The Armory was more than a storage container full of weapons and armor. It also contained a firing range for target practice, simulation games, and staging grounds for practice battles. So this was where the marines kept their guns.

Interesting. Arachna decided that if the Yumens used this place to practice, then she would too.

So far, the skill she most needed to develop was her stealth cloak. Perhaps the presence of so many armed Yumens would help? It was a risk to enter into a place like the Armory, but she needed to take risks or she’d never grow stronger.

Bam, bam, bam

Two marines stood at the firing range, sending off shots of handgun fire at the end of the range. Neither wore armor but both wore large sponge-like earmuffs on their heads. Odd that their ears were so sensitive to loud noises even though they weren’t very good at picking up on soft ones.

“Think I just broke my record, Kenzo,” the first marine said. He had a shaved head and wore a warm sweater.

“Still nowhere near mine, Sam,” the second responded. This man also had a shaved head and was slightly shorter than the first.

The two men were firing at a dummy of a Yumen. It was full of holes from previous rounds. Strange that they would select a model of one of their own species to fire at. Why in the horde would a creature ever attack its own? That made no sense.

Arachna watched them from the ceiling up above. Both men seemed so focused on their targets that neither bothered to look up.

Focus, she thought to herself. Stealth cloak.

She was close to danger with two armed Yumens directly below her but still, she didn’t manage to turn herself invisible. Arachna breathed in and then out. How was this supposed to work? She didn’t like the idea that her powers only seemed to work when she was truly afraid. It would be better if she could activate them on a consistent basis. What if one day they didn’t work when she needed them? Then she’d be dead.

A third figure walked into the room. A female Yumen with a slender frame, holding a black oval-shaped helmet near her waist. It wasn’t like the marine helmets. This was much smaller and sleeker.

“Boys,” the woman said.

“Hey aren’t you the—" Kenzo said.

"Call me Vapor," the woman replied, flinging back her long hair. She had smooth pale skin and wore a cold look in her eyes. "Looks like you need some work on your shot."

"Well, we're just getting warmed up," the marine known as Sam said. He fidgeted his fingers. "Is that a real X-48?"

He eyed the black helmet that Vapor carried in her arms.

"That's classified," she said. "But I think you're smart enough to figure it out."

X-48? Arachna searched her subsumed memories from Engineer Carlsen. Those were helmets designed to help rifters control their abilities. That must mean—

"Void, I've always wanted to try one of those," Sam said.

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"Won't work for grunts like you," Vapor said, a hint of condescension in her tone.

"Here he goes again," Kenzo said. "Now he'll tell you his grandfather was one of the first rifters. Oh boy."

"My grandfather was an early rifter," Sam says, lips curling upward. "I think I've got some of his ability. Bet I could make that thing work."

"Grandfather?" Vapor said, raising her eyebrows. "A male rifter?"

Sam hung his head. "Sadly, he didn't last long."

Arachna rubbed her hind legs together. Oh? What was this about the Yumen males and rifting? She searched through Carlsen's memories. There was something about —

"I didn't know that," Kenzo said, furrowing his brows. "Maybe you left that part out before."

"Male rifters usually aren't stable," Vapor said, coldly. "Early rifters who lost control could take out entire city blocks. Male rifters, in particular, were the most at risk."

"Why haven't I heard of that before?" Kenzo said.

"It's classified," Vapor said, curtly. "For grunts like you, anyway. But I doubt anyone really cares anymore."

Arachna held back a click. These Yumens kept information from themselves. Strange that anyone would hide the truth from each other, especially about something as relevant as rifting.

"But you have an X-48," Sam said. "I think if I tried one —"

"Tell you what," Vapor said. "You outshoot me, and you can have a chance. First to three headshots."

Arachna eyed the helmet. Carlsen's memories unfurled as she pondered the device. Had he worked on these before? She wasn't sure but the man had studied them deeply. A schematic of an X-48 rifter class helmet sprawled out in her mind. Apparently, the technology that powered these helmets was based on the same underlying principles as a Xitherium-powered engine. Something about engaging interdimensional—

"Really?" Sam said, raising his arms. "Let's do it."

"Hold on," Kenzo interjected, holding up his hands. "There's got to be a catch. What if you win?"

"If I win," Vapor said. "I get your rations for a week."

"What?" Sam said. "A whole week? I'll starve."

"You still have credits," Vapor said. "You'll live."

"Fine," Sam said. "Heard Chef Rupert's in the brig anyway. Food will be dirt until we get to Mars."

"You've barely got any credits left," Kenzo said, struggling to persuade his friend to use common sense. "You lost most of them gambling in Voider's End."

"Let's do it," Sam said, ignoring Kenzo. There was a determined look on his face.

Vapor didn't hesitate. She set down her X-48 helmet in a corner of the room, picked up her sidearm, and fired directly at the dummy, hitting it in the center of its forehead. "One," she said.

Horde, this woman was skilled, Arachna thought. The other two men seldom managed to hit the model Yumen in the head but she did it on her first try with barely a moment's glance.

Arachna looked at the rifter's helmet which was out of the Yumens' line of sight. So that thing helped Yumen rifters control their abilities? What if she could—

Like the rifter, Arachna didn't hesitate when she saw her chance. She lowered herself down behind the three Yumens on a silk strand and scurried over to the helmet.

"All right," Sam said, raising his gun and aiming for the dummy. He clutched the weapon with both hands and tilted his head slightly to the left so that he could peer down its sights.

Bam

"Nice one," Kenzo said. The bullet also hit the dummy in the head, albeit on the side rather than dead-on like the rifter.

Arachna approached the helmet while the Yumens were distracted. How did it work? She understood its parts and even the basics of how it worked. There was a computational board used for topological spline mapping but there was so much more to it.

Hmmm....this helmet device was oddly familiar. It felt like the engine room had felt. Seeing it, touching it, she was certain she knew more about its components than most other things she'd encountered so far on the Yumen ship.

Quantum chip, she thought. The words just popped into her mind.

Unsure of what that meant exactly, Arachna peered inside the spherical armor. The entire helmet would be clunky to bring into the air ducts but she instinctively felt that this quantum chip was located inside the device and that it was worth scavenging.

If she could only—

Reaching inside with her hands, she removed a layer of padding and a panel on the upper portion of the sphere.

"Greetings," a voice said, loudly. It seemed to be coming from inside the helmet.

Suddenly, she panicked. The three Yumens turned and looked directly at her.

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