Undercity, Octo Valley
Octarian saucers patrolled the skies of the Undercity.
"The Acting Leader has declared martial law! All citizens are to obey the orders of military personnel and follow curfew times. Anyone resisting risks being shot."
Just like before, the saucers carried Octosnipers and flew around shouting messages down at the Octarians below.
Nobody expected the traitorous Captain Vale to try and raise unrest within the city.
In a short yet effective broadcast by the disavowed captain, she exposed the Elite Octolings' oppressive behavior and even condemned DJ Octavio.
This normally wouldn't cause such a reaction among the Octarian population, so the Octarian army, mostly noticeably Octavia, was shocked when mobs started forming in the streets and patrols found themselves being pelted with rocks.
Octavia's first order was to recall the entire army back to their respective bases.
She expected that Vale would make use of the confusion to attack, which is why her first order was to recall all her troops but to her surprise nothing happened.
Yet she felt uneasy, Vale was out there and she now had mobs on the streets which Vale and her Octarian rebels could easily blend in with.
She had to get rid of those mobs fast.
Thus the saucers were sent out and Elite Octolings forced the crowds to disperse and stay in their homes.
Those would did not obey were beaten and thrown in jail, but that only fueled the crowds which were getting more and more violent towards the Elite Octolings specifically.
So Octavia had to send more and more of her army out to maintain her control over Octo Valley.
Everytime she sent a squad out, she feared that Vale would suddenly attack and she would not have enough to defend herself.
Yet Vale was nowhere to be seen.
Guerilla hideout, Octo Valley
"I don't get it. She gets thousands of Octarians to stand up and riot, then she just decides to sit back and wait?" Victoria said.
"U-umm, I kind of understand where you're coming from, but please believe in the captain a bit." Lynn replied.
"Yeah I get it, Vale is a good captain, but she's missing out on the perfect opportunity to go after Octavia. Inker! you've been speaking with Vale a lot recently, what is she planning?"
"How am I supposed to know?" Inker replied. "Vale always looks like she's struggling to speak whenever I'm there, besides out of everyone here, Lynn should be the one most familiar with the captain."
"W-well actually even I wouldn't know what the captain is planning, but I'm sure she has a plan."
"I sure hope you're right, I don't like leaving all those Octarians to be brutalized by Octavia." Victoria said
"U-ummm I don't think the Octarian army will go that far. I mean they are still Octarians with free will, they shouldn't be so eager to fire on other Octarians."
"Didn't you guys splat a bunch of Octarians in Nautilus base back when Vale tried to stage a coup?"
"Please don't remind me of that!" It seems that the memory of splatting other Octarians for the first time still disturbed Lynn.
"Hey don't you realize you splatted even more Octarians since then."
"Stop pointing it out, I'm trying my best not to think about it." Lynn violently shook her head.
"You should probably stop it Victoria, not everyone can stay level headed when fighting their own kind. Speaking of which, how come you have no problem splatting Octarians now?" Inker asked
"Because I'm already considered a traitor to Octavia now, so It's not like I have a choice."
"Wow that was fast."
"What? Did you expect me to have a dilemma over fighting other Octarains or running away? ...Well actually I did... but that was quite some time ago."
"I still remember how you kept insisting you wouldn't fight your own people back when we were rescuing Kal."
"Did you forget? I was still part of the Octarian army back then. Speaking of Kal where is he?"
"He's probably with Vale at the moment, apparently Vale is doing something he doesn't agree with."
Victoria sighed "Kal's sticking his nose into things again? When will he realize he's out of place here."
"Hey that sounds a little harsh, Kal's already trying his best."
"Yeah I get that, but I still feel like it would be better if Kal stayed in Inkopolis."
"I don't think any of us would want to just sit in Inkopolis while so much is going on down here."
Just as Inker said that, along came someone who would sit in Inkopolis while so much was going on in Octo Valley.
"Super sea snails! Super sea snails! La la la!" Neon skipped on by heading for the lair exit.
"Neon? Where are you going?" Inker asked
"Home!"
"Home? You're going back to Inkopolis?" Inker was surprised
He thought for sure Neon would be the last to leave, considering all she ever seemed to think about was fighting.
Well actually now that he thought about it, didn't Neon just do whatever she wanted without a second thought? Could this just be one of her choices she made on a whim?
"Hey wait! At least explain why you're leaving!" Inker called out to Neon, after noticing that she was still heading for the exit.
"The Splatfest is coming and I can't get wifi down here! I wanna see the theme for the final splatfest and also all the wonderful fan art squids are making!" Neon complained
'Seriously….' Inker stared at Neon with a look of disappointment and disbelief.
"What?" Neon tilted her head in confusion.
"Ehhh it's nothing, just make sure you aren't causing problems for Vale."
"Oh i've already spoken with Vale. Who do you think I am? I know better than to cause trouble by running off on my own."
'Don't you still do that all the time?' Inker wanted to retort, but instead he just decided to confirm that Vale didn't have any problem with Neon leaving.
"Of course not, I'll be back quickly anyways, I'm just gonna get the exact date of the splatfest and take a shower, speaking of which you probably should too." Neon said, sniffing the air around Inker.
It was true that none of them could use an Octarian shower, but Inker decided it wasn't important.
"Oh right, Kal was arguing with Vale over something, I don't really care but you should."
Inker didn't know Kal was arguing with the captain.
"Hold on, why do you just dump everything onto me?"
"Why not? Aren't you Agent 3 who usually deals with things like this?"
Inker could understand why Sky gave her the nickname 'troublesome girl'.
Since Neon already said she didn't care there was no use questioning her further, so Inker saw her off and went to find Kal.
Inker couldn't think of a reason for Kal to be arguing with Vale, or why Vale would have a task for Kal only and not him.
Out of curiosity, Inker decided to see why his best friend was disagreeing with an Octarian captain.
Shortly before Neon arrived to ask Vale if it was safe to leave for Inkopolis, Vale had been rethinking her actions up to this point.
She wasn't sure what happened, but her mind felt clearer during that broadcast, though now she was once again having trouble going against Octavio's will and working with Inklings.
So she was trying to find a connection between the broadcast and any other time she was able to think clearly.
Though she wasn't too sure how to distinguish her own will from that of Octavio's at this point.
Then she recalled Melanin prison.
Squidnapping and boiling Inklings so joyfully because she hadn't realized the influence Octavio had over her.
She still couldn't find a loophole out of Octavio's control, so instead she decided she could do something to ensure that even if she does slip up sometimes and starts fighting the Inklings again, they'll trust her enough to overlook it.
That's when she remembered Lila Fields.
The surprisingly tough kid who withstood the boiling pit, and didn't commit suicide to escape the pain like the other Inklings that had been thrown down there before her.
She had originally planned to sculpt Lila into the perfect Octarian sleeper agent, but Octavia got in the way and just put some trigger words in her and let her go back to Inkopolis.
'What a waste.' Vale had thought when she heard of what happened.
She isn't sure where Lila was now, but judging by Kalus' reaction when she mentioned that brainwashing Lila was her idea, Vale assumed he was close enough to know where she went.
To make herself seem more trustworthy to the Inklings, Vale decided to ask Kal to bring Lila here and allow her to undo what Octavia had done to her.
But to her surprise, Kal refused.
"I haven't forgotten that it was you who threw Lila into the boiling pit back in Melanin." Kal said with a firm look in his eyes, indicating that he wouldn't change his mind.
"I thought we were putting our old hatreds aside." Vale replied
"Oh...err.. Well that still doesn't justify bringing Lila here. I mean seriously, Lila's already been physically and mentally wounded during her last trips to Octo Valley. Just let her be."
"Well that's true, but what if someone happens to figure out Lila's trigger words? Or worse, what if Octavia manages to reach her again?"
"Ahh…"
Kal didn't think of that.
"...Even so, it's very unlikely that someone would figure out how to control Lila and use her for their own gain…. And Octavia is gonna be busy with us so… yeah." Kal wasn't going to be like the dim witted Vanguard movement and bring Lila to Octo Valley.
"Why are you against this?"
"Why are you suddenly asking me to bring Lila here? Seems real suspicious to me."
"Because, I don't want Octavia gaining a foothold in Inkopolis." Vale lied.
At that point Inker showed up.
Curious as to what Vale needed Kal for, Inker demanded to know what she was planning.
So Vale obliged.
"I get it, but why now?" Inker asked, he understood that there was always the chance of Octavia using Lila as a spy again, but the chance was extremely small.
"That's exactly what I was saying." Kal added "I'm no expert like Victoria, but wouldn't it be better to hit the Octarian army while they are busy with the rest of the Undercity?"
Vale had trouble thinking of excuses.
Actually why was she trying to come up with excuses?
Why was she wasting precious time on some random Inkling girl when Octavia was her main concern?
"I mean, if you have something else planned for Lila, I'd like to know first." Kal continued.
Vale shook her head "Forget I said that."
Vale started wondering if this was also part of Octavio's influence.
She was about to waste time on frivolous things instead of doing something that mattered.
Her sudden change of mind confused Inker and Kal, but they just went along with it.
"Well… I don't think we should completely forget about Lila, it would be great if you can undo her brainwashing."
"Yes i'll do that, but later not now. If you really don't want to bring her to Octo Valley then I'll go to Inkopolis. But for now I should be focusing on other things."
"Uhh.."
Kal didn't get why Vale was suddenly shooing them out of her office, nor why she suddenly brought up Lila again.
As he and Inker left, they overheard Vale calling for Lynn and starting to shift through some papers.
What was going on?
"You called captain?" Lynn asked, after hurrying to Vale's office.
"Is this all the information on the 202nd combat group we recovered?"
"Yes of course."
The papers Vale had were taken from the Octo Valley News Bulletin studio.
While she was broadcasting her message, some of the other Octolings who had accompanied her were tasked with searching for any information on Vale's old comrades from the recent Salmonid war.
It had been over fifteen years, which was considered a long period of time in Octo Valley, since the average life expectancy down here was 25 years.
Even if Vale didn't remain in contact with alot of them, she hoped that maybe one of her fellow veterans could replace her as leader of this anti Octavio revolution.
After all, she had just caught herself ruining her own plans for… well she lost count of how many times it happened.
If she could locate any of them, now would be the best time to sneak them out of the Undercity.
"Let's see…."
She flipped through old papers, searching for any Salmonid war veterans interviews or anything relating to the group she was a part of.
Then she found one familiar name.
'Octavius Spasky, Elite Octoling and Second lieutenant of the Octarian army, killed in train derailling.'
Not a good start.
The average life expectancy in Octo Valley was 25 years due to the lack of proper maintenance. Considering every Octoling from her previous splatoon would be in their late twenties or early thirties by now, they would have to be pretty lucky to still be alive.
Then there were others who weren't even capable of living this long.
'Cody MacNamara, Octostriker and veteran of the Salmonid war, passes away at the age of….'
Vale didn't bother reading the rest, it was probably just an article about how Octostrikers were going seemingly going extinct.
She kept on searching.
For the next few days, Captain Vale did almost nothing on her end.
In fact, Neon had time to return to Inkopolis, rest up, indulge herself in pre-splatfest discussions and fan art online, then return to Octo Valley without trouble.
This was because the Octarian army was now too focused on calming down the Undercity after Vale broadcast.
They were unable to do anything about Vale until they had the Undercity back under control.
Vale still had nothing planned, however Victoria did.
"We can't just sit here and do nothing!" she shouted.
Victoria was eating her rations along with Eliza, Lynn and some other Octarians.
By the way their daily rations were getting smaller in size, at this rate they would run out of food soon.
Yet Vale was idling away in her office.
Victoria wasn't going to just keep sitting by.
She wanted Octavia dealt with so that she could go back to her normal life in Octo Valley.
No, it was too late for that, there was no going back to the past, but there was the possibility of a better future for Octo Valley without that so called Acting Leader in charge.
"With all the protesting and rioting in the streets, it will be easy for us to slip in and out unnoticed, at the very least we should do some sort of reconnaissance during this time." Victoria suggested
Eliza, Lynn and the other Octarians exchanged glances.
"Well, I don't exactly disagree." Eliza said
Lynn wasn't so sure "H-hold on, we can't just go off on our own without the captain's approval."
"Vale said that Octavio had the Elites completely under his control right? Then that means she might still be under Octavio's control and cannot bring herself to go all out with this revolution she's started." Victoria replied
Lynn tensed up "W-what? H-hey if you are planning a mutiny I won't allow it."
"That's not it! I'm just saying we can't expect her to plan out everything for us."
"Oh, well that's a relief."
"I don't think the captain will mind as long as we make it back alive." Eliza added
"Yes, I doubt Vale would mind and if she does, then I'll take full responsibility."
"Well then that settles it, I'm in." Eliza agreed.
"U-umm, I would go too, but well….. The captain probably needs me here so…" Lynn squeaked
Victoria understood that Lynn's position beside Captain Vale was pretty important, so she would have to stay here.
"Yeah I get it, the adjutant shouldn't run off. What about the rest of you?"
The rest agreed with Victoria's assessment, that Vale might not be in the best state of mind right now.
"And what about your Inkling buddies? Are they joining us?" Eliza asked
Victoria shook her head "It would be hard for them to bend in… Hey wait a second, I thought you hated the Inklings."
"No, it's just the one. But that isn't important right now."
Finding herself leading a small squad, Victoria left with Eliza and a few others.
It was rather early in the morning, so Inker and the other Inkling hadn't woken up yet.
When they did, they were distracted by Neon showing them all sorts of final splatfest fan art.
"Oh oh oh! And look at this one, It's perfect, I want this on a shirt!" Neon exclaimed
"Hey I can't see if you hold your phone so close to my face! And stop bouncing!" Sky complained.
Neon had been to Inkopolis and caught up with the times, so she had alot to say.
"Can you believe that it's all coming to an end? This is THE splatfest, you guys aren't going to miss it are you? If you do, you probably won't ever get any more super sea snails. By the way I'm going back to Inkopolis when it starts no matter how much you beg me to stay and I won't share my winnings!"
"You know, we can manage just fine without you." Kal said
Inker nodded in agreement. "I mean I handled Octavio pretty well on my own."
"Yeah well, the past is the past, I bet if Cuttlefish had made me Agent 3, I could have beaten Octavio in half the time!"
"Maybe so, but could you also have discovered the various other things lying around Octo Valley's lairs? Like Eileen's note, the Sunken Scrolls…."
"Who cares about a bunch of boring old papers anyways? If I wanted to find out about history I'd go online."
"If you say so."
"What you don't agree? it's much easier with me here right? Right? You might have been able to beat me before in Turf Wars, but my skills have doubled tenfold since!
"That doesn't make any-"
"Hey Sky don't you agree?"
"Why are you asking me?" Sky replied,after suddenly being put in the center of attention.
"No reason, actually it's cause you should stop being so quiet half the time. Yeah that's it! I bet almost everyone in this lair doesn't even know you exist, come on say something, what are you thinking? Say it!" Neon urged Sky to talk
"Stop nudging me, and why do I need to make myself known? I'm just here to learn the Octarian language after all."
"Yeah yeah, you've said that enough times already. Hey just so you know, when I leave again, I'm not coming back until the Splatfest ends kay?"
"Okay." was all that Sky said.
"That's it? Nothing more? Nothing along the lines of 'but what if I get splatted in a dangerous place like this'?"
"Nope."
"You're cold!"
"If I am it's because you are annoying! Why do you always bother me? You know you used to be much better back when you, Inker and Kal were introducing me to Turf." Sky complained even more.
"It's just much more fun being less serious."
"Troublesome girl…"
Neon and Sky were trading quips, the two of them had basically forgotten about Inker and Kal.
"You know, I kinda want to go back for the final Splatfest." Kal admitted to Inker
"You're not alone, well I did promise Callie and Marie that we'd be there for their grand finale."
"Grand finale… so this splatfest really is the last one?"
"Seems so."
"Man I'm gonna miss Splatfests."
"Come on now, save that talk for when it's actually over."
"Do you think Victoria would mind if I just up and left for Inkopolis?"
"I don't know, why not just ask her then?"
"As if it's that easy."
"Oh oh! I know! Why don't you just go and confess to her and take her with you!" Neon suddenly stopped bickering with Sky the moment she heard Kal mention Victoria.
"Can you not jump in the moment I mention Victoria? In the first place, why is it that you suddenly have an eye for romance ever since I met Victoria? Ahh I'm not saying there between me and her, just you know… uhhh… theoretically speaking." Kal stammered
"Oh, it was a joke at first, but I'm serious now because I happen to have a crush, yet I have no experience with relationships." Neon shyly scratched her head and laughed.
"Well neither do I…"
"Exactly! So hurry up and confess to Victoria so you can tell me about it, then I'll know how to confess to the guy I have in mind!"
"How much sense does that make? Wait so you were serious when you said you had a crush on someone back then? No nevermind that, don't start using me as a guideline for your life."
"Of course not, I'd be bored out of my mind if I tried to live the way you do."
"Hey, you know if you really like someone, just go and try to talk with them. I did say we can manage here without you, so you can go back to Inkopolis whenever you like." Inker said.
"Yeah, you might be annoying, but as long as you keep your mouth shut it will be fine." Sky added.
"Are you making fun of me?"
"I'm just saying what I think…. Hey stop that! Ow! Why do you always resort to violence!"
Ignoring Neon who pounced on Sky, Kal had been glancing around for a while.
"Where did Victoria go anyways?"
"Maybe Vale sent her off on a mission, don't forget Victoria is an Octarian soldier."
"Yeah, but still she should have at least let us know."
"Let's go ask Vale or Lynn, they are probably still around."
Octo Valley, Undercity
Despite a curfew and regular patrols, there were still Octarians protesting against Octavia in the streets.
They were denouncing Octavia and the actions of the Elite Octolings as well as their aggressive actions in rooting out possible traitors.
Large groups of shielded Octotroopers formed walls to protect themselves and to stop the mob from advancing as much as they could.
All the while flying saucers piloted by Octostrikers, carried Octosnipers around and hovered near the mobs.
They were supposed to watch out for anyone suspicious who could be linked to the traitor Vale, but even they were having doubts.
"Hey Kevin, doesn't this feel wrong to you?" An Octosniper asked his Octostriker buddy.
"Careful Tony, you don't want the Elites to hear you say that."
"We are at least fifty meters high, speaking to each other directly, I doubt any Elites will overhear."
"True but still, I don't want Octavia to punish us…. But yeah I don't like this either, we were supposed to be fighting Inklings. Why are we doing this…."
"I can understand watching for traitors, but the order to 'splat anyone who looks suspicious' is way over the top."
"Well Octa- the Acting Leader said that anyone who goes against the Octarian army, is a terrorist under Vale's employ…"
"Oh come on, you don't believe that do you?"
"Of course not! Shooting our own people without even collecting evidence first? This is exactly why they are down there demanding that the Acting Leader steps down."
"Can we just make a promise? Let's just not fire a single shot."
"Sure."
Conversations like this were happening among the regular Octarian troops.
This was completely different from the attitude they displayed when told to attack Inklings.
Though the Elite Octolings were a different story, it was common sense that the regular Octarians would never want to splat their own kind.
Victoria knew this, because she had felt the same way before.
But eventually, she managed to steel herself and fight her own people under a similar idea to Captain Vale and her splatoon's, that the ends may justify the means.
That being said, it wouldn't be too long before the Octarian army slowly starts getting the same idea.
When that time comes, there might be a tragedy.
For now though, it was safe for Victoria and Eliza to move around the Undercity unseen.
"What are we looking for exactly?" Eliza asked.
She wore a trench coat over her usual Octoling armor, giving the impression of a normal everyday Octoling.
"Anything really, just observe everything quietly, who know what knowledge might come in handy." Victoria was wearing the satin jacket that originally belonged to Kal.
It wasn't exactly inconspicuous, but it was better than wearing Octoling armor.
The two Octolings easily mixed in with the crowds and attracted no attention from the hovering saucers.
Observing the chaos it seemed like the Undercity was split in two between the Octarian army and the citizens.
However upon closer inspection Victoria noticed that was not the case.
"Look at that, those guys are waving a different message around." Victoria told Eliza.
"Not just that, but it seems like alot of citizens are staying indoors as they were told." Eliza added, noting the occupied buildings where silhouettes of Octarians could be seen.
From what she could see, Victoria concluded that Vale's message had split Octo Valley into three parts, not just two.
There were the ones who were outraged to discover that DJ Octavio had been suppressing their free thoughts using music and wanted both Acting Leader Octavia to step down along with DJ Octavio.
Then there were those who held signs saying things like 'Not my Acting Leader' or 'bring back Octavio'. These Octarians seemed okay with Octavio's way of ruling, but did not approve of Octavia's aggressive actions towards their own people.
Finally, it could be assumed that those staying indoors and obeying the Octarian army, were either too sick, too scared or were indifferent towards who was leading them. Although many Octarians were out to protest against Octavia, the majority were still indoors.
"What about food? We should do something about our dwindling supplies. Where did you get the rations we currently have?" Victoria asked
"From Melanin prison of course, though we cleaned that place out." Eliza replied.
"Hmm, say perhaps we could raid a store or something while the army is focused on the citizens?"
"It would be difficult to do so, it would probably be easier to steal from hovercrafts delivering supplies to Nautilus base."
The two Octolings continued moving, to not draw suspicion.
Eventually they walked by an open window, which caught their attention.
They could hear sounds coming from a T.V inside.
The two stopped and pretended to have a conversation, while in reality they were paying most attention to what they heard from the Octo Valley News Bulletin.
"..- has been falsified! This is clearly an organised attack by Vale in order to discredit me. She'll go to any length in order to soil my reputation. Don't trust those out in the streets, they are clearly instigators sent by Vale to give the impression that Octo Valley is turning against me!."
"That was the Acting Leader's final comment on the matter, we remind citizens not to interfere with the army in anyway, they are there for your own safety and for the betterment of Octarian kind."
"Yes, we must trust the brave octopi who choose to risk their lives for our safety."
"From OVNB i'm Koya."
"And I'm Taki."
Following that Victoria and Eliza moved on, discussing what they heard as they walked.
"We've really managed to put Octavia in a corner. I never expected one broadcast to have so much power. A few words have done more for us than a dozen battles." Victoria said.
She had never even considered trying to speak to the Octarian public like Vale did, now she was seeing the results and was in awe.
Captain Vale didn't just think about battles and war, she really thought outside the box.
"The captain is always seeking new ways to defeat her enemies. She had quite a few plans for Inkopolis too you know. If not for Octavia meddling, the war with Inkopolis would have started and ended long ago."
"Ha, I don't think even Vale could pull something like that off."
"What? You don't think we can take on a bunch of Inklings with no combat training?"
"Inkopolis is completely different from Octo Valley, someday you might go there and find out yourself." Victoria didn't want to mention the respawners out of concern for Eliza's feelings "Octavia once sent a small group of Octolings to Inkopolis in order to arrest me. They were constantly looking over their shoulder and panicking despite all the training they went through. The strain from being in hostile territory so far from home was probably too much from them."
"That I can understand, still under Vale's leadership, the Octarian army would be doing much better."
"If you say so."
Victoria didn't arrive to the Undercity with just Eliza, there were ten other Octarians from Vale's splatoon here.
Victoria's idea was that everyone would split into groups of two and wander the Undercity to gather information.
She had designated three areas as 'rally points' after two hours, they would all meet at the first point and exchange information, then disperse again.
They would repeat this twice before heading back, hopefully with some useful information for Captain Vale, who they assumed, would be unable to take meaningful action due to Octavio's control over her.
And if they were right, they would keep going on their own.
Approaching a mob of Octarians calling for Octavia to step down as Acting Leader, Victoria and Eliza observed a 'wall' of shielded Octotroopers holding back the mob.
Well that was the original use for shielded Octotroopers, until Octavio brought them into the army…
Victoria and Eliza bended in easily, and were more than capable of observing the Octotrooper formation up close.
They couldn't hear anything clearly because there were so many voices around them but they could see an Elite Octoling commanding the Octotroopers.
Victoria and Eliza had just heard about this from one of their fellow Octolings, that the Elites seemed to be commanding the groups sent to suppress any uprisings.
Looking at the Shielded Octotroopers, it seemed like not all of them were willing to carry out their orders, Victoria guessed that some were only complying because the Elites were standing there.
Having seen enough, Victoria and Elize slipped away.
"The captain said that as long as there are Elite Octolings, Octavio will remain in control of the Valley. Perhaps we can do her a favor and splat the Elite Octolings while pretending to be protesters?" Eliza suggested.
"That could work, but well.." Victoria wasn't ready to agree.
"You're worried that Octavia might order the army to just purge everyone?" After seeing the aggressive actions of the Elite Octolings on tape, Eliza felt that 'purge' was the right word to use here.
"Well we've seen that Octavia prefers to force her way to her goals, I wouldn't put it past her to do something like that. Maybe we can sneak Neon in here and pick off the Elites with her Charger."
"Sneaking an Inkling here? I can't see that working out."
"Right, assassinating the Elite Octolings in plain sight might end up provoking the army to attack the citizens."
"That's not what I was getting at, but sure."
The two Octolings observed the protests that they had help instigate.
A few hours later they headed back to Vale's hideout with virtually no trouble.
Guerilla Hideout, Octo Valley
Back in her lair, Vale was still pondering what to do.
The only thoughts that ran through her head was things like 'reconnect with old acquaintances' or 'fix Lila to gain the favor of Inklings'.
Unfortunately these were but distractions, trivial tasks with little importance yet Vale couldn't get her mind off them.
For some reason, she felt so empowered while she was standing in front of the camera, exposing Octavia to the rest of Octo Valley, yet now that it was done she couldn't focus anymore.
By now, more and more of her splatoon was realizing this, as did Inker and the others.
"Hey Inker, why don't you just tell Vale to listen to Calamari Inkantation? Wasn't that supposed to help fight Octavio's brainwashing?" Kal asked.
"I don't think it's that simple, besides what am I supposed to say? I doubt Vale would be happy to listen to a mind affecting song from Inkopolis." Inker replied
He didn't think that Vale would be too happy if he told her about Calamari Inkantation's effects, it was possible that Vale might just see it as Inkopolis' version of a mind numbing song.
"Don't you find it weird that Vale would only start feeling the effects of mind control now?" Sky asked
"What do you mean?"
"From what I understand, Vale was an Elite Octoling for years, plus she rebelled against the current Octarian leader right? I heard that she almost succeeded if not for an unfortunate distraction."
"Ahh right, I never gave it much thought…." Inker admitted
They had all known about Vale's attempted coup, but if she was really unconsciously submitting to Octavio, why was she able to do that?
"What if we think of Octavio's music as some sort of mental barrier that prevents Octarians from trying to overthrow him." Inker wondered. "If that's the case, then if Vale's coup was to get rid of Octavia, but not take over Octavio's position as Octarian leader, it would be possible."
"Uhhh… even though I had a few lucky guesses with Lila, I still can't understand this whole mind control thing." Kal said.
"I don't either, I'm just wondering if there is some sort of loophole."
"There has to be, considering Octavia is able to have complete control over Octo Valley." Came an unfamiliar voice.
There was an Octoling standing there, whose name was unknown to Inker.
"Ohh is it time for my language lessons again?" Sky asked.
The Octoling nodded and Sky got up and left with her.
Though the Octoling only cut in for a moment, Inker thought about what she said.
'If Octavia, who was also an Elite Octoling, could find a loophole in Octavio's control then maybe Vale could too.'
'Then again, I have hardly any idea how these things work, maybe I should just make her listen to Calamari Inkantation 24/7.'
"Hey, hello? Inker? Come on dude, don't just space out on me." Kal waved his hand in front of Inker to bring his attention back.
"Oh right…. I think Vale has a better chance of figuring things out than we do. Maybe we should just agree with whatever plans she's got just so we can get them out of the way."
"No." Kal replied instantly "That would mean bringing Lila back down here."
"Do I look like the Vanguard Movement to you?"
"Haha." even if he laughed, Kal would have preferred to forget about the Vanguard Movement.
"What if we brought Lila to Vale, but in a safer place? Say, Cap'n Cuttlefish's place, right beside the manhole to Inkopolis?"
"I'd rather just leave Lila out of this completely, I mean it's fine if she still has trigger words in her head right?"
"You tell me, you're the new Laven." Inker joked
"Don't call me that, and how is Lila going to help Vale get back into action?"
"I don't know, I'm just wondering if maybe…"
"Hey don't just trail off."
"I'm not sure, I mean we know that Vale is trustworthy at this point, so I don't think Lila will be in any danger and if she can get her mind off these little things, maybe she can go back to ending Octavio's regime."
"Why you just give her a headset and make her listen to the Inkcantation."
"Vale's stronger than me remember?"
"Just get Neon to help you."
"She's leaving for Inkopolis again tomorrow."
"Seriously? She just got back like... yesterday!"
"It's Neon and we are weeks away from the final splatfest."
Neon going back for the final splatfest didn't surprise Kal the least.
She was probably bored of sitting around doing nothing but exercise and target practice all day and couldn't wait to go back to Inkopolis.
"You know what, I trust you. I'll go with Neon back to Inkopolis and pay Lila a visit. If she doesn't mind seeing Vale again, I'll bring her to Cuttlefish's place."
"Alright, I'll go tell Vale, hopefully she'll be able to properly lead her splatoon once she's cleared all these distractions."
A/N: Sorry for the delay, right now i'm in this strange situation where I know which way I want this story to go, but I have trouble getting there. I should be able to pick up the pace once this and the next chapter are done.