1. The Cavern.

Just like that, the kid was gone. Lars stood up, contemplating his surroundings now that his only link to Earth had left.

"I can't believe it," exclaimed Rhodonite, who looked both terrified and excited all at once. "A mission. I haven't had a mission in... well, eons! Not since our Morganite assigned Ruby to-"

She fell silent as the Rutile Twins, who had been inspecting the blocked entranceway, held up a hand as the menacing red glow of another couple of robonoids hummed past.

"I hope you're not in a hurry to get started," one Twin said as soon as the glow had faded, the hum of the machine out of earshot. "It's going to be carefully monitored out there for some time," said the other.

Flourite nodded slowly, closing her eyes. "We can use this time to come up with a plan," she said at length.

Lars scooped the food items that Steven had left for him - sandwich, juicebox, chaaaaps - back into the brown paper bag and had a thought to see if he could put it in his head for safekeeping. After only managing to sharply jab himself in the head with the corner of the juice box, he opted to set it down on a nearby rock.

"Soooo... Do we have a plan?" He asked, rubbing his head.

"It's not going to be as easy as just warping to Earth," Rhodonite said, scratching her chest gem contemplatively. "No one's been able to warp there since the diamond attack. Unless things are different now." She glanced at Lars, frowning a little. "You do know what a warp pad is, right?"

"Yeah, Steven once warped me a-and-" He hesitated as a vague pain pricked at his heart. After a moment he simply said, "I mean, yeah. I've warped before."

"Sorry, Rhodonite just meant-" started one of the Twins before Lars interjected.

"No no, don't assume I know anything. I'm not from here." He paused as something occurred to him. "Anyway, I don't think we can warp there, otherwise those gems who abducted us wouldn't have come to Earth in a spaceship, would they?" he asked, the alternative not really making as much sense to him.

"Hmm," Padparadscha, who had been sitting quietly listening to the discussion, nodded.

"Obviously we need a ship," said Fluorite.

The Rutile Twins perked up in excitement. "A fast one!" "Capable of making the long journey to Earth in as little time as possible."

Rhodonite laughed. "Well! It looks like we have our pilots already."

Lars gaped. "How in the world will you two be able to pilot a ship? You just told me you've been hiding here your whole lives."

The gems, having fallen silent, stared at him, not understanding his issue. He floundered, suspecting a misunderstanding. "I mean, you'd have to go do a course, wouldn't ya? Flight school? Space camp, at least? Right? To learn how?"

"I don't understand," Said one of the Twins. "Do humans pop out of the ground not knowing anything?" asked the other. The first twin immediately gaped in disbelief at the second twin, who raised her hand to her mouth in embarrassment. "Ohh, I'm sorry, that was rude!"

Lars blinked in confusion. "The ground?" He wished he'd paid more attention when Steven used to excitedly try to tell him about gem things, but suddenly the sinister figure-shaped holes lining the walls around him made a lot more sense. "Wait, wait. You just.. know how to do all these things?"

"Well, yes. It's what Rutiles are made to do." Said a Rutile. "We're all made to fulfill a purpose," said the other.

"Okay," said Lars, mind reeling. "So all gems just know what they are and, like, what to do?"

"Yeah, at least, until we don't anymore." Said Rhodonite with a sad smile, her component gems obviously comforting each other.

"But now we have this." Said Fluorite.

"We have Earth," the Twins added cheerfully.

Padparadscha chimed in, "And we have you."

Lars, taken aback, suddenly felt like he understood the profound impact his presence had had on the little group.

Rhodonite reached towards him, suddenly worried. "Oh, Lars-"

He quickly blinked hard. "Thanks. Thank you guys for not leaving me alone here. You guys could've left with Steven and gotten away from all this."

"We already told you—" started Fluorite.

"-Off Colors stick together. I know."

He stopped as another wave of red appeared at the blocked entrance. Flourite sighed and settled down on the ground, eyes closed, thinking. The others joined her by sitting nearby, in kind of a haphazard circle.

"My stars, always with the robonoids," Rhodonite muttered.

"Better that than soldiers," A Twin offered. "Which we may start seeing soon if our luck gets any worse," The other added grimly.

Lars shuddered. "I think I'd rather sneak past a scanner.. Do any of you guys happen to be fighters?"

There was silence until Rhodonite's component Ruby raised a hand. Her component Pearl promptly grabbed it back down. She laughed nervously. "I-It's been a couple of centuries.." she explained. "Er, millennia.." she coughed.

"Really? The gems on Earth fight monsters all the time. I kinda thought it's what gems did."

"Well, Lars, you can fight," offered a Rutile.

"All I did here was hit a few robots with a rock and then I died. If Steven hadn't cried on me or whatever, I'd still be just.." He waved an arm loosely in the direction of where his body had briefly lain, "Dead. Forever."

The group looked a little uncomfortable for a moment before Fluorite spoke up. "We won't let that happen to you again."

"Yeah," added a Rutile, putting her hand on Lars' shoulder. "You're one of us." "We're a crew now."

Rhodonite clasped her graspers together. "We'll all protect each other."

Lars smiled up at her, causing Rhodonite to stare wide-eyed at the sweet display before furrowing her brow and speaking up again.

"Okay, okay. How's this. After the next wave of robonoids, we should leave, go in the opposite direction, and make for the lower caverns because they're sure to be searching top-down." She started, drawing a rough map in the rocky dirt. "We'll take the tunnels against the setting stars making sure we leave no tracks. Then.. I'm not sure." She massaged the lower half of her face with one of her upper set of hands. "Will we make for the Galaxy Warp in case it's back up and running? Or straight for Homeworld's spaceport and grab whatever we can to get off planet?"

"Why should we risk something we're not sure about just because it might be easier?" Lars asked nervously.

"The spaceport it is!" Said Rhodonite, raising a finger in triumph and smiling awkwardly.

Padparadscha smiled and clasped her hands together. "Everyone, I'm having a vision! Rhodonite and Human Lars will soon develop a strategy that we can use to finally leave this cave before we're discovered! Ooo, I can't wait until you all hear it."

The Rutiles smiled. "That's such a relief, Padparadscha!"

"How do we know these lower tunnels aren't being searched?" Asked Lars.

"Well.." Rhodonite was unsure. "We don't, but, it's kind of all we have."

"No one comes down here unless they are forced to," observed Fluorite. "If they are being searched, we will evade them."

The Twins nodded. "Nobody knows these tunnels like we do."

"We can use the tunnels to get close to spaceport at least, and then.. uhhh," Rhodonite trailed off, thinking.

"It's okay Rhodonite," said Lars. "We can make a new plan when the time comes."

"I'll keep watch for the next wave," said Fluorite as she stood up and headed back over to the blockade. Lars glanced around before jumping up to grab the lunchbag he'd put aside out of the dirt. Rhodonite followed him over.

"Do you need to bring your 'food'?" She asked.

"I mean..." he started, shrugging. "I guess. I'll probably need to eat it at some point, right? I know I should need it by now but I'm still not hungry yet."

"I'll hold it for you."

"It's okay, I can carry it-"

Rhodonite snorted incredulously. "What, with your hands? I insist!" she replied, picking it up and stowing it away inside her chest gem in a beam of light. She raised her eyebrows at Lars' open-mouthed reaction. "Just let me know when you get 'hungry' and I'll pull it out for you."

"Uhh. Okay. Thanks, Rhodonite."

He caught sight of the rocky club he'd destroyed the robonoid with, right before he died. He gingerly wandered over and reluctantly picked it up out of the debris. He noticed that it seemed lighter than it did before.

"I'll carry this myself."

They turned back towards the entrance to find the others watching through the cracks in the barricade as the most recent wave of red started to disappear. They then hurried over to help move the boulder out of the entrance. Without Steven's help, the weight of the boulder proved so heavy that it took all of them to shift it aside - even Padparadscha threw her tiny frame against it. Once it was done, the gems started to move out, but Lars stopped them.

"Let me," he offered, swinging the club around to rest against his shoulder.

"Lars-" Started Rhodonite, worried.

"I'll be careful."

He poked his head around the entrance slowly, eyes wide, trying his best to take in the whole situation at once. The larger cavern out here was vast. He saw the most recent robonoids disappearing down the rocky walkway to his right; to the left the coast appeared to be clear. Growing bolder, he moved further out onto the ledge. In the however-many hours he'd been hiding in the cave, he'd almost forgotten that it was only a small part of a massive artificial subterranean cave system. A kindergarten, he reminded himself.

"I predict we will be safe for now! What excellent news!" Exclaimed Padparadscha, behind him.

As his new friends came out to join him on the outside, he cast his gaze down over the side of the ledge. Innumerable pillars and columns of solid rock dotted with the now-familiar silhouette holes rose up and crashed down into the hazy depths of the planet's interior.

The distance seemed endless.