For the briefest of moments, Red felt a flash of horror and betrayal - and then her gem clattered to the ground.
Smoke had maneuvered herself in front of Lavender, ready to protect her as best she could. She wasn't sure what she had expected to happen, but the Opal poofing her mistress was definitely not it. "Oh," was all she could think to say.
Rose was left hovering on the sidelines, watching everything, and feeling utterly useless, but her jaw dropped in shock when Opal poofed her mistress. That was...unexpected. But maybe it meant the Opal was on their side? Hesitantly, Rose approached Pinfire. "Um, why'd you do that?"
Melon grinned and snapped her net tight around the poofed Topaz. This was going better than she had expected--by far. "Ladies, we might just get away with this. So what we do with Madam Topaz here? Do keep in mind that she had every intention of seeing the lot of us shattered."
When the Tourmaline moved and broke the stalemate between her and the Topaz, Wrist Gem only moved when the Pearls appeared and began to threaten the downed Gem. She headed towards the wrecked starliner in time to catch Citrine and prevent her from going to the Pearls' aid. Shocked, the young Quartz fought her, but Hematite might have been only a miner, but she had handled so many young, sometimes panicking gems over the years that it was easy to catch Citrine in a firm armlock. Citrine snarled and fought harder, but Hematite laid her free hand on her friend's head. "Easy, now. If you interfere too soon, it may be the end of many." It seemed obvious to her, but then, Citrine was about as psychic as a brick in comparison. She fell silent, chest heaving, and watched and listened. Head Gem came to join them after a moment, making sure that any Pearls who were not yet ready to fight were safe enough. They were not overly worried about Lavender being attacked. Gems were not so weak to strangling as some organic species, and it did not seem as though the Topaz was exerting, or even could, enough pressure to crush the Pearl's neck outright. It was only when Black Opal finally made her move did Hematite let Citrine go. The young gem immediately ran to Lavender and Smoke and scooped them both up in a desperate bear-hug. "Holy stars, are you guys okay? That was awesome! That took a lot of courage, I'm so proud you don't even..." Wrist Gem moved back towards Pinfire, studying her face intently. "Well done. I knew you would make the correct decision." To Tourmaline's question, Head Gem growled, "Crush her. She is nought but a liability to us alive."
"What if we, um, take her with us? She's going to report to Blue Diamond when she reforms otherwise. I know it's dumb but I think enough gems have been crushed today."
Lavender siffled a little. "Th-thank you. I-i d-don't know what came over m-me..." She looked over to Tourmaline. "I-if we keep her M-maybe we could bargain for a s-s-safe way off-planet? I-isn't she a high-ranked member of Blue Diamond's c-court?" She was also fairly uncomfortable with crushing yet more gems. Sure, Topaz was a mean horrible violent piece of dirt, but she was also a person and she probably didn't know any better. The Diamond Authority got to all of them.
Gold finally emerged when the sounds of fighting stopped, just in time to hear them...talking about crushing a high-ranking Gem?? She ran outside, very nearly tripping over her own feet in the process, and snatched the gem up off the ground. "Y-you can't just crush her!" she practically shrieked, turning to look at the others and clutching the gem to her chest.
Citrine looked torn. On the one hand, there was her soldier's instinct, however buried deep down, that fully agreed with the idea that Red Topaz should die, if only for the reason that Hematite had stated. On the other, she was already tired of seeing these beautiful, gentle Pearls be exposed to such realities. "...yeah, keep her and bubble her. I dunno, but I don't want her dead, either. I think she's more use to us alive." Both Hematites gave her a startled look, then Head gem said, wryly, "I suppose you are correct. There has been enough death here today."
Gold hesitated, reluctant to hand the gem over to someone who would bubble her out of fear that they might just change their minds and crush her. She looked at Citrine and the two Hematites. "....okay, well, I can't bubble things, so....you promise you won't hurt her?"
Gray nodded. "Okay. Let's go then." As the two Pearls snuck through the house - which didn't seem to be occupied at the moment, it looked like Coral was out - Gray pondered their next steps. She was still fairly convinced they would have to get off world. Which...probably meant stealing a ship. Well. In for a Pearl, in for a Diamond, she supposed, with a hint of a wry smile. There was an old shipyard not far from here, she knew. She'd had to scavenge for...aftermarket parts to soup up Onyx's shuttle, and she had found some there. It probably wouldn't do to be walking around in the open, two Pearls without a mistress. She frowned. "Do you know if Coral owns a small shuttle? Also, do you have a designation beyond Pearl?"
"I'm okay. You really think so? Thank you." She clung to the other gems, only loosening her grip a bit to nod when Lavender said she thought Topaz shouldn't be crushed. "no more crushing today, please."
Citrine hugged both Pearls some more, unwilling to let them go just yet, then got up and approached Gold Pearl and the gem she clutched like a lifeline. "Okay, I'll do it. No offence, but I feel like you guys - well, I'll carry her in my gem until we can find somewhere safe to put her. For everyone involved." She cast a wary look at Hematite, both of whom simply nodded. She held out a hand to Gold, and smiled reassuringly. "I won't do it until you're okay with that, though."
Gold Pearl hesitantly extended the gem towards Citrine. "H-here." She was a little afraid that if she kept holding it, she'd drop it or something, so she gave the gem to Citrine. "Please take good care of it. I know she wanted us all crushed, but...well, she's a Gem too, I don't want her hurt."
"We don't need to bargain for a safe way off planet," Melon said quietly. "We just need to leave. The only good thing about the way this society works is that nobody ever expects you to steal things."
"Heh, and that's why we get to be the good guys." Citrine said, and grinned at her. She took the red gem from her and, with a look of intent concentration, formed a bright orange bubble around it. Then she tapped it carefully, and dismissed it to her gem. "Okay, now what? Hematite, could you tell if they were alone?" Both of them shook their heads, and Wrist Gem pointed her thumb at Black Opal, turning to her in the same movement. "She would know better. Black Opal, were the Amber and your former mistress alone in knowing this location?" Citrine added to Melon, "We didn't steal anything, though. They stole themselves. Unless you mean like a ship?"
"W-what about Blue Pearl?" Lavender asked in a quiet voice. She was still on the floor and clinging to Smoke. "We c-can't just leave her behind..."
Rose frowned. "Wait, what is going to happen to Blue Pearl?" She turned to look at Lavender. "...Lavender? She's...she's not going to be hurt, is she?"
Spinel threw the last of her things into storage - all the prototype weapons she could get her hands on, all her camoflage equipment, everything but a single transmitter that she set up on the room's desk. It wouldn't begin transmitting until, hopefully, after they had already been gone, and it didn't include a full report. Spinel would have to compose and send that from the ship, if she could, although there wasn't much point. Leaving Homeworld with some friendly company, it read. See you soon. With that, she lead the tech the short distance to the shipyard. Spinel opted to move openly once she reached the hangar where the voices of the Pearls could be heard, rather than attempting to sneak in - she could be taken for an enemy if she did that, after all. The travel containment unit with her stolen and experimental military gear nearly dwarfed the tiny Gem, hanging over her shoulders as it was. She carried another, smaller, hard-sided case in one hand - a makeshift weapon, if she needed it. "Are we ready to move?"
