Octotrooper hideout, Sector one, Stage one
"Nothing…...Nothing…..Nothing…." Neon said as she zipped from corner to corner, checking for any Octarians.
They were in the Octotrooper hideout, the closest Octarian lair to Cap'n Cuttlefish's manhole, of course Inker had cleared out the place before so naturally it was devoid of any Octarians, its a shame Neon and Sky didn't know that.
"Why is there nobody here!?" Neon shouted, visibly displeased by the lack of enemies in this area.
Sky, who was less than excited to be here, replied. "Don't ask me, it's like a whole other world down here, Inker could be anywhere, so could Kal." he sighed "Since nobody is here we might as well check the next Kettle."
Neon smiled, she was still expecting Sky to want to return to Inkopolis as soon as he got the chance, but seeing as to how he was actually suggesting to enter more Kettles and explore Octo Valley convinced her that he was not going back to Inkopolis anytime soon.
Sky and Neon spent several hours going into different Kettles, and so far all of them were empty. They had spent so much time going into different Kettles that the entire night had passed, of course Neon and Sky had no idea what time it was since they could not see the sky from underground.
Of course they had not gone unnoticed, two certain figures, one green, one magenta, had been expecting them.
"You were right Agent 2, they both ended up coming even after we told them not to."
"Were you expecting anything else? I'm surprised they waited this long to come looking for their missing friend."
"Wait, you were expecting them to try and find Agent 3 on their own?"
"Of course, who wouldn't go looking for a missing friend or loved one? I would do the same thing if you were ever taken by the Octarians."
"Awww, thanks Agent 2!"
They weren't the only ones watching, Octotrooper hideout may have seemed abandoned, but Octavia had patrols going around every now and then, as soon as they saw cyan and bright green ink on their territory they knew that there were Inklings nearby.
Nautilus base, Octo Valley
Victoria glanced around, normally by now she'd be in the mess hall eating alongside her squadmates and probably listening Kevin blurt out some nonsense or information that was supposed to remain secret.
So why is it that she was outside the base with dozens of other regular Octolings?
Just moments ago there was an announcement stating that all Octolings stationed in Nautilus base were to abandon their current schedules and assemble in the courtyard.
"I wonder what could this be about? I was sure to avoid all cameras and other Octarians when I was guiding Agent 3, plus he even had a helmet on, could I maybe have missed a few cameras?"
As a well disciplined soldier Victoria made no movements as she stood at attention alongside dozens of similar looking Octolings, forming a giant red coloured rectangle in the middle of the courtyard. Each of these Octolings could not help but wonder why is it that they were called here, but none of them spoke either.
The sound of boots could be heard as Octavia and a few Elite Octolings marched up to the front of the regular Octolings.
Octavia's posture was perfect, and she stood with absolute confidence in herself, just as one would expect from the leader of an army.
"Yesterday morning a splatoon of Elite Octolings were attacked by Agent 3 near Melanin prison." Octavia said in a loud and clear voice for all to hear. "He escaped but not before taking the lives of two proud and loyal Elite Octolings."
'Near Melanin prison? So he didn't rescue Kal yet?'
"It is surprising that Agent 3 could make it so far into Octo Valley in such short time, as the first signs of his arrival was noted only two days ago, an investigation is currently underway to determine how Agent 3 got so close to Melanin prison without being detected." Octavia continued.
'An investigation, and Agent 3 is still in Octo Valley, dammit Inker, if i'm executed for treason i'll spend my afterlife tormenting you for the rest of your days!' Victoria told herself.
"However that news aside opportunity has sprung for you Octolings, last night more Inklings showed up and have begun combing through our lairs."
"More Inklings? The other agents perhaps?"
"You are to use your own skills to find and eliminate these intruders, we will be watching your actions through your standard issue goggles, whoever eliminates an Inkling shall receive an instant promotion to Elite Octoling, and join the investigation for Agent 3. However should any of you attempt to sabotage the attempts of your comrades or try and take credit for something you did not accomplish, you shall be summarily executed. Good luck."
The gates of Nautilus Base opened and the Octolings poured out, each one determined to secure a place among the Elites, however that last part about summary execution also frightened them, so they made sure to keep a good distance away from each other.
Victoria herself was also somewhat determined; "I need to take whatever chance I get, if I become an Elite I'll be able to know all of Octavia's plans firsthand."
Within two hours, the formerly abandoned lairs now filled with Octolings, each one hoping to nab a successful splat and climb the ranks.
Undercity, Octo Valley
Inker was the picture of a defeated soldier, simply waiting a day wasn't enough to heal him, while his injury wasn't as bad as compared to what would have happened to most squids who super jumped without proper preparation, Inker still could only walk with a lot of pain.
Inker's equipment wasn't in such good shape either, he was told that the Hero Suit gave him three "lives" which meant he could return him to a nearby location if he was splatted, but seeing as to how it had been damaged from the jump, Inker wasn't sure if it could still perform its functions, well at least it protected his upper body from that sudden superjump. Inker's Ink Tank had also taken damage, because he had fallen on his back, there was a crack in the middle of the Ink Tank, one large enough to let Ink flow out, this meant that Inker could only have half his Ink Tank full.
Inker hadn't fired the Hero Shot since landing, but it seemed to still be operable, as for his Burst Bombs, Splat Bombs, and Seekers, they were all still there.
Still, having the max capacity of one's Ink Tank capped to 50% would prove to be difficult, even for Inker, plus a damaged Hero Suit's protection would be unpredictable, and the pain in his legs would slow Inker down when on foot, at least he could still swim.
Since it was daytime Octarians went on with their lives, from his position behind a large apartment building, Inker could see shadows of Octarians walking by, since he was in an empty alleyway there was no reason for anyone to come unless they were looking for him, which is why Inker kept one hand on his Hero Shot ready to fire down the alleyway, just in case one of those Elite Octolings came looking for him.
Despite his injuries and damaged equipment, Inker still needed to go to Melanin prison, by now Agent 1&2 should be wondering what became of him since he never called back after checking on Cap'n Cuttlefish, and if he stayed hidden like this they would never find him.
There was the sound of something clattering to the ground, Inker saw a shadow on the wall, somebody was approaching.
Inker raised his Hero Shot ready to fire at whatever creature came around the corner.
The shadow suddenly stopped moving it seemed to pick something up and leave.
Inker breathed in relief, if he had to fight in his current state he may not survive.
"I'm starting to wish I brought more squids with me, maybe Marie or Neon for sniper support, and Callie or Sky to clear a path with their rollers? Nah Sky would never come to Octo Valley and he is probably keeping Neon in Inkopolis too. What about Callie and Marie? They ought to be looking for me by now."
More time passed, and more shadows passed by, eventually Inker heard the sound of somebody spraying something.
Once again Inker raised his Hero Shot in case an enemy came around the corner.
And yet again nobody came.
Perhaps it was paranoia or maybe curiosity which drove Inker to cover part of the alleyway with ink and swim to the corner, taking a peek at what that spraying noise was.
Somebody had graffitied the wall, nothing dangerous.
Inker breathed another sigh of relief, he had never felt this weak and vulnerable before, so it was natural for him to be somewhat paranoid.
"$* *&$# &+ ! (%#*#?"
Inker could not understand what he just heard, however he recognized it as the way Octarians other than Octoling communicated.
"What's wrong? Did you hear something?"
Inker could understand the second voice, since he could understand what it had said one of the two voices probably belonged to an Octoling, the other could belong to any kind of Octarian.
"^ %#!* *&$#(^^&$ ! (%#*#."
What could that possibly mean? Could someone be coming here?
Inker backed up and brought is Hero Shot up, ready to fire at whatever came around the corner.
"There's nothing back there, come on or we'll miss the subway."
This was followed by approaching footsteps, since he didn't hear footsteps earlier Inker assumed that the first Octarian that was approaching was either flying or riding one of those hovercraft things.
"What should I do? Should I hide? No they will see the blue ink and sound the alarm, should I shoot them down?"
Inker's body flooded with adrenaline, making him shake with anxiety, he was ready to fire at whatever came around the corner.
Inker's finger rested on the trigger, he had the whole alleyway in plain view, whoever came around this corner would meet the business end of his Hero Shot.
The first Octarian who came around the corner was not flying as Inker had though, but rather, it was very small and did not make much noise when walking.
Inker froze, it was a small Octobomber probably still a kid.
The poor kid was struck with fear upon turning the corner to see an Inkling aiming a weapon at him.
The Octobomber's companion came running by.
"Come on, we need to go!"
It was an Octoling younger than Inker, whose face was still the same color as her tentacles as she had not developed a skin colour yet.
These were not soldiers, but random citizens and children at that, Inker would not open fire on these two, but one glimpse of Agent 3 pointing his Hero Shot at their direction was enough to scare the two Octarian children.
The Octobomber's mouth opened wide and his tentacles pressed on his cheeks as if he was trying to mimic the face on Edvard Munch's The Scream, while his companion the Octoling screamed out loud the second she saw Inker, she quickly grabbed her friend and ran!
"HELP! THERE'S A SCARY INKLING BACK THERE!" Inker heard the Octoling yell.
Time to run again, Inker fired Ink up a nearby wall, his legs still hurt alot, but he doubted that the Octarians who would come running would be the friendly type.
Inker grit his teeth and swam with all his might, he had to get out of here!
Kelp Dome, Sector 2 Stage 8
It happened so suddenly, Neon and Sky started encountering Octolings.
Sky gulped, remembering that he can't respawn down here, hopefully Neon could take care of them.
Neon on the other hand, wasn't fazed and shot her first Octarian.
"Woomy!" Neon yelled, just like she would in a Turf War.
"How can you be so calm about this?!" Sky asked shocked by Neon's behavior.
"I'm not calm, I'm incredibly excited!" Neon was bouncing up and down, smiling and waving her E-Liter around, an action that made Sky question her sanity.
Neon dropped a squid beakon then ran ahead, leaving Sky behind.
Despite his lack of experience, Sky knew that a Charger's place was high up, and a Roller's place was on the front lines, so he took out his roller and started covering the area with cyan ink.
He could hear the sounds of Neon's E-Liter firing and Neon's voice.
"Gungwewy!" "BANG" "Woomy!' "BANG" "Yeppy!" "BANG"
Judging by the sounds, Sky assumed Neon was hitting her targets.
Sky wasn't wrong, Neon was giving the Octolings a lot of trouble, from the Octolings' point of view things were not looking too good.
"Attention all units, we have made contact with the enemy at sector 2-8 in the kelp dome, exercise caution as the enemy's fighting potential is very high!" an Octoling reported to the others nearby.
They did not notice Sky yet, as Neon's loud sniping and cheering had drawn all attention to her.
Afraid of getting in each other's way, the Octolings ran towards Neon's position from every direction, as expected one of them noticed the cyan ink that Sky had been spreading all over the place.
Several Octolings converged on Neon's position, they tried to shoot her, but Neon super jumped to one of the squid beakons she had placed, putting a lot of distance between her and the Octolings.
"She's getting away! Ahhh!" an Octoling cried out just before Neon landed another successful hit.
Knowing that Squid Beakons got destroyed upon landing, Neon replaced the broken one with a second so that she could jump back if things got too dicey.
While most chased Neon, one Octoling had noticed the Cyan coloured ink, which was different from Neon's green ink and concluded another Inkling was nearby.
Sky noticed this and swam away, he was okay with splatting Inklings who could respawn, but here being splatted once meant your life was over, this knowledge made Sky decide to stay away from fighting, at least until he had the absolute advantage, or if he was in trouble.
The Octoling searching for Sky fired her Octo Shot wildly, covering the cyan ink with dark magenta ink.
Sky quietly slipped away.
Meanwhile a second wave of Octolings had arrived, Victoria included.
"Check your corners, and watch for the Inkling sniper." one of the Octolings told her comrades.
It wasn't long before Victoria saw another Octoling get picked off, she knew her Octo Shot could not beat a Charger type weapon at this range, so she made sure not to stand out in the open.
Since an E-Liter 3K was not good at covering turf, most of the Kelp Dome was covered in the Octarians' ink, so Victoria could move around unseen most of the time, in other words she played it smart, waiting for the best opportunity to strike.
However that plan changed when she was able to see who the sniper was that was giving the Octarians so much trouble.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Victoria recognized the bright green inkling from before "Umm what was her name again? Nevermind that she is one of Kal and Inker's friends, what is she doing here? Please don't tell me she's looking for Inker."
Victoria had only known Neon for a short while, and that was after Neon tried to splat her so the two weren't exactly friends, however they did part ways on good terms.
Victoria would not take the life of anyone who knew Agent 3 or Kal.
"Wait a second, Octavia said that there were more than one Inkling, who else could be here?"
Victoria could not get closer to Neon without being shot, so she decided to look for other Inklings nearby.
But first she had to do something about these goggles, Octavia and the Elites had access to live footage transmitted by the Octoling goggles so Victoria couldn't do or say anything to any Inkling unless she got rid of the goggles first.
With her Octo Shot in one hand and the other on her goggles, Victoria fired a few shots at Neon, who was still out of range.
Since Victoria looked the same as any other Octoling, Neon fired at her, Victoria tossed her goggles off, which was then engulfed with green ink, Victoria then retreated to find another Inkling.
Not too far from Neon's sniping spots, Sky was hiding from the Octoling who was covering turf with her Octo Shot, giving Sky less places to hide, if this kept up then soon he would be caught.
Sky was still feeling uneasy about taking someone's life, but at this point it was either his life or the Octoling's.
'Alright stay calm, you can do this, its for your own safety, just sneak up on her and hit her with the Roller' Sky told himself.
Sky swam around the Octoling, and prepared to emerge behind her.
The Octoling had no idea the Sky was behind her until it was too late, Sky emerged from behind, ready to bring his roller down on the Octoling.
On instinct the Octoling put her arms out in front of her face in a last ditch attempt to protect herself, but it wasn't needed.
Because Sky froze as soon as he came out of squid form.
For a second Sky stood with his Roller held above his head, looking at the Octoling cower behind her hands, he could not see the Octoling's eyes since she was wearing goggles, but Sky could guess that they were full of fear.
All he had to do was make one swift motion and this Octoling's life would be over.
'This is it, I need to do this, come on, why wont my arms move?'
Sweat ran down Sky's head, he was shaking as if he was trying to move, but he was frozen stiff.
The Octoling was right there in front of him, defenseless, an easy target, all he had to do was attack.
'AHHH! I can't do it! I can't take someone else's life even to save myself!'
Sky lowered his Roller, unable to bring himself to take the life of a living being, he was shellshocked and couldn't move.
As for the Octoling she recovered from her shock and fired at Sky without hesitation.
By the time the first shot hit Sky the world seemed to slow down for him.
'I heard the Octarians never showed mercy, that means i'm done for, I couldn't even splat someone when my life depended on it, I am useless here, I should never have came. Neon please save me!' Sky thought
A second shot had hit, as the Octoshot had a fast firing rate and could splat an Inkling in three shots, Sky could not do anything but stand still.
He wanted to run but couldn't move
He wanted to defend himself but couldn't feel his arms
He wanted to cry for help but couldn't find the words
He could only stare blankly at the Octoling, who was grinning with the thought of promotion.
Sky closed his eyes.
Splat
'So that's it? Am I dead?' Sky wondered, his eyes were closed and didn't see what had just happened.
He was alive, because the moment he had lowered his Roller a certain magenta colored Inkling ran to his aid.
The Octoling did not expect a second Roller wielding Inkling to appear and was caught off guard.
"Are you alright?"
Sky opened his eyes and saw Callie, in her Agent 1 outfit, but was still too shook up to say anything.
A few tears found their way out of Sky's eyes as he was still thinking about his near death experience as well as the horror of real fighting in Octo Valley.
"There there it's alright." Callie gave sky a hug and patted his back to comfort him.
Marie, who was in a sniping spot left Callie with Sky and went to go get Neon, who was having a blast sniping and superjumping all over the place.
Victoria noticed Sky and Callie, since she couldn't speak to Neon without getting shot, Victoria decided to approach Callie and Sky.
Callie grabbed her Hero Roller when she saw Victoria approaching, not realising who it was.
"Stay here." Callie told the still shaken up Sky, before attacking Victoria.
Victoria didn't expect that Callie to not recognise her, so she was nearly hit by Callie's roller.
"Hey! What the heck do you think you're doing!" Victoria shouted "I have no weapons and bear no ill intent!"
That didn't stop Callie from taking a swing at her with her Hero Roller.
Then Callie stopped for a moment after realising that this goggleless Octoling was indeed unarmed.
"What? you're here to talk then?" Callie asked
"Of course! Don't you recognize me?"
Callie tilted her head
"Nope, sorry."
Victoria turned to Sky who said nothing, which implied he didn't recognize her either.
"Seriously!? It me Victoria! Inker helped me out a few months back."
"So you're the Octoling from before?" Callie said
"Yes!"
"Umm you're kinda sinking." Callie pointed out that Victoria was standing in her ink and was slowly sinking into it.
"Oh don't worry about that it's nothing. Anyways I can't be seen talking with you so i'll make this quick; every Octoling in the army is on their way here so you guys need to get out of here, if you are looking for Agent 3 I can help you, head to the rig, it's the 26th kettle and its located in sector 5 and make sure you are not followed."
Victoria hastily swam off before Callie or Sky could even say something.
"Did you hear that Agent 2?" Callie spoke into her headgear.
"Yes, i'll try and get Neon to come along, in the meantime get Sky out of the lair and hide somewhere, we will meet up again once we lose these Octolings."
"Sounds like a plan, see you soon Agent 2."
Callie turned to Sky
"Can you walk?"
Sky nodded
"Alright then follow me, we need to get out of here."
While Callie and Sky left, Marie had a harder job convincing Neon to retreat.
Neon's immediate response was: "No need, I'm doing just fine!"
Neon superjumped again, Marie grumbled as she made her way to Neon's new spot.
"Listen, there are alot more Octolings coming, even with my help you'll be overrun."
Neon ignored Marie
"They are getting close again." Neon said as she superjumped to another beakon.
Once again Marie chased after her.
"It's better to run than to fight a battle that can't be won, you can't keep fighting on your own!"
Neon superjumped again.
Marie sighed, she was getting nowhere with this squid.
'Agent 1, Neon is being uncooperative, we should just leave her behind.' Marie wanted to say, but she wasn't that kind of squid.
'Alright, time to try something new.'
Marie made her way over to Neon once again.
"Neon, I can't believe you left your friend behind, he nearly got splatted!" Marie shouted
There was a slight twinge in Neon's movements, usually when Neon fought she wasted no time at all and every movement had a purpose, but for a second she had stopped.
"Not my problem." Neon replied
"So you don't care about Sky? I guess that means you wouldn't care about anyone else either, so you didn't come to Octo Valley to find Inker, but just to fight because you find it fun?"
Neon's body stiffened "Shut up, leave me alone."
"If I had the choice I would have done that already, but the New Squidbeak Splatoon leaves no squid behind."
Neon stopped for a moment before tracking another target. Marie continued to talk
"Inker said you were great at turf wars, but since you can't seem bothered to help those who fight alongside you I'm starting to doubt Inker's word, are you incapable of working as a team? Then again its easier to be lucky than good, I guess that's how you made it this far on your own."
"You don't know me, I can fight well on my own or with others!"
The Octolings had gotten close again, but for some reason Neon wasn't superjumpng away this time.
"Prove it then, today me, Callie and Sky are your team and we are pulling back, but we are not leaving you behind, you can stay and die on your own, that's fine with me."
"Alright I get it, i'll go!" Neon shouted
Marie smiled "Good choice."
Nautilus Base, Octo valley
"Acting leader, the team we dispatched to investigate the whereabouts of Agent 3 ran into two kids who claim they saw Agent 3 hiding in an alleyway, the team went to investigate and found a large trail of blue ink, they are currently following the ink which will likely lead to Agent 3."
As usual Octavia sat behind her desk, arms crossed as she listened to the report.
Since Octavia had absolute faith in her elite squads of Octolings she wasn't surprised that they had picked up Agent 3's trail, instead she was more concerned as to why she hadn't seen an execution of a certain red inkling on the news yet.
"What about Melanin prison?" Octavia asked
"The captain of the guard has put Melanin prison on high alert as soon as she heard that Agent 3 had nearly gotten to them."
"That is not what i'm asking for, why hasn't she executed the red inkling has ordered?"
""The captain of the guard believes that we may be underestimating Agent 3 as he was able to reach Melanin prison in half the time we expected, so she currently has all available units on guard, herself included."
Octavia felt a bit or anger boiling inside her, the captain had just ignored orders, such a thing could not go unpunished. However the whole point of a public execution was to demoralize Agent 3 or make him act out of anger, both would have provided their troops with an advantage.
However since Agent 3 would soon be discovered then there would be no reason for an execution so Octavia could maybe let it slide this once.
Octavia stood up making the Octoling giving the report snap to attention.
"I'll be personally aiding the recon teams looking for Agent 3." Octavia declaired
"But ma'am, is it really necessary for you to go? I understand that seeing their leader take to the battlefield will raise the morale of our troops but Agent 3 should be at a disadvantage here and our teams should take care of him without much trouble."
"You should not underestimate Agent 3." Octavia replied as she left her office.
Yes it was unnecessary for Octavia herself to fight Agent 3, but Octavia knew that right now, any opponent fighting Agent 3 would have an advantage, she wanted to be that opponent, plus seeing their leader eliminate a powerful enemy would make morale soar.
Equipping her goggles, armor and Octoshot, Octavia boarded a flying saucer and left Nautilus base to join the forces searching the undercity.
As she waited to arrive, Octavia thought of that time went Agent 3 had arrived in Octo Valley to return a prisoner, the Inkling had actually let his guard down for once, in fact Octavia even held him by the collar.
'I could have snapped the blue bastard's neck if I wanted to, but I was soft.'
Octavia imagined a dying Agent 3 begging for mercy, such a sight would bring her joy. An Inkling who knew nothing of pain or suffering would experience to worst of it firsthand.
For the first time since taking over as Octarian leader, Octavia was feeling excited.
Melanin prison
Why the Octarians were suddenly squidnapping Inklings from Inkopolis had been a mystery to Kal.
Sometimes he thought it was because he was there went Inker returned Victoria to Octo Valley, but that didn't explain why others like Bogs and Lila were taken away.
But yesterday it all started to make sense.
'Please let me go! I swear, I will never be an Inkling again!' the last thing heard Kal heard Lila say haunted him.
Because it made clear that the Octarians were capturing Inklings out of pure hatred.
It wouldn't matter if you were five, ten, or thirty, it wouldn't matter if you were an Agent, a police officer, a doctor or a farmer, if you were born an Inkling you were in danger. After all the captain of the guard had said it herself, she didn't care who they were, as long as it was an Inkling it would be killed.
When Kal got here, there were three prisoners total; Lila, who didn't talk to anyone, Bogs, who was more brawn then brain, and himself.
Now Kal sat alone in a empty cell, plates of stale seaweed were occasionally sent in via dumbwaiter, aside from that there was nothing left to do, he could try and chat with the guards, but it would probably result in a beating.
For now, Kal was wasting away in a cage, far from Inkopolis and everyone he knew.
Kal sighed after lying down on his bunk, he hadn't done anything in a past few days, and wasn't fed well either, he couldn't sleep like that, so Kal found himself staring at the ceiling.
Like the walls, the ceiling was also uneven, there were lines, bumps and ridges all over it, out of boredom Kal started connecting the bumps on the ceiling, what he was doing was similar to stargazing in a way.
"Click"
The metallic sound of the cell door unlocking could be heard.
Kal heard the voices of the Octotroopers outside, but could not understand what they were saying.
He could hear someone approaching.
Suddenly there was an Octoling looking down at him "Get up, the captain wants to see you."
Without a word, Kal obeyed getting off his bunk and following the Octoling away.
'Well, guess me time has come,' Kal thought.