The city grew smaller and smaller in the distance as the boat travelled a bit farther away for it than the crew was used to. The seas looked even greener and more contaminated than they did at the Spawning Grounds and the Marooner's Bay. Hilda was adjusting her tentacle bun as she examined the area.
"Bleh...out of all the places we've been to so far, this place reeks the most," said Hilda.
"You're telling me," said Jayde, "It's almost unbearable."
"Hmph, yeah," said Lucas, "It's even worse than the locker rooms in Musselforge Fitness."
"Oh cod..."
"So, what's this Lost Outpost place again?" Bryce asked.
"It's supposed to be an abandoned outpost from a long time ago," said Jayde, "At least...that's what our report says." Jayde looked at a map of the Lost Outpost sitting next to her, provided by Mr. Grizz. She looked at it closely. "Jeez...this place looks a lot different than our normal locations. It's very..."
"Very what?"
"...I don't know how to say it."
Bryce took a look. "...Different?"
"That's what I just said!"
"Different, huh?" said Hilda, "Have you guys ever been this Lost Outpost?"
"Nope," said Bryce, "Never heard of it until about an hour ago."
"So, this is a completely new place for us? Great."
"Yeah, this could get kinda tough," said Lucas, "New area, new quirks. Let's just hope nothing really bad happens."
"Yeah." Hilda sighed as she looked up. Her expression changed when she saw what looked like smoke or steam in the air. It looked as if it were coming out of a huge chimney. "What the...? Is someone cooking around here?" She looked out the boat to see a number of large shacks surrounding them. They looked old, but at the same time refurbished. But even so, it looked hastily and sloppily built. There was junk covering the roof and walls, including old garbage such as broken air conditioners and tires. There was a strange green glow coming from within the buildings. Chimneys in the shape of giant tin cans let out great amounts of steam.
"What the hell is all this?" Hilda asked. The rest of the crew looked around and were bewildered. Looking further, the crew noticed more. There were giant forks sprouting from the sea with what looked like giant cut pieces of fruit, such as pieces of watermelons and oranges. Farther out, there were smaller islands in the distance, some of which were close to the city. One giant landmass that appeared to be a hilly plains of some sort was behind the shacks.
"What in the name of-" Lucas said to himself.
"Shacks?" said Bryce, "All the way out here?"
"What's the meaning of this?" Hilda asked, "Why are these here of all places?"
"...I think it might be some sort of...dwelling," Jayde suggested.
"Dwelling? Don't tell me the Salmonids are living in these things..."
"I don't know, judging from that green glow coming from the windows though, I can only assume that's the case."
"No way..." said Bryce, "So this is like...their base?"
"Nah," said Mr. Grizz, "It's just a place where they seem to live or somethin'."
"That's not much better! What if their numbers are a lot more than usual here?"
"So what?" said Lucas, "Doesn't change anything. We're still fighting Salmonids and collecting Power Eggs."
"I guess that's true..."
The boat suddenly halted. The crew looked to see one particular outpost standing out from the rest. It looked completely manmade. The artificial island was very cubic in shape; there was a grated area in the front, the west area was a solid stone area with three walls separating three ramps that lead into the water, and the east area consisted of a few branching paths. A large structure stood in the center, resembling a house with no roof. Three of its walls had a door-like entrance and a window each. An exit was also by the back of the building, but it seemed to lead to nowhere but sea.
"That's it," said Mr. Grizz, "The Lost Outpost."
"Whoa..." Hilda said
"Buckle up, kids. Time to go to work! Your quotas today are 9, 10, and 12. Good luck."
"Right!" The four were super-jumped to the Spawn Point, located in front of the egg basket in the middle of the building. Hilda was given the Slosher, Jayde got the Aerospray MG, Bryce got the Dapple Dualies, and Lucas got the Splat Roller.
"It's gonna be a little bit before they show up this time," said Mr. Grizz, "Have a quick breather while ya can."
"Alright." The crew looked at the interior of the structure they had landed in. It didn't seem much different from the inside than it did on the outside.
"Hey guys..." said Jayde, "Look at all this graffiti!" Graffiti covered the walls. Various drawings of fish, Salmonids, and even squid and octo symbols decorated them.
"What the heck?" said Bryce.
Hilda looked at one of the drawings. It was four stick figures with arrow-shaped heads, colored in bright orange. "Is this supposed to be...us?!" she said.
"What's with all this gibberish writing?" Jayde asked, examining one part of the wall with various symbols that seemed to be a language of sorts.
"I think that might be some sort of...language?" said Lucas. The feel of this place was unlike anything the crew had experienced before. It felt even more dangerous and creepy. There were several more drawings, some of which were more disturbing than others despite being simplistic.
"This place is giving me the creeps..." Hilda thought. Suddenly, the boss alarm sounded.
"Looks like it's time to start the party!" Bryce said.
"Alright, spread out!" said Jayde, "Find the boss!" The crew immediately went in different directions.
Hilda went towards the grated area. She used the Slosher to spread ink in front of her and swam towards the grates, but nearly fell through when she got to the area. "GAH!" she yelped as she shapeshifted into humanoid form just before she could fall through the grate and into the water. In front of her was a horde of Salmonids, but there was no boss in sight.
"Shit, where is it?!" Hilda thought as she poured ink on her enemies and sent a signal. She moved towards one of the solid platforms in the grated area, so she could refuel if her ink ran out. "Where is it?! Where is it?! Where is it?!"
"Hilda?" said Jayde as she and the others arrived, "Where's the boss?"
"I don't know! It's-" Suddenly, Hilda noticed a red and yellow buoy at her feet. "-Right under me!" She dove out of the way just as a Maws appeared from the ground. She stood up and readied a Splat Bomb. "I'll lure it over solid ground!"
"Alright!" The others supported Hilda, guarding her from the incoming horde. Hilda moved back towards the building until she was no longer standing on grates. Once the Maws showed its faint rings, she jumped out of the way and left a Splat Bomb behind, splatting the beast as it ate it. "Got him! You guys get the eggs to the basket! I'll take on the other guys until you get back!"
"Are you su-"
"Is that even a question?"
Jayde sighed. "Alright. Be careful."
"I will." Hilda looked for any other Salmonids or bosses while the rest delivered the eggs from the Maws. She found a Stinger at the west area, with a Steelhead alongside it and many Chums and Cohocks following them. Hilda rushed for them. "It wouldn't hurt to charge forward just once, right?" She headed straight for the incoming army, taking down as many Salmonids as she could. Jayde and Bryce soon arrived while Lucas went to scout for more bosses.
"How's it going?" said Bryce.
"Fine!" said Hilda, "We've got a Stinger and a Steelhead!"
"I'll get the Stinger here," said Jayde, "You two take the Steelhead!"
"On it!" Hilda and Bryce headed for the Steelhead, taking down Salmonids as they made their way towards the beast. He stood there, looking at Hilda. It had an angry look on its face, more so than usual. It charged up the bomb on its head as Hilda and Bryce fired at the weapon, but it wasn't enough before it threw the bomb.
"Huh?!" Bryce thought, "He charged it faster than usual..."
"Look out, dumbass!" Hilda said.
"Whoa!" The two managed to dodge the bomb's blast, but both were knocked back. "Thanks for the warning!"
"No problem." Hilda aimed her weapon again at the beast's head. It stared. The two looked each other for a few moments, standing completely still. "Hey!" The second the word came out of Hilda's mouth, the beast charged the bomb as it rushed at Hilda. "Whoa!" Hilda threw ink at the Steelhead with her Slosher, splatting it as the bomb exploded.
"Whoa! You okay, Hilda?"
"Y-Yeah...That was strange."
"Let's grab these eggs and get 'em to the basket!"
"Right!" Hilda then yelled to Jayde, "Jayde?! How are you?"
"Just finished delivering the Stinger's eggs!" Jayde responded, "Lucas and I are about to take on a Drizzler by the east side. We could use some help!"
"On our way! Looks like we've got a Drizzler! C'mon!" Hilda and Bryce rushed for the basket to deliver their eggs.
"I'll get that last egg," Bryce said, "I'll meet you by the Drizzler."
"Got it!" Hilda rushed over to Jayde and Lucas's position while Bryce got the last egg. She arrived to see Jayde in a Lifesaver and Lucas swinging his roller at incoming hordes of Salmonids. "Jayde!" Hilda fired ink at the Lifesaver and revived Jayde. "Jayde, where's the Drizzler?"
"Ugh...I don't know. I lost sight of him!" Jayde said.
"He's up there!" said Lucas.
"Huh?" Hilda said as she and Jayde looked to see the Drizzler floating away, landing by the east doorway of the building. "Oh. Alright, let's wait to-"
"Hey guys," said Lucas as he closed in on the Drizzler, but not too close. "I got this." He prepared his Splat Roller, holding it like a baseball bat. "Clear the way!"
"Eh?!"
"Trust me!"
"Okay." Hilda and Jayde stepped away. The Drizzler aimed its missile towards Lucas, adjusting slightly to make sure it would hit him.
"Come to papa..." The Drizzler fired his missile, and Lucas rushed towards the incoming projectile and wacked it with his roller like a baseball. The missile flew upwards, and then bolted back downwards. The Salmonid panicked as the missile came down on him like an Inkstrike, splatting him instantly. "Ha! Home run!"
"Holy carp..." Jayde said, "Do play baseball or something?"
"Not anymore, but I did at one point. Now let's get these eggs to the basket already!" The three delivered the eggs dropped by the Drizzler to the basket, were they met Bryce as the timer reached zero. They had collected 12 eggs.
"Nice haul, workers," said Mr. Grizz, "NOW BRING ME MORE!" The four were super-jumped back to the Spawn Point and reassigned their weapons. Hilda got the Splat Roller, while Jayde got the Dapple Dualies, Bryce got the Slosher, and Lucas got the Aerospray MG. The strange feeling in the air returned.
"Uh oh," said Bryce, "The air's back. Something's about to happen."
"I feel it, too," said Hilda.
"Whoa! Look!" Jayde said as she pointed to a circular sewer-like object on the ground. A valve suddenly shot up from it. "Gushers!" More of them started to make themselves known at the same time. They were everywhere.
"Gushers?"
"Hilda," said Lucas, "Listen. There's a Goldie in one of these Gushers. He has the Golden Eggs. When you find him, rally everyone up and chase him down! The fire you hit him, the more eggs he'll drop! The higher the stream of ink, and the brighter the light, the closer the Goldie is!"
"Got it!"
"Good! Now let's do this!" The four split up, looking for Gushers. Hilda went to the west area and looked around.
"He's not on the east side!" said Bryce, "The Gushers here are all really low."
"Then...he must be here in the west!" Hilda thought. She spotted one Gusher by the edge of the platform and smashed it with her roller. A huge stream of ink shoot up, and a bright light emitted from it. But there was no Goldie. "It's close...I smell him." Suddenly, a Cohock jumped out of the Gusher, preparing to land on and crush Hilda. "Hey!" Hilda slammed the Cohock in the face with her roller, knocking it into the sea. "Mind your own business!"
Hilda spotted another Gusher nearby and ran for it. "This one, I hope..." Hilda activated the Gusher and an enormous stream shot out along with an almost-blinding light.
"THERE IT IS!" said Mr. Grizz, "After that Goldie!"
"There you are!" Hilda sent a signal as she flung ink up at the golden Salmonid.
"Nice work, Hilda!" said Jayde as she arrived with Bryce and Lucas. They all opened fire and Golden Eggs spawned from the Goldie one by one. It started to run away for another Gusher.
"HEY!" Hilda yelled, "Where do you think you're goin'?!" The crew chased it down as it left behind a trail of Golden Eggs. As it took more blows, the Goldie got smaller and faster.
"Urgh! It's starting to outrun us!" said Lucas. The Goldie found a Gusher by the other end of the outpost and jumped into it. Hilda tried to smash it with the roller, but it was in the Gusher when she attacked, and only activated the Gusher revealing nothing but a tiny spout of ink. The rest of the Gushers had now reset.
"Grrrr...Dammit!" said Hilda.
"C'mon!" said Bryce, "We need to collect the eggs it dropped!"
Hilda took in a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down. She looked back to her crewmates. "Right."
"I'll look for him," said Lucas, "You guys make sure all those eggs get to the basket where they belong!"
"On it!" said Bryce.
"...Okay! Let's go!" Hilda said. Lucas left to find more Gushers while the rest grabbed the eggs left behind. They grabbed them and rushed to the basket in rapid succession, running back and forth trying to get as many in as possible before the Snatchers took them. When all the eggs had been collected, it totaled nine.
"Nine eggs, not bad," said Bryce.
"Help!" said Lucas over the radio, "I've been overrun! I need reviving!"
"Coming!" said Bryce.
"I'll follow you," said Hilda, "Jayde, you find that stupid sparkling fish!"
"Already started!" Jayde replied. Bryce and Hilda rushed to Lucas, who's Lifesaver was surrounded by Salmonids.
"What the-?! Where'd they come from?!"
"The Gushers!" said Bryce, "If they don't have a Goldie, more Salmonids will pop up one after another!"
"Oh, are you kidding me?!"
"Let's plow through these guys and get to Lucas!"
"Right!" Hilda ran through, crushing the Salmonids with her Splat Roller while Bryce got the rest with the Slosher. Green and orange ink was flung everywhere amidst the onslaught. Hilda managed to reach Lucas and revived him just as the last few Salmonids were splatted.
"Phew. Thanks," said Lucas.
"No problem!"
"Ugh..." said Jayde, "I'm having trouble finding him! They're so many Gushers here..."
"We'll help you look!" said Bryce. The crew split up, looking for the Gushers. They hit one after another, but none of them had the Goldie they were seeking. "C'mon...where is it?! Can't find my way through this place...these darn walls block everything from view!"
Hilda opened every Gusher she saw, but had no luck. Every time it was just regular Salmonids and no Goldie. She looked for more Gushers as she splatted Salmonids, but saw none that weren't already open. She was starting to get frustrated. Her teeth started to grind. "Grr...COME ON!" she thought,"How hard can this be?! It's just a freakin' fish! Now hard can it be to find ONE FREAKING-"
"GOLDIE!" yelled Lucas, "Guys! He's over here! In the building!" The entire crew rushed into the walls, where the Goldie was sitting atop a Gusher's pillar of ink. The crew fired frantically at it as it retreated. It ran out and around the building, looking for a new Gusher to dive into. While the crew managed to get a few eggs out of it, it was only a few before it started to outrun them again.
"Carp! He's too fast!" said Bryce.
"Wait..." said Lucas, "Where's Hilda?!" The crew suddenly stopped. Hilda was gone.
"Huh?!" said Jayde, "Did she get splatted?!"
"Oh no..."
"Guys! The Goldie!" Bryce yelled. It was about to enter another Gusher.
"CARP!" said Jayde, "Get h-" Suddenly, Hilda emerged from a small patch of ink right in front of the Goldie. Caught off guard, it stopped in its tracks.
"Surprise, you little piece of carp." Hilda said. The Goldie tried to run in the opposite direction, but the rest of the crew halted it. It tried running to the sides, but they were cut off now, too. The crew had flanked and trapped the Goldie.
"Hmph. Nice tactic, workers," Mr. Grizz whispered to himself. The Goldie didn't last much longer. It dropped more Golden Eggs upon its splat.
"FINALLY," Hilda said.
"Good idea spooking him like that!" said Jayde, "We got him!"
"Thanks," said Hilda, "Now let's get these eggs to the basket and get onto wave three already!" The crew collected as many Golden Eggs as they could and brought them to the basket. Their total was 17 eggs. The air cleared as the four were again sent to the Spawn Point.
"Almost double the quota!" Mr. Grizz said, "Nice."
"Looks like the Aerospray MG is mine this time," said Hilda.
"I got the Splat Roller," said Jayde.
"Slosher's mine!" said Bryce.
"Dapple Dualies here," said Lucas.
Hilda thought to herself, "Okay...final wave. Let's get this over with."
"Hey, Hilda?" said Jayde, noticing Hilda's stressed-out expression, "Are you alright?"
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. That last wave just reeeeally aggravated me a bit."
"Yeah, Goldie Seeking is tough. You never know where the bugger's gonna show up next. Sometimes, you'll go through the whole stage before finally finding him."
"Tell me about it..."
"Guys?" said Bryce, "Do you hear waves or something?"
"That..." said Jayde, "sounds like the tide's coming in!"
"What?!" Hilda said. Sure enough, the water level began to rise as the paths became consumed by the seas. All that was left was the building itself with a small border of land surrounding it. "Oh, you've gotta be KIDDING ME!"
"First day in a new location and we get a Goldie hunt and then this?!" Lucas thought, "Oh, this is gonna be rough..."
"Just stay calm and get those eggs!" said Mr. Grizz, "I'm not paying ya to just sit around!" The boss alarm sounded twice in a row, signaling the arrival of two Boss Salmonids.
"There's two," said Bryce.
"Hilda, you and I can look for one!" said Jayde, "You guys find the other!"
"Got it!" The four split into groups of two, with Hilda and Jayde running out the front while Bryce and Lucas ran to the west. The amount of ground seemed far less compared to the other two locations at high tide. Almost immediately Hilda caught sight of a Scrapper heading for them, followed by a swarm of Smallfries.
"Scrapper! It's heading right for us!" she warmed Jayde, "I'll stun him! You get him from the back!" Hilda opened fire on the Salmonid, halting him.
"Uh...one problem with that!" Jayde said.
"What?"
"This walkway's too thin! If I try to get past him with all these Smallfries, I'll end up in the water!"
"Hmm..." Hilda thought as she racked up enough damage to fully stun the Scrapper. She looked to the wall. It was covered with orange ink with spots of green ink. "...Oh! Try swimming to the other side from the wall!"
"Oh yeah! The wall!" Jayde shifted to squid form and swam across the ink along the wall, jumped off from the wall and landing behind the Scrapper. She splatted it along with the Smallfries. "Got him!"
"Guys! We're getting overrun again! Help!" Bryce yelled.
"On our way!" The two each grabbed a Golden Egg. They rushed into the building, only to find Bryce and Lucas with eggs as well at the doorway, trying to block an incoming horde.
"They're trying to get inside!"
"Carp! They're coming from the other way, too!" said Jayde as she spotted a Steelhead on its way in, followed by a Flyfish. The four quickly placed their eggs in the basket and rushed for the doorways, only to find even more Salmonids had spawned.
"They're flanking us!" said Hilda.
"Tch!" said Lucas. He raised his weapon to the air and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Everyone! Fire like hell! Block the gates! Take down the bosses! Do not let a single Salmonid in this building! This our last wave, so let's get moving!"
"RIGHT!" everyone else yelled as they fired upon the incoming hordes. They were stuck within the walls, trying desperately to keep all the Salmonids at bay. There were dozens of them, dropping a load of Power Eggs as they were taken down.
"Damn!" Hilda thought, "There's so many of them! Even for me, this is crazy! Jayde!"
"What is it?!"
"Can I go crazy on these guys again?!"
"Probably not the best time! Our main focus is to stay alive until we can get those eggs in that basket and get out of here!"
"Urgh...right!" Hilda was slightly disappointed, but continued to fight regardless. "Alright...let's see. Where's the nearest b-" She suddenly spotted the Steelhead, who was now engaging in combat with Bryce. The beast charged up his bomb towards him, and Hilda immediately noticed and fired at it. The Steelhead was taken down right in the nick of time.
"Thanks, Hilda!"
"No problem!" As Bryce and Hilda delivered the three Golden Eggs dropped by the Steelhead, Bryce saw numerous Tenta Missiles from the Flyfish headed for Hilda.
"HILDA! MOVE!" He shoved her out of the way, sparing her from the missiles' blast but also splatting himself in the process.
"Uh?! Don't worry, Bryce! I got-" A Cohock suddenly appeared and slammed her with his frying pan with enough strength to launch her into the back wall behind the basket, and she landed hard on the ground. "Oh...That really hurt..." She slowly got to her knees to see the building filling up with Salmonids, but she was too stunned by the blow to do much else. A Stinger appeared by the shore, and a Steel Eel appeared as well.
"Carp! Carp! CARP!" yelled Jayde as she got surrounded by Salmonids. "Lucas! Hilda! Use your s-" She was splatted before she could finish.
"Wha-?! No!" Lucas said, "Damnit! There's WAY too many of 'em!" A dozen Salmonids now crowded the building, targeting mainly Lucas. "Oh c'mon!" He didn't last much longer. Suddenly, the Salmonids turned towards Hilda.
"HUH?! N-Now what?!" Hilda frantically looked around. "Gah...I need to get up! I gotta-"
"Hilda!" yelled Jayde, "Over here! I have an idea!" Hilda spotted Bryce and Jayde's Lifesavers floating towards her among the horde. "Guys!" She took out a Splat Bomb as the horde got ever close. "There's way too many to try and push through to them... but...if I can use this to revive them, we can avoid a crew wipe! And then...I don't care what they say. I'm goin' wild on these guys." She tossed the Splat Bomb into the crowd just as a Chum attacked and splatted Hilda. There was a short silence as the Salmonids thought they were finished with their work. The bomb landed on the ground. A second or two passed...
KABOOM! A number of Salmonids were taken out as Jayde and Bryce, just within range of the blast, were revived.
"YES!" yelled Bryce.
"Alright!" Jayde yelled. She tossed a Splat Bomb at Lucas to revive Lucas and Bryce threw one of revive Hilda.
"HA HA HA! Amazing save, kid!" said Mr. Grizz, "Now keep goin'!"
"Alright, everyone! SPECIAL WEAPONS! NOW!"
"Yeah! Let's finish this!" yelled Hilda. She was ready. Adrenaline pumped through her entire body. So much so, she ripped one of the silver packed from her cap and ripped it open with her bare teeth. Everyone activated their special at once. The Bomb Launcher appeared on Hilda's back, Jayde jumped up for the Splashdown, Bryce took to the skies with the Inkjet, and Lucas fired up the powerful Sting Ray.
The battle was suddenly shifted. Within seconds, the Salmonids within the building, including the bosses, were annihilated. Lucas took down the Flyfish with the Sting Ray, which pierced through all defenses and brought it down easily. Bryce destroyed the Steel Eel and the Stinger with a few shots from his Inkjet Blaster. Hilda and Jayde used their specials to clear the area for the remaining forces. The remained Salmonids that survived were petrified and immediately retreated to avoid the same fate that they witnessed the others meet.
"YEAH! GET OUT OF HERE!" Hilda yelled as the battlefield calmed and the Specials wore off. "WOOOOO!" She then stopped to catch her breath.
"Hilda?" said Jayde as she walked up to her.
"Huh?" She turned around to look at Jayde.
"That. Was. PERFECT!"
"No kidding! I told ya I was pretty crazy!"
"Heh, I know that better than anyone!"
"If you're done celebrating," said Lucas, "Let's get these eggs before our timer runs out!" The crew grabbed the remaining Power Eggs dropped in the onslaught. At the end of the wave, they had collected 16 total eggs.
"Alright, that's the last of 'em!" said Mr. Grizz, "Let's get you guys back." The four were super-jumped back to the boat as it left the Lost Outpost and returned to the city. Hilda collapsed on the floor.
"WOO!" she said, "That felt GREAT!"
I know!" said Lucas, "Best shift I've ever worked by far!"
"Jayde, your plan was pure genius! Using all the specials at once? That was a game changer!"
"Hey," said Jayde, "You set it into motion when you threw that bomb last-minute!"
"I am NEVER forgetting this!" said Bryce, "Wait 'til my brother hears this!"
"Heh, I'll have to call Connie when I get back home tonight," said Hilda, "He's gonna love this story! May not have been that Silver Salmonid, but it was still sooo satisfying."
"Alright!" said Mr. Grizz, "Your final count for this shift's waves are...12, 17, and 16. That's...45 out of 31!"
"Fresh!" said Jayde.
"You've shown incredible work these past few shifts! Therefore, allow me to be the first to congratulate you on becoming true Profreshionals."
"It's an honor, sir!" said Hilda.
"Okay, that's enough shifts for now. I'm about to close up. However, would you mind swinging over later today at around dusk?"
"Huh?"
"That's when the next recruitment drive starts. I'll have a fresh set of weapons ready for ya."
"Why not?" said Bryce.
"Yeah," said Jayde, "We'll be there!"
"I appreciate your dedication, workers. You might just be the greatest crew I've ever had. I'll be sure to put this on your bonus reviews."
