//------------------------------//
// Earth Interlude 3: Launch or Lunch? 
// Story: Spinel's New Best Friend 
// by luckyboys121 
//------------------------------//

As Peridot stood before the now fully assembled ship she punched the last few commands in her tablet and waited a moment before getting a green check mark as a response. She looked at the assembled crowd before her as she smiled saying, "Alright everyone the Legs are fully operational, fully tested and ready to go!"

This got a cheer from the assembled crowd as Peridot beamed with pride and Lapis gave her a little tap on the shoulder that made her sigh and say, "And of course I couldn't have done it without all of your help."

This resulted in another cheer from the assembled crowd before Steven stepped forward saying, "Alright everyone, I know we've all been anxious about this coming."

Connie gave a fake cough at that as Steven scratched his head nervously saying, "OK me more then anyone else, thanks for helping me calm down by the way." 

"No problem big guy," said Connie as she blushed slightly.

Steven continued saying, "Now then, just to double check the ones coming are of course me, Peridot, Lapis, Pearl, and Amethyst. While staying behind to keep tabs on Little Homeworld are Bismuth, Lion, and Garnet," he then turned to Garnet saying, "Are you sure you don't want to come with? It would feel weird having an adventure without you, no offense Bismuth, it's just Garnet's been with us from the beginning and all."

"No arguments here," said Bismuth with a shrug.

Garnet simply smiled as she said, "Oh don't worry, you have everyone you need for this trip," and moved her sunglasses a bit causing them to sparkle. "Besides someone forget to water this last time," she said as she lifted up her cat and looked over at Greg.

"I already said I was sorry, besides I'd remember this time," said Greg defensively.

"No you wouldn't," said Garnet flatly.

Greg rolled his eyes as he realized there was no use arguing with someone who could see the future before saying, "Good luck Stew Ball," as he moved over and gave Steven a hug saying, "You be careful out there."

"I will dad," said Steven as he hugged back tightly before letting go. He quickly wiped a slight tear from his eye before saying, "Alright people if that's all taken care of then lets head out."

Before they could they Peridot raised her hand saying, "Wait, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Ah... not that I know of?" asked Steven confused.

"Shouldn't you make sure you have plenty of food and water for you and Connie?" said Peridot.

"Oh.. uh, I got a few granoloa bars and some some little bottles in my classic Cheeseburger backpack," said Steven as he patted the familiar tote.

Peridot simple chuckled as she said, "No way that's enough, you're gonna need a cooler full at least."

Steven looked at her confused as he said, "What do you mean... won't we be there in just a few hours?"

Peridot's smirk quickly fell as she said, "Oh no... did I forget to tell you?"

"Tell me what," asked Steven as his face twisted in concern.

Peridot scratched her head nervously as she said, "Well you see... the reason why it was so hard to make a colony on Equis in the first place is because it's in sector 389."

This resulted in a gasp from Lapis and confusion from the others as Lapis said, "You seriously think we can fly something this big through 389! It would be hard enough to fly there myself!"

"Hold on, what's wrong with 389?" said Steven.

"It uh... well it doesn't make any sense," said Peridot. "Somehow it behaves like no other known section of the universe. Stars revolve around planets, moons generate their own light through an unknown radiation, which is why they couldn't establish a moon base like usual, and all sorts of other crazy stuff."

Lapis nodded at that as she said, "We Lapis's call it the Crushing Sector."

Steven became nervous as he said, "So how long will it take for us to get there?"

Peridot pulled out her tablet as she said, "Well we can still use the gravity engine to get most of the way there, we'll just need to slow down and be VERY careful on final approach. So it would be about... a week."

Steven let out a calming sigh as he said, "OK... that's not too bad." He then turned back to group and nervously smiled saying, "Well then... I guess we're going to the grocery store to stock up, meet back here in an hour to take off."