An ambient heat warning popped up on the display, but Tsavorite waved her hand and closed it.
"The warning is correct," said the thin blue gem from her seat next to Tsavorite. "You will find it most unpleasant."
Tsavorite moved for the hatch and gestured towards the dispenser, which draped her in a heat-resistant cloak.
"I am familiar with the unpleasant, Star Sapphire," replied the tall green gem. "Stay here and watch the ship. I will attend to this quickly."
"You won't be long," smiled Star Sapphire, cocking her head to the side as she leaned back in her seat.
Tsavorite pointed at the floor, and the ship responded, sealing her in a pressurized chamber and lowering her through the hull onto the planet's surface. The raging orange glow of lava surrounded her on all sides, but thin pathways of denser, cooler material had congealed to give her a route. The airlock lifted back up into the ship, and searing air blasted her from all directions. She felt herself falling backwards, but instead leaned forward into the wind and grimaced against the intangible assault. She waved a hand in front of her face and summoned her visor, taking a moment to reduce the glare from the molten rocks. She smiled as a tiny spitting chunk buried itself in her cheek. Star Sapphire was never wrong. She held the cloak tightly to herself and advanced out onto the lake, towards the dark silhouette pressed against a distant mountain.
The lava lapped at the sides of the hardened stone, occasionally hurling itself over the black rocks and joining them. Tsavorite pressed onwards, stepping over these obstacles, until she reached solid land again. Crouching in the shadow of the mountain like some foul organic insect was a dropship, stained with soot and hardened igneous deposits. Beside it, a few stones had been arranged into something resembling a wall, crudely placed to stop the blast of hot air from the lake. Tsavorite headed for the shelter, but stopped. She exhaled, stepped to the right, and a boulder crashed into the black stone where she had been standing.
"All right, that's enough," called out a roaring voice from above. "Don't come any closer!"
Tsavorite saw a shadow shift against the dark mountain, temporarily illuminated by lava flows. A huge Gem, dark gray, with hair as vibrant as the molten rock around her, stood next to a cracked spire of stone and scowled down at her.
"What hospitality," said Tsavorite, tapping the side of her visor. "You must be the Obsidian who took that ship."
"Yeah, I did," the Obsidian growled. "It's there, ain't it?"
"That it is," Tsavorite noted, looking back over her shoulder at the spacecraft before returning her attention to her assailant. "So what convinced you to do something like that?"
The obsidian stood still, her hair whipped by the tumult of volcanic wind. Her hand was poised to snap another chunk of basalt and hurl it at the garnet, but she paused.
"What?" she asked.
"Why did you do it?" Tsavorite reiterated.
Stunned, the obsidian took a moment to reply.
"I… worked on a White Diamond kindergarten world just two jumps from here. They made me to dig canyons."
"Go on," said Tsavorite.
"I've been digging canyons for… eons. And one day I looked up and saw that I was just putting holes in things. I tried digging another but I couldn't. I just wanted to stop. So I took the ship and went here."
"And what did you plan to do while you were here?"
"Just sit around… the lava, the way it moves just looks nice. I've been watching it."
"Right, of course," said Tsavorite, placing a hand on the side of her visor, ending the recording. "So your defect is a lack of motivation."
"Wait, what?"
Tsavorite unclasped her cloak, which immediately whipped away in the rushing winds. Burning droplets singed her pale green form, but she knew she would need her mobility. She reached to her left hip and paused with her hand hovering over her gem. She cleared her mind and felt the weight of her twinblade fill her palm. She extended the weapon ahead with a flourish.
"Surrender yourself, or I'll take you to the Diamonds by force."
"Do you think I'm just going to let you take away what I found here?" roared the obsidian. "I don't care what the Diamonds do to me. I won't give this up, not over my shattered gem!"
Tsavorite readied a fighting stance. "So be it."
The green garnet exploded off the ground, rocketing up towards the obsidian. The obsidian, enraged, smashed the stone next to her, hurling the chunks at the approaching Tsavorite. The green gem spun her twinblade and sliced the first projectile into shards, then swung her body around into a kick that knocked the second rock into the third, turning both into dust that obscured the obsidian's vision. Tsavorite burst through the other side of the cloud and swung her blade towards the gem's head, only for the obsidian to block the attack with a massive arm. The gray gem hurled Tsavorite aside, flinging her into the stark stone of the mountain.
"Got you," she screamed, charging toward the downed garnet. Tsavorite looked up at the approaching juggernaut and managed to curl downwards, dodging the impact of a massive fist. She darted out, ducking beneath the giant to flank her. Between the heavy, broad shoulders was a twinkling, black stone. Her target.
"Quit running," the obsidian roared, turning to face Tsavorite again. She extracted her fist from the stone and flung it open towards the garnet, hurling more rocks her way. Tsavorite stood her ground and twisted the twinblade at its center, splitting the weapon into two identical halves. With a flurry of slices, she atomized the incoming debris.
"Fine," replied the green gem. "I'll stand right here."
"Good," said the obsidian, a manic grin hiding her desperation. "It'll make it easier to smash ya!"
The obsidian burst forth in a charge, rushing towards the garnet. Tsavorite lowered into a fighting stance once again, bringing both of her blades to the ready, but otherwise keeping still. The massive gem hurtled towards her, raising her arms as she approached. She cupped a fist in an open hand above her head, preparing a double axe-handle that would easily poof even the fanciest Homeworld garnet. She reached her target, carrying all of her momentum with her, and began to swing downwards. Tsavorite dropped to her knees, reconnected her blades, and pushed forward, stopping the obsidian's ankles in their place. The rest of her body kept going, eventually dragging her feet along, as she tripped over the garnet and down the mountain, into the edge of the lake of lava below. Even before she turned around, Tsavorite knew her strategy had been successful from the bellows of pain echoing up. She gracefully slid down the mountain to find her quarry half-submerged in the lava, her legs below the surface, her upper body still flailing above, destabilizing at its edges. Tsavorite decided to end her misery, and ran the obsidian through on her twinblade. In a flash of orange light, her body retreated back into the gem, which Tsavorite caught with the flat of the blade and bounced back into her waiting palm. She produced a pale green bubble, and sent the gem into holding. The garnet picked up her cloak, and walked back to her waiting ship.
The cool interior was a relief, and Tsavorite was eager to sink back into her captain's chair.
"Oh, that was even shorter than I anticipated," said Star Sapphire, not sounding surprised at all. "Did you trip her down the cliff?"
"Yes," grunted Tsavorite, picking a clump of basalt from her hair.
"It was one of the more efficient outcomes. You produce a lot of those," Star Sapphire continued, smiling as she brushed aside her bangs to blink at her superior.
"Efficiency is a virtue. What I can do efficiently makes up for the failings of those like our obsidian friend."
"Ah," said Star Sapphire, reclining. "You're so stoic."
"Plot a course for Homeworld. We'll need to deliver our captive to the Diamond Authority at once and report on the mission."
"Plotting the course," said Star Sapphire, "but the report won't be necessary. You're about to get a call."
The ship lurched to hyperspeed, and Tsavorite dusted herself off once more. She then crossed to the central display as the hailing indicator lit up. She gestured and opened the display window. Towering above in the feed was a stark white figure. Tsavorite formed her most luminescent salute.
"My Diamond," she said with genuflection.
"Ah, Tsavorite," White Diamond cooed, leaning closer towards the feed. Tsavorite could hear Star Sapphire attempt to scoot further away. She did not blame the corundum- a Diamond's presence was overwhelming, intimidating. Tsavorite had simply grown used to it. "I take it you've completed that… errand I needed you to run?"
"All according to procedure, my Diamond. When I return to Homeworld, I will present you with your prisoner and all evidence needed for sentencing."
"Oh, wonderful. You know, what you're doing is very important. Everything needs to radiate with perfect, luminous symmetry. But sometimes, little imperfections crop up. All they need is-"
"A little polish," said Tsavorite. "I could not agree more, my Diamond."
On the feed, White Diamond rested her head on her hands. "After you return to Homeworld, I have another errand for you to run."
"Of course, my Diamond."
"Pink says she's been having some trouble with discipline on one of her space stations. Do you think you could be a dear and give her a hand? Once you've finished everything else?"
Tsavorite nodded. "It would be my pleasure, my Diamond."
"Good. I'll see you soon."
The feed ended, and Tsavorite sunk back into her captain's chair. Star Sapphire beamed.
"You weren't expecting that, were you?"
"No, I was not," said Tsavorite.
"A job for Pink Diamond? Oh, this will turn out interesting."
"I wouldn't use that word. Maybe, 'disastrous.' Or 'infuriating,'" the garnet fumed.
"The speech you're about to give won't make this any less interesting," Star Sapphire warned.
"My loyalty to the diamonds is absolute," said Tsavorite, rising to pace around the cabin. "But my time in their court has told me one thing- Pink Diamond is going to make this insufferable."
"Or you could view it as an… adventure?" Star Sapphire suggested.
"Adventures are missions without clear goals," Tsavorite stated. "Without clear goals, they are doomed to fail."
"So, so stoic," said Star Sapphire, biting her lip.