Gems in the Rough (1x1 W/ Sabatron)

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Cat watched as Spinel cut the fence with her laser. It was a power that Cat hadn't heard of previously, as Spinel's physical prowess was more well known on the ship and elsewhere. Did that mean Spinel could summon an even stronger laser? It was unknown to her that Spinel really couldn't, and it was far too weak to be of any use in combat, but her mind went wild with the possibilities, including Spinel wiping out a whole line of enemies with her eye laser. She'd have to ask about it-- not now, given how bad of a time it was, but she had to know about the eye laser that Spinel had apparently told no one about.

... That being said, Cat also had her own powers. Many gems had them, all made with a specific purpose in mind. She didn't consider hers to be that impressive (at least compared to the eye laser at least)-- she could zoom into specific targets to see them in better detail. In space she was too far away to make any use of this, at least compared to the far more useful telescopes on the ship... but on ground it had it's purpose, "Capt'in," Cat began, resisting the temptation to instead ask about the laser, "Could I try an' zoom in t' see if there's any of those Homeworlders around? If there are, I could try an' snipe 'um!"
 
The fence was one of the perimeter defenses. They didn't expect a gem with an eye-laser to come by and cut this relic down, her power being as niche as it was. She rarely found any concrete use for it - aside from being a laser pointer or a laser sight when aiming her knives at a target. Regardless, she became so good at it, she didn't really need to rely on it to aim her daggers anymore. Cutting fences and breaking locks was the whole point of her laser eye - and it wasn't a surprise that Cat seemed rather astonished by her glorified laser pointer.

Her powers were relatively weak compared to Cat's - in complete honesty, it's just that she has the confidence, guile, skill to use them efficiently. Cat could easily take out more frontline gems without even breaking a sweat, in the training room back at the ship and even during the rare occasions she managed to get herself tangled in a ground battle. Spinel respected her loyalty, her happiness, and her guile. She was strong, and many decided to look down on her because she was 'cute'. Spinel and the crew knew how important their navigator was, and how her bow and arrow rivaled even their own Pirate Captain. Spinel's ears then perked up as she silently set aside the cut piece of fence, turning to face Cat.

She took a few moments to assess the situation. True, there were quite a bit of Homeworld gems milling about. Several Peridots were busy servicing several watchtowers, which all seem relatively damaged. They didn't seem to pose any threat, as they were too spaced out to mount an appropriate counter offensive. Around the perimeter of the outpost were two patrols, each consisting of two Jaspers and one Amethyst, all wearing the familiar and intimidating colors and anti-gem weapons as the rest of their Homeworld bretheren. She gritted her teeth. "Just... be sure not to alert the Peridots. I don't want to face four choppers right now." She said, as they sneaked in. The scarcity of natural cover forced them to hide behind a re-purposed Sonnile building, in which it seemed like a normal storage building. Hiding behind it, she slowly looked to Cat and nodded.

"Take out the patrols, okay? Just be careful not to alert the rest of them." She reminded her sternly, as she observed the rotations of the patrols.
 
"Gotcha." Cat said, nodding and looking out at the patrols. She noted the differing outfits from when she was with Homeworld-- but of course, they hadn't changed in their values. If anything, things seemed to get considerably worse with Homeworld, if what happened with the Sonnile was any indication. Made her all the more happy to be with Spinel's crew, where they could actually express themselves instead of having the same old boring uniform all the time. She took a moment to observe the patrol, counting how many seemed to be around and how they were paroling. There was a brief glowing from her gem as she took out her weapon, and the light formed to become her bow. She strummed it lightly, as if to make sure it still worked.

She positioned herself before she exhaled, focusing herself to use her power. As if she were using a pair of binoculars, she instantly zoomed in on the scene. It only took a moment for her to adjust, and she started aiming. She was made to be the ideal sniper-- not fit to take on hoards of gems like Jaspers or Amethysts were, but instead designed to make precise, direct hits. Now, it would be a bit... trickier, given how sturdy the paroling gems were, but she was certain that she could do it in at least two hits for each. One if she hit them hard enough. She put her sights one of the Jaspers, waiting for the opportune moment... there. She was alone for now, away from the other Jasper and Amethyst and the sights of the watch-towers.

Easy does it... An arrow automatically filled into the bow, and Cat shot it off once she was certain where she was aiming. It whizzed past everything to... be a miss. Just barely missing the Jasper's leg. Realizing the opportunity in the Jasper being distracted by the arrow, however, she quickly shot two more off-- this time hitting their target. The Jasper staggered back with the first hit. The second they only lasted a short time before poofing, their gem softly hitting the sand. The Amethyst was coming over, Cat knew the suspicion that the poofed Jasper would bring. She had to act quick. She shot off an extra-strong arrow, and-- Bulls-eye! This one was strong enough to poof the Amethyst in one hit. Two down. One to go. Cat smiled confidently.

The last Jasper was only around the corner from where the Jasper and Amethyst were poofed. She aimed, preparing to shoot off another arrow. They'd be just as suspicious about the poofed gems, so she-- wait. An... Eye? She zoomed in. The eye! That's the eye she saw before? Was it a coincidence, or? Focus! Cat! You have to focus! The sudden distraction threw her off, and the arrow ended up hitting them in the leg. Despite being disoriented from being taken out of the zooming-effect, she shot off another, hitting the Jasper in the other leg. ... It was still going? It was still going! The Peridots were still distracted with the watch-towers, but now the Jasper was furiously looking for the source of the arrows.
 
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Cat wasn't that bad of a shot - considering how she managed to take her bow out without any wavering movements. She watched her loyal little gem ready her bow and arrow - an arrow of pure light materializing within the bow - with a light blue glow emanating from it's core. She simply observed her preparing to take the shot - concentrating her breathing and steadying herself as much as possible. She was an expert shot, and although she didn't really brush up on her skills that often, Spinel knew that she was capable. She considered her as somewhat of a 'secret weapon'. Her unwavering loyalty meant that she was the best, if not the only choice she had for a competent second in command.

While moving targets was more of a chore - especially when her targets were slabs of muscle and mass, but they weren't that bright. One deviated from the course, the task of going around in circles for several hours seemingly tasking for this certain Jasper. It was a perfect blind spot. The Peridots were way too busy fixing and monitoring their individual repair drones to even care about the task of base security, and the two remaining gems in her patrol group went on ahead. A clean two shots would be perfect for the job, if not the only way to avoid detection.

Cat shot it off once she was certain where she was aiming. It whizzed past everything to... be a miss. Just barely missing the Jasper's leg. Realizing the opportunity in the Jasper being distracted by the arrow, however, she quickly shot two more off-- this time hitting their target. Spinel was mentally cheering her on, but she kept her eyes peeled and her daggers ready - connecting them into a small twinblade. This meant it was almost like a boomerang; she could throw it and it'd come back to her. The Jasper staggered back with the first hit. The second they only lasted a short time before poofing, their gem softly hitting the sand. The Amethyst was coming over, Cat knew the suspicion that the poofed Jasper would bring. She had to act quick. She shot off an extra-strong arrow, and-- Bulls-eye! This one was strong enough to poof the Amethyst in one hit.

One left. It was one of the Jaspers, and she only had to do another clean two shots to eliminate this patrol group. Spinel waited. Waited. The Jasper was getting closer. "Cat..." She mumbled, already panicking a bit as she was about to round the corner - and even worse, Cat shot the wrong area - her leg. If she screamed now, it'd be the worst time to be smack-dab behind enemy lines. With the second hit, the Jasper seemed to avoid calling for help, as she struggled to stay up with her legs having arrows of searing light embedded on them.

Spinel had to take her out. With amazing grace and agility, she went closer, and with a powerful throw, she launched her spinning twinblade around the outside. Her blade cut through the Jasper, slicing halfway into the Jasper's gem as she was poofed. Spinel turned to Cat, crossing her arms. "Don't get distracted. Glad those Peridots aren't that aware, though." The only thing they had to worry about now was getting into the main building - a former Sonnile factory. With Patrol Group A gone, they had to deal with B now. Spinel and the rest of the crew grabbed the poofed gems, the hid within the entrance of the complex. By her analysis of their patrol routes, after every three rotations, they'll come back inside to patrol the factory itself. The dark and shadowy interior would make a great ambush point.

"Prepare yourselves. We have to take them out all at once, you got that?"
 
Cat panicked, trying to get another arrow in her bow as fast as she could. Maybe-- maybe if she could do one more shot, then the Jasper would go down and they wouldn't have to worry about being spotted-- Just as she reloaded, however, Spinel was already on it. Cat watched as Spinel threw her signature twin-blade at the Jasper, poofing them like it was nothing. Cat quickly got up to face her captain... even if her own embarrassment made her want to look down at the sand, "I-I understand, capt'in." She said, "I just..." she contemplated bringing up the eye. Once was a coincidence. But twice? ... Cat had a sinking feeling that it might not be just her. But... "... I don't know what came over me, capt'in. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again! Lucky I had you t' cover me." ... She felt like bringing it up now wasn't the best time, especially in the middle of a mission. They couldn't go off chasing eyes that may-or-may-not exist, especially if she's the only one who's seen them. After the mission, she decided to herself. That's when she'd tell Spinel about what she'd been seeing.

Cat followed the group as they moved on to their next hiding place. "Ready when you are, capt'in." Cat said, still having her bow out. Full-front assaults weren't Cat's specialty, but she knew that she could at least be a decent support. She could make up for her mistake earlier.
 
As they hid in wait, they waited for the Homeworld gems to step on in. As they were halfway into the entrance, she jumped the rear Amethyst, and the rest aggressively took out the remaining two with their weapons - poofing them without a moment's notice. As Spinel spun her twinblade and returned it to the gem that replaced her other eye - she looked at the fallen gems. She then took a few, tossing them outside as they entered the building proper. It was dark - and with her human utilities, she fished a mag-light from her pack. The light was sufficient enough to light up a significant portion of the hallway, as they went deeper into the factory proper. It seemed like no other Homeworld gems were here - but Cat would almost 'feel' the presence of something.

In the corner of one of the many derelict machines, a lone eye rolled into view of Cat, but not to Spinel. She wasn't taking notice of such things, only keeping an eye out on the ground. Thoroughly, she searched and cleared individual rooms, and strangely, the eye seemed to follow them everywhere. It became so obvious, that even Spinel and the rest of the group were catching on. "That's strange... there's something watching us." She stops, staring one of the eyes dead cold. "Is that... an eye?"

She pointed at it, but within an instant, it fizzled and disappeared - almost as if it turned invisible or simply poofed out of existence. "This is bad." She then tried to contact Tanzanite via her cobbled up transmitter radio, but for some reason she could only transmit static - and she could only hear static either. With the annoying buzzing sound the only thing she could make out, she angrily shoved the radio back into her pack, unsheathing her twinblades, almost reaching into her gem and summoning them. "Alright... stay frosty people..."
 
Cat managed to get a shot in with all the gems attacking at once, effectively taking out the gems that were guarding the entrance. It was... strangely dark inside, but Spinel's eye helped to light up the building inside. So far, they... hadn't encountered anymore gems guarding the place. Were there more gems guarding the outside than there were inside? Cat felt the hair on her form stand up, feeling something humans might describe as 'goosebumps'. This didn't feel right. She gripped her bow. It was like-- she peered around her, maybe looking for something Spinel's light might have missed-- like something was here and Cat couldn't quite describe it.

That's when she saw it. The eye. She whipped out her bow, ready to shoot-- it was gone. She lowered her bow, looking at Spinel. Did she see it? No. It didn't seem like she did. Cat sighed to herself. Maybe... it was just her. Still... a feeling of dread stuck to her, and she trudged on with the group.

Eventually, it was proved that it wasn't just her. The other gems that were with them were seeing sights of the eye. Murmuring about it. Some drew their weapons like Cat did, only to be surprised when the thing disappeared. They all noticed the eye that Spinel saw. Cat held her breath-- now wishing that it would have just been her imagination. She watched as it disappeared yet again, vanishing from their sight. Contact with Tazanite proved to be difficult.

"Spinel," Cat said, going up ahead to catch up with her captain, "I've..." she exhaled quickly, "I've seen those eyes before. In Tazanite's base. It's what made me mess up those shots! And-" she was interrupted by the sound of something up ahead. A banging noise. Faint murmurs. An eye rolled ahead of them, into the darkness beyond Spinel's light. Cat tried to steady her shaking hands.
 
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With her eye illuminating the scene, they kept a sharp eye at what lies ahead. Eventually, the sound of faint murmurs and a banging noise made Spinel even more paranoid. She honestly wished she didn't see that eye. She was chasing shadows. One moment she saw another eye - and another, but when she turns to brighten that certain area with her eye-light, nothing was there. It was getting more and more insane with each passing moment, as she saw multiple eyes almost stacked on one another. With the Pirate gem and the rest of the rebel gems already on their toes.

The doors disappear. It was just a straight hallway - leading to the banging and loud noises. Faint murmurs suddenly became ghostly echoes. Ghostly echoes felt almost exactly like someone was talking beside her, but she couldn't make out the words. The group's spirits were low, that's for sure. She was already swinging at nothing, and she was fairly certain this was the work of whatever those eyes were. It was getting hard to move forward with all this - horror.

The eyes and the voices disappear. She noticed that it truly did disappear, as after a few minutes of walking the only sound that could be heard was the faint hum of the light of Spinel's eye and the combined footsteps of the group. This hallway was long. Almost impossibly so, for a tiny facility of this size. She didn't even know if she was walking infinitely. She just knew that if she went forward, she could accomplish the mission.

Then she walked forward. And forward. And forward.

Until her light illuminated the end of the hallway - a door frame with a barely functioning sliding door.

As she and the group approached the door, it opened on it's own - much to her surprise. This was it. The moment of truth. The silence was overwhelming - almost as if she missed the voices swirling around her head.

She walked in first.
 
Everything was getting worse. Eye upon eye upon eye going ahead of them, seeming everywhere yet nowhere all at once. They were too far in to go back, especially with hostages involved. Cat cringed at the noises and murmurs as they continued down the hallway-- it was too long, a dreadful experience all of them wanted to end. Yet, the horrible anticipation of what lied at the end. A question they would be forced to answer. Cat couldn't understand anything in the echoes. Sometimes it seemed like they were just repeating, a mantra that no one could, or even wanted to, make out. She swore that she heard a scream that abruptly stopped.

She looked to Spinel for some sort of assurance, but, no luck there-- she appeared just as unnerved as everyone else was by the whole situation. There was only the disconcerting quiet now, accompanied by their footsteps. It felt like an eternity until they reached a door. It seemed like it was stuck, only opening partially and jammed against something repeatedly. But as they went towards the door, it opened. An unwelcoming invitation. Everyone looked at each other, as if asking-- Spinel was the one to go in first.

Cat stood there, looking at everyone else. She made her decision. She went in with Spinel. The others could do what they wanted. She'd never forgive herself if something happened to her in there and she stayed back. Otherwise, she couldn't call herself a member of Spinel's crew.

The room was strangely desolate. There didn't seem to be a trace of anyone in it, including any eyes. Barren.

A loud bang sounded through the room, like something was hitting a wall. Following that, came a strained whisper.

"Spinel..."

In the darkness, two eyes looked at them. Multiple opened up, staring. Another eye rolled to join the collective.
 
The eyes were rolling in. The collective grew. Fear settled in, as the pupils within the eyes stared down as Spinel and the rest of her group. She readied her blade, almost confused as to what she had to do.

Corrupted gems were common, but ones like these weren't common to her. More and more eyes joined the cluster of eyeballs, causing her to back up.

She illuminated the eyes with her gem-light, shining over the increasingly clumped amalgam of eyes, somewhat threateningly. She looked back at Cat, almost frozen in fear and anxiousness. What was this being? It was still busy forming, and she had no idea how to combat it. What else would they do? She decided to have a feel for the situation by pulling out another twinblade from her eye-gem, then she deftly threw them at an arc. She was about to strike most of the eyeballs, but instead of going through and cutting the eyeballs, they somehow dodged it - some jumping while the rest of the eyes 'collapsed' their formation.

Spinel was still afraid, yet this thing didn't show any powers. Not yet, anyway. It was still forming, but although it was slow, she knew that if they didn't take care of those eyes soon, the monster might be a form of agile creature.

"Cat. Try shooting your arrow, but... split the power into five. It'll turn your arrows into five smaller ones. See if we can hit one or two of them." Despite being afraid and skeptical, she still had her intelligence and tactics.

She hoped this would work.
 
Cat stared at the collective of eyes, as if trying to comprehend what she was seeing. Just... what was this? She'd heard of numerous species from planet to planet, but... nothing like this. What was this?! Cat looked at Spinel, and she could see the horror in her eyes. She watched as Spinel's weapons did nothing to the creature, only momentarily stalling it in it's formation.

Spinel's voice broke through Cat's horror, reminding her of the weapon she did have: her bow. Impressive as Spinel's weapon was, it wasn't power that they needed right now. Cat's was able to to shoot multiple at once. Cat nodded, taking a deep breath. Just... focus, Cat. Things are really tense right now. You don't know what you're facing, but try to pretend that right now, you do. For your captain, and the crew back on the ship. Focus.

She pulled back her bow, charging power. It turned into one arrow, that split into one, two, three, four... five arrows. She wasn't used to handling this many at once. Aiming at the collective of eyes, rolling over each other and staring... she fired. The arrows shot off, beams of energy that temporarily lit up the dark room. Eyes scattered, attempting to dodge the arrows like they did with Spinel's weapon, but it proved to be too many to predict. The arrows managed to hit some of the eyes, and seemed to disorient it in it's formation. A harsh screech could be heard, but from where? The creature? Among the piles of eyes, something glinted... what appeared to be a gemstone.

"SPINEL." The same voice hissed, louder this time.
 
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