Callie watched the truck carrying the children disappear into the next dome and then hurried towards the frontline as everyone else likewise scrambled to their posts. Already the echoing sounds of scraping crab bodies and clicking mandibles filled the cavern and the crabs were pouring up from the water as if it were a portal to the black pits themselves.
Three ran along the lines being held by the two guard companies, making sure everything was as ready as they could be. Beta and Epsilon were deployed on the right flank of the second defence line, with Beta holding the very right.
Spread along the entire length of the second defence line, almost like a third line of defence, were large harpoon cannons that Three and Marina had come up with. They were covered by tarps to hide their nature from the enemy until they were needed, but nobody knew how effective they would actually be and the Octarian Army units kept glancing at them, nervously.
"Focus on the enemy!" Callie shouted at them, snapping them back into focus. "Remember, many of them have multiple arms and aim for the eyes and the gills. Their arms and legs are breakable so don't be afraid to fight dirty."
She wished she'd been able to train some Octarians on how to fight the crabs. As it was they were poorly equipped for it. If the Salmonids showed up they would be better placed to fight them but the crabs obviously knew this and were sending in their expendable troops to whittle down their numbers.
Callie stepped over the second line troops to put herself between them and the crabs. She hoped that if she could break up the crab's formation enough, she could make things easier on them. Also, seeing her out front doing that kind of damage would boost the morale of the troops. She hoped.
The hundreds of soldier crabs paused near the water's edge, just out of range of the octosnipers on the first line. Callie had a feeling she knew what they were waiting for. Sure enough, several larger crabs emerged from the water holding large canisters, which they opened. After a moment of preparation they dropped something into the canisters and smoke began to billow out of them.
Here it comes.
She instinctively glanced back at Four, who was part of the reserve line of troops, ready to fill in any gaps, reinforce, or replace companies fighting on the line. She glared balefully at the enemy.
The crabs started chittering loudly and began to move about oddly as the smoke started to take its effects. Callie decided she was not going to play to the crab's timetable and ripped a stalactite from the ceiling of the cavern. The loud noise drew the attention of some, but too late.
Callie drew back and threw the stalactite like a javelin, it sailed over the heads of the first defence line and crashed amidst the horde of small crabs in a spray of broken bodies and crab limbs, though it failed to hit any of the larger crabs before it rolled into the water.
The crabs cried out angrily and began to swarm forward, beginning the battle in earnest.
Callie gripped her new weapons, a pair of huge ink rollers, originally meant for octo samurai, but modified to Callie's own specifications to make them more effective as clubs and their engines removed.
The cavern at the first defence line was too small for Callie to operate effectively with her huge size, so she was forced to stand and watch as the older octolings and the octotroopers fought back with all they had.
The octosnipers and octogattlings were the first to open fire creating a surprisingly large disruption in the crab lines as they kept knocking the little crabs back with the sheer impact of their weapons. Rolonium was also thrown out, catching whole scores of the small crabs, but they had only a few rolls to use. The regular octotroopers had been deprived of their usual floating platforms and forced to fight with their simple ink shooters, which were, frankly, pitiful, and only effective in the large number of them firing on the crabs now.
The tide of crabs kept moving, sounding angrier and more determined with each passing second. They came right up to the barricades and tried to climb them, clambering over each other in the attempt. The octolings fought back by striking with the butt of their octoshots, breaking legs, shells, and mandibles, holding the tide back.
Callie couldn't resist throwing another stalactite into the horde, shattering more bodies and helping the front line just that little bit. Unfortunately, just like at the hardware store during the Liberation, the pile in front of the barricades grew larger and larger, bodies piling on top of bodies until they formed a ramp, and the position quickly grew untenable, and octarians started dying more quickly.
Callie almost couldn't bear to watch, seeing these older octolings, who had looked so forlorn when she'd first seen them, then hopeful after she'd led some reforms and helped with the farms, now eagerly sacrificing themselves to kill as many crabs as possible before they reached the second line, the line comprising the future of the Octarian nation. It was noble yet terrible at the same time, the old sacrificing themselves to save the young. That kind of brutal pragmatism was painfully Octarian.
The officer commanding the first line called out a retreat and they began to run. Some were too injured to run and not all were reachable by their comrades before they were overwhelmed by the crabs and killed. The various octotroopers were too slow and frail, and were subsequently ripped to shreds, their shrill screams added to the chorus of the crab's inexorable march.
Callie gripped her rollers tightly. Now she could act. She ran forward and put herself between the retreating Octarians and the crabs. Her presence didn't dissuade the crabs in the slightest, a product of that strange smoke for certain. Fortunately, she had other means of dissuading them.
Callie swung her rollers in broad arcs, sweeping them through the crab horde, crushing bodies or sending them flying to shatter against the walls like toys. Her tentacles were fully unfurled and swept around her, doing much the same with brutal effect.
Her attack was so impactful it actually made the swarming soldier crabs pause for a moment to try and understand what was happening. They soon forgot all about the retreating Octarians and focused on her, swarming her from all sides.
Callie was forced to keep backing up even as she killed dozens with each swing of her rollers. She used her tentacles to sweep around behind her and stop herself from getting surrounded, but there were just too many of them, and the wider the cavern got the harder it was.
Globs of ink started raining down from above. The sound of buzzing rotor blades reached her otoliths amidst the rising tumult of battle. Octocopters and octobombers flew through the air, dodging between stalactites and Callie's own tentacles and roller swings as they spat ink and dropped ink bombs and rocks down on the crabs. While it didn't kill many of them, it impeded their progress and gave them something else to worry about.
Callie was backed up almost to the second line. Streaks of ink began splashing around her as the chargers opened fire. The handful of Octogattlings who had been kept back also began to open up. Callie used that opportunity to disengage. She spun around, made two large strides then leaped over the line of Octarian troops to land behind them.
Her guards immediately surrounded her as she sat on the ground panting, checking her for injuries. Her boots had several scrapes and her outfit had a few tears on the pant legs but, other than a few nicks on her tentacles, she was unharmed.
There was a horrible crashing noise as the crabs ran into the main defence line. Octoshots erupted, holding back the tide only for a few seconds before the soldier crabs smashed into the barricades. Both sides howled and the sounds of physical combat once more filled the cavern.
Callie looked over at the Guard, watching as the crabs hurled themselves mindlessly against the barricades. The first rank of Guard troops swung their hammers down or diagonally, smashing crabs with each strike, while the second rank right behind them thrust out with the tops of their hammers which had been fitted with iron spikes, preventing crabs from slipping in while those in the first rank were recovering from their swings.
Callie was impressed. Their coordination was surprisingly good for only a month and a half of training, and the crabs were having a hard time getting through their defence with the barricades acting as shields. What's more, the crabs were crammed so tightly together that they were getting in each other's way, making it harder for them to fight back or even move.
Looking back at the Octarian lines, things weren't going quite as well. Armed only with their octoshots with a handful of rollers mixed in, it was all close combat and they were starting to take casualties already. Something had to change, and quickly.
Callie found Lady Sever standing atop one of the Guard trucks, observing the battle and giving orders. She saw Callie and asked in a surprisingly calm voice, "can I help you, Lady Cuttlefish?"
The respectful tone was in such contrast to the mayhem echoing through the chamber that it took Callie aback for a moment.
"The Guard seems to be doing well with their hammers. I thought we could ask to borrow a few of them and maybe train some of our troops in their drill."
Lady Sever frowned and looked over at the Guard's lines. They were still holding strong, with the bodies piling up in front of them. Suddenly there was a loud whistle and the front rank switched places with the second, the first the third. The manoeuvre happened so quickly and fluidly that the crabs were caught completely off guard. Mindless as they seemed it still had an effect as the fresher troops moved forward and briefly pushed them back, giving them a chance to shovel away some of the bodies piling up in front of the barricades.
"In the middle of a battle?" She asked. "I'm not sure that level of coordination is something that can be trained in a matter of minutes, Kravah."
"It doesn't have to be as involved as that, but just showing them how to effectively use the hammers should help some. I'm sure the Guard can spare a couple hundred. They have plenty of reserve companies they can train the Army troops with."
Sever's eyes hardened as her mind made dozens of calculations and considerations. In the midst of battle it was generally unwise to distract the commander to this degree but this was something that might save lives.
Finally she said, "our strategy needs some adjustment." And she put in a call for Three to come see her.
Callie asked, "You have another idea?"
"Indeed. Rather than give them to troops unfamiliar with their use, we will spread out the ones who are familiar. I was reluctant to rely on our allies at first but they are proving reliable so far and we have no choice. We have to rethink how best to use them, and quickly."
"Ma'am, new enemies!"
They both looked out over the battlefield and saw more regular-sized crabs emerging from the water, alongside a new horde of chums and the bigger, frying pan wielding cohoks.
As Callie ran through all the different types of Salmonids she knew of in her head, she had a feeling things were about to get extremely difficult.
—-
Vella almost felt at home in the underground passageway. The echoes of footsteps in the dark were familiar to her, even if those footsteps were from a different army, and she was under a city she had been raised to conquer. Instead, today she was, yet again, helping to save Inkopolis alongside an army that might invade her own home tomorrow.
She couldn't help but analyse and compare the Calachoran troops against those of the Octarian army. The often mentioned Enforcers certainly looked the part of an elite force. They carried themselves with confidence, despite the situation they were going into. The regular NSF officers appeared only slightly anxious, while the Inkopolis Security officers looked decidedly more out of their depth, though they still carried an air of determination to do their duty.
Inkopolis Security was probably the only Calachoran institution she preferred over its most approximate Octarian counterpart. The Army in general had a particular disdain for Public Security. At least IS didn't pretend to be more than it was.
The most unknown factor was the militia troops with them. Vella had heard much about them, a lot of it less than complimentary, even from other inklings. Despite being partly trained by Captain Cuttlefish, the one who had turned Agent 3 into the bane of Octarian ambitions, they looked decidedly unimpressive.
Although some of the militia members were of Scylla's shoal, all of them lacked the sharpness or aura of soldiers. Even compared to the Guard, they seemed to lack that edge. All told, Vella wasn't sure how safe she felt even if she could count the people around her as allies and trust them not to kill her instead of the enemy. At least she wasn't completely alone with strangers.
"You did not have to come," Vella whispered in the dark.
"I wasn't gonna' leave you to come down here by yourself," Marsh whispered back. "Besides, you need somebody here you know has your back. Everyone else has gone, right?"
It was true. The Guard had gone to defend the domes, as had every Octarian she knew. At the very least, Sept-Altern Clearsky, one of the Army observers left behind, was a comrade, even though they had never met before, as far as she knew.
"But you are not trained."
"Hey, I helped Tani do salmon runs and there are Salmonids here, so I'll be fine, fine enough to keep you out of trouble anyway."
Vella sighed and dropped the subject. Marsh was very stubborn and, if she was honest, she was glad he was there with her. Lately, she'd come to find his presence comforting, even desirable. Exactly why, she wasn't sure. Probably some strange psychological effect resulting from living away from the domes for so long.
Ahead, they could see lights, and everyone crouched down. The distinctive clicking sound of crustacean chatter could be heard echoing in front of them.
The Enforcers made hand signals to each other, some of them seemed identical to those that Vella had been trained to use, but not enough that she could understand everything they were saying.
One of them moved back and talked with some of the other officers in the quietest of whispers. After about a minute of conversation, they separated and the Enforcers began to creep forward while the rest remained behind.
Vella clutched the weapon in her hand. It was one of the newer ink guns the Guard used that was supposed to be more effective against crabs, if fired accurately. Marsh was armed with turf war gear, its bright colours standing out against the more muted colours of everyone else's equipment.
She heard the footsteps of the Enforcers pick up. They were making the attack. Now the rest of them began to move, hurrying to support them.
Shouts of "don't move" and "arms up" were heard, followed shortly by the discharge of some ink weapons. As the scene came into view, Vella saw that several crabs had surrendered, their multiple arms held high, while the Enforcers chased a few that ran and managed to escape through the door.
They're going to raise the alarm!
The Enforcers managed to prevent the crabs from sealing the door at least. They were already forcing the captured crabs into one corner, a duty they quickly handed off to some IS officers.
Everyone quickly gathered onto the loading platform, even while the enforcers pushed their way into the main doorway.
"Where are the others?" Someone muttered.
Only their group had arrived so far. There should have been another group here ahead of them.
"Too late to wait for them now," someone else said. "We have to go before they can set up a defence. Hopefully, the Coast Guard is in place."
Though apprehensive, the group followed the Enforcers inside, but Vella already had an uneasy feeling that things were going to continue going poorly. She hoped Marie would be able to compensate.
As they pushed onwards down a broad corridor, more shouts were heard. The officers spread out into the various side corridors but their little trio remained together. Vella instinctively swung her weapon at every corridor and alcove they passed. The Enforcers were running ahead, relying on everyone else to clear the space behind them.
Clearsky led her and Marsh away from the rest of the assault group up to the second floor where they received a better view of the large chamber mentioned in the briefing, referred to as "Centre Court".
Crabs were already gathered there. Noncombatants fled to adjacent chambers while the fighting crabs gathered in some semblance of a formation, startled but not panicked.
"We got 'em surrounded," Marsh whispered triumphantly.
The Enforcers had taken positions on the second and third floors on all sides while the regular NSF officers faced the crabs directly on the main floor.
"Surrounded," she agreed. "But not outnumbered."
There were only about seventy crabs arranged in the main hall, with more dripping in from other parts of the facility, but with so many of their group split up to secure all the side passages and rooms they had just gone through, that left only the thirty or so Enforcers and twenty regular NSF officers.
Despite calls from the NSF for the crabs to surrender, they attacked, hurling themselves against the line of NSF officers with maddening noises.
Ink weapons opened fire from above but they splattered harmlessly against the crabs' tough carapaces. The NSF officers gave ground, running and firing their weapons as they went. They managed to nail a few crabs in the eye but little else.
"Don't run, fight!" Marsh hissed.
Frankly, retreat was the right move in that situation, but it didn't look very good.
The stairs thumped as the NSF officers hurried up to the second floor, coating the stairs with ink. To Vella's surprise, it actually did slow the crabs down a little as they tried to ascend. Vella and Clearsky decided to get directly involved to impede them even more.
Vella aimed her weapon, using the sight mounted on the top to line up on the crab's eyes.
The crabs in front screamed as Vella and Clearsky shot their eyes, causing them to shield their eyes with their claws. One very bold NSF officer actually jumped from the top of the stairs to plant his feet in the chest of the lead crab and send the whole lot of them tumbling to the bottom of the stairs. The officer was nearly caught, but quickly switched to squid form to swim up the ink-coated steps to safety.
Unfortunately, those guarding the other sets of stairs were not so fortunate, as the crabs slowly managed to break out from the stairwells and burst out, covered in ink and very angry. Their group was forced to fall back as the crabs came after them.
"Up, up!" Someone cried and they went up the next set of stairs. The officers fired relentlessly at the crabs to try and slow them down but they came inexorably on.
"We going get cornered if just keep going up," Clearsky shouted in imperfect Inklish.
"What's your big idea then?" Someone snapped at her. "In case you haven't noticed, all the crabs are in the way!"
Before Clearsky could respond, the solution was demonstrated somewhere else. The Enforcers fighting on other sections of the third floor leapt off the balcony and down to the main floor of the Centre Court, landing safely in ink puddles before reforming.
Vella and Clearsky didn't hesitate. They hopped up to the balcony railing and jumped off.
Jump training had of course been standard for all Octarian troopers, but Vella never got used to the sensation of vertigo or the brief disorientation it gave her. She only realised on the way down that she hadn't checked to make sure Marsh was coming with them.
Pushing her concerns aside for the moment, she fired downwards to create a puddle, and switched to octopus form a second before impact, splashing safely inside. To her relief, once she reformed, Marsh splashed into a puddle of his own and he began spreading ink around them to make puddles for everyone else to land in.
They splashed down in twos and threes until all were on the ground floor. Just as they were about to come out the way they came, the Militia ran in, dozens more crabs on their heels.
"It's a trap!" one of them shouted.
Things got worse as a roar and stomping feet came from the left and behind them. A giant crab, dripping with fluorescent-green fluid galloped towards the water side entrance, blocking the ramp with its enormous body. A small gaggle of Salmonids joined it, yapping and snapping at the assault force that had quickly become snared in, effectively, its own net.
"We could probably get past that giant crab," Marsh whispered.
"They may have the entrance shut on the other side and we would be even more trapped," one of the officers whispered back.
Some of the officers and Militia members looked on the verge of panic, but the Enforcers seemed to be holding it together.
"What happened?" Someone asked of the Militia.
"We were clearing the rooms when they ambushed us. We managed to take some of them out but they kept trying to surround us so we had to retreat and get back to you!"
Thus making you as trapped as the rest of us, Vella thought bitterly.
The crabs began to surround them on all sides. There looked to be just under two-hundred in all, and they were confident. They clacked their claws and mandibles as they advanced.
Marsh put himself in front of her, pointing his weapon at them. His eyes had fear in them, but they also held a steely determination.
"Should we surrender?" Someone asked.
"We might be able to break out still," one of the officers snapped.
"How? If we try to superjump they'll charge us!"
Before anyone could answer that, the giant crab began to move toward them, and the rest of the mob began to move in tighter.
—-
Marie stayed very still as the Coast Guard ship floated a short distance from the shore, where the underwater entrance to the Consortium base lay hidden. She sat on the stern platform, her legs dangling in the water. Being the dead of winter the water was freezing, but she had no desire to suffer an unpleasant shock when jumping in. Fortunately, some inklings were well adapted to cold, as long as they were fully immersed in water.
The giant and colossal hallar were certainly taking advantage of this. Garbed in attire similar to Marie's gi, but more closely fitting, they were up to their necks as they tread water in the bay, occasionally dipping underneath to keep an eye out for threats that may be lurking under the water.
Not wanting to voice it out loud, Marie indicated her impatience to Captain Hezer through her mantle.
"I'm sorry," he admitted. "I don't know what's taking everyone else so long to get into position. They should have started the attack by now."
Anxiousness irritated Marie's skin, giving her an itch that was entirely of her own mind's making, but it felt so real she couldn't help but scratch her arms. Something was wrong, she felt it in her soul. Whether it was something going on in the domes or just a few hundred metres away, she wasn't sure, but sitting there doing nothing was agony.
Hezer's radio crackled. "Groups one, three, and four have met up. Group two seems to have gone on ahead. We're moving in."
Marie's mantle flared with alarm. Group two was the one with Vella and the other Octarian observer! If they had been on time, and gotten spotted, then they would have had to move in order to prevent the Consortium from locking the place down and sealing them out before they could get in.
Marie groaned. The plan of attacking from multiple locations sounded good on paper, but if the coordination was off, it would completely fall apart. It had.
Marie slipped into the water, ignoring the rush of cold, and yelled "we're moving" before diving under the water. The hallar followed her lead, with the Coast Guard troopers diving into the water behind her. Some were already guarding the entrance to the Consortium base.
The scaffolding covering the entrance was smothered in barnacles, seaweed and everything else that coated things in a harbour. It was cleverly balanced with large plastic floats that made it much easier to move and anchored to the bottom with chains tied to heavy weights. These chains had to be unlocked to open scaffolding. There was no time to be sneaky however. Marie simply grabbed the scaffolding in her hands and tore it away, bringing the whole thing down and causing a few bits and pieces to float to the surface.
Marie led the way inside the tunnel. It was lined with a mix of concrete, dirt, and rock. When the urban underground had flooded, the wall finally letting go must have created a powerful enough rush of water to create this large tunnel.
She saw light ahead and knew they had reached the base. She only hoped it wasn't too late.
—-
Vella aimed her weapon over Marsh's shoulder, ready to shoot the eye of any crab that got too close. The crabs didn't want to get shot in the eye either so they were being wary of how close they got. Whoever made the first move, everything would kick off and it would be a frenzy.
Suddenly, there was a pause. The crabs stopped clicking and clacking, which let everyone else hear the sound of quick footsteps coming from the entrance. To Vella, it was the sweet sound of reinforcements.
One of the crabs further back shouted at the giant. The giant crab let out a roar and started to approach them. They were going to try and eliminate their group before the reinforcements could get there! They could hold out against the rest of the crabs that long, but not the giant.
There was a rush of water and the wooden ramp shook and cracked as something big landed on it. The giant crab started to turn around only to let out a surprisingly high-pitched shriek as its right leg snapped like a tree trunk and it collapsed to the floor.
Marie stood, eyes burning with righteous fury as she wrenched the giant's claw arm free and drove the claw straight down into its own head, killing it. Behind her, giant hallar carrying staves the size of telephone poles came out on either side and made large sweeps that took out half a dozen of the crabs surrounding their group.
The reinforcements from the main entrance also entered the centre court, sandwiching the crabs from all sides, including the inside, and now they were outnumbered more than two to one.
Of the trapped group, Marsh actually struck first, shooting at the crabs directly in front of them before Vella did the same. The crabs, to their credit, didn't break, but changed their formation to face inside and out and fought back, desperately, but it was a losing battle. Vella almost felt sorry for them… almost.
—-
Gibber Softshell barely managed to get away as the swarm of inklings piled into the centre court. Even as he ran down the corridor he could hear the sounds of battle, a losing battle, echo down its length, as if chasing him.
This was a disaster. They knew that something was going on when they lost contact with some of their informants and spies. They got word that the Guard had moved out and prepared contingencies, but the Guard had never shown up. So where were they? For all he knew, they were waiting for him at the end of the corridor.
He arrived in the next chamber, and found it mercifully empty of inklings. He climbed the stairs to the catwalk and peered over the observation landing into the deep dark pit. He picked up the microphone and then spoke into it.
"There are invaders! They come to take what is yours, to stop your rising and becoming powerful. If you want to prove how powerful you are, and destroy your enemies, then you must rise now and destroy them!"
A voice that wasn't his echoed in the pit, translating his speech into something that thing could understand. After a moment, he heard noises and the sound of rustling fins.
A toxic ooze rose up from the pit as if a living organism of its own, and Salmonids began to pour out of it by the score, frantically shimmying down the corridor and leaving trails of toxic slime.
Using the Salmonids to save his skin would not have been his first choice but he didn't have many other options to fight an army. He could try and make his escape during the confusion and hide out somewhere else, maybe even the Consortium's embassy.
A loud roar shook the chamber and an enormous maw burst out of the ooze. The last thing Gibber Softshell ever saw was massive rows of teeth closing around him.
Author'sNotes:
Sorry, I'm a little late uploading this one. But it's here and it's a hefty chapter to boot. This was the chapter where I first thought I might have to add an M rating. Let me know what you think. Two separate battles underground, one in the domes, one under Inkopolis. Both are brutal fights, and both of them are only going to get worse.