LOG-023.

  My smile remained ever perfect, ever flawless, if slightly strained as I stepped further into the bridge chamber, an incredibly hesitant Vermilion shadowing my movements right behind me.

  Out of everyone standing in front of and watching me in turn, only three faces proved familiar. Brim, who by this point had stepped aside after hugging the metaphorical stuffing out of me. The ever enigmatic Quille, tall, clothed form seemingly casual from her position standing next to a taller Avian soldier, and the large, intimidating form of a certain Citrine.

  The golden Gem in question took a solid step forward as my eyes locked with her own, expression blank.

  The familiar sensation of my gauntlets began to manifest, the weapons just shy of forming over my hands when a wide smile broke out across the Citrine's face.

  "You got me good, little Pearl. Colour me impressed!"

  The statement was followed by a deep chuckle, even as I carefully repressed the urge to lash out with claws formed of weaponized light. Instead, I just bowed my head in a nod, placid facial expression still firmly affixed.

  "Well, I wasn't exactly eager to be captured when I was just about to escape. Ironic, considering where I am now."

  That just drew another loud guffaw from the warrior, even as a few chirps and titters came from the mass of birds around us.

  The noise collectively stopped as one particular organic stepped forward however. He or she looked...old, to say the very least. Their predominantly dark feathers had steadily been replaced by more and more shades of grey throughout their life, and now they looked far more ashen compared to the standard jet black colour that most Avians I'd seen possessed.

  A low croon escaped the presumed elder's lips, before they tilted their head.

  "Im...perial."

  It didn't sound natural, being forced out of a beak as it was, but the old bird managed it nonetheless. The smooth utterance of a Gem based word managed to draw a gasp from my Batchmate, even as I forced any of my own surprise deeper down, hiding it from the surface.

  Instead, I simply performed that same head bow again.

  "Yes...and no. I don't want to be one, not if I can help it."

  A rasping squawk of a laugh escaped the organic, then they slowly bowed their own head in turn.

  "Good! Then...come."

  White and grey robes swept slightly as the older codger turned around, taloned feet clacking against the foor as they made their way over to some kind of central table, the three rogue Gems following along beside them.

  Under the watchful eyes of everyone else within the bridge, I followed.

  ---

  The elder could speak Imperial, but it wasn't exactly something they could keep up consistently, considering they didn't exactly have the right biological hardware to use the language properly for any real length of time.

  As a result, I was forced to sit through the awkward experience of a chirpy Brim translating for the old bird instead. The serious words sounded alien, coming from her mouth. Especially considering her peppy tone made them feel almost sarcastic when actually spoken.

  "As you've likely already learned, our goal remains simple, and, if you are to be believed, quite similar to yours. We wish to leave the Empire behind, so we may live without fear. You shared your knowledge of them freely with us, and for this, you have earned a modicum of trust."

  A holographic diagram of some kind was present on the table we'd crowded around, various figures lighting up in a deep red.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  The elder's hand slowly hovered over a single spear-like shape, tapping it once with a gnarled looking talon and producing a ripple across the entire picture. The action was punctuated by several noises. Croons, chirps and a single squawk.

  The Lapis Lazuli at their side stared at the table, before blinking.

  "This shape represents the ship we're currently on. In time, we will rejoin the rest of the fleet within a nearby asteroid field, enact basic repairs, and begin preparations for a full embarkment. An exodus, if you will."

  The talon curved around, indicating several other groups of spear-like vessels, alongside a few additional spots, filled with what vaguely looked like rugby balls.

  More squawks. More croons. More chitters and chirps.

  "We have always been surrounded by our enemies, and though our maps are likely out of date from when we obtained them, we have plotted what we believe will serve as a relatively safe course out of Imperial territory. From there, we will use the high energy fuel we took from one of their freighters to get as far from these Gems as we can, as fast as we can. Your role, should you wish to join us, will be to help modernize these maps as much as possible, so that we may-"

  Click.

  Silence rang throughout the table, and I resisted the urge to blink dumbly as I realized the disapproving sound had come from my own mouth.

  As more and more eyes turned to me, I very carefully considered what I found so very wrong with the current plan, and barely repressed a series of curses as I turned towards the elder.

  The complacency of it all scared me. Far, far too much.

  "You stole Diamond essence. Do you understand what that means?"

  A moment's hesitation, before the organic shook their head slightly, crooning towards Brim. The blue Gem in question listened attentively, before obediently parroting out the words in a way I could actually understand.

  "We believe it to be a form of fuel used to power various Imperial technologies. Old records and our own Gems say it was brought to our homeworld, long before our time, to power the kindergartens. Are we wrong to assume this?"

  I stared in slight terror, risking a glance at a now visibly horrified Vermilion as we both collectively realized just how ignorant our not quite allies really were.

  Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

  Slowly placing my hands on the edge of the table, I steadied myself and levelled a glare at the elder.

  "You're not mistaken, but you're missing rather crucial details, to say the very least."

  My lightform remained tense, and my voice may or may not have been a little terse compared to my usual fare but for Stars' sake who could really blame me?

  "Not only is it the most potent power source available to our kind in all our many, many years of existence, but it also serves as the sole material capable of facilitating the production of new Gem life. More importantly, the Empire is in the middle of a resource crisis because of it, and will be dispatching Stars knows how many vessels to search for and retrieve the stuff once my Emerald manages to get the word out that a bunch of organics have a hold of it!"

  The silence that answered my brief break in decorum left me wanting to pant, despite not actually needing the air prevalent in this ship. The light touch of a hand resting on my back almost prompted a flinch, before I realized that it was just Vermilion trying her best to calm me down.

  If I was a little out of sorts, the elder looked like I'd just killed their entire family in front of them, beak agape and feathers ruffled. A few Avians shared similar expressions, and the Gems around us all looked fairly shaken as well.

  Even Quille's eyes were decidely wider than normal, from what little I could see of them behind those damned goggles attached to her mask.

  Bringing up a hand to massage the bridge of my nose (the act didn't actually do anything, but the familiarity of it pleased the small, vehemently human part of my mind), I glanced back down at the map, trying to understand just where we were relative to everything else.

  "Alright, for a start any timetable you all might have had planned is gonna need to be accelerated massively. Maybe you trust me fully now, maybe you don't, but one thing you can trust is that the Empire is coming here and that is something all of us don't want. Now, I'm assuming these bigger shapes are some of your homeships or whatever you want to call them. They're sitting adjacent to a newly formed trade route that my Emerald flew us through just last cycle, so we're gonna want any vessels there moving out of the way before someone catches wind of them-"

  It would be several hours worth of intense discussion and planning (alongside Brim flashing me not at all subtle looks as I accidentally took charge) before I realized I'd somehow managed to position myself in a form of pseudo-command. Sure, no one was obligated to follow my orders and suggestions, but perhaps my frantic, very much clipped tone and the abject fear in my eyes helped them realize that shit was most definitely fucked and I was trying to help for my own survival if nothing else.

  In one conversation, I'd gone from a prisoner they'd been planning to install into some form of service, to a crucial advisor thanks to being the only one amongst them that actually knew what a proper Imperial military response was going to look like.

  Or at least, the only one that could hazard an even half accurate guess. The perks of formerly belonging to a fucking fleet admiral. Yay.

  Regardless, we had a bit of time, yes. I couldn't count (I could, actually, the number was very high) just how many times my Emerald had idly complained about how long it took various Gem administrators and military leaders to get their shit into gear when it came to mobilizing, so we had that going for us at least.

  Aside from that singular benefit? I had nothing to work with beyond the fact that the Avians were just as eager to get the fuck out of dodge as I was. With luck, the elder (I could only assume they were a captain of some kind) was already doing whatever they could to spread my warning along to the other ships in this particular patch of space, who would in turn carry said warning even further until just about everyone who could actually make proper changes to their ill-informed plan was aware of things.

  But until then, all I could really do was wait, plan and do my best not to crack my gemstone through sheer stress. Oh, and enjoy the benefits of having been granted a proper room to stay in for all my efforts, rather than the spare closet they were still keeping Vermilion in, apparently.

  Though for a guest room, it looked oddly well lived in.

  Maybe someone was giving up their digs to help keep the important new defector on board? Whatever. At least for the time being, I could maybe manage some desperate form of relaxation.

  Maybe.

  ...Just as soon as I managed to figure out why the fuck someone had left a bunch of shiny shit (was that a broken destabilizer?) around the circular looking padded cloth that I was assuming was meant to be some kind of bed equivalent.

  Seriously, what?