"Okay, I think I get it now," said Hilda as she closed up the Employee Handbook.
"I told you it would help!" Jayde said. The two Inklings were sitting at a small wooden table in a room right beside the main entrance room of Grizzco. The metal-plated walls were covered with various maps, coordinates, and posters. A window was on the left wall, with a door next to it leading to the Grizzco Docks where the boats were.
"Sucks that we can't super-jump on our own out there...I'm not used to not having my senses."
"Don't worry, we can still sense signals thanks to our suits, but other than that it really is about eyesight."
"Damn..." Hilda looked at the handbook again. "Y'know...this thing is pretty sloppily put together."
"Yeah. But hey, it's better than that 338-page manual."
Hilda chuckled. "Yeah, no kidding! But...I am wondering one thing." She opened up the handbook to a random page. "What's with all these pictures of girls? Grizz has got at least twenty of 'em in here."
"Beats me. I asked him and he said he didn't put them there. But if you ask me?" Jayde looked around for a bit before whispering, "I think he's got a little secret." Both girls giggled.
"So...our next shift is in a few minutes, right?"
"Yep," said Bryce by the left door.
"GAH! Where'd you come from?!"
"The docks?"
"Don't scare me like that, will ya?!"
"Sorry!"
"I suggest you guys get your gear on and get out here!" Lucas yelled from the boat, "It's almost time to go!"
"We're comin'! Keep your pants on!" yelled Jayde.
"Where's this next shift at?" Hilda asked.
"Marooner's Bay again," Bryce said, "It's still the same recruitment drive. In fact, this should be our last shift of the day before Grizz closes up shop."
"Drive?"
"Yeah. Basically, every time the shop opens, a new selection of weapons is available and each crew is assigned a new location. The periods were the shop's open are called drives. Our crew tends to alternate between the Marooner's Bay and the Spawning Grounds each drive."
"So tomorrow we'll be going to the Spawning Grounds," said Jayde, "Now c'mon, let's get ready for our shift."
"Alright," Hilda said.
"Oh, and one more thing. Try to remember the eggs this time; remember the handbook."
"..." Hilda nodded her head.
"We'll meet you out there." Jayde and Bryce left the room. Hilda looked at a triangle graph in Section 1.2.0 of the handbook, specifically the middle section. She sighed.
Later
The Grizzco boat had arrived at the Marooner's Bay once again, now clean from any ink that was left behind before. Hilda looked at Jayde. The two nodded at each other as they and the rest of the crew were super-jumped to the Spawn Point. They were given the same weapons as last time: the Splattershot, Jet Squelcher, Flingza Roller, and Inkbrush.
"Please not the Inkbrush. Please not the Inkbrush. Please not the Inkbrush!" Hilda thought. She and her crew where then given their weapons. "YES! Jet Squelcher!"
"Ha ha! I remember when you mained that one!" said Jayde as she was given the Flingza Roller. Lucas immediately fired around with the Splattershot.
"Today's quotas are 6, 7, and 9 respectively!" said Grizz, "The egg basket is ready, now do your job and GET THOSE EGGS!"
"Yes sir!" said everyone as the Salmonids started to appear.
"By the starboard!" yelled Hilda as she sent the signal, "Over here! We got a Scrapper!" Jayde and Bryce were there immediately.
"Alright! Hilda, you take out the surrounding Salmonids!" said Bryce, "I'll stop the Scrapper from up front! Jayde, get 'im from behind!"
"On it!" said Jayde as the three dropped down off the marooned ship and to the sand. Hilda defended Bryce and Jayde from the oncoming forces as they surrounded the Scrapper.
"I won't let a single one of you get close!" she yelled.
"That a girl!" said Jayde. Bryce continuously hit the Scrapper's vehicle with the Inkbrush.
"C'mon, c'mon!" he thought. The Scrapper's vehicle eventually gave in to the damage, and Jayde slammed her roller on him, defeating it and spilling the Golden Eggs.
"Ha! Take that, ya motorized bug!" Jayde said. She and Bryce grabbed an egg each and headed towards a propeller. "Hilda! Grab that egg!"
"In a second!" Hilda responded. She fired at the last of the incoming Salmonids until none where left. "Alright, I'm coming!" Hilda grabbed the remaining egg and rushed to Jayde and Bryce. Hilda tried firing at the walls, but they were uninkable. "Dammit! Looks like we have to go around!"
"Nope!" said Bryce, "Fire at this propeller to send us back up."
"Huh?" Hilda looked a bit closer, noticing the four beams around them. "Oh!" Hilda fired at the propeller, sending a large pillar from the ground that raised them to the deck where the egg basket was. "Propeller pillars. Nice!" The three put their eggs in the basket.
"Hey?" said Jayde, "Where's Lucas?"
"I'm over here!" Lucas yelled as he sent a signal, "and I've got another boss on my hands!"
"Come on! Let's go!" said Bryce and he and Jayde rushed to Lucas, who was at the shoreline by the bow. Hilda hesitated, but followed them. When she got there, Hilda stopped.
"WHOA! What is that?!" she yelled. Hilda was greeted by a massive machine that looked like a snake of some sort. It had a huge metal fish head and its very long body seemed composed of several inkjets, creating what could only be described as an ink wall similar to a Splash Wall. At the very end was a Chum wearing a facemask piloting the machine.
"It's a Steel Eel!" yelled Jayde, "That's one vehicle you don't wanna get hit by! Hilda, listen! The pilot is in the back; that's where you're gonna want to fire. Once the pilot's down, the whole thing will go down with it!"
"Let's get him!" Bryce said as Lucas approached the front of the beast.
"Hey, snake!" he yelled. "Come here!" The Steel Eel chased down Lucas, who baited it into providing an opening for Bryce to splat the pilot. Immediately upon the pilot's defeat, the Eel broke down and feel apart, dropping the three Golden Eggs the crew sought.
"Let's get these back!" Jayde said.
"You guys go, I'll-" Hilda started to say.
"Hilda, no!" said Bryce, "Remember last time? You got splatted on the spot!"
"I've got this!" Lucas said, "You guys get the eggs." The other three picked up their eggs. Jayde and Bryce rushed for the basket, but Hilda hesitated again. She stood there, glaring at the Salmonids. Her teeth and fists clenched.
"Urgh...c'mon, Hilda...focus!" she thought to herself. She went for the basket; it took every ounce of her strength not to charge into battle. She passed Jayde and Bryce on her way. She delivered the egg and ran straight back towards the Salmonids. She fired at the horde, her eyes filled with pure bloodlust.
"Another Steel Eel!" yelled Jayde, "By the docks!"
"He's mine." Hilda rushed to the docks. "HEY YOU!" The Salmonid pilot immediately took notice of her and the machine headed right for her. It chased Hilda around as she took out other surrounding Salmonids.
"Huh? What is she doing now?" Lucas thought. Hilda maneuvered her way around the Eel's head and aimed right at the pilot.
"Gotcha!" Before she could fire, she suddenly noticed the Eel had made a sudden 180 degree turn, and the head with facing right at her. "Gyah!" She dodged out of the way to avoid it from ramming her, but quickly found the Steel Eel had circled around her, trapping her around its inkjet body. "Carp! M-Maybe I can slip-" Hilda tried to slip through the inkjets, but it was just like a Splash Wall. She was splatted instantly.
Lucas face-palmed as he let out a sigh of annoyance. Jayde took down the Eel and revived Hilda. She looked at Jayde in annoyance and embarrassment.
"...Whoops."
"Hey, don't sweat it!" Jayde said, "Its body is REALLY long, and merely touching it with take you out. Here's the trick: it finds a target and pursues it relentlessly; so one of us should try to lure it somewhere so that the rest of us can take it out."
"Got it!"
"I guess I should have showed you the field guide too..."
"Don't worry. I prefer to learn as I go."
"Right...you like surprises!"
"First wave's all clear!" said Lucas.
"Exactly on quota," said Mr. Grizz, "Now get ready for more!" The four where super jumped back to the Spawn Point and given new weapons.
"Phew...Splattershot," said Hilda.
"Guys!" said Bryce, "Look!" He pointed to land emerging from the behind the stern of the ship, revealing even more fresh sand, though some of it was covered in Salmonid ink. "It's low tide!"
"Yes!" said Jayde, "That means more room to work with!" Jayde and Bryce, wielding the Inkbrush and Jet Squelcher respectively, jumped down to the newly exposed shoreline and began spreading ink around.
"Jeez...the tides here are crazy..." Hilda said as she too jumped down. Lucas came down last.
"Looks like some Salmonids are gathering by the shoreline," said Mr. Grizz, "Take 'em down!"
"There's a Steelhead to the right," yelled Lucas.
"And a Stinger to the left!" said Hilda.
"Alright!" Jayde said, "Hilda and Bryce! You've got shooters! Take down the Steelhead!"
"No problem!" said Hilda.
"Count on it!" Bryce added.
"Lucas, you and I can take out the Stinger!"
"Right!" Lucas said as he rushed for the Stinger alongside Jayde, and Bryce and Hilda rushed for the Steelhead.
"I'll take on these guys surrounding him!" Hilda suggested.
"No, Hilda," said Bryce, "Think. I know you hate Salmonids, but try to repress those feelings for a bit. You go after the Steelhead! Then we'll take out the rest of these guys together."
"..." Hilda took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's do it."
"Good luck!" Bryce charged at the incoming horde while Hilda headed for the Steelhead. She aimed at the beast's head, waiting for it to charge its bomb.
"Come on, big boy...Come o-" Hilda suddenly heard the sound of a splat, and looked to see that Bryce had been splatted by the horde, and now it was heading straight for her. "Why you little-!" Hilda rushed at them, shooting them down one by one, but she too was overwhelmed and ended up splatted herself.
Her lifesaver appeared, and eventually she and Bryce where next to each other in their respective lifesavers. "Dammit!" Hilda exclaimed. "Now what?!" Suddenly, a huge bullet of ink, similar to a Blaster's projectile, landed and splatted part of the horde. Hilda then saw to her surprise and shock, Jayde approach, airborne with an Inkjet special weapon.
"Eat this, freaks!" she yelled as she fired at the incoming Salmonid forces. Lucas also arrived and revived Bryce and Hilda.
"Thanks, Lucas!" said Bryce.
"Welcome," he replied. Hilda only glared away from him. Jayde managed to take out the Steelhead with one last blast from her Inkjet Blaster, and was then launched back to the basket, where she had lifted off.
"Quick! Grab those eggs!" Bryce said. Hilda, Bryce, and Lucas each grabbed an egg and put them in the basket, which already had three other eggs from the Stinger that Jayde and Lucas fought earlier.
"Holy carp!" said Hilda, "I completely forgot we had special weapons!"
"I think we all did," said Jayde, "But remember, we've only got two per shift! Use them wisely! Which one do you have?"
"I...wasn't told."
Jayde inspected the silver drink packages, the containers of the specials, on Hilda's hat. "Looks like you got Splashdown!"
"Nice!"
"Guys!" yelled Bryce, "There's a Drizzler coming!"
"Aw man!" Jayde said, annoyed, "Not this guy!"
"Drizzler?" Hilda asked.
"Up there!" Jayde pointed to what appeared to be a Chum hanging onto a metal umbrella floating in the air.
"What the hell?! Is that...an armored umbrella?"
"Everyone! Head for him!" Bryce ordered. The crew ran at the Drizzler as it landed by the edge of the shore, using its umbrella as a shield. Hilda fired at it.
"Dammit...it's not very effective..."
"Hold on!" said Jayde. A scope of some sort appeared on top of the umbrella, aimed eastward towards Bryce. A few seconds later, it fired a missile into the air. The recoil caused the Drizzler to flip upside-down, exposing it.
"It's exposed! GET HIM!" yelled Bryce as he, Jayde, and Lucas attacked it.
"Uh, guys?" said Hilda, "What about the missile?" She looked at the missile as it launched itself upwards and formed a huge green cloud in the sky. "Oh no..." The cloud began to pour green ink rain like an Ink Storm, one of the drops landing in Hilda's eye. "GAH! My eye! There's ink in my eye!"
"Dive into your ink!" Bryce said as the Drizzler recovered and shielded itself again. Hilda dove into a small puddle of orange ink. She reemerged seconds later.
"Ah...much better."
"Yeah, but that damn Drizzler's still alive!" Lucas exclaimed, "It's going to cause a whole lot of trouble if we just let it do its business!"
"Hilda!" Jayde said, "You come with me! We'll deal with the Drizzler! Bryce! Lucas! You take the other incoming Salmonids!"
"Got it! Bryce said as he and Lucas rushed for the incoming hordes. Hilda followed Jayde towards the Drizzler. Hilda had to force herself not to look at the Salmonids, or she'd have the urge to run at them again.
"Alright, Hilda," said Jayde, "This guy's umbrella is just as strong as the Steelhead's scales. When it fires its missile, it's exposed. So let loose on him."
"Got it!" Hilda replied.
"Or..."
"Huh?"
"You could fire its missile right back at him."
"Really?!"
"Yeah. Pay attention to the direction he launches his missile in, and fire at it in the opposite direction."
"I think I know the rest!" Hilda backed up and aimed her weapon in the Drizzler's direction. The umbrella's scope appeared, and pointed towards Hilda. She adjusted he position accordingly. "If I shoot it in just the right spot at just the right time..."
The Drizzler fired its missile in Hilda's direction. "NOW!" She fired at the missile, knocking it right out of the air at the Drizzler, splatting it instantly and dropping its Golden Eggs. "Yes! Super effective!"
"Let's get these back to the basket!" Jayde and Hilda grabbed an egg each and rushed for the basket. They met with Bryce and Lucas, who also had eggs in tow. They all placed their eggs in the basket.
"That's ten eggs out of seven," said Bryce, "I think we can relax until the next wave."
"But...this wave is only three more seconds..." said Lucas.
"Exactly!"
"Ha ha ha!" said Mr. Grizz, "Nice. But brace yourselves, workers! We're getting high Salmonid readings for the final wave!"
"Perfect!" said Hilda, "Bring it on!" The four where then super-jumped back to the Spawn Point. Hilda received the Flingza Roller. "THANK. COD."
"Looks like the tide's still low," said Jayde, holding the Inkbrush.
Hilda looked to the sky. There was suddenly a different feel to the air...a more dangerous feel. The sky suddenly looked slightly darker, as if a group of thin clouds suddenly appeared. "Uh...what's going on?"
"Oh no..." said Bryce, holding the Splattershot, "If it's low tide...then-"
Suddenly, three cannons appeared out of the ground, one on the left of the shore, one on the right, and one on the stern of the old ship right where Hilda was. "What the-?!"
"It's a Cohock Charge!"
"Carp..." said Jayde. "Hilda! We need you to operate that cannon to help take down the Cohocks that spawn!"
Hilda smiled. "You got it!"
"Here they come!" said Mr. Grizz, "Get movin'!"
Hilda hopped in the cannon and took aim at the approaching Cohock army. There were dozens of them appearing from the shoreline, along with a Scrapper and a Steelhead. "Time to lay the splatdown!" Hilda opened fire, firing one missile at a time. Each missile took down around five to seven Cohocks at once. She fired as many as she could, taking down as much of the army as possible. "This is great!" She fired one missile at the Steelhead as it was charging, splatting it, and one more at the Scrapper to stop it in its tracks. But when she tried to fire another one, her ink had run out. "Wha-? Dammit..."
"Hey Hilda!" yelled Bryce, "Get down here!"
"Alright!" She turned into squid form, landing in her ink and rushed over to Jayde and Bryce while refueling in the process.
"Here's the plan: Me and Jayde have got the eggs. Lucas, you get the cannon over there! Hilda, I want you to help him take down the Salmonids."
"Huh?!" said Lucas.
"Wait, what?! I have to work with him?!" Hilda exclaimed.
"Yeah, so?"
Bryce watched as Hilda glared at Lucas, and Lucas glared back. "Oi...Look, focus on getting rid of the Salmonids and taking down the bosses, okay?"
"...Fine," Hilda said coldly. She slammed her roller down and charged at the incoming army of Cohocks.
"What the-?!" Lucas thought, "This girl's crazy!" He fired the cannon at the incoming horde, aiding Hilda to get a Steel Eel on its way onto the shore.
"Alright...let's try this again..." Hilda thought, remembering her earlier encounter with a Steel Eel. She lured it away from the shoreline to give herself more room. "Hmm...Let's see..." She examined her situation. "Hey...aren't we provided sub-weapons, too?" She checked, and pulled out a Splat Bomb. "Yes! Maybe I can roll this behind him to deal some extra damage..."
"What is she doing over there?!" Lucas said to himself as he fired at some last few Cohocks coming from the right shoreline. Hilda evaded the Steel Eel, taking care to avoid a repeat of last time. She turned around and rolled her Splat Bomb towards the rear of the Eel, and it exploded right beside the pilot as she planned. He stopped for a second to analyze what just happened.
"Yeah!" Hilda seized the opportunity and prepared to attack. However, Lucas arrived out of nowhere and struck down the pilot himself. The Golden Eggs were dropped. "HEY! That was my kill!"
"Well, unlike you," said Lucas, "I'm just trying to do my job! Stop mindlessly killing every Salmonid that comes into your line of vision!"
"WHAT?! I was fighting a BOSS SALMONID...THEY drop the Golden Eggs we-"
"Quiet! Look, I-...J-Just...Stop wasting time and get the eggs to the basket!" He grabbed an egg and ran for the basket. Hilda was furious. Her fists were heavily clenched and her teeth started to grind. She tried her best to calm down as she grabbed an egg.
"You're lucky this isn't Ranked Battles, bud," Hilda thought, "Otherwise I'd splat you right now..."
Meanwhile, Jayde and Bryce were dealing with their own problems. Bryce, operating the cannon on the left side of the shoreline, was firing at dozens and dozens of incoming Cohocks. Jayde tried desperately to take out the ones he missed, but a nearby Drizzler guarded behind the army was making it difficult.
"Dammit!" Bryce thought, "There's why too many of 'em!"
"Bryce! They just keep coming!" Jayde yelled.
"I'm doing what I can! Ugh...where the hell are Lucas and Hilda, already?! They should be done with the other Cohocks by now..."
"Ugh! How many more are th- BRYCE! Look out!"
"What?" Bryce was suddenly knocked out of the cannon by a Cohock. "GAH!" Bryce splatted it with the Jet Squelcher and then ran back to Jayde to help her out.
"Why didn't you go back to the cannon?!"
"'Cause I'm gonna use this! BOMB LAUNCHER!" Bryce activated his special weapon and threw bomb after bomb after bomb, splatting as many Cohocks as he could. Only 30 seconds remained on the timer. When Bryce's bomb rush ran out, there were still lots of Cohocks around him and Jayde. Making matters worse, the Drizzler had just launched another missile and it was about to rain ink. "Carp...that was my only one!"
"What do you mean?!"
"I was splatted just as I used my other one!"
"Oh no... Alright, come on! We can still do this! Just gotta take down that Drizzler!"
"How? He's guarded by-"
"Did someone order a Splashdown?!" yelled a voice. It was Hilda. She rushed right into the crowd of the Cohocks and activated her special weapon jumping high into the air. She then came down like a meteor, splatting the surrounding Cohocks and even the Drizzler, exposed from the recoil of its missile launch.
"Hilda!" said Jayde. Bryce immediately headed for a Golden Egg and rushed back to the basket, and Lucas did the same. Jayde wrapped her arm around Hilda. "YEAH! That a girl! Ha ha!"
"Hehe," said Hilda, "Thanks..."
"Alright, that's enough for now!" said Mr. Grizz, "I think that's the last of 'em. Let's get you back to the boat."
Several Minutes Later...
"Phew...that was rough," Bryce said, the crew not on the boat heading for Inkopolis.
"No kidding," Hilda said, "My heart's still going a mile a minute."
"Let's see here...You got 27 eggs today," said Mr. Grizz, "Nice haul."
"Really?" said Jayde, "That's it? That's all you've got to say?"
"Hmph."
"Well," said Bryce, "At least we did it." He then looked over to Lucas, sitting by himself with his face in his hand. "Why does he look so worked up?"
Hilda looked at Lucas for a second, but then immediately looked away in anger. Jayde walked up to her.
"Look, Hilda," said Jayde, "Lucas isn't mad at you. He's worried about you."
"...What."
"He's rough on rookies because he doesn't want them to make any stupid mistakes."
"But I haven't made any!"
"First of all, you kinda have. And that's fine. Second, you have one big problem. You're focusing too much on the Salmonids themselves."
"Isn't the whole point to splat as many as possible?!"
"Yes, but you need to remember those Golden Eggs, too. You're letting your hatred for these guys cloud the objective. That's what Lucas was trying to say."
"But-..." Hilda paused. She thought back to the two previous shifts. There was silence for a minute. Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh..."
"Look, teamwork is essential on this job. It's not all about you, or them. We need to work as what we are: a crew. Lucas is just trying to show you that. He just...doesn't really know how. Okay?"
Hilda looked at Lucas. He then looked back. He didn't glare this time.
"...Sorry," he said softly, but loud enough for Hilda to hear it.
Hilda paused for a few seconds. "It's...fine." The crew was silent for the rest of the trip.
