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Static is seen and heard for a moment, before it clears and the face of a frustrated Quartz soldier becomes visible. She appears to have been crying, and she is lightly hitting the side of the camera with her right hand.
"...won't you work you stupid--there we go." She breathes in and withdraws her hand, facing the camera. "This is Poppy Jasper, facet 2F6 cut 6TZ, reporting..."
She begins to shake slightly. "The Lattice Colony investigation is a...well, we, uh, didn't fail, it...I mean, I had to complete the rest of the mission on my own, without the rest of the team or my superior, Captain Owyhee. W-what happened was..." She stops shaking, but still appears very stressed. "No, wait. Colony status comes first. Uh..."
"Initial contact with Lattice was apparently lost when a major power core exploded, damaging the primary communication hub. W-we never found out what caused it, the Peridot we sent to investigate the explosion site was..." She pauses, appearing to be disturbed by the memory.
"Th-this colony is...I can't even describe it. The local plant life grows everywhere and thrives in the Kindergartens. There's no way to move around, and Gems often emerge misshapen from being tangled in the roots. And the creatures--I don't even know what they are! Th-they aren't organic, they're like--they're like Gems! But the locals say they've always been there, that they aren't just colonists transformed and turned savage--and they--" She suddenly takes a deep breath, her expression changing to a fake but still somewhat convincing calm expression.
"I-I should explain what happened to the rest of the crew."
"Peridot facet 2F7T cut 7HV disappeared while investigating the explosion site...w-we found her shards later, in a nearby stream. She was our only Peridot, and our only skilled engineer."
"Kinradite facet 1F3 cut 3GR and her Pearl shattered at the floor of a Kindergarten after falling from a tree at the edge of the canyon. They had climbed to get a b-better view of the area...the flora was shifting so much, I w-wouldn't rule it as incompetence..."
Her fake calm begins to falter and tears appear in her eyes. "Ruby facet 2F8 cut 8NC was shattered by a paranoid local Bismuth, who had mistaken her for a dangerous creature. Th-the status and identity of the Bismuth is unknown; she ran when she saw us."
"Th-the rest of the Rubies were attacked by local wildlife, the l-locals call them 'wargs' and they sh--they shattered them and--and ate their shards--" She begins shaking again, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Apparently th-this happened to m-many of the colonists too..."
She pauses for roughly thirty seconds just to cry. She then takes a deep breath.
"A-and there were more, more 'wargs', following us...then--then attacking us, we...w-we were just running from them--th-those of us who were left, I mean. T-trying to get to the ship. B-before we even got there the wargs shattered and ate Deschutes and Leopard--Captain Owyhee and I were the only ones left, a-and she told me to get inside while she tried to fight them off--" She is shaking rapidly at this point, her face soaked in tears. "W-when I got inside the ship, I h-heard her shatter--sh-she hadn't stood a chance, and s-suddenly I was--" Her words become inaudible sobs. She covers her eyes.
"I don't deserve this, I d-don't deserve to be here when everyone else--I couldn't do anything, I--" Her words become inaudible again. She goes silent after a moment, just crying. She breathes in, but does not show her face again. Her voice is muffled. "I c-can't do this anymore, I'm sorry...Poppy out." She reaches towards the camera with her right hand while keeping her face hidden and ends the recording.