The sun shone down from the wide blue sky. A gentle wind blew in across the ocean, shattering its surface into sparkling waves. Then it reached the edge of the beach and the looming presence of the land sent the air swelling up, rushing past carved and tumbling stone, scented with the touch of hot sand. Grains of silica and salt drifted up and the massive statue in the side of the cliff quietly suffered one more day's erosion on top that of the thousands of years that came before. In the temple's lone remaining outstretched hand a few hanging red shirts gently flapped from a long string hung between two outstretched fingers.

Pearl distantly hummed to herself as she folded up a small pair of blue jeans, laying this article down in the wide plastic basket on its proper stack, beside similar close-packed pillars of paired white socks and red shirts folded into neat squares with their yellow star in the center. The music with her now was an old tune, a message from so long ago that even she had forgotten whatever its original intent was. She did not try to remember. In any case it was better than the harsh sound of circling gulls that echoed from down towards the boardwalk. Pearl smiled a bit as she softly snorted at a particularly outraged squawk. Those creatures had no harmony.

Then the last shirt was down and Pearl stepped back onto the smooth warp pad in the center of the statue's palm, the plastic basket held between one hand and her hip. Looking out at the vast empty ocean Pearl once again admitted a thought to herself; there was some desolate beauty there. Then the warp pad flashed and she fell through the skin of the universe.

She stepped forward again even as the house dropped down into existence around her, walking down off the platform as the glow was still fading. Steven was across the main room on the couch leaning back with his short legs stretched out on the cushions before him. He looked up from whatever he was doing on his mobile computer phone.

"Hey, Pearl."

Pearl set the plastic basket down over near him with a smile. "I've got your clothes here. Now remember to put them in the proper drawers and not just set them on the far side of your bed where you think we can't see them."

Steven wiggled against the back of the couch, trying to sit up and quickly regain some dignity of posture. "Aww! I only did that one time! And that was just because I needed to get down to the boardwalk to..." He took a deliberate little breath, there was some other thought he was holding on to that he valued more than defending against laundry accusations.

"Amethyst and Garnet are out?"

Pearl gestured to the door and then back to the temple. "Amethyst is. Garnet is down in her room doing..." She laughed. "Well, you know what Garnet gets up to."

Steven shook his head innocently. "No. Do you?"

Pearl paused. "...No."

She decided to regain a little momentum. "What is it, Steven? Do you need help with something?"

Steven turned to the side with his feet now off the couch and very with great ceremony pressed a button on the side of his phone device before placing it face down on the low table. Then he sighed theatrically and patted the couch beside him, beckoning Pearl to sit down.

She restrained her face as she gracefully complied, hiding her amusement and astonishment at Steven's constant development. Recently he routinely tried to act like a fully formed Gem. Or a full grown human, she supposed.

"What is it?" She said, "I'm listening."

"Hrrmmph."

Steven immediately flopped over on the couch next to her with the deliberate limpness that signaled he was debating something internally. His head now rested in Pearl's lap but his eyes were looking off to the side at some patch of the rafters above whose blank wood might hide whatever answer he felt uncomfortable asking about. Contact and avoidance at the same time.

Pearl turned her head slightly as she smiled at Steven's mouth scrunched up in accidental evidence of his determination. She could feel a soft drumbeat in his neck; the dim thudding of an earth-style heart that operated more like a mechanical device than a living thing. Life on earth was truly astonishing; jerry-rigged machines of impossible complexity, a clock without a clockmaker. Sometimes she forgot Steven was one of them.

"Pearl?" Steven twisted in her lap to look up at her face.

"Yes, Steven?"

His eyes glanced away. "I wanted to ask you something. Something about Gems."

"Of course." It was his right to know.

"And, uh, the war."

"Oh." Pearl realized that she did not have the best track record at explaining the War to Steven. And now she stalled as she accidentally opened her mouth before she remembered to take in enough air to form the words. But that hesitancy passed in a moment.

She smiled gently down at him, and a few of her fingers brushed the edge of his hair. "What do you want to know?"

"The corrupted Gems, the ones on both sides who were left after it was all over...The Diamonds did that, right?"

Pearl leaned back ever so slightly before she even realized she was drawing away. "Yes. They did."

Steven now looked straight up at her, his large dark eyes taking her in with unnerving and exhilarating trust.

"How?"

She had known what he was going to ask and she felt the twinge of hurt all the same. It was so long ago, and yet no time at all. Pearl looked out across the house, vacantly staring at all the modern contraptions of the kitchen without taking any of them in. It was his right to know.

"Well, Steven, I-"

5,327 YEARS AGO

The grand hall was clean, the rooftop reflectors were angled to create the perfect light-web, and Tourmaline was happy. She stood back near one of the main translucent blue pillars and took in the room, moving her arm slightly so a shaft of sunlight shifted across the faint blue stripes in her light red chest and bare shoulder to finally land on her shoulder and the facets of herself.

She hadn't been made yesterday but Tourmaline still knew enough to ensure that her Sapphires would not be embarrassed. This research outpost wasn't a Diamond court by any means, but it would pass muster. She had made sure of that. Trends were very slow to change but that meant that there were very subtle differences in contemporary preferences which were just that much more important to get right. That is why Tourmaline had spent much of the last few days badgering the house Peridot to help her scan all the open communications she could find between any Gems who had attended the last Diamond court function for any detail as to the arrangements there. This event would be perfect.

The ongoing rebellion meant there was a lot fewer public messages to work with than Tourmaline might have liked but that kind of privation just meant that there was more to be gained by succeeding at her purpose. Setting up the light web had been particularly difficult. She had not only needed to haul the mirrors up there on top of the newly transparent roof and program them for the proper time pattern, but she had needed to calculate for the differences in the angle of inclination of the sunlight here on this planet versus Blue Diamond's pavilion near the southern hemisphere in order to replicate the same effect. Frankly, it was exhausting and she could only be grateful that the Bismuths were not around any more. Pulling together a proper reception in a household with only a handful of Gems was hard enough. Doing so while construction was going on outside would have been impossible.

"Tourmaline!" The call rang out from the second floor.

Tourmaline halted in her inspection of the hall and turned on the spot. The predominate blue color of the building complemented her own faint stripes well and the soft red of her skin and the darker red of her short hair and her body decorations of a tailed vest and loose voluminous trousers that came together down at her ankles. There were some advantages of small household. For example she knew instantly that when someone said Tourmaline they meant herself and so she never had to go through the otherwise routine information sharing process to assemble orders that might have been carelessly been given piecemeal to several of her. So now she knew that at this moment she had her Sapphire's full attention.

It was her green master who was now descending the lefthand main staircase into the hall. Tourmaline supposed the other two must still be at their studies. Sapphire called out again as she made her way down:

"Tourmaline, come here for a moment."

"Of course," Tourmaline replied and quickly swept across the smooth polished floor to meet her master at the foot of the stairs. Without thought she kneeled, bringing her head down to Sapphire's level. Tourmalines made here on earth were a bit taller than their role might first suggest was necessary, beating out a Lapis Lazuli by a few inches. But managing a household did call for physical exertion from time to time, especially on an in-progress colony world. Still, Tourmaline had come out of the ground knowing that Gems of importance might register offense before grasping the intricacies of planetary economics. So she kneeled.

Sapphire smiled as her dress swished to a halt on the polished stairs. "The place looks excellent. You've functioned very well for the last few weeks."

Green Sapphire was always more kind and personable than was necessary. It probably came out of operating in this small household, though her two fellow Sapphires did not show the same response. Tourmaline didn't hold it against her. In fact, it made it hard to suppress a bit of favoritism. It was inappropriate to treat different examples of the same Gem differently, but everyone had their defects.

Tourmaline lowered her head a little more, hiding her own smile. "Thank you. And I must express my own admiration for your success in being granted this event. Your studies but be going very well."

Sapphire made a vague gesture of upraised arms expressing an ambivalent opinion of her current studies. "Ah, unplanned colony work. It always will spring up. Well, the current project is almost over and then we'll be able to get back to this planet's climate. A few decades isn't long but these deviations are slightly irritating, aren't they?" Then her hand flicked to her stomach and tapped herself sat was set there, an individual thoughtful quirk of hers.

Then she said, "Oh, of course you recognize that! You've had all those Bismuths doing all that excavation and construction between the stations for the last few years. That must have been an unwelcome set of forces to work a household around."

Frankly, Tourmaline was almost surprised Sapphire had noticed the Bismuths. That crew had not been quiet in installing those defenses but Sapphire's work rarely carried her attention to any matters more concrete than the planet's lower atmosphere. "Well within my parameters."

"Of course." Sapphire turned to glance out the long hall front entrance of the household and the sparkling bridge that arced beyond it over the pit to the warp pad that hung in the center of that void. Perhaps she was looking at the other identical blue research station on the opposite side of the bridge. When Sapphire spoke again it was what would have been in a conspiratorial tone if a Gem of her rank had ever needed to learn to lower her voice.

"We shouldn't say this but we are proud of the chance to show you off. We've been across the bridge to the Beryl enough to know the other Tourmalines don't have your sheen. The light web is lovely, but don't think I didn't notice that glass chandelier you hung up over the entrance. We saw something very similar at the Sea Spire! Really, where did you even get the materials for that?"

Ah, that process actually had been close to overstepping her bounds. Tourmaline glanced up from her kneeling position at the suspended slabs of tinted glass set under their hanging base that allowed them to swivel in response to a simulated wind. But Tourmaline trusted Sapphires. She gave her master an innocent look.

"The Bismuths had a fair bit of raw material left over after constructing the Persecution Slabs. I had Peridot enter in a requisition." She had not actually received an answer but that did not need to be said right now. Such a low level request was both sure to be granted and also sure to take at least a few years. The Bismuths had been ready to remelt the material that day. Tourmalines were expected to take some initiative when their superiors were otherwise occupied.

Fortunately, Sapphire had never been made to know requisition processes. "Well, it's fantastically done. And now all your efforts will not only be seen by the Emeralds and Lapis Lazuli, but by Quartz as well!"

"That's...wait." Tourmaline suddenly felt all her contentment all crashing down out of herself. "A Quartz?"

Sapphire was still cheery. "Two of them in fact." There was a flash of light in distance out the front entrance. "Ah, in fact there's the warp pad now! The rest of me should be downstairs any moment; they will have seen that too."

Tourmaline looked up out the front entrance towards the warp pad and saw a distant number of Gems now occupying the center of the arcing white bridge over the massive pit that had been dug between the two shimmering blue research towers. The flat Persecution Slabs that hung floating over the depression glittered as their programing assessed the entrants before they became inert again. Then Tourmaline looked up at the chandelier hanging just inside the front entrance. It was a fine constriction of five thin, ten-foot long sheets of glass suspended artfully from their fitted base.

It was also too low. Quartz were at least three feet taller than Emeralds. That chandelier would pass uncomfortably close to such a Gem's head, setting her on edge before the event had even begun. Sapphire's meeting would start on a bad note and it would all be Tourmaline's fault.

In the center of the narrow bridge, warp pad flashed again; more arrivals. The guests would be here in less than a minute. Peridot could reprogram the chandelier for a different height of course, but the house control room was half a building away. There was no time.

Tourmaline jumped up to her feet and took off running. Ignoring Sapphire's sudden astonishment, Tourmaline reached her right hand over to her opposite shoulder where her core was now glowing with the energy of manifestation. Down the hall, the house's two Rubies came into sight moving towards the front entrance to provide the ceremonial security. They promptly almost collided together as they were both distracted by the sudden sight of Tourmaline racing towards them at top speed. Tourmaline could not spare any thought for them as she hurriedly drew forth from her gem the broad manifested ribbon.

Even as it materialized out of light she cocked her arm to throw one rolled end high up over one of the stone rafters bordering the vaulted entry space above. With a smooth gesture Tourmaline shook out the other end of the wide ribbon to hang down and wrapped it around her leg and waist with a single motion even as the glow of summoning died down around it. Then the other end of the ribbon came tumbling down as it unfurled. Tourmaline grabbed in her hand and pulled as hard as she could, smoothly lifting herself up off the floor in this make-shift harness.

Green Sapphire stood where she had been, at the foot of the stairs, her hands clasped before her mouth in surprise. As Tourmaline climbed up through the empty air one quick arm pull at a time, her new vantage allowed her to see the other two Sapphires entering grand hall on the opposite second floor landings. They were just in time to see their Tourmaline racing to the ceiling. But then Tourmaline was up past the base of the chandelier mounting, the excess length of ribbon rolled tightly around the two halves of her flexed arm, reeling her up one body-length at a time. Above her the chandelier's supporting chain reached up far into the vaulted dimness.

The guests outside were getting closer. Quickly, Tourmaline flipped over, trusting the tightness of the ribbon wrapped around her leg and waist, never mind that there was nothing but friction keeping it in place. Flexing her torso, she swung out like a pendulum as the two Rubies gawped up from below. She grasped the supporting chain right where it connected to the chandelier base. No time for the startled Gems below. Tourmaline grabbed the loose end of her ribbon and stretched her arm out long and thin to squeeze it down through a loop in the chandelier base and then stretch it back up the far side to pass it through a loop in the support chain. Her snaking arm snapped back to its normal shape as she was busy tightly wrapping the ribbon end around her other arm. In the back of her mind Tourmaline thought that she had never actually tested the tensile strength of her ribbon but she was in far too deep to worry about that now.

Then she disconnected the latch holding the chandelier up.

Immediately the full weight of the hanging structure threatened to tear Tourmaline's body apart. Fortunately, she found herself just able to bare it and using every bit of mechanical advantage she could muster managed to raise up the chandelier, inch by inch, twisting and flipping her body to take up the extra slack in the ribbon around it as the distance closed.

She was straining to maintain her form at all, but now she could hear footsteps outside the front archway. Then one last twist and the chandelier was raised high enough. Tourmaline reengaged the chain latch, swung back, and let go of the long end of the ribbon while holding on just tightly enough to slow her decent short of free fall. The two Rubies watched her drop. She landed on the floor, banished her ribbon out of existence and bowed her head politely as the first of the guests entered into the household.

The two Emeralds came first, their forms sleek and sharp as benefited pilots. They walked before and almost flanked the elegant Lapis Lazuli in her high collared coat behind them, who was in turn followed by five Rubies. A full Hand of Rubies; Tourmaline shouldn't have been surprised. With all the added security measures of course the visiting party would have an escort. At least, that portion of the group. The second batch of arrivals did not require any guards at all.

Tourmaline felt the imagined pressure of her own awe as the two Quartz stepped into her household. The first was Onyx, huge and imposing, with a crest of white hair flowing down her dark head like a stripe. She had a long sword belted to her side; an actual permanent weapon. Tourmaline shuddered, perhaps the rebellion was more serious than she had thought if manifested weapons were no longer good enough. Then those thoughts were banished as she focused on the Amethyst that followed behind.

If Onyx was imposing then the even larger Amethyst was awesome in the most classical definition. She was worthy of awe. Waves of violet hair hung down over her broad shoulders, those same shoulders which easily supported the monumental pole arm that rested there, an arcing bladed slab capping a metal trunk. Amethyst stared out at the facility with the cocky glare of someone who knew that her very creation was prediction of future greatness. And she had already fulfilled her promise, judging by the presence of the shimmering Pearl that followed close behind.

"Greetings!" Tourmaline's three Sapphires called out in unison from within the grand hall. "Welcome to the Storm Study, honored representatives of my Diamond. Your presence gives worth to our purpose." Her green Sapphire stood flanked on each side by the blue Sapphires of lighter and darker shade. Standing before the escalating peaks of the much taller guest party, these three Gems looked small and fragile. Sapphires were made for their minds rather than their bodies.

"That's probably enough of that official talk." Amethyst called out from the back of the guest party. Apparently she was not one for full ceremony. "We're here for your report. We need to know if you researchers can present the plans for the Geode or not. I hear Yellow Diamond wants construction on the Absolution to begin immediately."

"Of course," Sapphire said. Obscured by taller backs, Tourmaline could not see which master had spoken. "Please come this way and we can present our findings."

Together, the Emeralds, Lapis Lazuli, and Quartz all moved forward into the light web decorated main hall. The Hand of Rubies were of course left behind in the foyer. Distantly in her gem Tourmaline knew she had duties as the Tourmaline of this household but she was terribly distracted. She could not stop staring at the Pearl.

Tourmaline had never seen one in person before. The thin and elegant Gem followed close behind her Amethyst into the meeting, her body's gossamer decorations shimmering with each smooth step. Such a being would never dream of being left behind and none would dream of excluding her. Tourmaline felt a sharp flash of envy. To be made for such a perfect purpose, bound to serve a single Gem with every hour of her existence, it was a level of harmony and peace Tourmaline could not properly conceive of. By comparison her own making was careless. She did not raise her fingers to brush against the striped occlusions in her body, but for that moment her will was tested by that faint and fruitless desire.

A soft chatter of voices began to rise in front of her. The temporarily abandoned hand of Rubies were quickly growing directionless.

"Hrmph. Did you see those defenses here?"

"They look new."

"Hmm, I bet they haven't been tested at all."

"It's pretty here."

"Why are there only two Rubies in this place?"

"You can see, can't you? There was another one at the Warp Pad!"

"That's still not five. Right?"

"Rah, there's another building like this one on the other side of the warp pad bridge. The others are probably there!"

"Hmm, hmm. Probably right."

Tourmaline shook herself out of her envious revery at Pearl's departing back. She had a purpose to fulfill.

"Ruby," she said, addressing the escort group in front of her. "Are your orders to remain here or to secure the facility at large?"

"Here I am!" One called out while cheerfully raising her arm.

That Ruby was quickly smacked back into function by the rest of her. "No! We secure the facility! No one has penetrated the warp network in ages so there's no reason to watch that way! The enemy comes from outside. Like they did against Pink Diamond." This Ruby pointed dramatically out the front entrance, over the broad void of the central pit between the research towers to the scattered trees that grew around the outer lip. Beyond them the local forest gradually increased in density until all sight was blocked.

"Of course," Tourmaline said with a nod. "All entrances are on this floor. There are two which lead outside the facility in addition to the warp pad door. Perform your sweep to the satisfaction of your orders."

"Right!" One of the Rubies stepped forward from the rest of the Hand. "Let's go!"

As a group, all the little soldiers spun and raced off down the branching hallway towards the northern exit. In a flash Tourmaline was left in the entrance portico alone with the two household Rubies. As she looked out the high vaulted arch of the front door she could see a little red shape out in the center of the bridge by the warp pad. It was Ruby waving, silhouetted against the pale blue of the other research station behind her. Then the distant Gem cupped her hands and yelled out.

"Hey, Ruby! I saw a Quartz!"

Tourmaline winced slightly as one of the Rubies beside her cupped her own hands and yelled back, "I saw one too. And I saw another!"

The reply came back over the echoing pit. "Wait, I saw two too! It was really cool!"

"I know! Next year when you come back in the house we can-!"

Tourmaline gently but firmly put her hand down on Ruby's shoulder. "I think that's probably enough for right now." It was nice for Rubies to talk to themselves but this yelling was getting embarrassing.

Ruby looked up at her, turned to the Ruby standing beside her and nodded in unison. Then the warp pad Ruby yelled back again. "Hi, Tourmaline!"

Tourmaline waved back. There was only so much she could do.

Some semblance of order restored, Tourmaline then took a moment to stand and relax. Without much thought she found herself glancing up at the slowly turning sheets of glass hanging above them. A faint smile of pride crept unnoticed into the corners of her mouth.

A small voice came up from beside her. "Hey, Tourmaline. That thing you did with the chandelier was awesome! I mean I don't know why you did it but all that stuff with your ribbon weapon was..." Ruby stopped and furrowed her brow. An idea possibly a century overdue flashed though her mineral structure. "Wait, I just thought of something. Why do you even have a weapon? And why's it..." She trailed off, making indistinct noises as though wresting for the right words in her mouth.

Tourmaline gave a lopsided grin. "Why's it not really a weapon? Well, for the first question, look out at Earth." She gestured out the door just as the other Ruby had. "It's wild and unreformed. Alien wildlife everywhere. Tourmalines are always sent first to each new outpost so I suppose the Diamonds thought that here we should be given some usefulness for before soldiers can be apportioned to each base."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Weapons are cool." Ruby nodded firmly. She held out her short arm that contained herself and made a fist her weapon materializing on it with a flash of red. The wicked spike of her bracer jutted out quite a distance past her wrist. At her side, Ruby similarly summoned up the spiked, sheath-like helmet that reached past her head and down her back as a sort of armor. With it on she looked a little like a crystal shrimp. They both growled with identical gritted teeth which in the present situation was so unneeded it was adorable. Tourmaline surreptitiously held her hand over her mouth to hide her smile.

Then Ruby stopped and turned. "Wait. But your ribbon isn't good for fighting. Not even one of those stripy tail hair-monsters with the mask and the grabby hands. And I almost beat one of those all by myself!"

"Yeah, or a tree!" Other Ruby volunteered.

Tourmaline shrugged, her mood dampened a bit. "You're right. But obviously my Diamond held that defense idea as a tertiary priority, since I still passed harvest inspection despite the defect. I mean, I'm here right? So not being able to make a proper weapon must not have influenced my ability to fulfill my purpose all that much."

"Yeah, the Diamonds are smart." Ruby seemed content with this. At least for a second. But then her face darkened as she and her fellow came across some new thought together.

"Tourmaline? Those other Rubies were talking about Pink Diamond. What-?"

"You've been talking with Peridot haven't you." Tourmaline interrupted, firming up her voice. If Rubies started coming up with their own ideas about the world they could spin out of their purpose very quickly. It was a Tourmaline's responsibility to watch for that. "What did I tell you about hanging out in her control room?"

Both Rubies looked down at the floor in uniform good-humored familiarity with these talks. They recited, "Peridot spends all her time listening to so many machines that she forgets what she already knows." Then Ruby looked up again. "Yeah, but Peridot says that all the people sending messages know that Pink Diamond was shattered centuries ago. They say a Quartz-"

"That's enough!" It was not often that Tourmaline got angry, but now the Rubies suddenly quailed below her. Two red flashes blinked out as their weapons dematerialized out of surprise. "There will be no more of that talk in this house! Other Gems might panic and get lost in rumor and their 'learned knowledge' but we are well-made here. We serve our Sapphires and they in turn serve the Diamonds with all their ideas about storms and climates and circulation systems and all that. We know our purpose. Do you understand me?"

Just as quickly as she has lost control Tourmaline realized that she had done so. She calmed down and spoke to the shivering Rubies more gently. "I mean, honestly. 'Shattered a Diamond', that doesn't even make sense. Diamonds don't get shattered, you know that."

Ruby laughed with the relieved tension and held her hand behind her head. "Ha, yeah. You're right. Peridot does get weird in there. Listening to the music all the time she even starts to talk like that sometimes."

Tourmaline smiled. "It's ok. It's good that you talked to me. We all can get confused from time to time and it's nice to check back with what's real." Tourmaline turned to look back towards the Grand Hall. She recognized the current pattern of the programed light web. It was time for her to circulate back through there. However, there was a brief commotion as the Hand of Rubies came rushing back down the transverse hall in a chattering stampede before rushing off again down the other end of that hall. Then, when Tourmaline had the chance to pry herself back off the wall where she had fled to avoid being trampled, she composed herself and quietly strode into the Grand Hall.

The reflected sunbeams of the light web had almost finished moving into their second stage, slowly glancing through the air at a speed almost below notice. Tourmaline slid across the polished stone floor as quietly as possible. Past the shafts of light, the guests stood in an easy ring before the holo display Sapphire had called up to display the household's accomplishments.

In fact, Sapphire was speaking at that moment. "The energy flow calculations are sound. Though, of course, I can not imagine what could possibly require as much power as this Geode will supply. The internal stresses alone-"

Lapis Lazuli spoke, her long hair swishing softly against the back of her coat as she moved her head. "Don't worry. A separate research team has designed the containment. It will hold. In fact, according to their report it heals its self. They say the close application of an aligned grid of carbon products triggers a remolding of the shielding material. Easy."

Emerald snorted. "Easy? Who would ever even think of doing that?"

Tourmaline saw green Sapphire look over at her two fellows in a shared moment of the silent consensus of type uniformity. Then the lead-most said, "Still, the projected energy production seems...excessive."

"We need it."

The voice was strong and commanding, even when spoken softly. All eyes turned to Amethyst. All save for those of her own Pearl who remained at perfect relaxed attention one step behind the warrior. There was nothing her assigned Gem could say that would surprise such a being.

Unconcerned by the attention, Amethyst idly adjusted her hand's grip on the lower haft of her pole-arm. It was a small flicking gesture that with her incredible strength nevertheless sent the massive weapon spinning on it's long axis at a blinding speed even as it lay on her shoulder, its flat blade forming the illusion of a solid shape like a spinning top through rapid rotation alone. Then Amethyst tightened her grip and the rotation slammed to a halt instantaneously.

"We need that power. The rebellion must be put down. Yellow Diamond's new device will be the way to do it."

Apparently Emerald had not been bestowed the same viewpoint, as she tilted her head to the side and briefly glanced at her fellow before turning to Amethyst. "Sapphire's hesitancy is reasonable. The Absolution is a major commitment of resources. This 'rebellion' centers around a single Quartz. They have a handful of fighters. Caution is good, but surely it is only a matter of time until the aberrants are unmade?"

This time it was Onyx who spoke. "Her numbers are not going down; they are increasing."

Lapis Lazuli joined in. "Blue Diamond agrees with the project assessment. This planet's Alpha Kindergarden is already running dry. Even with the rush job for site selection, Beta will not be at full operation capacity for a century. There is a reason my Diamond gave Yellow Diamond the go ahead for her device."

Sapphire murmured, as much to her other selves as to the group. "I heard that they might even be considering Delta already. I thought it was just overzealous planning."

To her side Sapphire spoke up next, gesturing out to Amethyst. "Still, she's just a quartz. Powerful, but there are hundreds more of you who-"

Amethyst said, "She can do things. Her powers don't make sense. She has more abilities than any Rose Quartz I have ever seen before. Now some reports even say she can augment her forces with local carbon life."

Emerald laughed. "I agree with your point, but you chose a strange example to focus on. I've seen the aliens on this planet, even if you can properly call these formations life."

Amethyst turned to the side, causing Lapis Lazuli to involuntarily cower as the blade of the pole-arm suddenly swung over her head. Emerald stepped back as the Quartz focused on her. "I've visited the site of one of the recent raids. I've seen what she leaves behind. Do not underestimate this planet."

Both Tourmaline's Sapphires and the visiting Gems slowly turned to look out the blue tinted windows at the field beyond. The circle of the two research stations and pit was contained within a carefully groomed ellipsoid meadow of the local grass species. Beyond that trees began. Tourmaline had always thought it looked rather nice. However, now there was a shade of anxiety laid over those strange growing life forms.

Onyx grunted and thumbed the pommel of her sword. "You're too open here. I'll put in a requisition to carbonize a two mile perimeter around this facility."

Tourmaline couldn't help but softly gasp. She had spend a bit over a century getting those trees to grow properly in place. She had needed to rip out her first attempts after she had misjudged the fully actualized forms of those organisms and now everything within sight was going to be burned?

However, it seemed she had been heard. One of the Emeralds and Lapis Lazuli both turned slightly to look in surprise at the Tourmaline who dared to interrupt. Fortunately it looked like her green Sapphire shared Tourmaline's concern.

"Surely that's excessive. This planet's local life is odd, but I will admit to liking the rustling sounds of so many free-moving surfaces in a rising wind. It would be a shame to lose that."

"It's not our task to make threat assessments." Lapis Lazuli shot back. Tourmaline could have sworn that a portion of that statement was somehow directed at her over in the corner, without the blue Gem ever shifting a particle of her body. But imagined or not, the admonishment let Tourmaline remember what her current task was.

All three of Tourmaline's Sapphires had seen her and made no motion or signal, so clearly there was not any immediate need for her here. Tourmaline continued her circuit of the hall and quietly strode over to the staircase with a projected well-made lack of concern for whatever these gems were talking about. It pertained to outside the household, so it was of no interest to a Tourmaline. She kept telling herself that. As she ascended the staircase she thought she could feel the eyes of the Pearl on her retreating back.

Then Tourmaline was on the second floor and touched the wall panel to slide open the cover that revealed a much smaller set of stairs up to the very top of the facility. In a few seconds she emerged up through that higher floor to that small room perched above the rest of the building. The walls were heavily tinted at the moment, she noticed with a touch of dissatisfaction. Peridot's workstation allowed for views that included nearly everything Tourmaline had ever seen and the smaller Gem never seemed to leave the walls translucent enough to look out at any of it. The tower penthouse was lit nearly entirely by the glow of the displays and echoed slightly with the soft sound of half a dozen competing communication songs. Tourmaline was about to say something about a proper environment when a little green head with curly yellow hair popped up from behind one of the control consoles.

"Tourmaline! Perfect, you're here!"

She remembered that she had not come to talk about work habits. "Peridot, please stop tormenting Ruby with talk of Diamonds. You know how they get worked up."

"What?" Peridot shrugged with a perfect simulation of innocence. It might even have been genuine. Her type were not made with inter-gem workflow in mind. "Sure, send them up and I'll sort out whatever their problem is."

"That's not..." Tourmaline sighed. "Ok. Why is it good that I'm up here?"

"Oh, that. Right." Peridot spun around to another console and ran her finger across its surface in a searching manner, once again shifting the relative pitches of the muffled songs. "Where was it? I just had it here a second ago but...Oh, never mind. I don't need it." She turned back and flung up her short arms. "The Rebels hit another place today!"

Tourmaline experienced a trill of fear. "They breached the warp network?"

"Er, well...no."

She then let herself relax just as quickly. "Well then what are you on about? We're fine. Even if the aberrants did breach the network, we have two Quartz and a Lapis downstairs with us right now."

Peridot scrunched her face up in frustration and anxiety. "But this place was really close to us!"

"Close? You said they didn't get a warp pad. " Tourmaline truly did not know what Peridot was talking about. "What do you mean 'close to us'?"

"I mean close! Geography! It was landing facility on the same continent. Look!" Peridot poked out at her console and the holo popped into existence showing an image of the planet with two glowing indicators on one of the landmasses. Tourmaline guessed one of those was this their home.

"Oh, that." It was strange to think of moving between two locations on the same planet through real space. But all the same she now had another distressed member of her household here before her looking anxious and fearful. This was part of her purpose. Tourmaline turned to study the holo and pursed her lips, looking impressed. "That's a good catch Peridot. I would not have thought to check the coordinates of such a report. Well, I guess you'll be happy to hear that Onyx downstairs is going to be getting us a lot more security precautions."

Some of Peridot's pervasive anxiety melted away. "Onyx, here?"

"Oh, yes. We're going to be getting a massive security perimeter." Tourmaline chose to hide how much the specifics of that plan bothered her. But if it would provide her household with ease of mind then she would be content to watch the forest burn. Some things were more important.

But still, the forest was not incinerated yet. She turned to the nearest wall and reached out to touch the opacity slider. "Now, lets un-tint this room a bit and get some local light. You're missing the light web down in the great hall so you might as well get a portion of the experience," she said as she slid her finger across the proper patch of wall.

The entire vertical surface before her rapidly turned transparent to a nearly clear mass with the barest tint of blue though its depths. The sun hung high in the equally blue sky outside as Tourmaline straightened her vest in satisfaction. Behind her, Peridot hissed and grumbled something about having set all her displays for a proper light balance which was now being disrupted. Tourmaline could now look down below the full length window, past the rest of the building at the white-walled inverted cone of the massive pit between the two identical faceted blue facility households. The thin arc of the bridge soared over that void, bulging into a circle holding the warp pad at its center, flanked by the floating vertical sheets of the Persecution Slabs. Then to each side and out beyond the building that mirrored her own stretched the fluttering green tops of the forest. It was a nice vista. It was one of only two Tourmaline had ever seen.

Then she frowned at one part of this view that was not familiar. In the sky above and behind her sister facility, she could see a spec of something else. At first Tourmaline thought that it might be one of the local winged carbon-life but another passing second showed that it was far too big for any of the specimens she had ever seen. The next thought through Tourmaline's mind was that for it to change size that quickly it had to be traveling extremely fast. And if it seemed motionless in the sky then that meant it was headed straight towards them. This was truly something new.

She spoke gently but firmly, procedures she was not even aware she had been made with coming springing into her mind. "Peridot, I want you to scan for all local transmissions and prepare one of our own."

Peridot had hunched over one of her consoles again, shading whatever she was looking at with her short arm and now glanced up up. "What? There's nothing new happening on these. What do you want me to-?"

"Emergency broadcast now!" Tourmaline yelled with every ounce of authority her creation allowed her. Instantly Peridot's hand shot out almost out of her control and slammed down on the console. A dire song wailed to life, just as before Tourmaline's eyes the top of their sister research facility exploded outwards into pale blue fragments at the point of impact. The outstretched wing of the crashing war-flyer smashed into and through that building at full atmospheric speed and did not stop. A glittering halo of destruction hung in the air as a frozen instant brought it hurtling still towards them. In the pit between the buildings, the floating Persecution Slabs spun in an instant as they blazed into light, lancing upwards with lasers which sliced though the armored sheets of the wide tapered wing shape of the ship. But all their destructive strength could not stop the power each smoking ship fragment still held in its momentum.

That next half of a second stretched on for ages. Distantly, Tourmaline noted that she saw a large glowing pink orb separate from between two of the melted severed portions of the flying ship, somehow unscathed while the rest of the craft was falling apart. Then the ship hit her building bellow them, just above the building's main entrance. All those fragments impacted against her home and the brilliant gleaming walls came tumbling down. The floor tipped forward below Tourmaline and gave way, the transparent window breaking open into a thousand fragments as the shockwave traveled through it. Then she fell. Somehow Peridot was now in Tourmaline's arms as Tourmaline tried to use her own body as whatever kind of shield for them she might be able to manage in the tumbling, crashing chaos. Then everything was rubble and noise.

...