Quasar stepped off of the warp pad inside the temple. He momentarily took a look over to Stevens bed to notice him asleep finally.
"God, he's gonna need therapy sometime in his life." Said the AI to himself with sadness. Steven kept waking up in a fitful state. He kept having nightmares ranging from gems trying to kill him, massive space battles that ended with earth leaying in ruins, and the one that shook him the most was where he saw Will being murdered by Sunstone, Jet and Jasper.
He activated the temple door and pushed his battered robotic body forward. Through the door to the pocket dimension that was the inside of the temple. The floor abruptly changed from Crystal to wood as he stepped into Will's room. He connected to the computer systems inside.
He then transferred his programming out of the MK I shell that he was inhabiting.
He turned on the lights of the room, illuminating the area in light. He then had an and descend from the ceiling and pick up the broken shell.
With a flash of blue light he transferred himself into the computers downstairs. He watched as the robotic arm quickly came down to the lower level on it's track. It rested right up next to his holographic projection on the large workbench. Dropping the shell in front of him.
He raised his hand and the arm switched to scanning. Seeing where all the broken parts are. He wanted to see if it could be repaired, after all he had liked being able to move around.
A schematic was pulled up in front of him, showing off the current internal structure.
"Shit." He cursed to himself. The damage was severe enough that it wouldn't be worth it to fix the damn thing. So with a sigh he used the and to bring it over to the fusion furnace. Where the materials making it up would be meltdown to be used again.
He then just sat there for a moment, his holographic form sitting on the work bench. He then turned around to gaze at all the unused equipment. It felt wrong for it not to be used by his Spartan.
He hated what he had to do next, but it would have to be done.
He then pulled up the various scanners inside the temple. Scanning the rooms for their inhabitants. Pearl was sorting through her swords to keep her mind occupied. Amythest was currently decimating an old punching bag as well as anything else she could find. Lapis slept soundly in her hammock with a fire pit next to her.
He then found the gems he was looking for and put away the scanners. He once again transferred his programming to another device.
Thankfully he and Will made the scanners have a hardwired connection. Because it wasn't a very fun day when they found out wireless communications don't work well in the temple. They only got clear once they were close to their respective doors.
So in a flash of blue he dissapeared into the graphene wiring, transferring his vast amount of data nearly instantaneously. His essence flowed through the wiring until it came to a stop in the burning room.
A holographic tear came to his face as he thought. This was one of the few things he hated about being Meta Stable. His emotions on a whole different level then most other AI. Now he had to deal with the one that was basically his brother going missing. And to make it worse he had to pass on his responsibilities. Because no matter how hard the AI tried, he just wasn't capable enough to do it all himself.
He then focused back to his task at hand. He gazed through the tiny cameras lense. High quality video and audio being captured.
Garnet was at the far end of the burning room at a sturdy Crystal table. Her chaingun lay atop it in various pieces.
He zoomed in on what she was doing. Noticing more details of what she was doing. There was an old radio next to her that played some classical music. Giving the eerie room some pleasant sounds.
He then transferred himself to a camera just above the table. Giving him an excellent view of what she was doing. From what he could tell she was figuring out how the gun worked. Becoming familiar with all the minute details. From the energy pack to ignite the plasma cartridges, which then it over the shotpowder. Then came the heavy bolt and ammo feeder motor. The heavy pieces of titanium laying off to the side.
But the main thing she was working on was the barrel assembly. Which was beat to hell. The shell of the front portion was dented and even torn in some places. The barrel was a potential IED. The feeding and firing mechanisms were fine but the entire barrel assembly and frame would need replacing.
Quasar alerted the gem to his presence when he projected a hologram of the gun. Before it split apart into several pieces and showed what the internal were supposed to look like. There were various notes as well as the name and serial number of each part.
Garnet simply looked at the hologram and saw a few small parts that were wrong other than the obvious. Looking back down at the medium machjnegun in her hands. With tolls that were most likely procured form Pearl.
He projected his avatar in the center of where the guns schematic was. Moving it to the side.
"We need to talk Garnet. There's something important I need to inform you on." Quasar said to the leader.
She simply kept working on her weapon as he talked. "I know, what is it about." She said more matter of factly. Like she knew she was gonna be here. But that's future vision for you.
"It's about Will." He said simply. Garnet immediately stopped what she was doing and looked up at the AI. Her facial features still the same neutral as ever. "What about him, other than the fact that were going to find him. Or is there something your not telling me, Quasar."
Quasar simply put his hands on his holographic pockets, sighing even though he didn't breathe. He really didn't want to deal with this right now, but it had to be done as soon as possible. "It's about the UNSC, or more specifically future and ongoing projects. Various thing that both me and Will have been working on for a long time." He said simply.
He could see an eyebrow raise on Garnet's face. He could tell the Gem was curious, but she was also cautious.
'she may have a good reason to' he thought to himself.
"Since he's....gone, and your the leader of the gems. You'll need to take over their oversight." He said simply. He then crossed his arms as he continued talking. "Actually, for what you'll need to do it would be better if I could actually interact with the world better. Also, there's some other things as well I need to show and give you."
"You two better not have been messing with things that should better be left alone. Even you two can't possibly know what Homeworld and the rest of the universe has in store." She told the AI as she stood up. Garnet then started over to a door that lead to Will's room. Quasar and the rest of the holograms dissapearing as she did.
Garnet opened the heavy-duty Titanium door and it lead into the lkt up workshop of their resident Spartan and AI.
As soon as she entered a hologram of him as well as two robotic arms appeared.
"That's what we're trying to avoid." He said as one of the arms approached her. Holding something in it's interchangable hands.
"That is the next generation of Tac Pad. It's based off twenty first century ideas and technology of flexible circuits and computers. It has even more functionality then a previous gem Tacpad. For example it can hold an AI chip. Has a mini hologrpajic emitter and even has a deployable nanobladed knife." The AI explained.
Gander looked down at the device in her hand. It looked like a thick flexible screen. With two metallic bands at the front and back.
She examined it and flipped it upside down to figure out how to put it on. Since it was obviously meant to go on the forearm. She noticed a thicker part of each hand that had a hexagonal lock. She clicked a button on the front one and it came undone. She wrapped it around her arm and attatched the two hands back together. Feeling a magnetic as well as a physical lock. The hands then tensioned themselves to perfectly fit her arm. The screen then adjusted to the shape of her limb.
By the time the process was done the Tacpad took up roughly 40% of her forearm.
"And besides the very complex technology in there, the reason why it's so thick is because it's also meant to be light armor as well. Able to stop almost all metallic bladed weapons and a few handgun rounds." At that explanation Garnet gave it a few hard knocks. She could feel the metal hold up and dampen the force almost completely.
She then also looked up to the AI. "This can't be all you have me here for." She told him, which made him nod. Quasar actually had a lot more to tell and give her than a next gen Tacpad.
"Follow me." He said. Then his avatar dissapeared. Another area of the ceiling glowed as it displayed his familiar form.
Garnet walked over to where his form now stood. Her feet slientlg soaking across the rubberized metal floor. She stopped next to his projection in front of a piece of machinery. From the labels she could tell it was a highly advanced 3d printer.
"I would advise not to tell the other gems about this yet." He told her.
Garnet turned to him with an eyebrow raised. "And why would I keep this from them. You've seen what keeping secrets have done to us."
Quasar sighed. "I know, but some of the stuff in here could be more dangerous than a nuke in the wrong hands."
She was about to ask what he meant be in here before she was drawn half to the wall from the sound of machinery.
All of a sudden the 3d printer dissapeared into the floor. Titanium plates slid over where it was. Then two plates slid apart seemlessly on the wall and showed a large door. With a circular lock in the center that slowly spun 180 degrees and a loud unlock sound was heard. Then several piston locks came undone on the door. Finally she saw Quasar input a command and a haloscreen came up with an unlock symbol on it. It then dissapeared and the sound of electromagnets could be heard. The door then opened downward as the two massive slabs of metal split apart.
What was inside looked like several in progress projects were being built.
"We call this the vault. Where we keep all the toys that could blow up an entire city." Quasar said with just a hint of happiness. His avatar then flickered to a projector in the 'Vault'. Garnet stepped inside the room.
Well, the word room didn't do it justice. It was easily twice the size of the workshop she just exited. With the walls of it probably being several meters thick of metal. And given the fact the temple was its own pocket dimension. It was likely the safest place on the planet.
The room was roughly circular in design. It was divided into various sections for a different project. But the center of the room was taken up by six large pods. Each being at least 10 feet wide and double that tall. There were several cranes with robotic arms of various different types that were constantly running around the room. With a few more of the new UNSC robonoids running around. All with a slight blue glow to indicate they were under Quasar's control.
"We have everything in here ranging form Covenant weapons. Weapons of mass destruction. And my personal favorite, the main thing I wanted to talk to you about. And then we'll go over what's in the sarcophagus. Those hold something I'm sure you'll enjoy." He said with a hint of excitement before it turned back to his neutral tone.
He then brought over one of the robonoids for him to take control of. His form projecting out of the top of it. He walked over to what looked like advanced operation tables. As well as a large machine that looked eerily like an injector. She got a bit worried upon seeing it.
"Quasar, what is all that." She said in a Stern tone. She wanted to know what all of this was for. And if she'd have to shut it down now that she apparently had authority over it.
"That is what I wanted to talk to you about." He then turned straight at her. Standing stiffly in front of the table. "With all the events that have been going down. Me and Will were talking about something that we came up with. Now, when I tell you what it is. Just promise to not freak out. We never wanted to have to even consider this. But with Homeworld rapidly increasing activity. I'm afraid we have no choice." He said. Garnet saw his face slip into an expression that was emotionless. She could tell that he was desperately trying to held back emotions.
"Tell me." She told him in a tone that he knew meant 'and no lies'.
"I want to turn Steven into a Spartan."
Garnet stood there for a moment, taking in the new I formation she was just hearing. Even with future vision, that was not what she was expecting.
"And what exactly would this entail?"
Quasar sent the data packet containing all the info he had an the Spartan Program. Everything he knew came form Will, since it was one of the most classified government projects to ever exist. But it had all the info an what happened and how the Spartans were made. The more she read the more disgusted she became with this 'Office of Naval Intelligence'. Now she never personally wanted to kill anyone. Not even during the rebellion. But by the end she wanted to brutally murder the ones that sanctioned this.
She finished reading the information and clenched her fists. She looked half up to the AI.
"Absolutely not." She said in a low and cold tone. One that actually unnerved Quasar. Considering the stoic gem was for the first time he'd seen truely angry.
"Garnet, just hear me out. We don't plan on ever putting him through the things the Spartan II's did. We'd start a whole new program that the UNSC was only starting to use by the time we dissapeared. I'd be a lot less invasive, less brutal and nearly as effective." He said to the gem leader. He needed her to clam down quickly.
"You realize how insane that is! Turning children's into emotionless killing machines is wrong in every way!" She yelled at him.
Quasar lowered his head at that. His eyes filling with tears as he thought about the morally horribly program.
"I know." He said softly.
Garnet calmed down at hearing that. She was expecting the AI to fight. To yell that it was justified. And while she certainly didn't agree with it, she did see that it was needed in the face of the Covenant. Although she hated the fact that it was originally meant to fight humans.
"Then what do you plan to do Quasar. Because of you try anything like what Will went through, I'll personally kill you."
"We've already started the program. Using Homeworld technology were able to use nanobots and new procedures to make adults into Spartans. Those that are in the ODST's as well as promising Marines are undergoing the process now. It takes a while for the nanobots to graft titanium to bones and slowly make the muscles denser. It'll take probably two months for them to be in fighting condition. But in the end they'll be as good as Spartan III's."
Garnet's mood was lifted slightly at that. At least all the people in there were adults and had signed up for it. But Steven was not an adult. And to add further complications, he was a gem!
"Yes, but Steven isn't an adult. And he's a Gem as well. Will was the only Spartan that was a. Gem so we don't know what might happen differently." She told the AI.
Quasar brought up various screens in corny of him form projectors. As well as sending a datapacket to her Tacpad again.
She red over what it contained.
Project Shard
Started August 26, 2546
Description: the implementation of sentient gemstones into the human genome. This creating a new offset of humanity that are Gem and Human hybrids. Increasing strength, speed, and mental capacity. As well as providing unknown powers. Also results in increased lifespan, quasi-immortality, increased immune resistance, increased energy levels, increased regeneration.
Members- N/A
Status- undergoing authorization
Successes- N/A
Garnet was shocked at hearing what they were trying to do. Creating Gem-Human hybrids? Could that even work
Well Steven and Will show that it can.
"How will you do this." She asked.
Quasar seemed surprised for a moment. He was expecting her to get angry. Be upset that they were trying to mess with Gems.
"If your wondering where we'd get the gems. Well we'd create our own. We've come up with a method that can grow a gem from the human body. Although the user would require lots of energy, and calories. But so far computer analysis concludes a 98% chance of success in the first run." He told her.
Garnet put her hand to her chin. Standing in thought.
On one hand they weren't using Gem's that already existed. But in the other, we don't know what exactly what could happen. The human body doesn't have the necessary energy to make a gem.
"What you want to do is impossible. The human body would die from through to create a gem. It simply can't get the amount of energy without being born with it." She told him. What he wanted to do would never work.
She was surprised slightly when Quasar seemed to smirk. He put his hands behind his back.
"That's where the Spartan Program comes in. You see, Spartans use up much more energy than regular humans to function. So their bodies can handle and store more. This giving them the ability..." He was cut off.
"To grow a gem without dying. .... Quasar, that's genius." She actually praised the gem.
Garnet's smile then faltered. Spartans may be exactly what humanity needs. The originals were some of the best warriors the Galaxy had ever seen. But their creation violated every morale law.
But these new ones were intriguing. None of the moral issues and the end product was one that was almost as effective. Even she had to admit it was a promising idea.
"Fine Quasar, I'll allow it. But it will be Stevens choice of he wants to be or not." She told the AI.
Quasar smiled at that. He was glad she saw the hero he could become.
"Alright, but I also wanted to make Connie one to. She would be an excellent candidate considering she already is decent at marksmanship." He said.
Garnet just sighed at that, that was the Mahashawarrens to deal with. But knowing Connie she wouldn't hesitate to become a Spartan.
"Now that the hard part is over with. I think you'd like to see some of the projects we have in the works." He said with a cheeky smile. Even Garnet would admit she wanted to see what the AI had in store.
She followed him through several areas of the Vault. Everything from new ship designs that were both terrifying and impressive. To new Gauss-powder hybrid rifles. New tank and assorted vehicles. A new heavy fighter that resembled the human SR-71. New medical, and engineering technology from Homeworld materials and tech.
Garnet looked off to a corner of the room. It had a large coffin shaped box that you could see several lights peeking out. Even from here she could see several machines inside working on something.
"What's that??" She asked.
Quasar stared at the box in question. His gaze going back to it's neutral side.
"That would be the Sarcophagus. It's not ready, but you'll either like or hate what's inside." He told her.
Garnet was mildly curious about that. She would have to come back later and see what was inside.
Quasar stopped in front of one of the large tubes in the room. Garnet walked up next to him and stared at it.
"And what might this be?" She was both curious and worried to see the things in here. But she was getting tired of asking that question.
"This is the last and probably most important thing in here." He then waved his arm and several locks could be heard moving.
The tube slowly slid open to reveal what was inside.
"Brand New, Excalibur class Mjolnir Mk 4. Tailored for Gem biology." He said.
Garnet scanned over the heavy suit of armor. Given its red and blue color scheme and unique shape compared to Will's it was meant for her. Standing at an even 8 foot it was larger than she'd seen. It was also a lot heavier from what she could see. There was more armor and it was thicker than standard. It also had a back mounted cannon of some sort that had a belt fed into the back.
"Excalibur is a new subset of Mjolnir we've designed to be a lot more armored. While it is definitely alot slower than standard. It more than makes up for in armor protection, shield strength and firepower. It was a back mounted Gauss gun, similar in power to a 40 mm gun. Able to fire at 15 rounds a minute due to its power. It also has a wrist mounted gun that fires 2 Magnum rounds when you punch things, making your punches stronger. It also is needed up with a thicker layer of strength amplifying circuits. Giving the user over double the strength of a standard armor set. As well as biofoam injectors for stopping blood loss. It also has everything standard Mjolnir does. But the main thing we've implimented in this is the neural interface. In short...it doesn't have one." He finished.
Garnet turned to him, she heard Will say how important a neural interface was to Spartan armor. It made the suit almost like an extension of ones body.
"Isn't it impossible to use it right without one?"
Ahead smiled again. "Yes, but that's where our new understanding of gems comes into place. We're able to make a device that wrpas around the gemstone. Where it will then receive electric signals like a neural interface would receive them from the spinal cord. This negating the need for one. Although for Humans a neural implant would be more better suited."
He then smiled again. "Wanna try it on." He said with a smirk that told her he know she wanted to.
Garnet nodded. Ahead then waved his hand again and several machines came over it and started to undo several special screws. Undoing the work plates until nothing but the undersuit remained.
Garnet walked up and took it. There was a seam on the back. She stepped into it and could feels it's snugness.
"Is it supposed to be this tight?"
Quasar turned to her. "No, usually Spartans don't wear anything underneath that. They don't really need to." He said with a casualness that would make Amythest laugh.
"Turn around."
"Got it." Quasar said as he turned his robonoid around as well as turning off all the cameras in the room.
It fascinated him how Gem's viewed clothes. At first it almost looked like they were apart of their bodies. But after a few scans he found that they were projected on top of their forms almost like a second skin. So it was somewhat ironic that Garnet was trading one skin for another.
"I'm done." He heard Garnet say. With that he turned everything half on and turned around.
Garnet was covered from the neck down in the thick black underlayer of Mjolnir. The thicker skin almost moving like it was natural.
Garnet honestly wasn't expecting it to feel this comfortable. She was starting to understand how Will could wear this for so long. Despite the armor plates being hard to take off, it was comfy.
"Alright, stand half on the platform and the armor will be put on."
Garnet turned around and stepped onto the grey platform. As soon as she stood still several of the machines came down holding the red and blue armor.
They almost felt like magnets being put on her. They then we're drilled with the same screws into the slots in the undersuit.
The chestpiece was the first to go on. With the heavy backplate going on first. It almost felt like it gripped to the underlayer with microscopic arms. Then she could feel the screws drilling into the hard points in the underlayer.
The backplate alone she could tell probably weighed several hundred pounds. Given the fact that she was told it housed the fusion reactor, Gauss gun and shield generator among other things.
Then the chestplate locked onto the backplate. Before it was screwed in. Another hundred pounds of metal and technology.
It was weird as the groin plate was attatched. It would probably make a regular person uncomfortable bit Garnet didn't care much. Both heavy plates going on at the same time. Both attatching to the undersuit and then being screwed together.
After that came the upper legs. Just the thigh plates probably weighed a hundred pounds or more and we're over two inches thick at their largest. They wrapped around her thighs in several layers. They we're somewhat blocky with slight curves. But they looked cool to her.
Then came the shins, which were no less bulky. And we're even thicker and heavier. They once again attatched in several layers. And once that was over the feet came up.
Garnet was pulled up in the air slightly before two almost mech like boots slotted underneath her feet. They called down and attatched dot the legs with some sort of electromagnetic pistons. Giving her both strength and durability.
She then raised her arms as the plates for the arms were attatched. She then figured out the reason her shoulders and joints were even thicker then the rest of the suit. The were to support the large arm plates. They once again attatched to her undersuit hardpoints like magnets. Then she condo feel the artificial muscles of the shoulders attatch.
Then came the large forearms. She could see the gun barrels poking out of her arms. The dual Magnums she supposed. They attatched the same way the others did.
Then an almost mechanical hand came up and opened up. It went over her hands and then closed up. Creating a tight seal that mimicked her hands movements exactly.
Then she felt the helmet slide over her hair. Her world went black for a moment. Even the helmet was surprisingly comfortable. With padding on the sides as well as a non-neutonian fluid lining she was told. So the limit of the helmet would lock up the same way as the rest of the undersuit in case of sudden shocks.
"Excalibur class Mjolnir armor, intitializing system start up." She heard an automated voice say.
A circle then appeared in the center of her vision before in a Camino affect of hexagons her world view came back to normal. They way it looked it almost didn't feel like she had the helmet on with how much she could see.
"Can you hear me?" Quasar asked. She could hear him clear as day.
"This is amazing. I can't believe humanity created something so powerful and advanced." Garnet said speechless.
"Try to take a few steps Garnet. I still need to calibrate your gem interface to perfect functionality." He told her.
She then saw a window on her visor say that Quasar was linking with her. She then carefully took a few steps forward.
It was both surprisingly easy and strange at the same time. She long knew of a few gems that used armor. And no gem had ever used or developed any like this. The diamonds considered armor that amplified a gems strength to not be important since they were already powerhouses.
The rest of her suit kept her supported easily as she walked. The first few steps were a bit wobbily but she managed of control it quickly. It almost felt like when Ruby and Sapphire fused for the first time.
"Alright, how does it feel now?" Quasar asked.
Garnet dipped down slightly and started to sprint across the room. She was noticablely slower than she was without it but she found easily do this all day. She then took an experimental jump in the air. Where she only got a few feet up before she came crashing back down.
"Yeah your not gonna be able to go as fast or jump as high in that. But your stronger and a hell of a lot more durable."
Hearing that Garnet reeled back and punched the ground. There was a mini shockwave when she hit. Before a large dent was put in the several meter thick Titanium. With a few bits blowing off from the sheer force.
She then inspected her hand and noticed the paint was only slightly scrapped. She then clenched her hand and in a flash she summoned her gauntlets. They were different as well. Almost looking mechanical like her armor. But what was new is that her forearms were even more powerful now.
"It also has a hardened spine that connects from your helmet all the way down to the cod plate. Giving wearers extra protection as well as able to support heavier loads even better." He told her.
Garnet all together loved the suit. But then a sinking feeling started to fill her mind.
"Quasar, I don't ever want you to feel like I'm forgetting about Will. We will find him, and bring him back." Garnet told him. She then soaked over and picked up his robonoid body. Before giving it a hug.
She stopped when she heard the groan of Titanium. She then noticed an almost pained expression on his face.
Garnet let him go and he fell back to the floor before getting back up. "Sorry, I need to get used to it new strength." She apologized.
"It's fine, and thank you Garnet. We will find him." He said with a smile.
"Wanna go show the others, it's almost morning time now." The AI said with a grin.
She looked down at him through her silver visor. "Absolutely."
They then both heard a crabs and a loud tell from somewhere else in the temple.
"How much you wanna bet that had something to do with Amythest." Quasar asked her.
"I already know it does." Garnet said as she ran out of the Vault. With Quasar attatched to she back. Her heavy footsteps echoing on the metal.