Undercity, Octo Valley
Fighting broke out all over the Undercity, what was once considered the only habitable area in Octo Valley became a beacon of conflict.
Octavia and her better trained but overpopulated Octarian army was attacked at almost every turn by Victoria and her smaller and less equipped but easier to organize New Octopolis army.
Both Octavia and Victoria knew that the Elite Octolings were dwindling in number and they were essential for keeping the army in check.
So both sides had their own ways of dealing with them.
"Kevin, Eliza's splatoon is fighting an Octarian army splatoon in the southwest area of the Undercity, go over there and get an aerial view of the situation, if you see any Elite Octoling, send a volley of Inkstrikes at them." Victoria ordered
"Uhh you sure? I don't think we've got enough juice to get all the saucers in the air."
"Just one saucer will do, go for it."
"Wow I've never seen you this serious back in Nautilus, alright I'm on it! Come on guys, you wouldn't want to miss out on this would ya? Especially you Tony." Kevin said before taking off with his usual squad of Octosnipers
Victoria's plan was to focus on the Elite Octolings, after all she had heard from Inker that Captain Vale might still be out there doing the same thing.
If that was true, then they were most likely to run into her at some point, plus Victoria trusted Vale's judgement, so if Victoria figured that if Vale was going after the Elite Octolings there must be a good reason.
Should Captain Vale be found by her forces, Victoria decided she would rant a bit and lecture Vale on faking her death and leaving everyone behind, but she would also be thankful she was still alive and let her command this "New Octopolis" army.
'Yeah, I'll make Vale deal with this burden of leadership with me as payback.'
Nautilus base, Octo Valley
On the other side, Octavia had her own method of dealing with the massive losses of Elite Octolings over the past year.
"There is now an express training program for any Octoling wishing to advance to Elite, be warned the program is not to be taken lightly and only a small percentage will actually pass." Elite Octolings announced to the rest of Nautilus base.
Octavia had already relaxed some of the qualifications needed to become an Elite Octoling in the past, but never to this extent.
The quality of Elite Octolings were slowly going down as more fresh green recruits were able to advance rapidly to the Elite ranks.
"Ma'am, with this new program we might be able to resolve the lack of Elites in the army, but the other Elites and I aren't so glad that our ranks are so easily obtainable to these newbies." One Elite told Octavia.
"What? Are you saying you're jealous of new blood?"
"No ma'am, rather we don't like the idea of being replaced by inferior Octolings."
"Oh don't worry, you aren't being replaced."
To Octavia, giving these new Octolings an Elite title didn't actually make them a real Elite Octoling like her.
Rather the title itself was for show, it would make a normal Octoling feel more important and encourage them to stay with the Octarian army rather than join the New Octopolis army.
Plus they would serve as decoys or meat shields to the real Elites, who were the ones trained by Octavio.
"In short, I'm merely making them an Elite Octoling in name only, it will boost their morale, thinking they are much more capable than they really are, while at the same time painting a big target on their head." Octavia explained to the 'real' Elite Octolings.
"Ahh I see, sorry for doubting you Acting Leader."
"The best part is, we can leave these new Elites to lead the army and get splatted, while we can put our efforts into tracking down wherever these New Octopolis renegades are hiding."
"I understand, I'll get right on it!"
"And tell the reserve army to get off their butts and stand guard along the border, don't let anyone leave the Undercity!"
Undercity, Octo Valley
Back in the city, Eliza led her own splatoon to battle the Octarian army.
Unlike Kevin, who was tasked with bombarding Elite Octolings, Eliza had the task of ambushing enemy splatoons and trying to capture usable equipment.
With a group of Octolings and Octotroopers, Eliza fought an Octarian army splatoon twice the size of her own.
Though by now Eliza and the rest of Vale's splatoon had gotten used to being outnumbered.
"First squad, all of you have shields so take the lead, any other trooper should hide behind a shielded one if they are hit." Eliza instructed her Octotroopers.
In response Eliza's Octotroopers faced off against the Octarian army in a formation resembling one known as a phalanx in human times.
As for the octolings, they followed Eliza to higher ground.
They were fighting in urban environments after all, so there was plenty of buildings for the Octolings to ink and climb.
"We should be safe up here, alright troopers, fall back and let them come to us."
On Eliza's command, the Octotroopers began to reverse back to where Eliza and her Octolings were waiting.
Eliza had gotten this idea from watching a certain green Inkling girl fighting at Melanin prison.
Back then, that Inkling decided to climb up high and shoot down at Eliza's fellow soldiers.
Eliza realized then that for some reason, Octolings had a tough time hitting elevated targets.
If her splatoon had that kind of trouble back then, there was no reason Octavia's splatoons wouldn't have the same troubles now.
Eliza and several squads of Octolings fired down at the Octarian army in the streets.
Unlike when Vale secretly tried to overthrow Octavia, there was no hesitation in the troops.
All of those on Victoria's side believed the Octarian army to be still under Octavio's sway, while all those on Octavia's side believed the New Octopolis army was corrupted by Inkopolis.
Octarian army Octotroopers were splatted cleanly from above by Eliza and her Octolings, which meant their hovercrafts took minimal damage.
The Octolings of the Octarian army rapidly tried to ink and swim their way up the buildings to fight face to face with Eliza and the other New Octopolis Octolings.
Eliza and her Octolings quickly alerted each other to the climbing enemy Octolings and fired upon them, cutting down their numbers before they began a skirmish on the rooftops.
"No turning back now, we've got this!" Eliza shouted to her troops.
Above them, Kevin and his squad of Octosnipers flew low over the city, their eyes scanning the Octarian army for any Elite Octoling.
"Ahh there! I think I see one!"
As ordered, Kevin let loose a volley of Inkstrikes as soon as an Elite Octoling was spotted.
Eventually the Octarian army gave up and retreated, while Eliza and her splatoon was left to scavenge the battlefield for anything in working condition.
"Keep your head on a swivel, the army might regroup and come back here. Also check those abandoned buildings in case we are being watched."
"Now for the dirty work." an Octotrooper sighed as he hopped off his hovercraft to pick through the equipment left behind by splatted Octarians.
He was joined by the other Octolings and Octotroopers accompanying Eliza.
"Hey how's this?" One Octotrooper asked an Octoling, holding an Octoshot in its single tentacle.
"That's dented pretty badly, but I think the weaponsmith can fix it up."
"What about these goggles?"
"Should we really be taking goggles? I mean they might be our enemies but those goggles are the only way to identify a fallen Octoling."
"Ahh right, Let's leave them here."
Another Octotrooper inspected a small hovercraft.
"This one works, and it's got enough power to run for days!"
"Alright bring that with us we can clean off those scratches once we get back to the lair."
"No you can't! These scratches are proof of the care another trooper gave this craft before we got to him!"
Since they did not wear goggles, Octotroopers often left marks or doodles on their hovercrafts to tell them apart.
Just like the Octolings being unwilling to loot Octoling goggles, the Octotroopers did not want to remove any customization the previous owner of a hovercraft made.
They may be on opposite sides, but in the end they were all Octarians.
But there was one exception.
"Hey I think I found the goggles of an Elite Octoling!" One Octotrooper exclaimed, proudly waving the goggles in the air.
"Oh really? Good job!" Eliza congratulated the trooper.
"Thank you, thank you, I really didn't expect to find anything in those abandoned buildings, maybe we should search all of them."
"Wait a second, you found this indoors?"
"Yeah, what's the problem?"
Kevin was in charge of blasting the Elite Octolings from the air.
They saw him fire inkstrikes at what they presumed was an Elite Octoling, so why was this pair of Elite Octoling goggles found indoors?
"Just curious, that's all."
Maybe it didn't belong to an Elite after all, if that was the case Eliza planned to leave it behind for the army to pick up.
But first she should make sure, if it did belong to an Elite Octoling it would probably have important information.
Eliza rewinded the goggles and watched what it had saved before it's owner was splatted.
Then she took it off quickly, her eyes wide with surprise and confusion.
"I need to get this to Captain Holter and Agent 3." She said turning back to the Octotrooper who had brought her the goggles. "You were right, these did belong to an Elite Octoling."
"I knew it!"
Eliza raised her voice so the rest of the splatoon could hear. "Pack it up quickly! We're moving out!"
Eliza's splatoon took whatever was still in working condition and proceeded to trek back to the lair, while another splatoon showed up to occupy the area.
Guerilla hideout, Octo Valley
"Honor to the valley"
*click*
"Captain, Eliza's splatoon is back and they seem to have brought back alot of stuff." Lynn reported
"Great, if this keeps up Octavia won't have the advantage in numbers anymore." Victoria said
So far she hadn't been pushing the New Octopolis army that far into the Undercity, she had splatoon leaders like Eliza fight defensively with the goal of scavenging equipment for the volunteers.
After all, it was obvious that one should not seek to attack a numerically superior army head on.
According to plan, the New Octopolis army would only take over and occupy areas of the Undercity for short periods of time to scavenge for equipment and bring their volunteers back into the fold.
The battle Eliza had with the Octarian army was one of many, usually Eliza's troops would drop off their loot, grab some food and head back out, but this time Eliza had something for Victoria.
"Captain, you need to take a look at this, and bring Agent 3 as well."
"Inker? Promise you won't start a fight with him?"
"That's past me." Eliza replied, although she still didn't like Agent 3 this was something he needed to see.
"Alright then, Lynn tell Inker to get here on the double."
"Right away ma'am." Lynn took off quickly, she used to run chores like this for Vale and she would do the same for Victoria.
Inker and Sky had been getting real popular among the New Octopolis troops, since they were the first Inklings they could comfortably speak too, both in Universal and Octarian languages.
Kal still hung out with them, but he wasn't that popular as he couldn't speak Octarain like Sky, nor was he a famed warrior like Inker.
With most of the soldiers off fighting somewhere, Inker, Sky and Kal often struck up conversations with Octarian volunteers and the refugees they previously rescued.
Pretty much everyone they met was interested in Inkopolis and the surface life.
"You know Octo Valley isn't the only place that uses Power Eggs and Zapfish, Inkopolis does too." Inker said
Sky translated what Inker said to the non Octoling Octarians.
"Wait, from what I know, a Zapfish makes much more power than a power egg, what would Inkopolis need those for?" One curious Octoling asked.
"Ahh well that i'm not too sure hahah." Inker scratched his head in embarrassment "Oh but I do remember them being used to upgrade my Hero Shot." Inker showed the Octarians the sleek weapon with glowing green lights.
A few were nervous seeing a weapon so close for the first time, other more curious ones stepped closer to Inker for a better look.
"Now that I think about it, we mostly use power eggs in our factories."
"They're used to make Octoshots?"
"Not as far as I know, I just switch up the power eggs running the machines."
While the Octarians were fasinated by what Inker told them of Inkopolis, they were also interested in Sky's vocabulary.
*snicker*
"What?" Sky asked
"Oh nothing, I just like your accent, pfft." an Octoball replied.
Sky glanced at an Octotrooper for validation.
"Yeah you definitely have an accent, well it should be normal for the first Octarian speaking Inkling."
"Accent huh, then I should keep practising."
"For starters you should pronounce vowels longer and silence the following letter."
"Kindo like thees?" Sky said terribly.
Seeing the Octotrooper and Octoball burst into laughter Sky realized they played him.
"Very funny…"
In the midst of casual chatter, Lynn ran up to the group.
"U-umm, Agent 3, the captain requests your presence." she said.
Inker nodded, said "I gotta go, see ya." to Sky, Kal and the Octarians and followed Lynn off to see Victoria.
Kal and Sky watched their friend walk off, before following him.
If something involved Inker it probably involved Inkopolis or Inklings, so they would naturally be curious.
Inker arrived at Victoria's office, where Victoria had already watched what was on the goggles Eliza had brought.
Eliza glared at Inker when he arrived
"Took you long enough, quick you need to see this." Eliza said.
"Easy now, your splatoon should be done eating by now, head back to the Undercity." Victoria ordered
"Yes, of course."
"On second thought just get them to stand by for now."
"Alright."
Making sure Eliza wasn't there to bother Inker, Victoria showed Inker what was on the Elite Octoling goggles.
Specifically what happened in the last hour of that Elite Octoling's life.
The goggles recorded the Elite Octoling going on a jog through the undercity.
Inker wondered why an Elite Octoling would jog while in full armor, but he had seen Victoria, Lynn and all the other Octarian soldiers do it, so he assumed it was to get used the the weight or something.
Halfway through her jog, the Elite heard a voice "Emily! Where are you!"
It sounded familiar to Inker, but he was too focused on who the voice was calling for.
"Emily, could it be Emily Vale?"
"It's possible, but keep watching, guess who's calling for her."
Inker watched as the Elite Octoling entered an abandoned building, glanced around, then drew her Octoshot.
"I can hear you breathing, why don't you come out."
And from behind a dusty old sofa peeked an all too familiar purple girl.
"Wait hold on, pause for a sec…. Is that…. LILA IS HERE?!" Inker exclaimed.
Outside Victoria's office, Kal and Sky were eavesdropping on them.
The office was relatively soundproof, so they couldn't hear much,but when Inker shouted they could hear him clear as day.
"Lila!? Lila is in Octo Valley?" Kal exclaimed
"Shhh quiet! They're going to hear us." Sky snapped
"So what! Why is Victoria going to Inker for this? Why is Lila in Octo Valley? I saw her off at the Molluscs of Mercy orphanage."
"If you keep quiet and listen you might be able to hear more."
"U-ummm, what are you two doing?" Lynn asked, when faced with the strange sight of Sky and Kal plastering their ears against a door.
"Ohh Lynn, we were just-" Sky began, but Kal didn't go for an excuse.
"I'm trying to find out what Victoria needs Inker for."
"Ohh, w-well I know you couldn't possibly be helping Octavia, but you two look really suspicious right now."
"I don't care, I just heard Inker shout the name 'Lila' If it's something involving her why am I being left out? I was the one who had to suffer being Laven for months back then, why is Victoria keeping this from me?" Kal complained, his recent feelings of uselessness combined with Victoria leaving him out of things was getting on his nerves.
"U-umm, well this is only a hunch, but I think she-" Lynn began but Kal cut her off.
"That's it, I'm going in there to ask her directly."
"I'm not getting involved with this…" Sky said, backing away.
"Wait hold on, I was about to say that-" Lynn began, but Kal ignored both her and Sky, he put his hand on the doorknob, turned it and the first thing he heard was.
"I don't want Kal involved!" came Victoria's voice.
Inker had seen everything and wanted to tell Kal, but Victoria wouldn't let him.
"Why not? This is Lila we are talking about."
"That's exactly why, you tell him and he's going to want to come with us and get in the way!"
"That's true but-"
Kal quietly closed the door.
Inker and Victoria just confirmed what he was afraid off.
'I really am useless down here, aren't I?' Kal thought.
He had already been feeling out of place down in Octo Valley, where he had very little to do aside from occasionally getting to help Inker and Victoria.
'Is this how Victoria felt back in Inkopolis?'
For a moment Kal felt down, but he quickly shook the idea out of his head once more.
'No, there must be more I don't know! yes that's right, it's too early to feel blue!' Kal concluded.
He decided to look upset and barge in and question Victoria and confirm why she kept leaving him out of everything.
Kal rushed into the room surprising Victoria and Inker.
Thinking that there was some sort of emergency Victoria immediately stood up.
"Kal? What's wrong?"
"What's wrong? I just heard you mention Lila, plus something about not telling me? Just's what could possibly be so secret that you can't tell me?!" Kal demanded to know, hiding his earlier feeling of angst.
Victoria and Inker exchanged glances.
Inker suggested bringing Kal along and Victoria refused, Kal overheard that much.
But as to why Victoria was against bringing Kal along.
"Because I know you too well." Victoria replied "The moment I mention Lila you would have agreed to come along, no matter what. But that's the problem, you really aren't suited for this.."
"And Inker is?"
"Inker beat DJ Octavio, he might not know much about war, but he's at least proven himself capable in the past."
"Yeah? Well….. Well I've been to Octo Valley plenty of times by now and I'm still here!" Kal protested
"That's because there wasn't a full blown civil war going on! Look, I'm grateful for your help, but please make this easy on me and sit this one out. I can't be looking over my shoulder all the time making sure you're ok." Victoria replied.
"Are you saying I'm dead weight? I'm done so much in the past and now I'm suddenly just dead weight?"
"If a civvy like you keeps trying your luck, you won't be dead weight, just dead."
"What's a civvy? And what kind of nonsense are you spouting, remember that I was part of the Vanguard Movement's second wave."
"As if that's something to brag about."
"Look, I've made it this far, nothing's going to happen if I tag along."
"That's a death flag, no way are you coming with us now."
Kal groaned in frustration "Fine… I get it… I'm not needed right? You don't want me here? I'll leave."
"Wait…." Victoria stopped Kal.
It was true that Kal wasn't of any help, but seeing him off like this didn't sit right with her.
"I…uhhh…. I may as well tell you what's going on."
"Oh? Please do, actually I heard you mention Lila, did she somehow get taken from Inkopolis again?" Kal seemed to immediately calm down once Victoria agreed to explain things further.
But to Victoria, it seemed like the only reason Kal got so worked up in the first place was because he heard Lila's name.
"Why are you so concerned about Lila?"
"How can I not be concerned about a defenseless 11 year old wandering Octo Valley? Why are you even asking?"
"I uhh... thought you didn't like getting involved in troublesome events. You were so again pretending to be Laven back then.""
"That's true, but this is Lila we are talking about, I guess once I get to know someone I end up worrying much more."
"So that's it? Is that also why you're here now? Just because you got to know me so you want ot try and help?"
"Uhh yeah I guess."
"So hiding me in Inkopolis and saving me from the Octarian army, you do that for anyone if you got to know them?"
"Once again, why are you asking?"
"Oh nothing…. I just thought I knew you better."
"?" Kal thought Victoria was going to reveal what was happening with Lila, why did she suddenly go off topic?
Noticing Kal's expression, Victoria rapidly went back on topic before Kal could wonder anymore about it.
"Anyways about Lila, she's in the Undercity, apparently Vale had something to do with it." Victoria explained
"Vale? Did you say she died? What could she possibly need Lila for?"
"Well we're going to find out, I'm taking Lynn and Inker with me. I know you probably want to come too, but it really is best if you stayed here. You see, Lila has been..."
Kal stopped her there "Don't tell me now, you'll make me want to tag along. Just make sure you bring Lila back to Inkopolis and properly punish that Captain."
He left quickly, in case he changed his mind again.
"Kal? What was that? Since when were you so concerned about being included?" Sky asked as Kal sped past him.
"I don't know maybe I'm overreacting."
"You definitely are."
Undercity, Octo Valley
Lila watched Emily Vale pace around frustrated.
Ever since the civil war heated up there had been less and less places for them to hide.
They didn't know when the Octarain or New Octopolis army would arrive and start a fight in the middle of the street.
But that wasn't Emily's problem.
"I don't even recognise half the Elites we've taken out!" Emily complained
"Umm is that bad?" Lila really had no idea why she was here.
"Bad? Of course! As long as DJ Octavio's Elite Octolings exist he can control the army at any time, why do you think we're hunting them down? Octavia must be promoting random Octolings to try and protect the real Elite Octolings."
They had been spending their days, hiding and looting abandoned buildings all while assassinating Elite Octolings.
Well it was really Emily Vale doing all the work, Lila only sat by and watched.
Emily sighed, "I didn't want it to come to this, but our best bet is to head for Nautilus base itself and try to catch some of the real Elite Octolings there, it's going to be risky…"
"Oh umm, can I go home then?" Lila asked
There wasn't anything wrong with that, Lila didn't belong here and she knew it.
But for some reason Emily wouldn't let her go.
"Please, just trust me a little longer, we can fix Octo Valley, just the two of us, then nobody will ever have to go through what we have."
"But what if I-"
"Don't worry about the ifs just worry about the how. We'll go around and try to locate the army, once the coast is clear we will make a break for Nautilus base."
Lila yawned "Okay then…"
"Still tired? Need me to carry you?"
"No thanks."
"It's dangerous to fall asleep in the middle of a battle."
"I won't, there's no way I can sleep down here. It's such a bad reminder….."
"I've got your back, don't worry, nothing will happen to you. Besides I know Nautilus base like the back of my hand, they'll never see us coming."
Nautilus base, Octo Valley
As battles raged on in the Undercity, nobody thought to look for a single Inkling heading towards the main hub of the Octarian army.
Lila followed Emily to Nautilus despite the growing unease in her chest shouting at her to turn back.
The two quietly left a small trail of ink behind them by detaching the Ink Tank from the Bamboozler they had stolen, letting ink quietly seep out onto the ground.
There was no moonlight in Octo Valley so the trail of ink wasn't going to be easily noticed. But just for safety, Emily stopped the Ink Tank from dripping a few hundred meters from their destination.
They were close to Nautilus base.
To calm herself down, Lila forced herself to observe Emily's face.
The look of sheer determination she had, proved how committed she was to freeing Octo Valley.
"Umm, why do I need to be here?" Lila asked for the umpteenth time.
"Now is not the time for that, keep quiet, this place is swarming with the Octarian army."
It would have been easy for Emily to just pretend to be a normal Octoling, but Lila as an Inkling stood out like a sore thumb.
Actually Emily had her face shown everywhere and marked 'traitor' so she couldn't do any better.
"So where are we now?" Lila whispered
"Well we aren't anywhere important that's for sure, this is an outdoor shooting range that is mostly unused, it's outside of Nautilus' walls so there aren't any guards, just a patrol every now and then. Now if I recall correctly, there is one real Elite who often comes out here to practice late at night." Emily said, pulling out the Bamboozler they stole from Cap'n Cuttlefish.
"Boswell comes out here to keep her senses sharp, well let's put her to the test." Emily muttered.
There was nothing but a small shed nearby, so Emily and Lila hid inside.
"Ahhh, what's all this? It's too dark I can't see." Lila complained as she tripped over something inside the shed.
"Shhh, don't worry about it, there is nothing here but junk, things like broken Octoshots or old brushes." Emily snapped, peeking through a tiny gap in the doorframe, watching for her target.
Lila however was distracted by a particular object in the shed.
She couldn't see it clearly as her eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness, but something about it felt similar.
Was it the colour? No she couldn't make out the colour, the shape maybe?
Lila reached out and picked up the unknown object.
It didn't feel familiar, maybe she had only seen it before, but it felt so familiar to a point where she felt drawn to it.
Slowly she could make out what looked like a weapon with a flame painted on it.
"Is this?"
"Here she comes get ready!" Lila heard Emily say, but she was too focused on the object slowly coming into focus.
It was a Blaster, one that appeared to have been worn down from tampering, but still usable.
It had an L and an F engraved into the barrel.
"Lila? Lila! Focus!" Emily called for her but Lila was too focused on the blaster.
"Th-this is…. Laven's…."
There was only one person Lila knew who mained a Blaster and had L and F as his initials.
No wonder the Blaster only looked so familiar.
She had seen Laven with the weapon many times but never actually used it.
Now that her eyes adjusted to the dark, Lila noticed how worn the Blaster looked.
Did the Octarian army try to test it's limits or maybe replicate it by taking it apart?
"Dammit Lila! I need you with me!"
"Hmm? Oh yeah right, i'm here."
"Good, now there is no way they won't hear this shot, so on my signal make a run for our ink trail, I'll be right with you."
'U-umm okay."
Once again Lila wasn't doing anything but watching, what did Emily need her for anyways? Why couldn't she just shoot on her own then grab Lila afterwards?
Why did she even need Lila in the first place?
No time to think about that now as Emily Vale mercilessly splatted another one of her former comrades.
As planned, Lila ran with all her might as the nearby Nautilus base reacted instantly to the sound of the Bamboozler.
But she also took her brother's Blaster with her.
Lila changed to squid form and swam with all her might, with fear of being caught and splatted numbing out her fatigue.
The trail of ink she left behind allowed her to outrun the army, but it also meant they could easily track her down.
So as soon as she made it back to the Undercity, Lila ducked into the first building she saw.
"Haahhhh." Lila collapsed to the ground, tired from all the swimming and running.
"Hey, don't rest now."
Lila's heart nearly jumped out of her chest, when did Emily get here?
"We can't hide in the first building we see, this will be the first place they search, come on let's keep moving!"
"Ahhh I can't, too tired…"
"If you don't you'll die."
"Wahhhhh, okay….."
Lila and Emily ran further into the undercity.
If they could get closer to a battle, the Octarian army would be drawn away by the New Octopolis army.
With that in mind, Lila ran towards the sound of Octoshots.
"Ma'am the trail ends here."
"Don't just stand there! Fan out and search!"
"Yes ma'am!"
After losing yet another Elite Octoling, forces from Nautilus base were determined to catch whoever was behind this.
This time the unknown assailant had the guts to get so close to their main base, they even knew where the Elite Octoling would be at the time.
Whoever it was seemed to know the Octarian army well, it had to be someone who was previously in the army.
"Status report?" the Elite Octoling in charge heard over her earpiece.
"Acting Leader! We're currently hot on the trail of whoever has been picking off the Elites, just give us a bit more time."
"I can do better, I can give you an eye in the sky."
"Hmm? I thought all our saucers were blasted by that New Octopolis Octostriker."
"Yes all of ours, but not the ones of the Reserve army, one saucer is being retasked to you right now."
"Understood, thank you ma'am."
"Don't lose them, catch whoever is responsable, but if they meet up with the New Octopolis army, let them go."
"Let them go?"
"Yes, let them go. Haven't you noticed yet? The New Octopolis army's new leader isn't as clever as Vale, she does put up a good fight, but she forgets one important thing."
Lila ran as fast as her legs could carry her.
Only problem was that they were slowly giving way, she was exhausted, never in her life did she run so much.
"Huff huff" Her lungs felt like they would explode, she was breathing so fast her nose felt numb.
How much further to the New Octopolis controlled territory?
Lila pushed herself to move forward, she pushed her body to it's very limit.
She wasn't even keeping track of where she was anymore.
Emily was nowhere to be seen.
There had been a saucer flying around earlier but it didn't seem to notice her.
She could hear shouting coming from behind.
Was there a fight? Did the New Octopolis army see her?
She didn't care, she was too tired.
Ducking into an alleyway, Lila sat down and closed her eyes, she only intended to rest for a little while, but after running so much, she passed out almost immediately, falling into a deep sleep while clutching Laven's Blaster.
She completely missed the sight of Inker, Victoria and Lynn fighting the squad of Octarians that was tracking her down.
They had noticed the Octarian saucer flying about and found the squad scouring the buildings of the Undercity.
Since Victoria hadn't ordered any other splatoons to go this far into the Undercity, she knew that the army had to be chasing someone else.
It had to be who they were looking for; Lila.
Lynn wasn't all that confident in her skills, but Inker and Victoria sure were.
The two made quick work of the few Octotroopers searching for Lila.
They noticed the Octarian saucer above them speed away, probably going to grab reinforcements.
"That saucer is from the reserve army, if they are close by we will be easily overan, let's find Lila quick and get out of here." Victoria noted
"Got it!"
"O-okay!"
Lynn, Inker and Victoria split up, shooting ink everywhere as they moved without even trying to conceal their movements.
They shot, ran and swam in different directions, before Lynn found the little Inkling.
"I found her!"
Inker and Victoria quickly made their way towards Lynn.
Lila was in a deep sleep, so Lynn gently picked her up, she was still clutching Laven's Blaster as she lay sleeping in Lynn's arms "I've found the Inkling, but where's the captain?" Lynn asked
"She's here." Victoria said "Just get Lila back to base first.
"Huh? Inker asked "What about Captain Vale?"
"What about her?" Victoria asked confused.
Inker should have known already, after all Victoria did show him the footage from the Elite's goggles.
"Ahh right…" Victoria suddenly recalled how they were interrupted by Kal shortly after Inker saw Lila in the recording, he didn't see what Lila did after.
"I should have shown you the whole video." Victoria muttered.
"Uhh"
"It's all because Kal distracted us and I forgot!" Victoria complained "Look, we won't find Captain Vale because she was never here!"
"What?" Lynn and Inker cried in unison.
"I don't know what happened, but Captain Vale really is dead, I can't explain it any better so let's just head back to the lair, I think only Lila herself can explain."
Guerilla hideout, Octo Valley
"Ahh Lila!" Kal exclaimed, seeing Inker, Victoria and Lynn return with the familiar purple girl.
"Is she okay?"
"Yes she's fine." Lynn said, still holding Lila "U-umm she's probably just tired so can we put her down somewhere?"
"Right! I'll get Violet to prepare the infirmary." Victoria said.
When Lila woke up she noticed everyone around her
Agent 3, Lynn, Kalus, Victoria and a purple Octoling she hadn't seen before.
"Where am I?" She asked
"The main base of the New Octopolis army." Victoria said,
"Lila? Are you okay? Why did you leave Inkopolis?" Kal asked
"Hmm Kal?"
"Yes can you please explain what you did? I'm having a hard time understanding myself." Victoria added
"Umm, it was Emily, she showed up at the orphanage and told me she needed me to prevent what happened to Laven from happening again." Lila explained.
"Ehh! The captain is still alive?!" Lynn exclaimed, drawing the attention of nearby Octarians
"What?!"
"The captain is alive?!"
Former subordinates of Emily Vale were drawn to Lynn's outburst, all staring at Lila with expectation.
Even Eliza showed up "Hey this isn't some practical joke is it?" she asked, eying Agent 3.
"Yes! She was there! With me! She took Cap'n Cuttlefish's weapon and was hunting down Elite Octolings!" Lila said.
But Victoria shook her head.
"That's not what happened, Lila, Emily Vale has been dead for weeks now."
"HUH!?" the sound of various confused Octariansechoed through the lair.
"That's not true! She was there!" Lila insisted
"No she wasn't." Victoria replied "We found the goggles, we've seen what you did."
"Me?"
"Yes you, don't you remember that one Elite Octoling you jumped?"
"I don't remember such a thing."
"Well what do you remember?"
"Hmmm, Emily and I had been around the Undercity for a while, splatting Elite Octolings from afar."
"What about the one that was beat up, before being splatted?"
"Hmm? Oh yeah, Emily said she had a bone to pick with her, so she.."
"Wrong, just what did Captain Vale do to you?"
"Huh?"
Lila was confused, as was everyone else.
Except for Eliza and Victoria who had seen everything on the Elite's goggles.
"I have no idea how to explain it." Eliza said.
"Neither do I." Victoria added "Can you walk?" she asked Lila.
"Uhh yeah, why?"
"Come with me."
Victoria took Lila to her office, where she had previously shown Inker the footage from the Elite Octoling's goggles.
Kalus, Lynn, Inker and Eliza followed them.
"It wasn't Vale who beat down that Elite Octoling, it was you." Victoria said.
"What do you mean?" Lila asked
"Just watch."
Victoria played the footage.
It showed the Elite out of a run, hearing someone call for an 'Emily' and then spotting Lila in the abandonned building.
Inker had seen all this but he didn't see what happened afterwards.
As for Lila all this was exactly as she remembered it, now all that was left was for Emily to appear out of nowhere and save her, right?
But to Lila's surprise that didn't happen.
Instead Lila watched herself leap forward in a way she never thought possible, with a twisted she knocked the Elite's Octoshot away, then followed up with a second kick to the Elite's abdomen.
She saw herself grab the Elite's arm and twist it, making her drop her weapon.
"Surprised to see me Lieutenant?"
Lila remembered Emily saying that back then, so why did it sound like her own voice in this recording?
'What? Who are you?'
Because of the struggle the video became shaky, but for a moment it stabilized as the Elite Octoling got a good look at her assailant
'Inkling?' The Elite exclaimed before being knocked back further.
All they could see was a purple blur as Lila hit the Elite Octoling with a seemingly endless amount of punches and kicks, while also bo=locking any attempt the ELite made to fight back.
It was done with such a level of professionalism that it looks like all of Lila's attacks were linked together as a single combo.
To Inker, Victoria and Lynn, only Captain Vale had been capable of such a thing.
As for Lila she is was Emily? She was supposed to be there.
"You… I don't know what you're up to, but even if I die here, it won't help Inkopolis." The Elite managed to say, between blows. "They are next."
Lila however didn't mind.
"You think that's why i'm here? I don't care about Inkopolis!"
The Elite Octoling, who had been knocked down and suddenly flipped over in a violent motion.
Then she was pinned down by a Bamboozler.
"Take a good look at my face Mckenna? Did you forget who I am?"
"What?"
Because the goggles were recording everything from the Elite Octoling's point of view, everyone had a clear view of the assailant as the Elite Octoling looked up at the face of who was pinned her down.
It was Lila.
"It's me! Emily Vale! The same one you screwed over back in Octo Canyon." Lila shouted
'No it's ca-"
The recording ended there as the Elite Octoling was splatted.
Aside from Victoria and Eliza, everyone stared at Lila as if expecting her to explain.
But Lila didn't even know what happened.
She remembered seeing Emily beat down that Elite while trying to get her to remember who she was.
But the Octoling's goggles showed that it was actually her who splatted the Elite while claiming to be Emily?
"What?"
"Can you maybe explain? Why are you going around pretending to be captain Vale? And since when can you even fight like that?" Kal asked
"I-I don't get it! I don't remember doing any of that!"
"Then how do you explain what we just saw?"
"I can't!"
"I can."
Lila heard a familiar voice.
Emily Vale was there, with them in the room.
"Emily?"
Lila saw the former captain step forward, but nobody else saw anything.
To them, they only saw Lila's tone change as she spoke both her lines and those of Emily Vale's.
"I lied to you." Lila said, but it wasn't her speaking. "You let me undo the brainwashing on Lila, but at the time I was looking for a way out, I needed every Elite Octoling gone, including myself to ensure that DJ Octavio wouldn't retain control over Octo Valley."
"Uhh Lila?" Kal asked, confused by her sudden change in attitude.
"Not Lila, Vale." Lila corrected Kalus.
"What?"
"Back in Melanin prison, I started conditioning Lila, but Octavia took her from me before I could finish, when you let me undo her brainwashing, I didn't just undo what Octavia did, but I finished what I started."
"You what?!" Kal and the others were beginning to understand, and Lila kept talking under the guise of Emily Vale.
"The original plan was to get Lila to trust Claire, then I was going to put some of Claire's goals and memories in Lila's head. With enough trust in Claire, Lila would have the goals of the Octarian army in her head, and a second personality guiding her. This kind of mind conditioning is much much more effective than Octavia's and her primitive trigger words."
Lila didn't even look like Lila anymore, instead of her weak and naive self she looked proud and conceited as she went on about what Emily had done to her.
"Unfortunately Claire was killed by the time you left Lila to me, so took that role, I made Lila trust me, then put the goal of splatting the Elite Octolings in her head, along with some of my own memories and personality, of course I didn't put anything risky that might put Lila under Octavio's control. Yes Lila was my way out, this way I could get rid of the Elite Octolings including myself, without putting my splatoon at risk."
Everyone was shocked.
They had no idea such a thing was even possible.
Emily Vale had been much more clever than they imagined.
"So there you have it, I'm not actually Emily Vale, I'm just Lila with a few of Vale's skills memories and goals." Emily concluded.
Lila didn't believe the words coming out of her mouth, but she had seen some hints.
Emily did say she was dead, at the same time when she fought that Elite Octoling Lila felt sore afterwards, finally Emily couldn't shoot that Elite Octoling near Nautilus base when Lila was distracted.
"I'm… I'm sorry to have worried you all." Lila said.
"Is that Lila or Vale talking?" Kal asked
"Umm.. it's me Lila."
On the side a tear ran down Lynn's face.
Inker assumed it was because she had her hopes up that Vale might still be alive, only for those hopes to be dashed.
But Lynn wasn't just sad, she smiled slightly.
"Ahh… the captain…. The captain is still looking out for us from beyond the grave." Lynn said.
Even Eliza looked touched "As subordinates I don't think we could have asked for a better captain."
As for Victoria she was envious of the respect that Vale commanded. 'I wonder if I can be as good as her someday.'
Meanwhile Inker found himself dreading what might have happened if Vale didn't betray Octavia. 'Planning her own death and still fighting from beyond the grave? Man i'm glad that Vale is on our side.'
Kal was mad at Vale for playing them, but it was hard to stay mad when Vale and Lila were pretty much the same person now.
No Vale was dead, Lila is just a little something her left behind.
"Well now that that's over, you should head back to Inkopolis." Kal suggested to Lila.
"Oh umm right…"
"... what is it?"
"Well umm, how do I say this, but Octo Valley isn't as scary as it used to be."
"That's Vale talking."
"Not really, I mean I followed Emily here on my own accord."
"Yeah cause she messed with your head."
"I don't know, I feel like I can really help you all." Lila looked around "I see you've recruited much more Octarians to our side. Good job Lynn."
"U-umm, I know you were planning to leave me in charge, but actually Victoria is leading us so you should praise her."
"Then great job Holter, I assume Agent 3 is helping too."
"Yes of course."
"I see I did go through with my plan of training you three after all…"
That didn't sound like Lila
"Alright Vale, change back to Lila already." Kal demanded
"I am Lila."
"I mean just switch back to Lila's normal personality! Seeing Lila act like Captain Vale is just… weird!"
"She has nothing to say right now, but I do… Still I'm impressed, I didn't expect you to gather so many followers in such a short time and still keep them all hidden." Lila continued to praise Victoria.
"It was all thanks to your training."
"Huh, I conditioned Lila before that, so I can't remember any of it." Lila said
Kal on the side didn't like seeing Lila suddenly speaking like Captain Vale.
"Alright, why don't you just head back to Inkopolis, someone like Lila shouldn't be down here in the first place."
"Oh? Are you jealous that Lila can do more than you now?" Lila teased
"No it's just that…" Kal stopped realizing she was right.
He did feel a bit jealous, everyone except him was useful in some way down here.
"Well anyways, I have to congratulate all of you for making it this far with such a large group, I myself would have trouble staying hidden if I had such an army with me."
"Oh we don't need to stay hidden anymore." Victoria bragged "we've been whittling down the Octarian army bit by bit, in fact our numbers should be the same by now, and we still have lots of supporters in the Undercity."
"Wait what?"
"Yeah we don't have enough weapons and armor to equip everyone so we ha-"
"No not that, did you say you were trying to hide anymore?"
"Yeah, we're almost on par with the Octarain army, so there is no need-"
"Holter!" Lila as Captain Vale interrupted "Did you forget about the Reserve army!?"
Lila's words made Lynn and Eliza wide eyed, along with all the other Octarians watching, they all turned to VIctoria who stood frozen in shock.
"...Ah…."
Victoria had completely forgotten that there was a reserve army.
There was so much pressure on her after she started leading such a massive movement she let a few things slip her mind.
"Eliza… go check on the status of the splatoon in the Undercity."
"Yes ma'am."
Eliza ran off.
"Kal you should head back to Inkopolis." Victoria suggested
"Huh?"
"Head back to Inkopolis."
"No way, I can-"
"You can what? Things aren't going as good as I had thought, you can get in the way here so do me a favor and head back to Inkopolis!"
Victoria just confirmed what Kal was afraid off.
'I really am useless down here, aren't I?'
He wasn't an Agent like Inker.
He wasn't an Octarian like Victoria.
He wasn't bilingual like Sky
Now Lila was also more useful than him.
Why did he come here in the first place?
Octo Valley wasn't Inkopolis, it was a cruel and frightening place.
Those that came here always had a reason.
What was his?
"...Okay…"
A dejected Kal left the room.
"A-ahhh wait hold on, there must be a misunderstanding, see the Victoria really-"
Kal cut off Lynn's attempt to console him "Forget it Lynn, I'm not a soldier nor an Agent, I'm useless down here."
He had already been feeling out of place, time for him to go.
Victoria watched Kal leave, at first she was wondering why he looked so sad, only to then realized she was a bit too harsh.
There was so much stress on her that she made it seem like she didn't want Kal around.
"Ahh no! I didn't mean it like that! I just don't want you to get hurt!" Victoria shouted after Kal, but he was long gone.
For a brief moment Victoria considered chasing after him, but someone stopped her.
It was Lila, still in Captain Vale personality.
"Leave it, we are soldiers, we can only keep pushing forward after making mistakes.'
Victoria looked in the direction where Kal was last seen.
"You're right. The whole New Octopolis army is counting on me."
Though it didn't sit right with her, Victoria ignored Kal and instead waiting for Eliza to return.
"Bad news, the groups in the Undercity will have to fend for themselves, the Octarian army in marching through the Undercity and the reserve army is blocking anyone from leaving. Eliza reported
"Then gather everyone you can and find weaknesses in their blockade, clear the way for our Octopi in the Undercity." Victoria ordered
""Yes ma'am."
However before Eliza could leave, Kevin arrived.
"Yo Victoria, there are saucers above the lair."
"What?"
Inker, Victoria, Lynn and Lila followed Kevin outside.
There were Octarian saucers everywhere.
"So many…"
"What should we do?"
"What else? Evacuate the lair!"