Mysterious Hierarchies ((Paddy))

[Paddy]

Padparadscha gave a terse curtsy to the chocolate pearl as she watched her and Azurite leave the room, while she lingered with her subjects. Before Amethyst could turn on her heels to leave, the aristocrat cleared her throat, and motioned for her to come in close.


Pink Pearl and Amethst shouldered up around her as she spoke in a low tone,"This is a code 1080 situation,"


"A 1080? Them?" Amethyst furrowed her brow, not quite ready to consider fellow homeworlders suspects under pursuit. Along that vein, it was over her head why these gems would be considered as such. Padparadscha sensed this apprehension easily.
She had it herself, back when she'd first been assigned to this work by Pink Diamond. But, over time, she came to see how necessary it was.

"You're an internal affairs officer now 6UE, get use to it," The sapphire was short with her words, and Pink Pearl gave the soldier a smug grin,"Do not under any circumstances trust any of the information you are given from a suspect," Amethyst had to wonder why the sapphire would sit through the briefing if she wasn't going to regard any of it-- and what would it be like to have to work with someone she was forbidden to trust?
The soldier fell quiet, and swallowed. 

With that, the small gem turned, and stepped out the door, her pace measured as she brought her holoscreen up into her face as she finally let herself loose, and dove into her records. As her memory was confirmed, and she was given a refresher on what Hematite had shared about her past, Padpara was further convinced that this Cocoa was indeed one of her prime suspects; Azurite was a key target as well, but with so little data about the gem it was hard to say. She glanced up and realized that the two gems strode not far ahead, walking in the other direction-- she flipped through to the dossier that was automatically transferred to her. It looked like any other contract dossier, but she pursed her lips, searching for clues in its amidst. Then, she tapped her wrist, and let the screen dissipate. 

She thought about Yelle, the peridot who had very well been there to save her life in the end of her botched attempt to detain Hematite. That gem would be an imperative witness in days to come, and the sapphire knew that she would have to work quickly in order to out maneuver her true opponents in this endeavor. If it were true that Hematite had escaped from this same inventor, then Nephrite was that gem's successor, quite possibly a comrade.   

The sapphire picked up her pace, without warning her subjects, who scrambled to lengthen their stride as their short-legged patron seemed to be in a sudden hurry. Her feet tapped lightly against the floor as she approached the now busier hall than it was earlier, especially as it opened into the main corridor, and down into the hanger terminal. Most of the gems parted to make way for the sapphire and her entourage as they neared the docking bay. With a sweep of her eyes across the hanger, she didn't spot Azurite or Cocoa, but decided to make her way over to her small pink shuttle nonetheless. 

[Mad Azurite]

As the two took a small roundabout leading to an alternate access point of the hanger, Cocoa would halt just before the entrance to the hanger station and look back at Azurite with concerned eyes, “and, of course. When you aren’t busy. Please visit. Beady misses you, she’s very fond of you Azurite.” The azurite had looked away from the gem like a child turning an away from a scolding parent stubbornly, this was something she was hoping pearl wouldn’t bring up again she didn’t feel like meeting that creepy broad right now. Not that she can talk. “I must return to my duties, if there is any issues, the drone I gave you acts as a two way communicator. Remember, you’re analyzing her - but this mission should also scare her away from impeding any further on Beady’s project. Nephrite is a dangerous asset envisioned by my master. Consider this her field test, the data you’ll give us will be key crafting more powerful gemstones later.” Azurite was actually smiling at those words, she’d always wanted to play with Nephrite, she was well aware the gem was far more equipped and versatile than herself, but the challenge would be worth it.


Cocoa turned on a heel, “I suspect she knows little of our operation, but …” Something just felt off about the situation, “I feel something is amiss here, and I aim to find out.” She would not let this sapphire interrupt her master’s will.



The azurite nodded it was time for her to regroup with the rest of her crew. “Alright, Cocoa, I’ll see ya later and don’t worry. I’ll keep my eye on her.” The pearl nodded and turned to make fast strides to her ship, it was time to return where she belonged.

As the pearl strode off, she’d make a few glances around and see the rest of the group heading toward what she assumed was the sapphire’s ship. As much as she liked the color pink a giant floating pink ship will always look awkward to her. Just saying. She’d take her time walking over and bowed her head to the sapphire and the rest of her crew to board this starship. “My apologies, m’lady. From here on, we can finally concentrate on the mission at hand.”

[Paddy]

Pink Pearl engaged the hatch, letting the doors slide apart and the ramp to drop down to allow the gems entry as Azurite made her approach. Padparadscha turned, and gave a warm smile to the soldier. "Ah, you've arrived. I look forward to the effective completion of this task," As she spoke, she gave a curtsy in response to the guard's bow, then motioned for Amethyst to come stand next to her. When she did, the soldier gave a salute to Azurite. Pink Pearl noted what was going on, but kept herself on task, and scurried into the ship to begin preparing it for liftoff. "Since you'll be working together, I feel it's only necessary that you become a bit more acquainted," She gave a sweeping gesture to the seven-foot purple soldier who stood next to her,"This is Amethyst 8L2S 6UE, a standard model, though she has experience in the internal affairs department," The guard stood silently at attention, though continued her internal sizing-up of the other soldier. 

She motioned for the two soldiers to follow her,"Now, Honorable guardian, you'll have to excuse my imprudence," intentional as it was, though, truly this was the more shrewd approach from her perspective. She moved to cover and qualify her maneuver,"But, this mission is rather off the cuff from my end; it was approximately two or so hours ago that I was informed I would be taking part in this assignment. Alongside that, my dossiers were awfully thin. As such, it becomes difficult for me to account for your talents within my strategy," She eyed the soldier, though without a proper analysis of this gem's character, she couldn't know if this warrior would be the type to pick up quickly on her meaning,"In other words, could you enlighten us as to how your capabilities may fit into our existing task force arrangement? I manage non-combative engagement, or defensive precaution in the event of more violent encounters. Amethyst is typically serving as frontal assault, due to broad constitution,"

This would be an interesting thing to hear for both the sapphire and the amethyst. As the engines of the ship began to power on, Padparadscha gave a bit of a start, gave a smile, then began to step her way up into the ship, motioning for the soldiers to follow. She strode her way over to her command chair, but remained standing, with her hands clasped behind her back as she pivoted to face Azurite. 

[Mad Azurite]

She’d return the sapphire’s guard a curt nod as her head would shift to the sapphire as she mentioned introductions and well, some clarification of who exactly this warrior was, and how she was going to be working with them. It didn’t estrange her at all, she was actually used to it. A prompt explanation of her strengths as a warrior were a necessity at this point. She was surprised the Sapphire referred to her so, and she almost wanted to stop her mid-sentence, but it was taking all of her willpower not to talk up her talents as far as she could. She would smile beneath the barely opaque veil and wonder, what she said almost garnered a bit chuckling from her. No, this squad was not made for what they were about to face, but she knew Nephrite, and she knew how this was going to go.

She’d wait to make her explanation, first walking onto the vibrant pink ship with some ease as she watched it come to life with abstract sounds and system engagements. “I was designed for shock trooper missions, Azurite’s are naturally light footed, we can’t summon strong weapons but we make up for it in reflexes and maneuverability.” She crossed her arms, “Though, I’m an exception. You won’t find much on me since our badass illustrious carbon-based Yellow Diamond has regarded all my files as classified black-ops material! And if ya don’t think I’m cereal, let me prove it.” She’d suddenly open a not-so-application-packed Holo-console of her own and jotted in a few things. The sapphire’s own holo-system would ring with an update as the dossier file’s information on Azurite would expand, showing it had several level classifications blocking entry to her data.

But, with the first tier unlocked, some information on the gem could be looked into, it mostly summarized into a single statement ‘this is a special command operative normally assigned to stationary guard duty for high risk sources, strike teams, rescue teams and more. Candidate and representor of the gem-shard infusion project. Currently experiencing some malfunction due to her introduction. Should be stable, treat with some caution, expect random outburst. Also, to all superior stations, and squad leaders she is assigned to, Blue Diamond has requested that we remind Azurite she is not to wear her honor-robe in combat or on field missions to exterior planets, she must only don that robe in the main court or around key Homeworld facilities, I.e. Moonbase, etc. Please remind Azurite to disrobe when on field missions.’

… odd. The dossier would also explain some of her feats, one strange one being eating 27 bowls of ice-cream (at least to be visibly accounted for.) In the matter of three hours. 

“But, if you’re askin’ me what I do on the battlefield, well.” She said the last part with a rising chuckle as her hand would reach back to grasp the long nearly three-foot pole-handle jutting from the massive weapon on my back. Even in its folded form, Glitterdance was still rather ominous looking, the strange mechanical harness strapping it to her back would come to life as it released the blade, allowing her to draw the weapon proper and display it honorously before the sapphire. “I put this sucker to good use. Glitterdance. A work of art in of itself!” she’d smile, the dossier’s contents would also give a brief description of the qualities and technical background of Glitterdance.

She look over at the Amethyst, who would miss seeing the bright almost sibling like smile the Azurite was giving her as she extended an arm, holding out this blade, “Wanna hold it? Don’t worry the safety mechanism are active so it won’t ignite or anything.” People just loved looking at her sword …. If they can carry it …

[Paddy]

Padparadscha nodded slowly, brows coming together slightly at the strange honorifics given to Yellow Diamond, though she supposed she couldn't dispute them. "I assure you that I don't believe you're cereal, though I am fairly certain that you're being truthful," She commented, trying to figure out why this gem was talking about grains, and pursed her lips at the confusing sequence of words, before she tapped her wrist to bring up her holoscreen, and analyzed its text. She then wondered if Azurite knew of her truth-sensing talents, and decided it would be better not to mention them, though she was quite relieved to have this excuse to tell the guard to remove her troublesome cloak. 

Her brows furrowed further when she read about the ice cream; she assumed she might have been more impressed, had she known what exactly ice cream was, though she had to wonder why this gem was performing actions like eating which she typically only observed in organics, and in some strange gems. She fluttered her eyes, and managed to reset her expression into one more content as she realized she'd easily gotten the information she was after, though there could've been things omitted-- that she would have to figure out once she had access to better data. Just in case, she saved an extra copy of the data. Then, she went to go on, but paused, eyes flicking between the two soldiers as a huge grin broke out across Amethyst's face.

The guard didn't need to be asked twice, her arms had already moved to reach for the sword before she stopped short, and glanced at Padpara for the okay. The sapphire would've rolled her eyes, but managed to contain some of her impatience. It wasn't as if they were holding anything up, the ship still had yet to take liftoff as Pink Pearl's fingers flicked along the panel, closing up the ship and engaging all necessary support systems. "Go ahead 6UE, just...don't go swinging it around, " She managed, waving dismissively before turning around and slipping into her seat. 

Amethyst's eyes lit up, and her muscles tensed as she anticipated the weight of the weapon. As she wrapped her hands around the handle, it seemed to weigh even more than it looked-- it dropped for a hot second before she stabilized herself, eyes wide. Once she had a feel for it, she pulled it up, and turned to the side so she could stick it out in front of her and peer down the length of the advanced weapon technology. "This thing must be a hell of a ride to fight with, eh?" Amethyst gave a wry smirk as she glanced up to Azurite, appreciating her own humor for a moment. She indeed had the urge to swing it around, but with how close quarters things were in the ship, she could see why it might be a bad idea. Just as it was beginning to feel more comfortable in her grip, and before the urge to try getting a few practice swings in could settle, she passed it back to the Honor Guard, a smile lingering on her lips. "Mine is, uh, basic in comparison," 

"Right then," Padparadscha interjected, wishing to continue prying for information from this soldier, "Thank you for sharing the information, Azurite. Now, I imagine that since you come from the same department, you must have some more first hand knowledge of our target's temperament? We know her abilities, but knowing the mind of an enemy is just as important,"  

[Mad Azurite]

The Azurite lit up at the Amethyst’s excitement who visually welled up herself, gosh it was like watching a sibling get to see a new toy, or was it more like showing her the toys she could eventually get for themselves? The amethyst’s perfect comments caused Azurite to roll-back with small bit of laughter leaving her as she thought up her own wry reply, “Girl, this is 230 miles of pure solar-charged particle thruster,” she’d say leaning in with a low voice; the specs always exciting her, “I could leave this ship in the dust in a hundred meter drag, easy. You’d eventually catch up of course, but the acceleration on this sucker is enough to cause whiplash.” She recalled her first time testing it, she ended starting the device but didn’t properly root herself. Let’s just say she ended up butt-flat on the floor and the blade five-feet deep in a material about as thick and robust as concrete.

When the gem said she wield something a little more basic, the Azurite would chuckle again, summoning her KABAR-styled dagger to existence and twirling it deftly between this one, “Couldn't be more simple then ol’ Shiv’a here.” She flip it in her hands, catch it by the blade and disperse it in a second.

Eventually, the Sapphire’s voice caught her attention, careful thinking of her next words, she was surprised the sapphire was so ready to ask her this question, and she wondered if the drone she was hiding was catching on to all this. “Well.” She’d say as she took her blade back and sheathed it in the apparatus that would collapse together in a series of folded-steel rolling against each other in a technical harmony that was almost beautiful. She walked over to a chair with panels presented before it most likely monitoring sub-systems of the starship.

“Knowing Nephrite, she’s in one of her moods as usual.” She’d strip the mechanism holding Glitterdance from her shoulder and set it beside the chair, speaking as she’d take a seat and lay back in a more relaxed position. “Luckily for you, she’s one of my creators more merciful combat variants. Neph doesn’t have a taste for shattering gems, or fighting really.” She'd stare into the vivid lights around her, “our creator did something I’d only assume was out of safety and created the odd conscious that is Nephrite; forced to hate combat, but yet she lust for everyday. Like a bad addiction she’s trying to drop …”

“But …” She’d state, her voice becoming strangely grim and intense, “I will say one thing. You will have never in your life, captain, faced a gem like this.” She’d smirk, excited to finally have no bars challenge against one of her master’s most classified lethally capable combat gem of her class. “She’s just as intelligent as she is dangerous.” And almost quite ominously, a sound came to mind, one she couldn’t help but hum aloud. Her voice wasn’t perfect, but she knew where to keep it where it was generally smooth and nice to the ears.

“You've got to press it on you
You just think it
That's what you do, baby
Hold it down, DARE …”

[Paddy]

Glitterdance was by far one of the most interesting weapons Amethyst had ever had the chance to see, she nodded eagerly as Azurite spoke, imagining what it would be like to actually get whiplash from a multi-use sword-- it would certainly hurt, but would also be quite the story to share with the other Amethysts. "Convenient and deadly!" The quartz chuckled. She could see the use in having a smaller stand-by like a dagger, even if the sword was a technologically superior weapon. "Simple can be effective, that's for sure," Amethyst smirked, hand hovering near the gem on her hip as she contemplated showing off her own sword. Though, she had second thoughts, letting her hand drop as she looked toward the sapphire. 6UE strode over to where she usually stood, next to the window, then wrapped her arms across her chest as she waited for lift off. 

Pink Pearl tensed up as Azurite seemed to linger near the panels, but her eyes didn't come off of her task; despite how much she wanted to tell that soldier to back away from the sensitive instruments, she knew it wasn't her place to say as much to an Honor Guard. Soon, the ship glided up, and began to hover through the docking bay, toward space and the blue planet that awaited the team outside. 

"Hmm, we'll see about that," The sapphire responded after the soldier finished speaking. At this point, she was deep in thought, rubbing her chin. What was the point of purposefully creating a soldier who didn't want to fight? Safety reasons sounded like a pretense, as she knew there were other ways to ensure that gems like Nephrite wouldn't be able to rebel against their masters. Yet, this experiment had rebelled. Padparadscha found herself exceedingly perplexed, especially as Azurite began to sing something uninterpretable to her. It was easy to remember another escaped rebel experiment, and her reluctance to fight-- and the philosophy that gem seemed to hold. Still, her core tingled with discomfort every time she thought of that rebel. Had Hematite been created that way on purpose? The thought only fed the burning curiosity within her. 

But, Hematite hadn't been the only rebel soldier she'd met who had little desire to engage in conflict; in fact, it seemed that many rebel soldiers she'd met had a disdain for fighting, though there had been others who seemed to embrace it nonetheless. The sapphire contemplated this for a moment. "I would like to take advantage of this gem's intellect and combat-shyness. If all goes well, we can wrap this up nonviolently," Though, she recalled how swimmingly that tactic had worked with Hematite, and wondered again if it could be applicable,"If not, I would prefer that we don't take action until the perimeter is solidly secure. I know your...technology is capable of some feats, but chasing her would most certainly put us at her whims. I want to be able to out flank her in any circumstance," She had a sinking feeling that things wouldn't be going her way,"She knows the area better than we do, and if your pearl's intel is correct, there could be allies lurking in the vicinity," 

The ship drifted out into space, the empty void stretching between Headquarters and Pink Diamond's colony, a blue crescent emerging from the darkness. The ship zipped through, and Earth grew across the view-pane as they neared. Pink Pearl began to give her usual announcements-- "Nearing atmosphere; shields engaging, stabilizers in effect," Her quiet voice projected rather well in the small bridge of the ship. Soon, the shuttle slowed, and entered into orbit just within the exosphere, locating the proper coordinates. "Location locked on," The ship punched through the ever thicker atmosphere of Earth, its hull glowing and shimmering as friction licked across its shields, closing in on the destination.  

[Mad Azurite]

As the ship began to make its descent, the Pink Sapphire’s personal holo-console seemed to be sent a direct update to the dossier, specifically in both information regarding the origin of Nephrite and some more personal history on Azurite and her original team; as it scanned back to Nephrite, it would mention in its brief description, a facility known simply as ‘K-Σ.’ But, the information was displayed somewhat differently than the others, seemingly in collapsed default explanations requiring something akin to a prompt asking to ‘Access Files?’ and a disclaimer about unauthorized access to classified documentation. Somewhere far down the line, it seemed her credentials had been changed or was it that the file had been revealed on purpose?

As the ship took off, Azurite noted she might have been a little off in her calculation, maybe on ground speed she could out maneuver this ship, but in space? This sucker would beat her outright for sure. But it didn’t bother her much, she rarely ever used Glitterdance for space-combat though the few times she did it was actually quite enjoyable. There was a mark difference between space flight and atmospheric flight. It was an issue of pressure and control, or a lack thereof in terms of space.

Her head would tilt toward the sapphire, her brow raised. “Combat-shyness?” she’d rotate in the chair to narrow her head on the sapphire, “Think you need to dial it back a second and think about what I said, she doesn’t like fighting but she has a hunger for it that’s almost primal. Like I said, she’s in one of her moods and she’s taking a walk.” She leaned back, “You have to understand, being a prototype gem myself, we’re designed with all kinds of odd quirks and mental triggers.” She recalled when she came fresh from the heat-treat, her emotions were on fire- ready to release that warrior spark on anything. It was a sick revelation, how her and her war-kin reveled in releasing this vicious urge to destroy on each other- only to learn to trust and respect each other in the end.

And she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“Prototype experiments are exactly that. A wild experimentation revolving the consciousness.” She sighed, “But that gets into some wild stuff that only a gem designer or a lapidary could explain to you. Most of whom are out of their damn minds, heh not that I can talk.” She thought about something, an epiphany really about what this mission really amounted to, “So really, we’ve been sent to fetch Ms. Moody, a high-class extremely dangerous gem weapon while she’s having one of her pity parties. ‘Oh I’m so sad, I’m a monster, it’s like I’m trapped in my mind and my insatiable desire for chaos … bleh, grow the hell up.” the last part in a mockingly deep tone, with an odd accent of a lisp as if she was trying to mimic some strange tone Nephrite makes as she talks.


Her head would shift to the viewport as the blue planet would come into view, it was far too long, she hadn’t been on earth for almost three years now. Her face lit up behind the veil, she couldn’t wait to finally have some fun!

[Paddy]

As her bracelet blipped, letting her know she'd gotten a message, she wondered who it could be from. She tapped her wrist and brought it up; then, her eyes widened as she realized this was more information about Azurite and thetarget, Nephrite. But, when it asked for higher clearance, her gaze flicked to each gem in the room. Should she open it in front of them? It wasn't a matter of if, but when, she would look at it. Padpara decided that there couldn't be harm, and looked over the document as the soldier spoke, her curiosity and her focus split down the middle as she regarded them both at once. It seemed that K-Σ was her target, and she made mental note of the things she read before she saved another copy of the data, then closed down her holoscreen.


With pursed lips, she turned to look fully at Azurite, then gave a nod. "Well, I suppose I'm glad to have a gem who is so knowledgeable about our enemy here. You make it sound as if this is a regular occurrence..." Which would supported one of the many branches of her theory. The creations coming from K-Σ, as well as other Yellow Court prototype models, seemed to be running amok. Her head tilted slightly as she regarded the soldier, looking for cues. "Being in one of her moods as you say, do you think she would be reasonable if we were to approach her peacefully?" The sapphire wanted to avoid combat at all costs, especially considering how it had gone for her the last time she'd dabbled in it. For a moment, she wondered if this Nephrite's condition could be compared to Hematite's.


The ship coasted down through the azure haze of Earth's troposphere, the coordinate location unfurling beneath them. Amethyst scooted closer to the window so she could peer down across the misty, verdant forests below. She'd heard many stories about how much her patron sapphire detested the jungle, but for now the sapphire remained leaned back in her chair, legs crossed as her pearl searched for a viable landing zone. She mulled over the rest of what Azurite had said. Her curiosity about this gem, and her creator, were rising with each word.

"Landing zone located," the pearl announced, and the ship passed over the highlands of the forest before it came down over a clearing in the trees. As the ship sunk down below the canopy, and came to land smoothly over the semi-level plane that had been detected. Soon, the engines quieted, and the locks on the doors decompressed. Midday air rushed in through the open hatch, with a burst of sounds, chattering organic creatures and the wind through the trees. The ramp descended into the grass. 


"Oh, Honor Guard Azurite-- respectfully, before I forget, it was mentioned to me that I should remind you to remove your shroud before we head out onto the field," Of course there was no way she would forget that, Padparadscha was eager to be able to accurately gauge the truthfulness behind this gem's words. Based on some of what she'd said about herself, Azurite would be hard to read, so the sapphire would have to stay alert; she still hadn't ascertained the true nature of this mission. For now, she was glad to have Amethyst and her pearl with her, just in case. She stood up and motioned for Amethyst to move out. The quartz unfurled her arms, and headed over to the hatch.  

[Mad Azurite]

The azurite had taken a moment to relax, these shuttle chairs were so comfortable! Seriously, what interior-space designer was sitting around pouring hours into revolutionizing this butt-spoiling chair? Somewhere down the line that gem had to realize how odd it was to design something that gems were going to be setting their rears in and not softly one might add. It was something she could appreciate, that there were designers who kept up with the better things in life. She wouldn’t respond immediately to Padpara, it almost seemed like she had fallen asleep, but it wouldn’t take long for her to shake off this trance and look over with some surprise, “Whoops! Sorry, totally got lost in the feeling of my butt being serenaded by this chair. Seriously, the minds of our kind, we’ve come so far.” She’d say as she’d push herself out of the chair and stretch.

“That’s right! I can finally take this off!” She sounded more than ready to throw off the old shroud, she loved it since it hid her face, which she was sure if Blue Diamond knew she was using it to make goofy faces at aristocrats and important generals without their knowing it, she’d have it ‘repossessed,’ as punishment for her silly antics. But there was also times a little fresh air on the skin was totally welcome, this was one of those times. She’d reach for the hood, and simply pull the robe over her head, the first thing to be seen was bunch of wild crisp blue hair that seemed to be begging for freedom beneath the robes cover, but what might have immediately seemed off was that Azurite was glowing. There was a reason they called her Ms. Glitter, a nickname even her dossier reports, and the reason was easy to see. The gem’s chest, held together by what looked like a containment bubble, throbbed like a beating heart, flashes of light focused in her chest which was partially blocked from view by some kind integrated chestplate, heated plasma visibly discharge off some kind of wild reaction going on in the cavities of her torso.

The gems’ dark expression would shift to the sapphire, the edge of her glowing irises’ descending into a darkness in her gaze that may have seemed unsettling and eerily void. The wide almost shark-like smile wasn’t enough to hide a sickly or ill aura behind the gems’ facets. To make the gems strange appearance even odder, there were parts of her body that existed in a vantablack, a darkness so intense it didn’t reflect any light, making its shape difficult for eyes to perceive. Azurite’s left leg, seemed to almost blend with its own shadow, and strange miasmic energy rose off the surface ofher flesh like decaying particles, which may have been exactly that.

“Nephy might come quietly, depends on how things are handled really, and the extent of her bad mood this time.” She stretched a bit and watched as the rolling trees of this desolate region of unnamed earth rolled across the panorama of the starship’s bridge. The outside was practically beckoning her at this point, she’d reach over to lift Glitterdance into the air and hook the harness around her chest. She’d leave her robe on the chair, not before neatly folding it of course. Then she’d take another stretch, this time leaning over to stretch her lower back. “Just, if you get the vibe she doesn’t like you. That’s a good sign just to step back and let her cool down and let someone else talk to her, prolly. She just loves me, and by love I mean she usually tells me to go die at least once a day. She’s a charm, love her so much.” The story of many gems and how they leave Beady’s lair often gives some odd and creepy vibes to many gems that meet her … artistic works from outside perspectives. Despite what Azurite was saying, there was a strong familial bond between many of the gems from K-Ʃ in a way that many other gems found alien and extreme. Despite what she was saying, it wasn’t the whole truth, but more an exaggeration.

She loved Nephrite, as much as she could, enough so to refer to her as a ‘sister,’ a word for one of the deep bonds humans seemed to take so much pride in. She had no other way to compare it. Nephrite was about as sweet and lovely as a prickly pear, not the most hospitable, or the quaintest gem to make conversation with and seemed wrought with spite at some times. But as much as the gem acted like she was a living weapon, which she was, there was a mark comradery and empathy with her that often use to trouble Azurite. She wanted to say she felt sorry for Nephrite and her strangely crafted psyche.

The thought crossed her mind on her creator’s supposed burdens with being what she called a lapidary, but she honestly felt worse for her creations.

[Paddy]

The sapphire didn't dwell too much on the fact that Azurite seemed to space out for a moment. It certainly seemed to be a different sort of spacing out, as compared to the lulls Amethyst would get into. Padpara had a difficult time with this gem's colloquialisms, but appreciated Azurite's positive outlook on gemkind's advancement. A genuine smile formed on her lips and she gave a nod,"I recently had my ship refurbished, I'm glad it's up to your standards," She said, simply, leaving out the rather embarrassing reason she'd had to get everything in the ship replaced.

As the veil was finally lifted, the sapphire found herself a bit shocked with what she saw, but managed to reel her reaction down to the slight floating of her brow.This soldier's appearance was certainly novel, Padpara had never seen a gem like her before. Naturally, her curiosity was piqued by the unusual appearance of the gem, questions began to pile up in her mind. But, she listened intently as Azurite went on about Nephrite.

Though, lacking the refinement of a socialite, Amethyst blatantly stared at Azurite, eyes sweeping up and down the gem as she realized that the shroud had covered more than just another burly soldier. All of the top secret covert stuff suddenly began to feel more real to her; she'd never participated in anything too far from the surface level of the task-force's regular jobs. Like her patron, the soldier had her own questions growing in number about this gem she'd only known of for a matter of minutes. Pink Pearl stayed put in her seat at the controls, glancing back at the honor guard for only a moment before she swiftly looked back at her screen.

Padpara pursed her lips as she noticed Amethyst gawking. Her brow shot up and she shooed the quartz out of the door, then she turned to look at Azurite, giving her a nod,"I'll attempt to be cordial with this gem, but we shall have to see how this goes now," She turned, and followed Amethyst out into the wilds. Her skin crawled; she knew this place was infested with danger. Her eyes swept across the forest, greenery billowing around them from every direction, reaching into the clearing for light. The voices of the many denizens of this place set her on edge; any of those creatures could pop out and attack, though she hoped that two soldier's would be enough to help her with such a thing. She shook out her arms to release some tension, then tapped her holotech to bring up a screen, and flipped through it to the mission dossier.

"We should be in the general location of the target, some of this drone footage will be useful in finding key locations," She was thinking out loud, mostly for focus purposes, but hoped to also catch Amethyst up on the most necessary things she needed to know. Padparadscha assumed the honor guard had gone through the dossier before, so didn't linger too long on rehashing that information,"We don't want to leave a trail that is too conspicuous. Considering the nature of this dispatch, Pink Pearl will not be waiting here for us. She will return to a designated extraction point once our objective is complete," She turned toward Azurite, "Now, esteemed Honor Guard, you mentioned that she often gets into these moods. Is there a particular sort of place she would go to in this situation?"

[Mad Azurite]

Hm, this was odd. She swore for a moment every gem in the room had either gone silent or … -she looked up to see eyes watching her. Unfortunately, or maybe not, for these gems she was quite aware that often when she removed her shroud she’d get plenty of curious stares from gems who’d never observed projects like herself. It never bothered her, but … it did open for some hilarious jokes. Often when she caught gems staring at her, she’d start making jokes about how cute she is, sometimes times causing gems to grow extremely unsettled. She couldn’t help it, gems seemed so awkward when such things as attraction was brought up around them. She’d love to see their reaction, but instead it seemed it was time to get more serious and simply held back her urge to make a joke – as painful as it was. Maybe she’d get another chance though, some gems just can’t help but stare.

She’d watch the group exit and then a realization seemed to zip across her conscious, she’d check around her, realizing that the small drone Cocoa gave her was hiding out somewhere, she’d search through that wild mess of a mane of hers to feel something squishy and orb-shaped hidden in her locks. Then hunch her shoulders and follow the group out into the open air. She’d nod to the sapphire’s words about the current plan.

“Lucky for us,” she’d start as she accessed her own very simplistic holopanel system and brought up a regional map of the first generation crash site, “Hm,” she’d flick the panel which would point towards the rest of the group, a sequence would start in white lettering, ‘Processing captured footage … Complete. Commencing playback now …’ the panel would go dark, then flash as it was replaced by impressively stable camera footage. Whatever was recording this was fast and seemed to possess the ability to levitate and the focus was very notable. A large first colony ship strewn with wild flora loomed before its display in a kind of bird’s-eye view, a large access door to the ship at its front. Suddenly from the right a bit of green could be seen entering its capture range.

It would morph into a figure, a lime-green, very skinny, tall almost curve-less feminine gem floated towards the entry to the ship. Green hair like a spiral about her head, a strange almost mechanical appearance to the gem’s body and face made her appear even more synthetic, and the enduring look in her eyes was saturated with a deep pained gaze as if she was hurting for some reason. She quite literally floated, her translucent-body never seemed to touch the ground, she didn’t even have fingers or toes, they weren’t to be seen, and instead her wrist and ankle stopped becoming floating transparent orbs at where those joints were.

But what might have been even stranger was the cloud of stone that followed her, acting as a kind of garb and in some parts, her flesh. Though she didn’t have hands, the gems’ limbs and features seemed to be partially ‘represented’ by these stones. Fingers, toes even parts of the joints of her body, it acted like an armor and yet like an extension of the gem’s body as well. Azurite would pause the feed. “I know Cocoa already told you what she’s capable of, but I’m gonna go over a few things real quick. I’ve only ever sparred with Nephrite once.” And she wasn’t going to lie it almost didn’t end well for her, the versatility the Jade had was very difficult for her to handle. “She’s a hassle, a real challenge, hopefully, and I’m saying this mostly for our own good, we can talk her into just going back home.” She sighed …

“If not, we are gonna have one hell of fight on our hands. She wouldn’t outright destroy us, but I really don’t feel like having my form get vaporized today. Today’s been a nice day so far, ey?” She directed her finger to the stones floating around the Nephrite, “She told you how they can fire energy, but it’s not just any kind of energy, she fires particle beams. Very dense, particle-laced energy. If it hits the right metal, the right unstable gas, anything, it can create particle reactions, and we all know what kind energy can be released when you tear apart particles. I’ve seen these beams strike clean through several steel-layered-alloyed defensive panels and can even spark explosions with nearby objects thanks to unstable particles zipping through the air. And to make matters worse, every one of the stones floating around her body can emit this energy in various forms of attacks, and the range on these beams is just badass. Not even gonna lie, I’ve seen her snipe a renegade who was so far away it was as if I was looking down at an ant, or a grain of rice even.” She pointed to the first colony ship next. “If we have no choice but to fight her, be sure whenever you take cover its thick enough to take it. If not, she’ll put a hole right through it … and you. If you have no close-combat expertise, keep your distance. Though the stones might seem like they are purely ranged, they can fuse together and she can create various bladed-shapes with them that she can utilize when necessary. All the while coating them in particle energy, just as the beams can penetrate layered steel. The bladed forms will chop right through them too. Luckily gem weapons can resist them for some reason.”

Most likely it was the almost magical nature of the weapons themselves. “If you do intend on dancing close with her, be careful. She’s pretty damn good at fighting in CQC. But, she does have a very exploitable weakness …”

“Her energy output is limited, due to how much power she has, she actually has to douse herself with radiation in order to charge her abilities. This is any form of radiation, gamma rays from the sun, standing in front of nuclear waste. Her body absorbs it and uses it as a gauge to power her particle manipulation. The more intense her attacks, the more it drains from her reserves. It takes time for her to recharge though, so once she’s out, she’ll be more open. But don’t underestimate her, she can still chop you up good with stone-blades she can form.”

She’d continue to play the video, right as the Nephrite was about to enter building. The green gem would stop, her head canting back and looking directly at the drone. Her sharp eyes would narrow, lifting a stone ‘finger,’ it would flash and suddenly the camera footage would blare and become static, a prompt at the bottom reading, ‘… feed terminated, signal loss. Continue?’ she'd tap the video and a map would form, listing the gem’s last known location.

[Paddy]

Padparadscha watched the footage with an intent gaze, uncomfortable memories coming to mind at the sight of a downed first-era ship. Though, she didn't dwell on that for too long before her eyes pulled to Azurite. Quietly, she listened, and her eyes narrowed as she realized what the true scope of this would be. She gave a nod, then thought about what she'd heard for a moment. Though the QE sapphires had been designed for a very specific purpose (one this nephrite would never be able to replicate), Padpara couldn't help but to feel a bit threatened, as she was reminded of the fact that this experiment had similar energy applications as her own, on top of the fact that the gem had combat expertise-- something the sapphire sorely lacked. Though, it seemed this nephrite had issues with her loyalty, something Padpara would never entertain herself. After her moment of stewing, her lips parted, and she spoke in a measured manner.


"My kineticism is a form of plasma manipulation, as I'm sure you've been briefed on. My ability works in a similar fashion; passing through certain particles allows me to conduct and store them. It takes a great deal of concentration to use, and regeneration of my energy stores depends on the amount of free electrons and ions available in the environment-- which is quite a bit here on Earth  
Your pearl had mentioned that this plasma can disrupt Nephrite's form. But, it sounds as if this would be a tricky endeavor. If she can absorb energies, it's likely that the radiation output from the plasma I conduct will feed her regeneration. Very prudent of you to share this-- in an escalated situation, it sounds like we'll have to get her cornered in a low-radiation zone, and I will have to strategically limit the use of my ability. I am not a combat gem, so I will do what I can to stay out of your way in the event that close combat ensues," She nodded to both of the soldiers.
Though, she new each of their priorities would be somewhat different; 6UE's priority should be focused on ensuring the sapphire's safety, while Azurite's would be facilitating the capture. 

Amethyst cracked her knuckles absently as she imagined what kind of fight this would turn out to be. Of course, she was looking to prove herself to this Azurite-- might do her some good to get a recommendation from the "in-crowd" if she were going to become the best amethyst. There was also the chance to show Padparadscha that this typically manufactured soldier could do just as well as any fancy custom gems. Simple works, or at least that's what she liked to think.
For now, she left the thinking and talking to the other gems. 

The sapphire had been quiet, thinking about the last bit of footage. "Nephrite knows she was being watched, it's likely she is anticipating our arrival. I suppose from here our approach should be strategized. There's a chance she's not at this location any longer, but it wont hurt to scout out the area," Her volume lowered as she spoke,"We also need to keep an eye on this terrain. It's highly mutable, and could play to her advantage if we're not careful. Once the target is in sight, she needs to stay that way. Honor guardian, do you believe it would be better to have a covert or a casual approach?" She often didn't have a personal associate of her target's on hand for these sorts of questions, so she would take advantage of it while she could. But, she motioned for Amethyst to get into her typical formation, in anticipation of heading toward the coordinate blip on the map. 

[Mad Azurite]

As Azurite listened, she was actually a little surprised that was the first question the sapphire brought up, but also the lack of fear, she’s got spunk and the smile on Azurite’s face brightened up. But as the sapphire talked, she got into something Azurite wasn’t really sure should explain, she was up to date on some of Nephrite’s technology but the secrecy her creator held when it came to creating a gem that was literally intangible was one other thing. This was probably the most revolutionary thing about Nephrite, the gem couldn’t touch or be touched by anything that wasn’t specialized weapons designed to harm her or in this case …

“I get what your saying, but you don’t have to worry about that.” Azurite assured the sapphire. “Yeah, nephrites can absorb radiation, even from plasma too I guess.” She’d leaned down, picking a small wildflower from the dirt as she’d lift it to show her, “But just like the flora here on this planet which I’m sure my creator was inspired by for Jade’s conception, yeah it feeds off the sun’s rays, but if you threw this flower at the sun, it’s just gonna burn away, it’s not gonna be able to survive. I’ve seen her actually fry and distort her light-body because she got too power hungry and tried to absorb energy like plasma, or even radical energy spiraling in nebulae. Besides, the mechanisms in charge of charging of her particle weapons is slow, once it’s out it takes time to build up again. The cost of such a powerful weapon.” She was trying to make a point, but obviously she wasn’t a hundred percent sure how flora on earth here work, photosynthesis was something she remembered Beady explaining to her, how plants can feed off the rays of the sun or any form of radiation like it, but she was unaware that picking the flower would result in its death.

She’d toss the flower away and look to the direction they were heading too. “Sounds like you two might get along, like I said, she doesn’t like to fight. Hopefully we can settle this with a good talk.” Though she had to admit, something felt odd, she was aware that this was an operation orchestrated by her creator, she was mostly trying to spook this Sapphire, but, it was still odd. And what the sapphire said next also irked her, the gem made an incredulous glare at the dossier, there was something they weren’t telling her either. Yeah, Nephrite was showing her ugly side as usual, she had a rebellious streak, or more like she is easily but this is a little odd for her, most of the time her rebellious actions weren’t extremely prolific. The things she did often was simply to try and irritate her creator and others. She wondered if Nephrite was simply trying to get at her as well.

She started checking some of the drone footage, also beginning their mile-long trek and heading toward the objective. Azurite’s serious side was actually being amplified by the gem shards accumulated to her psyche. Her voice had suddenly grew very dark. “She hasn’t been seen leaving, but I guess that doesn’t mean there are ways out within the ship.” The sudden annoyance in her eyes shifted quickly to a grimace, “I’m more worried about what could be hiding in those ships. Issue is, stealth will be necessary, but not for Nephrite.” She started to make her way toward their destination, “If we manage to find Nephrite, and accidentally spook her, that could end badly. It’d actually be best if we just let know we’re coming. Like said, she doesn’t enjoy fighting but if we scare of give her an indication we intend to fight, she’ll get feisty. It’d be best we just confront her. But don’t worry, I’ll be shattered before any of my comrades are harmed in this situation …”

“I swear it.” She’d march just before an ingress, the earth dipped into a size-able rushing river before them, hidden by the brush and trees that leaned over it.

“I got this.” she’d grasp her GD.M.II by the grip, drawing the folded monster. Since the blade was collapsible, it still held a bite, she walked up to an oak tree and, “Rragh!” the sudden sounds of this massive blade-breaking the air around it whirled into existence as she’d throw a cleaving strike at its base. The moist wood would try to the resist, but its edge dug deep, enough that she pulled back to lift her foot and with several strong shoves of the heel the large oak would begin to timber and slam nose-first into the other side of the riverbank. “Alright, let’s get going.” If one was watching carefully in the brief moments of initiating her swing, her chest sparked up like a light-show and suddenly her entire form and body grew a deep lavender hue. It would last for a moment, and fade away, by the time she had sheathed her sword the aura had faded.

[Paddy]

Her arms crossed as she listened and her weight shifted to the other leg as she tried to hide just how relieved she was to hear that her ability wouldn't turn out to be a huge liability-- as long as she used it well. It was already something that could prove to be hazardous to comrades who weren't accustomed to working around her abilities. Alongside that was the possibility that this could be resolved in the way she preferred, which came as an even greater relief.


When Azurite's aspect seemed to darken, Padparadscha watched the gem carefully. She searched for particular signs, things the answer to that question would reveal about the nature of not only Nephrite, but Azurite herself. At the Honor guard's last words on the subject, the sapphire's brows floated up. If there was one thing she knew about soldiers, it was that they tended to carry an unseen burden from the weight of their task-- she wondered if there was something more behind that resolute declaration. The sapphire contemplated for a moment; would she offer the same? Surely a valuable sapphire wouldn't be expected to, but she had risked herself in the past for certain gems. All she could manage in response to such a dire expression was a single nod of her head.


Both of the pink-court gems watched, faces stricken with amazement as Azurite whacked a thick-trunked oak straight from its roots. "Whoa!" Amethyst exclaimed, unable to contain her reaction as a grin broke out on her face. Her eyes darted from the tree, to the gem who had severed it, just in time to notice the light fade from Azurite.
Her eyes widened as even more questions began to sprout up. She strode up to examine the stump that had been left behind, then looked back up to Azurite. "heh, I'm glad you're on our side-- and by the way, thanks," Wouldn't want to be on the business end of that force, and it was good to know this Azurite would have their backs, even if the sapphire wanted to call this a 1080 situation. 6UE gave a nod, then, her head swiveled toward her patron for a moment. She took point, and went ahead across the river. The amethyst's inborn sense of balance allowed her to cross without much fuss, though the tree gave slightly under the weight of each step. Without further ado, 6UE ended on the other side of the river, gave a sweep of the area with her eyes, then pivoted, and kept her eyes moving between the other gems. 

The sapphire would be the next one to shuffle up to the base of the fallen tree, and she peered over the edge at the water. There was an uncomfortable feeling of deja vu that hit her as she watched the water flow along-- it wasn't too quick, nor was the river so wide, but Padparadscha remembered all too well her first encounter with a river. Her eyes trailed along the log, dew-laden from the moisture that sprinkled over it in its fall. She rolled her shoulders back, and stepped up onto the log, taking a moment to stabilize herself before she carefully moved along. It took a great deal of willpower to keep herself moving forward, without looking down. Each step forward became more agonizing for her, tension continuously rose in her shoulders until she finally came to the end of the log. Amethyst went to extend a hand to her patron, though, she remembered the sapphire's tendency to want to do things independently, and stopped short while the small gem slipped down to the soft, spongy ground.

Padpara gave a relieved huff, but it was short lived as she continued to contemplate the things that Azurite had said. Did this gem truly consider her and Amethyst as comrades, who she would shatter for? Was the 1080 she had placed on this gem fair? Only time would tell, she decided. "Other things lurking near these ships...most likely corruptions," She managed, trying to pull herself out of her headspace. Dealing with corruptions certainly wasn't her job, yet she'd accumulated quite a bit of experience in doing so,"Amethyst, you have yet to meet a real corrupted gem, lets hope it remains that way. Though, we should also be on the lookout for dangerous aliens, and Nephrite's allies that the Honor guard's pearl had mentioned. I'd rather not have our operation impeded, but it will be tricky to do so while maintaining a passive approach to the target...and...well, truly, let's hope to Homeworld's star and back that will be the extent of this, Honor guardian. If it's true what you say, that this nephrite and I would, um, get along, then the objective should be completed most effectively,"