Board Thread:Off-topic/@comment-26618197-20171001192028/@comment-3225961-20171102035803

 Beta On Fire, Part 3

“She claimed there’s at least 7 involved, including 8XG. They like to meet regularly on nights of the full moon.” Amethyst skimmed a list of names the human recorded.

“I see. Thanks John, I appreciate it.”  With that, the group of humans retreated further into the darkness in the direction of the Allies base. The purple Quartz returned to the station where Zircon awaited her arrival. She proudly presented the list to Zircon, pointing to one moniker in particular. “This is who we go after next.”

Jasper sauntered into an abandoned barrack, surprised to find several other Quartzes there, seated on weathered stone benches. They all turned to the clacks and echoes of her hard-soled shoes against the floor. “What’re y’all doing here?”

“I thought you might know,” a purple Quartz called 8XJ answered, and looked around the room at the others. 8XG frowned and nodded.

“Yeah, I coulda sworn you were the one that called us here!”

“What?! In the middle of the day?! Are you daft, you crystalline clod?!”

8XJ rose from her seat, tossing her curl over her shoulder. “Look, I know we’re all tense, but let’s lower our voices. Obviously it was a mistake, and we should all just get back to business.”  After some hesitation, the others hummed and nodded. “We meet tomorrow as usual, right?”  She glanced over to Jasper, who tipped her head before turning for the exit. Something didn’t feel quite about the situation, but she couldn’t trouble the others with her suspicions. Besides, 8XJ needed to refine her swordsmanship; if the rebels were manufacturing versatile weaponry, Homeworld ought to level the playing field and do the same.

“Wow 8XJ, that’s some technique you’ve got.”  The curly-haired Quartz spun around to face her admirer. Amethyst and 8XJ vaguely recognized each other, emerging around the same time from Prime; this however, was not enough for them to be as close as they were to other Quartzes from the same batch.

“Hn, thanks.”  She shrugged, and resumed her stance. “The key to exceptional form is an exceptional stance. The sword whistled as 8XJ swung it through the air.

“Is that so? My superior always told me that the key to skilled sword fighting,” she held up her hands and slowly approached, “Is in your grip.”

“That’s a pile of—“  She was cut off by Amethyst, who stood behind her and grasped her hands.

“Now, make sure you hold it tight.”  Amethyst squeezed, and 8XJ grunted, but tried to remain in control. Her sister Quartz was probably more bark than bite.

“Yes, thank you, I know what I’m do-ING!”  She yelped as Amethysts vice-like grip nearly crushed her hands.

“Do you?”  8XJ twisted her neck to find the other Quartz with a quirked brow. “Yeah, that’s right. Of course you do. And I’m sure you knew what you were doing when you slapped that other Amethyst around!”   8XJ fell to the dirt with the force of her shove; before she could return to her feet, Amethyst yanked her by her collar and stared at her with contempt. “Don’t think we don’t know what you did!”  She shook 8XJ with so much force that the curly-haired Quartz’s eyes rolled erratically in their sockets. When they stilled, she focused on the glare before her. “If you treat your fellow Quartzes like that, who’s to say you wouldn’t do worse to the rebels!”  8XJ didn’t respond. “Well?!”

“I’ve got nothing to confess.”

“I beg to differ! I know what you did to her! You need to answer for that!”  Fearful of another thrashing—or worse—she licked her lips, and managed a weak nod. Amethyst’s face constricted in disgust, and she launched her curly-haired counterpart back onto the stiff soil. “I’m done with you, for now.”

8XG was on guard duty that night, and served her shift alone. Every now and again, the easily distracted Quartz would peer at her fellow gems, most of whom were resting to resume training tomorrow. She heard a thump, and turned back to the barrack, thinking a clumsy Quartz inside dropped something, although no one else appeared to have noticed. When she twirled back around, she was face-to-face with with three other gems, who under the veil of night looked like her comrades. Muffling her desperate yelps, the three other Quartzes dragged the amateur guard to a dilapidated outpost, still stocked with tattered tools and weathered weaponry. Two held her down, while the other slipped inside; she returned with a two-pronged device in one hand, sparks spawning from the tips. The sparking device drew near and 8XG writhed about in terror, unable to escape her impending fate. When a loud boom pierced the crisp night air, all four gems stopped before the device could do damage; footsteps pounded the ground with increasing intensity, and the three assailants looked at each other before dropping 8XG to run. Surprised by the turn of events, 8XG whipped around to see a larger group of figures approaching, one of which appeared smaller than the others.

“8XG, that you?”

She recognized the voice of one of the larger figures; it was the Amethyst who asked a lot of questions, whose Zircon companion followed close behind. The remaining figures chased her attackers off into darkness, and 8XG was still too petrified to utter a response.

“Hey, are you alright? What happened here?”  Zircon surveyed what she could through the dark, emitting a slight glow through her monocle. Amethyst knelt to pull the startled Quartz to her feet, and tried to make eye contact with her.

“I-I-I n-n-no-nothing?”

“They looked Guardian. Maybe it wasn’t nothing.”  Zircon shrugged, and Amethyst nodded, placing a hand on 8XG’s shoulder.

“Listen here, kid. I think you’re in one hell of a lava lake with those brutes. If we hadn’t shown up when we did,” Amethyst gasped, and shook her head, “well, you just might’ve drowned.”  Zircon stepped forward, a stern look etched in her face.

“Perhaps now is as good of a time as ever to tell us what you know.”

“I told y’all I don’t know nothin’!”

“Well they seem to think you do. In fact, maybe you know a little too much.”

“Why should I tell you anything?” 8XG snapped at the lithe gem, who barely flinched. Amethyst moved her hand to wrap around her shoulders in a gesture of sympathy.

“Look, we can protect you. You saw what happened. We chased them away.”  The other Quartz pondered her options, and realized that they were bleak; still, knowing the Guardian ways, she was probably better off taking her chances with these two. She sighed, and nodded just enough for Amethyst to notice. “Good choice. Now, about those other gems,” she began, leading 8XG toward whence she came. Zircon turned in the opposite direction, anticipating the arrival of the shadowy figures in the distance.

“Nice job, gals. You scared the rocks out of her.”  The approaching gems laughed, amused by their successful ruse.

“I thought she’d poof from sheer fright!” one guffawed, and bumped fists with another.

“Thanks for your cooperation. I think we’ll get all we need out of her.”

It wasn’t long before Amethyst and Zircon divulged the testimony they needed from 8XG. Of course, it came with a meager price: a lesser punishment for 8XG. Amethyst was especially enthusiastic with the apprehension of Jasper and 8XJ, who’d be on probation indefinitely, pending further investigation into Guardian crimes. Although pitted against each other at war, neither side’s leaders wanted a high casualty count, and thus would spare every capable gem.

In the days that followed, Amethyst revisited her sister Quartz to inquire about her plans. She was slightly disappointed by her choice to remain in the Beta barracks, but accepted that perhaps it was for the better. Before she and Zircon departed, they stopped by a small gathering of humans and gems. Upon closer inspection, they realized the gathering formed to mourn the recent losses from both sides, and pray that there wouldn’t be any more. They could only hope that in the near future, their prayers would be answered, and begin the path toward planetary peace.