The Diamonds' bodyguards, silent and invisible until now, shimmered into existence. Each pair stood one behind and one ahead of their assigned Diamond, their weapons at the ready. These were the legendary Beryls, three pairs of gems nearly as old as the Diamonds themselves. Yellow Diamond was flanked by two identical Heliodors, brawny and menacing, wielding morningstars as tall as two Pearls. Beside Blue stood two Maxixes, tall and slim, holding halberds. And finally, guarding White Diamond stood two Goshenites, lithe and almost ghostlike, wielding daikatana. The bodyguards stepped forward, waiting for commands from their mistresses. Blue and White were, as usual, silent - but it seemed for once that Yellow Diamond had been shocked into speechlessness. From the arena came a growing roar. The robonoids had all gathered up at the platform and were broadcasting intently. And from behind the rebels, from the staircase they had come, came the elephantine sound of either a great many Gems, or a not-insignificant number of very large ones.
So much for the sneaking plan. Spinel stands straight in the shadow of the fusion (the fusion, oh, she wished she had a recorder ready for the Diamonds' faces, truly a priceless thing), though it's hard to see her even in the gaggle of Pearls. The Beryls were too well-trained to attack without an order and too large to sneak up on her - drawing her rapier, Spinel turns her attention to the staircase, watching for anyone at their backs. "Now would be a good time to find a ship," she mutters. The Diamonds definitely know her for a traitor, now. Oh well, you can't find a good Quartz without breaking a few geodes, as the saying went.
"Sp-Spinel? Spinel what do we do?" Lavender was scared but... She looked aroud for a makeshift weapon, but... Well she could grab another stone and join Rose, but what could she even do then? She didn't know how to fight...?
Whatever part of her that had been Citrine was utterly focussed on approaching the stage and making sure no Beryls reached the Pearls - and perhaps getting past them to get in a good hit to one of the Diamonds - but Hematite's cool-headed good sense had been assimilated as well, and her dark grey eyes set in Iron Pyrite's face flicked down to Rose Pearl, standing small and brave as a robin in front of a cat. Unshaped, unbroken, indeed. She felt her snarl ease, and spoke a little gentler than she had to the waiting crowd. "Rose, please go and protect your friends, okay? You and Spinel get them to safety and we- I'll hold up the rear." Then she grinned, bright and feral. "It's easy to find a cause to die for, I know. Time for us to find one to live for, right?"
Rose hesitated, then nodded at Iron Pyrite, and smiled slightly. "Well, in that case, I think I have one." She considered the other Pearls and Gems who'd helped them her friends, and she was definitely willing to fight to protect them. She ran back over to the others. "Spinel? Is there a way out of here? Iron Pyrite said she'd help us by holding up the guards."
Gray, hearing the commotion coming up the stairs behind them, was methodically - but frantically - skirting the back wall, looking for another way. There was no way they could fight their way down the stairs, not without Iron Pyrite, and if she took the lead then the Beryls would pick them off from behind. They had no way of getting down from the platform - if the fall didn't break them outright it would certainly disincorporate them. Hunting, hunting, searching, looking, there had to be something-- her hand brushed a panel. Without thinking, her gem glowed and she pressed it, and the wall swooshed apart to reveal ... a room full of Peridots. The camera room. Of course. Another door on the opposite side of the camera room opened, and another Peridot came running in. That had to be a staircase. "Over here!" she shouted.
Lavender spotted the door in the camera room, nodded at Gray and started running. On her way she shoved the Peridot that had just come out of the door out of the way, roughly, though she did yelp "S-sorry, Ma'am!" at her.
"That'll do," Spinel answers the question as Gray pops the camera room panel open. The Peridots won't pose a problem; it looks like the ones shoved into the camera room are even smaller than the usual cuts, no bigger than Tanzanites. Spinel shifts to lead with the point of her blade, a fencer's stance, just in case, before charging forward. Any Peridot that gets too close to her winds up a green spot on the floor, and Spinel thinks that it is one good thing about fighting other gems - when they're poofed, they don't leave bodies for you to trip over or to make cover for their allies. The Peridots beyond the first wave around the door scatter, diving under desks, though one boldly keeps her hands on a panel that sends a camera bot flying over her head. Spinel gives a variant of the Gem salute - based around the head, weapon in hand, as though she were the renegade Pearl herself - before running the Peridot through and leaving her on the ground for someone else to clean up.
Meanwhile: Watching a Citrine fuse with a - was that a Hematite, shards, they hadn't made Hematites in eons - threw coals onto Yellow Diamond's burning rage. But before she could shout to the Beryls to crush every single piece of worthless glass forming the rebel troop, she felt Blue Diamond's hand on her shoulder. "Better to leave, my Diamond," Blue murmured. Yellow glared. "How can you say that?!" she rasped back. Blue tilted her head towards White Diamond, still standing serenely. "Orders have already been given to clear the square, and Quartzes are enforcing them as we speak. White has cut the drones' feeds; the Pearl and the fusion were seen and heard, of course, but it will be far easier to use our convenient scapegoat than to create another. We leave, and place this at her feet. Word has already spread that she has one abominable fusion - another is hardly a stretch." The corner of Yellow's mouth twitched in something that was more of a grimace than a smile. "They tried to subvert our execution and ended up causing the deaths of all the gems they'd brought with them." Blue nodded. "Clearly the Pearls came to attempt to save Blue Pearl. Now that she is gone they will have no reason to return, and they will leave. We produce shards - White has seen all the rebels and they are easily reproduced, should they elude us again - we blame Rose Quartz, and this is done." Yellow scowled. "They will not elude the Beryls and a full troop of Quartzes." Blue shrugged slightly. "It matters little." She turned, as White joined them. "This is not worth our time, is it, my Diamond." White's smile was thin. "They will accomplish nothing, as all before them." The three Diamonds linked hands, their gems glowed, and they warped away, leaving chaos in their wake. The aforementioned troop of Quartzes reached the top of the stairs shortly thereafter, revealing Jaspers, Amethysts, and a pair of Heliotropes - and those were only the first half dozen who made it up the stairs.
One of the Heliodors reached her just as the Diamonds warped away, and Iron Pyrite roared in frustration, ducking under the swing of a morning star to strike at the beryl's gem with the heavy club end of her spade. But Hematite's cool sense was still there, and - their only purpose is to protect the Diamonds. Citrine hated retreating, but she was neither of them and both at the same time, and the fusion backed up and ran for the stairs, where the Quartzes were a much more pressing concern to their allies. Delighted, she realised her own size and strength when one sweep of her sharp spade end sent three Jaspers flying. And there was no need to hold back. She used the momentary horror and bafflement at her existence - think about that later, think about it later, don't fall apart - to her advantage, and waded right into the centre of the group, grabbing one of the Heliotropes and an Amethyst each by the head with her free hands and literally throwing them at their comrades. They seemed as small as Peridots themselves right now, and Quartzes weren't meant for acrobatics. Both her gems were high enough on her body that there was no reaching them without a ranged weapon, and most of them were melee fighters. "Monster!" snarled the other Heliotrope, and that hurt, but - don'tfalldon'tfalldon'tfall - it probably hurt the gem more when Pyrite dashed her hard enough at a wall to dis-incorporate her. She backed up to the camera room and the panicking Peridots, and used her bulk to block the doorway as soon as all her friends had gone through, sweeping aside wave after wave of angry Quartz soldiers. Don't fall apart.
Lavender was rushing down a staircase, anxiously listening for the noises of fighting. The others were right behind her... And right in front of her was a Ruby, apparently wandering around away from her post for some reason. Lavender squeeked, alerting her comrades to the enemy's presence. The red gem started drawing her weapon with a frown. Lavender jumped over the Ruby's extended arm to dodge the fighter's punch. She used the small gem's head as a stepping stone and jumped off, hoping to destabilize the gem enough that she'd fall down the stairs. She herself landed on the handle bar and used it to slide downwards.
Gray still had no plan, and it was driving her around the bend. She had managed to trip and push away the couple of Gems she had run into so far - a Ruby and a Peridot - but she was acutely aware that she was vulnerable and defenseless. And she had no plan. From the concentration of sunlight and the changing sound around her, she thought they were getting close to the bottom. There were probably more Quartzes down there, and who knows what else. They were going to get poofed before they even had a chance to run. She stopped on a landing, hearing Lavender's squeak, and then seeing the Ruby tumble down from behind her. Gray aimed a good kick as the red Gem flew by, and the Ruby went down the next set of stairs even faster. As Lavender came into view, sliding on the handrail, Gray held out her hand, Gem already glowing. "We need to surprise them," she said, "so: fuse with me?"
Gray dipped Lavender gracefully, and in a flash of purple light Chiaroscuro Pearl stretched into existence. Tall and graceful, she barely cleared the ceiling of the stairway - obviously made for common Gems - and her first move beyond a quick stretch was to follow Lavender's lead and slide down the handrail. This led her to the bottom of the stairs - they had been close, as Gray had suspected - and into a quickly moving stream of Gems who were being herded out of the Square by ... large, bulky Jaspers, who looked like they meant business. Chia fell into a plié as she swooped off the handrail. Coming up to her full height, her gems began to glow, and she pulled a violet recurve bow from her chest, pulling it taut and nocking an iron-gray arrow (which slid from her hand) into place. The Jaspers hadn't noticed her yet, but she suspected she had only seconds before they did so. She scanned the crowd, looking for an obvious escape route. Her gaze caught on an area that looked like it had private shuttles: it was surrounded by Aventurines who were redirecting all of the crowd who came anywhere near them. It looked like the parking lot was full, which made sense: the lowest-ranked gems had started to panic as chaos had broken out in the square, meaning they'd started to leave before they could be properly herded in so the aristocrats could leave first. That, or the aristocrats were being kept very safe until all the rabble was gone. Either way, there was a suspicious empty spot in the parking lot, just on the corner, clearly still part of the lot as Aventurines were standing on either side of it. But if there was no ship there, then the Quartzes would shift over. No sense protecting nothing. That was a stealth ship. Chia would bet her fusion on it. She heard a shout. The Jaspers had discovered her. This, of course, alerted all the little Gems they'd been herding to Chia's presence, and the scene descended into even further chaos. Chia tucked herself in behind a particularly large pillar at the bottom of the staircase. The little Gems were keeping a wide berth, running in terror from the unknown fusion. The Jaspers looked torn between trying to control the mob, and trying to get to Chia herself. She didn't mind: that made them easier targets. The first Jasper disincorporated with an almost literal poof as Chia's arrow hit them in the neck. The second took two arrows - Chia hadn't been quite fast enough to get a lethal shot first go. The remaining Jaspers, infuriated (no surprise), began taking turns rolling at her - but she just leapt away to another pillar, jetéing over the heads of the crowd and behind another pillar, firing as she landed.
If the crowd had panicked at the sight of Chia, they panicked even further when Pyrite crawled out from the stairway like some monstrous grinning spider. She had been too tall to take the stairs upright, and unwilling to - (don't fall) - unfuse until the danger to her friend had passed. She couldn't roll like a Quartz - Hematite wasn't flexible enough - but she waded into the fray and began batting Jaspers aside like baseballs. She saw the tall Pearl fusion, and recognised Lavender's pale chest gem on her, and guessed that by her dark colouring the other might be practical sensible Gray. She waved a greeting. "My lady Pearl! Do we yet have a plan of action?" She heard one of the Jaspers snarl in outrage at giving a Pearl such a title, and laughed her infectious, manic laughter once more, winding back and smashing the blunt end of her spade into their face hard enough to crack their forehead gem.
Spinel darts around the ankles of the larger, distracting fusions, her rapier hitting home just alongside the gem of any Quartz unfortunate enough to have it placed within her reach - most gems discorporate when they're hit like that, from the shock of nearly getting scratched if nothing else. And if there are a few she does scratch by accident, well, that's battle. Spinel isn't one of the Pearls to feel bad about it, she just does what's required to get the job done. She sweeps her rapier in a slash behind the knees of a Banded Jasper headed for the yellow fusion, letting her larger companion take advantage of the Jasper's fall to finish her off. Then Spinel works to catch the huge fusion's attention, jumping high to dangle off one of the four large wrists, rapier dismissed in a thought so that she can grip with both hands. "There's a hidden ship over there," she says, "But it will take a growth age to get through this crowd." Her feet swing slightly - she kicks a Quartz that dares to approach in the head - as she grins with the kind of battle madness Pyrite is giving out in waves. "But I bet you can throw me over their heads entirely."
There's a heart-stopping moment when the muscles of the arm Spinel clings to bunch hard as though Pyrite is about to fling her off with no more care than she's affording any of the numerous Quartzes who have tried to scale her bulk to get in a good hit to either of her vibrant silver gems. Then reason reasserts herself, and Citrine's orange eyes look into Spinel's as Iron Pyrite laughs at the idea, nodding eagerly. "Sure thing, Spin. Get ready!" She cups one of her higher hands around her friend so that the little gem can use her palm as a lauching pad, and winds back. Without much in the way of countdown, she hurls Spinel at the blank parking space as high as she can to avoid the crowd. There's no time to check if she threw true, however, because a pair of Poppy Jaspers take advantage of her momentary distraction to attempt to disarm her, and kicking them aside takes up all her focus.
Chia, now back to back with Iron Pyrite, nodded at Spinel's words, and covered Pyrite as she threw Spinel. They were close enough to hear each other, but the din was loud enough to hide their conversation. "If we try to clear an obvious path, our plan will be discovered. If we had the others, we might be able to leap over, but I do not yet see Rita, Rose, Smoke, or Carnelian. Were they behind you? Or have we lost comrades?" She paused to disincorporate a particularly boisterous Amethyst with a quick flurry of arrows. "I can easily gain access to the stealth ship, if Spinel does not do so, but I do not want to leave anyone behind." In a smooth movement, Chia backflipped over Iron Pyrite's head, allowing Pyrite to whirl her monk's trowel around in a circle and dispatch a wave of massed Rubies and Citrines. Chia herself fired at the top of her arc and neatly poofed a Jasper fifty yards away. Upon landing, she resumed her defensive position behind Iron Pyrite, and then resumed the conversation. "I could take two on my shoulders, but no more. Would you be able to carry the remaining Gems while still fighting?" Another volley of arrows, two of which she carefully ricocheted off Iron Pyrite's swinging weapon to hit a pair of Aventurines who were attempting to snipe at them from behind corners.
"Yeah to the carrying, not sure to the others!" Iron Pyrite grunted, and used the cover of the arrows to duck low and sweep another half a dozen gem soldiers off their feet. "Rose was sticking with Spinel last I saw them, but they must have gotten separated in the fight!" Then an idea hit her, and she snorted laughter before half turning enough to catch the Pearl fusion's dark eye. "Hey, can you balance on my shoulders while I fight and you shoot? You'll be way tall enough to find the others in all this mess - don't think calling out to them is such a great idea until we know what state they're in."
Rita wasn't going to be a burden. She wasn't going to let her friends fight while she cowered. She was going to fight as well, but that meant she needed something to fight with. It was now or never, and Rita placed a hand on her chest as she thought about just how badly the other Pearls needed her help. After a few seconds she managed to pull herself together and think about just how much damage she could do with a real weapon and finally managed to summon a green trident. "Awesome," she said to herself grinning before quickly looking around for other gems who hadn't fused to team up with.
