Scene #2695: The Gems Meet, Lapis Edition

Owner	Pose
Guest Lapis Lazuli	The day previous, an astrological event would catch the eye of some people watching the sky. Shooting stars are not uncommon are this planet, small pieces of space debris catching the gravitational orbit of the planet before being pulled into the oxygen-rich atmosphere where they burn up, often creating a small, brief streak for onlookers to marvel. This event was different, however. The streak that entered the atmosphere flashed blue, leaving a small iridescent trail that faded away quickly like most shooting stars. This trail didn't stop in the sky however.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	The object that fell from space continued to fall towards the ground before finally impacting the ground in the desert. There it remained until today.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	A small mound of blue sand rises on the side of one of the dunes. As the sand parts, a basic blue figure begins clawing its way out of the sand. Eventually, Lapis crawls out of the sand on all fours and coughs. If her Gem hadn't landed here in the soft sand, she'd likely not be whole. It's been almost a full twenty hours from impact, and the sky has just passed evening hours back into the early night. Staggering to her feet on the uneven footing, she dusts the sand off of her skirt and turns her head to survey the surroundings. "Where am I?" She intones to herself.
Peridot	Work work work. Not that Peridot minded work. Merely, she'd never worked this hard before. In the past, she had allies. She had a nearly limitless access to resources... She had her boss, Yellow Diamond. Or, even Jasper once. Though technically Jasper worked for her; you couldn't tell by how the big orange gem treated her. But now, for all intents and purposes, she was the boss. This hadn't troubled her much, she enjoyed the control being in charge brought. But, the pressure had been grinding her down. She liked to think the worst of her breakdowns were behind her. So, when something triggered her high energy proximity alarm, Peridot had leapt into action. It wasn't close enough to kindergarten that she thought it may have been a direct threat to her most precious of projects. But, it was just strange enough-- and nearby enough that there was no way she was going to simply ignore it and hope for the best. She silently cursed that she had sent her hired muscle, Ferham out on some task of little consequence when events like this occurred. And so the ship moved from its resting place and headed north to investigate the site that had been giving all her sensors so much headache. Once there, she gathered an attachment of her Robonoids. They weren't as strong as her escort, but they would have to do. Walking to the airlock, the green bubble encapsulated her; then ejected itself from the warship. Steadily it begins to lower itself to the ground in the general location of where the shooting star had landed.
Sunstone	And on the other hand, Sunstone had picked up similar readings with a much more ancient piece of technology. She wouldn't be much of a scout without being able to throw together some energy reading equipment to search for other Gems, who, thanks to being made of weird solid energy, give off readings that an engineer like her can pick up on. Unfortunately, Sunstone's also very rusty and arrives to the scene much later and in some kind of hovercar contraption that comes to a slow halt on a sand dune. The smiling Gem climbs out of her vehicle and takes the handheld scanner with her, which looks a bit like a rock with a humming crystal on the end and some kind of incomprehensible floating rectangular screen, and follows the vague readings toward the source almost like she was following the hum of a dowsing rod. She doesn't look up from her readings as she tromps across the sand toward her destination. The other Gems might spot her before she thinks to look up to where she's going. Sunstone's not really at her best right now, since it got dark not too long ago and she's starting to feel the creeping lethargy that an absence of bright light can cause in her.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Only afforded a moment of silence, the desert is quickly becoming a busy place. The gem warship is the first of all things for Lapis to spot. Her mouth falls open slightly as she looks on to it before muttering to herself, "...Jasper? But.. H-how?" Her eyes widenly slightly, "..Steven!" Somehow she must have been regenerating for weeks or longer. Had she been Malachite this whole time? But why is she alone now? Something unusual is going on. Hastily she scans over the desert again, now spotting Sunstone who arrived not long ago. Did the Gems take over Earth? Or is she back home? Checking once more of her surroundings, she bolts off in the best direction /opposite/ of Sunstone and where Peridot's escape pod will land. Her skips and steps down the sand dune are uneven and discordant as she nearly tumbles down the side of the blue sand. Upon reaching the bottom, she runs for the next dune to ascend on the deep incline. So deep, that she falls on all fours again as she starts climbing up. Sand is hard to run on. All the while she whispers to herself, "I'm not going back. I'm not going back."
Peridot	"Probably another anomaly." Peridot murmured to herself in a disgruntled manner. This planet had been utterly full of them. Energy spikes, large bodies entering and departing the atmosphere. It had become a logistical nightmare to keep track of all of it and Peridot was frustratingly thorough when it came to potential threats. If this hadn't occurred so close, she probably would have ignored it completely. Before spotting Lapis, Paranoid can see some kind of vehicle making its way to the same location. Though she couldn't see the occupant at this range, she couldn't ignore that factor either. Could this have been one of Tesla's devices? Working with strange allies had been such a pain so far. They had little regard for gem protocol. Annoying. But, she couldn't leave it unchecked. She looked to a small cluster of her little robots and raised her hand. "Go and check it out." She said after pointing to the vehicle. A small circular hole opened up in the bubble that was currently transporting her, and a group of about five crab-sized robonoids tucked their legs under their ball body and unceremoniously jumped out. After a brief period of free-fall they impact on the sand and right themselves. The robonoids sprout their legs once more and begin to run rapidly towards the vehicle, giving Sunstone a chance to see them approaching before they would be right next to her craft. Meanwhile, Peridot refocuses her attention on her true target. She was down to only four robonoids now. But, she held onto them. She squinted at the blurry blue shape that she was rapidly closing in on. "What on Homeworld?" She asked quietly, not yet identifying Lapis. But she was sure to catch up to her soon, if something drastic didn't happen.
Sunstone	As the reading starts to diverge and Sunstone's device starts beeping rapidly as if something were approaching her, she smiles more brightly and looks up, her brows perking. She focuses on several rotund objects rapidly approaching her and her vehicle, and halts her big boots in the sand to stare at them as they move toward her. Her eyes widen slowly as she realizes what they are, giving her a very disturbing, almost blood-curdlingly unnatural smile. The smile slowly dissolves into an almost neutral frown. She manifests her Gem weapon, the Sunbeam, and lifts it up to aim at one of the Robonoids as it crests the hill, and just shoots at it without any regard for why it might be coming toward her. Then she shoots at the next and the next, and simply tosses the scanner over her shoulder and back into her hover car, turning her head with a robotic swivel, her wide eyes scanning the horizon. She halts on Lapis -- Sunstone's murderous features soften with a hint of confusion at the fleeing figure -- and then she spots Peridot's craft in the distance. She holds her weapon up, leveling her left arm as the angular device begins to hum and seem to collect manifesting particles of light out of the air. And she fires a blast at Peridot's pod up there. She doesn't expect the shot to DO anything, really, but she knows getting hit from that distance at all would be enough to startle Peridot. Sunstone's eye twitches and her frown grows as the fury begins to boil in her. She's tempered mostly by the fact that she'd be at a horrible disadvantage on her own.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Sand keeps falling away from the dune as Lapis scales the side of the sand mountain. The smooth exterior of the dune disrupted by the pockets her hands, feet, elbows, and knees create on the surface, and sand cascades down the side in ever increasing depressions. Peridot was quickly gaining on her the last she glanced, and when she glances back again she's even closer. Pushing forward a bit harder only causes her to move slower against the sand. Without much of an alternative in her eyes, she turns around and sits back up against the sand, panting. Just in time to see the flash of light aimed at Peridot's pod.
Peridot	A small blip blinked on the interior wall of her bubble, warning her that her Robonoids were being destroyed! "Wha-" Peridot grit her teeth. "Someone is breaking my things!" She shouted, turning attention back to the hover craft. Still too far to see anything from an orange shape. "Who is that?" She shouted, and interlocked some of her floating fingers into her floating touch screen, she manually took control of some of her scout robonoids, making them jump out of the way. So she wouldn't lose the entire group in one swoop, managing to save two of them. Tapping away, she instructed the two remaining robonoids to meld together into a more sturdy variant. However as they melded, a blast suddenly impacted on the side of her bubble, causing Peridot to yelp in surprise and then hit the deck covering her gem. "Augh what's happening!?" She peered up, at the bubble, which had managed to stay in tact, but was definitly cracked. She couldn't take many more hits like that. She stood back up and began tapping away. "Oh, you want to play, do you?" She asked, inputting a command. The melded robonoid nearest Sunstone raises four of it's eight legs to interlock into a canon shaped gun. Which quickly shoots a blast of energy at the orange gem. By now, Peridot's pod had caught up to Lapis. It stopped above her of it's own accord. And though Peridot's attention had become fully absorbed by the rogue gem who was attacking her and hadn't yet seen Lapis, it did provide her with a clear view of the interior. She could clearly see Peridot, a handful of robonoids... but no Jasper.
Sunstone	Sunstone turned her head away from the pod where Peridot obviously was, frowning to herself. The Robonoids she had missed were, instead, forming some sort of robot, which baffles the out-of-touch Sunstone all the way until it's almost too late to jump out of the way. She gets winged by the shot and thrown clear to the side, and lets out a shout of pain. She then lands, kicking up sand and nearly fumbling the gun. But after that, she turns in the sand, laying on her back and aiming to try to fire several times in quick succession to minimize the chance that they can dodge out of the way this time, fairly skilled at predicting how they might attempt to dodge. Her eyes flick over to where the pod is, briefly, and she grits her teeth FURIOUSLY when she realizes she might have to flee before she gets a chance to even communicate with this blue Gem. She knows that's a Gem, she saw it on Lapis' back. Sometimes having sharp vision is really nice. Sunstone first growls to herself, and then shouts, not really bothering to direct it so much as howl her frustration. "I do not have time for you or your annoying robots, Peridot!!"
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis cringes visibly when the light beam impacts the pod. "You're only going to make it worse.." Amusingly, Lapis almost blends in perfectly with the blue sand. Blue figure against blue sand, water against water, the irony being the complete and total lack of water anywhere nearby. Even as the pod closes the final distance, she doesn't move, instead staying up against the sand. As it positions itself above her, she looks up into it only to just see Peridot. Her eyebrows raise momentarily in confusion, then furrow as she watches Peridot fumble about, trying to control her various robonoids.
Peridot	This gives Peridot some pause as she makes out the shouting of her name in the distance. "Robonoid, transmit visuals." She instructed. With her finger, she drew a square shape on the interior of the bubble when the square was complete a video feed from the robonoids eye filled the screen giving Peridot a clear view of Sunstone. The cracks caused by the previous blast distorting the image somewhat and causing it to flicker. "You!" Peridot shouted, her voice transmitting through the robonoid. She squinted, and rubbed her chin. "..D... Do I know you?" She went on, perplexed, halting her robonoids attack. But then, all at once her eyes shrank. "Wait. Y-YOU'RE A GEM!" She shouted, her mouth dropping. Her shoulders sank a little. She wasn't the only gem in existence. She wasn't the last of her kind. There were other gems here on earth. Most importantly. She wasn't alone. Under normal circumstances, she would have continued to try and wipe Sunstone off the face of the planet, but the hesitation, the sheer surprise causes her to lose focus. Her robonoid doesn't even try to dodge, as Peridot was momentarily transfixed on Sunstone. There is a flash of light on her screen as it was blasted, and the video feed cut replaced by green static. And then she looked down to her original target, momentarily locking gaze with Lapis. Peridot can only make a surprised grunt as she suddenly presses her face against the translucent shell of the bubble, her cheeks squishing against the side. Her fingers set against the wall. "M-my informant!" Where Sunstone represented a face from some obscure memory that she couldn't place. Lapis was grounded in her immediate past. These were two gems, when before she thought she was utterly alone. But Lapis was a homeworld gem in a world full of things that had been trying to kill her since she arrived. She was no Jasper--.. but... She was a homeworld gem. Peridot wore a worried expression to one that slowly transitioned to what appeared to be relief-- then she actually seemed happy. For a moment she ignored Sunstone, and the bubble opened up a small window so Peridot could clear clearly. Last she had seen Lapis, she had placed her in a holding cell for lying. But, that all seemed so far away now. "Informant! There you are!"
Sunstone	Sunstone's fury pops like a bubble when Peridot clearly doesn't remember her. The orange Gem suddenly realizes that this might not even be the same Peridot thanks to the Multiverse, and the doubt is also mixed into the horror of something she had hardly thought about until this moment: She has no idea exactly how long she was trapped under that hunk of junk before she finally got freed and regenerated. Her features twist into a mixture of disgust and uncertainty as she tries to process this. She dematerializes the Sunbeam and squints off in the direction of the pod. She clicks her tongue in frustration and tromps back over to her vehicle, prepared to leave without further interfering in this, muttering dark words to herself. This whole encounter has given her a lot to think about, and she can deal with this later. She has to report back to the Union and tell them that she's found other Gems. "Jussst perfect," she sighs to herself.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis locks eyes with Peridot in return. At first she seems visibly afraid, then confused as Peridot goes to relieved and happy. That's right, Peridot wasn't there when she fused with Jasper. There's really only one way to figure all of this out. "Peridot? Where are we?" Her eyes glance towards the orange figure so far away that's departing. Or at least appears to be. Is that one of the crystal gems? Or a homeworld gem? So many questions. Visibly, Lapis also looks quite fatigued. Just a day ago she was holding onto Jasper's fusion and keeping malachite buried under the ocean. It's not like being ripped out of a fusion to be transported to another multiverse isn't disorienting in of itself, either.
Peridot	Peridot looked out towards the orange figure, preparing to launch more robonoids. But, she could soon see that Sunstone was not pressing her attack. Peridot grit her teeth for a moment as she tried to riddle out why that gem looked so familiar. And why had she attacked her? The only thing that made sense? It had to be a rebel gem. Peridot had been wrong, as much as it pained her to admit it. There were crystal gems on this planet. She had merely overlooked them. Frustrating. But why did this one stop? What game was it playing? Peridot didn't wish to find out. "Get in." She instructed, re-adopting a stern expression as she looked down to Lapis. "The mission has changed. Everything has changed." She tapped her holopad a few times and the remaining robonoids deployed onto the ground around where the Hover-ball had settled. The robonoids spread out, and adapted themselves into what appeared to be small stationary turrets- miniatured versions of the one that attacked Sunstone earlier. Though unlike their larger brethren, these appeared immobile while in this form. The small window that had allowed Peridot to speak opened wider. Small green floating steps formed leading down to where Lapis stood providing her with a path up into the pod. "Hurry it up. This area might be swarming with Crystal gems." She went on, looking left and right in a paranoid fashion.
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis looks back up to Peridot, still sitting back in the sand. As the steps project from the pod, she looks at them, then back at Peridot. She doesn't seem to be moving too fast, or at least as fast as Peridot's urgent voice seems to imply she should be moving. Her soft expression hardens a bit and she begins to glare at Peridot. Unsteadily she gets to her feet, not assisted by the uneven ground, and her hands ball up into fists, though they remain by her side. "No, I'm not going with you." she replies firmly.
Peridot	Peridot continued to scan left and right waiting for Lapis to get a move on, when she announced quite firmly that she would not be joining her in the orb. This gave Peridot some pause as she stopped looking around and then focused on the blue gem. "Wha.." Her brows furrowed down. "What? Why not?" She took a step outside the bubble cautiously onto the top step. "You don't know anything about what's going on. You couldn't, otherwise you'd come with me!" She accused. "Jasper has to be dead, until this moment, I thought you were both dead and I was the only gem alive on this miserable little speck of dirt!" "It's just me! And whatever that orange gem is, she wanted us dead until I fought her off." She gestured vaguely in the direction of Sunstone. "I can't contact Homeworld. I can't find any evidence that gem kind exist here or that they ever existed here, or even in this galaxy! The situation is critical, Informant!"
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Jasper is dead? This gives her pause. No other gemkind? What of the crystal gems and Steven? Did she fail at protecting him? Looking a bit flustered, she blurts out, "Good!" In response to Jasper being gone. "I'm not your informant anymore! You can't just keep me trapped on your ship, I'm not going back!" Her hands remain balled up into fists, and she doesn't back down. There does seem to be some hint of fear in her voice, mixed with resolution and a bit of anger. If the gems are gone, does that mean Yellow Diamond is gone, too? What does it all mean. Stepping back a step, she glances at the landscape again. Blue sand and rocks as far as the eye can see. The only other thing she can think of to say is, "Just leave me alone."
Peridot	Peridot felt a knot of frustration welling up in her chest, rolled in with a bit of fear. She went from being alone, to seeing two gems in the same day. But one wanted to kill her, and the other wanted nothing to do with her. Internally she felt a growing tantrum just waiting to explode. But, wanting nothing to do with her was a step up from wanting her dead. Peridot was nothing, if not resourceful but she had so little to work with. She was getting desperate. "Fine!" She shouted, taking another step down. "You win, informant." She stopped and paused. "You win, Lapis." she raised her hands, in a symbol of mock surrender. "You are correct, you are no longer an informant. There is nothing you can tell me about this planet or it's inhabitants. That makes you, just Lapis now." She gestured towards the sky. "I don't... know if Homeworld still exist. I don't know if Yellow Diamond exist. But I can tell you what awaits you if you walk away right now." "It's nothing but humans and their constructs all the way down. I've been here for months, and I can tell you I'm shoulder deep in their miserable culture, and stinking meat bodies." She made a disgusted face, grabbing at her own green vest. Lapis was the only shred of gemkind that Peridot could cling to.. Of course, she would hit rock bottom before she admitted she needed Lapis. So she phrased it differently. "I am the last vestige of our homeworld that you have." "Stay on the ship." She said pointing up to the sky. "Not as a prisoner, but as a citizen of our planet. Help me find Homeworld and I can, and will convince Yellow Diamond to give you a full pardon for the.. Steven incident."
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Lapis looks on suspiciously as Peridot surrenders, announcing her victory. Her eyebrows knit in a moment of thought, and then visible distress when Peridot makes it a point to bring up Yellow Diamond. She falters slightly in her conviction, and it plays across her body language, as her fists fall back into open palms. Would she really become a rebel just for this worthless planet? "This place is a lost cause, you're right. I hate this miserable planet.." "I want to go home as much as you do. ... But I don't care if you pardon me, just.. promise me." She shifts a little bit, her features softening a little bit as she continues to stare down Peridot. "Promise me that you'll leave Steven out of this if we find him. He isn't like the Crystal Gems. He isn't .. one of them."
Peridot	"Deal." Peridot answered. "Abducting the Steven was never my idea to begin with. I just wanted-" She paused. She did try to blast Steven and the gems off the planet. "My goal has always been the original mission, nothing more and nothing less. It was Jasper who took over when her original duty was merely to be my escort and assist me." She continued diplomatically. "But, my original task and Jaspers duty are no longer of consequence. I've been forced to adopt new goals." "Now, we survive. We ascertain the current status of gem kind in this galaxy while under going operations to save our species-- IF we are indeed the last of gemkind. The Steven is irrelevant to that goal. And If you assist in these matters, all the more reason he will not be injured should he choose to intervene... but We are no longer trying to conquer the earth. Our mission is solely to save our people. I have to wonder if the Crystal gems loathe themselves so much that they'd drive us to extinction to save a handful of these worthless humans."
Guest Lapis Lazuli	Blasting the crystal gems with the warship is one of the things Lapis never actually saw. She was in the jail cell at the time, and as much as she distrusts Peridot, Peridot is usally not the one who lies. "I'm not sure what happened here. We'll figure it out." She dips her head once in response to the deal. Carefully stepping forward over the sand, she steps onto the projected stairway of the bubble. On solid ground, her motions are fluid and smooth. This gem technology is so beyond her understanding, she's in the same boat as the orange gem. After entering the pod, she sits down at the opposite end of the controls, as it's rather cramped in here anyways. "Let's go."
Peridot	"At the moment, It's plausible to think that they shared the fate of Homeworld, Steven and the Crystal gems we knew were wiped out. I've scouted out the location of the crystal gem temple where we originally landed. I did discover a human colony on the coast, however it was not the same one." As Lapis began to move up the steps, Peridot took a few steps back and into the ship. When she stepped inside, the bubble closed up once more. Once in, she could see the damage Sunstone had caused. The outer shell was cracked, but still appeared to be holding. Peridot looks to it and touches some of the cracks gently. "This... was new. This hasn't happened since I arrived. She wasn't one of the rebel gems we saw... I will be doing more research and utilizing the resources of the allies I have made since arriving here. I will figure out who or what she is." Peridot walks to the helm of the bubble and begins inputting commands. At her behest the turret robonoids shift back into their crab like state and leap onto the bubble, attaching themselves to the exterior. The orb lifts into the air and begins making its way to the gem warship.