Part 1: The Plan

A/N 1: English is not my native language. I apologize for any mistakes or misunderstandings. Also I usually write British-English, but since SU comes from America I tried to adapt. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.

A/N 2: One of these fics that happen when you just want to write that ONE scene and end up writing a multi-chaptered monster. Ratings, warning & characters will definitely be added as I go along.

A/N 3: To avoid confusion: This story is mainly gen/adventure. Some Pearl/Rose, some Pearl/Yellow Pearl, and some work on the friendship (not romatic) between Pearl and Greg

Set before "Last One out of Beach City".

x-x-x-x-x

Yellow Pearl hurried down the carefully polished hallway towards conference room VVS. She tried to push an unruly stray of hair back into place without slowing down. She was late. If that stupid Peridot hadn't chosen the latest possible moment to let her know the files of this tablet computer would be needed for today's meeting... She muttered a curse as she took the next corner.

A smile appeared on her face as the door to room VVS finally came into view. She tightened her grip around the important computer and came to a halt in front of the door. She took a moment to make sure her sheer shoulder sleeves were standing upright. Everyone would be waiting in there for her appearance, she was the one who had fetched the crucial computer with the information about earth after all. She could only imagine everyone's faces when she finally opened the door and-

Her shudder of anticipation was interrupted by someone else opening the door for her, only a little, and then this someone poked her head outside. "You are late", the Blue Pearl in front of her informed her. Yellow Pearl felt herself flushing bright orange. How very dare that blue-

"Come on in", Blue Pearl interrupted her train of thoughts and opened the door just wide enough for Yellow to enter which she begrudgingly did.

As she entered, she had to realize that she had not only missed out on her special entry, but also that Yellow Diamond had not exactly been kept waiting. She and Blue Diamond were engaged in conversation and did not even notice her presence.

After the murder of Pink Diamond, Blue Diamond rarely left her base anymore. For today's conference she had sent her Pearl – which was only common courtesy really – but not come over herself. Instead she hovered next to the window in front of Yellow Diamond, calling via the diamond communicator.

Before Yellow had found the courage to open her mouth, Blue Diamond turned her head the slightest, but Yellow's Diamond picked up on the movement and turned around. Yellow jumped to attention and crossed her arms into the diamond shape, as best as the tablet computer she was still holding allowed her to. It ended up looking rather ridiculous but neither Diamond bothered to take note of that. "M-my Diamond", she spluttered. "Excuse my late arrival, there has been a delay with the Per-"

Yellow Diamond raised her hand to hush her Pearl who instantly fell silent. She then reached out her hand and Pearl hurried to give her the computer. Yellow Diamond brought it to live with a flick of her hand and quickly skimmed through some of the documents. Whatever she had read, it seemed to confirm her expectations as she switched of the computer with a sigh.

"It is settled then?" Blue Diamond asked.

"Yes", Yellow Diamond replied slowly and intertwined her fingers in front of her lips. "We cannot simply continue to ignore this group. The debris of the Rebellion has kidnapped our Lapis Lazuli, a useful source of information, brainwashed one of our Peridots and done who-knows-what to one of my best Jaspers and a whole squad of Rubies."

"They have not returned?" Blue Diamond wanted to know.

"Who?"

"The Rubies."

"No. After their report from Neptune they did not contact me again. Also the transmitter on their ship had been turned off."

"The rebels got them as well?" Blue Diamond wondered.

"Possibly", Yellow Diamond closed her eyes for a moment before gathering herself. She turned the tablet computer back on and opened one of the older documents. "It all keeps coming back to her. Rose Quartz and her group of rogue gems."

"We assumed they were destroyed when we used the... Our scans showed clear signs of corrupted gems on earth."

"Apparently some gems survived", Yellow Diamond said and pursed her lips. Yellow Pearl had not been Yellow Diamond's personal Pearl during the time of the Rebellion, but of course she knew all about it. That included Yellow Diamond's decision to build the Cluster and launch a weapon on earth. What exactly that weapon did was of course top secret, but it had something to do with corruption. Yellow Pearl was sure that if the plan had failed it could impossibly be due to a mistake made by her Diamond. Yellow Diamond was the leader of Homeworld's military for a reason. No other gem or Diamond could measure up to her perfect rationality.

"We have to take care of this", Blue Diamond decided.

"I have to take care of this", Yellow Diamond corrected sharply. "And I will."

"Rose Quartz proved to be a danger to all of us. We cannot ignore this threat."

Yellow Pearl shrank back against the wall. She wanted to be everywhere but in this room when the two Diamonds got into an argument with each other. The Blue Pearl next to her was either unfazed by the fight or just managed to hide her emotions better than Yellow did.

After a very long moment of staring at each other Blue Diamond sighed. "Very well", she gave in. "What are you intending to do? Send another ship there with a larger squad this time?"

"No. I have lost enough gems already. If we cannot beat Rose Quartz by directly attacking her, other measures have to be taken."

"Like what?"

Yellow Diamond leaned back in her chair and folded her hands. "We know too little about Rose to efficiently eliminate her. What we need is someone on the inside."

"You are suggesting a spy?"

"It might be our best shot. The rebels on earth have already taken in one of my Peridots. They might do that again, provided we sent another harmless gem to earth. Not someone they perceive as a threat like a Jasper or a group of Rubies. Someone I trust, someone who is clearly too weak to directly cause any harm to them and someone disposable in case we miscalculated the rebels behavior."

Yellow Diamond's eyes found her Pearl and a heavy stone seemed to form in Yellow Pearl's stomach. "I think I might have just the right gem for the job."