A/N: So I decided to keep this story going, I talked to some other writers about my doubts and also received a few reviews that encouraged me to keep going. So without further ado, Old Hatreds will keep going, there is still quite a lot to come, so the story will likely be 35 chapters long.
Thank you to everyone reading this, for your continued support.
Part 5: Trouble at home (Chapters 21-25)
It would seem that Acting Leader Octavia's original plan of provoking Inklings to start another war has somewhat succeeded. Families and friends of the squidnapping victims are beginning to take matters into their own hands and Inkopolis' opinion of the Octarians are lowering even further than before. Blind to the terrors of real combat in Octo Valley, groups of Inklings are preparing themselves to attack Octo Valley for revenge.
Parliament building, Inkopolis
This was one of the most important buildings of Inkopolis.
Far from the lush and peaceful countrysides or the cheerful yet busy areas where turf wars took place.
This was the Inkopolis parliament building, also known as the national diet building, a wide, white and sturdy structure that symbolized the Inkopolis government.
Here senators and ministers spent days debating and making decisions that could decide the futures of almost any living being, not just limited to those in Inkopolis.
Of course, decisions like that usually involved conflict, since Inkopolis was a very peaceful place since the great turf wars, conflict was greatly discouraged and avoided, the only bit of conflict left in Inkopolis were just the usual spats between Inklings who were salty over turf wars.
The Octarians had been silent since their defeat. Following the great turf war, the Inkopolis army kept tabs on the the Octarians for a few years, but they saw no sign of the Octarians seeking revenge.
Since Inkopolis was so peaceful there had been little need for an army, the invention of "respawn" technology made the Inkopolis army even less needed.
Finally, forty years after the great turf war between Inkopolis and Octopolis, the Inkopolis government decided that there was no need for an army anymore, thus the Inkopolis army was disbanded.
Now, more than sixty years after it's disbanding, the ministers of Inkopolis found themselves debating if the Inkopolis army need to be reformed.
This was in direct response to the recent Octarian activity, though most of the Inklings managed to return safely after being squidnapped, it costed the lives of several IPD officers.
Then the public realized that if the Octarians could squidnap them once, they could do so again at any time.
Inkopolis' current prime minister: Virril Steenson has had a headache ever since that time.
First the protests outside government buildings, then the whole "Vanguard" thing spreading online like wildfire.
If something wasn't done soon, his approval rating would go down.
The delegation they sent to Octo Valley was supposed to bring back information that could soothe the public and despite Defense Minister Arcus Hilgendorf's doubts, they had made it back safely.
So one again, the ministers sat together scratching their heads.
"Well? Did the ministry of foreign affairs find out anything?"
"According to Vice Minister Harting's report, there is currently a power struggle within Octo Valley, their first contact only lasted a few short minutes, since the Octarians who had came to meet them lost contact with their superiors. A few days later they informed the team that there had been a failed coup within their military and that they are too busy trying to catch the insurgents to speak with us."
"Is that all? Information like that won't soothe the public."
The headache was back.
Steenson groaned, this wasn't something they could use.
"The public is already calling for a new army, not only that but since we haven't declined or agreed yet, they've started making their own, if this goes on our approval rating will sink. At this point, we need something we can tell the public and change their opinion otherwise we will have civilians arming themselves and invading the Octarians. Come on people, work with me here."
The other ministers all had the same deflated looks, each of them knew what was at stake here.
"You say that, but what else can we do? And what if it turns out they had been right and the Octarian government really is squidnapping our citizens? That would provoke the public even further."
"If they are, they wouldn't openly admit it would they? That would be the same as declaring war."
"What if that's exactly what they want?"
"Come on, let's not jump to conclusions, for all we know there could be some kind of cephalopod trafficking gang using the slums of Octo Valley as a base of operations."
"If that was true, then how would the IPD lose detective Vert and all those other trained officers? They wouldn't lose to a bunch of ragtag gangsters."
As it seemed like a debate was at hand, the various ministers started going through reports and notes.
"Regardless of who did it, isn't it true that at this point we need an army to protect our borders?"
"Yes, We may not have any conflict on the surface, but with Octo Valley being directly below us and the Octarians at large, national security is most important, I'm sure the public sees that too."
"The public only sees what they want to, but the problem isn't having an army, it's everything happening before and after it. First off who would we recruit? And who would train them? The last military veterans we have are all over 80 years old and unfit for fighting."
"Not to mention all the economical problems, all of our old military bases have been converted into public areas, most of which are incredibly popular, Booyah base for example is currently the most popular place in Inkopolis. We can't just shut them down and turn them back into military bases, so we will need to spend our budget on constructing new bases, after that there's the issue of the soldiers' salaries and military R&D, taxes will suddenly rise, meaning that everyone in Inkopolis would need to find new jobs to make ends meet."
"If that's the case, wouldn't the cheaper solution be to just aid the Vanguard movement?"
Every pair of eyes in the room turned to the minister of defense Arcus, who had just said something unbelievable.
"What exactly are you saying? If we start supporting the Vanguard movement then it will seem like we encourage the public to form militia groups. The prime minister's approval rating would drop even further."
"If the Vanguard movement goes wrong, we will be criticized for even allowing them to exist in the first place."
Arcus listened carefully to the complaints of his colleagues before further explaining his intentions.
"Look, I'm sure we all know that reforming the Inkopolis army is costly and has nearly no long term benefit and that if we do nothing about the Vanguard movement they'll start going on rampages through Octo Valley and possibly get themselves splatted. So instead of reforming the army and stopping the Vanguard movement, why not help them out? Give them some proper equipment and construct some spawn points in Octo Valley to minimize casualties? It would cost much less than reforming the army, don't you think?"
He also knew that the Octarian army was definitely behind the squidnapping incidents, but he couldn't say he had secretly sent a kid to Octo Valley to scout for him, he would definitely receive backlash for it.
"I think this is your family's military roots showing, did you forget about the Octarian population? If you let a pack of angry Inklings run though Octo Valley there is going to be a lot of innocents caught in the crossfire."
"Yeah, the members of the Vanguard movement all seem too fixated on their own views, even if you give them the proper equipment and training they are still uncontrollable."
"And what would you have them do? Roll over and die?" Arcus countered "You just said that they are uncontrollable, if that is the case wouldn't the best approach be to better prepare and equip them to prevent casualties?"
A few others agreed
"That is true, if we help the Vanguard movement, we could have them protect Inkopolis from Octo Valley and at the same time prevent them from making bad choices and using bad equipment."
Others did not
"And what about the Octarians? They would see it as a declaration of war."
"We could deny it though, since the Vanguard movement technically isn't affiliated with us, but we would need to support them in secret then."
"What do you think Prime minister?"
Steenson sighed, the headache was still there, meaning something was still going wrong.
He could practically kiss his approval rating goodbye at this point.
Since the cabinet was unable to come up with a conclusion and Arcus had some sort of reasoning to his argument perhaps it was best to let the matter develop a bit more, then act when it was certain they had the right choices.
"Maybe we should have Harting's team try to speak with the Octarian government again, in the meantime, if you really think the Vanguard movement can be the solution, then keep a close eye on them."
Was it a bad idea?
The headache wasn't getting any worse, but it wasn't getting any better.
They were just sitting idly by so no surprise there.
As long as things didn't get worse, they would be fine now.
Kal's house, Inkopolis
It was all over the internet.
The Vanguard movement, an organization aimed at being the spearhead to penetrate into Octo Valley and take revenge for the victims of the squidnapping incidents.
They were spreading fast, their Freshbook page had gotten tons of attention, the #Vanguard was trending on Skitter, Huetubers were makings videos on them and they even had a Fishcord group which had so much members that if you decided to type everyone, the chat would blow up faster than a burst bomb.
Kal himself had received plenty of invites as he was one of the squidnapping victims too.
"The Inkopolis government isn't doing anything, so will take action ourselves. We ask everyone who had seen the brutality of the Octarians to join together, we shall become vanguards of a great campaign and punish the Octarians for their actions. If you could spread this message to everyone you know, it would be much appreciated." Kal read the email he had received, presumably from Lila or someone related to her.
It was one of several, there had been a few others too.
"Have you or your loved one been squidnapped? Then you must join the Vanguard movement, this movement aims at punishing the evil Octarians, what we do will be much appreciated by all."
Kal wasn't too fond of the idea, he would have preferred to stay away from these troublesome events.
As long as nobody's lives were at stake, then there was no need to get involved.
Besides, Bogs was the only Inkling who had died in captivity, sure that was awful by Inkopolis standards, but to Octo Valley it wasn't a big deal, Kal had seen it for himself.
There was the poor state of the Undercity
The constant sounds of moaning and screaming
The sad stories he heard from various Octolings; Maria, Claire, Lynn, Madison and Victoria.
There wasn't exactly a right or wrong side here anymore, so Kal didn't bother joining the Vanguard movement like the other abducted Inklings.
Though he did want to speak with them sometime and ask what the heck they were thinking.
Victoria had also been hearing the news.
Not only that, but every time she went out into Inkopolis she could overhear someone talking about Octo Valley and how evil the Octarians were.
After a day out, Victoria sighed as she returned to Kal's house.
Kal was seated in his living room, checking his laptop "What's wrong?"
"Nothing really, but I think I might be starting to miss home."
For the first time since leaving Octo Valley, she was reminded of how she didn't belong here.
'What would happen if this helmet was to fall off in public?' Victoria wondered
She could only imagine a scenario where an angry mob descended upon her after figuring out she's an Octoling.
On the other hand Victoria hoped that if things go well, maybe this Vanguard movement could bring down Octavia.
Not that it would do her any good.
"You miss Octo Valley?"
Victoria twitched "Kinda, the whole Vanguard thing is starting to make me miss home."
It just didn't feel safe when there were Inklings talking about hunting down your kind.
"If you ever want to go back, just go ahead."
"Did you forget? I can't go back, not unless something is done about Octavia first."
"Oh right."
Kal kicked himself for forgetting something that big, it was the whole reason Maria and Robert died in the first place.
"Why does the Vanguard movement want to fight so bad?" Victoria asked
She didn't use Inkling social media so she only knew what she heard from wandering around.
Kal on the other hand, knew everything about it.
It started with the families of Bogs and Lila; the Mire and Fields families, since the two were the ones who suffered most at the hands of the Octarians.
Then the other families joined in, sharing their thoughts.
Then there was the protests for a new army, but instead of a direct answer, the prime minister only said that they would try to talk with the Octarians.
Somehow that ended up being seen as stalling, so then the Vanguard movement was made.
Victoria could understand, after all the Octarians had intended to provoke the Inklings to attack into Octo Valley, a place where the Inklings were unfamiliar with. "So basically, these "Vanguards" are just an Inkling militia."
"What's a militia?"
"A military force made from civilians to take on the role of an actual military. Speaking of which, i'm surprised to hear that you Inklings have no military anymore, no wonder Inker doesn't understand basic military tactics like reconnaissance by fire."
Kal didn't understand that last term, but didn't bother asking about it.
"I guess Inkopolis had been so peaceful, that we didn't think we'd need one."
"Whoever made that decision is possibly the biggest idiot of all. Hold on a second! That means Inker and the other agents of the New Squidbeak splatoon aren't official Inkling army?"
"As far as I've heard, hardly anyone even knows they exist."
"If that's true, then how did Inker get so good at combat? I spent years training in the Octarian army and yet I couldn't compare to him."
"Maybe he's just good at it? I mean he's pretty good at turf wars too, or maybe its because he plays turf wars?"
"It could be, who in the world came up with the idea of turning the the Great Turf Wars into a game for Inklings?"
"Who knows?"
"You don't?"
"Not really, I wasn't really interested in history anyways."
"Huh, oh well, if Inker could become the powerhouse that is Agent 3 through turf wars, then maybe this Vanguard movement could really go up against the Octarian army."
"It almost sounds like you want them to win."
"I kind of do, since I want Acting Leader Octavia to realize she isn't untouchable, but i'm also worried, what would happen to us should the Vanguard movement actually win?"
"Im sure it will be fine."
"I doubt it, as an Octarian I can somewhat understand their feelings, the feeling of being wronged, the desire for revenge, that is why the army squidnapped you in the first place, they didn't target you specifically, they grabbed you because you were an Inkling. The Vanguard movement seems to be the same way, they won't care if an Octarian is affiliated with the army or not, they'll likely attack any Octarian they see. If you ask me, the whole Vanguard thing is a disaster waiting to happen."
"When you put it like that, the Vanguard movement should be a big concern, yet nothing is being done to stop them."
The police didn't do anything about them, sure they stood there at the protests they had staged and were present during the speeches they gave about vengeance and self defense, but they hadn't done anything to stop them.
Day by day, the Vanguard movement grew larger.
Kal still couldn't understand what they were thinking, turning themselves into a "militia" as Victoria called it. Were they really ready to throw down their lives to get back at the Octarians?
He along with Inker and Sky were worried that Neon would have joined them, since she had not been seen for a while, so they had been paying close attention to the movement, luckily they didn't find any trace of her, since Neon was loud and often drew a lot of attention, finding her should have been easy.
Yet they hadn't been able to find her, almost as if she was avoiding them.
Deep in thought, Kal was silent for a while, until the doorbell rang.
Victoria and Kal exchanged glances and nodded
Victoria grabbed her Tentacles Helmet and ran upstairs while Kal went for the door
They wouldn't make the same mistake as last time.
However there was no danger, the unexpected guests was just Inker, who had returned from Octo Valley, followed by Sky and surprisingly, Callie and Marie.
"Hi Kal, mind if we come in for a sec?'
"Uhh okay?"
Kal let everyone inside, Victoria showed up after confirming that everyone present already knew about her.
Inker had some urgent news.
"I didn't want to say this over the phone or anything, so I brought everyone here, apparently there is a spy in Inkopolis."
"What!?" everyone cried in unison
They all had their own questions
"How is that possible?" Sky wondered, as he didn't think an Octarian could blend in well in Inkopolis.
"Who did you hear that from?" Kal asked
"You aren't possibly suspecting me... are you?" Victoria squinted at Inker.
"How did they even get inside Inkopolis?" Callie wondered
"You heard that from that Octarian captain, did you." Marie suspected
"Yes, I did."
'Octarain captain?' Kal wondered
"Wait hold on, are you talking about the captain of 202nd splatoon? The one that Octoling wanted you to rescue" Victoria appeared to be familiar with the officer.
"If it's that ungrateful octo, I'm not sure we should believe her so quickly." Marie pointed out, she didn't like the way the captain had treated them, but who could blame her for not being on her guard.
"Wait hold on a second, Inker did you actually rescue the captain of the 202nd splatoon?"
"Is that so hard to believe?"
"Yes! That captain was known for being one of the best officers in the army, her combat skill and loyalty to the Octarians were both unmatched, her skill and courage earned her a battlefield commission to captain during the resource war against the Salmonids! And she was not even 20 at the time! You know how difficult it is to reach such a rank at that age? Heck she outranked my mother at half her age! It's really hard to believe someone like her would try to overthrow Octavia."
Victoria's admiration for such a well accomplished soldier had caused her to unknowingly exaggerate her description of the captain.
"Uhh okay, well she was about to be executed when we found her and then she said something about guerrilla warfare, though i'm not sure what that means."
"It means she plans on using a small and highly mobile force to do hit and runs, ambushes, and other underhanded attacks. You should try and get her help, i'm sure someone like her could bring down Octavia."
Inker wasn't about to start more violence against the Octarians
"I have no intention of taking down another Octarian leader, for now I want to focus on the spy in Inkopolis. You were part of the army before, so I thought I'd ask you."
"I wouldn't know anything about it, I'm only an Octoling, if you want to learn about intelligence gathering, you'd have to find an Elite Octoling or Octostriker or another higher ranked Octarian."
Their search for the spy hit a dead end already
"Well, do you know anything that could help? How do spies blend in anyways?"
"How would I know, but just to be clear, the captain said "spy" and not "intelligence officer""
"What's the difference?"
"One is a loyal individual, ready to sacrifice everything and risk going behind enemy lines, the other is some disposable goon who is paid off or convinced to give us secrets."
"Okay, so we should be looking for a loyal Octarian?"
"No you got it the wrong way around! A spy is the disposable goon working for himself! not the loyal individual!"
Victoria was hung up on definitions when military matters are involved.
"Okay, but regardless the two are practically the same right?" Marie asked
"No way in the slightest! Why is it so hard to understand? An intelligence officer is a proper military operative, a spy is literally anyone who can gather information."
"I don't see the difference."
Victoria was getting somewhat annoyed
"One is always an Octarian soldier! The other is anyone we can talk too!"
Noticing that she was almost shouting, Victoria took a deep breath.
"Okay look, if its a spy you are looking for, then it may not even be an Octarian in the first place, which means it will be much harder than finding an intelligence officer."
"Oh."
That hadn't crossed Inker's mind.
With everything going on, it would be impossible for an Octarian to sneak in, but if it was some other creature who was easily bribed maybe? Then it would be much harder to figure out who the spy really was.
Sky brought his hand to his chin "If that's the case, then it could anybody in Inkopolis…. Even Neon…."
"Why would Neon help the Octarians?" What Kal asked had a pretty obvious answer: she wouldn't.
Would she?
Nah there are millions of other sea creatures that could help the Octarians.
"I think you are putting Neon far lower than she really is, sure she is kinda weird and runs around all hyper, but she couldn't possibly be helping the Octarians."
"Wouldn't it be a good idea to ask Neon for help? She did pretty good at discovering me back then." Victoria was referring to the time where Neon had managed to find her hiding in Kal's house despite all the effort Kal and Inker put into keeping her hidden.
"If we could find her that is." Sky replied
Callie on the other hand had been silent the whole time, but she had something else in mind.
"Does DJ Octavio know any other Inkling besides Cuttlefish?"
"Don't ask me, I barely knew anything about Octavio, why not go back to the captain?"
"I already talked to the captain, or wait do you mean Cap'n Cuttlefish? Dangit calling that Elite Octoling "captain" is kinda confusing." Inker scratched his head "Besides, the captain doesn't seem to like us much."
"That's no surprise, she is an Elite Octoling after all, maybe I should go talk with her."
"Well you'd have to wait for a while, she said she'd send someone after she had gathered her splatoon again, I recommend you don't call her Emily though, she gets really ticked off by it for some reason."
"Of course, normally you refer to officers by rank, just like how I had to address Octavia as Acting Leader when I was at Nautilus."
"The Octarians are so hung up on titles." Marie asked
"Its a form of respect and acknowledgement okay, don't you do the same in the New Squidbeak splatoon? You call each other agent."
"That has more to do with us not wanting to reveal our identities."
"Why? Everyone around the New Squidbeak splatoon knows it by now."
"It just became a habit I guess, plus there could be new agents in the future."
Inker had to steer the conversation back "Hold on everyone, can we all get back to the issue with the Octarian spy for a second, what are we going to do about it?"
They all looked at each other.
None of them knew how to proceed
"Maybe the best thing to do is wait a bit." Marie suggested
"Yeah there isn't anything we can do except keep an eye out for for anyone acting suspicious."
Inkopolis plaza
Since nobody had a clue as to who the Octarian spy was, the day proceeded as usual.
The next day Inker, Kal, Sky and Victoria met up in Inkopolis Square.
If an Octarian spy was in Inkopolis they would likely be here.
That means anyone here could be in danger.
It also meant that they should find Neon again, they would need all the help they can get.
"When we don't need her help with the Octarians, she's hopping around trying to enter Octo Valley regardless, now when we need her help, she disappears without saying anything. What a troublesome girl." Sky muttered
Still he was a bit worried, they were all a bit worried, it wasn't like Neon to go quiet like this.
Neon was always the energetic one, hopping around with Charger type weapons and speaking in a voice so loud you'd think she wants the whole world watching her.
So when Neon hasn't spoken to any of them for almost a week, it becomes worrying.
There was a gathering of Inklings in Inkopolis plaza, Inker, Kal, Sky and Victoria looked over with curiosity, but then heard the mention of "Vanguard movement" and left.
Mostly because it was dangerous to have an Octoling so close to such an organisation.
"Oh my gosh, is that Kal? KAL!" someone called out to Kalus, making him freeze in his steps.
It was Lila, apparently she and her brother Laven were at the center of the whole Vanguard thing.
Kal didn't mind meeting them, but why couldn't they meet when Victoria wasn't here with him?
"Oh hi Lila."
"Good to see you again!"
Lila ran up and gave Kal a quick hug, she then noticed Inker as well.
"Agent 3." She whispered so that only Inker could hear.
Laven showed up as well, have just emerged from the crowd of Vanguard movement supporters.
"You guys again huh? Had any second thoughts about the Vanguard movement yet?"
Inker, Sky and Kal shook their heads.
"No, not yet."
"Hey speaking of which, are you the ones who sent me those emails?" Kal asked
Lila raised her hand "That was me."
"Look, I think it's great that you want to raise awareness of the squidnappings, but isn't going to Octo Valley too much?"
"Of course not, if we don't show the Octarians we mean business, then they will just come at us again." Laven replied right away, without any hint of doubt.
"What in the world put that idea in your head?"
"Lila did, look at her now, after what the Octarians did to her she is both mentally and physically scarred, what happened to my dear sister can happen to anyone. Leaving the Octarians to rot underground isn't enough."
Indeed Lila had been scarred heavily, the boiling pit did leave many open wounds, but at least she was alive.
"You are really sure about this?"
"Yes I am, the only good Octarian is one that doesn't exist."
"Okay now that is taking it a bit far."
"They deserve it….
…. Hey what's with that look? Are you thinking about joining us?" Laven noticed Victoria glaring at him from behind her helmet.
"I wouldn't join a group of maniacs like you if the world depended on it." was Victoria's response
"What did you just say? You realise the world does depend on it, right? You stand by and do nothing, and those Octarians will start crawling out of their holes to toss you into holes and boil you."
"It won't come to that, because you are lost in some twisted delusion where the Octarians are just monsters."
"You aren't actually DEFENDING the Octarians are you!?" Laven's voice attracted the other Vanguard supporters, who all looked over, some with angered gazes, others who whispered amongst themselves.
"Maybe I am, or maybe i'm just not stupid enough to jump to conclusions like the rest of you."
Victoria stood her ground despite the large number of Inklings glaring at her, though she wasn't sure how things would turn out if a fight was to start here.
Noticing the hostile atmosphere, Lila took a few steps away, then hid behind Laven.
Inker paid close attention to Laven and the other Vanguard supporters, if Victoria was exposed here, all of them would be in big trouble.
Kal wanted to leave, this looked like it would turn violent any moment now.
"Hey! What's going on over here!?"
A few IPD officers showed up, much to Kal's relief.
They had been tasked by Arcus to monitor the Vanguard movement, so they had been watching them for a while.
"Nothing officer, just a little chat."
"Yes, just a chat."
Victoria and Laven still looked ready to tear each other's throats out.
But with the IPD here they couldn't do such a thing, so Victoria and Laven both went their own ways.
Laven was followed by the other Vanguard supporters, while Victoria was followed by Inker and Sky.
Seeing the two leave, the IPD officer left as well.
Kal was going to follow the others, but had something else in mind, he wanted to talk to Lila one more time, to find out more about the Vanguard movement.
"Lila wait"
This gained the attention of Laven as well
"What do you want with my sister?"
"I just want to talk a bit more, its my first time seeing her since Octo Valley after all."
Lila tugged on Laven's sleeve
"Brother please, you are embarrassing us."
Laven immediately calmed down a bit, he put on a smile as he patted Lila's head
"Heh sorry about that."
Kal found is strange that Laven could calm himself down so quick.
'This guy, he must have some sort of sibling complex.' he concluded
"Anyways I wanted to know if the Vanguard movement really is planning to attack Octo Valley."
"Yes we are." Lila replied
"But why?" Kal lowered his voice, Laven was standing nearby but he shouldn't be able to hear him. "You saw how fighting was like in Octo Valley, its dangerous, we barely made it out that time."
"We did make it out."
"That is only because Agent 1 and 2 came to our rescue, we got lucky that one time, its best not to push our luck."
"But you told me Agent 3 beat the whole Octarian army on his own, so why can't my brother do the same?"
"It's not that easy, he's no Agent, aren't you worried something might happen to him?"
"Well kinda, but recently he seems to have changed, he's always so hot tempered now and everyday he grumbles about beating up the Octarians same with ma and pa, if beating up the Octarians is the only way to cheer them up, then i'm all for it."
"When did all this happen?"
"After I told them about Octo valley, did I do something wrong?"
"No, it's fine I'm just kinda worried for everyone."
"Don't worry Laven won't be alone anyways, my parents and a whole group of other Inklings from the Vanguard movement will go with him!" Lila seemed incredibly confident that Laven would return unharmed.
Looking at how many Vanguard members were standing with him now and noting that they were not all kids, made it seem even more convincing.
"What about the Octarians?"
Lila turned her head in confusion
"What about them?"
"You guys aren't actually planning to splat them all are you?"
"We are."
"Don't you think that is extremely unfair? There could be some Octarians that aren't all that bad." Kal wanted to use Victoria as an example, but there were many risks when it came to her identity.
Then again, Lila could probably be trusted, seeing as to how she didn't seem to hate the Octarians like her brother did, plus she kept Inker's identity a secret all this time.
"Yeah I actually didn't think about it that way…" Lila replied "There are some good Octarians, I met one at Melanin prison: Claire, she showed me movies, brought me food, and took care of me after the boiling pit."
"You knew an Octoling?"
"Yeah, but I don't want Laven to know."
"Don't worry i'll keep it a secret, actually you're not the only one who befriended an Octarian."
Kal pointed to himself
"You too?" Lila asked
Kal nodded "Yes, she actually helped Agent 3 get to us you know."
"Oh, can I tell Laven that? Maybe it will change his view on the Octarians."
"No, at least not yet, please keep it a secret okay?"
"Okay!"
"Thanks, it's great to see you again, especially after Octo valley."
With that, Kal left to go catch up with Inker and others.
As soon as he was gone, Lila went back to Laven and the Vanguard members.
Laven however, had overheard a bit of the conversation.
"Who is that Agent 3 you two were talking about?"
"You were listening?"
"For a while, but I want to know, was it not Det Vert who rescued you?"
Lila thought for a moment, was it really necessary to hide Agent 3?
If it was Laven, she could definitely ask him to keep it a secret
"I'll tell you when we get home, kay?"
Kal met back up with Victoria, Sky and Inker.
Victoria seemed to be in a bad mood since the encounter with Laven, she stood a couple steps away with her arms crossed.
Inker and Sky were discussing more on how to find Neon.
Victoria moved towards Kal when she saw him again.
"Where did you go?"
"I wanted to talk with Lila, sorry about leaving so abruptly."
"No worries, though I think you should stay away from that Vanguard movement, they seem really dangerous, and not just to the Octarians."
"Yeah I know, sorry we had to run into them, it must have been hard to listen to them talk like that."
"Oh i'll get over it."
Kal turned his attention to Inker and Sky
"Still no sign of Neon?"
"Nope" they both answered.
"It's really strange isn't it, where else could Neon have gone?"
Inker had a thought, she was super excited to fight in Octo Valley in the past right? Soo..
"I'm going to speak with Cap'n Cuttlefish and make sure he didn't see Neon head off to Octo Valley."
"Hopefully not, I think she is somewhere near Inkopolis Tower." Sky added
Kal looked at Victoria, since she had a bad shock when it came to Inkopolis tower a while back.
Victoria could take a hint.
"I'll head back, you guys have fun with Turf Wars."
Defense minister's office
Arcus had plenty to do of late.
He wanted to convince the other ministers that the Vanguard movement was the solution to their army problem.
Sure it was unorthodox, but the Inklings were an unorthodox race.
How else would one explain things like Splatfests, Turf Wars, the desire to become fresh…
The Vanguard movement wasn't all that bad once you think about it.
Arcus had the IPD monitor the Vanguard movement, looking for anything he could use to convince the other ministers.
He had compiled a list of pros and cons based on the reports from the IPD:
Pros: Cheap and efficient alternative to army, Turf Wars provide decent combat training, proper spawn point placement could lead to zero casualties.
Cons: Unexpectedly violent, as observed when Vanguard members almost started a fight because of another Inkling's opposing view. Chance of Octarian civilian casualties high if they were to attack populated areas.
He would be sure not to mention that last part.
Arcus flipped over one report and onto another.
He knew why he supported the Vanguard movement.
Deep down he looked up to the first Squidbeak Splatoon, that was why he talking with Craig so often.
He wanted to see a group similar to them defend Inkopolis.
Of course normally there is nothing to defend Inkopolis from, but with the Octarians back he might have a chance.
Inkopolis tower
Kal and Sky played a few games of turf wars before Kal returned home.
Inker met back up with Sky later before also heading off
Inker intended to check Neon's apartment and see if she had returned.
It was now getting dark, but Sky hadn't headed home yet.
He was certain that Neon was still around.
Every now and then he would see someone that he thought was Neon, but it would always turn out to be someone else, or he wouldn't catch up to that someone.
So instead of looking around, Sky waited a distance away from Inkopolis tower, where he blended in well with the crowd.
Finally, he saw her, Neon had just left Inkopolis tower, she looked around then walked off.
Instead of heading home, however Neon walked in another direction.
'What is that troublesome girl up to now?'
Neon left Inkopolis Plaza and Sky followed.