Scene #3171: Anti-Homeworld Club

Owner	Pose
Garnet	It's a nice day, not quite summer not quite fall yet. The ocean brings in a cool breeze as the waves lap gently against the sand of the beach. The beach stretches for quite a ways though a small point juts out futher than the rest. Upon this point worked into the side of a large cliff face with a lighthouse atop it is a structure that looks like a seated giant multi armed woman with a mask/face atop her head. At about the massive statue's midriff there is a moderate sized beach house with a deck and stairs leading down to the beach. In this distance one can make out the sounds of day to day life coming from Beach City proper but there seems to be a level of isolation around the giant stone woman from the nearby human town.
Blurr	Blurr has been going over the files he managed to steal from the Homeworld's base not long ago, and its contents were rather unsettling, to say the least. Peridot had spoken of something called the 'Cluster', and mentioned unleashing something on a human colony. None of it sounded like anything good, of course, so he's taken it upon himself to pay the Crystal Gems a visit, to see if they knew anything about this 'Cluster'. Sure, this was about gaining intel on the enemy's activities, since Homeworld Gems were allies of the Confederacy. Yet somehow, this felt like something more than just that. Perhaps the whole conflict between the rebels and the homeworld sort of reminded him of the way Cybertron -used- to be...maybe he feels as if the gems could still be spared an endless war that would shatter their world and many more. At any rate, a sleek-looking blue sports car pulls into the beach house's driveway, with Blurr's holomatter avatar appearing in the driver's seat. He examines the structure, hoping that it is a bit more secure than it looks...oh, well.
Pearl	Pearl is busying herself tyding up the house. There's almost no sign of the recent flooding anymore. in fact the place seems almost too perfect. as if no one's been living in it. Steven's been missing for weeks now, and it shows. All of his toys are upstairs neatly placed in his loft. and the living room looks like it could be from a Model Home. All of this just serves to remind Pearl just how lonely it is around here now. And though she says nothing. it shows in her face. "I suppose it's nice entertaining a guest who Doesn't need to eat for once." She mused. "But... Steven would have loved to meet a giant robot car!" She looks like she's on the edge of tears.
Garnet	The clean up of the living area of Steven's house had gone fairly well up to this point, the water removed, everything cleaned and dried, and there seemed to be no major problem. Garnet hadn't done a ton of the work and had been tempted more than once just punch a hole in the floor to make the clean up faster. Thankfully, she'd not done this. Thus as the sound of the vehicle pulling up outside makes it up to the beach house, Garnet is standing behind the kitchen counter partially in thought while she is drinking a cup of hot chocolate. While she rarely ate or drank she found the act calming and helped her think when she was stumped or to humor Steven, not that Pearl would approve even then. Taking a brief moment to see potentials, Garnet simply says, "Yes, he would." before waiting for the individual to announce his presence. The unofficial leader of the Crystal Gems peers from behind her visor at Pearl, she'd need to talk with her sometime soon as the transition to the multiverse had been very hard on the more sensitive Gem. Anyway, "There isn't anything wrong with eating." Garnet says with a small smirk teasing the other Gem gently while waiting. She takes a sip of her hot chocolate to further make her 'point'.
Blurr	Blurr's very human-looking avatar gets out of the car and walks up to the door just as a typical human would do, then knocks quickly on it three times. He -could- just go through it, but that wouldn't be polite now would it?
Pearl	Pearl looks at Garnet's hot chocolate and considers it for a moment, then shivers. "Nope.. not worth it!" She says with a note of disgust, then moves to answer the door. "Welcome Blurr!" She says cheerily. "Please make yourself at home. Can we get you anything? Would you like to talk out here? Or would you feel more comfortable in the Temple?" She asks as she escorts the Avatar inside.
Garnet	"Your loss." Garnet chuckles good naturedly. As Pearl goes to answer the knock at the door, Garnet takes a sip of her drink before using her other hand to give something in between a wave and a very informal salute to the Cybertronian. Setting her cup down, she motions to it as an example of something they could get Blurr if he'd like. Blurr might note this is pretty much a standard human dweling save for the entire back wall being taken up by part of the stone statue, a doorway looking thin the middle of that and about 4 or 5 paces from the door a crystaline pad in the floor that distinctly doesn't match human design principles.
Blurr	"Hey Pearl." Blurr's avatar nods in greeting as he steps inside the house. "And you must be Garnet." he glances at the taller gem, recognizing her from the video on the Union's networks. "I'm not sure what the Temple is, but if it's more secure than here then that might be the best option." He shakes his head at the offer of a drink or something. "Thanks but no thanks, I can't really eat human food. Or I could, I guess, but it wouldn't really make sense to."
Pearl	"That's a perfectly sensible reason to refuse." Pearl says proudly, shooting a smug look toward Garnet. She leads the Cybertonian back towards the temple door "There is a slim chance Peridot could show up again, but there's no way she's getting in there!" She looks expectantly at Garnet, "Where shoudl we take him? The basement?"
Garnet	"I am." Garnet affirms as she finishes her drink and sets it in the sink to clean once their meeting was over. "Amethyst would disagree saying it's fun to eat and drink." The taller Gem then lets it go, "But it's not that important." Then at the question of where in the Temple to have the meeting, Garnet folds her arms for a moment, "I'd say your room or the basement would be the best choices Pearl."
Blurr	Blurr follows Pearl and Garnet to the basement of the 'Temple' as the Crystal Gems would call it. "Fun? Well, maybe it's different for you. I think I tried eating organic stuff before. It didn't taste very good."
Garnet	The basement is through the door in the back of Steven's house the gems set in a star shape and glow as the trio head towards the basement. Oddly the door seems to open directly upon a short stairway that leads down intto a large circular room with a large circular dias in the middle of the room. All around the room are differently colored glowing bubbles floating in the air with what appears to be a gemstone in the middle. Garnet it just shrugs in response to Blurr's comment. Once they are safely in the basement and the door closes literally disappearing and leaving a long dark halway in its place, Garnet slouches against a wall at the base of the stairway, "So, what did you learn?" It seems it is right to business.
Blurr	Blurr doesn't mind straight to business, he's never been the type to be in the habit of tarrying. He nods, and as soon as the place is sealed, a holographic projection appears near the avatar. It's coming the car outside-- holomatter takes a long time to perfect and requires a lot more energy, but regular holograms are much easier. It's a video of Peridot that had been made just prior to Pearl and Blurr's infiltration of her base (see relevant @Mail). Once it has finished playing, Blurr watches the Crystal Gems expectantly. "So, you have any idea what this 'cluster' she's talking about is? Or what it has to do with whatever she 'unleashed' on the human colony? And any idea -where- this colony is?"
Garnet	"Homeworld is experimenting with fusion?!" Garnet's normally monotone voice shatters with the sheer fury she's projecting while her hand rockets out and slams into the wall with a noticible vibration in the nearby floor a moment later. She grits her teeth, "They've never respected what fusion really is, but this..." She is silent for a moment before slamming her hand into the wall again, "Is disgusting." She's quite sullen for a bit before she tries to answer Blurr's questions, "Other than being an abomination against fusion if what she's saying is true, I don't know anything else about what this is...we had no idea they'd done this." As for the human Colony, "I think that's what Peridot is calling the city they attacked." Apparently someone had reviewed some of the recent Union after action reports.
Blurr	"Fusion," Blurr had heard Pearl make mention of it before, but he hadn't really gotten a full explanation of what it was. "Pearl said something about it, but what exactly is it?" He's already got an idea, but he wants to be sure. "I would agree with you on whatever they're doing being disgusting--" he shakes his head. "What I saw down there was monstrous to say the least."
Garnet	Garnet takes a apparent deep breath to calm herself some to answer the question, "Fusion is a fundamental ability native to our kind, if done correctly two or more willing Gems can form a new being that is a blending of their very essence. Thoughts and feelings shared openly to create someone much greater than the sum of their parts..." She sighs and grits her teeth again, "That is a mockery of fusion and demonstration of how badly they misunderstand it." She pauses, "What did you see exactly?"
Blurr	"Hmm." Blurr nods. "Our species has a similar ability. It hasn't always been successful, but some of us have been able to connect our bodies into a combined form that's like your Fusions, greater than the sum of its parts." "Anyway, as for what I saw. Looked like a bunch of body parts haphazardly smashed together, and sounded like a miserable existence. They were locked up in these cells located in an underground facility."
Garnet	Garnet folds her arms across her chest and is still visibly upset given the very rigid way she's standing though what Blurr tells her does catch her interest, "Do they have to syncronize their thoughts and physical forms when they fus...combine their forms?" Her voice is back to her normal tone though laced with a bit of curiousity. However, the next statement puts her back into her foul mood but she doesn't say or do anything to show it, it's just the way she holds herself that makes it clear she's irked. After a long moment of quiet, "Did you learn anything else?"
Blurr	"Well from what Peridot said in that video, I can only guess that the purpose of those experiments is weaponization." Blurr concludes. "Sounded as if she wasn't anywhere near getting them under control, though, which means we still have time to intervene." At the question about combiners, he shrugs. "I don't know, I've never been part of one. I've seen people connect up physically without the thought synchronization, but the result isn't very effective." I.e., Menasor's first field run. If there hadn't been so much chaos and destruction happening right around then, it would have been funny.
Garnet	"A small comfort then." Garnet resumes her lean but it is still packed with visible anger towards her Homeworld. "We'll need to do something to show them that this was a very bad idea." She continues, "We still don't know what this Cluster is exactly though." "A question for another time then." Garnet gives a single nod in response to Blurr not being overly familiar with combiners. "We can figure all this out pretty fast though." She holds up a hand and then makes a fist, "Make Peridot tell us."
Blurr	Blurr nods. "I planted a tracker on her ship not long ago, that's how I located her 'Kindergarten' in the first place. As far as I can tell, she hasn't discovered it yet. We can use it to catch her unawares." "Do you guys have protocol as far as how to handle prisoners and interrogations?"
Garnet	Garnet nods as though that seems to be a good start. She then smirks just slightly, "We find her, we poof her, and we bubble her to here." She pauses and strikes the wall a third time with her fist, "Then we make her talk." Not the most complex plan but if it relies on the Crystal Gem leader being intimidating it seems she can manage that.
Blurr	"Heh, sounds like a plan." Blurr smirks as well. He's got a few interrogation tactics in his arsenal, as well, having been with Autobot Intelligence for quite some time. "Peridot mentioned poofing, I'm assuming that's something like cuffing or sending her into stasis?"
Garnet	"We do enough damage she can't keep her body together and it poofs leaving only her Gem." Garnet offers. "Give her a few days and then she can reform it, then we'll ask her about the Cluster."
Blurr	"So essentially knocking her out, I see." Blurr nods. There's a pause for a few beats, as he glances about the room, peering up at the floating bubbles with gems inside of them before returning his gaze to Garnet. "How long as this war between you and the Homeworld been going on?" he asks finally.
Garnet	"Yeah, pretty much." Garnet says nonchalantly. She notes the look around the room and then promptly answers, "It ended over 5000 years ago." The way she says ended leaves no doubt there was still a lot of hostility there, "They just paid a higher price than being shattered." There is a lot of regret mixed with those words.
Blurr	"Really?" The avatar arches a brow slightly. "If I didn't know any better, I would have thought it was still going on, given what I've observed thus far." Heh, yeah...even if -his- war ever did end, this was exactly how it would be for the rest of forever, wasn't it? Though he seems slightly confused at her second comment. "'They'? Who's 'they'?"
Garnet	"We won. Earth was abandoned by Homeworld." Garnet nods solemnly. "Even after wars are long over they have a way of lingering one way or another." It's at this point Blurr asks about 'they' and Garnet reaches over and gently pulls the nearest bubble over, "They are the ones that survived, but got cracked and damaged in all the fighting." She lets Blurr see the Gem inside, "They lost themselves and now..." She lets the bubble go and drift away, "They're a danger to themselves and everyone around them."
Blurr	"Abandoned, but apparently not -completely- abandoned, right?" Blurr replies. "And with the way Peridot's trying to resume Homeworld's conquest and hostilities against the Crystals, it'll be no time before the war is re-ignited." He shakes his head, sighing. "Trust me I know how these things go. It's always this way...as long as you hate each other, there will always be fighting. Wars can be temporarily be solved with treaties and begrudgingly accepted 'agreements', but as long as the hate is still there the war never truly ends. The only way for that to happen is for both sides to decide to stop hating each other, or for one side to -completely- annihilate the other from existence."
Blurr	"And unfortunately, there's a point you get to after which the latter option becomes the only way."
Garnet	"They did seem to slip something past us." Garnet grudgingly admits after a moment. "It won't be much of a war. There aren't many Crystal Gems left." She adds a bit more quietly, if Homeworld sent even 2 of those warships loaded with Gem warriors they'd be very hard pressed and very lucky to win. Garnet shrugs, "I hate the Homeworld and all it stands for." She pauses and lets that sink in for Blurr, "I'm happy on this Earth, even if it is multiversal now, if they left it alone I could care less what they do." After another long pause, "Wars end when both sides don't want to fight anymore. And I don't plan on starting another now." She looks at the bubbled Gems, "It'd cost too much, but I'll fight to make them leave. It's a big multiverse pleanty of room for them somewhere else."
Blurr	"And I hate the Decepticons and all that they stand for..." Blurr mutters. "Sometimes I think that maybe, things would have been better, overall, if they'd never existed. If we'd wiped them out before the war ever began. That probably would've meant the Functionists ruling everything, but at least that would've also meant fewer deaths in the long run." He shakes his head at her assertion about how wars end. "That's just it though, isn't it? As long as both sides hate each other, they'll always want to fight." The avatar moves a bit closer to Garnet, and puts a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, the Union will help you destroy Homeworld. And even if not, at least -we- will. The Autobots, that is. If we can prevent another race from plunging into a war like the one we've been steeped in for the past several million years, we will."
Garnet	"The Decepticons are your version of the Homeworld Gems?" Garnet asks, "You can't look back and regret, only move forward and hope." The tall Gem just lightly shakes her head, "That's not quite what I meant." She is silent for a long moment as she tries to come up with a better way of saying it, "I wouldn't fight them because I hate them or disagree with them, I'll only fight if they threaten something I care about." She tilts her head, "War is too costly unless you're fighting for something worthwhile, hate isn't worth it." She points up as she speaks, "A universe is a big place, a multiverse even more so I'd guess, I can live with them being out there. I'll just stand up to them when I need to."
Blurr	Blurr sighs. "Yeah, I guess....Heh, trust me Garnet, you will 'need' to stand up to them time and time again, until you realize it's never going to stop until one of you wipes out the other." He shakes his head bitterly, then looks up once more at the dormant gems. "You know, maybe there's a way to restore your friends. A way to help them get their bodies back. As far as I've seen, Cybertronian holomatter technology isn't too much different from yours."
Garnet	Garnet smiles, "I know better than most the chances it won't stop." She then adjusts her visor, "Rose believed there was a possibility our example could change Homeworld and they come around to a better way. Then there wouldn't be a reason to fight anymore." She then looks to the bubbled Gems, "They don't have a problem with their bodies, it's their minds. They lost themselves in the war, now they're wild and more beast than Gem." "When we find Steven and Amethyst we might try to help them again with your assistance." Garnet sighs, "But for right now, I want to focus on the search and stopping the Homeworld Gems we have here."
Blurr	"Yeah, that happened to some of us, too." Blurr replies. "But it might be possible to find a way to help them become functional again." he chuckles a little bit. "After all, people used to think I was a lost cause--but, here I am." he shrugs. "Pff. She sounds like the eternal optimist. We stopped believing that about the Decepticons a long time ago. They're not really like Homeworld, though...it's different with us. They were the rebels, actually. Originally--" he shakes his head. "We were more like Homeworld, originally, to be perfectly honest. The Primes, and everyone who served them. We were the ones who went out and conquered other planets, and took advantage of less-advanced civilizations who didn't know FTL from sublight. We were the ones who brainwashed citizens and forced them to be who and what our government told them they were. And if anyone tried to be anything -else-, they'd get brainwashed or spark extracted or thrown in jail or worse. The Decepticons rebelled -because- of that...as much as I hate to admit it." And you certainly wouldn't hear him saying anything like that anywhere any more public or out in the open than this. "Heh, don't go telling the rest of the multiverse I said that, though." he adds quietly. "Anyway, it's a -really- long story." he sighs again. "And not one I particularly enjoy telling. The point is...one of these cycles, you're going to find that until either you or Homeworld is destroyed, the war can never truly end. There will always be another battle to fight, another planet to defend, another ally to protect from them. But for now, we'll focus on getting that information from Peridot." A small smirk. "I have a feeling she won't be hard to crack."
Garnet	Garnet smiles a little at the joke of Blurr being a lost cause, "She was and that's what made her such a good leader, she never lost hope." She stands up straigher, "It sounds like they changed their world for the better, but lost hope and gave into bitterness and hate in the time it took for that change to happen." She says that without irony or reprimand, "I try to do as Rose did, continue hoping." She gives a one handed thumbs up about not telling anyone he said that and then nods at the 'really long story' part, "Another time then." As for Peridot not being hard to crack Garnet adjusts her visor again, "Not at all."
Blurr	Blurr shakes his head again. "No, they didn't, they ended up destroying it instead. They wanted to change things, but they were misguided. They were focused on dispensing revenge on the people who hurt them more than on actually creating a society of equality. And now..." Another sigh. "Now our planet is dead, and has been for a long time. And so are a lot of other planets we've come into contact with. But that's why Homeworld needs to be stopped, before they lead you gems down the same road." "Well, it was nice meeting you, Garnet. I'm glad we've had the chance to work together. I'll be sending over the access codes to the tracker on Peridot's ship, so you can monitor her movements yourselves. We'll be in touch."
Garnet	"I see." Garnet frowns slightly, "They were focused on their revenge not change." A quick nod, "We're way more awesome than your Decepticons, we may hate Homeworld but not enough to hurt them for the sake of revenge." Garnet looks uncomfortable at the idea of a dead planet for a half second before it's gone, "Yeah...nice meeting you Blurr. We'll decide on a time to take her." Once the Cybertronian is gone, Garnet returns to the kitchen and another cup of hot chocolate is made...the hot liquid was soothing on a throat that isn't used to speaking up that much, "Ah." The sound of relief on a tired throat.