Gems in the rough
Chapter 2: Markets, gauntlets and fights OH MY!
Alexandrite
The moon just started coming up as we reach the outer market edge of the F.O.B... And as Forward operating bases go this one is way more interesting. While most posts in the empire's army are stricter than a crystal boa constrictor eating a quartz, this base is more of an outdoor market that has literally everything a soldier could need or want. It's built like a bullseye with the military buildings surrounding the market and all roads leading to the central command post in the center. But it all so boring. I mean would it kill them to have at least some vendors who sell cloths along with armor. Oh well beggars can't be choosers. I start haggling with the dealer for a pair of gauntlets that don't look to beaten to heck but this gem is pretty stubborn. Her appearance isn't really helping the situation either; I mean she looks like the most abused jet I have ever seen. Her head is oblong and eyes are way too close to her gem which is smack dead in the center of her face. I am about to give up and stab this crazy vendor when something catches the corner of my eye.
On the far right of the stand's edge I notice a pair near transparent blue gloves with an interlocking weave gauntlet system attached. To the average soldier theses might look like a really useless item that only high class gems would wear as an accessory, but I know their real purpose. I must have them but I need to make my voice sound nonchalant or I will lose them. After taking a moment to calm my breathing I finally ask "So how much for those over there?" She looks where I'm pointing and thinks for a moment. Her response sends my heart a flutter "Tell you what, you can have'em for free if you can tell me what they are designed for cause honestly they look absolutely useless." Without even flinching I give her the Five hundred gold credit answer. "Those are pale blue sapphire gauntlets, originally designed for warriors of Blue Diamond during the great diamond power shift. Each pair was designed for a particular gem in her court, created using a process that smiths in the blue court guard with their lives to this very day! Rumors during the war say a single gem could slaughter a battalion of heavily armored soldiers within 2 minutes. After the conflict ended White Diamond order that these instruments of war be destroyed so no one could…" I don't get to finish for I see the vendor has put her head in her hands, just shaking her head. "Ok. Ok. You can take the gauntlets just shut up!" Her tone takes me by surprise for a moment but that quickly passes as I put on these deadly beauties. As soon as they cover my arms a bright glowing light starts emitting from them; within seconds they have adjusted and changed to fit comfortably around my hands and forearms. They look so damn awesome! I look around for my brother to show him the brand new gear I got but I don't see him. That's when I see a crowd has formed around a certain point near the center of the street, whooping and hollering with what's going. 'Oh diamond shards he had better not be in the center of a fight again!' I think as I run through the crowd toward the center.
Obsidian
I'm in another fight. It's not my fault, this time anyway, but I always seem to get wrapped up in these things. Besides this fight has a twenty thousand silver credit grand prize; chump change compared to what we are usually payed on assignments. Though this fight is kind of lopsided. Let me rephrases that, it is very lopsided. Here's what I mean. First off there was initially no one watching these fights and now I have to say almost every gem in the base who isn't selling something has to be watching right now, reducing the fighting space dramatically! Secondly, the announcer of the fights noticed how easy I was taking out the other competition and called in eight other gems in to fight me for the final bout as well as driven the betting to near uncontrollable levels! And lastly the rules state no one can use weapons of any kind!
So in basic terms here; I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, unarmed and about to take on eight gems at once! While it may sound like I'm worried to be totally honest; I live for this kind of thrill! I mean every gem who is part of the empire's military branch learns how to win fights like this when they are first assigned to their units. But half of these gems aren't even battle hardened soldiers. Most of them are reserves who chose to come out here for the chance of earning some combat time. What does this all mean? It means I'm about to win twenty thousand silver credits and show these posers how to fight. I stand in the center of the circle as the eight start to circle me. I take note of what types of gem they are and, not too surprising, only three of them are quartz, a green facet 34, a blue facet 10, and a red jasper facet 6. The other five gems are mostly rubies with a simple facet four, probably haven't even seen much combat yet. I take note of their formation, a classic rear ambush, and form my fighting stance. As I center myself into my stance the world begins to slow down to a crawl. All the sounds around me stop and my opponents look like statues. The first to move is a ruby, directly behind me, followed by the others charging in. I drop low and sweep kick all of them in one single fluid movement, except one, off their feet to the shock of the crowd. Before they can get up I quickly crush their physical forms forcing them into their gems. It's over or so I think. As I start celebrating I am suddenly trapped into a head lock by the jasper and struggle to get free. I can feel her increasing pressure onto my neck and head. What's worse is that now my sister is now in front of me with her arms crossed looking a bit ticked off. I give her a 'wasn't my fault this time' look. She just sighs and walks off saying "just finish him up already before you lose street cred again".
With that one line, she has sent my rage to a new height; I feel my temp rise exponentially, the crowd must notice the steam rising off my form and the how red my eyes are now cause the crowd has backed up several feet. Good, now I can have some real fun with my opponent. In a flash I free myself of the head lock, spin to face the jasper, and get into a simple aikido stance. The Jasper is just staring at me with a horrified look on her face. She then looks down on her hand just hanging on by a slender piece of her form. Before she can scream I close distance and lock eyes with her, and unload a fury of one inch punches to her form and gem. One minute later she blinks and falls onto her back. THUD! The amount of damage is horrendous. Her torso has been ripped open clean through, scratches and scars riddle her body. No one dares to move a muscle. That is until the jasper's form glows and then explodes leaving her gem spinning on the ground with one long crack running down the center. I make my way through the now stunned crowd grabbing the prize money and my jacket, putting it on to protect myself from the cold night air; the edge of the crowd separates as I approach giving me a wide birth, and just as I leave I hear someone behind me shout for a medic. Alexandrite is off to the side leaning on the corner of a guard tower just waiting to probably chew me out for the fight but, after what I have been through I don't really care.
Alexandrite
"So you wanna tell me why you were in fight hmmmmm?" is all I can ask. I mean it's like he can't help himself. Sid just glances at me, his mouth breathing red flames through his bandana. It's kinda obvious he had one heck of a fight but he knows as well as I not to let others see our true strength unless we are going to kill them later. "Please tell me you at least you had a good reason for cracking a jasper nearly in half?" We both move over to a bench to sit down, his hand holding onto something. His palm opens to reveal a small pile of silver notes which I immediately snatch from his hand and count. Twenty thousand credit notes. I quickly look at him, place my hand on his back and rub while he closes his eyes, smiles and purrs like a cat. Twenty thousand credits aren't much but it should be enough to cover our tracks and a new shirt for him. Giving him a genuine look over, his shirt is torn off revealing his black gem scared chest, his eyes are still blood red, and he looks like he could sleep for days. Before he can even think of laying down, I lift him up and walk him over to our barracks. He walks/limps over to his cot and drops like a sack of ammo into it. I sit on the edge of his cot and nudge him causing him to turn over and look at me.
"Hey Alex, how are you holding up?" his voice sounds a bit raspy but he is pretty tired so can't really blame him for that. "Oh I am fine Sid; just glad you are ok. Oh I forgot" I place my hands out in front of him, the gauntlet's pale blue lattice construction glimmer in the remaining light of his eyes "aren't they cool?". He stares at them for close to a minute before placing his hands on them examining every detail of them from the snug fit on my arms to the petite blue gloves that cover my hands. By this time his eyes return to their normal shade of red, along with his body cooling down. "Good find kid. From the looks of it they are authentic, all we need to do now is figure out what they do" as he says this his eyes close and he drifts off to sleep. I slowly walk over to my cot next to his and set up our anti-intruder field. As I lay in my cot I see Sid's form toss and turn. Looking at him I think out loud "I wonder what you dream about brother?' before drifting off myself.
