LOG-066.

  There is something to be said about just how broken a Lapis Lazuli with a near limitless water supply is.

  It had been something I'd pondered once or twice, on just why the Empire even bothered creating traditional armies when a handful of angry terraformers with access to some ice asteroids could essentially perform their very own equivalent of orbital bombardment. Why not lean into that? Why not program some combat techniques and killing instinct into the blue Gems and let them go at it?

  The answer, I was quickly beginning to find, was most likely control. A standard Kindergarten could produce millions of Quartz soldiers upon finishing completion and really getting into full gear. Under the system of the Great Diamond Authority, a single Quartz going rogue likely didn't mean much initially. Their strength, as it was, remained in numbers, and as such meant that any potential rebel would be taken out by her fellows long before she could do any real damage.

  It was why higher level Gems like Sapphires and Emeralds (much like my own) were treated better, usually. The Empire didn't want a Gem with strong individual power knowing how to fight, and then deciding to break away from the system while using said knowledge against her former masters. Hence keeping them happy and largely 'civilian' in terms of mindset.

  So in all likelihood, Lapis Lazulis were given no form of true combat programming or training because in the event of one turning 'defective,' she'd be relatively lost in the face of loyalist Gems coming to shatter her. At best, she'd realize that one could use pressurized water to cut a Gem as easily as a mountain range, if in a far more focused way.

  The issue with this system, was that Gems weren't machines. At least not in the traditional sense. While slow to pick up new things, our kind could learn...eventually. And given enough time, what was meant to be a relatively obedient terraformer...could become rather frightening in and of herself.

  And Brim was frightening, when properly directed and focused. In the same way that a truck converted into a technical was. So...cool and frightening, I guess. Not that I'd tell her that, anyway. She'd never stop gushing about it.

  Regardless, her solution to taking the Retaliator had been essentially flooding every single floor of the ship, up until she found something resembling a command center. With my intrinsic knowledge of the cruiser's layout, helping her find the bridge became a much more simple affair, even as I kept a holographic screen projected from my gemstone in order to explain the expanded space we were in.

  From there, our forces had split into two groups. As much as the Crystal Gems preached equality, the fact of the matter was that certain individuals were simply better suited to direct combat than others. Pearl, Amethyst, Quille and Vermillion had stayed behind with the remaining Avians, ensuring that the hangar (and by extension our hydrokinetic's constant source of water) were kept safe and well guarded from any potential reprisal strikes from the still active elements of the ship's remaining crew.

  Brim herself, accompanied by Rose, Talon and Garnet made up a strike team that was, quite frankly, more than a little overkill for taking the bridge, but we weren't taking chances for more than a few reasons. In the end, I went along with them in order to make sure that they didn't get lost and charge their way into an engineering bay or something.

  Even so, I'd largely kept back from any direct confrontations while we made our way deeper into the ship, watching silently as our Lapis went about her work. Watching a pair of incredibly lost looking Rubies panic before getting forcibly bashed against a wall several times and poofed did draw a solid wince from me, however.

  Moderate guilt aside, the trip didn't take all that long. The Retaliator was a cruiser with basic spatial expansion tech, yes, but it was a well designed one, allowing the crew (and by extension us) to get from one place to another relatively quickly, so long as one knew the correct routes.

  From there, it had been a simple enough matter of standing back and letting Brim hurl a small tidal wave worth of seawater at the locked doors, battering them down and allowing our three heavy brawlers to charge in right after the mass of liquid.

  I'd waited outside quietly, occasionally sneaking a glance at the Lazuli next to me (usually met with a bright grin in response) as the sound of a dozen Gems getting their asses kicked echoed out into the hallway. With water restraining their movements and keeping them panicked, any attempt at resisting a full blown Citrine, a fusion made up of a Ruby and a Sapphire, alongside a fucking Diamond playing at being a Quartz was...well.

  It was futile, to say the absolute very least.

  "We're done!"

  It was just a little jarring, really. Talon's voice held all the joviality of someone who'd just finished moving some boxes, rather than a purpose made warrior who'd just systematically discorporated an entire group of Gems.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "We're coming in."

  I didn't let any of it get to me though, at least not outwardly. Call it a desire to see our 'mission' done quickly. Or maybe just habit. Either way, my calm facade remained firmly in place as I strode inside, dancing shoes splashing against the water slightly as I glanced at the still relatively intact bridge, the sound of gemstones being bubbled resounding around me.

  "Told you I could make it easy!" Brim's expression remained lighthearted as she all but skipped past me, throwing herself into one of the seats placed next to a console (communications, I idly noted) and allowing herself to spin once or twice. Talon just smirked at the blue Gem in response, even as Rose and Garnet continued carefully bubbling and setting aside (the temple had been compromised, so they'd simply remain here for now) the remnants of our little assault.

  The chairs, funnily enough, had been something that had confused me, back when I'd first been assigned to the Retaliator. It made sense on fighters and shuttles and such, making them more compact. But it hadn't made much sense on the bridge until a chatty but helpful Jasper (and didn't it feel strange, seeing the Gem in question be sorted to the side by our resident fusion) had explained the concept to me.

  It was a simple case of efficiency. A Gem can stand indefinitely, and doesn't actually require a seat to remain at her console and do her job. As such, most modern vessels have standing stations kept as compact as possible, with the sole exception of the captain's command throne. But the consoles aboard older cruisers like this one were wide things, with numerous controls dotting their frames.

  And so, it was simply faster to spin around while on a chair, than it was to step to the side in order to turn oneself around in order to access a specific button.

  Personally, I'd always just thought that the Gems on the bridge liked spinning around in circles when no one was looking, but I'd kept that particular opinion to myself for what I liked to think were fairly obvious reasons.

  "Alright so we've taken the bridge. Uh...what now?"

  Brim's question was enough to pull me away from the idle mental tangent, even as I stepped forward and (gently) set myself down next to what I knew to be the station attached to the ship's weapons.

  Bringing my hands up, I carefully began to bring up a few menus. While I'd never actually touched this thing beyond polishing it once or twice, I'd seen its operators at work more than enough times to figure out the basics.

  "I'm going to use the Retaliator's built in weapon systems to deal with the chaos below."

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rose flinch, even as Talon and Brim nodded approvingly. Made sense. They likely didn't always have the option of taking prisoners. Not in the situation they'd been in when we'd first met, anyway.

  "But-wait! That could shatter them! You can't just-"

  Holding up a hand was apparently enough to silence the hidden Diamond (something parts of my treacherous, more Pearl oriented mind still reeled at, that such a powerful Gem would take directions from anyone), even as I began to slowly twist a very specific dial.

  "I won't be using the main cannons. The point defences are variable enough that I can lower their output to something more suited to discorporation than outright shattering. And if we're still unsure...Garnet?"

  The fusion's silent nod was enough to assuage Rose, thankfully. And...I'd be a liar if it didn't give me just a bit more confidence as well.

  "Nice! I mean I was totally ready to go down there and start throwing waves, but this works too!" Brim was still spinning, though she was apparently trying to do her best to keep her eyes locked on me while doing so now, resulting in a few weird tilts of her head in the midst of each turn.

  "How do you know how to access this stuff anyway? I barely understand how to fly a fighter, and that was after getting lessons from some of the crazier-" The squawk that escaped her throat drew an interested glance from Rose and Garnet, even as I vaguely interpreted it to represent the 'name' of the Avian species.

  My own response was a slight tilt of my head, even as I primed just about every available point defence battery to fire down below, straight into the large mass of colours intermingling as soldiers clashed with monsters.

  "...Well I mostly just watched and listened, to be honest."

  Click.

  My finger pressing down on the button was immediately followed by the sound of high energy projectiles all but tearing through the air, a rain of pure yellow light falling down below to impact amongst the writhing mob in glowy destruction.

  The first wave dealt with most of the less durable Gems. I watched through a nearby holoscreen attached to an exterior sensor as the Peridots collectively disappeared, half a dozen limb enhancers falling to crash into the sand beneath them. A few Corrupted Gems were taken out as well, their various lightforms glitching out and spasming for just an instant before they too retreated into their gemstones.

  Click.

  The second wave of makeshift artillery took out anyone still caught in the open. I repressed a second wince, instead just glaring as I watched Jaspers roar out, their bodies still moving in some attempt to dodge (or in some of the braver cases, tank the hits for their fellows) before they too were taken out of the fight.

  In the end, it was only a small core that remained intact enough to experience the third barrage. My eyes narrowed even further as less than a dozen Jaspers, alongside a single Citrine circled around a green figure, seemingly attempting to shield her even as they began to move towards the temple, ostensibly for some form of shelter.

  There were no Corrupted Gems left now, at least not outside. Just...just them.

  Just her, really.

  Feeling eyes on me, I gave myself the privilege of letting out a small, tired sigh, before letting my slender finger impact the button one last time.

  Click.

  It really was something out of a bad joke. A singular Pearl taking out both an army of monsters, and a squadron's worth of warrior Gems backed up by technicians and led by an Emerald of all things, all on her lonesome.

  But of course, big guns levelled the playing field. As they always did.

  "Eeeeeeek!"

  The familiar (and context regarding Avian rituals really did just make it so much worse) sound prompted me to whip around, staring the source of the noise down even as Brim hid a blushing face behind her hands.

  And in turn, Rose was glancing between the two of us and giggling, backed up by Garnet and Talon wearing equally smug smirks.

  ...Fuck's sake.

  Still, the easier part of this was finally over, I realized.

  Now...now we would need to deal with cleanup.

  Joy.