LOG-099.

  It wasn't often Emerald left potentially emotionally compromised crew members to deal with things themselves. If she'd had her way, she'd still be with the others at the beach right now, trying to cheer up the frustrated Pearl of their…impromptu cohort.

  Or whatever their odd relationship was supposed to be.

  But the Peridot that had messaged her had impressed the sheer urgency of her summons, and while it was rather hard to convey terror through text, it only made such that the effect was that much more pronounced when properly achieved.

  "Report."

  And so the admiral strode into the bridge, the singular command escaping her lightform (still dripping water from her brief dive to reach her cruiser's airlock), before glancing around with narrowed eyes as several Peridots snapped up into salutes, one rushing over with a hologram projected from her limb enhancer.

  "My Emerald-we have hostile vessels inbound! There's only one ship currently in the system, but projections indicate at least dozens more based on incoming Warp signatures!"

  Eyes widening, the rogue officer grabbed hold of the technician Gem's arm, staring at the screen attached to it even as another Gem from somewhere nearby let out a horrified "they've found us!"

  The signature shape of the Empire's premier fast combat transport drew her horrified gaze, right before her attention was taken up by the numbers scrolling beside it.

  "...The Sun Incinerator."

  The Peridot hesitated, glancing warily at the slight dents the admiral's fingers were leaving on her hand shaped tool.

  "M-my Emerald? What do we do?"

  Gritting her teeth, the officer let go, briefly debating whether they could leave the planet quickly enough to escape the advancing fleet.

  …In a half flooded, downed assault cruiser with Stars knew how much internal damage keeping it grounded.

  "Damn it all, shut down every system! I want this ship to register as little more than a wreck in the water!"

  "What about the Deserter?!"

  "Shut it down and leave it in orbit! We're not built for subtle control of the thing and we don't have time for modifications regardless!"

  —

  My stupid pity party was interrupted by the sound of footsteps, drawing (somewhat surprising) glares from Vermilion and Brim.

  "We have a problem."

  Whipping my head up at the familiar voice, I took in the freshly rebuilt lightform of the fusion in front of me with a slight bit of relief, eyebrow quirking upwards ever so slightly at the figure of a certain blacksmith loitering nearby, her burly arms crossed, lips pressed into a thin line.

  "We've got a couple problems. Care to be a little more specific? Also, since when did you get back together?"

  Garnet's visor flashed, just as I realised her outfit had shifted to something vaguely resembling a jacket, compared to her previous faux t-shirt getup.

  "Ruby, Sapphire and Bismuth had a long talk. I'm...adjusting. As for the problem, I'm seeing more timelines with Homeworld's soldiers rampaging through Beach City than not, I hope that clarifies things."

  I froze, searching the fusion's face for any hint of some utterly horrendous attempt at a joke.

  Unfortunately for my rapidly degrading sanity, Garnet didn't crack a smile, simply continuing to stare at me until I began to get up, answering Brim and Vermilion's startled glances with a frown.

  "...Schist. Schist!"

  Turning away from the duo, I looked back to the oracle, shoving the rapidly expanding sense of panic behind a calm exterior.

  "Alright, okay…what are we doing? Tell me you have some kind of plan?"

  The uncertain expression the fusion gave me taught me something new. Namely that my shapeshifted stomach could apparently do flips in response to anxiety.

  "We get everyone together, and then I keep looking through futures until I find something that works. I…might have an idea involving you and Emerald. We'll see."

  Bringing up a hand, I rubbed it against my face, mostly to stifle the desperate scream that tried to escape my throat as the tall Gem turned around and began to stride away, the rest of us following her shortly afterwards.

  —

  "We can't be sure they've identified our current position, but something most definitely attracted their attention. My sensor crew say they detected a general distress signal, emitted from somewhere planetside. My current working theory is a traitor amongst our ranks, but I can't say for sure who it might be."

  Avians and the Gems aligned with them, whatever the crew of the Retaliator could be considered, alongside the remaining Crystal Gems murmured amongst themselves, some eyeing their fellows even as others tried to remain focused, expressions somewhat cold at the admiral's declaration.

  As a result of the pressing mass of bodies (along with the pink mist seeping out from the damaged door leading to Rose's room), the temple felt distinctly more packed than usual, namely because the Warp pad within had been repurposed into a sort of stand for the holographic projector a particularly nervous Peridot had brought in, the rest of our motley band of deserters and rebels crowding around the thing as Emerald gestured to the dot steadily moving through a representation of what could only be the solar system.

  "Current estimates suggest a small to medium level fleet complement, likely composed of a mixture of destroyers and cruisers, with the indicated vessel acting as their vanguard. Suffice to say, we're outmatched strategically, and we've at best a few hours before they arrive."

  Just how Garnet had managed to wrangle everyone together (including a certain Diamond and her Pearl, who the fusion was notably keeping some distance from after Emerald had crushed the resultant uproar of the pair returning inside a van and riding a lion of all things), I wasn't sure, but the expected cacophony of voices remained relatively absent as the admiral began to make another gesture towards the projections, only to go silent as Amethyst of all Gems spoke up.

  "Uh, there was this really weird looking Peridot, actually. Funky patterns all over her, like she was stitched together-"

  A chill went through my lightform, and right on cue, my eyes turned and locked with Rose's own, the both of us exchanging a knowing, paranoid glance as the purple Quartz went on, drawing curious stares and worried sounds from the rest of the crowd.

  Shaking her head, Emerald brought up a hand to sweep back part of her oddly emotive hair, the puffed up bit of lightform evidently some subconscious attempt at requesting attention, all while trying to get the conversation back on track.

  "Something to investigate and deal with later. For now, we need to figure out how we're going to survive this. I've drawn up a few preliminary plans, most of them involve hiding and a concerning amount of luck, however."

  My hands were already closing into tightly clenched fists by the time Bismuth leaned forward, hands planted against her hips.

  "Don't suppose there's any chance of fighting them off?"

  My former owner glanced at the Gem in utter befuddlement for a moment, before seemingly remembering the fact she was surrounded by rebels that actively spit on the idea of the caste system, and visibly waved off the idea.

  "Best case scenario, we'll shoot down a ship or two before we get overwhelmed and captured. Worst case scenario, part of the Earth is glassed in retaliation for our attempted defiance."

  The blunt words prompted several of the Crystal Gems to suck air through their teeth in rejection of the thought. Idly, I realised that I was doing the same, even as Garnet stepped forward, hand moving up to adjust her visor.

  "None of the plans will work. Either we get wiped out or we all get taken prisoner."

  Shit. Shit shit shit.

  "Is…do you see any way we can win? Or at least remain hidden?"

  Rose's hesitant question interrupted my scattered thoughts, and though Garnet frowned at her voice, she didn't hesitate in crossing her arms, head dipping downwards slightly in a slow nod.

  "There's too many possibilities. I'm having trouble keeping track of what might work and what will get us all shattered. We might have a way around that though…"

  The fusion punctuated the statement by glancing back up, gaze turning from me to Emerald, prompting confused looks from the both of us.

  "I'm seeing better results if Green Onyx does the numbers."

  —

  Fusion during times of stress was both difficult and yet somehow easier, in my experience. But regardless, it was nonetheless possible. As a result, it had only taken a moment or two of Viridian and Emerald centering themselves before successfully combining, bringing forth my own existence to a chorus of gasps from some of the Retaliator's Gems, who still hadn't entirely gotten used to the idea of cross caste fusion just yet.

  Of course, the blinding light had barely settled by the time my feet hit the ground, my eyes (alongside several other sets of orbs belonging to other Gems) widening as Garnet advanced towards me, grabbed hold of my shoulders without a word, stood up on the tips of her toes, and planted a quick kiss against my forehead.

  From there, well…any question I might have had disappeared as everything began to reveal itself to me. Timeline after timeline after timeline, flashing by faster than a normal Gem might have been able to see.

  Thankfully, I had an excellent attention to detail, and the memory to match it. Stars, it was almost as if I'd seen this form of perception before, somehow.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  "A few moments, please."

  Thus, I settled down on the floor, ignoring the rest of the room's questions, alongside the sensation of a certain Lapis Lazuli and Pearl hanging on to my sides as I began to sift through the countless possibilities before me.

  —

  I glanced at Garnet, katars manifesting into place atop my limbs as my fellow fusion summoned her own gauntlets, the both of us preparing to ambush the oncoming patrol.

  "Keep our interactions to a minimum, it'll keep the interference down-"

  —

  The ground tore apart beneath me, a near constant barrage raining from above as the silhouettes of warships descended from the clouds above. I barely managed a glance forwards while throwing myself and a screaming woman to the side, watching Rose heft the laser light cannon over her shoulder, the weapon blasting forward a blinding beam that slammed into a landing corvette, only for the faux Quartz's shield to falter at the sight of the temple evaporating into little more than dust and plasma ahead of her-

  —

  Revealing Pink's survival had been a mistake. I could do little but watch as the entire area was occupied, an armoured purple Gem of some sort giving out orders to contact the other Diamonds, even as a pair of identical warriors holding me down presumably grew sick of my pleas, halberds painfully beginning to hack into my lightform-

  —

  I threw the pair of Imperial Citrines aside with a snarl, tears spilling from my eyes as I watched a particularly lucky Quartz jam a knife straight through Brim's lightform, just as the stinging sensation of a destabilizer rammed into my back-

  —

  We'd taken the first ship that had landed, practically stuffing the thing with evacuees as we took off. Getting away from the fleet had been easy, but as I silently stared at the small armada actively devastating the continent we'd fled, the victory felt hollow-

  —

  Hiding inside of Rose's room had seemed like an excellent idea at the time, leaving the Imperials to scour the site of the cruiser they sought until they were satisfied, but as I watched the first steel eyed Quartz begin to rip her way through the malfunctioning doorway, I realized that we'd left ourselves with no way out-

  —

  We were as one, many different Gems conjoined into one, a Cluster of our own making. Warships fell from the sky to our might, advanced technology little more than a trifling obstacle to the power of a Diamond united with her newly reborn Court. But as we shredded through yet another vessel, one facet of our fused self noticed the screams and flames left in our wake, alongside the trench that had once been Beach City-

  —

  "Maybe we can-"

  —

  "What if we-"

  —

  "HOLD THEM BA-"

  —

  "I…I might have an idea that works."

  The words echoed in my mind as I watched the timeline play out, almost painfully aware of the countless other possibilities I was sacrificing the viewing of in order to focus on this one.

  And yet as the potential future continued to move forward, I realised that it was one of the few that met nearly all of the objectives I'd set.

  The survival of Earth, guaranteed.

  The secrecy of Rose Quartz's identity as Pink Diamond, assured.

  The freedom of…almost everyone present, without question.

  It hadn't needed to end this way, I was sure of it. Perhaps if I'd had a bit more time. Or if I'd looked just a little better, somehow. But with each second, more options had disappeared, and with every lost timeline, the stress of being backed into a corner had continued to mount.

  "A-alright."

  The guilt that it had come to this of all things remained lodged in my thoughts, even as I felt a sickening sense of determination click into place, a torrent of despair and denial clashing against it as I made up my mind, brushing off the two Gems hanging on to me and standing up.

  "I know what to-no, no you can't-"

  Gritting my teeth as I pushed the hesitance aside, I continued to ignore the stares, even as they sent prickles all across my lightform. Garnet had also settled onto our best possible timeline, judging by the look of grave acceptance and…what might have been some level of respect plastered across her face.

  Hah.

  "We don't have a choice. We're out of time and options. Now just-"

  I tried to defuse, only for one part to stubbornly cling to the other.

  Snarling, I pushed harder.

  "Let! Go!"

  A hefty bit of regret filtered through me, but the shock of my other half, both at the sheer desperation of her counterpart, alongside the realisation of what she'd just attempted to do, proved enough of a disruption.

  I tilted my head back, regretting what needed to be done, even as I was engulfed in light.

  —

  Emerald stared at the projected image of the lone robonoid corvette hanging in space, head tilted slightly, even as the rest of the fleet began to take up positions around the Sun Incinerator, per standard procedure.

  Getting into orbit had taken more time than she'd have liked to admit, and the admiral had just begun entertaining the thought of ordering landing teams to try and pinpoint the source of the initial, long gone by now, distress signal (with the constant stare of the Tourmaline behind her making the whole thing distinctly more uncomfortable than needed, in her opinion) when the tone of an active communication link tore the green Gem's attention towards a nearby Peridot's console.

  "You, what is that?"

  The technician blinked at the flashing light in front of her, limb enhancers rising to interface with the machine.

  "It's…we're getting a wide range transmission, my Emerald?"

  Blinking right back, the admiral glanced back towards the Tourmaline, before returning her gaze to her subordinate.

  "...By who? Has our target chosen to surrender?"

  Voice turning perplexed, the Peridot shifted in place.

  "The IFF is registering as an old Roaming Eye. It uh...it's actually rather similar to the initial data burst. Should I put it through?"

  Emerald opened her mouth-

  "Do so."

  Only to angrily shut it as the damned Tourmaline stepped forward, the butt of her halberd clacking against the ground as she stared at the nervous bridge Gem.

  "R-right away my Tourmaline. Routing communication channel to the primary monitor. Please stand by for connection."

  A few seconds passed, before the massive screen that took up most of the Sun Incinerator's forward bridge section lit up, the face of a Pearl of all things appearing on it.

  An oddly…familiar Pearl. Wait-

  "This is Viridian Pearl order Sixteen B, to any and all vessels that can hear this message, do not approach the Crystal colony site. I repeat, do not approach the Crystal colony site!"

  The admiral would have scoffed at the idea of a Pearl ordering her to do anything, even one as seemingly well made as her former fellow Emerald's Viridian, but…

  There was terror in the lithe servant Gem's eyes, her voice quivering in fear even as she leaned forward, eyes tracking something only she could see.

  Emerald could see the Tourmaline preparing to speak, and in a fit of spite, interjected first.

  "Hail that Roaming Eye, now."

  Another second passed as the command was followed, before the screen flickered, the Pearl now blatantly staring at them as a live connection was formed.

  There was a level of relief in those eyes, but…why did she still look so scared? Had she reunited with her owner and learned of the traitor's transgressions, perhaps?

  Sighing, the admiral snapped a pair of fingers, drawing those wandering green eyes towards her.

  "This is Emerald facet 2L7A, cut 8XZ, in command of the Sun Incinerator. We read you loud and clear Viridian."

  Shifting in her command throne slightly, Emerald brought her other hand upwards, idly rubbing a finger against a protruding fang.

  "Kindly explain why we should avoid this world, if you would? We are in pursuit of a dangerous insurgent, by direct command of Yellow Diamond herself."

  The Pearl's eyes widened at that, glancing between Emerald and the Tourmaline, before focusing back on her.

  "I-there's something-there's something down here!"

  …What?

  Features scrunching together slightly, Emerald narrowed her eyes.

  "Get yourself together and report, Pearl."

  To her credit, the servant proved just why she'd been so highly regarded by her owner, visibly swallowing down her panic and clenching her shaking hands into fists.

  "A-apologies your radiance-but there's…there's something inherently hostile on this planet."

  Before Emerald could question just what that meant, the Pearl continued, hands rising and gesturing slightly.

  "My batchmate and I-Vermilion Pearl order Sixteen A, were taken prisoner by some kind of organic species a short time ago. We managed to take control of this Roaming Eye and had the luck to be retrieved by our own Emerald shortly afterwards, before she chose to jump here."

  The Pearl paused, glancing to the side and shivering before turning back towards the screen.

  "I don't know how to correctly explain it but, she said we needed a weapon, something the old Rose Quartz rebels had created, apparently. I don't know exactly why but-"

  She paused, stiffening and going silent for a long moment, glancing away yet again, before turning back towards the screen.

  "The crew dug something up. I don't know exactly what it was but now there's some kind of infection down here. There's things all over the place that I-I think might have been Gems at some point but there's something wrong with them. Their lightforms are in shapes I didn't even think a Gem could take, and they don't act according to proper Imperial doctrine at all, they're like organic animals! I've even seen shards manifesting into flailing limbs!"

  Emerald listened, a cold feeling beginning to grow in her gemstone at the realisation that the poor Pearl was rather distinctly alone in the Roaming Eye's cockpit.

  "You said that your batchmate was with you. I remember seeing her during a meeting, the red one. Where is she? And where is the rest of the Retaliator's crew? Where is your owner?"

  Tears began to prickle at Viridian's eyes, her next words leaving a pit somewhere in the admiral's lightform.

  "Vermilion. They changed her. Our campsite was attacked while the ship was grounded elsewhere a-and one of them dragged her off, t-tore into her lightform, then she started twisting and screaming and oh Stars-"

  The usual clanking of armour prompted Emerald to glance to her side as the Tourmaline strode forward, eyes narrowed behind the confines of her helmet as she stared up at the sobbing servant.

  "Pearl, are you saying this disease transmits through light?"

  The green Gem threw her arms up at that, hands pulling at her hair in a way that Emerald would have considered unseemly, in literally any other situation.

  "I don't-maybe!? The thing was an Amethyst, I saw its gemstone!"

  The Tourmaline stiffened at that, turning to face the rest of the crew with a sweep of her arm.

  "Prepare for orbital bombardment, we can't allow this to spread-"

  "YOU CAN'T!"

  Perhaps Viridian realised she'd stepped out of line with her shrill screech, but she made up for the fact by immediately following up afterwards, the purple enforcer's attention pulled back towards her.

  "There's stronger things than just Quartzes down here. My Emerald attempted to do the same, she figured the Retaliator could destroy the infection plaguing the area from orbit and retrieve whatever we were supposed to be looking for, but, but-"

  Emerald leaned forward, tense.

  "But what?"

  The Pearl shrugged helplessly, rubbing away a few tears with the back of her wrists.

  "I think it might have been a Lapis Lazuli at some point. It was massive, came out of one of the oceans and carried the water with it into orbit. The only reason we weren't pulled down with the rest of the Retaliator is because we were at the temporary encampment at the time, closer to the actual dig site. Didn't stop the other things from hunting us down, though."

  The Tourmaline shifted her weight from one foot to the other, lightform armour clacking against itself as she did so.

  "Were all hands lost? How did you make it out?"

  Viridian flinched, clearly recalling something that sent yet another shiver through her body.

  "The entire ship was dragged beneath the water, this thing hasn't detected so much as an IFF since. A pair of Jaspers were with me when it all happened. I was supposed to keep inventory for my Emerald at the time. They…they're gone now, I think. Locked me inside the Eye and tried to keep the infected from getting inside. There's something wrong with the engines as well, otherwise I would have flown off a while ago. I think something broke them apart."

  The Pearl gave another helpless shrug.

  "So I just-sent out that signal. I didn't know what else to do…"

  A moment of silence passed, before the Tourmaline turned to stare at Emerald, tone uncertain for the first time in…well, since the admiral had first met her, now that she actually thought about it.

  "So, some kind of lightform based infection, likely released by our rogue captain's desperate attempts to get an edge against us for the sake of her own survival. Can we get scans of the surface, verify the Pearl's claims?"

  Said Pearl raised a finger, visibly forcing back another wave of tears as she tried to get the large warrior's attention.

  "Y-you could probably check the surrounding regions. They were everywhere, from what I remember…"

  Biting her lip, Emerald considered the suggestion, before nodding.

  "One of you, see it done. I want to see this…plague with my own eyes. Have one of the ships dispatch an automated shuttle to pick up Viridian as well. Institute some kind of quarantine protocol, she can come aboard only after we're certain she isn't actively carrying something with her. We'll need to conduct a proper interrogation to get our facts straight."

  The Pearl seemingly made to say something, only to reconsider at the last second, going silent and bowing her head as one of the Peridots moved the hailing visual to a different screen, instead slaving the primary monitor to one of the Sun Incinerator's sensor arrays.

  Emerald watched the feed carefully, paying close attention to the basic signs of some organic civilization slowly developing, a few more views flickering by as the sensors swapped locations, only to freeze as she saw a pair of…things in the remnants of what looked to be an old Kindergarten.

  She agreed with Viridian, there was no other real term for them. Infected, maybe? Regardless, the two were wildly different in shape and size, seemingly attacking each other near a Warp pad.

  The sound of the Tourmaline swearing would have been hilarious, if it weren't for the fact that the curses were directed at said Warp pad lighting up, another creature throwing itself out from within it to join the scuffle.

  "Schist, they can access the local network. This colony's Galaxy Warp was rendered offline, correct?"

  Emerald nodded along somewhat numbly, even as she began to draw up the beginnings of what was going to be a very long report on the screen to her side.

  "It was. I guess we've got our confirmation as well. Those things are Gems. Or…at least they used to be. Crack."

  For every question answered, two more appeared. What kind of abomination had the rebels been working on? Why was the robonoid frigate in orbit, had her traitorous counterpart neglected to use it? Would they awaken whatever twisted Lapis Lazuli was supposedly dwelling beneath the deep if they drew too close, or would it only react if they tried to attack it?

  Was Viridian potentially infected with this...this lithoplague?

  Stars, she knew this assignment wasn't going to be simple but…when had it all turned into such a clusterfract!?