"-Two hundred Topaz technicians to Skaro to begin preliminary work on the kindergartens." Calcite Facet-5R1R Cut-8ZR scrolled down the page on the floating touchscreen in front of her. "Then we need an Amethyst squadron dispatched to Dulkis. Apparently our information was slightly out of date and the dominant species there has learned to fight back. The main kindergarten on Metebelis Three is now complete and will need a full staff of Peridots…"

Jade Facet-7G6T Cut-4RF zoned out slightly as the list of missions droned on. Almost on autopilot, she sent messages to the relevant facets, ordering them to prepare warp pads and Emerald Hands as required. There were weapons to order, tools to assign, advanced limb enhancers to fit. Conquering the known galaxies required a lot of boring organisation and grunt work. Unfortunately, boring organisation and grunt work was her job.

"-And finally," Calcite concluded, "Yellow Diamond wants a gem sent to Sol-3 to check on the progress of the Cluster."

Jade paused and looked up. "Which gem?"

Calcite shrugged. "She didn't say. Just that they needed to be kindergarten certified. I was thinking maybe an Agate-"

Jade snorted. "For Sol-3? Earth? That muddy little ditch?"

"There was a war there," the other gem said defensively.

"There are wars everywhere. That's how we conquer planets. Anyway, it was like, a billion years ago."

"It was only a couple of thousand years ago and it might still be dangerous!"

Jade shook her head. "That place has been dead forever, there's nothing there. You know what will happen if I send an Agate to do this job? They go, they'll come back half an hour later, find me, and punch me in the face for wasting their time. It's an easy job, a Pearl could do it."

The two gems snorted with laughter at that. "Imagine if you sent Yellow Pearl!"

There was no work done for the next few minutes as the pair rolled on the floor, laughing until they hurt.

"OK, but seriously, you don't need an Agate for Earth," Jade said eventually, climbing back on to her gravity connectors and wiping away the tears.

"All right, how about a Peridot?" Calcite suggested. "Even with these missions, there's still a bunch from the new batch unassigned."

"Sure," Jade agreed. "And hey, why not suggest sending a Red Eye first? Just in case?"

xXxXx

Peridot Facet-5Z3P Cut-6YT ran her gaze over the list of assignments. It was the usual stuff; Peridots were needed to run kindergartens in new colonies. Peridots were needed to replace staff at existing colonies, with the older staff returning for rest, retraining and occasionally recycling. Peridots were needed to carry out maintenance tasks across the Empire. A Peridot was needed to go to Earth-"

She paused and reread that last statement. Huh. This was new. Nobody had set gravity connectors on Earth for centuries, and for good reason. It was damp, hostile and totally unsuitable for colonisation, which was why it had been abandoned and forgotten. She certainly wouldn't dream of going there herself. Happily there was a batch of newly qualified Peridots eager and ready for their first assignments and it shouldn't be too difficult to hype this task up and fob it off on one of them. She brought up a list of their names and scanned through it.

Peridot Facet-1L4D Cut-7RR? She was the smartest in the class… and unfortunately, she knew it. She'd despise the assignment! Peridot allowed herself a moment to imagine Facet-1L4D Cut-7RR arriving on Earth and promptly stepping into a smelly puddle and grinned at the thought. Then she sighed. The gem was a snooty know-it-all and watching her get organic ooze all over herself was an entertaining thought, but she had to admit, she would be wasted on Earth. She was promising enough for somewhere like Metebelis 3 or Astra. No, she'd keep Facet-1L4D Cut-7RR waiting for a little longer to see if her attitude improved and then send her somewhere where her skills would be put to better use.

How about Peridot Facet-9K5V Cut-4GH? She wasn't as smart as Facet-1L4D Cut-7RR, and happy to follow orders. No initiative though. Earth was now an unknown area and she had the feeling Facet-9K5V Cut-4GH wouldn't know where to even begin the necessary research required for such a mission. Plus she talked too much.

Peridot Facet-3M3N Cut-2TT? Dear stars, no. The gem was denser than dirt. She'd probably vaporise herself with her own limb enhancers. It was a small miracle she'd made it through basic training and Peridot didn't see a long and successful future ahead of her. No, what she needed was a gem who was smart enough to figure out how to get the old technology working, loyal enough to not ask too many questions and desperate to prove themselves. And if the worst were to happen, someone… expendable.

She read down the list a little more until her gaze fell upon the name Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG. Perfect.

xXxXx

"Earth?"

"It's a very important mission," the elder Peridot said solemnly. "The details are highly classified. Yellow Diamond wants someone to check on the progress of the Cluster. You were personally chosen for the job." Admittedly not by Yellow Diamond, but she wasn't about to mention that.

The younger Peridot swallowed hard. "But… surely this is a job for a higher-qualified gem?"

"Don't put yourself down. You're a hard-working, dedicated and thorough gem. You can do this."

The little Peridot bit her lip and nodded apprehensively. "Alone though?"

"Don't worry, it'll be easy," the other Peridot reassured her. "The planet's been abandoned for thousands of years. All you have to do is repair the warp pads, go to the main kindergarten, check the records and come back. Yellow Diamond will be very impressed with you," she added for emphasis.

Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG sat up straighter and nodded firmly. "Very well. I won't let Yellow Diamond down!"

"Good." Peridot Facet-5Z3P Cut-6YT smiled coldly down at the other gem. "I'm sending you the mission files now. I suggest you begin your research and begin getting fitted for a set of advanced limb enhancers…"

xXxXx

There were only around thirty warp sites left on Earth, so Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG decided to play it safe and program the Red Eye to visit them all. The first few results were promising; the sites were abandoned and the indigenous population appeared to shun them. High-quality images of the kindergartens and warp hub were transmitted to her work station; she planned to examine them later to work out what repairs would be needed.

And then came the feedback that one of the warp pads was stationed beside a human settlement. Peridot considered this information for a moment. The records regarding humanity were woefully outdated. They were definitely past the whole 'fighting with sharp sticks' stage of development; satellite debris and atmospheric pollution the Red Eye had encountered during its trip was a sure sign that there had been significant technological advances in recent years. With that in mind, it would probably be prudent to take a closer look at the area.

Unfortunately, she suddenly lost contact with the Red Eye before any further information could be received. She frowned and sat back in her hover chair. It wasn't unusual for Red Eyes to be destroyed – they'd lost thousands during the takeover of Skaro. But it was worrying. For a moment, she contemplated running to Peridot Facet-5Z3P Cut-6YT for advice.

"Yellow Diamond wants someone to check on the progress of the Cluster. You were personally chosen for the job."

No. Everything would be fine. She wouldn't be required to visit that particular warp site anyway. The warp hub and kindergartens were abandoned. No gems had been reported on the planet. And she'd have advanced limb enhancers. Ones with weapons. It would be easy.

xXxXx

The next few planetary rotations were busy for Peridot. She poured over the images the Red Eye had managed to transmit back and tried to work out just how much work would be needed to get the necessary sites up and running. She located blueprints for the aged technology and tried to educate herself on their operation. She requested (and was denied) access to more details on the Cluster project. She read up all the information she could find about the planet and was irritated to find much of it classified. She put in a request for around 80 flask robonoids. Then she thought about the destruction of the Red Eye and put in an addition request for an EMP bomb. After all, it wouldn't do for humans to get hold of active gem tech. Then she exchanged her basic limb enhancers for an advanced set.

Then she went for a long, slow walk in order to show them off.

"Why did they give you those? You're only going to Earth, not Exxilon," Peridot Facet-1L4D Cut-7RR said snidely.

"You're just jealous," Peridot said smugly. "I'm doing a very important mission for Yellow Diamond and you're cleaning injector drills."

The other Peridot flushed angrily. "I'm not jealous," she muttered. To be fair, that was at least half-true. "Earth is disgusting. And I'll bet they're just sending you because no-one else would do it. And when I go to Astra, I'll get given better limb enhancers"

"Maybe," Peridot retorted, "but right now, can your limb enhancers do this?" And with that, she helicoptered away with a triumphant laugh.

xXxXx

Peridot hopped from one leg to the other in anticipation. Her readout showed that 57 robonoids had landed on Earth and were currently on route to the warp hub. She had been pleasantly surprised at how many domestic warp pads were actually functioning, it meant that the orbs would be able to proceed directly to the main warp hub without having to waste resources repairing more warp pads to get there.

A few minutes later, she received confirmation that the final 22 robonoids had arrived and repairs to the warp pad were well underway. And then came the signal showing that the warp was online.

"Yes!" Peridot squeaked with excitement. Then she took a deep breath and composed herself. After all, Yellow Diamond wouldn't be very impressed if she received a report full of squeals and giggles. She stepped forward onto the warp pad and bounced experimentally on the balls of her gravity connectors. And then she was off to Earth.

The journey was over in a flash. She glanced around at the Earth warp hub, noting the many broken offworld pads. It fascinated her to think that some of the planets they'd been connected to no longer even existed. This place was that ancient. And yet… she tapped the pad gently with her gravity connector before carrying out a quick maintenance check. The robonoids had done a stellar job-

Mid-report, something touched her gravity connector and she paused. Ah. Most of the robonoids had done a stellar job. She idly wondered what had happened to damage this one; robonoids were made to stand the extreme stresses of interstellar travel and it was extremely unusual for them to get damaged like this one was. It must have been defective, she decided. She narrowed her vision spheres at it as it rolled around her legs, disgorging repair matrix, and then raising one gravity connector, she carefully applied pressure until it burst.

"Now to access the domestic warp," she reported as she walked down the stairs. Then she caught sight of something in the corner of her vision sphere and paused again. "Huh," she muttered, squatting down to get a closer look at the strange icon affixed to the side of the warp pad. "Huh!"

This was new. She'd obsessed over the warp hub images the Red Eye had sent to her. It had been essential in order to calculate how many robonoids would be needed for repairs, and she was quite certain this icon hadn't been there then.

Suddenly spooked, she cast a quick glance around the nearby area. Her enhanced vision picked up several other bizarre icons affixed to the other warp pads that definitely hadn't been there before either.

And there was new debris by an old pillar.

And one of the robonoids had been damaged.

And the Red Eye had been destroyed.

And she was suddenly very aware that she was alone and far from home and had absolutely no idea how to actually use the weaponry installed in her advanced limb enhancers.

"This site may have been compromised," she said aloud before reaching into her gem for the EMP bomb and quickly climbing back onto the warp pad for the return trip.

xXxXx

She regretted it almost as soon as she'd left Earth. So what if there was an alien image attached to the warp pad? There obviously wasn't anyone there now. It would've taken next to no time at all to warp to the kindergarten, gather the information she needed and come home to admiration and praise from Yellow Diamond. Now instead of a flawless report, she had a nice recording of herself running away from nothing.

Of course, she would have to go back immediately.

At least, that had been the plan until she stepped onto the warp pad and discovered it was now offline.

A cold feeling crept over her. The only way the warp pad could be down already is if it had been destroyed, quite literally as soon as she'd left. Someone was there, watching me, she realised.

Suddenly she didn't regret abandoning the mission quite so much.

xXx

AN: Planet names are all from Doctor Who, because it amuses me to think of Homeworld battling Daleks, Cybermen, giant spiders and people who defeated invaders by dropping rocks on their robots. Especially when the latter are the ones they're having the most trouble with right now.