Gold began to panic when she heard 'dissolved'. "W-wait. D-does that include m-me? B-but I haven't done anything!" she cried, tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't help but panic now--she was going to be dissolved, because there was no way they were going to escape the Diamonds forever--the Diamonds were simply too powerful. None of this would have happened if she'd just not followed Amber, or not gotten in the way...
"No, and it's not fair that you're being punished for disobeying. But we can do this. We can escape. And hopefully there will be something better for you." She reached a hand out tentatively, not quite touching the Pearl's shoulder.
"Are you crazy?? We can't escape! The Diamonds will find us wherever we go, they've got spies and a whole host of Gems and ships at their command! We're doomed!" Gold exclaimed, starting to cry. She was going to be dissolved. She was going to be dissolved and there was nothing to be done about it.
Gray literally clamped her jaw shut and tried to calm herself down. Of course Gold was scared: she didn't want to be here, and it wasn't fair that she was on the list to be dissolved, because no, she hadn't done anything. But Gray had just about had it with this Pearl who didn't seem to be able to think. Shards, it was bad enough that everyone on Homeworld thought Pearls were dumb as dirt, but she didn't need to go and prove it. Carnelian spoke, and then Gold spoke, and Gray lost it in a flash of rage. "Yes, Gold, you are included in the list of Pearls. No, you haven't done anything, and I'm sure you'd prefer to return to your awful life with your awful owner who clearly didn't care about you one shard, but the Diamonds hardly care about any of that. Amber was destroyed and so you are even more useless to them: you were property, your owner no longer exists, so you are now waste matter. We are nothing to them: we never were and we never will be." Her voice was getting louder, and Gray's brain was starting to scramble, and she held on to the one thread of thought that made any sense - for herself as much as for anyone else in the room. "So you had better get your shards together, because crying isn't going to do anything about this." She strode over to Gold and took her by the shoulders, shaking her. "Your life here is done and you need to accept that or else yes, you are going to be dissolved." Someone made a move to pull her off of Gold, but Gray beat them to it, shoving the other Pearl away. "Did any of us start this day planning to rebel against the most powerful Gems in the galaxy? Of course not! But this is where we are now, fair or not, and instead of whining about how unfair it is, don't you think it would be a little bit better if we tried to figure out the best way to keep ourselves alive?" Gray's hands were shaking, out of fear as much as anger. "We are not the only ones who have left Homeworld and survived. There is even a renegade Pearl on Earth. This isn't hopeless, and I, for one, am done with acting like it is. So if you'd prefer to waste your time crying and whining and then, yes, get dissolved, that is Fine. By. Me. But I am going to get to work."
Two big tears tumbled down Lavender's cheeks. Otherwise her eyes were almost painfully dry. "T-this is terrible. I-i-i c-can't... I'm s-s-so sorry. I-i w-w-wish I was m-more useful. I c-c-can't help protect y-you on my o-own." She swallowed. "B-but I-i'll try my b-best. S-so let's f-flee now and p-panic later?" she smiled shakily at Gold.
Gold gaped at Gray for a minute, shocked into silence and no longer crying, and then hesitated, appearing to think for a moment. Then she looked at Gray and nodded, lifting a hand and wiping the remaining tears from her face and straightening her posture. "Okay. You're right. What...what should I do?"
Gray's brain stuttered to a halt as Gold was ... actually sensible. She blinked a couple times, the anger subsiding, and she realized that ... shards, she didn't actually know what to do next. Think, Gray, think. She stepped back from Gold, feeling a little ashamed that she'd let herself go like that. "We. We need to get off planet. As soon as possible. I'd like to keep the stealth ship." She looked at Spinel, Citrine, the Hematites, and Melon. "Do any of you know if it would be a good idea to split ourselves up any more significantly than just me flying the stealth ship? I can't... I can't decide if it would be safer to split up more evenly to divide potential losses, or to consolidate as many as possible in the ship that can take more damage. The stealth ship hides well, but it can't take much of a beating." She wrung her hands and began to pace. "And then we should probably make a couple stops before heading for Earth. I think they will be expecting us to go straight for Rose Quartz. Are there any other safe places we can go? Or should we stock up on coolant and energy crystals and roam around until they don't bother looking for us any more? And what about intercepting messages? It won't be long until Labradorite reports her ship missing, and it will stop receiving communiqués soon if it hasn't already. Also, where can we resupply and repair once we're off planet? I don't know anything about rebel supply lines..."
"I...I do," Gold said in response to the last thing Gray had said. "Amber, um. She used to be responsible for cutting off communications with rebel planets, places taken over by rebel Gems, and sending out missives to warn Gems away from rebel planets. She used to let me read them, sometimes. Well...not really let me. She left them laying around. I...guess she didn't think that I would ever read them myself. I-it's not like I was planning to run away! I just...got bored."
Gray's eyes lit up and her pacing stopped. "That's fantastic. If we can plot those over a galaxy map, which Melon will have, we can find the safest route to Earth that keeps us supplied and keeps us as far out of the Authority's reach as possible." She started pacing again. "I know we had a fair amount of extra shuttle supplies. I can stop by Onyx's living quarters on the way off planet. That should keep this ship moving for a while at least. I don't know about your ship, Melon, but I'm sure you know what you're doing: you've been at this a lot longer than we have." She stopped again, and looked around. "Does anyone have anything here on Homeworld that they want to take with them? Because I'm very good at opening doors."
Lavender perked up, looking at Gold with big eyes. "Th-that's so...! Thank you that is awesome!" She thought for a moment. "U-unless it would be too dangerous... We could stop by Amethyst's place a-and... t-take some things she won't even miss! She has a-a lot of weapons she probably d-doesn't even r-remember all of them!" she drew her shoulder up, hoping that this was a helpful suggestion.
Gray worried at her tongue for a second, staring at Lavender. "...Yes, I think that would be a good idea, but it would probably be best if a very small team did that - Amethyst is still incorporate and if she sees you she'll be furious. Spinel would probably be best for that, and another Pearl, someone who can carry items in their gem. I can fly you in the stealth ship so we can get away quickly." She glanced around again. "Rose, Rita, what about you? Do either Almandine or Pink Spinel have anything we might find useful?"
Rose shook her head. "Unfortunately not...Almandine was a higher-class Gem, so she didn't really keep weapons around..."
"Hm. What about documents, or artifacts? Anything we could sell, or negotiate with?" The thought crossed Gray's mind that she was rapidly becoming accustomed to being an outlaw.
"Artifacts--oh, yeah, she had plenty of those!" Rose replied, eyes lighting up. "And I know exactly where she keeps them, too! I don't know about documents, but she definitely had artifacts."
Melo listened intently to the conversation, and then remembered. "Wait, Labradorite is an assassin. She was assigned to mid to high level rebels mostly, so some of those records of safe spots might not be acurate, depending on how recent they are."
Gray turned to Melo. "Is she likely to have kept records of her reports back? Because those should help us decide..."
"Oh yes! Of course. Her ship should have all her records, since we practically lived in there. They should also be up to date. I'm not exactly sure where, but I could go looking for them. With an escort if necessary." Melo smiled a sort of half smile. She wasn't sure if everyone trusted her yet, and she was willing to be escorted to ease their worries.
Lavender nodded and tucked the strand that kept falling over her eye back a bit. "I-I'll feel better with others with me. I-I'm not very good at this sneaking or fighting thing s-so having h-help is a relief." she smiled shyly.
"You've been doing pretty well at it," Rita said with a smile at Lavender. "I'd be willing to be part of the escort if need be."
