The five of them were making their way to the captain's shack. Lia went in front, Mira walked after her, followed by Kim and Devon, and last Will. How much Mira tried, Lia didn't seem in for any kind of conversation, and since the two girls behind her were already happily chatting away and Will seemed to still not have gotten over their trip to the museum, she kept silent.
As the platform stopped as it hit the floating landmass, The captain, together with agent Two.
"So you kids are finally ready to get going?"
"Calm down cap'n, we're not in our suits yet."
"Good you mention it Three, Gramps made the human a suit out of that thing you found."
"Then hand it to them, I got to get ready." She said before disappearing in the shack.
"She's not to happy with you. What happened?" Four tried to ask.
"Nothing important. You should get to equipping yourself as well. All of you should." She looked over at Devon and Kim chatting behind her and then at Will, who was trying to put on the vest Cuttlefish handed to him just now.
Mira went in and took her suit out of the crate, passing Three and finding herself a spot behind some crates as well before changing out her clothes for the yellow suit and putting on an inktank. As she left she got her dualies out of another crate and she joined Three back outside, passing Kim and Devon as they went in to get their stuff.
"I believe your mission is clear?" The captain asked her as she came out the door.
"We're supposed to visit the spot where many octarian troops have disappeared. Right?"
"Correctomundo."
"And tell me why we're doing this again."
"It should be a simple first mission for the three new recruits to get acquainted with this sort of work." Two answered her.
"How do you mean: three?"
"You have those two…" She jerked her head towards the cabin. "... and the human over there."
"And we two have to take them with us?" Mira was hesitant. Having to work with Three was already something she was sure to have a bad time with, but to also have to drag those three with them as well.
"At least you'll have me and gramps as your support, we'll be listening and advising them all the way. And the others are also soon here, so you'll have all of us to guide you guys."
"Then why don't you just come along with us?"
"My days as a field agent are behind me, alright? I told you this already. I'm getting older every day, and you are clearly better at it then I will ever be."
"That might be true, but... " Mira couldn't find anything to go against what she had just told her.
"Now, Devon, or agent nine as I believe she was assigned, should know where you're heading, and there you have the last of you guys." She ended as she saw the two come back out of the building, both simply having doffed their jackets and strapped on their tanks, although the one Eigth wore looked weird, as it was more like a backpack.
Will now walked in and soon came back as well, holding a roller as he tried to awkwardly put on an inktank on his back. Kim and Devon had both taken the weapons they had tried the day before, a blaster and charger respectively, Three had her old, slightly banged up hero shot, and Four had simply picked the Dualies.
"You all should know where you are heading to, we'll be here for the much needed support." Marie left by entering the building, soon followed by the captain after he'd wished Eight and Three both success on their mission.
"So, Nine, You should know more about where we are off to?"
"I do ma'am."
"Good, tell us."
"Of course."
Three walked over to the platform and all of them followed. Devon continued as the platform started moving again.
"It is near the edge of our claimed area, and is often referred to as the 'undead underpass'. This name is derived from the eyewitness reports of the troops that had avoided capture. Most of them reported figures that looked like soldiers, but with a light green skin and deep blue tentacles. They never spoke a word when they were seen, hence the name."
"And you only bother to tell this now?" Three, although not sounding really angry, clearly wasn't happy about Devon stating this information any sooner.
"It is only a myth ma'am. All of the survivors were so traumatized that they had to be disbanded from their duties."
"Let me tell you know, those reports weren't just from crazy cephalopods that couldn't even ink a straight line. If my theory is correct, and I fear it is, they are definitely real, and the name wouldn't be to far off."
"How could you know such things ma'am?"
"Because she has seen them, we both have." Eight answered with a cold, gloomy voice that was in great contrast to her usual upbeat one.
"And you both survived that?" Devon looked at the two in disbelief as they got off the platform and followed the soldier down a path that slowly headed down into the deep, dark depths.
"Are you sure we should go there?" Seven asked, making Three and Four both look at him in surprise, until they realized that they both had modified headpieces that could translate the gibberish he spoke.
"If I'm correct, then an enemy lurks down there. We should be careful as we proceed." Three seemed to talk to Devon instead of Will even though she gave an answer that was more suited for his question.
They proceeded in silence, now having to walk one after the other as the path had narrowed down to something that could nearly be classified as a ledge. They slowly made their way down, they air becoming more chilly as their altitude lowered.
"It's getting colder down here. Don't you to find it cold?" Four asked Eight and Nine who were walking in front of her.
"No ma'am."
"I am fine, thank you for asking."
Mira shrugged her shoulders and continued on with the rest. It didn't take them that much longer to reach the cave where Devon had spoken of. It at first appeared to be a regular cave entrance, but at closer inspection they found that the floor had been smoothened and air seemed to be flowing out in regular intervals.
"This is it, isn't it?" Seven looked down the long, unnaturally straight cave.
"It is." Nine answered, making Four wonder why she wouldn't speak to him like she did to the rest of them.
"Who will go first?"
"Perhaps Three should." The captain's voice chimed in the headpieces of Three, Four, and Seven.
"Maybe W- Nine should go?" Four suggested.
"And why would you send in a newby first?" Thee sneered back, clearly not feeling like going first herself.
"He… eh… well… I wanted to tell you sooner…"
"What?" Three asked in a demanding voice.
"well, yesterday I found him in my bathroom... "
"So?"
"He was using my sink…"
"And?"
"He held his hand-" She stopped as all of them heard the faint sound of someone running being emitted from inside the cave, and it quickly became louder.
All of them turned, holding their weapon at the ready, even Seven, who had once again asked Four to fill his tank. They saw a silhouette appear in the dark distance, it was wearing white and green colored clothing and as it drew near, they could make out that it was some white coat covered in green ink, although it didn't really look like ink, since it seemed to somehow pulse.
Nine took aim at the figure, and held a shot ready as they could now make out more of the approaching figure. It took most of them a bit to realise that it wasn't something they had seen much before, its head was way smaller then normal and on its head lay no tentacles, but those long wavy wires. Nine recognized what they were first, they had looked identical to the target that had obliterated her squad, but this was a different individual.
"A human?" Three sounded confused, but still held up her weapon.
"There are more!?" The captain yelled in surprise.
There was a short silence in where Seven put down his roller and took a few steps forward. The figure came closer and closer until what appeared to be a she finally reached them.
"I never thought I'd see anoth-" Further did he not come as he was grabbed by his shoulders and slammed against one of the cave's walls.
"They are evil." The woman cried out.
The rest stood by, weapons at the ready, except for Four, who knew that it wouldn't do anything, she stood by and watched it unfold.
"Wha-" Will tried to ask her.
"They are evil, all of them." The lady exclaimed.
"What are e-"
"All of them must be destroyed. Every last one!"
"But what m-"
This time he wasn't cut off by the lady, but a noise that Four knew all too well. From the cave, a slight, ever growing whir was heard, making her step aside from the entrance, soon followed by the others as a faint green line became visible. Suddenly, without further warning, the beam solidified as whatever had made the whir now made an almost screeching sound.
The beam didn't hit any of the agents, but it perfectly pierced the woman's torso, making her flinch and loosen her grip from Will, who used to opportunity to push her back a bit. As she moved back by the push, the beam followed to stay locked on her torso. When it stopped after a few seconds, it had felt like hours had passed. Where most would have been splatted long ago, it seemed humans could withstand even a stingray, or at least, it appeared so at first.
The human stood still for a short moment longer, and them coughed. The thing was that it sounded more like someone drowning, at least it did to Will. a load of light green ink was thrown out of her mouth. The next cough brought more of the goop, and so did the next one, although there were now traces of red mixed in. The more she coughed, the more of the fluid that came out was red. With every cough she seemed to get weaker, her legs quickly trembling before failing to hold her up any longer.
All of them looked at how she made her last cough, covering the floor with the red liquid before laying perfectly still. "Destroy… them…" She said with her final breath.'
After having said that, she closed her eyes, made a final attempt at a cough, and passed out. None of them knew how to help her, or of she could even be helped.
"So… That's something that happened…" Two broke the silence.
"Tell me about it." Four looked at the sad lifeless body.
Three however kept her gaze fixed at the tunnel. Looking over as well Four saw green figures appear in the distance, slowly but steadily growing larger as they approached.
"That… that are them…" Devon held her breath as they came closer.
"Three and Eight both stared at the things that at first appeared like octolings, looking the same as Devon, but there was something off about them, next to their colors. The way they moved seemed almost robotic, like they weren't truly alive.
Two of the three of them broke off of the group and started dragging the lifeless body inside. The other one came up to the group, the largest oddity being that they didn't raise their weapon, a pair of dualies, as they drew near, they walked up to them as if expecting a friendly conversation.
Both Eight and Three had their weapons at the ready for if they were to even think of raising theirs, all the while Devon was shaking all over and Will simply looked at the creatures with some mix of interest and confusion.
"Follow." The one that had walked up to them told them before turning around and walking after the other two, back into the cave.
All of them stood there for a bit, not sure if they were walking right into a trap or if they would be lead straight to the source of the treat. At last, Will took action and followed, making a few large steps to keep up as they had already taken a few.
"So, we're going in?" Four asked to her headpiece.
"You are with five of you, you should be fine as long as you-" Maire cut out, being replaced with a simple static.
"Marie?"
Nothing but static.
"Three, she-"
"We lost contact, but you heard her, we should follow and see what this is about." She started following after Will, soon followed by Eight as well.
Four shrugged and followed, the line closed by Devon, who was still shaking all over as she tried to stick close to Mira.
As they went, the cave became darker. When they reached a corner, they could see a light in the distance. It was a single long stick that hung off a wall with a large metal door, guarded by two troops that were identical to the three that they had already seen.
The moment the group reached the door, it seemed to open by itself, without any input from the guards and the three that lead them didn't seem to have done anything either. The door revealed a large, gray hallway, lit by more of the same tubular lights.
When they passed it, the door automatically closed behind them, an audible clang as the two segments hit one another. The sound echoed throughout the otherwise completely silent hallway.
The hallway was rather short, ending at a platform that seemed to be suspended by nothing but the hallway that they came from.
"What is this place?" Four looked around.
"The metro." Three and Eight said at the same time like it was a competition on who could sound more like they were reliving a trauma.
The three who were new to this place weren't even done looking around when a train came their way. It only braked just before it reached the station, like it had to make an emergency stop to not overshoot the station.
As the doors opened, the three green octolings stepped in and sat down, not speaking a word. The body of the human was dropped in between the two who had carried it. Both of them somehow had found a way to hold onto their weapons, a blaster and roller, while carrying her. With some hesitation, the rest entered as well. Eight looked around the train, but couldn't find what or who she was looking for and sat down with a somewhat somber face.
Devon couldn't help but look at the figures who brought them there, they seemed familiar somehow, and the wound on the side of the one with dualies only made a bad gut feeling seem more and more like hard truth.
When Eight went to sit down with the rest, the train closed its doors and continued along its current route. She took out some weird handheld device and pressed a button that made a holographic map show up in front of her. Everyone but herself and Three looked at with surprise and amazement.
"We're indeed not on the testing track." Three told her as the both of them looked for something on what appeared to be some sort of map.
Eight nodded and with another single button press the map disappear again. She pocketed the device again like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
"What was that ma'am?" Devon asked. Happy to not have to ponder about the figures that brought them here.
"A map of a part of this place." Three answered abruptly.
"And why are you in possession of that?" She directed her question to Eight.
"As I said, we've been here before." She replied.
Three then turned to four. "You wanted to say something back at the entrance." It was clear she basically commander her to speak.
"That… Well, the thing is…"
"Out with it."
"You see what that stingray did to that human?" Four looked at the lifeless body between the two green soldiers.
"It punctured her, but she didn't splat."
"That's what I wanted to say."
"That they don't splat?"
"Why aren't you freaking out by this?"
"Look around, why would that be the thing to freak me out?"
A silence fell over the coupe as the train traveled across seemingly no more than thin air.