The order was given. Hundreds of rockets, all stationed on one plot of land, fired their payload. The skies darkened as the flames from each one brightened before finally launching to their final destination; Inkopolis. Several people were clapping and cheering loudly at what they assumed was justice. Paad was one of them. Takoyaki looked over to Paad. A manic, almost psychopathic glee was in his eyes. The general had wondered why Seth and Paad were so different; Seth knew what he was doing was necessary, but it almost seemed like Paad enjoyed the pain of the other side.

A subordinate for Octavio's Fist came up to Takoyaki. "Sir, Seth isn't where he told us he was."

"...he's not at his place?"

"We checked before we sent you over. No notes, nothing. His VCR was gone as well as all of his cassettes."

Takoyaki grumbled. "Fine, send a search team. If you can't find him on this side of the border, try crossing it. He might've gone soft and tried to defect."

"Yes sir."

The convoy stopped. The first jeep went through the gate. Then the second one. Papers had to be checked all along the toll so that things are in order. Of all the long line ups Ika had to go through, he was assuming being in a jeep wasn't going to be one of them.

Finally, the jeep before him just cleared their papers and it was their turn. Air raid sirens started sounding from the Inkopolis side of the border. A massive volley of rockets began hitting border skyscrapers right through, the explosions leaking out from the other side in a massive fireball. The rest of the rockets went over to the city beyond.

Most of them blew out of the sky before they even reached their target; fireballs popping up and down the skyline as Ink Dome interceptors were launched from the plaza. Ika breathed a sigh of relief after realizing that they were safe from most of the damage. He just hoped Meshi didn't get hurt from one of those missiles.

Seth coughed and hacked loudly as he regained consciousness. He looked around, trying his best to see in the thick smoke. Half of the room was on fire. "M-Meshi...? Meshi?!" There was nothing. Calling any more would probably waste air. Seth crawled to the nearest wall, smashing the low-mounted emergency panel. Inside was a parachute. Seth, a little confused at first, put the parachute on. Then he lifted a nearby window open and kicked the screen out. Seth crawled back down on the ground to catch air, looking back solemnly at the scene. He stood up again and ran out of the window.

The interrogation room was monochrome and without feeling, white walls contrasting with the black seats and table. There was no sign of a door at first, and Seth only realized there was, in fact, a door when the wall gave way, allowing an Inkling soldier to step inside.

Marie sat down on the other side of the red-haired Octarian, a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around his chest. "...you're lucky to be alive." She shuffled through a pile of papers she had taken in with her, looking through them. "...Seth, is that right?"

"Yes." Seth fumbled with his fingers. "Can I get some water?"

Marie took a bottle of water out of the pockets of her uniform, handing it to Seth. "You must be pretty thirsty. How long were you in there?"

Seth took a sip of water, taking a few deep breaths. "They... they shoved us into this hospital for... fuck, I don't know, a day? There aren't any holes to the outside, so... my sister worked there... I don't know if you guys realize this, but Octarians work young."

Marie nodded. "I don't think I have to tell you that we didn't order the fireteam to do what they did in there."

"...yeah." Seth started gulping down the water at an alarming rate. "Where's my sister?"

"...she was working there at the time?"

"Yeah... she was with me in the room. Her name's Aloe."

Marie cringed internally. Seth was the only one who survived.

The jeep began accelerating. A split second later, the dirt next to the road just a few jeeps in front of them exploded into a cluster of white particles, deafening Ika temporarily as the ringing of his ears set in. The pieces started raining down, leaving a trail of white behind them. The driver started getting out. "WILLIE PETE! EVERYONE OUT OF THE VEHICLES!"

Willie Pete. Figures that they would use white phosphorus for something like this. As the pieces of ignited phosphorus rained down on the jeeps, people's clothes caught on fire. They screamed as their bodies were engulfed in flames, trying desperately to roll and put it out. Alas, it did nothing. Ika was lucky enough to have avoided that fate.

Marie looked out the window as the explosion rocked her condo. "What... the fuck was that?" She saw the trails of white phosphorus in the sky, dropping down on the helpless conscripts. "Oh shit."

Nara rushed to her. "What's going on- oh. Oh fuck. Ohhh fuck."

Marie turned to Nara. "Get your uniform on. We're not avoiding this one."

Immediately after the phosphorus attack, what seemed like tens of Octarian soldiers, dressed in civilian clothing, came out of the concrete jungle and started shooting the convoy. Getting shot was more subtle than Ika thought; many people out in the open only dropped dead after the blood had seeped into their fatigues.

Ika ran for the nearest piece of good cover, sliding into it and readying his weapon. A person who was in Ika's jeep tried to make his way to Ika, only to collapse to the ground and let out a low, nasally exhale as he made his last involuntary breath. The loud cracking of gunfire was dampened by the constant ringing of Ika's ears.

There was nothing Ika could do. His fireteam leader was most likely dead, and there was no way he was going to pop his head out to fire. All he could do was rely on his radio; something that he hadn't even been taught due to how quick conscripts were put through.

Some people had gotten into cover as well, which Ika took notice to. "HEY!" The other soldier didn't hear him, but he looked towards Ika. A grenade landed next to the other soldier's feet. He tried to kick it away but to no effect. A cloud of red spurted up as the grenade's timer hit zero.

Ika had realized one thing in the midst of all the chaos. His entire turf war career was preparing him for this.