Mysterious Hierarchies ((Paddy))

[Mad Azurite]

Considering there was a shower of gemstones on the floor, something caught the Azurite’s eye--something other than a few shimmering glints; her attention seemed to shift. It appeared some of the beams weren’t on target, as she saw movement, various forms withdrawing. Some of the corrupt forms managed to survive the wide spray but were wise to retreat hastily to their nest upon seeing such a wild display. It seemed even her targeting systems had its limitations. Azurite had spent some time sparring with the gem. She was sure it seemed that her abilities were powerful amongst duration, the targeting system was more adept with small units and close combat with single individuals or individuals fired singularly at long distances. Considering she was space capable, she’d be able to access more of her reserves for her regenerative functions in space, as earth’s atmospheres were most likely slowing the process.


This energy problem had several roots to its issues; she recalled nephrite simply couldn’t hold herself back and never seemed to measure her beam attacks correctly.
She recalled Beady saying the gem should carry a radioactive substance with her at all times to help the nephrite's recharge their functions more swiftly. But there were safety concerns and it never went through.

To be honest, Azurite had almost forgotten about leaving, she was too busy breaking a wide smile as the sapphire walked over, quite intentionally holding the severed head eye level with her. How much she wanted to say a joke about finally being able to see ‘eye-to-eye on a matter.’ but she kept it in this time and nodded in confirmation to the words she heard without visibly chuckled at her own joke.


The Amethyst would walk over and Azurite would look over with wide smile as the nephrite frowned, knowing embarrassing stories were coming this way. “Yu’p, happened while we sparred a few times. Manage to get my blades propulsion systems off in the start of our matches, I’d duck and weave her beams all ‘swoosh’-like.” She held the nephrite up, smile languidly, “Here catch!” she'd say as she’d toss it towards the amethyst. She didn’t even wait to see if she caught her before continuing, “run her energy dry and then she’d get all pissy about it, and then ‘bang,’ try to take me out with big one. Missed of course, and then well—this usually happens.” She smiled triumphantly, “noticed the more lack luster her green the more less energy reserves she could handle.”


Of course, through saying this, she made sure to keep her mind on the objective striding carefully and openly at alert as she followed the sapphire along.

[Paddy]

The sapphire noticed the movement, but didn't register what it had been. She tried her best to avert her eyes from the head of the gem, pursing her lips as she continued toward the ship. Instead, her attention had snapped back onto the combat gems as they spoke. This time, 6UE had once again initiated conversation that Padparadscha hadn't sanctioned, and this time she opened her mouth to quickly reprimand the gem; a question like that was not only uncouth to ask of someone in a higher rank than Amethyst, but irrelevant in the aristocrat's eyes. Though, no sooner had she done so, than did the honor guard begin to give her answer. Now, her attention was held as she realized the wealth of the information Amethyst had just extracted. Was it planned or had she gotten this intel on accident?



Amethyst nodded as she listened, returning Azurite a smirk as she imagined how a fight like that would go. Would she be able to keep up? Maybe, if she had a fancy sword-- then her eyes widened as Nephrite's head came flying toward her; she nearly reeled back, but managed to catch the green gem deftly in two hands. She looked Nephrite right in the eye, more or less on accident, and gave an apologetic grin to her, hoping the sigma prototype wouldn't hate her for this. "Heads up!" She called before tossing Nephrite back over to Azurite, mid-stride. "Sounds like an intense match up," Honestly she wouldn't mind seeing that.

The sapphire's eyebrow twitched. It disturbed her more and more to see the green gem thrown around like that, especially when her own guard was participating. At any rate, the sapphire now knew something crucial about Nephrite-- the gem could be provoked. Padparadscha herself wasn't exactly the greatest at controlling her own outbursts, a sharp point that pricked her every time she thought of her past failures. It was something she would have to come to terms with herself, but now, it was much easier for her to strategically consider the possibility of how provocation could bend a conflict to her favor.


The ship, parked in a more concealed zone just up the hill, glinted through the trees and foliage with its bright pink hue. Amethyst, taking point, opened up the way for the other gems as she marched her way up, unfazed by the steep incline. The sapphire pressed her lips together as she climbed up, her slender calves burning a bit. She just thought about how nice it would be to sit in her own ship for a while before she'd be off to this hidden kindergarten. When the ship came into view, the ramp had already been drawn and ready for the gems to enter.  

[Mad Azurite]

At the amethyst’s gaze, the nephrite would look away shamefully, not a word leaving her, at this point she practically deserved what was happening to her. Her powers weren’t a challenge to moderate, but often times she found herself expelling far too much in a moments of extreme emotion, she was indecisive about those choices and it honestly showed. Coupled with the clearing of the first ship, she had misjudged her levels of charge. Just the oxygenated atmosphere alone was enough to hamper with her radioactive absorption properties. Her eyes would shift to Azzy who had taken a few steps ahead of them, only to suddenly hear a ‘head up,’ and be flung again, it was so sudden she couldn’t help but make a small ‘meep,’ as she landed in the hands of the azurite properly shaken.

“Our creator tested her prototypes against each other,” She’d start as she’d look back at the amethyst with a bold look in her eyes, “even if the battle seemed completely one sided, the match up obviously unfair. She’d still have you go at it, in hopes her prototypes would display traits of use under the duress of combat.” She looked at nephy, “I lost and won my fair share of fights, but me and Nephy/ We loved training together,” she smiled, “After a while it wasn’t about winning or losing, it was about furthering each other. Nephy outclasses me in so many ways--”

“And yet it was always your wittiness and technical skill that pulled your victories, it didn’t matter if you went against a brute of a monster or technically advanced machine. Though I will add there was so possible luck on your end,” Nephrite managed to speak out, the interrupted azurite hunching her shoulders, “I’ll take luck over loss an day.” She’d defend herself.


The ship had finally come into view, the port doors already open to the bridge inside, she’d enter with a bit of sigh as she realized what was happening.

[Paddy]

Amethyst gave an eager nod at the things she heard Azurite say; sparing was something 6UE loved to do, and training with friends was always a fun way to keep the senses on their toes. Just as the honor guard said, it wasn't about competition (even if that was a good way to kick things up a notch), it was about growing, and seeing your friends grow. Her attention switched to the gem who remained in her reduced state, and she thought about it as she slowed to a stop beside the ship's ramp, letting the other gems get in first. "Sometimes lucks what you got. Gotta make due, use an opportunity when you can get it," She said, thinking back on her own wins and loses. It was as if she had some rather bad luck since she'd first set out on field missions with this sapphire, but so far this particular mission seemed to be going well. 

Though, she was oblivious to the prevailing conflict which Padparadscha was ensnared in. The small gem refused to let herself feel off guard around these gems, despite the light-hearted conversation, and to see that Amethyst still wasn't taking the threat seriously (or perhaps hadn't noticed it) kept her nerves prickling. The sapphire hurried into her ship, followed after by 6UE. The first thing she did was scurry straight up to her pearl, and motion for the gem to lean down so she could whisper to her. After issuing commands to her servant, the sapphire paced around her command chair. The true intention behind this mission became clearer-- her eyes snapped upward, onto the sigma prototypes now in her ship.

"To Kindergarten Sigma, then," The small gem piped up, turning her attention specifically to Nephrite. As she spoke, the purple soldier made her way to the spot she usually stood in, at attention, while the ramp pulled back up and the doors closed. Pink Pearl continued to work the panel, initiating every necessary system as the vessel began to revive. While she looked toward the green prototype, it occurred to Padpara that the gem wasn't in the greatest condition-- though, her gemcore was still very much in tact, the sapphire hoped the lapidary wouldn't be offended at seeing her creation in this state. But, she knew by now that there was more to this mission than met her eye, especially after her data scramble, and the warning she'd received about Project Hematoid.

As restless as she was, she still managed to pace her way around the command center and slipped into her chair, designed to be just the right size for her. Her finger tapped against the armrest as she remained in thought. Soon, the ship began to rise from the ground, gently swooping up through the trees and passed the canopy. Though, with no certain directive, Pink Pearl simply guided the ship further up through the troposphere as she waited for more specific coordinates. The sapphire thought back to when Nephrite had explained more about K-Sigma, when she'd stared up into the ceiling purposefully. She wondered if the kindergarten were closer than she had initially decided it might be. 

[Mad Azurite]

The Azurite looked the amethyst up and down as the amethyst acknowledged a bit of combat wisdom the three shared, “Looks like you and I need to meet in the ring someday.” She’d give the gem a wide jester-like smile before turning to hear the sapphire speak up about the location in question, Azurite would walk toward Pink Pearl and lower the severed head in her direction, “Give her the kindergarten’s coordinates and the protocol for ships’ communicator.” The nephrite would look away with another shameful glare as the azurite showed off her horrible state in front of the pearl almost flauntingly so.

She sighed before continuing, “Input these coordinates into your interplanetary navigation system. X-456A, Y-223D, Z-008B.” She’d wait for a moment before continuing with the next bit, “Then, input this in your ship’s communicator as we’ll be … silently hailed upon entering its frequency zone, without it, we cannot communicate with the shuttle and they will not uncloak their hangar bays.” She thought for a moment, “Its KSC-1880, you’ll be hailed as soon as you enter the zone, so be prepared. There’s been situations where ships collided with the frigate’s shielding systems. I’m sure I’ll survive but, you might not.” She added the last part as if adding a second thought to the matter.

Azurite actually had look away at this, she’d heard many ships leaving space almost colliding with the
Frigate, but now knowing that cruisers actually managed to collide with the shuttle sent a little chill through her. She guessed this was why flying through blind space was a terrible idea. She looked over at the sapphire, “Honestly, I have no clue what’s gonna happen when we get there,” though she wanted to believe Serendibite was going to possibly elaborate or explain herself, “But, she’s known to be quite … eccentric.” She sighed, “Just, keep your eyes and ears open with her, her cryptic-ness.”

[Paddy]

A smirk pulled across the bodyguard's expression at the thought of going up against this gem and her impressive weaponry. Of course, amethysts were just run of the mill soldiers, she couldn't imagine that she might get the upper hand on an honor guard-- but nonetheless, she wasn't altogether opposed to the idea. Though, it was also hard to imagine that she might come to meet this gem again in the future; most gems in her life came and went never to be seen again, that was just a fact of life as an amethyst constantly on schedule. "Someday, maybe," She said, before her eyes flicked away, toward the pristine floor of the ship. 

Pink Pearl glanced in the direction of the voice she heard, then double took at the sight of the head in Azurite's hand-- "Eh!" her brows shot up, hands pulled away from the control console as the servant jumped in surprise. She quickly recovered, or rather tried her best to get back on task as she flipped back around and fumbled with the panel for a moment before bringing out the coordinate grid and inputting the code. 

Watching these exchanges, the sapphire rested her chin on her knuckles while she assessed the words spoken, picking through for valuable information on the margin while processing the necessary information to carry out her task. Her lips pressed together at the thought that she might have to replace her entire ship after getting it refurbished, if there was a collision. The thought of having to put a request for an entirely new ship altogether left a sour taste, but she decided not to dwell too much. She and the gems at her disposal were, hopefully, capable of doing things in a manner that would prevent such a catastrophe. 

Then, her eyes flicked to Azurite as the honor guard directed attention to her. It seemed that she was indeed being honest, but that just made her more anxious about all of this. It wasn't an ideal situation for her to be in at all, but she could make the best of it, perhaps tear something useful from this mess she'd gotten herself into. Though, as Azurite finished speaking, it became harder for her to keep this more docile facade. "Eccentric?" She echoed, coming off as almost a scoff,"I'll say. Never in my life have I been treated to such maneuvers. My senses are always sharp, but I will do well to keep my eyes on your lapidary," She doubted that even a gem as powerful as this one could escape her sense for truth, though, she had been thwarted in the past. Then, the sapphire shifted her shoulders to be more aligned with Azurite as she spoke,"Perhaps this has gone over my head, but I must know; does Kindergarten Sigma's lapidary report exclusively for Yellow Diamond? I realize that your case is differential," While she had access to this reluctant gem, she might as well pry more information up.

As she spoke, the ship locked onto it's coordinates in Earth's orbital zone. Then, the pink vessel zipped across the sky, ascending as it accelerated forward, closing in to the target destination. Pearl prepared herself to give the code-- or to stop the ship if the sensors picked up anything unusual. 

[Mad Azurite]

The ships systems would lock onto to what some might find a rather surprising location, not even few cliques below moon base, the navigator would show signal leading directly to a large ship which seemed to be orbiting just below this planet’s lunar celestial. It seemed the ship was actually making an orbit completely opposite of Moonbase itself, and at a parallel lateral as well. A mobile kindergarten wasn’t necessarily rare, but it was something mysterious to be so close to earth and yet so far out of reach from other facilities around the area. As the ship raised through the atmosphere, the green in the Nephrite’s tone started to pick up more and more.

“Ugh.” She’d sigh, an angered expression taking over her previously more sickly and exhausted look, “I can’t wait for the atmospheric pressure these terra-based planets comprise of to be purged by the terraforming.” Her head would quite suddenly float into the air, and in a strange fit of light, the body of the Nephrite seemed to recreate itself from the neck-down. Though something was missing, it was the elemental stones that surrounded her, “Hampering with my regenerative states,” her legs crossed as she’d float towards any form of skylight where the sun was more prominent and began to, in the palms of her hands, recreate her elemental body one small piece at a time.

Azurite would keep her eyes on the sapphire, a brow rising at the first mention of being treated oddly, “With all due respect, I see all you aristocrats and scientist the same. Wouldn’t put it above you to do something like this yourself, to be honest. Ma’am. Of course, with good intentions, maybe.” Hopefully it wouldn’t come off as insulting, but she was simply voicing her opinion on the matter, Serendibite may have moved in shadowy ways, but considering the circumstances could many other aristocrats and higher-caste gems speak the same? She wondered exactly what this sapphire had done beneath the shadows to attain her quality of stature.

“And that’s something I’m not sure of, Yellow Diamond seems to really employ a lot of Serendibite’s talents, but I’ve heard of other diamonds requesting gem templates and more from her.” Suddenly, the ship would be sent this ‘silent hail,’ a communication array would light up as the they came into range of the ship’s communicator, the hail seemed to be forced as if the communicator was raiding for the code itself. The main panels of the ship would display a gem sitting in a large communication array room. “But hell, you can ask her yourself.”


“This is 1-347 Kindergarten Sigma Communications Array 00, to the following incoming cruiser--you are entering a restricted zone, state your business, immediately, or be fired upon.”


The gem speaking in question was very odd to look at, other than a lack of color to her appearance, her face lacked any human features except the large white eyes that gleaned heavily in the dark atmosphere of the ship, she was dawned in strange attire, a strange suit of some form much like a tight space suit and her wild black hair seemed to dash the entirety of the control room. Her fingers were spindly and long, a very eerie sight unlike a black-widows spindly legs. But even more off-putting was her voice, something not unlike a human being suffering from major case of strep-throat and smoker’s lungs.

[Paddy]

Padparadscha could sympathize with Nephrite's hopes, she gave a sober smile."It's good to see that you've recovered, Nephrite," The sapphire said,"I worried that your lapidary might not be so pleased to see you in such a condition. Soon enough this colony will be perfected, none of us will have to worry about such things," Though, once the colony was completed, it wouldn't much matter in the sapphire's case. She would have to wrestle with atmospheric interference until the implementation of her true purpose. The thought was enough to kill her faint expression before Azurite addressed her, and she gave the honor guard a rather sour look at the accusation. Though it was interesting to get a soldier's perspective on the aristocracy, and Padpara had grown rather use to this sort of talk in her days on Earth-- she almost preferred it for its directness. "Hmph," She pressed her lips together, and gestured toward the gem on her throat,"I would treat my comrades to a much more forward discourse," But, it was yet to be seen if these gems could truly be considered comrades to any degree. Her sense for danger grew stronger as the panels indicated a quickly approaching anomalous object.

It also seemed that her time to gather information from a more neutral source in this conflict had passed, frustration prickled, but the statement wasn't without its value; the mention of the lapidary by name now held her interest. She didn't have much time to pick apart the rest of what had been said before a gem appeared across the view pane. The sapphire's eyes flickered over the gem, who had a form eerily reminiscent of the symptoms she'd witnessed in victims of the outbreak. She wondered if this gem was suffering from corruption, or if they were another prototype meant to be this way.  

She arranged herself to sit more aligned with the image on the panel. With back straight and shoulders poised, she formed a delicate salute for the gem, before speaking in her breezy, clear timbre, "This vessel is Pink Diamond's property, officiated by myself-- Padparadscha 10C8A 8QE, Pink Court Judicial affiliate. I return with the combat prototype asset, Nephrite, as well as to file report on the endeavor. With me are my personal entourage and Honor Guadrian Azurite. Our arrival should be expected," She gestured to each gem as she referred to them, then let her hands clasp into her lap as she waited for the gatekeeper to respond. 

Pink Pearl prepared herself to react to whatever this mysterious gem would say. Meanwhile, Amethyst stood, literally staring into space outside of the window, with her eyes occasionally wandering over to what happened on the other side of the bridge. 

[Mad Azurite]

The azurite hunched her shoulders, throwing her hands up as if she had surrendered to the noble’s retort as she made a skeptical smile, “Alright, alright … just my view, I’ll let your actions speak for that one.” And then her eyes shifted to the viewport and her smile immediately vanished. These things. There weren’t a lot of things that creeped Azurite out, but this one of them. Jets. Gem’s with about as much personality as a tree ... Openly at least. They were nice but if asked if Azurite would hang with one for more than an hour, she’d give you a solid resounding no. It was like making conversation with a dying horse, and they reeked of a certain burning wood smell that was nice for only so long. And those nails, and hair. Her slanted frown only grew as the gem made a clear threat toward the ship.

Then the sapphire spoke up and her eyes shifted back to the viewport with some skepticalness, if she had to she would grab every single gem in here speed off on her blade if something went wrong. When she was referenced she smiled and waved at the gem within the panel, “Hey, Jet! … Uh' ... prolly 78D-somethin' ... Damn, I have no clue which one you are but, Wasssuuup!” she waved excitedly and the strange black gem would tilt her featureless face before some of her hair would come to life and begin to jot in several commands to a screen off to the side, her head very eerily spiraling as it was on some kind of rotary.

“You are not registered in our visitor schedule, and your classifications do not match any recorded in our database.” The gem seemed to completely ignore the sapphire’s salute, as the jet’s eyes would start to glow a deeper white, she seemed to take note of Nephrite floating near one of the view ports and then looked back suspiciously at the sapphire and her group, “One moment.” The Jet turned to another panel; began to speak about something which was incoherent from this distance. She seemed to be connecting thoughts, as it was very odd to her to see nephrite without her elemental stones. Was this some kind of setup? There was no record of Nephrite leaving, and … suddenly, the ships’ targeting systems would lock on the sapphire’s ship. Which would mostly likely set off her own ships’ defense systems, it seemed that none of them had any clue what was going on. “Oh' hell no!” Azzy started and immediately went to grab her sword, “The hell are you doing!?”

“Protocol dictates an anomaly in this situation. I am activating our de-…” Suddenly, presumably another Jet, slightly shorter, with less hair and almost mangy in appearance would march into screen, and lean over, whispering something to the jet at the control panel; she would then gaze up as the other gem leaned back up and then they’d both stare rather inquisitively at the screen. The new jet at least having lips, though she was missing an eye. She’d then immediately walk off screen. “Our apologies, my liege. Our mistress is expecting you.”

And in a display of elegant lights bouncing off the rounded shielding system, the massive frigate became visible to the entire view-port. “You are given access to our west hanger bay A3, Jet K47 will guide you through the facility. Welcome to Kindergarten Sigma.”

Azurite frowned angrily, “Seriously? For real? That was necessary?” But before she could finish the viewport had vanished and on the side of the massive elongated frigate a hanger door could be seen sliding open.

[Paddy]

As Azurite gave her hellos to the Jet on the screen, the sapphire gave a small smile. She couldn't imagine that this could go wrong quite yet, considering she had two high-profile members of K-Sigma with her, and she was a well known Pink Diamond affiliate. But, her brows furrowed as the Jet declared that, despite what she had assumed, they had not been expected. Her eyes darted to Nephrite, then to Azurite, then back to the panel before her. The uneasy feeling she had climbed with each second as the small pink cruiser floated in the shadow of the frigate.  

Amethyst remained at attention, but her eyes slowly widened as she started paying attention to what was happening. Her arms unfurled, and she glanced around to each gem in the room. The ship's own sense for danger made itself known as a series of bleeps sounded off, the automatic systems engaged. Pink Pearl tensed and swiveled to peer toward her patron simultaneously as her hands flew across the control panel, "Your Clarity, I'm initiating all defense and escape parameters," The sapphire's expression drained, the color seemed to sap from her as she snapped out of her chair onto her feet, brows shooting up over her eyes as the Jet announced her determination. 

Instantly, the sapphire decided what this all had been; this set up would lead to this exact moment, too far away from any Homeworld  surveillance, where she and anyone else deemed troublesome by this Serendibite would be blasted to smithereens and left in the dark of space. The alibi was near perfect, every insidious maneuver had lead to--

Or, perhaps, she had again miscalculated. The other jet stepped onto the screen, and she watched very carefully. Shaking, Padparadscha continued to stand, looking spooked. When the jet apologized, the aristocrat's morose expression flashed to life, visceral anger piquing as her hands and teeth clenched together. The jet disappeared, revealing the enormous structure she was about to delve into. With nowhere to dispense her anger, she simply plopped back down into her seat, fuming off. Pink Pearl stared at the sapphire with concern, before she gave her servant a dismissive wave. The defenses of the ship were lowered, and it carried on toward the designated zone. "What a welcome!" Padpara exclaimed, her tone laced with venom,"Just when I thought your lapidary couldn't possibly be more eccentric. She certainly keeps me on my toes," or eccentric wasn't the right word, perhaps downright malevolent. She couldn't imagine that this Serendibite would be negligent enough to forget to mention to her gatekeepers that she had a rather high-profile party inbound.  

Soon, the much smaller vessel glided through the opening, and Pink Pearl searched for a place to park. She brought the ship down, and it came to a rest as all the systems decompressed and whirred to a stop. Every Pink Court gem in the ship was still for a moment; the pearl and amethyst waited on orders from their mistress, who drummed her fingers furiously against the armrest of her command chair. "Well?" She snapped, and the servant gave a start before allowing the foyer to open up, and the ramp to fall to the floor. She stood, and strode up to the door, then waited for the rest of the gems. She narrowed her eyes at Azurite and Nephrite, wondering when the real trap would spring. 
 

[Mad Azurite]

The situation was just getting worse and worse, and nephrite who remained absolutely quiet throughout all of it, had managed to glance over with some disinterest. Azurite was actually about as livid as the sapphire, though her own anger might have been skewed in this regard, there was suddenly a deep purple tone to her. What in the stars’ name was Serendibite pulling here? Had this gone any worse, they’d met the ‘bad-ending,’ of the century and be torn apart by a hail of MA-Cannons. No shield system, even from a greater ship like the one before them could survive an onslaught of pulverizing material accelerated at literally mach-7. She doubted this ship had the maneuverability to dodge that kind of weaponry, or if her pilot had the reflexes to do so. She’s seen it before, but it was a specialty she’d count out rarely.

“…” Azurite couldn’t even bring herself to say anything as the sapphire quite venomously expressed her feelings on the matter, “Eccentric? She’s an idiot.” She scowled as she took her hand off her sword, her fingers still shivering as if she was ready to tear down the ships’ doors themselves and stomp right over to that broad. “I’ve had enough of her shit.” She spun on her heel and stomped for the exit. Nephrite peered at the group, more interesting in the madness going on—a light interested smile on her face, she had never seen so a many angry gems in one  place before. She swore the sapphire took a slightly different color and her radioactive senses even peeked something off her.

Was this gem emitting some kind of particle aura? She swore she could barely see it.

As the hatch opened, they were greeted with the sight of several jet’s making an honorous line-up parallel to their walk-way, all for the noble sapphire. These jets were really something else, some of them had odd crook faces, and one didn’t even have eyes, but instead an amalgamation of wood-like spirals for a face. Before them marched in a familiar Jet, who was dressed slightly more flashy than the other, wearing something like a tailcoat, it was the gem from the communicator who seemed to vanish off screen after the issues had been dealt with. She’d bow performing her Diamond Solute, the other gems on either side of the group doing the same and bowing their heads. But one of them was shivering slightly, and the reason was actually quite simple.

“Our deepest apologies, madam Padparadscha. We had not been informed of an off-the-record visit from a noble today. Our protocols dictate that classified projects also report their mission statuses to u—…” Azurite stepped up and with each word she said she jammed a finger into clavicle of the gem in question furiously, “Shut the **** up, and take us to Seren.” The jet swallowed pure fear as the blackened eyes of the azurite grey darker with each word. Azurite then looked back at nephrite who had levitated into the air and was now sitting cross legged behind the group, “So, when she said, ‘go for walk,’ that was it, it wasn’t a mission, it wasn’t even an order. She just let you out and let you go on a damn field day?” Nephrite had managed to craft enough stones to emulate fingers again. “Pretty much.” She’d gesture something of ‘that’s it.’

[Paddy]

Her eyes widened slightly as Azurite's words hit her, and she gave a small start at the word idiot. She'd never heard gems speak in such a way about their superiors, though she had to wonder if that was because she had a bit of authority herself. The way Azurite spoke of this lapidary was not only a bit shocking for the sapphire, but it was also very telling. If a gem like this Honor Guard, so genuinely devoted to the Diamond Authority and the Homeworld cause, would refer
to her creator as an idiot-- well, was it really all that simple? Was this Serendibite just negligent? That was incredibly hard for her to believe, especially after she had been put through such a well planned series of maneuvers. Internally, she cursed herself for having to compliment the apparent efficiency of this plan.


Though, now came the time to make a choice; would her full entourage accompany her, or would they stay to guard the ship? She wondered if it much mattered. Either of them could be overwhelmed by whatever sort of force was undoubtedly stashed on the frigate, and the sapphire decided it would be safest to keep things as they normally were; she signaled for Amethyst to follow, while pearl would remain aboard her ship. Azurite was something of a wild card in this situation, but she seemed to like 6UE, so the sapphire would play that to her advantage, especially now that the Honor Guard was fuming herself. 

As she made her way down the ramp with the sigma gems, her eyes swept across the menagerie of strange looking gems. Habitually she returned the salute, and opened her lips to say her piece, but it seemed Azurite had already taken the thoughts out of her mind, and worded them in a suitably strong manner that the sapphire wouldn't be able to match, for its uncouth nature. Though, the hostile wrath of this gem was intimidating, and Padparadscha counted herself lucky that it wasn't directed toward her. 

"Right," She said sharply, and waved her hand to give the indication that the Jet should carry out the soldier's demands post-haste. Her eyes darted over to Nephrite as Azurite addressed her, then her lips pressed together. "Well, thank you Nephrite for your contribution to corruption containment and research at the very least. It's no small matter. Your lapidary should be proud, I'm looking forward to meeting her," Looking forward, indeed.  

[Mad Azurite]

“Ye-Yes, of course madam, please pardon my insolence,” The jet would bow her head to the gems before her frantically as if trying her hardest to tuck the shame she was feeling away, but Azurite only managed to cross her arms and narrow her gaze back at the gem, “Please, come with me, I’ll escort you through our facility.” She’d raise a hand to the other jets who had filed into lines, and they’d stand to attention, saluting once more, obviously being dismissed. In a small, humorous, though possibly overlooked moment, the jet who lacked eyes seem to ‘peer,’ about confused; she’d even become frantic as the rest of the gems left her and then proceed to take several strides straight into a wall, a small ‘knock-on-wood,’ sound would echo through the silent hanger as she fell over shivering, and another jet—presumably its caretaker, would approach and help her to her feet, guiding her to a door leading off to some dark chasm within this massive frigate. 

Nephrite managed to make a nod, “Well, I did it mostly because those creatures are very rude, but I digress, I will do my best for our efforts.”

The Jet K47 would have by now started leading the group through the hanger, a rather plain portion of the ship lined with typical designs seen even possibly on Moonbase, refueling stations for ships passing by and even a few small cruisers of their own tucked away in corners of the ship. The Padparadcha’s pearl would most likely be approached by these strange jets, asking if they needed any services the ship can offer for their own star-cruiser. 

But to the matter at hand, the group would come before a very large ornate door, strangely creative and by far, far more elaborate than anything they had seen in the hanger bay. The jet would summon a familiar darkly purple holo-system, jotting in several commands, and the doors would slide open displaying something absolutely breathtaking, and possibly beyond words of explanation—at least to describe the sheer detail of this interior. The decorum of the next room was by far unlike anything any Homeworld gem could come up with, several marble statues line what was essentially a marble gallery- Blue Diamond, Yellow Diamond, Pink Diamond and the astute White Diamond held their place in the center of this magnum opus, a vestibule lined with halls and elegant stairways spiraling about them where they stood growing from a deep chasm. It seemed they had left from just one of the hanger bays at the south of this facility as many others lined this entry way, it would make more sense that it had such a large elaborate door for an entryway, it was to impress and invite Diamonds. 

Other smaller artistic statues and figures would line a set of large widened halls which climbed to heights enough for a giantess gems’ vision to meet, various gems of many types caught in bust shots and more, constructed from materials much like gold or bronze. The lighting wasn’t gloomy but Venetian, much like the fleecing of the hybridized rugs covering eggplant-purple stone. The walls lined with candles of all things, light fixtures which beckoned an eerie blue flame. One figure, displayed more prominently than the others would have been familiar, the chocolate pearl caught in a contrapposto pose would stare down at the ground with a serene look in her eyes. Another taller figure, a gem whose spayed hair and deep eyes stared imminently into the stars. “Damn … this place still blows my mind.” Azurite managed to say, her purple ting subsiding as she recalled all the details and artwork put into its decor.

“Our mistress and her servant have been hard at work improving both the facility’s functions and appearance in case of another visit from our grand leaders.” The jet would say, and speaking of Jets there were plenty of them walking the halls, items in hand, conversing very silently with each other only to peer at the small entourage curiously. Some made it point to stay clear away from them—shuffling out of their way, especially the sapphire who some seemed to recede from for some odd reason. “As such, additions to the ships’ décor was made by our chocolate pearl.” Yes, it would seem this was all Cocoa’s doing.

Despite the many gems about them, there was a keen silence. But through this silence faintly, very faintly even though still soothing enough to hear—was the unmistakable sound of a grand piano playing a melody to a slight symphonic clamber, it seemed distance but its echoes reached everywhere they went. “Our mistress’s study lies at the end of this foyer, please if you wish to gander at any of other artistic works, leave them for after the meeting.”

((Good example of the Song resonating through the vestibule.))

[Paddy]

The sapphire stepped after the jet without hesitation, hands clasped in front of her as the party was guided toward the door. She purposefully ignored the trouble that the blind gem was having, pursing her lips as she forced herself to keep her eyes ahead, though she had to stifle a grimace at the thwack of wood against the wall. The aristocrat kept her eyes forward until they all came to the door, and she brought a hand to her chin as she considered its design. The moonbase was starkly lacking in many adornments, but more ostentatious design always appealed to this sapphire for its complexity and interest. She would be treated to more of that complexity as the enormous doors parted to allow the gems way-- a small smile turned the corners of her lips as she drank in the sight.

After all, this was the sort of thing padparadschas had been initially crafted for, and it was what she did back on Homeworld for her first years. Her steps slowed as she appreciated the art, listening with partial focus to the jet as she spoke. The inspiration for the design was over her head, though it seemed to have many Earthling recalls and materials, which she found fitting for the frigates current location. "Exquisite!" she murmured as she internally critiqued the rendition of gem forms in marble. Then, her brows shot up and she swiveled to look more directly at the jet as she heard that it hadn't been a peach sapphire, but rather, a pearl who had crafted all of this. Her eyes darted to the stone visage of the chocolate pearl herself, rendered more eminently than many of the other works. A mere servant accomplished this? That pearl? Her lips pursed, she considered it a vain move to make art depicting oneself as any more glorious than other gems, especially if the artist were to be a pearl of all things. "Hmm, I see," She muttered incredulously, still admiring the work done for this foyer, still unable to think a pearl could've done it on her own. The sapphire could only imagine how the rest of the frigate must look, if it were meant for the eyes and sensibilities of Diamonds. 

The music, while faint, didn't escape Padparadscha's keen perception. She appreciated the subtle atmosphere that could be generated from the notes, which sounded strange and alien to her, yet fitting for the foreign, Earthling design. Her step picked up as it was indicated that there would be more time to peruse the art after the meeting, and her attention turned toward the end of the spacious hall. The light steps of the sapphire echoed across the marble, along with Amethyst's steps that thumped across the room with the rest of the party.

6UE found it strange that higher-up gems were so enamored with how things looked. Sure, it was interesting to look at, and she supposed she wouldn't mind standing around in this foyer if she had to, but even the most beautiful design may grow tiresome to look at one day, something Amethyst had learned over her decades of standing in halls. She simply kept up her at-attention march, feeling that, as the sapphire's body guard, she should try her best to seem at least a little bit fancy. This sort of thing though, she felt was better left to pearls. 

Pink Pearl had, over the course of the time it took the other gems to reach the foyer, elected to allow the jets to look over the ship. But, she was on high alert, reporting and going carefully over each movement that the gems made.  

[Mad Azurite]

The group would continue, the jet herself noting that Cocoa would have most likely deeply appreciated the compliment as she had, with the assistance of her own assistants of course, put a vast amount of work into designing such a facility. This thought had only instantly registered with Azurite who realized that Cocoa wasn’t your typical Pearl. She recalled that Cocoa was actually a creation of her master's personal work, she specially designed the pearl herself—Serendibite seemed to have manipulated every facet, pun intended, about the gem from her personality to appearance. She often wondered if the reason Cocoa rarely left this ship was because she was all too familiar with how pearls were treated as a whole, and here Serendibite put her on a pedestal and practically gave her full control over the entirety of the facility, yes in some ways the gem was even responsible for some of the creativity that went into this facility and the gem ‘templates,’ that come from it. 

They had rounded a corner to see that these halls would divide into several arches cascading around one another, some lifting higher in the recesses above and some also diving into the deeper chasms of the ship. 

But they’d continue straight to another massive doorway, decorated with diamond symbology and more, beside it or at least displayed in front of it, a large, ornate spiral-staircase climbed into the dark above. “That door leads to my master’s laboratory, allow me to--…” She stopped, as something abruptly caught her attention. The music would suddenly halt in a harsh discord—as if someone violently slammed their hands against keys. Every jet in the halls, the rooms, and even their escort stopped, her white eyes widened at the sudden dissonance, “Oh-no …” She started. Taking steps away. It had grown so silent and still as if every jet had become statues like the ones that lined these halls. But one thing was certain for all of them, their eyes fell heavily on the massive stairway.

Footsteps echoed and with each one the jet before them seemed to recede, eventually a figure descended from the stairway, a familiar pearl who guided herself elegantly sliding her hand across the railing. But through this so-called grace, her eyes heavy with disdain and absolute hatred fell on the gems below.

“I couldn’t even trust you to keep filth off my mistress’s ship, Azurite?” her voice echoed through the chambers around them, “Your mission was simple! Less you’ve become lazy and foolhardy in your guarding the diamonds and their doors? Now my creator’s beautiful masterpiece is being trodden on by this ignorant trash!” her voice had raised to a vehement yell, the jet’s began to shiver again some actually running from the scene, their escort began to step back as if though a typhoon was coming.

Azurite started to grow a deep purple again, “One, you and her need to get something straight. I serve the Diamonds, my honor and services lies with them. Not you. Whatever game you got going on has nothing to do with me.” Azurite would scoff at the end of this, “Really, Cocoa, you’re having a fit now? As if it’s going to change something?” 

“Silence!” She’d roared, the classy beauty of the gem transforming into monstrous persona, “This mission was a request to Yellow Diamond herself, because this meddling dimwit couldn’t keep her nose out of our research! And so sapphire, I have but only one thing to say to you. Remove yourself from the presence of this ship, immediately!” Azurite’s jaw dropped, she knew Cocoa had a temper but this was by far the worse she had seen this gem become.