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In

[h2][u]Target Locked #7: Target: The Hounds of Humanity #4[/u][/h2]
[b]Location: Sherman Square
Time: Evening - Day of Hound Attack[/b][/center]

Kayla kept up the relentless barrage of arrows down to the Hounds below. She knew at some point that she needed to get down and retrieve the arrows she was using before she ran out and had to find another way down the building. [I]At least going through the building, I’d avoid the sights of the helicopters,[/I] she thought, her eyes glancing away between shots to keep a look on the helicopters that were around. She had been in relative shelter from the grunts and vehicles down below. The mechs would have been a problem for most of the gathered heroes, but Icon and the mouthy kid was dealing with them from the get-go. She even caught a glimpse of the firefight of the planes above them. But if any of the heroes didn’t deal with any of the helicopters, then what they were doing wouldn’t matter as their small numbers would be whittled down until the very durable ones are left.

Just as she thought about the helicopters, lightning struck two of the helicopters that fried every electrical component inside to send them crashing down. A moment later, she saw another meta arrive from the sky, seeing the fizzling arcs of electricity coming from him as he began to work on the flying menace. A moment later, another person arrived from the sky, cleaving through the tail of another. At first, Kayla was puzzled by the sudden appearance of the two heroes into this battle. However, she shrugged it off. [color=e38c2d]”Well, at least the helicopters are covered,”[/color] she muttered to herself, thinking that she wouldn’t be surprised by anything anymore. As she carried on raining down arrows, she watched from the corner of her eye as she watched the two new arrivals starting to take down the helicopters one by one.

As she focused on getting her next shot off, the whirring sounds of a falling helicopter grew louder and louder. Not taking any chances, she shot off the arrow and turned to the origin of the sound. As she faced it, her eyes looked on in terror as the falling helicopter was heading straight for her. With the speed of the helicopter’s fall and how close it was, she concluded that there was nowhere near enough time for her to make it out without getting hit by it. Not even an escape by jumping off the building and rappelling down to safety. [I]Is this… how I die?[/I] she thought, fear now setting in and stopping her from moving. Her thoughts turned to the loved ones she was going to leave behind. Her mother. Her childhood friend, Mia. Her work colleagues at Taylor Garage. The archery club she shot regularly at. She was going to leave them all behind with her body being crushed under the twisting metal of the aircraft. It was then that a thought back to Jason filled her mind. With his face now filling her mind, her body relaxed. A wry smile came to her covered lips as she began to accept her fate. [I]I’ve missed you, Jason. So much. I’m coming to you.[/I] She closed her eyes as she waited for the inevitable.

Except, it never came.

An explosion rocked above the archer as the hero that came with the lightning meta shot the tail off of the helicopter. Fletch’s eyes snapped open as she witnessed the two halves of the helicopter fell from either side of her down the sides of the building. She didn’t hide her surprise when the hero landed on the rooftop. [I]I’m… alive?[/I] she thought, her mind as surprised about the turn of events as she was. She heard the hero call out to her, her eyes still showing their surprise as her gaze turned to them. A moment ago, she figured that she wouldn’t be surprised by anything that will happen in the future. Now, she was surprised again as an alien-looking woman spoke to her, mentioning how they’ve never fought a helicopter before. Shaking herself off from the surprise, her steely focus came back. Her purpose had been renewed after a brief moment of vulnerability in the face of death. 

[color=e38c2d]”I’ve only fought one once, earlier today,”[/color] Kayla responded, her voice filled with an unusual warmth in it from her stony body language. [color=e38c2d]”Taking it out by blowing up the tail with one of my arrows.”[/color] By this point, Archie was curious about the person his master was talking to. He crawled out from her trouser pocket and peered at the alien-looking woman from her right shoulder. The archer nodded towards him, [color=e38c2d]”Archie here helped out with providing the explosives.”[/color]

Regaining her composure, she wandered to the edge of the building to see what was happening since the crashing helicopter. Reaching for another arrow and nocking it to the string, she aimed at another Hound. Before she could shoot it off, the weather suddenly picked up for the worse. She snapped the bow back into its resting position As she braced herself against the sudden wind and rain that ravaged the scene in front of her. Unsure of who caused the weather to suddenly pick up, she could only watch as the Hounds began to struggle to do what it was that they’re doing. Looking through the wind and the rain, she could only watch as another mech turned up to the fight. However, instead of attacking the heroes, it began fighting the ones that were known to be with the Hounds.

Kayla’s eyes focused on the lightning meta that had helped take down a few of the helicopters. She watched in amazement as he took down Hounds left and right. However, when it came down to an armoured soldier, she watched as he took a hit from one of the Hound's rounds. With the wind and rain, it was hard enough to gauge the correct place to aim. But the archer attempted anyway as she drew up her compound bow. By now, every piece of clothing was completely saturated with water and her hair clung to her frame. She aimed at the Hound that was attacking and moved her sight to where she roughly should be aiming out to compensate for the weather. From out of her focused view, she watched as three lightning bolts struck the Hound, leaving only a charred body in its wake. With the threat eliminated, she began to relax and started the motion of releasing the energy from her bow safely.

However, she snapped the energy back into place as she saw another Hound appear behind the lightning meta and began raising a pistol towards them. Making a snap judgement, she aimed at roughly the same place she was going to use and allowed the muscles in her shoulder to increase the tension. Then, like the thousands of arrows she shot before, the arrow snapped into motion as the release aid snapped open. She watched as the arrow soared through the air, arcing through the air as the wind and rain affected its course. As a sudden gust breezed passed, the archer could only watch in horror as the arrow was suddenly affected by it, appearing to be going straight for the meta’s head. By some luck, the arrow sailed merely inches from the meta as the broadhead slammed into the eye socket of the attacking Hound, killing them instantly. Despite the deadly nature of what she was using, she’d never intentionally planned to kill someone even with the explosives provided by Archie. The pit in her stomach began to well up as she watched nauseously as the limp body fell to the floor. She wanted to throw up from it, but she couldn’t. Not in front of the heroes she was near. Kayla managed to bring all of her willpower to stop her from throwing up, but it didn’t stop her from the wrenching motions as she gagged from the sight.

As she composed herself once again, Kayla carried on watching as Iron Knight began fighting a Hound wearing a similar suit. Just before that, however, she did see that the Hound fired something into the sky. Moments later, the rain turned into ice as it rained down hard on them. While weather like that wouldn’t affect her, having shot on occasion in Russia, the cold seeped through her wet clothes, sending a chill through her body. The archer shrugged it off and watched the fight unfold as two more people began firing at the helicopters above. She finally turned to the alien woman on the rooftop. [color=e38c2d]”Tend to your friend,”[/color] she spoke, the steel returning to her voice. She rifled through one of the other pockets in her trousers and placed a first aid kit onto the ground. [color=e38c2d]”He’s been hit in the shoulder. Use that to treat the wound. We’ll need to start taking out more of these mechs that are attacking the city.”[/color] Fletch turned to look at her. [color=e38c2d]”Can you and your friend do that once he’s patched up?”[/color] She then began to focus down below. She needed to retrieve her arrows and return back to the fight. Before she rappelled down, she turned to the hero. [color=e38c2d]”The name’s Fletch, by the way. Nice meeting you. Oh… and thank you.”[/color] Using the line that got her up the building, she jumped off of the building, using the mechanism on her arm to ease her descent down onto the ground.

[@KaiserElectric][@VATROU]