LOG-115.

  Reporting back to Hessonite had been the simple part. She'd wanted to know what I presumably knew, after all. The trick to the lie itself was playing the part of a confused Pearl who didn't quite get why she'd been ordered to do something, and letting the clearly smarter Garnet puzzle the pieces together.

  On paper, I'd learned next to nothing of any actual value, but my interactions with the Tourmaline had seemingly made her that much more docile. From there, it was a slow matter of watching Hessonite deduce that Star Sapphire had sent me to keep the prisoner from attempting some kind of doomed escape attempt.

  I was released shortly afterwards and bid to continue my standard routine of improving the moods of various Gems, the administrator waving the whole thing off as a Sapphire doing Sapphire things and going back to her usual business of making sure her slice of the Confluence was kept in tip top shape, Glitter eagerly assisting her as always after nodding her head in a goodbye.

  Naturally, it only took a few seconds before I veered off course from the packed storage yard I'd initially been heading towards in favour of ducking into one of the Confluence's many, many maintenance tunnels.

  The winding lengths of darkened crystal ran almost everywhere, and the only ones who really used them were Peridots working as technicians, Pearls trying to get around just a little bit quicker when a warp pad wasn't available, or Gems with less than legal intentions. Like myself.

  "Alright…"

  Confirming that the next stretch of tunnel ahead was empty of anyone but myself, I reached into my gemstone's storage and pulled out the since upgraded datapad, briefly glancing it over as it booted up, before pressing a finger to the side of it.

  One circle. Two. Three. And just like that, I was transmitting.

  "Star here. I've slipped my owner, gonna walk a circuit around the nearby maintenance sections. You said there was additional work for me?"

  A moment's silence, then a crackle as the presumable Pearl on the other end of the line connected, voice little more than a modulated mess thanks to whatever fancy encryption Glitch had worked into the device before my visit with Red.

  "Ardent here. You've read through the brief I sent you?"

  Still understandable though, and it was nice to actually be able to speak with my handler without having to go through the buffer of a simple conversation requiring dozens upon dozens of glyph messages.

  "While I was in the cell with our large guest, yes. It was sparse on actual details. Who exactly am I going to be speaking with? And about what?"

  An odd noise that might have been a distorted sigh emanated from the device as I turned a corner, beginning the long process of walking in effectively a large circle.

  "...I suppose you've proven yourself by this point, and you'd be better suited knowing than not. Alright, listen up, I'm taking a risk telling you this, so consider it a promotion or something."

  More walking, before I eventually settled into a nearby alcove and lifted the datapad slightly closer, waiting patiently.

  "The first thing you need to understand is that Fawn aren't the only rebel faction present in or even outside of Imperial space. We're just the ones closest to home, so to speak. You probably already learned about the Crystal Gems during your lessons at the Reef, but they rendered themselves extinct when they shattered Pink Diamond. They're little more than history at this point, and were a contained insurgency at best."

  I resisted the urge to snort, instead just remaining silent as Ardent continued.

  "But complete annihilation or not, what they did resulted in shockwaves throughout Gem society. Particularly within the elements that believed there were alternatives to Imperial rule. Call it inspiration. Suffice to say, the actual number of factions that can be labelled rebellious are almost too high to count, and can be divided into any number of big or small groups, but Fawn have developed a set of categories most of them can fit into. Mostly for the sake of datawork if nothing else."

  Nodding, I brought up a hand and scratched at the side of my cheek.

  …Fucking bureaucracy. Couldn't escape it. Even as a rock.

  "Umbrella terms for various types of insurgents then, got it."

  A pause followed, one that caused me to suck my teeth as I realised my small fuckup.

  "...I don't know what umbrella means, but I think you get the gist of things, yes. At present there are four categories our system sorts rebels into."

  A modulated breath.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  "The first is Fight." She declared. "They're the most well known rebels, mostly because they're the loudest."

  I furrowed my brow, shifting in place slightly. "Loudest how?"

  "They don't just oppose the Empire, they actively declare war on it." She explained. "They steal warships, stage raids, shatter high ranking officials. They reject the Diamonds' authority outright."

  I frowned. "And they get away with that?"

  "They make it work." Ardent said dryly. "They're hierarchical, militaristic, and they've made plenty of allies, mostly with militant organic factions. That's where they get a lot of their firepower, whenever it's not just looted Imperial tech. The lesser races are more than happy to support Gems fighting Gems. Most of them, anyway.

  I mulled that over while pushing off from the wall I'd been leaning up against, moving once more.

  Militant organics. That alone was an odd concept. Not armed fleshlings in and of themselves but…I'd figured that Gems rarely aligned with anyone who wasn't also a Gem outside of extraordinary circumstances, like with the Avians.

  But it made sense. If you wanted to fight the Empire head on, you needed an army, and you weren't getting that from the inside in any major numbers.

  "So, they're soldiers." I summarized. "An army."

  "They think of themselves that way, yes. Most of them are former warrior types as well. Rubies, Quartzes, Nephrites, the works, so it fits together pretty well." She replied. "But they've got their own rules. Ever heard of Zebar'kai?"

  I blinked. "No."

  "It's an organic concept they picked up from somewhere. A code of silence. You don't betray the organization, you don't talk to outsiders without express permission, and you never turn on leadership unless you're ready to take their place. All of the different groups follow it despite their individual differences."

  I clicked my tongue. "Sounds like a real big gang."

  "They pretty much are." My (probable) fellow Pearl confirmed. "Just a very effective one, compared to the usual criminals."

  I exhaled, rolling my shoulders. "Alright. Next?"

  "Flight." She continued. "Sometimes they call themselves Wanderers. Completely different from the Fighters. They don't stand and resist directly. They move."

  I raised a brow. "Runaways?"

  "Nomads." Ardent corrected. "They travel in big or small fleets, staying ahead of the Empire's reach. They don't have much military strength, but they've got the newest tech, the fastest ships, and the best escape routes. The Imperial navy can't really pin them down without leaving itself open to reprisal strikes from multiple fronts."

  "And what do they do?" I asked, skeptical. "Just…drift?"

  "They trade. With each other, with other rebel factions, with us, with organics, with anyone willing, really. They've got connections, stockpiles, and scientific advancements the Empire doesn't even know about thanks to all of the aforementioned trading." A brief pause. "They also figured out this thing called capitalism."

  I stopped walking. "They what?"

  A distorted sigh crackled through the comm. "Long story. Just know that they're very good at managing resources. And they hold themselves to a high standard."

  I started walking again, shaking my head. "So they're not warriors."

  "They can be." Ardent admitted. "They've got a few ace units when they need them. But in general? They avoid direct conflict."

  I hummed, filing that away. "And then?"

  "Freeze." She said. "The Hermits, though that's more of a derogatory title some of our friends in Fight use. They're the most numerous rebels, but also the least organized."

  I frowned again. "Least organized?"

  "They don't want to organize." She explained. "They just want to leave. They scatter into deep space, stock up on supplies, and try to stay unnoticed. Some of them form small groups, but even then, they don't trust easily."

  I considered that. "So they're not fighting. They're not running. They're just…hiding?"

  "Yes." Ardent confirmed. "And because of that, they don't do much most of the time. But when they do act, they can be pretty unpredictable."

  I tilted my head. "What makes them act?"

  "Depends. Sometimes it's desperation, sometimes it's opportunity." Another pause. "Sometimes it's revenge."

  That…made sense. When you ran far enough, you eventually had to decide if you were staying hidden forever, or coming back for something.

  I let out a breath as I contemplated whether I'd counted as a Hermit at some point. "And that of course leaves…"

  "Fawn." Ardent said. Her voice sharpened slightly at the word. "Us."

  I stayed quiet, listening.

  "We aren't soldiers, we aren't nomads, and we aren't hermits." She continued. "We're infiltrators. Manipulators. We build networks, gather intelligence, and influence things from the inside. We don't fight wars, we control them."

  I absorbed that, watching the shifting glow of the tunnel walls as I passed.

  "We have the least hard power." Ardent admitted. "No fleets. No armies. But we have soft power. Connections, influence, information, like all of these other rebel groups. We have nobles. Spies. Information brokers. And, yes, Pearls."

  I let out a small breath of amusement. "A lot of Pearls, I'm guessing."

  "More than you'd expect. Our caste was the one that founded the initial group that grew into Fawn, after all." She confirmed. "And we have one more thing."

  I arched a brow. "Which is?"

  She hesitated. Just for a second.

  "…Assassins."

  I stopped walking once more. I was doing that a lot, now that I actually noted it.

  "We don't have to shatter." Ardent clarified. "Sometimes, removing a Gem just means poofing and bubbling them indefinitely. But if necessary?"

  A pause.

  "If necessary." She said quietly. "We eliminate unwanted elements before they can become problems. I won't lie, you've actually been considered for the role a few times. It's dangerous work, but you're a lot more…intense, than most Pearls I've met. If you ever think you'd be up for it…"

  I stared at the wall for a long moment. Then I started moving yet again.

  "So." I murmured, ignoring that small tidbit. "Fighters burn, Flighters run, Freezers disappear…and Fawners play the game the Empire's given us."

  "Exactly." My handler was kind enough to take the not so subtle hint. "Which is why you're going to be briefing a small Fight cell that have agreed to meet up with you and another of our agents here on the Confluence. Fawn have no use for a rogue Tourmaline, but there's plenty of groups we know of that'd love the chance to recruit Red. This one in particular are pretty fond of elite soldiers and have agreed to cooperate with us in breaking her loose."

  What…might have been a huff of amused air followed the statement, though the static made it more than a little unclear.

  "And of course, they'll owe us a finder's fee for our work in helping them get to her. Favours and the like. The meeting point is pretty far away from where you are, but there's a warp pad nearby. I'll shoot you the location, our other agent can guide you from there. Just…let her do most of the talking. Fighters can be abrasive at the best of times."

  Taking note of the ping that followed Ardent's proclamation, I nodded to myself and began following the path the datapad indicated.

  "Understood."

  Abrasive, huh?