Chương 25: LOG-022.

Betraying everything you once knew and 'stood' for netted pretty fast fucking results, amazingly enough. Two days worth of spilling just about everything I could think of to an ever silent Quille. Two days of hammering in the point that, even if we weren't necessarily the exact same in terms of origin and motivation, we had very similar goals and priorities. Two days of proving I was a 'rebel.' Patrol routes that my Emerald had been aware of.

The standard response times of the various fleets assigned to this sector of Imperial space. The composition of current, up to date ship formations, and the models and classes of older vessels that were likely to make an appearance around these parts. Alongside carefully noting down just about every Gem occupied planet or patch of space that I could on the digital map another of the robed organics had brought in. The existence of the Crystal Confluence had interested them quite a bit, and for damn good reason.

A hub of Gem activity that, while not exactly next door, was the equivalent of a position down the street compared to where we currently were. At least when considered by interstellar terms. They'd taken careful regard of its exact coordinates, presumably to avoid the damn thing altogether. Or at least I hoped that was the reason. If they were planning something utterly moronic like attacking the place, I would find a way to break out and kill all of the fuckers myself.

Or maybe just get the Hell out of the upcoming blast radius of that potential clusterfuck. That would work too. Naturally, my interrogator had been wary at first, but there was really only so much paranoia one could justify when confronted with the sheer volume of information I was absolutely more than willing to give away in exchange for some leniency. One could be tempted to say that I was a liar, and they'd be correct most of the time when taking into account the current life I'd lived.

But in this very particular case, my knowledge was simply too specific to be an on the spot fabrication. My eager, blunt cooperation was answered with... liberties, to say the very least. I didn't have free reign of the ship as a matter of course, but I wasn't confined in an adhoc prison cell either, now. Instead, my captors allowed me to roam freely through certain areas, albeit with the caveat of two silver armoured Avians shadowing me at just about all times. They were interesting fellows, the birds.

Silent, most of the time, though occasionally one would chirp something to the other, sometimes resulting in a squawk of laughter similar to what I had heard erupt from Brim's lips. I'd figured out their language's equivalent for stop and go, at the very least.

"Follow." That too. Brushing off my dress slightly (the idea of any amount of dirt sticking to my body annoyed half of me, even as the other half craved it just to spite its counterpart), I turned away from the fascinating sight of, at least from what I could tell, some kind of minor hydroponics station, instead electing to quickly walk after one of my guards, the other bird slotting into place right behind me. A low hum escaped me as we went along.

A habit long since formed from my time spent trying to ingratiate myself to the various low ranking Gems I came into contact with back when I'd still served under Emerald. And judging by the way the two organics surrounding me began to ever so gently bob their masked, helmeted heads? It still worked just fine with non-Gem species. The power of a Pearl really was just having a melodic and generally pleasant voice, in my personal experience.

Eventually, my eyes began to trail across the floors, walls and ceilings of our surroundings as we progressed throughout the ship, making our way up and down several levels. The entire thing almost felt like some kind of high tech submarine, compared to the science fiction vibes the Retaliator had given me when I'd first boarded it. Each and every door was a thick, heavy slab of metal. The lights evenly spaced out every few feet or so were bright, crude things compared to the everpresent glow aboard a Gem ship.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Every now and then, I'd even spot what I could only imagine was a technician of some kind, considering the numerous tools strapped to the harnesses they wore. Entire sections of walls were removed in places, with sparking wires hastily being poked and prodded at by talons encased in protective coverings. A stark contrast from the sleek, endless green metallo-crystalline material of the Retaliator.

This fucking bucket felt like a deathtrap. And I loved it. Not the potential risk of dying, of course. But rather the crude, organic nature of it all. There were clear influences from Gem technology here and there to be sure, but everything else? It was pure Avian. Original, if I wanted to put a word to it. This was a starship. One that had almost nothing to do with the Empire. And that was awesome. My internal adoration of the vessel around me halted as we stopped in front of a by now familiar sight.

The door of my old cell, to be specific. A small part of me was already trying to figure out just what I could have done to warrant being confined again, but the worry was torn aside as one of my guards slapped a guantleted talon against a small reader next to the door, prompting a slight groan as it opened up. Vermilion's eyes widened drastically from within the small repurposed storage area, and then I had an armful of frantic Pearl to deal with.

"You're okay!" Hesitantly patting my Batchmate on the back, I nodded as she continued to press her lightform against mine.

"You could say that I established a working relationship with our new contacts. You've gotten clingy." My response prompted a startled gasp from the red Gem, before she stepped back with a heavy blush now tinting her face a slightly darker shade of crimson.

"S-sorry! I just... didn't really know what was going on. That... person kept showing up. The one with the mask would just come in and stare at me for a while, then leave." Yep, that sounded just like Quille.

"Follow." Bowing my head in the Avian equivalent of a nod (a useful thing to know to be certain), I grabbed Vermilion by the hand and began to pull her along, even as the second guard once more took up a position behind us, completing our abrupt quartet. Thin, slender fingers clenched nervously around my own as my fellow Pearl began to walk of her own volition, glancing at the armoured figures in front of and behind us with wary eyes.

"Where are they taking us? What's going on?" Shrugging slightly, I glanced up at the ever present white lights as we passed through a junction of some sort, stepping around a few more Avians carrying what looked to be some kind of modular power generator. Or at least, I assumed that's what it was. It looked pretty damn similar to the one on board the starfighter I'd stolen... ah. Well, waste not, want not, right?

"Viridian?" Blinking out of my internal snarking, I glanced at a wide pair of curious eyes staring back at me. Clicking my tongue slightly, I nodded my head towards the silver garbed figure just a few feet ahead of us.

"Normally, they just follow me around and stop me from going into certain places. They only ever get me to follow them when they need something from me. Usually to talk to one of their Gems, though one of them did try to give me food at some point." I'd declined, unfortunately. Not out of a desire to avoid eating, mind you. I'd very much wanted to try out the strange, purple, juicy looking fruit the robed bird had presented to me.

The problem, as both of us realized shortly after I'd attempted to cram the thing down my throat, was that I didn't have a stomach. Or even tastebuds, for that matter. The damned fucking fruit had impacted with a wall of light near the back of my mouth, before I'd been forced to spit the entire piece out just to speak. Yet another human quality that I was going to need to try and get back, somehow. I knew shapeshifting was an option, probably.

A certain Amethyst on Earth had eaten stuff all the time, even if some of her meals were a little unorthodox compared to standard organic fare. And Stars, Rose Quartz had managed to form a functional womb when it really came down to it. Or... she was going to? Maybe? I still didn't actually know just where and when I stood in the 'timeline' here. And more importantly, I didn't particularly care anyway, just so long as nothing got in my way when it came to getting the fuck out of dodge.

The internal tangent passed quickly, and so did the walk. Interestingly, we'd long since made our way through several unfamiliar areas I'd been forbidden from entering before, meaning we were in entirely uncharted territory now.

"... What are they doing?" Glancing to the side prompted the view of something intrinsically familiar to anyone who had ever spent time with a large group of people just about anywhere. Or at least anyone who had been to a cafeteria and had actually eaten food, which funnily enough, Vermilion most likely hadn't. For obvious enough reasons.

"They're consuming nutrients to keep themselves alive. It's a fairly common trait amongst organics." The red Pearl's face almost seemed to pale as a particularly large Avian shovelled a large slab of what might have been some kind of meat-substitute down their beak, the food disappearing into their gullet shortly afterwards with a rythmic bobbing motion.

"How... revolting." Resisting the urge to sigh, I turned away from the grossed out Gem and focused my eyes forward as we passed through yet another doorway.

"Viridian!" Then we were in some kind of large chamber. And my lightform was being smushed into another as a certain blue Gem embraced me tightly. The urge to sigh, so commonly repressed, grew massively as Brim happily chirped at me, a silent Quille (big damned shocker right there) and a bored looking Citrine standing right behind her. Oh, and a veritable flock of Avians all standing around what looked like a central bridge room. Joy.