LOG-048.

  "Picking up multiple contact readings, my Emerald. Imperial ones."

  8XS glanced down at the nervous Peridot for a moment, before nodding firmly.

  "How many systems have we made it through since moving on from the graveyard?"

  A moment of silence passed, followed by several sounds indicating a console being accessed.

  "Three hundred and forty six at a rough estimate, my Emerald, though I can't be sure since we've been hopping in and out so much. We're moving very slowly thanks to the Warp engine's compromised state and repairs are underway but-what are we going to do now? I'm reading at least three separate vessels on a direct intercept course...and they're gaining."

  The admiral's eyes cooly regarded the assortment of holographic screens floating amongst her throne, a finger tapping against an armrest as she considered their newest hurdle.

  "...We can't outrun them, not with modern engines like theirs. But we can outmanoeuvre them long enough to make it to the next jump. It should give us enough time to let the engineers repair everything properly and follow whatever route Viridian and...Vermilion took."

  The name she'd gotten from the Lapis felt alien, even now. But Emerald begrudgingly admitted it...suited Sixteen A, especially with how it played along with her fellow Pearl's designation.

  Viridian and Vermilion. Hmph.

  ...She could almost feel the gazes of the rest of the bridge practically piercing into her lightform at the second name, but she ignored it the same way she'd ignored a Diamond's orders, instead focusing on getting the Retaliator and their newly refurbished robonoid corvette (jokingly dubbed the Deserter by the crew, much to her annoyance), through this latest asteroid field without getting Stars knew how many dents added to both of their hulls.

  All as previous, complicated conversations continued to play within and throughout her mind.

  ---

  The rock cutter trapped within the third cell she entered was...different, when compared to her fellow rebels. The Citrine had been utterly stubborn, responding only with threats and insults, the rogue warrior class Gem living up to her facet, even if in an astoundingly infuriating way. She'd almost reminded Emerald of her own bodyguards, as a matter of fact.

  The not-Pearl had been her own brand of strangeness. Seemingly almost completely resistant to questioning, and even mocking at times with the way she provided answers that only seemed purposefully designed to provoke 8XS into making further mistakes born out of anger.

  But the Lapis Lazuli...Emerald had expected a lot of things. But what she hadn't expected was the blue Gem practically lunging at her, not in the form of an attack, but rather to grab at and stare at her with wide eyes as almost panicked questions poured out of her mouth in a deluge of noise. Yes, she was a civilian Gem, but most Lazulis she'd met (usually during her brief patrols and landings within the territories of newly developing colonies) tended to maintain at least a basic sense of decorum whenever possible.

  "Where is Viridian!? Do you have her!? Is she safe!? What about Vermilion?! O-or Quille and Talon? Did they make it out-oof!"

  A rough shove was enough to send the defective thing (part of her hesitated to even think of the term, considering her own current circumstances) stumbling back into a wall, even as Emerald levelled a sneer her way.

  "You will maintain your distance, Lazuli."

  That was enough to seemingly remind the Gem just where she was, considering her eyes narrowed a second later, hands visibly twitching to presumably make use of water that simply wasn't there for her to control.

  Emerald merely narrowed her eyes in turn, a tight lipped smile affixing itself to her face as she took a firm step forward, crossing her arms behind her back as she did so.

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  "I am Emerald Facet 2M7G, cut 8XS. Admiral and captain of this vessel, alongside Viridian's rightful owner. Judging by your initial questions, you most likely have knowledge of her. As for the others, your fellow Gems remain incarcerated within different sections of the brig you now find yourself in, though I know not of a Vermilion."

  The narrowed eyes turned into a scathing glare as the Lazuli pushed herself up against the wall behind her, standing up straight.

  "You...Viridian and Vermilion talked about you. Scattered Skies, you don't even know your slave's damned name, do you?"

  Emerald frowned. Viridian had spoken about her, no doubt while under interrogation. Unfortunate, though she couldn't truly blame her. The poor, delicate thing likely hadn't lasted long under the cruel clutches of her organic captors, no matter how steadfastly she might have attempted to hold out with her usual flawless exterior.

  ...Damn it all. They had to be okay. They had to be. They'd almost certainly been aboard that Roaming Eye, for Stars' sake.

  "If you are referring to my Pearls, then you must mean Sixteen A."

  A second passed, a shocked look crossing over the pirate's face.

  "Her name is Vermilion!"

  Then the admiral's eyes widened as the Lapis lunged once more, the officer bringing up an arm to hold back the suddenly aggressive Gem even as her counterpart clumsily swung a fist, her other hand moving to her suddenly glowing gemstone.

  She tensed for a second, wondering just what the rebel might be planning, before shock overcame her as the terraformer pulled a stream of light outwards, the glowing mass rapidly travelling downwards until it finally coalesced at her bare feet.

  Then Emerald was rapidly stepping backwards as the Lazuli lashed out with a kick, a trio of wickedly sharp talons attached to what seemed to be armoured footwear just barely missing her eyes.

  Stars above, a terraformer with a summoned weapon. Just how insane could these Gems get!?

  Sidestepping another kick, this one more of a thrusting motion, Emerald struck forth with an attack of her own, open palm impacting the rebel's largely exposed shoulder and sending her slamming back into the wall with a pained grunt once more.

  Rapidly moving forward, 8XS followed up with another strike, a solid punch to the torso drawing a wheezing gasp from the Lazuli before she slid back down to the floor.

  To the rogue's credit, she attempted to get up mere seconds later. Unfortunately for said attempt, Emerald's booted foot also came down mere seconds later, roughly pinning the blue Gem to the ground.

  Leaning down slightly, the admiral held back the furious snarl she wanted to open up with, instead keeping her voice low and (hopefully) dangerous enough to impress upon the rock cutter just who was in charge her.

  "So, you did have my Pearls. What did you do to them? Where did they go?"

  The Lapis struggled for a moment, trying to push herself up only for Emerald to apply just a little more pressure, drawing yet another pained gasp from her captive.

  "L-like I'd tell you! Wherever they went, it's probably as far as they can get from you and your damned Empire!"

  The urge to simply bring her boot up and down in a swift shattering strike continued to grow, even as a severe frown once more stretched the admiral's features downwards.

  "And just why would they do such a thing?! Hm?! After the torture you and your filthy band of organic pirates no doubt put them through!"

  This time, it was the Lazuli that openly snarled, clearly in less control of herself than 8XS was, all while doing her best to twist around in her position to glare back up at the Emerald.

  "Torture?! They came willingly! Anything to get away from you and your regime! Clearly Viridian figured she and Vermilion were better off with us than with you-"

  Emerald could practically feel the blue Gem's lightform giving way as she pressed down even harder, her fists violently shaking at her sides.

  "Stop! LYING! Viridian is a loyal Gem! She has served me faithfully since her creation, and has always been a valued member of this vessel's crew! For what purpose would she ever seek to leave!?"

  ---

  Yes, that 'conversation' in particular had mostly gone on in circles, over and over until Emerald had finally gotten sick of the uppity Lazuli's lies and discorporated her form in a brief fit of uncharacteristic rage. She'd be fine once she reformed, though, so there was no lasting harm truly done.

  ...Even if the entire thing had struck some form of chord within her. There was something about how...earnest the blue Gem had been. She was angry at Emerald, seemingly...supposedly more on the behalf of the admiral's Pearls rather than herself.

  It brought feelings of...doubt, to say the very least. Not a good sensation to have. Especially with her crew depending on her as they were now. She was torn from her thoughts by the voice of one of the bridge's resident Jaspers, the Quartz visibly tense at her post.

  "My Emerald, sensors have confirmed the enemy fleet composition! A cruiser and two destroyers! They...they're hailing us, admiral!"

  Hailing them. Just like all the other ships had. She'd held out hope at first, up until the first Nephrite she'd spoken to had demanded immediate surrender, proclaiming that the entire crew were to be shattered with both 8XS and the Retaliator itself being 'repossessed.'

  Rejuvenated, in more brutal terms. An untold fate for an Emerald, which only further drove home just how truly cracked her new existence had become in such an astoundingly short amount of time.

  "...Divert power to engines and shields. Ignore the hail, they're likely just going to rant about my betrayal like the other captains we've run into. For now, we'll lose them amidst the asteroid field and initiate a staggered Warp jump once we clear it ourselves, that should let us lose them for a while."

  That doubt was shaken aside, locked away into a darker part of her mind for later perusal and evaluation. For now, she would simply focus on getting them where they needed to go. Namely, away from their pursuers, and back on the trail her lost Pearls had hopefully taken.

  She could consider the possible validity (no matter how preposterous, Emerald was not one to ignore potential factors in a situation) of the rogue Lapis Lazuli's words at another time. Maybe when she was in a better mood.