Pearls

Chapter Eight

Lean turned to them, wide-eyed. "We have to get- "

And then a massive machine burst through the rocky wall.

It was a huge drill, the kind that Homeworld used for burrowing passages deep into the ground. Diamond insignias gleamed on its polished surface, which shone a dulish grey in the coppery light. Two levels of intricate balconies and all of the council's chairs had been completely crushed upon its entrance, and the wreckage scattered itself across the room with a terrible crunching noise. The drill's long, pointed tip had been rotating, but now slowed to a stop as the entire machine clunked to a grinding halt on the floor.

There was a frozen second in time as everyone's brains struggled to process. Yellow felt frozen in her tracks. This couldn't be happening. No, no, no. She was found. She was caught. She had just been discovered in a secret base, surrounded by rebels, and now she was sure to be shattered. Yellow wanted to close her eyes and make the whole situation disappear. She wondered if she could will the drill away by sheer force of denial.

And then the suspended shock in the room exploded into panic. The rebels flew into action, screaming and pushing each other to get away. The single door that led out of the room was blocked by a press of people in less than a second, all of them yelling and shoving and fighting, completely overtaken by their survival instinct. The amplifying nature of the dome only made the screams and shouts of the fleeing seem louder and more terrible, until the deafening noise felt like a tidal wave of pure fear, slamming into Yellow and swallowing her whole. As doors on the drill's side hissed open, pouring out waves of robonoids and armed Amathests, Yellow Pearl also began scrambling for the exit, desperation kicking in. Her thoughts felt sluggish in her head as her entire being, every muscle in her tiny body and every notion in her head, was consumed by a single thought; Get away. Yellow's small stature provided her an advantage as she joined the thick of terrified rebels- she easily slipped through gaps in the crowd, ducked under flailing limbs, and leapt over fallen gems, using her pointy elbows as weapons when necessary. Her wounds and bandages slowed her, but not too badly- her injuries were mostly healed with homeworld medicine, anyways. She dared not glance back, but she could still hear the robanoid's lazers, the zap of electric forks, and the screams of the rebels. She already knew exactly what was happening in the places she didn't want to look.

Without warning, a thick reddish elbow struck Yellow's face, knocking her backwards onto the floor before she even knew what was happening. A foot came out of nowhere and kicked her side, people ran into her and over her in their rush for the door, and she was being trampled, jostled, crushed, and suddenly she couldn't get up or think or even breathe. Still panicking, Yellow clawed at the ankles of passerby, struggling to stand, desperate for a bit of air, until someone caught hold of her arm and dragged her to her feet- Coal, who was also fighting her way towards the door with her teeth grit and a snarl on her face. Yellow grasped her hand and held onto it like a lifeline as Coal barreled through the crowd, lowering her head and charging forward like a battering ram instead of maneuvering her way in and out- because she can't see, Yellow remembered. Screams continued to echo behind them, but Yellow kept them at her back, trying not to think about how close they sounded, but to just focus on moving...

"THAT'S YOU, RIGHT, YELLOW? Coal hollered over her shoulder. "HOW DID THEY FIND US? WHERE ARE THE TOPAZES?" She demanded, but Yellow had no answer. The crowd was a crush of color, and Yellow felt helpless in its grasp, pushed and pulled and stretched like taffy, sure that had it not been for Coal, she would already be dead. Her veiw swung wildly as they ducked and weaved, Yellow trying not to look at anything but the exit, that inviting doorway that meant freedom from the chaos; but something in her peripheral vision caught her eye and she froze, resisting Coal's pull on her arm.