03:27 AM.
The city of Phoenix rested under a mantle of silence, but in the underground of Tycoon, the reality was different.
Among blinking screens and almost imperceptible mechanical noises, Nikoly typed with the intensity of someone carrying the destiny of an empire in her fingers. Her eyes were red from insomnia, her hair tied in a messy bun, and the bunny pajamas contrasted with the seriousness of the mission.
Amid the pale lights of the holograms, she executed a global tracking software she had created at sixteen, banned by almost every nation and considered a digital threat comparable to nuclear weapons.
"Activating Hunter mode…" she murmured, eyes fixed on the waves of data traveling across the planet rendered in real time.
Nothing escaped her gaze: disguised bank transactions, urban camera records, power grids, private transport apps, heat sensors in remote forests, not even classified military protocols resisted her silent assault.
She was no longer just a hacker. She was a digital specter.
Then, like a snap in the dark, a clue appeared.
An encrypted movement triangulated with a ghost account operating almost imperceptibly. To any other system, it would seem like a statistical error. To Nikoly, it was the equivalent of a scream.
"Got you…" she whispered, isolating the data with a gesture, reconstructing the transmission route.
The destination? A hidden server in the depths of Umbrion.
Clara had fled to the continent of shadows.
A cowardly or desperate decision, maybe both.
Nikoly immediately activated the emergency channel and summoned a secret Tycoon squad.
Five agents responded.
No frills, no hesitation. Nikoly explained in one sentence:
"Clara Vensh. Corporate betrayal. Retrieve data. Alive, if possible. Dead, if necessary."
The five confirmed the operation with synchronized voices, as if they were a single entity.
With the hunt begun, Nikoly wasted no time. She opened a direct holographic connection with Luna, Lumine, and Victória. The three, even tired, appeared before her with serious expressions.
"Clara's destination was Umbrion. A place where not even satellites dare to scan. And yes, I've already sent SH4DØW to intercept."
Luna narrowed her eyes, tense, jaw clenched. "We'll find her. Even if I have to burn that whole continent down."
Lumine maintained her composure and just nodded.
"And what if the data is sold first?" asked Victória, always practical.
Nikoly took a deep breath. "Don't worry. I implanted a marker in the files based on THRØNE CORE codes."
Luna smiled, though tense. "You really are my genius."
On the other side of the world, somewhere lost and foggy in Umbrion, Clara walked among dense trees, wrapped in a survivor's cloak. Her eyes, exhausted, held conviction. She carried with her a portable nucleator — technology stolen from Tycoon.
She sat in a quiet clearing, adjusted the old communicator on her wrist, and waited.
The male voice on the other side came minutes later. "Do you have the data?"
"I do."
Hours after the data confirmation and the last location, Team SH4DØW silently boarded a commercial plane bound for the continent of Umbrion.
Everyone on the team wore casual clothes, discreet luggage, and bored expressions, like any unsuspecting tourist seeking exotic adventures on Umbrion's dark trails. But behind the sunglasses and leather backpacks, there were elite agents trained and under exclusive Tycoon contract for missions even the Phoenix Empire had no permission to follow.
Raihn consulted a holographic tablet with Clara's probable routes within the territory. Beside him, Jin read some random magazine while memorizing local dialects and the accents of the most remote villages of Umbrion. Behind them, Sable monitored a compact case with residual energy sensors — technology provided directly by Nikoly from Tycoon Tower's experimental sector.
"Confirmed," murmured Sable through the communicator embedded in the necklace. "The signal from the bracelet she couldn't fully deactivate still pulses every 3 hours. It's weak, but constant."
Raihn nodded, pretending just to crack his neck out of boredom.
A flight attendant passed offering drinks.
Jin took a juice and thanked with a polite smile, then turned naturally to the group.
"If she's really in Umbrion, she'll try to disappear in one of the villages off the official maps," said Jin in a low voice. "Those who flee the world choose Umbrion for a reason: the forest swallows anything."
"The forest and its inhabitants," added Raihn. "But nothing we can't handle. We just need to find her before she sells the data."
The flight continued smoothly, cutting through dense clouds and long kilometers of frozen mountains below.
"Apparently, she's using a false name: Dara Sylven," informed Sable, looking at the intelligence report. "But she's already changed names five times in 48 hours. That's only possible with external help, probably one of the fallen hacker groups operating in Umbrion."
Jin sighed. "If it's the Spiral Down group, we're in trouble. They have deals with several obscure noble houses in the region."
Raihn looked out the window. "Clara is not just a data thief. She's a former Tycoon member, trained under one of the most demanding directors, and knows our protocols. That means she'll use every possible weakness against us… and maybe even use the forest as an ally."
The plane began its descent.
Raihn snapped his fingers lightly, and the team members internally activated their protection layers.
As soon as the plane landed, the group exited among the other passengers with natural movements and without raising any suspicion.
The humid heat and almost vegetal air of the continent welcomed them like a sticky embrace. A smell of wet earth and old wood dominated everything. It was as if the very soil had secrets to hide.
On the other side of the runway, a taxi adapted for off-road awaited them.
Jin exchanged a few words in a local dialect with the driver, who nodded and took them toward the village of Tharos-Veyl, the point where Clara's bracelet had emitted the strongest signal.
"It'll be a quick hunt," said Raihn, finally smiling lightly. "Or at least, a fun one."
The arrival at Tharos-Veyl village was silent — almost too much so.
The taxi stopped on a dirt road where a sequence of dark wooden houses began, all shrouded in thick fog and moss growing over the windows as if the structures themselves were being devoured by time.
The village was small, lost among ancient trees with black trunks and branches that seemed to move with the wind, but there was no breeze, only the dense feeling that something was watching.
Team SH4DØW stepped out of the vehicle in silence.
Raihn activated his ocular interface and scanned the area: nothing out of the ordinary. Heartbeats, yes. Human heat detected inside the houses. But all too quiet.
"This looks like a trap setup," whispered Jin, already discreetly pulling a short blade embedded in his adaptive fabric jacket.
"Bracelet signals from Clara were detected in the house to the left of the central square," said Sable, checking her sensory case. "But it's unstable. She might've already moved."
The team approached the indicated house with caution.
It was a simple two-story building, with the door slightly ajar.
Raihn raised his fist and signaled.
Jin climbed up the side of the house, scaling with feline precision to reach a window on the second floor, while Sable covered the rear.
Raihn pushed the door open with the barrel of his pistol and entered with calculated steps.
The interior was empty, but there were clear signs of recent presence: dishes on the table, a wet towel hanging, and... a cup still steaming.
"She was here," murmured Raihn. "Just minutes ago."
But at that exact moment, everything happened abruptly.
A muffled explosion shook the ground. The sound came from outside, and before the team could react, the windows exploded inward in a shower of shards and smoke.
Raihn rolled back, shielding his nape, while Jin jumped from the second floor and landed in front of the house with blades ready.
"Ambush!" shouted Sable, retreating to position beside Raihn.
From within the mist, silhouettes began to appear. Armed men and women, faces covered with masks made of dark leather, wielding rifles and spears modified with stolen technology.
They were the Rak'shal, one of the many terrorist groups operating in Umbrion's underworld, specialized in kidnappings, trafficking, and ambushes in regions where imperial government had little or no influence.
"Shit, we've got a rat's nest here," muttered Raihn, activating combat mode on his ocular visor.
One of the Rak'shal shouted something in a guttural language and pointed toward them. The shootout began immediately.
Jin moved like a shadow, cutting down enemies with supernatural agility, while Sable activated a distortion field that disrupted enemy sensors. Raihn, for his part, led the frontline with precise shots that took down the enemies before they could get too close.
"They're trying to buy time!" shouted Jin, diving for cover behind a stone wall. "They want Clara to escape through an alternate route!"
"Sable, find the escape direction!" roared Raihn, dropping two Rak'shal with double chest shots.
Sable adjusted the sensor and, through the distortions caused by the explosion, managed to identify a trail leading into the forest behind the house.
"She's heading to the Old Trail!" she pointed. "It's an old smuggling route that leads to a crypt used by dissidents!"
Jin activated a small drone that flew silently toward the forest, capturing thermal images. The images confirmed: a female silhouette was running along the trail with desperate agility.
Raihn clenched his teeth and pulled back, reloading his weapons. "Leave the Rak'shal to the drones. We follow Clara now."
While the rest of the village still burned and Tycoon drones began flying over the region to contain the terrorists, Team SH4DØW vanished into the foggy trail like silent shadows.
Raihn ran in front with eyes fixed on the tracks left in the damp ground — light but recent footprints confirming she was still close.
Jin followed just behind, silent, with blades ready, muscles tense.
Sable, monitoring the drone's readings, murmured in a low voice to not break rhythm. "Distance: 73 meters. She's accelerating. Vital signs stable."
"She knows the path well," Raihn grumbled. "Shit... this was planned."
The smell of wet earth and dense sap filled the air, mixed with the faint odor that Raihn's cybernetic implants detected — residual energy traces, probably from a communication device.
"Someone is coordinating the extraction," he said. "Stay alert, she's not alone."
Time was against them.
Clara weaved through the trail like a shadow, knowing every curve, every elevation of the terrain. The ancient, tangled trees made visibility difficult, and the dense vegetation muffled footsteps.
Jin sped up, veering off on a side path, trying to cut ahead and surprise her. But as he rounded one of the trail's bends, he stopped abruptly.
"She set traps!" he shouted, seconds before a shot exploded near him, knocking him down. Fortunately, his dispersion shield absorbed most of the energy, but the impact delayed him.
Raihn ducked, dodging another shot from the underbrush. Camouflage devices had been scattered in the vegetation — small drones emitting noise and visual illusions. Clara was truly prepared.
"Focus on the target! Ignore the drones!" Raihn yelled. "Sable, give me a clean route!"
Sable pulled up a holographic map of the trail and projected alternate paths. One ended in a clearing that, according to old Tycoon data, led to a maintenance road, abandoned since the last conflict in Umbrion.
"If she's running in this direction…" Sable paused, eyes wide. "Raihn, this trail ends at a hidden road. If someone's waiting for her there…"
"She has an extraction scheduled. DAMN IT."
The trio sprinted like hell was behind them.
The forest gave way to a wide and shadowy opening. The maintenance road, made of ancient stone covered in moss, emerged among the trunks.
Raihn felt his heart race when he saw a female silhouette appear at the edge of the road, panting, holding a small technological artifact under her arm.
Clara.
She turned and saw Raihn.
For a brief instant, their eyes met. He saw no fear. No desperation.
Clara raised her wrist and pressed something on her bracelet.
A muffled rumble echoed in the distance, and from the dark forest, a car with an old appearance but clearly modified with advanced technology emerged at high speed. Its wheels kicked up dry leaves and twigs in its wake.
"CLARA!" shouted Raihn, drawing his pistol.
He fired. The shot grazed her shoulder, but it wasn't enough.
Clara jumped into the moving car with an agility that defied logic.
The vehicle swerved sharply and, with a roar, accelerated down the hidden road, disappearing around the bend.
Jin arrived seconds later, fuming with rage, blade trembling in his hand.
"So close…"
Sable raised her arm, analyzing network data. "She went into shadow mode. Disabled all digital traces. She's off the grid."
Raihn holstered his weapon with clenched teeth. "Damn it."
Silence.
Only the sound of the forest and the bitter certainty they had failed to intercept the woman.
"That wasn't just a random traitor," said Jin, staring in the direction the car had vanished. "That… was a move planned months in advance."
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