast upon the beach. Blue would look towards the moon and smirk. "Better prepare yourselves, Homeworld, cuz we're comin'." She says

[Amethyst]

Ame stared, jaw-dropped as she listened to the things that Rose Quartz had to say. Never did she imagine this moment would happen, nor that she would even become a rebel in the first place. However, standing here listening to Rose for the first time, surrounded by comrades who had a similar ideology to her own, brought a gust of pride into the soldier's heart. After recovering from the initial shock of the moment, her mouth came to a close, and she stood with her shoulders back. As she looked around at the other gems, she realized there were some who she had never met before, and others who had been there to invite her into the temple for the first time.

As she listened to Blue Goldstone's assessment of the situation, her confidence too compounded, but there was only one question on her mind as the ex-homeworld commander finished speaking-- how? "So we're bringing the fight to them?" She smirked, then crossed her arms, and glanced toward the pearl, who she hadn't officially met yet, and gave a nod to acknowledge his presence, then looked back toward Blue,"I like the idea of that," She continued, and brought a hand up to scratch her chin,"Thing is, we're all stretched out. Crystal Gems are scattered all over Earth, Homeworld, could be the whole galaxy, but if we don't have a plan to bring everyone to one place quick, we'll have to find another way to get our numbers up before Homeworld makes the first move," She looked toward the pearl again,"I'm Ame by the way,"

[Bluegold]

The large blue gem would grin and point to the communication device. "They sent it from homeworld, we can send it to other planets, figure out how to record our own message, and send our own, let everyone know that we need them here." She says.

Opalite nods and grins. "I can take care of the technical stuff, Orange could be the one we have voicing the message, she's big, and she used to lead the goldstones, literally the greatest warriors of homeworld." This puts a smile on Blue's face. "She's perfect for it, show that we have amazing warriors on our side, show that we are worth fighting for!" Opalite says with smile. Blue nods and grins, this was motivation alone for her, enough so that her doubts from before had been pushed aside, she knew where she wanted to be, and it was here, with the Crystal Gems.

[Light]

"I don't think Homeworld can hear you, it is at least few light years away." He just stated under his nose when the mysterious gem mentioned coming to Homeworld. Light would probably prefer to stay here, on Earth. The Homeworld was a dangerous place for disloyal gems and they would be on enemy's turf.

He noticed an Amethyst noding to him before speaking. She was also a Crystal Gem he has never seen before. How long exactly has it been since the last time he showed up in the Temple? There were just so many new people. Light noded to the Quartz as well "Light."

The blue gem's plan wasn't bad. It was risky, they robonoid would probably be destroyed sooner or later by someone. Crystal Gems were lucky that the recording survived and actually got here.

Light just got confused when they mentioned how "Orange" could voice the message. He stared at two of them, a little bit confused "Why would they want to listen to another 'big' or 'greatest' gem? We are all equal here on Earth, We follow Rose Quartz because she betrayed her superiors to fight for this planet and our freedom. And she was just another quartz soldier..."

[Amethyst]

Ame smiled as Light introduced himself to her for the first time, and then moved to listen to the other gem's plans. Much like Light, she found it to be a good plan, but logistically she had a hard time imagining that it would pan out in their favor. "If Rose sent a message here, I'd like to think she sent one to anyone she could. If not, well..." Ame mentioned, and scratched the back of her neck,"Even if we sent out a robonoid, we'd have to either repair the warp, or build a fleet to get everyone here," Rebuilding the warp would mean exposing themselves to Homeworld directly, and building a whole fleet of space cruisers could take too long. 

She had an idea, inspired by not only her instinctual programming for war-time tactical thinking, but also her thirty years of experience lining the halls of Pink Diamond's Moonbase. Still, doubt heavily dragged on her; after all, who was she to speak to a bunch of other rebels as if she were some kind of authority? She was just another quartz...

Just another quartz...like Rose, and Rose had been an inspiration for an entire uprising. Light had a point, but so did Blue. Ame glanced between them, letting her arms unfold as she began to explain her idea,"Light, I understand being apprehensive about meeting the enemy on their own turf, especially Homeworld itself-- but what about the Moonbase?" She gestured toward the sleeping town over the hill,"If we play defense, and let Homeworld come to us...Beach City might be wiped off the map in the crossfire. Of course we can't leave this place undefended, but if we go on the offensive, we'll put pressure on them to defend their base too," Her indigo eyes fixed onto Earth's moon, hanging ominously above them all."I don't know about you guys, but I spent my whole life on that moon. I know it like the back of my hand. If we got a small team of good fighters up there, we could shake up the Diamonds before they even know what's coming. Maybe we could bring some of the weapons that have been prepared, and a well timed attack could make it seem like our numbers are greater than they really are--" For a moment, she remembered her human friends, the hockey team, and wondered what her coach might say here,"--we'll show 'em what we can do, as a team,"

[Bluegold]

Blue nods. "The gems we have now could easily take the moon base, me and Ame here can teach everyone the quarts guard's tactics, to better predict their moves, and to give us an edge. We need to make sure not to shatter them, give them a chance to switch sides, then poof and bubble them if they remain loyal." Blue kneels down and begins drawing some things
"Ame, you know the moon base, yes? Draw us a diagram if you can, then we can decide where is best to attack from." She says. Opalite watches in awe as the old 'General Blue' comes out. "Our skill is better than theirs, but they have numbers, one cocky gem could screw everything up." Opalite says, Blue frowns and nods, knowing that is part of her personality, to get cocky. "We can't afford a screw up, and we need to attack while they're still planning." Blue says.

[Light]

"Moonbase?" Light raised his eyebrows. It reminded him of something...

FLASHBACK:
 "Morion... he mentioned a base on the Earth's natural satelite..." He shook his head "No no no! We can't go there! It is too dangerous!" Said Pearl, but soon a certain Padparadscha sapphire added "Yes... the Moon Base... Of course!" she jumped off of the anvil, "Morion's shipments gave us plenty of raw materials, but for the things we can't make... yes, yes that Moon Base would have anything we'd need." Para looked to Light with a determined look in her eye, "I was there on that base a brief time ago, I know for a fact that we could find some very useful things up there. But we'd need to prepare, it would indeed be a very dangerous mission. Yes... yes, I can see it now!" she went to grab his hands in her own,"There is much to plan for! I see a space adventure in our future dear!" Despite the danger, it seemed she had her mind set.
END OF THE FLASHBACK

Light took a momemt to think this trough. He knew deep down that some sort of attack would have to happen sooner or later. And maybe he wasn't excited about all of this... but he could use this oppurnity to actually accomplish Para's dream. They didn't go to the Moonbase at the end, but he could still "borrow" something for her and Crystal Gems. Something that would help with prepararionts for the war. After a brief moment he spoke out "I am in." He soon added "And I think I can help with our equipmemt." He clapped his hands when weapons were mentioned.

He stared at the pair he just met and than at his hands with disbelief "I have never felt so ignored in my entire life... is it like a dream or something? Am I a ghost here?" He then put his hands on her shoulders "Please pinch me, kick me, anything! Just not too hard in case it is not a dream afterall... but not too gently either, I need to feel it!"

[Amethyst]

She leaned in to take a look at the schematic Blue was drafting up, but as Light hesitated and Opalite voiced her concerns, Ame took pause herself. Were the soldiers among the group being too eager about all this war stuff? The corners of her lips pulled downward slightly; after all, if the Crystal Gems were acting just as violent as Homeworld, what difference would there be when they won the war? Just as with everything that had set off her journey of self discovery on Earth, Ame had to contemplate deeply for a moment, her expression firm.

Though, as Light confirmed his involvement, Ame drew her eyes up to look squarely at the courageous pearl. She knew from past experience that pearls could be some of the most steadfast of comrades, and though she had only just met him, she knew this was someone she could trust. Still, despite the dour mood that had come over her, she let out a chuckle at his antics, before her thoughts drew her back down; she had to wonder if these two gems, Blue Goldstone and Opalite, who had been high class gems in their own right before leaving Homeworld, didn't harbor some of that old Homeworld contempt for lower class gems, like lowbrow door guards such as herself, and pearls like Light.

Ame nodded toward Blue, knowing what she said was true. Then, she pressed her lips, and looked toward Light,"Well, I can get us around to the important places in the base, but the plan of action really depends on what kind of equipment we're bringing; we'll have to know whether or not we can sneak that stuff in, or if we'll have to bust down their doors guns blazing,"

[Bluegold]

Blue nods at Light. "Can you get us a ship?" She asks. "We'll need a way to the moon, and a ship is our best bet." She says and grins. Opalite smiles and flutters her wings a bit. "I can draw the electricity from the base and disperse it as best I can." Opalite says. Blue nods. "We'd be stronger together, we'll work on that together." She says. Opalite gasps. "You mean...?" At that, Blue would nod. "Fusion... That blast we can cause after charging will come in a lot of handy if we can get the majority of the gems in the same room." Blue says. At this, Opalite nods. "I don't intend on being separated again, so we will be as close to each other as possible." Blue says.

[Light]

He scratched his chinned "At times like this I wish I had the ability to store items inside my gem, but nooooo... why would a Pearl ever need a common Pearl ability. Althought my powers are pretty cool, maybe I shouldn't complain." He raised his hand dramatically "But we could still take a look around the forge. Me and my friend made a lot of weapons and some other gadgets out there. Shields, spears, power generators, you name it!"

FLASHBACK:

Para and Light were both located a fair distance away from the base, having warped in elsewhere and traveled via primitive human transports. Already they had scouted the place out from afar, by Para's side was her ever present field bag with her equipment for the mission. She had made binoculars for the two of them so they could spy on the camp from a safe distance where they could go over the plan once more.

From Para's prone position looking over the camp she turned to Light, "Alright, this is it dear. There is far too much activity down there for us to simply steal the ship stealthily, so our best bet is to masquerade ourselves as Homeworld officials and demand passage to the Moon. If that fails we fall onto plan B and place a tracker on the ship and wait for a more advantageous opportunity. Any suggestions?" ...

END OF THE FLASHBACK (Just saying: Flashbacks are taken from old threads. They are made out of mine or Para's posts)

Light frauned. "No... I don't have a ship." He continued "But I did fly a little bit. I wouldn't say I am good at it, but it sure can be... a lot of fun!" He said with a much cheerful expression "I once nearly had a crush, but that is besides the point, right?" He just laughed nervously.

[Amethyst]

Ame smiled at the resolute declarations of the gems, and their eagerness to bring Homeworld down, though it became apparent that there were additional logistical issues with the plan so far. Even to get a small group to the moon, they would need at least some kind of transport. When Light finished speaking, Ame pressed her lips together, and gave an amused grin,"I guess we wont have to worry about your piloting skills for a little while at least," She said in a light, teasing manner. Her grin faded as her eyes unfocused, seemingly far off as she receded into deeper thought.

"Right then," She suddenly piped up and glanced toward Light,"Can we go to the forge now, to see what we have to work with?" she shifted where she stood, looking between all the gems,"Maybe while we're there we could think up a way to get a ship," She rubbed her chin; there were a few gems she knew that had ships, but they were all Homeworld, and she doubted they'd listen to her now. 

[Bluegold]

Blue and Opalite would both nod. "We need any advantage possible, and this is one of them." Blue states and looks to Light. Opalite would give her wings a light flap, starting to hover in place as she waited for the next thing to happen. Blue would look to the old communication device and frown. "Think it will be safe there until we get back?" She asks. "I can pull the memory from it." Opalite piped up and flew over to the device before placing her hands on it, she found a panel and pulled it off before going to work on the inside of the device. She would only take a few minutes to pull a small chip for the device's insides. "Done." She says.

[Light]

"Yeah, I suppose! Let's stay optymistic, though." He just added, but the topic of piloting a ship would have to be brought back at some point. Light was thinking about sharpening his skills, but it was impossible without an actual vehicle.

"Yes, yes! Naturally. It has been a while since we had any guests." He then turned to see what this orange gem was actually doing. He didn't mind them playing with the mechanism of the robonoid as long as they were taking care of it "Keep it safe." He glanced around at everyone "Everyone is ready? Fantastic! Let's go."

The closest warp pard ro them was in the temple itself. It didn't take long before all four of them were standing on the ancient gem device. Light then proceeded by warping them. The familiar sight of the temple's crystal like walls were soon replaced by the gray sky. There was no more clear water and soft sand, it was all replaced by a rocky ground and small lakes of lava here and there. Far away there was a volcano which was creating a nasty smoke. "Alright, follow me. And keep in mind to never stay outside for too long. It is a simple way to destroy a great looking form. It is hard to clean it afterwards."

They continued to walk, Light was in front showing them the way. There was nothing interesting during this small walk... just more rocks. After some time they finally approached a volcano. Everything was covered in congealed lava with one exception, a perfect smooth wall. It was gray and about 2 times bigger than Light. Pearl closed his eyes and his gem started to emit a gentle brown light. The wall reacted to this and opened up, revealing a dark room to four gems. "I might have to go first. My friend doesn't like visitors."