Meeting the Team
The first rays of the sun were still hidden behind the metal monstrosity of a residence where the Diamond Authority had their home. Not leaving anything to chance, Onyx had left just to be sure she got there in time for the official sunrise of what was going to be the hardest few days and nights of her life so far. Once the metal monstrosity was in sight, she nearly stopped in her tracks when she saw two other gems just milling around the front door.
One, she knew as Jasper, a buff orange striped fighter that stood almost as tall as Pink Diamond, and a popular choice by many of the smaller gems to get any position of power beyond that of a supervisor. The size of her alone was enough to unnerve most of them (including her at times if she was honest), as well as the eyes of a cat that would stare down at anyone else as if they were some sort of prey to be caught and eaten.
The other was someone she was completely unfamiliar with, probably from Grey Diamond's unit from the way she was looking at a techno-pad of some sort, the screen completely see through. She was in a pale blue jumpsuit with a darker blue headband holding back her white hair.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Jasper's voice hissed over at Onyx, snapping her attention back to the larger of the two.
"Look, I'm not in the mood to play your little game, Jasper. Just let me through so I can get this test over with." Onyx said, barely holding back the growl in her throat. That would only make things about a hundred times worse if she got into a fight before the event even started.
"You can't be serious. YOU'RE in this too?" Jasper scoffed, crossing her thick-muscled arms over her chest.
"I take it you're Yellow Diamond's pick?" Onyx asked dryly, rolling her eyes and crossing her own arms.
"Yes, she is. And if you are Pink Diamond's choice, then we have need only for Blue Diamond's gem before we're allowed in." the techy gem said, finally lowering the panel from in front of her, showing off a brilliant navy blue eye as well as a slightly glassy ice blue one. "I'm Crystal," she added with a slight nod to Onyx. Onyx returned the gesture warily before another voice suddenly broke into their conversation.
"Is this it, then?" Onyx turned her head and side-stepped a dark green gem before she could crash into her.
"Emerald." Onyx nodded to the taller gem. The new arrival blinked a couple of times before breaking into a large grin.
"Good to see you again, Onyx. I heard that you might be joining us." Emerald reached out a hand, her vibrant green eyes narrowed in a more playful way than not.
Emerald and Onyx went back to their days of training together when they had both joined the army, though at the time, Emerald's had been more forced than anything. Coming from a family of well-known strategists and tech geniuses, Emerald had been forced into the military in the hopes of rising to the same greatness as her predecessors. They had trained together, and it was a good thanks to Emerald that Onyx knew what she did about strategy.
"Can we get on with this?" Jasper's irritated groan brought Onyx back to the present.
"Better now than never." Crystal shrugged, clasping her hands behind her back and going to stand on the other side of the bulky orange gem.
"Best of luck, Onyx." Emerald smirked before turning and heading over to the other side of Crystal, her loose-fit green-and-black outfit flowing slightly around her as if she were surrounded by clouds.
"Same to you, Emerald." Onyx said quietly before taking her spot hesitantly beside Jasper, casting a wary glance at the much taller striped gem. Once they were all in place, Jasper took the lead and opened the doors, finally allowing them to enter the Authority Chamber.
The room, had she known about the royalty of later earth, would probably have best been compared to that in appearance. It was larger than most of the rooms among the metal monstrosity that the Diamonds called home, with only the one door as the only access point. The walls were dotted with pictures of victorious conquests by one of the Diamonds at some point in their lives. At the back of the large room was a raised area where the four of the leaders sat on a throne. Behind each Diamond, a small flag with each of their symbols rested, indicating who was who in the ranks of the military.
On the far left was Blue Diamond, her dark indigo flag showing her diamond pattern like a lightning bolt from a pale blue cloud shape. Beside her was Grey Diamond, the one who had masterminded the entirety of the palace monstrosity as well as the head of the Technology Gems Division; behind her, her flag was a steely grey with a simple design of some tool or another, once more patterned by diamonds. In the "center" was Yellow Diamond, the one that everyone saw as the sort of de-facto leader of the gems, and her flag design was about as simple as it got: a bright yellow diamond that repeated by growing larger and dulling in vibrancy until it was larger than the space the flag provided. Then on the far right was Pink Diamond, one of the gentlest spirited gems outside the field of battle with her diamond rose patterned flag echoing the bright pink of her curly hair.
Already, Onyx could tell that her presence was being questioned. Yellow and Grey Diamond were talking amongst themselves and shooting her glares. The almost palpable hatred from the two leaders nearly made her flinch, but remembering what she was here to do, she forced herself to stand tall, knowing that she at least had as much of a chance as the other three. Following Crystal's lead, she placed her arms behind her back, lowering her gaze respectfully, hoping to avoid the worst of the glares that way.
"If we're all here, how about we get started?" Blue Diamond suggested, leaning forward a bit in her chair. That seemed to put Yellow Diamond back into her right state of mind as she inclined her head.
"Yes, I suppose we should." Yellow Diamond stood up and walked around to stand in front of the four candidates. The other three Diamonds stood as well and Onyx cast a quick glance at Pink Diamond before the yellow leader began speaking once more.
"You four have been selected among each of our divisions because at least one of us believes that you have the qualities necessary to become one of our next generals." Yellow Diamond's scorching glare raked over them; it was no wonder that Jasper had learned to be so intimidating if this is what she went through under her leadership.
"The trials that will befall you will put you to the test in every way imaginable, and only one will get the spot of general among our ranks. Each of you will receive a squadron of gems that have agreed to take part in this exercise. Each section will be made up of gems from all of our units, so there are bound to be allies and enemies alike. It will be your job to make use of the strengths of your team in order to remain standing. The only rule is that there will be no destruction of any of the gems, even each other. You will have one hour to meet the gems under your command for this trial before we begin. Dismissed!"
Onyx felt a shiver run through her before giving a salute and heading over to Pink Diamond to meet her group for the trials. Once away from the other contestants, Pink Diamond smiled down at her. "Don't be afraid to think outside the normality for this. It's all about keeping things true to the Diamond Authority." Onyx nodded, bracing herself to what was about to happen before Pink Diamond opened a door, allowing her to step inside.
The room was rather plain, simple white walls and flooring. While not small, it was by no means considered big either. And packed inside it were the two-hundred-fifty gems that would be under her control for the next three days. From the sea of color, two gems pushed their way forward to stand in front of her.
"Bet you never expected this," Onyx blinked at the dark blue-and-orange gem that stood before her. The other was a pale orange-gold color with a yellow sash tied around her waist.
"General Zircon," the small black gem greeted the blue-and-orange warrior. "General Topaz," she nodded respectfully to the older general, who nodded back. "I must admit, I wasn't expecting either of you two to be here."
"Might want to be careful on who you tell that to." Topaz said with a wave of a yellow gloved hand. Onyx gave her head a small shake to clear it before turning back to Topaz.
"Honestly, I'd rather they know how I feel. If we're going to be doing this for the next three days, I want the others to know what I think honestly. And that goes for you two as well."
"What'd I tell you? Different to a fault." Zircon smirked, turning to Topaz, who merely shrugged.
"Right now, it's too early to tell anything. But what I do know is that that line of thinking has gotten more than its fair share of gems in trouble in the long run." Topaz said, looking over at Onyx. "Be warned of that."
"Noted. I'll keep that in mind." Onyx nodded before looking out over the gems in front of her. There were a few from Pink Diamond's group that she knew fairly well, as well as a small portion from Blue Diamond that had probably followed Zircon here that she knew she could work with. But Topaz, though well known for being the wisest and the highest ranking general standing, along with the gems from her division in Yellow Diamond's group and Grey Diamond's tech gems were complete mysteries.
"Most of the gems here are fairly new recruits, so that's one thing you'll have to your favor." Topaz said, crossing her arms loosely.
"But that means that I'm almost going in blind with how these gems work." Onyx said tightly, scanning the crowd as they watched her. Realizing that they were more or less waiting on her to do something, she looked over at Topaz. "Do you know the level of training this group has on the battlefield?"
"More or less basics. Anything more advanced would be going over most heads here."
Alright, there's no time for a crash course on the more advanced formations yet, that'll have to wait until later.Onyx closed her eyes for a moment before stepping passed Zircon and Topaz. "We don't have a lot of time for introductions, so I'm just going to get straight to the point. My name is Onyx, and I'm the one that will be taking charge of this unit for the next few days.
"Many of you don't know much about the gems around you, and the same goes for me. But over the next few days, we're going to be working together to win this competition and prove to the Diamond Authority that we have the abilities to take this beyond what they would expect." Onyx paused to let her words sink in, scanning the crowd around her. "Let this be a win that we can all share…in the history of the rule of the Diamond Authority!" Those words brought up a cheer from the group, and Onyx could see the fire starting to burn in some of the gems' eyes at the thought of that kind of fame and recognition.
"Not bad, Onyx. For a first motivational speech, you sure know how to nail hard points." Onyx turned to look at the two generals in her command. Zircon had a smirk while Topaz remained aloof, watching with gold eyes in silence. But there was a question that was starting to come to the forefront of her mind….Why were there generals in this group if this was to see if they could handle being a general in the first place?
But before she had the chance to ask her question, a loud siren echoed into the room, causing the now chattering group to fall silent. Onyx turned in time to see Pink Diamond enter, her usual smiling features settled into a more grim reflection. "Gather your troops, Onyx. It's time to head to the battlefield."