It was a dark, rainy night in the Exile Frontier. Over a certain section of the wild forest was a Kreppelin flying with full sails deployed. The deck was swarming with soldiers and crewmen as leather-lunged sergeants roared their orders. At the front of the airship there was a sudden scream and a man dropped to the deck in a spray of blood. There was a shocked pause as everyone tried to figure out what happened, then more shouts and yells as everyone realized their prey had teeth.

A group of elite soldiers well known for their effectiveness in combat was ordered to take to the ground and capture the target. The one giving orders was obviously the noble Markus Rellen. He was the reason this entire expedition was here. He had hand-picked the squad that was headed to the ground himself. He had full confidence that they would not disappoint him.

Now that their searchlight was taken out, they were unable to see anything on the ground, but the Seeker Vekt that was near the helm would keep them on course. She would not escape this time... Is what Markus thought the second before a flash cut through the gloomy forest below. The flash was instantly followed by a loud boom that made everyone flinch in shock. All activities on the Kreppelin stopped for a moment as the crew looked at each other. Nobody knew what that sound had been, and there was a slight unease that could be sensed among the crew. What exactly were they chasing? Most of them had no idea.

Just as the crew began to regain composure, there were three more flashes followed by three more eardrum-shaking booms that echoed through the night. Markus gripped the railing of the Kreppelin as he stared into the gloom below, trying to see what in the god's names was happening down there. None of his men had a weapon that made a sound like that!

Markus looked at the man in black leather standing next to him. He was known as one of the deadliest men in the city of Colten, but even he had failed to capture this girl the first time they had found her... and now, his men below did not seem to be doing any better. They still had no idea what kind of weapon she had, only that it was an extremely strong artifact that used projectiles. He had prepared his men with the strongest shields the family artificer had been able to make, but that booming sound filled him with unease.

"Go after her. I expect results this time," Markus said tersely.

"You got it boss," The man in black replied lazily as he stepped over the railing and dropped into the gloom. Markus watched him disappear with distaste in his eyes. He had never liked that man, but as long as he got results, that did not matter. He turned his attention ahead just in time to see another flash cut through the dark. He tried to brace himself for the loud boom that followed, but he still flinched. He grimaced angrily as he stared into the rain. This girl had a lot to answer for once she was in his hands...

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Zoey pulled her Crystal Claw from the chest of an attacker as she scanned the area around her. The body dropped to the ground with a thump, already dead. She had killed six so far, and Viridi was telling her that there were three more closing in and one more dropping from the Kreppelin. She took off again through the trees deliberately moving in erratic fashion so they would have a harder time targeting her. The last group had an archer that had managed to hit her twice. If it wasn't for her Ice Armor rune she would have been severely injured. Those arrows had packed a punch.

A warning came through the link that two of the attackers were approaching her on the right and another on the left. Thanks to Viridi scouting for her she had an idea where they would be coming from. Sure enough, two cloaked figures leapt through the trees to her right and moved in to attack only moments later.

The closer one sprang at her with a short sword in hand and sent a vicious overhead attack at her while the second one swung a staff at her left side. Zoey simply fired her 9mm Custom from underneath her poncho, hitting the sword wielding attacker in the chest and sending him flying backwards. She then caught the second attacker's staff on her left forearm as she activated her Ice Armor, completely nullifying the attack. The man tried to retreat after he saw his attack fail but his heel was hooked by Zoey, tripping him onto his back. The last thing he saw was the smoking barrel of a handgun before a boom sent him into darkness.

Zoey spun around after she fired the shot and instantly fired two more shots at the third attacker that had appeared behind her. However, the attacker agilely avoided her shots and leapt high into the trees above. Zoey noticed then that it was a Vekt that carried a blade in two out of four of his hands.

Before she had a chance to fire again, the Vekt's free arms formed a strange shape and something whipped through the air towards her in the dark. Zoey almost got hit as she tried to avoid it by dodging to the side as she glanced to see what the object was. It was a net that the Vekt had thrown in an attempt to tangle her up and stop her from moving. Thankfully she had avoided it and now she knew what to look out for.

But as she looked to reacquire her target again, she noticed that her legs were covered in fine, sticky thread like the net had been made of! She tried to move but only found that the threads got tighter. The first one had only been a decoy! Looking up she saw the Vekt throw more nets in her direction, and she couldn't dodge!

All she could do was wait until she was hit and further tangled up...