Melo shakes a bit in Lav's arms. Wow, chases were so different when you were in a spaceship. "That was great flying Gray! And Gold, good job!" Melo squeezes Lav in a way she hopes is reassuring, then says. "Who's going with Gray?"
Gray scans the group. "Spinel had volunteered to lead the heists on Almandine's and Amethyst's quarters, which I think is the best plan since she is much more skilled at covert operations, and those will require much more stealth than this. No one will be home here: it was only ever Onyx and myself, and no one knows yet that Onyx was disincorporated. I would appreciate it if someone else came with me to carry things and so we can mutually watch our backs."
"I-i'd go but i think i'm not... i-i can't carry too much stuff..." Lavender babbles. Melo's presence is very reassuring and... if she's honest with herself she would rather try to concentrate entirely on Amethyst's house. That would be hard enough.
"I will come," offered Hematite. Citrine opened her mouth to volunteer as well, but the older gem shook her head. "No, you need to stay here. If something goes wrong, then the ship will need as many trained fighters as can be spared." Citrine looked as though she might say something else, then breathed out, and gripped Hematite's forearm in a warrior's clasp. "Don't do anything- don't do anything I'd do, okay?" "I might, but I take your meaning." a faint smile quirked the corner of Hematite's mouth. She turned back to Gray. "So long as you are certain this does not need someone smaller and less visible?"
Spinel nods and looks at Citrine. "That means guard duty falls to us," she says. "After this, Gray Pearl, you should probably stay aboard ship, just in case we need to get out of here in a hurry."
Gray nods at Spinel. "Of course - this stop is far less dangerous than any of the others. I've parked us in Onyx's shuttle bay to begin with, and no one should know she's been disincorporated - since I took her gem from the crash site - so it shouldn't be a problem. We should be in and out in minutes. For the heists on Almandine's and Amethysts, I will be keeping the ship ready to fly at any moment." She looks over at Hematite. "Shall we, then?"
Hematite nodded, and gestured for the Pearl to lead the way. "After you." She had to admit that she was interested in Gray. There was a very old part of her - the part that had been a miner in the Kindergarden, the part of her that had graded new Gems as her purpose, the reason she herself had been made - that instinctively wanted to crush any flawed or unusual individuals, simply because they were wrong and that wrongness would taint the entire batch. But that part had long been buried, and would not resurface any time soon. At least Baroque was not currently incorporated. Looking at the poor thing for any time made Hematite want to pity-crush it, because surely existence for one so crippled was more cruel than shattering. She put it out of her mind. "How much are we - taking, from your Onyx?"
Gray led the way out of the little ship, into the shuttle bay of Onyx's living space. It was on the small side, room for only a couple shuttles, with a small warp pad off to one edge. Gray had landed Labradorite's ship in the space Onyx's main shuttle had occupied, and there was a even smaller, sleeker craft occupying the other half of the space - clearly a tiny stunt flyer. Gray went over to a wall of lockers and keyed a panel, her pearl glowing gently, and all the doors swished open. Inside were shelves upon shelves of every repair and maintenance tool, part, and consumable imaginable. She stepped back, next to Hematite, and scanned the wall. "As much as we can handle keeping in our gem storage," she replied. "Whether or not we will be able to return for more supplies is unknown, but even if we are technically able, that shuttle crash is not going to be a secret forever, and someone will come and investigate. I'm not certain what they will do when Onyx is discovered missing. If she had been crushed, and they knew it, then I suspect they would simply liquidate her holdings. As that's not the case, like I said, I'm not certain." She moved back toward the wall and pointed out a few lockers. "For a start...take all the power crystals, even the non-standard formations. I'm sure I can wire them in somehow. And all the coolant, and the heat sinks."
Hematite made a noise of assent and went to the lockers. Most of them did not require forcing - they were unlocked, and that alone lowered Hematite's opinion of Onyx considerably - and those that did, she simply summoned her spade and used it as a crowbar, levering open the storage compartments easily. She then began to load as many ship parts and power crystals as she could fit into her gem - which was a fair amount, since while she was not made for such service like a Pearl was, larger gems were often made to carry many smaller things. After a long moment of silence, she began, because she was not her gem-sister and still had interest in the world. "Did your- did Onyx have you made with that flaw?"
Gray didn't look up, still gathering smaller items. "My third eye? No, I don't believe she had it made specifically, but I never asked. She always claimed it made me a better driver, but I always thought that was just to explain it away as if it were something she had chosen." She stood up then, and looked around the room. There were still a few lockboxes, and the more secure storage, which wouldn't have opened from the basic control panel she'd keyed earlier. Hematite had started opening a few, she saw. That was fine: Gray didn't particularly care if Onyx's crates were broken. She pointed to a couple of small, sturdy crates, both locked tightly, with glowing edges. "Would you be able to fit those in without opening them? Those are highly volatile energy cells, and they could be helpful, but they should stay in their cases until we need them." Other than that ... what would she need? High-grade replacement wire, because the stealth systems were almost certain to burn out eventually and she'd have to replace them. None of the body parts Onyx had invested in were useful at all, they were just flashy, which was unfortunate, because she could really use a couple extra stabilizing fins on the stealth ship if she was going to keep doing all these ridiculous chases through tiny corridors. Something to note for later, in any case. They had plenty of energy crystals, and coolant, and heat sinks - all high-quality, because Onyx never wanted to take a break if she could manage it. Or, Diamonds forbid, stop to make repairs. The stealth systems were well-stocked, and the power generation was too, and the cooling systems. Onyx didn't have any long-range communication equipment, or even short-range - she had been all about flash and style and upkeep. So ... that was probably all they would need from here. She gathered a few coils of good wire, and surveyed the room, checking one more time to see if they would need anything else.
"Careless, then." at least Gray had not been purposefully made crippled, like poor Baroque. Hematite's lips thinned in distaste. "I have a great many things to say to Gems who think the production of new beings is some mere trifle to be done on a whim." Mostly with her fists and shovel. She remembered the bright-hot near madness of being Iron Pyrite - who would not have hesitated for an instant to crush any like Onyx under her hammer-weight - and for an instant, missed it. She put the thought away to one side, however, since it was of no use just now. She touched the boxes lightly, considering, then shook her head. "They are too large too fit in my gem. However..." She stacked one ontop of the other with delicate care, then lifted them both onto one shoulder. "They are light enough that I can carry them all the same. You did say we expected no trouble on this outing, did you not?"
Gray pondered this. "Perhaps it was a careless mistake. I don't know enough about the creation of Pearls, or of other Gems, to know for certain. I am not convinced, however, that perfect uniformity among all Gems of one type is ... " She paused for a moment, trying to find the correct word. " ... wise. Or ethical." She looked over at Hematite, who had lifted the crates onto her shoulder. "No, I don't expect any trouble. I have the codes for the alarms, which I input before we entered. No one lived here except myself and Onyx." Gray cast a final look around the bay. "I think that is everything we need. Shall we head to our next stop?"
Hematite made a noise that was nearly a bark of cynical laughter. "That is not my place to say. I was only made to mine and grade gems - I was not made to decree who was too flawed to exist, or merely usefully unique. I would welcome further debate at a later time, however." She hefted the boxes, testing their balance, then added, almost hesitantly, as though trying out some new language, "If- if it helps, I was never worked with Pearls in the kindergarden. And even if I had, I would not have crushed you on sight. You are still functional, and therefore of use." Citrine's bright kindness must have influenced her more than she had first realised. The young Quartz was endlessly optimistic and rarely judged by appearance. Another pause, then Hematite added, softly, "After all, I myself am obsolete. If I were to start crushing gems by grade of use I ought to start with myself."
Gray relocked the panel with a press of her hand, the lockers swinging shut. "I would be happy to discuss this with you any time. It is nice to be allowed to speak my mind, instead of simply harbouring all these thoughts. Also, other opinions and beliefs can only help me understand my own." She turned back to Hematite. "And if you are concerned about offending me, do not be: I realized long ago that I am the only one who believes I am intrinsically of any worth. If Onyx's behaviour did not convince me otherwise, I doubt your beliefs will." She cracked a smile. "Plus you've just said you wouldn't have crushed me, which is more than I've gotten from a lot of other Gems."
Lavender shifts in her seat with a bit of impatience. "I-i wonder... A-are they taking long or d-does it just seem that way?" she asks, re-adjusting her disguise a bit.
The heists went well. Mostly. Gray and Hematite left Onyx's without incident, storing their abundance of spare parts and supplies in the cargo lockers of their ship. From there, it was on to Almandine's, which was also smooth sailing: the rebel squad snuck in, bribed a few of Almandine's servants (who were only too ready to look the other way - apparently, dislike of their mistress was fairly widespread), and returned to the ship quickly with an impressive load of highly valuable artifacts, classified diplomatic documentation, and gemfuls of things that Rose hadn't even explained, just grabbed on the way by. It was at Amethyst's that everything splintered. They'd known it was dangerous - Amethyst was still entirely corporeal, not to mention pissed - and while they infiltrated without problems, they'd had to be as stealthy as possible. While no one particularly liked Amethyst, everyone was plenty afraid of her, and rather than risk holding a secret, most of the guards would have simply reported in and attacked in order to be in Her Bitchy Purpleness's good graces. So, they snuck in, snuck around, and were sneaking terrifying-looking weapons (some of which no one in the infiltration squad was quite sure how to use) into their gems, when everything went awry. The doors were not Gem-locked; Lavender opened them without trouble. Most of the lockers were also not Gem-locked, or else were coded to open for Lavender anyway as she'd had access to Amethyst's armoury; even a considerable number of the Very Dangerous Weapons were easily secured. This ease of access got them into trouble when Lavender chanced taking them into Amethyst's most secure vault: Lavender could open the door, Lavender could open the cases, but only Lavender could remove the weapons from the cases ... which they didn't realize until they heard footsteps stampeding down the halls. A silent alarm. A clever system. They ran. They stuffed as many of the weapons from the vault into their gems as they could, and then they ran. No point in being stealthy: if the volume of footsteps behind them was anything to go by, speed was of the absolute essence. Spinel commed ahead to Gray to get the shuttle running; Gray had seen the motion sensors go off the charts and was already hovering, ready to gun it. The route they took had remained mostly open and unlocked: most of the relocked doors Lavender could palm open as she ran. But they had infiltrated deep into the building, and by the time they reached the door on whose other side hovered Gray and the remaining rebel Gems, the door was complex-locked and only flashed red when Lavender desperately tried every code she had. The pursuing footsteps, never so far away as to let them slow down, suddenly came to a halt, and a solid two dozen security gems (varying low-level Quartzes, mostly) blocked the hallway behind them. The rebel Gems had circled around Lavender, still trying furiously to open the door, and Spinel, desperately trying to help. Citrine had come along, as well as Rita, Rose, Melo, and Smoke, and they stared at the Quartzes. This would have been an easy obstacle, if Gray didn't have to be prepared to fly the ship as soon as they entered it. As it was ... well ... it didn't look good. Citrine thought she could take a few, and if Spinel hadn't been helping with the door, maybe they could have taken out a few more - but as spunky as the Pearls were, they were untrained, and they were all at a severe disadvantage here. But the Quartzes weren't moving, which the rebels found odd. Surely now was the time to attack? It wouldn't have taken them much to disincorporate all the rebels right then and there. The reason became very clear only a few seconds later, as the group of security gems parted and Amethyst herself strolled down the middle of the hallway, stopping just in front of her guards. Never the type to make speeches, she'd simply growled "poof them all but leave my hunk of organic waste to me," and then taken a step towards the rebels. Rita had stepped forward, drawing a spear with nasty-looking barbs (obtained from the vaults) out of her gem, and holding it in front of her, pointing at Amethyst, her hands only shaking slightly. She'd told Amethyst in no uncertain terms to back off and leave them alone, and the huge purple Gem had laughed in her face, swinging her arm over her head, a massive mace forming as she swung forward again. The mace had hit Rita in the side, slamming her into the wall, and the sea-green Pearl, uttering a tiny "oh!" in shock, had disincorporated with a pop. The distraction, however, had been enough. Lavender and Spinel had broken the lock, and Rose, Melo, and Smoke were through the door before the Quartzes had noticed. Citrine and Spinel stood shoulder to shoulder, framing Lavender just in front of them. There was a tense moment as Amethyst hefted her mace; both she and Lavender glanced at Rita's Pearl, which had bounced off the wall and rolled to a halt near the center of the hallway, slightly closer to Lavender than to Amethyst, but not close enough. Lavender's jaw set. Citrine and Spinel saw it and relaxed into battle position, ready to move. And then Lavender screamed at Amethyst, a veritable torrent of vitriolic anger, the sheer courage of which had actually made the other Gem rock back on her feet, shifting her weight in surprise. The rebels seized their chance: Lavender darted forward, Spinel one step ahead of her, Citrine bouncing on the balls of her feet beside the door. Before anyone had had time to react on the other side of the hallway, Lavender had snatched Rita's gem, both she and Spinel had spun on their heels and run back, Citrine literally pulling them through the door to increase their momentum - and then they were on the ship, Gray slamming the door shut as their feet cleared the threshold, throwing the ship into gear and literally crashing through the skylight of the bay they'd been in, gunning it through the streets and back into the ancient tunnels, where they'd flown in the labyrinth for at least an hour before sneaking out into the dimming evening light on the coastline. They spent the night there, hidden in the tunnels just by an entrance, well camouflaged by the natural coastline. They'd rested, taken inventory of their haul, and Gray had replaced a few power crystals and fine-tuned the well-used systems. In the foggy dawn, they snuck out over the water, following Spinel's directions to a rebel safe house several hours away. There was a rebel-friendly off-planet transport scheduled for a few days from now; until then, they would be able to rest and hide in relative safety with like-minded Gems. When they arrived, Gray parked the ship in the carefully camouflaged docking bay, a masterpiece of sensor-blocking glass and crystal hidden under a huge waterfall. They disembarked and entered the facility, a mainstay of the Homeworld rebellion - a massive underground complex, meticulously maintained. Spinel, having called ahead, had arranged for them to have a smaller, slightly older wing of the complex, with enough private rooms for them if they shared two by two, a large common area, and a wall of storage lockers. There were facilities available for training in the larger complex, as well as a secure facility for regenerating Gems - not to mention a well-stocked garage, which Gray took to without a second thought. The transport would arrive in three days, they were told. Until then, their time was their own.
Smoke was looking for a good place to relax. It wasn't as if she didn't want to interact with everyone else! It was just that, well, she needed some time to herself. Everything had been so chaotic! And now, there were hopefully going to be three days of peace. She wasn't sure what she'd do with them. At some point, she wanted to ask for more lessons in fighting. That was going to be very, very important. But for now, all she wanted to do was find a quiet corner to organize her thoughts. and maybe, just maybe, dance a little. That could be nice, she guessed.
Lavender wasn't shaking! Mostly because shaking while en pointe was not a good idea, it would make her fall over. She carefully adjusted her balance and lifted her leg for an arabesque, before twirling, jumping, letting her arms reach for the ceiling... Amethyst's rage filled face as she called her organic waste. On her next step Lavender stumbled. Barely she managed not to fall completely, but the save wasn't the prettiest, as she sunk rather gracelessly into a kneeling position. She would have been scolded so badly for such a silly mistake. She balled her fists and looked up, anger quickly dissipating and a soft, shy smile replacing it. "Oh, hello, Smoke!" she called out to the other Pearl.
Drat, it looked like alone time wasn't going to happen. Ah well. She waved to Lavender, and walked over to her. "Are you alright?" She held a hand out to Lavender. She hoped the other Pearl was doing well. Everything had been so...messy.
Melo walked into the common area and sat down on a chair, a bit away from the other two. Why was she shuddering so much? SHe set down her disguise bags she'd brought in to get their disguises off, and sank farther into the seat. She'd seen gems shattered, why was this so much worse? because you knew her this time she shook off her thoughts, and realized they'd have to come up with room plans for their three days, and started thinking about it while removing her body paint and wig.
