Jun inspected the weapon in her hands with reverence, testing its weight as she pointed it about the room. I knew it wasn’t loaded, but I still flinched away when she panned past me.

“It feels amazing in my hands.” She commented with surprise, spinning the gun around her finger before she tapped it to her thigh. It locked in place with an audible click. “I wonder what a normal gun’s stats would look like.”

“They’re very similar to bows, if you’ve seen one of those.” Gloriosa said. “Slightly lower stats than melee weapons, but the quiver you pair with it usually gives your equipped bow a bonus. And then there are the arrows themselves, which add another layer on to their power.”

“In gun terms, that’s your gun, your bullets, and your ammo belt.” Okeria explained. “Unlike most close-range weapons that don’t sheaths ta fit ‘em, ya gotta make the most of the accessories ya got when you're using a two-part weapon.”

Jun patted her gun in satisfaction. “I wonder if Seb can make me something like a bullet replicator. That way we’d only have to make one perfect bullet of whatever kind we want to make.”

“Speaking of a ‘perfect bullet’, here.” Okeria tossed a bullet the size of a baby carrot to Jun, who snatched it out of midair and stared at it. “That’s made with the best materials I’ve got on me, and it’s got enough of a payload ta blow a hole in someone’s armor. Take a look and see.”

Jun’s interface popped into existence, and after a moment of reading, she whistled in appreciation. “That’s one dangerous bullet. Here, Seb. You make the call on changing it or not.”

I caught the bullet out of midair, and my interface was up before I got a closer look at it.

//Okeria-Steel Bullet.(Real name obscured by bullet’s creator.)

//Can only be loaded into weapons of Core Mastery requirement 30 or higher.

//When fired from a weapon, deals damage as if the target had 30% less resilience and as if the weapon had an additional +20 power. These effects are increased by 50% when fired as the weapon’s initial or final shot.

That did seem pretty strong for a simple bullet. Most arrows only gave their bows an additional 5-10 power, and they might’ve had an extra effect like setting something on fire or chilling them. Flat out ignoring resilience, a huge boost to power, and increased effects on the opening and final shots was ridiculous for a level 30 bullet.

“I don’t think I should corrupt this.” I said slowly, handing the bullet back to Jun. “Even much higher level bullets aren’t that much stronger than this.”

Okeria rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. “Aw, ya flatter me. I can’t make those on-demand, so if ya find a way ta do Juniper’s bullet replicator idea, that’s the way ta go. Otherwise you’ll have ta use the rank-and-file ammo we’ve got lying around here somewhere.”

“If you find me a bandolier or something like that, I can see what it’ll turn into.” I offered. “Or, like, a handheld ammo box. Something that might change into what we’re looking for.”

“Good call. I’ll go check.” Okeria said with a nod. “Gloriosa, Ambus, do whatever ya think is best ta prepare. Culla, ya can go train with Mortician and Thorn if ya closed down for today.”

Culla, who I’d almost forgotten was even down here with us, clapped her hands and happily made her way over to where Mortician and Thorn were slowly sparring.

Gloriosa pushed herself out of the chair and nodded at Ambus. “I’ll go make sure Okeria doesn’t pinch anything unnecessary.”

“Probably a good idea.” Ambus giggled, waving Gloriosa off before turning to us. “If you’re coming with me in two days, you’ll need to memorize the plan from start to finish. There’s a low likelihood of combat, but if it does come to that, you are not to harm any civilians. Can you control yourself enough to do that?”

“Easily.” Jun said for both of us. “What do we need to do?”

Ambus accepted Jun’s guarantee without a second thought. “I’ll be the one talking to our two captured friends, so you two will be taking watch and providing a distraction if it comes to it. The guard barracks are out of the way, so there will be a low risk for civilians, but that also means there won’t be a hesitation to fight from whoever Scalovera leaves behind to guard our friends.”

“I thought you said it’d be empty.” I pointed out.

“Empty of the usual guards. We suspect that Scalovera will leave behind a handful of hired mercenaries, but he could leave behind one of his own ‘elite’.” Ambus said ‘elite’ in the way that someone else would’ve said ‘unknown’. “So we’ve prepared for the worst. If a horrible fight breaks out, and there is no chance for me to win, I’ll send you two messages through Okeria’s communication devices to run.”

Jun crossed her arms and shook her head. “We’re stronger than you think. Don’t plan on fighting on your own.”

Ambus didn’t respond right away. She looked up at Jun, then at me, and eventually back down at the map. “I’ll decide that over the next two days. If you two can hold your own against half of my full power, I’ll alter the plan to include you as backup.”

“Fair.” Jun ceded with a nod. “So how’re we getting into the barracks?”

I watched as Ambus started to shrug, but caught herself. Maybe we’d walked in on this plan a little earlier than it initially seemed. “Did Scalovera change the locks?” I asked, pointing a finger at the barracks on the map. “There’s no way he left all the same securities in place that you all have access to, right?”

“We unfortunately don’t know. We haven’t gone near the barracks in weeks, but the last time we checked for our friends the old securities were still in place. I’ll have Gloriosa check that tonight.” Ambus said confidently. “For what we do know; there are underground passageways that Scalovera should not yet be aware of, and they’ll take us to within a quarter mile of the barracks. We’ll use those to get close, and then I’ll break in and find where they’re holding our friends. If the locks have not been changed, it will be an easy in-and-out. If they have, then we will have to prepare for a raised alarm the moment we enter.”

Ambus tapped three different streets that led towards the barracks. “Poppy, Daffodil, and Bluebell are the only streets that lead to the barracks. The soldiers will not take to the roofs for some reason or another, so we can guarantee that those are the only entry points they will use. The two of you will watch these points. One of you on this roof here,” Ambus tapped a building at the intersection of Poppy and Daffodil, “and the other here to watch Bluebell. If I deem you to be in fighting shape, I’d ask that you engage whatever soldiers Scalovera sends. If I don’t, I’d ask that you inform me so I can prepare to disengage.”

“Sounds reasonable.” I muttered, looking down at the map with a discerning eye. Maybe if I was more familiar with Rainbow Basin, I could’ve provided some insight. But as it stood, I was a passenger for now. “Okay, yeah. So you have anything to add, Jun?”

She shook her head right away. “Nope. As long as I can get more bullets before we head out, I’ll be fine. Oh, and I should get a dagger or something just in case someone gets too close to me.”

“That’s Okeria’s problem.” Ambus said distractedly, running her fingers along the map as she spoke. “I’ll come find you tomorrow. Go get as geared up as you need.”

I shared a look with Jun, then we started walking over to Okeria and Gloriosa. She grabbed my hand and pulled me a little closer.

“If these people can’t solve their own problems, we can’t stay here for months helping them.” She whispered seriously. “Mortician might want to get training, but I know we can get more levels and combat experience by clearing a hazard. How do you want to do this?”

Jun perfectly put into words the feeling I’d been having ever since we came to Rainbow Basin. Every day we waited to do something was another day Endra roamed free, and another day closer to the next Staura Embodiment following in her path. We needed Rainbow Basin for information, but if it took months to get that information network back up, we’d’ve been better off trying to get it ourselves.

I nodded to myself as I came to a decision. “We help them as long as they’re moving forwards. As soon as they stagnate, or make a plan around something that happens in a few months, we go directly to Okeria. He doesn’t want to go slaughter Scalovera, probably because it’d make the people here terrified of him, but nobody here knows us. A knife in the dark and all our problems are solved.”

“Wish we could just do that right away.” Jun chuckled darkly. “Keratily still hasn’t come back, and I’m not looking forward to the storm she brings with her. Without Okeria at the head, I might be in extreme danger.”

A good point I hadn’t considered. “Right. Okeria managed to call Inopsy in from somewhere, right? That means Addia’s chosen had to be somewhere close to here, right? Could we get them to come help us?”

“No idea, but it’s worth a try. Skies above, if Inopsy can take on Keratily, he’d make short work of Scalovera.” Jun muttered. “Still haven’t met the guy, but if he can’t even fight Okeria one-on-one, then he’d shatter his fists on Inopsy.”

“Hey. Don’t use me as a barometer for weaklings.” Okeria pouted, putting his hands on his hips as we walked up to him. Gloriosa was busy looking through the supplies counting to herself, barely sparing a second to look up at us. “I might not be strong considering all the fighters, but I’m plenty good for a smith. And a politician. And a researcher. Speaking of that first one, here’s another of those bullets. Try using your core on that one.”

Okeria shoved a bullet at me, then went back to fiddling with what looked like a combination holster and bandolier. I blinked at the speed with which he’d inserted himself into, and subsequently removed himself from, our conversation. Even after so many weeks, he still found ways to make me shake my head in disbelief.

I opened my interface and offered it the bullet, gawked at how much potential my core wanted to corrupt it, and accepted the cost with a memorial to my rapidly draining reserves. It finished quicker than usual thanks to the small size, and when I looked down at it, I couldn’t get a sense of how powerful it was.

//STUTTERSHOT

//Can only be loaded into weapons of Core Mastery requirement 35 or higher.

//When the bullet hits an enemy, it impacts them three additional times in quick succession with 15% damage and force. Applies effects on each hit.

Looks like my bullets were going to have strange effects, whereas Okeria’s would be the best for plain-old killing. I flipped the bullet around in my fingers, taking in the strange casing that looked like it was made of crystallized fireworks. If Jun ever got a function that triggered on bullet hits, these would be a massive boon.

“Here. Don’t use it all in one place.”

I could feel Jun’s eyes roll even through her hemet. “I’ll try not to.”