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The night was quiet on this planet. One moon hung overhead, incredibly close to the surface. As it moved across the horizon it caused sections of loose rock to lift up from the terrain and float away towards the moon until it passed and the rock crashed back down to the surface. The other moon was high on the sky and cast an eerie orange light over the landscape. A soft breeze rolled across the top of the cliff Jet was standing on.
Jet was a gem with skin dark as a moonless night who was about as tall as a pearl. She was dressed in a uniform as dark as her skin and wore a hood along with a scarf around the bottom half of her face. Her hair was pressed down around her head and if her hood was down it would curl out at the ends. On her forearms she had limb enhancers that were like large gauntlets. They had three attached fingers including the thumb and each finger was tipped with a large claw. The palms had a single circular plate in the center that was slightly raised. Her gem was on her left hip and had a square cut.
She crouched and looked out at the surface. She was alone, after the residents on this planet had shot down her craft she had become separated from her group and now she was trying to survive and make her way across the planet to the homeworld base. She was lucky enough to have recovered her limb enhancers from the remains of the ship. They would help her to move faster and fend off any local threats.
Jet stood up and looked down over the edge of the cliff. It was a long way down but she could see the canopy in the moonlight. She would have taken a breath but gems didn’t need to breathe.
She stepped forward and let gravity take her, pulling her down towards the forest floor below. She heard the buzzing of large insects and the howls of strange beasts as she approached the canopy. After she reached the halfway point of her fall she reached back and sunk the claws of one enhancer into the side of the cliff. Her momentum carried her down for a little distance further and she just barely passed through the top of the trees before she finally stopped. She pulled her legs up and sunk her other claws into the cliff side, looking out at the branches for any sign of life.
Her natural night vision allowed her to spot a few of the predators native to this world hanging around in the tops of the trees. She braced herself before kicking off from the cliff and soaring through the air. As soon as she touched the first branch she kicked off and kept soaring. Many things took notice of her as she passed by them but most of them decided she wasn’t worth the trouble and left her alone. One of the predators pounced at her and she repelled it with the repulsor in her limb enhancer. Nothing more bothered her as she continued on her way.
Soon enough she saw light and smoke rising from a clearing a little distance away. She went towards it and found some sort of native settlement. They were moving equipment and loading up the ships they used in their futile attempts to repel the gems. Jet crouched in a tree and watched them for a moment or two, considering her options.
She could continue on her path, find a way around these creatures and keep going towards her diamond's base. But her orders kept flashing through her head. Jets were made for one purpose, to act as scouts and spies. Jet knew that her diamond would be proud of her if she fulfilled her purpose.
She knew what to do. She dropped to the forest floor and moved forward. This area was surrounded by a fence but she easily cleared it and continued on. She stuck to the shadows, allowing her naturally dark appearance to assist her in remaining hidden. She kept moving further in, avoiding patrols and searchlights.
She looked at the planet's inhabitants as they passed. These people were descended from some sort of insect. They walked on four legs and had large mandibles on their heads. Their multi-lensed eyes swept the area, looking for signs of disturbances but they did not spot her. Jets were made for stealth after all.
Soon enough she spotted her way in, a small opening near the top of the wall. As long as nobody saw her scaling the wall and there was nobody inside the opening she could make it in without a hitch. She needed to move fast though. She flexed her claws, taking a moment to judge how long it would take her to climb before she decided to go for a quicker option. She activated the grappling hook on her left enhancer and prepared to launch it. She ran towards the side if the building and lifted her arm, firing her grapple. It made a soft thud as it hit the side of the building. She activated the pulley and shot up the side of the building, rapidly approaching the window. She stopped after she pulled past it and grabbed the wall. She carefully looked down into the hole. It was dark and there was a soft breeze coming from within.
She jumped in without hesitation and checked her surroundings. She was in a chamber of some kind where the floors all seemed to slope down towards the opposite wall. She carefully moved forward, constantly checking her surroundings for traps or enemies.
As she reached the opposite wall she saw a faint light coming from a hallway. She moved towards it. The room at the other end of the hall was filled with carcasses of dead creatures, all arranged as if they were alive. Jet spared only a thought for how disgusting the creatures were before she moved on. She was hoping to stumble upon some sort of communications room. She could take photographic memories and replay them later by projecting them with her gem, it was just a matter of finding something to remember.
As she moved into the next area she heard a shuffling from down the hall and quickly hid in the shadows of a support structure. A guard walked by a few moments later, carrying a blaster of some sort in their arms. They never even looked in her direction as they continued down the hall. Once they were gone Jet sprinted down the hall. Soon she heard more shuffling and hid again, but this time nobody passed through the hall.
She moved up and found a huge chamber in which the natives were constructing ships. The loud whir and clang of machines filled the air along with the smell of metal and the natural musky smell of the creatures. Jet clung to the wall and moved along the edge of the room, hiding behind crates and in shadows until she reached the next hallway.
This hallway was larger and had stairs which led higher into the structure. Jet ascended the stairs. At the top she discovered a short hallway which led to some sort of mapping room. She pressed herself against the wall by the entrance and looked in. There were five of the natives crowded around one table. Jet could barely make out what they were saying from where she was.
“These invaders grow bolder by the day, soon they will attack us at the heart of our power.” The others agreed. “The queen has tasked us with destroying them, and so we shall.”
Jet began to take a memory of this group. They seemed to be important and she knew her supervisors would want to hear what they were saying.
“We will deploy our bombers and wipe out their base here.” They pointed to the map. “Then we will remove any who survive and repel any others who dare try to invade us in the future. We will win against these invaders and prove that we are superior! For our queen! Chalik-Vree!” The rest of the table responded but the following silence was broken by a piercing screech from behind Jet.
She turned and saw that a warrior had come up behind her while she had been watching the group. She had been too focused on getting information and had not paid attention to her surroundings as a result. The one who discovered her continued to screech as they pulled out their weapon, a serrated sword, and charged her, swinging their weapon at her neck.
Jet dodged the first attack by ducking then pressed the palm of her limb enhancer to the warrior's chest and activated her repulsor. She and the warrior flew off in opposite directions. The warrior flew back into the wall and hit with a sickening crunch. Jet was thrown into the room but she flipped nimbly in midair and managed to land on her feet a short distance from the assembly inside.
They screeched and moved towards her, those with weapons pulled them out and tried to hit her while others just threw themselves at her, extending claws from the tips of their fingers. Jet used her limb enhancers to stop the first of the attacks but one of them hit her in the shoulder and threw her back, causing her to stumble as she tried to regain her feet.
She grabbed at her shoulder and winced softly. Jets were soft gems and couldn’t take much abuse before their physical forms gave out. She had to avoid taking another hit or she would risk being shattered here and now. She looked around for a way out but the only passages she saw were where she had come from and another hallway on the opposite side of the room, which would require her going through this group of enemies to get to.
They moved towards her, blocking her passage and raising they weapons to strike. Jet had just one chance if she wanted to get out. She reached down to the gem on her hip. It glowed brightly as she reached inside and pulled out her weapon, a tonfa club with sharp spikes at either end. It automatically matched the size of her limb enhancer as she moved her arm up and deflected the weapons coming at her. She spun it around and swung it at one of her enemies who was using their claws instead of a weapon.
They groaned as it hit the side of their head with a loud crack and knocked them away. Jet jumped through the opening and sprinted to the opposite hall, ignoring the others as they began to give chase. She continued to run, not slowing down for anything. She glanced into each room as she passed it, looking for her way out.
It wasn’t long before she found a room with an open window. She jumped out of it, dismissing her weapon and grabbing onto the side of the building, allowing the drag of her claws to slow her descent. She dropped once low enough and began running as more shouts came from the window she had jumped out of.
The entire yard came alive with activity as light filled the area. They spotted her quickly and began to fire at her with blasters. Jet used the crates and equipment for cover as she ran through the compound and just barely jumped over the fence. They continued to fire on her as she fled into the jungle.
She stayed low as bits of wood flew off the trees. She kept moving until the blaster fire was a distant sound. She had to find her way to the base so she climbed to the top of a tall tree and looked out over the landscape. She first looked in the direction she had come from and saw ships rising from the enemy base into the air. They moved closer, coming in her direction and moving with a purpose.
Jet knew that her being discovered would prompt some sort of reaction from the inhabitants but she hasn’t expected it to come so suddenly. She turned back and spotted the top of the tower that was her diamond's base. She immediately began jumping, using the naturally springy limbs of the trees to help travel further. She moved with all she was worth and didn’t check behind her to see how her enemies were keeping up.
After what felt like hours she finally reached the edge of the forest and moved towards the nearest security tower. She got within about fifty feet of it before the jasper at the top trained a gun on her and fired into the ground by her feet. Jet came to a sudden stop and looked up at the soldier.
“Halt! Identify yourself!” She spoke with the same gruff voice of all Jaspers. A light shined down from her tower and landed on Jet a moment later.
Jet, just like all of her kind, was unable to speak so she used her gem to project a large series of numbers in gem lettering. Once the jasper had calmed Jet climbed up the tower and pointed to the sky, projecting an arrow for emphasis.
The jasper didn’t understand at first but once they looked out they spotted the ships and activated the alarm and shouted, “Enemy ships! To battle stations!” The entire base came alive as troops streamed from the main building and quickly manned the guns. Some of their fighter ships took off and ran towards the enemy. Lasers preceded the fighters and made small explosions as they impacted the enemy ships. The ships fell apart and crashed to the jungle below, exploding and setting the area on fire. The entire fight was over in less than an hour.
A cheer rose up from those around the base as their victory became apparent. In the short span of time that followed their victory the agate in charge of the base came over to the turret that Jet and the jasper were in. She stopped at the base and looked up.
“Come down here!” She called up to them. Both gems looked at each other before jumping down and saluting the agate. She was an imposing figure, as tall as a Jasper and just as broad. She had magenta skin and her hair was done up in three spikes. She looked both of them over, the cape on her shoulders flowing behind her.
“You are a jet,” she stated, pointing to her. “What were you doing in my defense tower?”
The jasper spoke up for her. “She came into the field ma'am. After I determined she was not a hostile she jumped into the tower and pointed out the enemy ships approaching. Had it not been for her we might not of seen them until it was too late.”
Jet blushed lightly and nodded to the jasper in thanks. The agate narrowed her eyes at Jet. “I see.” She looked at Jasper. “Return to your post, I will see to it that you are recognized for your work.” She then turned and gestured. “Follow me Jet, we have much to discuss,” with that she began to walk back towards the main building, the two guards that were accompanying her followed, remaining stoic.
Jet turned and bowed her head to the jasper in thanks one more time before running to catch up to the agate. She fell into stride behind her, holding her arms at her sides. She secretly hoped they were going somewhere she could sit down and relax. They entered the base and went to the command deck. Once there the agate stopped and turned back to Jet. Her guards took positions at opposite ends of the room.
“Now that we're alone I want you to tell me how you came to be here.”
Jet nodded and activated her gem. She showed the agate a replay of the crash from her perspective. Then she showed a sped up version of her trek through the jungle. She had prepared this recording in case this line of questioning came up. She showed her the images of her infiltrating the enemy base and slowed it down so she could show the meeting she had witnessed.
The agate seemed to become particularly interested in this part. She stepped closer and observed the projection, listening to what the enemy said. Jet cut it off after displaying the warrior who discovered her. She dared not to show the agate that she had fought her way put of the place, or that she was able to create a weapon.
Jets were infiltrators and spies, they weren’t supposed to be able to produce weapons, which is why they were given limb enhancers. If somebody were to discover that Jet had a weapon she would be seen as a gem out of her station and that could lead to her being put on trial and possibly something worse.
As soon as the projection stopped the agate turned her focus back to Jet directly. “You were part of that group that was supposed to meet us then. They never arrived. We can assume you were the only survivor. You followed your mission too, spying on the enemy and learning their plans.” She began to pace slowly, smiling a little. “Though I must say you blundered a bit there at the end. All the same we know of what they plan to do and we shall wipe them out for the diamond authority.” She raised a clenched fist in a sign of solidarity.
She stopped pacing and turned to Jet, clicking her heels together. “You have done well,” she clapped her hands and a technician came in, a peridot with her gem on her stomach. “Take this jet to a private quarters and give her anything she asks for.”
The peridot obeyed and led Jet to a room where she could relax. The peridot put her arms behind her back. “I will see to it that you are not disturbed. If there is anything you need just use the panel.” She indicated it then left.
Jet removed her limb enhancers and went into the cubby provided to rest. She needed to regain the energy she had lost that day. She was very tired after being attacked and running around in the jungle.
She was able to rest for a few hours before she was pulled out of it by the same peridot who had shown her to the room. She stretched and stepped out of the cubby, looking at the peridot.
“Magenta Agate has summoned you. Something happened.” She stated.
Jet nodded and gestured for the peridot to lead the way. Together they went through the base and down to a part that Jet had never seen before. It was a room filled with jars containing samples of things from the planet, plants, creatures, artifacts. They continued through the room until they found the agate. She was speaking with some other technicians near a table which had a number of screens showing miles of data. As they approached the agate turned to them.
They stopped a few feet away and saluted. The peridot spoke. “I have delivered her, as you instructed.”
The agate nodded. “That will be all Peridot.” She gestured for other to return to her work. The peridot left them, going to a station and pulling up a new screen. Jet looked at the agate and bowed her head respectfully.
“Shortly after the attack on our base a sweep was sent out along with some fighters to demolish the enemy base. We were successful in removing it and swept the area around it afterwards for survivors and any other outposts that may have been left. We discovered a group of enemy soldiers and surrounded them. They attacked and we were forced to obliterate them.”
Jet wasn’t sure why the agate was telling her this but she continued to listen.
“These soldiers were piloting a hovercraft that contained holding cells. Inside one of these cells was a jet like yourself.”
Jet's eyes widened in realization. That was what happened to her crew. After they were shot down the enemy had captured them. But something bothered Jet about what the agate was saying. They had found one gem, but there had been half a dozen in the ship besides Jet. She projected the equivalent of a question mark in gem language.
The agate frowned. “This jet was a part of your crew,” she paused before continuing. “Inside the transport we also found gem shards.”
Jet tensed and approached the agate. She couldn’t believe it, her crew, her friends, they had been shattered. A thousand questions raced through her mind. Had it happened in the crash or after the enemy found them? Why hadn’t the gems found them sooner? Why hadn’t she tried to find them? The agate moved forward and touched Jet's shoulder, causing her to jump and raise a hand defensively.
The agate frowned. “Listen to me, the jet who survived she is… she's not well. We need to know what happened. I am ordering you as her ally to speak to her and to try and find out what happened. Do you understand?”
Jet looked at her and nodded. The agate led her to a holding cell in one corner of the room and deactivated the defense barrier. Inside the room was a gem. She was sitting on the ground with her knees curled up to her chest, facing the wall opposite Jet. The gem shook and twitched.
Jet quickly looked her over, trying to figure out where her gem was located. She could already rule out a couple of the others. Her heart clenched as she realized just who had died but she felt herself brightening a bit when she saw the edge of a gem on this jet's right shin. It was 3GU, one of her best friends.
She and this gem had emerged on the same day from the same shelf and had instantly bonded. 3GU always saw the beauty in the worlds they visited and sometimes she collected little things from the planets like rocks or flowers. She was always happy and often created little shows in her projections to show to others. Jet walked to her and placed her hand on 3GU's shoulder.
3GU turned around and grabbed Jet's wrist, looking at her with eyes that were glazed over and unfocused. Jet saw the gem on her shin more clearly now, there was a distinct crack running from the top left corner down to nearly the center of her gem. The hand on Jet's wrist suddenly began to buzz and then glitched off of Jet.
Jet stepped back once her hand was free and looked at her friend more carefully. Her friend’s eyes focused and when they finally saw Jet her eyes smiled. She held her hand up and formed it into the sign for “hello" in an attempt to be friendly. The jets had developed a language they could use with each other in private so they wouldn't have to rely on projecting images with their gems. It was especially useful in situations like these where they couldn’t project things because of a damaged gem.
Jet returned the sign as she studied her friend. She could see that her friend not only had a cracked gem but was also roughed up. Jet approached her friend and knelt down. She quickly signed to her friend, asking her what had happened to her.
It took 3GU a while to tell the story but she took her time and managed to get through all of it. What had happened was that after the ship had crashed she and the rest of the crew had evacuated the hull. Their leader had been the last one inside and was gathering their gear, but the ship had blown up while she was inside. They couldn’t even find her gem after the wreckage had stopped smoking.
Shortly after that they started out into the jungle where they encountered some local predators. Since they didn’t have any weapons they had to run away and a couple of them ended up retreating into their gems in the confrontation. The rest recovered the gems and fled through the jungle. That was when they encountered the enemy forces. There was just a small number of them but they were powerful. They shattered the others and spared her, cracking her gem in the process.
Once she had finished telling the story she suddenly began to move erratically and her form shifted, her legs reversed and her arms became longer. She struggled to control herself but she couldn't. Before Jet could help her she was grabbed from behind and pulled out of the cell. The barrier was put back into place and the agate moved in front of her, blocking her view.
“Report what she said. Now.”
Jet hesitated. She wanted to help her friend but she knew that they wouldn’t allow that. She gave the report using projected images then wrote down what the other had told her. After that was done the agate looked over her notes and had them sent to the moon base where they would be relayed back to homeworld.
The agate then spoke to Jet again. “You have done well. Now return to your quarters and I will call for you when the transport has arrived to take you back to your commander.” She seemed to think the conversation was over but Jet walked to her and clapped her hands to get the agate’s attention. She turned back with an annoyed expression. “Was I not clear?”
Jet projected images asking about 3GU and what would happen to her. The agate sighed when she understood what the other was asking and rolled her eyes. “What do you think will happen? She's been cracked and though we do have the resources to fix her I’m not going to waste them on a nonessential gem. Much less one that can be easily replaced.”
Jet clenched her fist and glared up at the large gem. She wanted to make this gem pay for talking about her friend like that. Jet hated how shamelessly the agate threw away life. She wanted to toss her to the ground and force her to retreat into her gem, but she didn’t have her limb enhancers and she wasn’t strong enough. The only way she would be able to do anything would be to pull her weapon out and beat this gem senseless, but doing so would expose the fact that she had a weapon and she had no way off this planet yet if she had to run.
Jet looked down and nodded before turning and following the peridot back to her quarters. Once she was alone she began to kick and punch the walls, leaving small dents in it as she let out her frustration. She curled up in her cubby and rested after she had tired herself out.
Her transport arrived the next day, touching down on the surface to drop off some supplies. Jet boarded shortly after it touched down. She had asked to see her friend one final time but they had denied her, saying it was not important for her mission. Jet took a seat on the deck while the technicians were monitoring the unloading of equipment. She took a tally in her head of all the friends she had lost.
She had been working for her diamond for nearly three thousand years. In that time she had passed between a few teams, sometimes they had lost people, but most often they succeeded. She had never taken a loss like this. Shouldn’t she be proud that she had proven to be the best? She had survived the planet, spied on the enemy, and prevented them from destroying her diamond's base. But all she could think about was how she had let down her friends.
She turned her thoughts towards trying to determine those responsible, the enemy who had destroyed them. But the gems had been planning to destroy them so was it so wrong that they would attack them in return. The agate and the quartz' who hadn’t sent out a search party. But they were just following orders, they had no idea the ship had been shot down. No, the more she thought of it the more she came to the conclusion that the only ones responsible were herself, and those who had sent her there, the diamonds.
Jet considered her options now. She could go back to the base she had come from and wait to be reassigned to another group so she could continue to fight and lose friends, or she could escape. She made a promise to herself then and there that she would get away from the diamonds and their disgusting hierarchy, one way or another.
The thought crossed her mind to take control of the ship she was in now but she knew that was a foolish plan. Though she did know how to pilot a ship she couldn’t navigate and she was deep in the empire's territory. She would wait until she could determine a destination, and how she could get there. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, trying to relax.
“Jet, Miss Jet!” Jet opened her eyes and turned her head to look for the source of the noise. She was surprised to see the Jasper she had met a few nights ago. She had a neutral expression on her face. Jet stood up and turned to face her, making the diamond symbol, reluctantly, and bowing to her.
The jasper returned the salute. When they both stood up straight Jet gave her a confused expression. The jasper reached into a pack she had with her and pulled out a small object. It was a flower, pressed and preserved in an acrylic shell. The jasper smiled at her. “I heard you were leaving today and I wanted to give you something to thank you.”
Jet slowly accepted the object and turned it over in her hand. The flower inside was bright white with small lines of black running up the middle if each of the petals. Her eyes smiled as she looked back at the Jasper, intending to thank her again but she froze when she saw the somber expression on the quartz' face.
“I heard about your friends. I’m sorry. I have lost friends too, soldiers in the field, members of my facet. I would do anything to get them back.” Jasper reached her hand forward and squeezed Jet's arm, something that would have been considered inappropriate if anybody saw them. “I hope you can find new friends and that you can go to amazing places.”
Jet nodded and returned the gesture the quartz had shown her, squeezing her arm. The jasper left, returning to the base and her position. Jet sat back down and quickly hid the flower in the small vault inside her gem. She was grateful to the jasper and she was going to do what the Jasper hoped for her. She would find new friends and allies and go to amazing places far away from the empire.
The technicians finally returned to the bridge after another hour and started the engines. The ship took off a few minutes later and flew into the sky, beginning its journey back to where it had come from. Jet relaxed and began to plot her way through what she would do to escape.