Hey! fellow readers! Welcome back! With Splatoon 3 being released finally around the world, I've been able to complete the story mode and find out a lot of lore involved. Well, I got to say for myself; I am feeling within a mixture right now. Learning all the information is really a lot of take in, especially the wonders of story mode and the lore. On top of this, I am also taking in a map about the surrounding areas of the world.
While I'll not be discussing how this new information changes everything from here on out, I will plan to tackles it in a few ways. As always, enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 10: The Squidbeak Splatoon - Part 1
Unknown Location
Being guided by the agents, the four friends kept pace and going forward. The path seemed to have gone on forever that they lost track of how much time had passed since first entering. The path came to an end and the four eventually popped up from the other side. Each of the cephalopods emerged from the grate and returned to their humanoid forms.
Shortly, their eyes were caught at the surrounding landscape which was breathtaking. From where they were, they were clearly not in Inkopolis anymore; Every direction they could see mountains in the distance. What they did manage to make out was a river running between a set of mountains and there in the distance, barely able to be made out was Inkopolis; It was so far away.
Despite the surroundings, the place that they arrived at stood out; the landscape was on a mountainside combined with a cliff. The place they were at was beautiful: Several connected tera temples, waterfalls flowing down, and tons of cherry blossom trees. Everywhere they looked, they were met by the beauty. The sound of the waterfalls and birds chirping were the only sounds that could be heard.
As they were walking between the center temple, Emma looked to her right of a large door and saw two figures on the other side of the bridge, watching a waterfall.
"Hey Kay!"
Emma tugged on the shoulder of her friend and pointed to the two figures. Now spotting them, Cayley couldn't make out the two figures, although they oddly seemed familiar. The four began marching out onto the bridge to where the two figures were. The one on the left was in a pink beanie, a pink sweater and brown shoes. The one on the right was in a kimono that was paired with a black haori, socked sandals and was holding a green wagasa. Hearing the four's footsteps, both of them turned to face the four. And instantly, the four gasped upon realizing who the two were.
Emma and Jeweli smiled widely with their bodies feeling warm now, it was as if any doubts had vanished and were replaced with the feeling of acceptance. For Cayley peculiarly, having learned all the identities of the agents, the sentiment was so overwhelming to her. Most revealing was learning that the Marie and Callie were apart of this all along. A bell was ringing in her mind, signaling to her that they WERE the first two agents. The inkling fainted and fell backwards upon realizing this, it was too much to grasp on.
Avery and Jeweli were able to catch the inkling thanks to quick thinking and slow her fall." Emma and Avery began fanning Kay's face, giving her air to cool her down. As a way to help, Jeweli took Cayley's headphones and cap off; Using her own cap to fan cold air down to her face.
After a period of time, Cayley awoken and was helped into a sitting position. "Aw.. did I just..." She saw both Marie and Callie again and realized what happened before now.
"Oh my cod! Oh my cod! Oh my cod!" Cayley screamed, wanted to stand up and jump for joy. Callie and Marie smiled and did their iconic poses to the four. "Stay fresh!" Cayley almost fainted again but managed to keep herself afloat. She got up and was able to stand on her feet again. Convincingly, Callie and Marie felt like they didn't need to introduce themselves to the four since it was evident.
"Your here!" Callie started.
"We were informed that you would come."
Jeweli was just as shocked as Cayley; She had seen them before and now here they were again. By now, she had listened to all their songs and had no reason to fear them, even if they were Agent 1 and Agent 2.
"So these are the four lass and lad that will be joining us..." The four looked to their right now, seeing Cuttlefish. Again, it was a shocker for all except Avery.
"Captain Cuttlefish..." Jeweli stepped forward slowly and kneeled before the captain. Jeweli wanted to make herself open to helping Cuttlefish bring an end to the issue regarding the octarians. "Forgive me for following Obtavio and his ways."
"Lass... there is need to apologize; You hadn't had much of a choice."
Jeweli stood up and returned in line with her friends as Callie opened mouth to talk. "We might as well come clean about it since you already figured us out." Cayley, Emma and Jeweli gasped to what Callie said next. "Gramps!"
"Wait?! H-He's your grandpa?!" Cayley said shivering as the chills run throughout her body.
"That lass... Yes! I am!"
Cuttlefish made eye contact with each of them, seeing them light up gleamingly. "You four are looking to fight the octarians?"
"Of course we are, Captain." Cayley went to explained their reasons for joining, about the damage the octarians caused and how they wanted to do more to ensure the safety of the plaza. After hearing all this, Cuttlefish shook his head up and down in a slow nodding motion, speaking up shortly after. "I expect all of you to be honor the deed and make your best effort to this, but are you certain you want to fight them?"
"I..." The four were not sure on answering the question. It was a mixed feeling, like a blur. They all knew the dangers that were ahead and just agreed to roll with it. Likewise, they weren't sure what they were getting themselves into. The four made eye contact, feeling awkward until Cuttlefish cleared his throat. "...I'll take your silence as a yes then." Cuttlefish raised his cane into the air in the direction of the four. "Starting today, you are..." Cuttlefish fell silent out of thought. "Hmmm, come to think of it, what should we call you?"
"Maybe I can give an insight." Jeweli opened up. "During that battle yesterday, we called ourselves by the first letter of our names just so the octarians wouldn't catch on who we were."
"Mhm, I see." Cuttlefish turned to Marie and asked. "What do you think, Agent 2?"
"That would complicate things if someone else joins the splatoon later with the same letter as them. Maybe we should give them the designations we been working on."
"Good call!" While he still had the choice of assigning the small group some numbers, it was the perfect opportunity to field test the designations. After the four replied their names when asked, the old captain gave some thought and point to Cayley with his cane.
"From now on, you will be designated Agent Carma."
Cayley gave a slow nod and accepted the designation that Cuttlefish had given to her. The inkling was fine overall with the name. It was just something that sounded... very impacting.
Cuttlefish went around pointing to the other three, giving them their designations without pause. Emma was Agent Echo and Jeweli was Agent Juliet. Last but not least was Avery; Unsurprisingly, given the designation of Agent Alpha. The four took the time to remember their designations, simultaneously directing attention to the old inkling. He cracked a few bones while at it. "Before I can fully assure that you will do well, it would be best if you four come to our base to train and learn the basics."
"Train? Gramps, we're not sending them into the field?" Marie questioned.
"It'll be wise to take the time to teach the new agents about going on missions, having them learn vital communication, and coordination."
"Gramps is right, Marie. They can't go out without knowing what to expect. They'll be no use if they're not informed."
"I get that but with the loyal octarians being at large, we're gonna need them at helping to turn the tide." While Marie was going to explain about the things the four would be facing; As if by some timing, Marie's radio began to beep a tone before transmitting a voice through. "Agent 6 calling Agent 2. Repeat! Agent 6 calling Agent 2."
Marie quickly replied into the radio. "Agent 2 here."
"We've completed our mission and are on our way back, we have valuable intel from Agent 5."
"That's perfect news! Your just in a nick of time, we managed to find a few new faces so hurry back if you can.."
"We're be there in a bit. Over and out."
"Anything from Agent 5?" Cuttlefish asked, prompting Marie to give the good news to Cuttlefish. "Six, Seven, and Nine are safe and are on their way back."
"Fantastic! I wonder what information they will bring to us this time."
Emma was encouraged to ask something related to hearing Marie communicate. "Captain?"
"Yes, young lass?"
"If you can communicate then why tell it here?"
"I can answer that." Marie took the lead from Cuttlefish and continued.
"We're taking caution because of two things that recently happened. Even now, the octarians had managed to find a way to listen in to what we were saying while at the same time, figuring out how to jam and limit our abilities to communicate properly at long range."
Marie explained about how she was able to communicate in real time with Coral back when Callie was captured by Obtavio. In the past few months the octarians had made breakthroughs and gained the advantage. In effect, they had to resort to delivering messages in person.
"While we are able to communicate between octarian domes without risk; Our transmissions to the surface are a different story. And until we can find a way to disable whatever it is that is preventing us from communicating properly, we'll have to keep up with this method."
Having seen the work of the splatoon in the background and from afar; learning about this made Jeweli wonder. How the octarian army was able to utilize resources within a few months? It was questionable at best since she was kept in the dark about the true strength of the army.
Ali, Coral and Olivia came about, marching up past Cuttlefish to greet their brothers, approaching from the front.
"Hey Eric!"
"Hey Ali."
The siblings greeted with short hugs and greeted Cuttlefish after. "Cap'n..."
"Ah! Agent 6! Welcome back! What were you able to find out this time?"
"I made contact with 5 again and she was able to give feedback about what she was able to find out about the leaders. She says our efforts are starting to have an effect on their war effort. This means we could start cutting back a little on the missions." Eric stated strongly.
To their left was a map that was marked with all the known pockets of the loyal octarians. The map had terrain features, marking where the octarians were; Some of them were crossed over, likely already searched.
Jeweli saw the location of Base 991, in particular crossed out. She couldn't help but shiver, thinking back to the thought of having to the fight the very agents in front of her.
"Should we have them going solo again to speed things up then?" Ali asked Marie.
"Not likely... after what happened to Coral and Olivia when they went out solo last time, We just can't risk it. Everyone will still need to watch each other's backs." The urge of caution that Marie withheld was the result of oversight that almost costed the one she mentored. It was easily understandable from the perspective of Three, as she herself took it to heart of facing the octarians. "Okay."
"Any word on aid from our other agents, Callie?" Marie asked with hesitancy. Callie only could give a frown towards Marie, already telling of bad news. "It seems that Agent Orange and Agent Blue have gone off the grid or have decided to move on from being agents."
"Well, that's unfortunate... considering the history of those two in the past; I am not surprised."
"Looks like you four are our lead now." Leaving with that note, the Captain went about towards a grate that was close by, letting the four know about . "Come along lass. Let's get started right away."
The first one to go into the grate was Cuttlefish. Cayley was the first one and the last was Emma.
The track of time was non-existent while they traveled through, none spoke any words until they reached the other side. Jeweli recognized the place from the start, looking in astonishment. What were they doing here?She sprinted up to the edge, eyeing down into the pit, towards the place where she called home for most of her life. Not much had changed for the most part aside from the time of day.
Emma and Cayley joined with the octoling, observing the high cliffs and waterfalls that surrounded them. Right below them was the abyss of the crater, structures seen below. It became clear that this was octo valley.
"Captain?"
Both of them glanced to Cuttlefish, having just stopped near a kettle to examine it. He responded, still facing away from them but loud enough for them to hear.
"Yes! I know you want questions but it will be all answered in good times."
He finally turned to them while pointing at the kettle. "We must continue on with our journey now."
As before, Cuttlefish was the first one in; And so into the kettle they went!
After a few seconds of travel, they found themselves next to a road in what was clearly in an octarian dome. In front of them was a facility, a very odd one at best.
The four walked towards the facility with the captain while taking in the surroundings again.
"Captain, how did you find this facility?"
"After the octarian army abandoned octo valley and left it's inhabitants for themselves, we struck a peace with the citizens and was gifted with this facility."
The six followed the road that led to the facility until it came to a stop at a large metal gate.
The inklings could already guess at how secret this place was. Taking out a key card, the captain swiped it and opened the gate.
The gate took about a minute to open due to the construction; Having been built to withstand your average explosions. In the meantime, the rest of the agents had caught up and had joined them.
The gate had revealed that the road continued leading into a lit tunnel. A few minutes of walking later, the tunnel took u-turn and had ended, coming up to an elevator. They were going deeper into the dome. Just how deep was anyone's guess.
Cuttlefish cleared his throat and asked. "Do all of you have any experience with fighting in hand to hand combat?"
