LOG-010.

  It was my turn to be the 'bridge Pearl' this cycle, and as a result I got the lucky chance (genuinely, this was one of the few activities I truly enjoyed) to witness our ship's return to real space.

  "Translating outside of the Warp in three, two, one. Beginning slow burn sequence."

  The Peridot's (Facet 2I5P, Cut 6XA. I'd had a few idle conversations regarding basic maintenance of computational systems with her during our respective downtimes. She was...nice) voice washed over me, even as I continued to slowly flow around my Emerald's command throne in yet another elaborate dance routine. The constantly shifting light taking up all of the viewscreens quickly began to bleed away, before finally being torn out entirely, replaced by the endless dotted abyss of this particular nameless star system.

  Seconds later, I was being waved off as the fleet admiral leaned forward, one hand tapping away at a nearby control pad.

  "Get me the Serenity's status. Older destroyers like her have a bad tendency to take on exterior hull damage during Warp transitions."

  I remained blissfully still and uninvolved as the rest of the hustle and bustle of a fully staffed cruiser's central bridge let itself be known, dozens of voices melding together into one constant fusion of noise as the Retaliator and her tagalong vessel ensured they hadn't suffered complications while travelling countless light years in order to reach their shared destination.

  Instead, I simply stared out the primary 'window' directly in front of the throne, taking in the sight of a grey, barren looking world with three small moons, all of the innocuous bodies seemingly nestled in a massive debris field, and orbiting a young star.

  "Viridian."

  Snapping to attention, I took on a more responsive pose (type three, pattern one) and glanced at my owner.

  "Yes, my Emerald?"

  The large green Gem glanced at the distant planet with narrowed eyes for a moment, before nodding to herself and relaxing back into her seat. A hand waved at me once more as she did so.

  "Prepare to record. Once you're done, move to disseminate the information amongst the rest of the crew. We'll have plenty of time to get everyone up to speed on the situation in this sector while our sublight drives bring us closer to the mission objective's last known coordinates. Send up your...counterpart, while you're at it."

  Dipping my head in a quick bow, I allowed a small holopad to spring out from my gemstone, fingers dancing across it in preparation to note down the admiral's words.

  "Yes, my Emerald."

  ---

  "Sixteen A. I'm off to do a job for the admiral. You can stop dusting the wall and go take my place."

  "O-oh! Right, of course!"

  ---

  The primary Ruby barracks was filled with excited murmurs as I strode inside, my holopad hovering next to me. A quick clap was enough to settle the rambunctious swarm of footsoldiers, even as I brought my little visual aid forward.

  "Attention please! Our Emerald has dispatched me to brief all relevant personnel on the possible dangers and encounters we might face while in system. Does anyone have any questions before I begin?"

  Several hands immediately shot upwards. I carefully stifled a tired sigh and put on a kind, patient smile instead, pointing towards a nervous looking soldier with her Gem sticking out of her right forearm. It probably helped that Rubies were just...well, Rubies. It was really hard to stay mad at them at the best of times.

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  "You have a question, 9XE?"

  Her cube shaped hair bobbed slightly as she nodded, hand lowering. "Yes ma'am! Uhm...can you explain it a bit simpler please?"

  Nodding right back at the little pyrokinetic, I gestured to the holopad, then let one hand close into a fist, lightly impacting with its counterpart.

  "The admiral wants me to tell you about all the bad stuff around here, so you're ready in case you need to punch it."

  That drew a few more slightly excited murmurs, before the now smiling Ruby backed away with a happy "okay!" and sat down amongst her numerous fellows.

  I let a finger trail across the almost there surface of the holopad, even as the image of some kind of vaguely avian looking being popped up on it. Almost like a brightly coloured, bipedal crow with the occasional patches of leathery looking hide making themselves known across its predominantly feathered form.

  "This is a visual example, or picture, of a member of designated organic species Fourteen A. They are sapient, which means they're about as smart as we are. The Retaliator is currently orbiting their former homeworld."

  Just another crime to tack on to our Homeworld's many, many misdeeds.

  Ignorant of my inner thoughts, another hand shot up.

  "Former?"

  I nodded, swapping to an image of the grey, barren world I'd been looking at only a short while ago.

  "Correct. The initial expansion fleets of Era One encountered heavy resistance by the planet's inhabitants during their first attempts at converting the surface into a future colony. Meaning they fought back. Thanks to the unsecured nature of Gem technology during that time, the natives somehow managed to successfully sieze an entire Kindergarten, alongside the shipyard that had been attached to it. Newly implanted Gems were reprogrammed to fight against Homeworld as a result, and effectively turned traitor the moment they emerged from the earth."

  Which had been...interesting to learn about. Modern day Gem tech was far more resistant to tampering, from what my Emerald told me, but the idea that it was still somehow possible wouldn't quite leave my train of thought after learning that a bunch of fucking birds had managed to effectively take over several massive batches of Gems way back in the day.

  As several shocked gasps and "dang organics!" echoed throughout the room, I idly pondered whether, in another time and age, humanity might have been able to pull off a similar feat.

  "Indeed, quite a dreadful turn of events. In response, Yellow Diamond personally lead a decimator fleet and purged their entire world of all signs of life, including the subverted Gem army."

  "Yeah!"

  "Woohoo! Yellow Diamond!"

  "Yay!"

  Then again, maybe it was for the best that it wasn't humans that had showed exceptional resistance to Gem occupation. Decimator fleets were no joke, apparently. The Fifty Fifth Lance were practically a scout group compared to one. It was simply yet another firm reminder of the true nature of the violently expansionist Empire I now found myself a part of.

  I paused as another hand shot up.

  "Yes?"

  The Ruby in question tilted her head, arms crossed. "Uh, is the history lesson important?"

  Blinking, I shrugged slightly.

  "Perhaps not, but I presume our Emerald wanted everyone to have context in case we ran into them."

  Various eyes widened.

  "Didn't Yellow Diamond kill em all?"

  "Yeah! She sent an...uh..."

  "A decimator fleet!"

  "Yeah!"

  I let them get it out of their systems, and continued.

  "To make a long story quite short, a vast portion of their species managed to escape the purge using stolen Imperial warships. As a result, their current living population generally survive in the more secluded nebulae of this sector, constantly on the move and only occasionally leaving to raid Gem trade routes and supply lanes for resources. They've been a minor problem around these parts since Era One, considering none of our fleets have managed to pin down their base or bases of operations."

  Clapping again to cut off yet another set of questions, I swept my hand towards the holopad.

  "They use extremely outdated, modified vessels to get around, and thus have a large preference for boarding combat in order to make up for their lack of advanced ship to ship weapons. They're not tough individually, but they most definitely have access to weaponry purpose built to discorporate a Gem's lightform or, Stars forbid, even shatter their gemstone."

  That managed to get their rapt attention, at the very least. No matter how silly they sometimes seemed, they were still warriors at the end of the day.

  I raised a single finger upwards, taking on a serious expression.

  "In the unlikely event we encounter them, close quarters combat within the halls of the Retaliator is a near certainty. Breaking reinforced enemy lines should be left to the Quartzes, while all of you maintain low profiles and move to overwhelm potential boarding parties. Fusing will only make you a bigger, easier to hit target, understand? Stay small, and stay fast."

  My smile widened slightly as the entire barracks yelled back with a firm sense of duty barely covering up their excited tones.

  "Yes Viridian!"

  Now, I needed to inform the Jaspers. And then the Rutile fighter wing. Oh, and the Peridots needed the updated schematics of the freighter we were looking for...

  Ugh, so much to do. At least I had more than enough time to get everything done. It'd likely be well over an entire day before we reached even the furthest orbits of one of the moons at sublight speeds, especially with a practically ancient ion destroyer like the Serenity slowing us down.