Chapter Text
*BEGIN LOG TRANSMISSION*
Some Gems believe the schism was unavoidable... That by the time the Diamonds learned of Earth's existence, their own civilization was starting to deteriorate, and even the seemingly unyielding minds of The Authority were starting to feel the creep of fear and doubt. But by the time the small blue green world on the edge of the galactic cluster was being looked into as a possible Kindergarten site, it didn't exactly matter either way.
When news was released that this planet was rich in so many of the resources needed to help grow a new generation of Gems, it was met with great skepticism. All had heard this story before, a thousand times over in fact. And almost every planet so far outside the Homeworld's star system had been a failure. That planet near Quadrant 35-theta was rich in silicate minerals, but had none of the necessary binding agents, and the gems made there not only disintegrated within a century, and were insane at the best of times. The metal rich dwarf planet in Alpha Centauri Prime was filled to the brim with promise, but no one could have foreseen that nearly half the gems that breached the surface would be unstable to the point of combusting violently and setting the atmosphere on fire, preventing any further work from ever being accomplished and dooming those left behind to a life of solitude and flames...
...So many lost...
Their kind had no way of reproducing the way that organics could. But they were still cursed with a drive to spread and propogate like any other sentient life form. Some saw this as the price their race paid for their seemingly immortal lifespan. But regardless of the reason for their suffering, every Gem in existence was tired of it. Only a handful still had hope, and those were the Diamonds, so it was only fitting that this latest, most promising site would be surveyed and overseen directly by the head of The Authority, Yellow Diamond.
To the shock of the entire Homeworld, upon arrival to Planet MW-314, the drones and probes not only returned findings of natural resources that dwarfed even the Gems native star system, but also showed that everything was in almost exactly the right proportions to create an entire 4 generations of their kind, with more to spare even after that. The Diamonds hailed it as their greatest find in nearly 10000 years. And for once, there was hope...
Then the probes returned other findings, findings that began to drive the wedge between the cracks that were forming in the foundations of Homeworld. and The Authority was at its heart.
The planet was inhabited. Not simply by mindless beasts, or even lower level organics that hadn't so much as developed a way to communicate with each other. It was riddled with sentient organics that seemed to almost have the same appearance as a fully grown gem, minus the Gem itself. To see what appeared to be a mockery of their own existence, rendered in living flesh and without the limitations that they suffered, it drove some to madness. The 'Humans' as they called themselves, were still a relatively young civilization, and there were some among Homeworld that thought they should just be ignored, and others that they should be destroyed to free up the resources the planet yielded for their own kind. The Authority was split, with two sides eventually forming. There were those who wanted to simply leave the humans alone, but drain the planet for all it could yield and leave the organics to their fate; and there were those who saw something familiar in the Humans, and wanted to work in cooperation with them, to hopefully heal the flaws in their own species. Yellow Diamond was the adamant leader of the latter group, while the opposition was led must vocally by the Diamond, Rose Quartz. The others among the Authority remained neutral, opting to focus on calming the populace of Homeworld before committing to such a treacherous question of morals.
In the end though, it was decided that Yellow Diamond and Rose Quartz would both lead the colonization of Earth, with test batches of Kindergarten Gems being planted by Rose; and Yellow Diamond establishing a warp hub and communications spires to remain in touch with Homeworld. All the while, both continued their work and research into their own goals, and both would find something promising in the Earth's inhabitants, but what they found, none can say for sure.
After a hundred years on the colony planet, Yellow Diamond would stumble onto something that would forever change the history of their species, and so began the end of their short lived 'peace'. What that secret was, however, was never communicated, and communication with 'Earth' has since been lost... Now, the planet is under direct control of Rose Quartz, former member of the Diamond Authority, and current leader of the "Crystal Gems".
*TRANSMISSION ENDS*
Steven stared at the screen for a moment longer. The story was a familiar one to him, and the file was so often pulled up that Peridot had eventually simply made him his own tablet, tabbing the file to the main screen for him. He traced his finger along the silhouette of an imposing figure, a yellow kite shaped gem glowing from its chest, standing in opposition to an equally imposing figure in pink, with a group of humans behind the figure in yellow while the pink one had a sword raised in its hand.
"...Mom..." Steven muttered to himself, his other hand tapping a finger on the hard surface of the yellow gem, glowing softly from the center of his chest.
Behind him, a warp pad glowed as his guardians entered the only home he'd ever known, an underwater cave beneath the town of Beach City; the same town his father used to live in.
"Steven, we're back. What have you been doing? Probably crying over missing us so much, right?" Lapis teased, giving him a hug in greeting, before seeing what was on his tablet screen.
"Aw, Steven... Why do you keep watching that dumb transcript? It only ever makes you sad..." She asked, snatching the tablet from him and showing the image to Jasper and Peridot.
"Leave him be, Lapis. It's good that he's showing this kind of dedication to his heritage. The more he learns, the better fit he will be to take his place as a leader when we finally get back to Homeworld. Although I do agree, you should really be learning more about tactics than this..." Jasper said, snatching the tablet from Lapis and handing it back to Steven.
"Yeah, assuming we can ever get close enough to the hub to repair the warp pad to Homeworld." Peridot muttered, rolling her eyes at the lot of them and scrolling through a few data screens. "If my calculations are right, then after today's little mess up, they'll be doubling their efforts at finding us, not to mention guarding key points of interest like any and all warp pads that still connect to the hub. And that stupid fusion keeps getting in our way, like she can see the future or something."
"Enough. We're not going to talk about this in front of Steven." Jasper said, glaring at the lime green gem.
"But I want to know this kind of stuff!" Steven objected, standing up to his full height... Which was about to the top of Jasper's knee, but the point still stood. "I want to help you guys, and I want to save this planet too, like my mom tried to do!"
Peridot and Lapis exchanged a look, both waiting on baited breath to see how Jasper would react. She did not, as a general rule, take kindly to being challenged, and that was as challenging a tone as any of them had heard Steven use.
The large striped gem in question was quiet for a minute or two, trying to stare Steven down before cracking a smile and nodding.
"Well, I can't say no to a face like that... You start your training tomorrow. For now, you're still half organic, so you need your sleep. Now go get ready for bed." Jasper said, ruffling his hair and smirking down at the young hybrid.
Steven obeyed immediately, rushing off to the subcavern that had been outfitted to be as comfortable as possible for a human occupant and function as his bedroom.
"... Do you really think he's ready though?" Lapis asked, once their charge was out of ear shot.
"I don't know... But I also don't know how much longer the three of us will last against Rose Quartz without the power that child has inside him... Yellow Diamond put her trust in what he will become. So now it's time for us to do what we can, and trust in him as well." Jasper said roughly, making her way to get own quarters. "Rest up. Tomorrow will be difficult for everyone, I think."