Yellow Diamond sighed, rubbing at her eyes. More reports. Always more, more, more. Crush a situation under your heel? Four more take its place. Yellow truly was feeling the loss of her pearl.

  Thinking of her, the Diamond sneered. The incompetence of the Reef was a staggering thing to behold considering its reputation. It was always "the damage was more extensive than we realized" and "we need specialized equipment" and "we're giving our utmost effort, my Diamond". Worthless, the lot of them. What even was the point of the facility's existence if it couldn't even do the single thing it was designed for?

  Sighing, Yellow leaned back in her throne, bringing up the next report. Ah. The latest batch of hostile organics. Recently some of her vanguard fleets had encountered a particularly resistant strain of the damned flesh beasts; a four-eyed militant race that (if she was correct in her basic knowledge of their inferior language) called themselves 'Chosen.'

  Yellow interchangeably called them 'vermin' or 'organic Species 528,' depending on how official the communication was.

  Though brutal and thuggish, this galactic stain's extremely direct and aggressive fleet tactics left little room for fine maneuvering or ploys. Simply slugging it out with superior firepower and technology was the optimal strategy according to the few Sapphires Yellow still had access to, considering most of the seers loaned by the Blue Court had been promptly reassigned.

  And speaking of, Blue herself was being incredibly petty these days, preemptively denying Yellow resources and Gem support at every opportunity. Perhaps she had been upset by their little spat, but this? It was freshcut behavior at best.

  Couldn't her counterpart put aside her emotions for the bigger picture? No, of course she couldn't. At least while she was sulking in her palace she wasn't out there, bungling another disaster into existence with her attempts to 'help.'

  (Part of her almost made a small comparison to Pink, before that rogue thought was ruthlessly squashed.)

  "Hm."

  Just as Yellow was about to tie up her orders for the assembly of what would hopefully end up being the 528th's extermination fleet, she received another priority alert. Naturally, the Diamond pulled it up, seeing that the codes attached indicated it was for the 8XS situation. The Emerald she'd selected to hunt down the traitorous admiral, 8XZ, had finally returned. With luck, she had finally captured the…

  Yellow paused, eyes narrowing slightly as she backtracked, reading over several lines again at her typical blinding speed.

  What in the Stars was a lithoplague supposed to be? And on Pink One no less?

  She was at least familiar with the concept of plagues, viruses and other diseases. Organic Species 136 was one such example of where the things came in handy. The aquatic infestation had stymied every fleet and army sent to subdue them, and yet fell so easily to the myriad diseases Yellow had ordered her peridots to manufacture upon learning of the organics' weakness to contaminants in their oh so precious water.

  It had been yet another example. Just more proof of the Authority's perfection, and its duty to spread it wherever they could.

  But, a plague that affected Gems? Such a thing was…concerning. Nevermind borderline impossible, according to all known levels of science.

  And yet as she read more of the details regarding the disease, the more that little scrap of concern began to feel validated. A brief flare of irritation sprung up as she read that 8XS had fallen prey to it; her plans for a lengthy and carefully organised trial to terrorize the uppercrust into compliance and save some level of face for Blue was nothing but dust now.

  The Diamond leaned back from the report, musing on what the possible cause could have been. Perhaps this had spawned from the Cluster, or it was maybe some sort of rebel weapon? Those defects had performed all sorts of utterly unprecedented tactics, back then…

  Eventually, Yellow's eyes narrowed. Perhaps it was created during the first and last time the three remaining Diamonds stood together as one. She still remembered it vividly, drawing forth her deepest essence, commanding it to wipe the treasonous waste from the surface of that superfluous mudball.

  And yet perhaps she had failed to account for Pink's absence. Instead of destroying the gems, maybe it had transformed them into these contagious creatures?

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  After all, the attack was inherently incomplete. A vital component had been missing when they'd fired it off.

  But then again, nothing had felt complete since Pink had been shattered.

  That planet…the youngest of their quartet had been the only one who had truly appreciated Yellow's hard work. Even back in Era One, as it was now called, Yellow was always the hardest-working, the most efficient. Blue and White had at least seen to their duties, and Yellow had had no need for praise…but Pink in turn had always been amazed by most of her elder's creations.

  The way that her fellow Diamonds optimized planets, turned barren wastes into centers of culture and production. The youngest of them had been so awed that she'd wanted it for herself (as she naturally should have, befitting of her caste). And yet when Yellow had finally given it to her, it had ended in the worst possible way.

  Her fists clenched, teeth grinding together slightly at the thought.

  The worst possible outcome…all because of that filthy organic-lover Rose Quartz. What right had she, a lowly soldier, to murder her rightful sovereign? To treasonously turn her blade from the imperfection beyond the Authority's border and towards the very origin of all that was right and good? And worse yet, to succeed in committing the atrocity, to forever mar the history of the Authority for her own selfish purposes?

  No, no…complete annihilation was too good for Rose Quartz! Yellow was glad that they had inadvertently spawned this plague, reduced that damned wretch to something befitting one of the base creatures she so loved, fit to crawl in the mud and dirt like the other-!

  The Diamond was abruptly refocused by the sound of breaking material.

  Ah. She had crushed the armrests of her throne. The crystal spilled between her fingers, falling from her hands before slowly drifting down to the floor. Quietly, Yellow Diamond contacted the maintenance department of her palace, one hand rising to interact with an awaiting holographic screen. Something that her Pearl would have managed, had she still been here.

  "...My throne has been damaged. I require a repair team whenever one is available."

  "Of course, my radiant Diamond. What manner of damage has it sustained?"

  "Its…construction was too weak to resist my grip; ensure that it is more robust next time."

  "Of course, my Diamond. I will send a cadre of Bismuths to repair your throne as soon as possible. Estimates suggest no more than two cycles."

  "That is acceptable."

  As Yellow closed the line, she rubbed at her eyes again, holding back another sigh.

  She hated this…this weakness that Rose Quartz had bestowed upon her, but it was the Diamond's fault for giving into it. She needed to be more vigilant. Blue had become less than useless as of late, and the less said about White, the better. As the sole remaining Diamond ensuring the Authority's continued expansion, she had to be focused. Anything less was dereliction of duty.

  Besides, for all the problems that Pink One had caused, the Cluster was due to detonate very shortly. But she wanted-no, she needed to be sure. Frowning slightly, the Diamond drew up a new document on her holo-display and began to draft an order to scout potential Gems for a small, disposable survey team.

  She was nearly half done with the work when she realized the potential problem inherent to her plan; the lithoplague would doubtlessly spread to the greater Authority should she send a team unprepared. And, Yellow begrudgingly admitted to herself (and no one else), the Cluster was a personal project, not one relevant to the Authority at large.

  Suffice to say, she was unwilling to divert research teams to develop proper protective equipment at this time. Not with most of them busy working on some sort of countermeasure to make up for the deficit in essence production following Pink's…absence. Perhaps at a later date.

  Bringing up a hand, Yellow swiped at the screen, acknowledging the 8XS report before sending the 528th fleet their newest orders. Two problems dealt with. Millions more to go. The Diamond permitted herself an ever so brief moment of stillness before she turned to the holo-display's neverending list of reports, ready to move on to the next.