Bloodstone X Verdite

Bloodstone had taken up a few habits sense landing on earth. Many of them were nervous habits, like obsessively staring at stars for hours to make sure they weren't incoming Homeworld ships. Her least favorite and most embarrassing habit, though, was trying to figure out how to work the ship's locating system.


As a Quartz soldier, Bloodstone had been in this model of ship plenty of times, but was never the driver. The ship she stole was a large carrier, not because she thought it would make the easiest escape, but because it was the most familiar.  It had carried her to Blue Diamond's colonies more times than she bothered to count. Still, though, Gem Tech was a mystery to her.


After a few straight days of trying to turn on a location system, anyone would get tired, and Bloodstone was no exception. For the last hour or so, she had just been staring blankly at one of the twenty-something screens in the cockpit, pressing the same blue button over and over again. Suddenly, jolting her from her chance, a red dot appeared on the screen beside it. Radar.


Bloodstone may not have known much about the ship's systems, but she knew that the radar system only picked up non-organic life forms. Earth didn't have too many of those, other than gems. The ever present red dot in the center of the radar system proved this, showing her that she was, in fact, on the ship. This second one was all too close for comfort. She didn't see it approaching because of her tired daze, but thankfully the ship warned her of it getting close.


Right hand over her gem, Bloodstone slowly walked to the escape hatch on the ship and peaked her head out. If she was lucky, this other gem didn't know she was here. If she was really lucky, this other gem wouldn't be a Crystal Gem.
 
The Nova, a maximum four-gem ship, flew over grasslands towards Earth's Prime Kindergarten. On the way, however, Verdite spotted a large ancient gem craft, looking to be a freighter of some sort. Landing the ship with plenty of distance, she made several post-flight checks, making sure the ship wasn't about to explode or something more catastrophic.


Taking a step off of her own ship, Verdite stretched, and opened her holoscreen, "Log date, 1 8 16. Having successfully avoided the gem base, I find myself near an old star freighter. It appears empty, but I have refrained from entering its radar's red zone as of yet. You may never know, with so many corrupted gems running amok... Eh, whatever, I'm moving in. End log." With that, Verdite took a cautious step into what she assumed was the carrier's red zone. Anyone at the controls would be alerted to her presence if she lurked too long.


Switching modes, Verdite's right arm extension slid out to reveal a barrel. Taking cautious steps, she approached the vessel, heading for an opening that looked to be an escape hatch. She knelt down, and pushed the rusty door open with her free hand, keeping her gun hand locked and loaded.
 
The door opened, and Bloodstone was now not even a foot away from the unfamiliar gem. As a part of her natural fight response, she pulled her battle axe out of her gem and slammed the curved blade down between the two.


"Gem, facet, diamond, and purpose."


Being an era 1 Bloodstone, she was put in charge of most of the other quartz soldiers she fought beside in the past. As a leader, this phrase was ingrained into her fight response, to distinguish threat from foe. Any of Blue Diamond's gems would be knowing to look for her, so it helped to see how much lying she could get away with,too.


@ferociousfeind
 
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As easily frightened as they get, Verdite jumped into a salute, "ehh, Verdite, facet 3D4N, Yellow Diamond, corrupted gem research. It was not my intention to intrude on your ship, soldier." The Verdite deactivated her gun hand, "Why are you cooped up in a cargo ship, anyways?"
 
"I was headed to another colony." Bloodstone lied, easily, "We were struck by some of the debris surrounding this planet because my pilot wasn't paying attention. She was shattered in the collision. I didn't know there were any gem research ships being sent here anymore." She had had time to think about her lie, in case she would need it. Luckily, too, because she wasn't very good at making things up as she went.


The soldier took out the axe from where it was wedged in the floor and slung it over her shoulder. She still didn't quite trust the situation enough to put it away. She didn't know if Yellow Diamond and her lot had been informed of the rogue Bloodstone or not, so she couldn't be too careful.
 
"Serves that pilot right." Verdite practically ate it up, "You really should keep a keen eye out for debris. The inhabitants, humans, seem to have an affinity for making it," Verdite loosened up quickly. Verdites don't have the highest rank, but do outrank most common soldiers and Pearls. Sergeants and Commanders are where her ruling ends, and this Quartz looked to be of high status.


"I know the location of a rebellious base, if it is of any value to you, sir." Verdite spoke, attempting to win over the soldier's favor.
 
One of Bloodstone's eyebrows lifted in interest and a smile threatened to spread wide across her face "I'd say it's of value. Are any of the warps around here still active?"
 
"Well, the nearest one would be I'm the Prime Kindergarten, in facet 9. I was just on my way there, actually." Verdite prided herself in this knowledge, "My craft could get us there in a matter of minutes."
 
"Good to know, but maybe an attack wouldn't be the best idea at the moment." Bloodstone reasoned, letting her battle axe dissapate and instead crossing her arms pensively "There's only one of me and... How many Crystal Gems are left? And you're just a Veridite..."
 
"I saw at least 6. An Aquamarine, a Morganite, a Cymophane, a Black Onyx, and a Ruby and Sapphire fused as a Garnet. However, my escorts, a Sulfur and a Realgar, may help even the tides of battle as a Cinnabarite! With all due respect, sir, I think it is at least worth checking out, and I was headed towards the kindergarten either way." Verdite reasoned, she knew her escort wasn't going to show up for some time, and having a temporary Bloodstone escort is always a plus!
 
Bloodstone narrowed her eyes and looked the Veridite up and down "You're promoting inter-gem fusion on your ship?"


The tone of voice was less accusatory than it was skeptical. There was technically no ban or law against two different types of gems fusing, but it was still a taboo. One that didn't look good on any records, and one she wasn't sure she was ready to endorse.
 
"They're- I'm... Uh, I don't... Know?" Verdite was never told why Sulfur and Realgar weren't shattered for fusing, and she couldn't piece it together herself, "I'm as in the dark as you are. But they're not here right now. I had to retreat before they got aboard."
 
With a sigh, Bloodstone rolled her shoulders and motioned for Veridite to step out of the ship so she could follow.


"What I've gathered," she started, hands on her hips "is that you've come to a former colony on a backways mission that I, a high ranking Quartz Soldier, have never heard the likes of. You came with two escorts, and left them somewhere so you could retreat safely."


Keeping an accusatory tone towards the other gem was the best way Bloodstone knew to keep suspicion off of herself "So I'll escort you safely to the warp pad, but I'm not sure I'm willing to step foot on you vessel."
 
Verdite stepped outside before answering, "Uh, yes? When you put it that way, anything sounds like a failure on everyone's parts. I'm not told why I have to go to Earth. I assumed it was a reconnaisance mission after another failed mission. The rebellious gems quickly overwhelmed my escorts, and hijacked my ship before I could do anything! We arranged for them to leave me alone, and I fled before they changed their minds. I understand if you don't wish to board my ship, but I'm willing to take any risks that come with that."
 
"And what risks are those?"


Bloodstone kept her eyes straight ahead of herself. She herself had a lot at risk, and even more that she had already lost. It was hard for her to imagine that having her on a ship would keep this gem safe from anything.
 
"Oh, I don't know, being poofed by the captain and harvested as a power source for the ship? That's one of the risks off the top of my head. It's pretty cramped, and crashing due to instability is a large one. Not that a puny Verdite knows anything about this ship compared to a Bloodstone." Verdite tried to coax Bloodstone onto the ship, knowing that the Garnet would no doubt be already at the Kindergarten. Verdite was going to get all the protection she could.
 
"I don't know where you got the idea that being a Bloodstone has any ties to knowing about ships. What I know about them is that they take me from point A to point B. I've been trying to get my own vessel working for so long I can't tell how many times this infernal planet has rotated sense I got here. But..."


Bloodstone took a deep breath, hoping she wouldn't regret her next statement, "...I can escort you until you find your Sulfur and Realgar."
 
 "You won't regret it!" Verdite smiled, and clambered back onto the Nova, "We can come right back, if you want. Engines stable, thrust at 40%, prepare for momentary liftoff..."


The ship lifted from the ground by a few dozen feet and coasted towards the Prime Kindergarten, where the nearest warp pad was.


"I guess you wouldn't know how to fly a ship like this. This one's a retro design, a throwback to 15,000 years ago, when thrust management was a key part in keeping to the skies. The Nova holds itself steady, but thrust vectoring is still a major part in getting from A to B. Once you know how it works, though, it's really simple and intuitive. Just be gentle with The left engine."
 
Bloodstone nodded, imitating the look of someone who was interested and listening, and sat cross-legged on the floor. Near, but not in the way of, the controls.


"So what's your current objective?"
 
"I'm here for a little personal research, but mostly to study and catalogue the Rebellion. Yellow Diamond said it had been long enough since the rebellion to begin study, and not long enough to remove any important landmarks before they can be studied and catalogued. I'm essentially a reporter. But I can also fly this ship." Verdite eased the throttle up a bit, pushing the ship along a little faster, "This is one of a few hundred that have been built. Or so it was when we departed..."


Who knows? Maybe these are the standard model for everyday use, or maybe it's the only one left in existence. All this little Verdite knew was that this model was an attempt to make retro controls fashionable again, and very few we're actually manufactured by the time she and her escort left.
 
"So our current objective is to study?" Bloodstone deadpanned, starring off into the confusing control box "And then, what, you'll find your escorts just before you leave for Honeworld again?"
 
"Eheh, I guess I didn't think that far... Having someone like you to anchor someone like me to reality really helps. I can get lost in my research sometimes..." (Despite what it says on the CS, I'm minorly reinventing this character lololol) Verdite looked out the frontal port, "We're nearing the Prime Kindergarten. I... can drop you off if you like."
 
Bloodstone rolled her eyes. Not because this Veridite was making her stick around and delaying her main objective, but because she had found a way to make her want to willingly. "I'll stick around with you. I just have to get back to what's left of my ship eventually."
 
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