The Hunt. (Open Thread)

[Achroite]

     

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    Homeworld, what a grand and wonders place to be. Everything around here was perfect. Every Gem had a job, every job had a purpose, and those who disagreed were placed away…yet, today was different for Achroite. He had been called to arms to find the terrorists who had brought up their might against the HomeWorld.


    His armored plating clacked against the smooth serves of the ground under him. His cloak which dawned around his shoulders flapped with the speed of movement he had, the hood over his eye had a dull white glow from his left side. Shining his own gem by the gems crowding the streets he pushed himself through. Chatter was all around as the call of the gem to bring others to their cause had shook the Diamond Order, causing a massive hunt for those called the Crystal Gems. Achroite had heard the message himself. It was nothing truly of importance but he had felt a burning anger within his very being. Who could betray the Diamonds in such way? He couldn’t wrap his mind around such a cause. – Zoned out in his thoughts he bumped into a gem passing by, he lifted up his hand and muttered a low sorry. Carefully he tucked his wings close to his back as he pressed through an archway.


    Before him was the long bridge that lead to the warp-pads. Curling a smile across his face he covered his whole body with his white cloak and finally made the walk across the bridge. His armor shimmered and shined as the small bits of the sun(s) glinted down with his cloak shifted with each step. Yet the warm sun(s) had vanished while he stood in the doorway. The doorway alone was grand, taller than even the Diamonds for easy access to their part. Standing at 7 feet tall, he peered up to look at where the arc-wary ended. The long shadow spread across the bridge now. He found himself in an awe struck state before slowly he started to walk into the dark abyss that laid before him.


    The darkness soon slipped away into the dull glows of the warp-pads that laid all around the room in a circle formation. His single eye scanned the room until he had found the one based on the planet earth, if he recalled correctly it was were the diamonds had set up a new Kindergarten. The thought of that sent a shutter down his spine. He never liked those places. Always seemed to have something hiding away at each and every corner. The ones that were finished had been the worst sites to see. So many of those holes. He shook his head and let out a long sigh. Those thoughts had to be pushed aside. As if he was gliding along his hand pressed against the central control to access the coordinates. He punched in the only codes he knew to the Sea-Spire. The screen gave a loud beep while the warp-pad to his right started to glow. This was it, were he left for his mission. Finding the ones who had been so foolish to fight against the diamond order, his steps lead to the pad. The bright white light shimmered engulfing his whole body with a shimmer.

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    Crashing of the gentle waves was the first thing he heard as he all but stumbled off the pad, his hand clinging to his chest while a heavy breath slipped from his lips. Such distances was never good on his poor body. His legs felt like jello as he took his first steps across the smooth ground under his feet once more. He fell forward but his arms out shot and clung to the control table. Less then graceful he pulled himself up gathering himself to the area he now stood. The pillars that dawned over loomed in the moonlight. Bouncing off the shimmering water which gave the whole area a small silver hue. Finally he was on Earth. His mission was to begin.

[Howlite]

Howlite was in the sea spire meditating. It helped calm the voices in his head. He used meditation to strengthen his mind. He had no other choice. Without meditation, his mind would've imploded from the strain centuries ago. All was calm and quiet as the Knight channeled his spirit and mind. It was pure tranquility. But suddenly a sound broke the peace. He was not alone. He opened one eye and switched to Tracker Vision. He spotted a gem he wasn't familiar with. He turned around to face the gem. He opened both eyes now and stared at the intruder.

"Who the hell are you? I'm certainly hoping you're not here for me. If so then you'd best be off. But something about you tells me you're on a hunt. You have the eyes of a predator. Who are you hunting?"

[Achroite]

Achroite's gaze was ripped from the ocean, the moon shimmering slightly while the waves crashed against the base of the platform. The voice that range out already annoyed. The voice alone just made this night a whole light worse. Gritting his teeth he turned slowly to look over his shoulder while his gem glinted in the moon light bouncing shimmers around the room as the rest his body followed. The gem just blankly looked at the other one. Yet not a single sound came from him. His head shifted up and down while he looked towards the oddity. That gritted frown spread against his lips while he just shook his head side to side. Grumbling loudly. 

His armor kept groaning and clicking together while he turned himself back to look towards the water, the wind that rushed against the Sea Spire making the cloak flap loudly yet the hood kept hold upon his head. He just simply had nothing more to say as he watched the water. Collecting his thoughts. Hopefully the other gem would just go away if he didn't say anything. Yet he suspected that wasn't going to be the case. 

[Chyrsocolla]

Melody had been busy working on a separate part of the spire, when she heard the warp pad activate on the upper level.

"Someone's actually here? It's been forever.."

The Chrysocolla would hop down from one of the stone towers and walk up to where she'd find Achroite and Howlite. She'd walk up and look the two of them over. Achroite looked like a bit menacing but it was hard to tell what side he was on. On the other hand, Howlite was someone who didn't look like they could do TOO much...still never hurts to be careful

"Is...there something I can help you two with? I couldn't help but overhear some commotion. Who...who are you two, exactly? I don't remember seeing you before.."

She'd put a hand by her axe but wouldn't pull it out unless necessary

[Paddy]

The gleaming pink ship soared through the calm atmosphere, over the silvery ocean waves. Padparadscha sat in front of the control panel, her pearl standing at attention next to her. It was a simple survey mission, though the sapphire knew from many recently botched assignments that Earth was full of sour surprises. "Keep an eye out Pearl, we're nearing the coordinate," The sapphire's eyes were scanning her maps and grids, while the Pearl kept her eyes on the wide open view-bay of the ship's command center.

"I see it, my sapphire-- the spire!" The Pearl piped up when her gaze settled on the dip in the ocean's level plane. Padparadscha looked up from her grids and smiled. 

"Lets hope this one goes smoothly, Pearl. Bring us in to circle the structure, I don't want to land quite yet," With that, the servant whisked into position and began to take over the automated control system in favor of manual steering. The ship slowed, and as they neared the sea spire, the vessel's gravity engines warped the water underneath it, sending rippling waves over the surface. They circled once, then twice, as the sapphire and Pink Pearl kept their eyes peeled on the structure.

"Clarity--are those...gems down there?" Pink Pearl uttered. Padparadscha leaned in closer to get a look. It didn't seem to be an altercation, but they would have to be cautious. All three of these gems likely saw the ship, they weren't trying to be stealthy after all. What in the world are they doing here? The sapphire thought to herself. 

"Bring her down, Pearl. But keep the doors locked. I'm sending out a transmission," The sapphire opened up her communicator and waited for Pearl to guide the ship down toward the other gems," This is Headquarters Court affiliate Padparadscha 10C8A 8QE. Please state your designation and purpose," 

[Achroite]

Achroite jolted as the ship zipped past. His eye tracked the movements until the ship seemed to have been close enough. Then. Another loud voice came out ringing in his 'ears' His hands smacked up to the sides of his head with a low growl, waiting, waiting, and then the message was done. Yet the voice was someone he had heard back on homeworld. Why didn't she just take the warp-pad..how odd. - As his hands slipped down to his sides while he walked slowly towards the ship. Standing right in front of the ship, he finally spoke out.

[Voice]

"Have you finally come to Earth for good reason, you are of the homeworld such as I. I do not recall in my mission statement that there would be anyone joining me, perhaps orders have changed. I am Achroite , I serve the White Diamond, My duty is to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Hunt the ones that call themselves the Crystal Gems. I have just arrived on the planet called Earth, these two gems I know nothing of, but they are of little use to what I must do. What is your mission statement?"

He turned his head to over his right shoulder, looking at the two other gems waiting for them to speak, to explain their own worth here. The ships 'Engine'  still caused his cloak to flap, now dawning his silver armor that bared the White Diamond symbol in the middle of the chest plate. 

[Howlite]

Howlite doubled over and started laughing at the Achroite.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's just that all you goons have some long schpiel about how great your Diamond is and how important you are. It makes me laugh."

He looked at Paddy.

"Well well well well well well well. What have we here? Been awhile since I seen ya. Here for little ole me? How sweet. So let me get this right."

He took a look around the room.

"2 loyals, an independent, and a butcher all in the same room. How amusing!"

He laughed like a mad man then looked at Melody.

"You have a choice pal. Side with them and get destroyed or butt put and I may consider letting you go unharmed."

[Iolite]

Iolite sighed as the warp pad shot her up. Another bust. While some exciting encounters came of these warp pads, 9/10 are just boring places nobody cares about. It was in times like these when Iolite does dangerous things in the name of entertainment. One such action was sticking her head outside the warp stream. It was fascinating seeing all the beams of light, but the cold forces Iolite to stick her head back in not long after. It seemed to be nothing different than when she last took a peek. Even this seemed to become a bore. She almost jumped out of her skin when a huge warp beam shot down, carrying something with it. 
Now, this was interesting.


Iolite took quite a while jumping from warp to warp trying to get to where it landed, but she wasn't quite sure where it was. However, as 3 Gems and a ship appeared around her, this was certainly the place. A quick glance around helped her understanding, as these Gems may be hostile. The ship clearly belonged to padparadscha, which is much preferable over some other gem's ship. 
Howlite was meditating on the floor, of course, he's here. Iolite was beginning to despise this encounter already. A blue fusion stood around, but all lines of sight lead to the winged Gem.

It wasn't hard to identify him a soldier Gem, even though it looked nothing like the soldiers of her day, they never needed wings. It seems Homeworld has likely already replaced her and those she knew several times over, which doesn't exactly fill a Gem with happy feelings.
It came to her attention that she'd interrupted something. Her eyes darted around the room.
What are you looking at?

[Chyrsocolla]

Melody sighed and shook her head as more and more gems were starting appear

"Good god I need to keep an eye on this place more..."

The Chrysocolla sighed before looking over at Howlite in slight annoyance at this point

"If you try to destroy me, then I'm afraid you're in for a rude awakening. I was sent down here to guard this spire in the first place, and restore it as well."

She had her guitar axe in her hand now, looking up at the ship in slight confusion

"I'm Chrysocolla, I was sent here to keep an eye on the Sea Spire. I've been allied with Homeworld and have no intention of switching sides any time soon...no matter the threat"

[Paddy]

The sapphire's eyes narrowed as each gem reported. "Pearl-- the dossiers," She gestured toward the panel, and began to ready herself for exiting the ship as Pink Pearl flipped through the report and handed the holoscreen off to her patron. She looked for any mention of these other Homeworlders, Achroite and Chrysocolla. Though neither had given their facet or cut, she supposed that if they were in the statement, she would be able to confirm their involvement. Sure enough, the Chrysocolla had long been assigned to her guardianship of the spire, and the Achroite was dispatched recently. Having comrades nearby gave her the strength of will to face that other gem, 9XR. There was another gem who hadn't stated her purpose, but through the ports, Padpara realized that she recognized this gem as well-- Iolite! 

The locks decompressed, and steam shot out from its sides as the door retracted to reveal the path down to the spire. She gestured toward her Pearl, indicating that the servant would stay aboard the ship as the corundum made her way down. "Good to make your acquaintances, comrades. A pleasant surprise to see you, too, Iolite," She nodded toward the Homeworlders, and then to Iolite. In a stilted moment, she avoided looking at the Broken Gem, but ultimately forced her smoldering gaze to settle onto him,"9XR."   

She was wary of revealing the purpose of her mission in front of Howlite, though she supposed that it was only fair to the other gems that she at least give the surface substance of her own reason for being there. Her true reasoning would stay between her and her Pearl. "The board is interested in progress here at the spire. I'm to do a quick survey and report back to Headquarters. Chrysocolla, I'm sure you have a report to share with me?" She looked to the blue gem, then shifted her gaze to the other Homeworlder. She was curious about this Achroite, and analyzed him carefully for a quiet moment. "Earth is a wild place, comrade, but our impeccable White Diamond would trust her best to such a noble endeavor. I'm glad to have you aboard our cause here in the colony,"

[Achroite]

The larger gem turned his body while he stood next to sapphire. His body looming over her by a good three feet in height. He just stared at the broken gem with a dull expression which the hood of his cloak mostly hid away, but the gleam of his gem sparkled while the moon bounced off it giving his lower half of his face a silver tint. His mouth was twisted into a small frown. His armor clanked against the floor as he now stood in front of the smaller gem. A single hand reached to his side gripping the handle of his sword, a frown still jetted across his face. With a calm voice, he spoke.

"Enough of this. We have no iss- I have no issue with you, broken gem. This is not your fight. I am looking for those who have gone against their code, their own way of life for this petty rebellion. We are not to fight. Not in this time. You seek fights, you seek to attempt to ensure you have power but that is not where any true power comes from. It's from within." 

His hand dropped from the hilt as he sighed heavily. His left wing adjusted slightly to give a 'shield' around the smaller Sapphire. His head turned to look around the room as the gems had almost doubled in number. He started to get an uneasy feeling. As the blue one spoke he raised an unseen brow. Curious to such boldness. It just seemed that the room didn't enjoy the broken gem. Achroite wondered what he may have done... 

"There shall be no fighting so close to the Warp-pads. I'm shocked that they worked enough for me to come down to this planet. Your fight is with another. None of the Homeworld, not us.. This goes to all of you. Your fight is not against us. You must understand each of us plays a role in this little fight we have. Mine is to find those of the Crystal Gems. I will ask now, does anyone here have any info that will lead me to their area. Or at least. Gain access to more info. 

[Howlite]

Howlite rolled his eyes.

"You're not a smart one are you? You see, your purpose may indeed be to hunt Crystal Gems. However my purpose is to hunt you and I have ties to the very faction you're against. So in Layman's terms: you're mine now soldier boy."

He summoned his rifle and loaded a clip.

"Okay! Who here would like to go first? Chick with the axe? Snobby chick? Perhaps you soldier boy?"

He then faced Iolite.

"Surely you want to start something right? I see that fire in your eyes. Let it out. "

He turned back to the soldier.

"I swear you loyals are so self righteous. 'it is for the Diamonds. We fight for our people.' what a load of crap. You guys aren't soldiers at all. You're just an errand boy with a fancy uniform."

He cackled at that.

[Iolite]

Iolite was almost tempted to let Howlite take Achroite, as that would mean more crystal gems for her, but she'd never hear the end of it from Homeworld if she let Homeworld's fancy new solder get eaten up by the earth. They sure wouldn't be happy about it, and she could kiss any hope of going home goodbye.
I'm afraid that this can go no further, as much as it tempts me. Iolite moved between Howlite and Achroite, raising her arm a little. The ship began to land, good, Iolite needed some backup. She turned to the cloaked gem, however only with her head, no way would she give Howlite her back. And you, Don't get any ideas, I got here first.
Now all you children, learn to get along, this is getting tedious. 

[Paddy]

(OOC: idk where Chryso is lol, I'll go ahead and post.)

The sapphire nodded in agreement with Achroite, hoping to avoid an unnecessary confrontation. It seemed that both of these Homeworlders just wanted to get their information and be done with it. "I have some minimal records at my disposal, I would be more than happy to share them with you comrade, if they can be of any help."

She jumped a bit when Howlite summoned his weapon and pointed it around like a gem possessed. Of course, it didn't really surprise her that 9XR was itching to pick a fight. It was clear that the other gems didn't want the situation to escalate, and neither did she-- but if it did, the odds seemed to be stacked somewhat against the Broken Gem despite his combat prowess. In the presence of allies, the tension of facing this gem didn't affect her as much as it had when she had been alone or amidst those of questionable loyalty. A radiant, confident grin blossomed over her lips. 

Iolite was an interesting gem to be sure, but Padpara still didn't quite know what to think of her. The gem wedged herself between the Homeworld allies, and the Earth-bound gem the sapphire considered her foe-- a dangerous spot to be in, though Iolite had often seemed flippant in the face of peril. Padparadscha wasn't sure what she could do or say to all of these warrior gems who seemed to be antagonizing each other. Mediation wasn't exactly her forte so much as interrogation was, but she'd try to say something at the very least.  

"Your philosophies are interesting, 9XR, but we might understand them a margin more clearly if you would lower your weapon. As has been said-- we're not looking for a fight today," She said, putting a bit of emphasis on the fact that 9XR was attempting to face down a whole group of gems at once. She'd gotten a glimpse of his ideals back in her first encounter with the gem-- interesting was one way to put it without potentially flaring the Broken Gem even further. Still, she couldn't predict how he would react. 

[Chyrsocolla]

(IM SO SORRY >_< I forgot to check on the thread cause of how slow it was going and I'm also on vacation in Alaska atm but aaaaa SORRY)

Chrysocolla looked in surprise when Howlite pulled his weapon out, but glared when she listened to what the gem was saying

She walked up and held her battle axe to the gems throat, not hesitating to slice him

"You listen here and listen good. Regardless of my affiliation, the Sea Spire is under my protection. If you want to fight, I suggest that you let me come with you to a more preferable location. You're outnumbered, no matter how many of the others would want to fight. But I will not have the place I guarded for so long be disrespected by the toxic presence of someone such as you.."

Melody didn't lower the axe during the entire time she spoke to Howlite, she rarely got angry but..this was one of those times