From Ice, to City Lights (CLOSED)

[Mad Azurite]

“Damn man, it’s cold!”

Soaring up towards the poles was something Azurite never expect herself to ever be doing, but even worse she forgot that it was real cold up here, and though she was keeping her altitude low, the cold air beating against her was almost unbearable, and she couldn’t wait to land. Soaring over oceans and earthly landmasses she was unsure really of how to feel about this beautiful landscape, it was alien but mesmerizing.

She’d cast her gaze upward, Chevron said she’d be following, but honestly she felt like she lost the gem the moment she took off, most likely she was flying at a much higher altitude—though just as she said this, “Misère Azurite!” Azurite swung around to see the gem pull beside her, Chevron looking her up and down, Azurite was shivering and had her arms wrapped around her as she attempted to warm her light-body as much as she could. “Y-y-y-yeh?” She managed to get out, “You should low’erre your altitude madame, or you v’ill freeze!”

“Ch-Chu-Chevron! I said not to c-call me those weird-ass n-nuh-names, yo!” She looked over the violet combat solder, she seemed completely unfazed by the air, even as they began to fly over the poles. “Ah! Forg’eeve me, Azz’ee! And my atmos’pheeric resist’erres allow me to ee’gnore such tempe’turre’s!” she’d shout amongst the wind-pressure and Azurite frowned jealously, lucky jerk.

Chevron’s eyes then casted downward in an instant, and the telltale signs of her improved vision honed in on the dig-site below, “I can see z’ee d’eeg site!” she said and nose-dived. Azurite would throw a careful look around before dipping to follow, the two making themselves known with the load roar of them soaring over the site.

[Amethyst]

Stretching around her was the pale frozen waste that she had served in for weeks, though truthfully she had lost count of just how long she had been here, helping to build this diabolical project that her patron had advocated for. The amethyst soldier sullenly moped along the edge of the quarry-- why did she still come back? She had been officially welcomed into the Crystal Gems, yet it stung to remember where she'd come from, and that she would have to leave these gems behind, perhaps fight them, if she didn't want to compromise her morals. Ame peered down into the quarry to see nineteen other quartz, her unit, working diligently, though not without cracking some jokes. She was set apart from them, on lookout duty today, but now more than ever the feeling of estrangement from her fellows became a burden that slowed her.

Then, something like a loud crack snapped through the air; 6UE hadn't been the only one to stop what she was doing and whirl in search of the source of the sound, but she was the first to lock her eyes onto the oncoming gems. Her sword materialized, and she focused on the interlopers, then her eyes narrowed as she recognized them..."Huh?" Her brows furrowed, what were those gems doing here? Did they have special clearance, or were they here to dismantle the project? Ame was somewhat aware of some internal feud between courts, but there was no telling what these highly specialized, classified gems were doing here. Not until she could ask them for that clearance, anyway. Some part of her feared that something like the last breach would occur.

[Mad Azurite]

Spiralling down, Azurite made a single pass over the place again, she could barely see unlike her winged companion who was flying around, and of course she looked back to notice the winged amethyst pulling into the quarry quickly, of course she’d see her before she would. Chevron would swoop down with all her avian glory, a landing befitting of a super hero, but what happened next was far from threatening, “Meister Amethyst!” She’d cry out as she stood to her foot, not before giving a slight pause to ensure she knew exactly what she was looking at—and despite the drawn weapon the gem, with out-stretched arms and wings in a most inviting manner, would rush towards her practically cackling with excitement, partially due to the fact the poor gem had been stuck in a cage for the entirety of these passing events—she looked more than ready to release some energy. “I’ee mee’ssed you so much!” she added as she ran towards the gem

And yes, she was essentially about to tackle-glomp her old friend. Not that it would shake the giant solder—or well, stop the gem from simply stepping to the side.

Azurite had managed to pull up above them, seeing the weapon drawn didn’t surprise her, she wasn’t exactly well up to things, but news had already reached some of the warriors around where she hung out. That, and the feud between the courts was becoming more and more of an issue. Not aligning with any single court herself meant that she heard all sides of it—and wondered honestly how things were going to turn out. But she wondered how many gem’s or even if the diamonds were knowledgeable about what was happening here—this could cause massive destruction, and a loss of various resources invested by them, did Pink Diamond really want this? Did any of the diamonds want this? “Sup, Purp!” She’d throw a wave hovering down over the dig site with a wide shark-like grin, “How’s the diggin’ goin’? Eh?”

[Amethyst]

She glanced between the gems with a befuddled expression, but they clearly didn't seem to be here for a fight, and allowed her weapon to disappear as Chevron ran up and tackled her, sending the tall sturdy gem stumbling back a bit,"Oh! H-hey Chev!" She gave an uneasy chuckle and a warm smile despite her discomfort, she stood tense with her arms awkwardly at her sides. Her voice came out of her with less spirit than she had intended,"Been a while, hasn't it..." Her eyes flicked up toward the Honor Guardian; the last time she'd seen these gems, one of them had been stuffed into a cage, and the other had blown up on her senior officer, neither of which Ame had done much of anything about aside from allow her guilt following those events to fester. 

"Err-- things are going as scheduled, but-- uh--..." Her attention flicked to the quarry access point; the rest of her unit was likely lining up for the ambush on these uncleared invaders,"You need clearance to be here, it's technically a quarantined zone..." the nerves were plain to hear in her voice, she didn't want to see Homeworlders against Homeworlders again, even if she wasn't technically with them anymore; these were still her sisters, and the gems she had made a short but exciting friendship with. "W-what are you doing here, anyway?" To see the Honor Guard here seemed to make the situation more dire; were the Diamonds sending her for some kind of inspection? 

[Mad Azurite]

Despite not understanding the comfort zones of her taller cousin, Chevron felt a bit of an urge to withdraw right after her hug and pulled back with a shy smile, her wings wrapping around her to retain warmth, “V’e came here to get you, madam!” Azurite squatted down and then pulled in a little closer to 6UE, her brows lifted with a cocky grin, “Clearance-smeerance, qauritine borin’-tine,” she rested her elbows on her knees as she spoke and said those words rolling her eyes and shooing off the statement with her hands, “We’re here under special classified orders, yo.” She then leaned over, pulling out her digital dossier.

“Ahem.” She’d start, “This is a direct order from a high-ranking noble, higher than your superior officer—they asked to remain anonymous. But their seal is proof of approval, the marking on this order is proof of their jurisdiction!” She sigh as she stared the giant wall of disclaimer text, “Blah-blah-blah, disclaimers for not being at fault for any of this crap and what-so-forth, yatta-yatta-yatta … Alright, yeah, here we go.” She’d say, clearing her throat again, “Azurite L560, you are to return to Kindergarten Sigma and commission Chevron Amethyst 000X to accompany you on this mission. Your objective: head to quarantine zone marked longitude A0, Latitude A0 Sector 000000,” She’d laughed a bit before interjecting, “so many zeros, anyway, you are to request Amethyst Facet #6UE to a full scale investigation, under full compliance of the Pink Court, she must be taken with you to interrogation, she must perform this with all due haste—failure to comply with this order will result termination. L560,” she pointed to herself, “Dat’s me, and 000S,” Chevron beamed at her facet name, “are given full permission to apprehend the subject by force if necessary. 6UE, you are hereby prohibited from contacted your superiors, including but not restricted to: Commanders, Higher-ranking officers, detainees, and legal gem operatives such as Zircons. You may contact your diamond if proper communications are acceptable.”

Azurite then turned the dossier around, showing off a strange signet signed digitally into the panels. The signet was definitely a Pink Diamond affiliate's, and also had a scan-bar below it, most likely to validate it digitally if necessary. “Yes, v’e are hee’rre to dee’tain and een’terrogate you!” Chevron would say proudly and a little too sweetly one might add, as if though they were obviously hiding something. “Chevy-girl, your makin’ it sound like we’re about to go party or something.” Azzy would say, looking off suspiciously as well.

[Amethyst]

Her brow shot up at the possibility of her being selected for some kind of classified endeavor, and her thick brows only seemed to keep getting higher on her face as she listened to Azurite's mission statement. Amethyst wasn't exactly the most nimble thinker, her brows lowered again and she reeled back a bit as the words detain and interrogate seemed to come out of both gems with a bit too much cheer. Her mouth fell open slightly at Azurite's last statement, she stared between the Sigma gems with a dumbfounded look, the fuses in her gemcore buzzing as she tried to figure what in the stars was going on-- then her eyes fluttered as it clicked.

"Uh!" She swallowed, froze for a second as if caught under a spotlight. Were they trying to get her off the hook, or were they actually excited about detaining and interrogating her? Either way it would get her out of here, and she didn't have much of a choice to refuse it seemed. Ame glanced quickly between both gems,"W-well...I wont resist, but, gimme a second," Without waiting for them to confirm her clearance to do so, she jogged up to the quarry access point, where some other Amethysts had been poking their heads out to get a look at what was going on, and she leaned over,"Hey 6UC, it's your turn for lookout, I gotta go," The other quartz looked at each other in mild confusion, but the sight of an Honor Guard was enough to convince them that 6UE was being taken off for some other matter. 

6UE had become somewhat famous for being the one with secrets, the one who had been selected for classified missions on multiple occasions, and some of her sisters were beginning to become suspicious. As 6UC, a dark hued full sized soldier rose over the quarry, she gave the shorter quartz a side eye,"Alright, I expect to see you back soon though," 

Ame just gave a curt nod, and a smile that could've been confused for a grimace, resting the palm of her hand on her neck. The only reason she had continued to come back here, she realized, was because of her comrades. However, she would have to leave them behind sooner or later. She turned, with some solemn weight to step as she strode back over to the Sigma gems,"Okay, I'm cleared to go wherever we're going. Go easy on me, alright?" She chuckled, but continued to nervously clasp the back of her neck. 

[Mad Azurite]

Chevron began to bounce with excitement at the thought of their plans actually working, Azurite was happy as well. It was as legitimate a document as she could get but she knew her old friend was throwing herself out there doing this, she still owed Azzy for saving her from a certain insurrection that almost ended up in this aristocrat's end, and though she was one of the sweeter nobles out there—a noble Azurite could actually handle being around for more than she’d like, she knew she didn’t like it and was probably worried out her mind signing for such a horrible operation. That being said, it looked like at this point it was said and done. Her eyes shifted to the amethysts, barely taking in the conversation. To be honest the Dossier did say they had to return her after the investigation, but that was subject to how long it would take.

Azzy would cast a wave at some of the on-lookers, “Sup, purps!” she’d wave at them with excitement, man she just loved amethyst, they were hilarious, best solders for sure. Chevron looked over at the group herself, they probably wouldn’t even be able to guess that she was a new cousin-gem to them, she wanted so much to meet them and see what it was like to be around gems much like her making.

At 6UE’s return and her remark, Azurite faked a terrifying murder-face, “Oh, you’ll regret the day you came with us, me and Chevy’s gonna tickle your feet till scream for the moon to save you!” At these words chevron immediately became horrified, “N-no! Z’at sound so,” And Azurite, immediately reading the sudden panic in Chevy frowned, “Chevy … it was joke girl, calm down.”

Chevron went straight-faced immediately, “Oh, yes … a joke.” She also reached for the nap of her neck, embarrassed. “Welp, who ya wanna ride, Glitterdance, or Chevy?” Chevy made a face, “Z’at sounds … odd to say, I do not like ee’t for some reason.”

[Amethyst]

At the Honor Guard's greeting, many of the amethyst's that had been eavesdropping relaxed, and allowed their weapons to disappear, a few waving back with smiles on their faces, though they soon had to get back to work. 6UC kept her eye on the small group that 6UE would be leaving with, but gave a smirk,"You know, just that daily grind, got to get to it. She'll be a tough one to crack, get your best on it," 6UC cast a goodbye-wave to the group and began to patrol the perimeter of the quarry.

6UE watched her go for a second until her attention flicked back to Chevron and Azurite as they had their back and forth. A big, genuine smile crossed her expression,"Oh no, not my weakness! " She laughed, though there was some truth to that, as she doubted she'd be able to handle that sort of contact without accidentally karate chopping someone. Then she pondered for a second over how she would be transported to wherever this faux interrogation would be taking place. She wasn't quite sure about that last statement, but like Chevron, she sensed a bit of a double entendre.

Her eyes flicked to the amethyst scout and she gave a light smile,"I'm pretty heavy, wouldn't want to weigh you down," She gave a little chuckle, then her eyes went to Glitterdance,"--and I gotta say, the whole idea of a flying sword is still blowing my mind," Ame prepared to board the sword when the Honor guard was ready.  

[Mad Azurite]

Azurite made something of a feigned smile at 6UC, she wanted to be happy to see some of the more lighthearted personal of the corps, but here they were being forced into some sketchy operation by the brattiest of sapphire’s out there. Though Black Sapphire was a bit of an imp herself she had to admit. “Don’t work too hard you guys, hell, this whole sting might not be worth the sweat in minute.” She added, as her attention shifted to Chevron who was … shaking? The little winged gem was twiddling her fingers shyly as she stared at the group of amethyst in front of her, she wanted so much to say something, but she couldn’t bring herself to mention it. What if they turned her away? She didn’t look anything like a traditional amethyst.

Chevron then heard 6UE’s comment, she felt a bit tested actually, “I’ee am sure I can carr’ee you, madam. But ee’t would be uncomfo’belle for you ee’ndeed. Or us, yes?” She’d respond.

Azurite started imagining Chevron galloping around like a horse and then tacking off like a Pegasus with 6UE riding her, it was … incredibly disturbing, but the funny kind of disturbing. “Yeah, Glitterdance has been with me for a while, or well, this Mark II edition at least. Thinking about upgrading, its creators’ been throwing me all kinds of cool ideas for the next model and I thought maybe I’ll pass this one down to someone worth the weight.” She shot a gaze at Amethyst, was she thinking of passing it off to someone else? She’d step towards the front of the blade, “Hop on, we got places to go.”

[Amethyst]

6UC glanced back as the Honor Guard continued to address her, she just smiled and shook her head. It was hard to say what the Azurite was referring to, but if the higher ups said it had to be built, then it had to be built. The imposing amethyst guard continued her careful patrol of the quarry, though occasionally glanced to see what was going on. 

Though she could tell Chevron had been a little offended, Ame couldn't help but to think the small gem might not want to lug around a seven-foot, half-ton quartz for however far they would need to go, even if she could technically do it,"Yeah, a bit uncomfortable is all," She maintained her light humor, then her eyes trailed to the sword that Azurite drew,"Someone worth the weight, hm?" She remembered how that sword felt in her hands-- "It's pretty heavy on it's own!" She chuckled, then hopped onto the sword, a bit of giddiness overcoming her. Every other time she'd had to sneak away, make excuses, lie...but now she got to get out of this busy work with the help of high ranking officials. Ame just tried to keep herself from slipping back into her contemplative mood; it wasn't possible that these gems would know of her rebellious activities, was it? Perhaps they couldn't know just how nervous the word interrogate made her feel lately, but if they didn't, that was all the better for her. She swallowed, paused, then spoke,"So, where are we going anyway?" 

[Mad Azurite]

Azurite smiled, hoping the gem would get her pun, it’d be a wieldy weapon for the amethyst, but she wondered if she could handle it. One day she’d let her swing it around, even if she couldn’t wield it, she could still ride it. The blade seemed to shift a little as the amethyst stepped on, redistributing its polarity most likely since its floating systems were far more than just typical engine thrust, there seemed to be some kind of anti-gravity device modulating its floatation.

“To a cit'eh!” Azurite would say as she took off. Chevron watched them for a moment as she remained at ground level, and then turned to the group of amethyst behind her with a shy dawdling of her fingers. She unwrapped the wings about her waist before making a half turn and saying, “À la prochaine, sist’erres!” she’d say with a wave before extending her wings and with a great flap, she took off into the sky with some serious ‘oomph.’

“Awh’yeah!” Azurite would shout against the wind, “We’re interrogating you in the worse way, infiltrating a human movie theater and watching the best flicks EVUR!” she’d say, it didn’t take long for Chevron to quite literally zoom to the side of them and match speed like it was not a problem.

[Amethyst]

The other amethysts were mostly down working in the quarry by the time the gems made their farewells, though some of them looked up from their work to wave goodbye. The amethyst accompanying them let her grin widen as they took liftoff, and the wind blasted over them, sending her thick hair billowing behind her. Ame's dark eyes flicked down as they continued to gain height; admittedly, watching the ground fall away from beneath her was a bit disconcerting, enough to cause an unease to churn in her midriff. But, for the Amethyst, this familiar, adrenaline-like feeling was more exciting than it was frightening. Her gaze was caught as Chevron boosted up to their altitude, and she continued trying to process this whirlwind situation. 

"So we're going to...a city...to see a movie?" She began, also calling over the wind. At first her brows were quirked as her lips pursed, giving her an incredulous expression, but soon a grin again broke out across her face. She had explored many things in Empire city, but she had yet to check out the mysterious movies that Azurite had once mentioned,"Infiltration and interrogation in the same day? I feel like I'm being sucked back into the Pink Court investigation unit," She had the urge to nervously pat her own neck, though she had to keep a steady grip so she wouldn't spill off of the sword,"--and I don't think I've ever been this pumped to be interrogated," She gave a chuckle, though she was still curious as to where they were going to end up. 

[Mad Azurite]

Azurite continued to pull the sword up to an elevation that would reduce the flight-time a little, it was more by guesses, but the smaller the world became down there, the better. “Well, be pumped, this interrogations about to be straight lit!” she laughed a little as she said this and brought her blade to straight glide across as she reached a desired height. “And trust me, you probably don’t want anything to do with that particular unit right now—if things keep going the way they are, that whole unit’s about to catch fire, no pun intended.” She wondered what would happen when some of the other units caught on to the madness that was going on, and was Pink Diamond even really aware?  She wondered how or what gave the sapphire clearance to go through with such an action.

“Ya know, there are lot of expensive assets on the planet right now—if the pole heaty-thingy causes something catastrophic, it could mean massive losses on both sides, not just earth. We might be expendable to an extent, but I think even the Diamonds would note that there’s some sacrifices just not worth the means.” Azurite managed to get out, Chevron listening carefully as she maintained and matched their speed beside them. Her dog-fighting instincts making her want to actually pull behind them and maintain a key sight instead—it was odd, she wondered if she had the ability to take on other aerial fighters at all to be honest.

Though she was more curious about this city thing, “V’at t’ees a city?” She would ask the two as Azurite was about to continue her rant, “Uh, hm… how do you describe a city?” She thought aloud for a moment.

[Amethyst]

Amethyst frowned as Azurite began talking about the project, though she wasn't sure what the gem was saying,"Pole heaty thing? You mean the reactor?" First off it was a shock to learn that Azurite had any knowledge about the highly classified object being built, but from the sounds of things, she wasn't altogether clear about what was happening, meaning she most definitely wasn't an insider on the project-- that thought came as something of a relief considering this guard stood at the Diamond's doors. Amethyst herself wasn't an insider either, but part of her was glad not to know everything,"Her clarity says all the time that this was everything she was made for, so the Diamonds must have some kind of plan, something that has been in the works for at least four hundred years," Her eyes shifted as a shade cast over her. Everything the Diamonds did had a plan. Whatever they were planning, it wasn't good for life on Earth, at least not from what she knew. Though, what was more interesting is that it seemed like Azurite was questioning the Diamond's judgment. Was it possible that this gem would understand if Ame came out about her rebellion? 

There was no telling just yet, but she wanted to err on the side of caution. She began to think on Chevron's question, though the gem had become considerably more dour in mood at the mention of Padparadscha's artifact. "Well...a city is an artificial habitat, or that's how it was explained to me. Gems build them, apparently much more impressively than humans, but honestly the best way to learn about a city is to go there and get a look around," She had been in Empire City so much she almost felt like she lived there herself. 

 

[Mad Azurite]

“Reactor?” she mumbled under her breath, that wasn’t what Seren said it was but then again Seren was about as in the dark about this as she was. The massive gem called her back, which she only returned because of the urgency of it. Seemed Serendibite had been putting her drones to work, keeping an eyes on various workings, something had her spooked and Azurite couldn’t tell why. “Huh,” Azurite would say, and then shifted her gaze to Chevron, who seemed all the more curious about what the two are talking about.

But her attention shifted when Amethyst explained the situation, and she beamed, cities were the best part about these humans, good food, strange sites, and easily peeved specimens. “Yep, best way to put it, and where we’ll find a movie theater! Oh’ho boy! I can’t wait to see what kinds of movies they got going on right now.” Chevron tilted her head as she tried to imagine it, but decided that it was something she should see.