Avrika sat at rigid attention, her nerves raw from many anxious hours in anticipation of this meeting. On either side of her was Lord Hobber and Lady Sever, neither saying a word as, in front of them, Dictatrix Octavia read out the proposed agreement on the crisp white sheet of paper.

When she finally put the paper down and met her eyes, her expression was deathly serious.

"This is quite a thing you've proposed, Ambassador. I hesitate to call it anything like a trade or a plan; it's too insane."

Avrika fought the heat creeping up her neck and tensed her facial muscles as she forced herself to remain calm. "I… well, you did mention that we were going to have to take risks. I was just trying to take advantage of the opportunity."

"Opportunity for what? Betanuss, if we were just talking about the equipment they wanted we wouldn't be having this conversation. You're talking about sending over one-hundred troops – over one-hundred Octarian lives, into the capital of a nation we've been trying to invade for the past two years to help them fight a conflict which we have no real stake in other than the word of a single inkling you've spoken to."

"Yes, Ma'am," Avrika almost choked the words out but she refused to allow herself to wilt here and now after coming so far. "Strictly speaking, we would be coming in as mercenaries, rather than an official force sent by our government. As in, soldiers hired and paid to fight rather than for the nation they belong to. As the proposal says, we stand to earn a great deal of money."

Octavia picked up the paper again. "Those are certainly a lot of digits, but what's all this stuff about credit?"

"It's actually quite good for us," Lord Hobber interjected. "Essentially, they're creating a system where they owe us the equivalent to the sum of their own currency which we can use to purchase virtually anything we need from them up until that number runs out. To put it in perspective, we would be able to purchase the equivalent of over ten-thousand splattershots, which is more than we've produced in the past century combined. Now, imagine those resources put to something else, like the vertical farms you wanted produced."

Octavia's tentacles swayed slightly at the mention of that, but her expression remained neutral. She looked over at Lady Sever next.

"Lady of War, am I to assume you stand opposed?"

"I do," she said firmly. "While I understand the Ambassador's reasoning and there was no harm in the proposal itself since we have ample room to refuse, I can't support sending our troops into a combat situation against an enemy they have never even been trained to face for a people we've considered our most hated enemies for over one-hundred years. While I firmly believe they will do their duty, it's a bit much to put on them and who knows what kind of diplomatic incident could be caused."

"I am certain Callie is aware of those possibilities," Avrika said. "Which is why she wanted no more than 150 Octarian troops."

"Octoling troops, specifically, according to this paper," Octavia pointed out.

Avrika nodded. "I can't imagine regular octotroopers would do well against crabs." Not that she would shed many tears over the result.

"Ah, yes, the crabs. I remember my father mentioning them more than a few times as I was growing up. Do any of you know of our history with their people?"

Lord Hobber scratch his head. "I had time to take a cursory look. It does seem like we were quite bitter enemies at one point until the Great Octolords defeated a major invasion. That was the war that created the modern Octarian Army, a standing imperial force ready to police the nation and defend it from external threats." He said the words with pride and even Lady Sever smiled just a little.

"Do you think it's possible that the crabs really might attack us if they defeat the inklings?"

He shrugged his tentacles. "Impossible to say for certain without knowing the broader situation. After all, who knows what's changed since then, but we were all surprised when the inklings offered peace terms instead of trying to conquer us outright."

"But if they had that capability, really, they wouldn't need our help right now," Lady Sever pointed out. "I'd rather have the two sides beat each other up and then, when they're weakened, strike down whoever's left standing. Militarily, I believe it makes the most sense."

Avrika pressed her lips together. That was wrong. Sever was still thinking of this as a purely inkling and Octarian situation, but the crab nations were across the sea, and there were other nations besides them. What if Calachora had other allies? What if the crabs were so overwhelmingly strong that they stood no chance? They didn't know, they couldn't know.

"Dictatrix!" Avrika spoke firmly and forcefully, putting all of her conviction into her words. "I realize this is a gamble, but haven't we already thrown our lot in with the inklings? The only people outside of our own borders we can trust at all are the inklings of the NSS and if something happens to them, we will be completely isolated and alone. We know virtually nothing of the world outside the domes. That's why we've been forced to rely completely on those four inklings to do everything on the other side for us. This is our chance to do something of our own, to seize our destiny for ourselves and do something for our future ourselves instead of relying totally on them.

"Yes, it's possible, even likely, that some of our soldiers will die, but at least this way they won't die in vain, because they will be fighting a battle that will finally drag us out into the light of day, to allow us a chance to see the world for what it is instead of only what's been relayed to us. We have to seize this chance to stand back up on our feet. The inklings offered us the chance to be seen and treated like equals, now we must act like it. Because if we just stay in our home in the ground, what will that tell Calachora's leadership when they eventually find out about us?"

Octavia sat and stared at her for a full minute, but it felt like an age. Finally she sighed and sat back in her chair.

"Well, I can see you feel strongly about this, and as much as I want to trust Callie she is still only one inkling and she's still very young. I admit, I like the idea of standing up on our own instead of our sinking society being held up by them." She grinned. "And even though we're being paid, I like to think that they'll owe us for this."

Avrika grimaced. "Ma'am, we already owe them so much."

Octavia raised a finger. "Not Callie and Marie, I'm talking about Calachora's leaders. I have a feeling that those girls are doing their government some kind of favour. After all, dealing with that kind of problem is something a government would usually handle, yes? Not citizens." She chuckled. "I could swear that Callie and Marie are more Octarian than inkling."

Lady Sever looked thoughtful. "And this is a battle we stand to win too. It could be quite the morale boost." She grimaced. "But I have no idea how it will affect the building Loyalist faction. It could make them weaker or stronger."

"We can't worry about them right now, Sever, we need to focus on what we can do. Besides, Betanuss is right, we can't waste an opportunity like this when the potential benefits are so great, especially from what we might learn from the incident."

"Understood, Ma'am, but, er, did you read the part about whom our troops would be commanded by?"

"I did. Don't worry; technically, Callie is still a legate in the Octarian Empire, and, from what I've been told, she had the full confidence of the personnel sent to collect the scrap."

Lady Sever frowned deeply and Avrika had to suppress a grimace. Callie had certainly won over the troops with her gift of gloves, a warm mid-day meal for them all, as well as just talking to them and getting to know them in general. She had an infectious personality and a charisma seldom seen. Seeing it all in person, Avrika had a clearer perspective on how she was able to operate as a legate in the army.

"Lady Sever, I know which troops have worked with Callie in the past. I'll give you the information you need to make your selection. If we're doing this we might as well go in fully on this with 150. I will explain the situation to them myself before they are sent off."

"Understood."

"Ambassador, you made it sound like you would be going as well."

Avrika nodded slowly. "I think I should, given that this is my responsibility, and since I am not officially a soldier anymore I and my bodyguards would not count towards the 150. Besides, this is my chance to see more of the city and gather information."

"Exactly. I don't know how but you need to try and learn everything you can. I want maximum effort from everyone."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good. Then let's get started, and may the Sovereign God be with us all."

They all stood and bowed. As they turned to leave however, Avrika was stopped.

"Another moment, Ambassador. I want to ask you something."

Avrika stopped. The others paused but then quickly left the room. She then turned and faced Octavia again. She was pouring herself a glass of water. It made Avrika realize that, after such a long meeting, she was quite parched herself.

"Tell me, Betanuss, was it really you who came up with this idea for sending troops?"

Avrika frowned. "Well, um, yess, Ma'am. Why?"

"I mean no offense, of course. I just thought someone else might have pitched the idea to you at some point and you picked it up. Never mind it. You're dismissed."

Avrika bowed her head and left the Dictatrix's office but her frown remained and doubt gnawed at her.

She passed through the anteroom, Kalisha and Aishi falling dutifully into step behind her, but she barely registered their presence as her mind whirled.

She had proposed the idea herself. She couldn't recall anyone ever suggesting the idea of sending a unit of troops as mercenaries, it was too crazy and too out of character for the army to do such a thing. Nobody she knew would have even joked about the possibility or otherwise planted the idea in her head.

"Unless….."

Avrika stopped suddenly in the middle of the hallway, her guards nearly ran into her.

Aishi spoke out worriedly. "Honored Mother?"

But Avrika didn't hear her over the thought that had just exploded into her mind.

Had she been… manipulated into bringing an army?

The growl from Vella's stomach sounded in the darkness. It had been some time since she had been so hungry. Her stomach was no longer accustomed to going without food for almost entire days, but had instead been spoiled by the plentiful and rich food of Inkopolis, and she craved it terribly.

The scraps of her last meal were long since gone and she had lost all track of time. She had no idea how long she had been in the dark of her small prison, the only light being that which came through the tiny crack under the door. Occasionally she would see a shadow of someone passing and hope that they would open the door and let her out, only to be disappointed as they continued past.

She let out a tiny groan and curled into a tighter ball as she lay on her mat on the floor. She had no blanket (something else she'd gotten used to having), and the only way for her to stretch in the small compartment was to stand up. She just wanted this ordeal to be over.

She heard familiar footsteps approach but refused to acknowledge it lest her hopes be dashed. However, the shadow stopped in front of the door, and Vella could no longer keep the hope down, it swelled within her to whole new heights and gave energy to her being that she had been terribly lacking in.

The door swung open, flooding the small compartment with yellow light and Vella shielded her eyes as she squirmed on the mat.

"Have you learned your lesson?"

"I have," Vella croaked, her mouth and throat parched and dry. "I'm sorry, I did not appreciate what I have, I didn't not appreciate my situation and I was disrespectful to you and those only trying to look out for me. Please, forgive me."

Vella bowed her head and and down on her hands and knees, pleading to every god listening, even the Sovereign God if he was willing.

"Alright, stand up, Vella."

Vella stood, needing to steady herself against the doorframe to do so. By now, her eyes had adjusted, and she found herself meeting a pair of amber eyes just like her own, though they regarded her sternly.

"Do you think I enjoyed doing this?" Hachiko asked her. "Do you think I found it pleasant to keep my little sister locked up in a closet to punish her for what was, let's not mince words, an act of insubordination, dereliction of duty, and going AWOL." She sighed and brought a hand to her forehead.

"Most of those things I realize I'm also technically guilty of. The potential for hypocrisy is not lost on me, Vella; however, you were warned about the potential dangers and nearly got killed for it. We already discussed what you should have done so we won't go over that again.

"Do you understand now just how good you've had it, what we, what I have tried to do for you?"

"Y-yes, I do."

"Then explain it." Hachiko crossed her arms and stared Vella down.

"I… I'm here because someone offered me the potential for a better future and hoped that I could use the things I learned here to benefit the Octarian people as a whole." She bit her lip and thought again. "Um, and the inklings you work with are not my enemies, they are my benefactors."

"That's right. Need I remind you that all the money you've been living on has come from an inkling. I expect you to start learning to be independent from now on and adapt to your situation instead of being inflexible and stubborn. That's how a great many octarians before us died, lest you forget that."

"I won't!"

"Then I expect you to be more respectful and less hostile from now on. I can't force you to like Three or Four, Callie and Marie; or even Pearl, but you will respect them. Am I clear?"

"Yes," Vella answered desperately. "Please."

Hachiko stepped to the side and Vella was at last able to leave her prison, stepping out into the hallway. It was almost like being able to breathe again.

"Before we do anything else," Hachiko said, "You'll help me put all the stuff back into the closet. After that, you'll shower while I make dinner."

She prepared to follow her sister when Hachiko suddenly wrapped her arms around her and pulled her tight.

"Please, don't make me do this to you again."

Vella, hesitantly, returned the hug. Vella acknowledged that punishing your own kin would be difficult. "I… I will do my best." She didn't want to end up imprisoned in Pearl and Marina's broom closet again either.

"Good. I'm proud of you for not trying to escape. It speaks a lot to your integrity. You should be proud too."

Vella nodded but really she'd simply been too terrified to try and escape. After a harsh dressing down from Hachiko and being shoved into the closet save for lavatory breaks, she'd been fed only a single small meal and a single bottle of water every day. While a modest punishment by Octarian standards, isolation and poor food after enjoying the fruits of Inkopolis had been a sobering experience.

"Thank you."

Hachiko released her and they set to work, going to the living room and gathering all the supplies that had previously been in the broom closet and replacing it.

Reentering the closet after having just been freed from it was difficult for Vella but she managed and the closet was restocked in a short time.

The shower came next and it felt wonderful. The warm water cleansed her skin and helped remoisturize her, bringing dried and wrinkled skin somewhat back to life, but it would probably be a few days before she was looking more normal.

Once she left the shower and changed into some fresh clothes Hachiko had provided her, she went to the kitchen and was greeted by a hearty meal of scallops, potatoes, and stew. It was all so delicious, the food her stomach had missed so terribly. She ate as much as she dared, not wanting to push her luck, but even that was probably more than she had ever eaten in one sitting in her life.

During dinner, Hachiko brought her up to speed. She had been in the makeshift prison for three full days and it was now Monday night. She told her of the Octoling and Inkling senselessly murdered as some form of reprisal for what occured on Friday when Callie and Agent 4 had rescued them. She was used to seeing death in the domes, but hearing of the way these two were killed was particularly gruesome.

"There's a plan to deal with the crab gangs and try to remove them from Inkopolis," Hachiko said as they did the dishes. "Callie and Marie are trying to get as big a force together as they can muster, but there are only so many Octarians in Inkopolis available for this and there are a lot of them who have other commitments, like nursing school and so on."

"How many do you think can be mustered?"

Hachiko thought for a moment. "They're hoping at least two-hundred, maybe two-fifty."

"Will that be enough?"

Hachiko sighed. "We can only hope so. We've never fought crabs, only the inklings have, and you. So we don't know how things will go. Three won't say so but she can't promise nobody will die on our side."

Vella nodded and shivered at the memory of fighting the crabs. She'd caught them off guard with her combat skills but once they were aware, they had nearly gotten her.

"I should… I should be a part of it. I'm the most experienced against the crabs of all the octolings and there's the murdered octoling to consider."

"They won't stop with her, that's for sure," Hachiko agreed. "I'll be going too as one of the splatoon leaders."

"You will?"

"Yes. I may not have fought crabs but I've certainly fought my share of different enemies in the Metro. I can't let those skills go to waste."

Vella nodded. "And could I join your splatoon?"

Hachiko smiled. "I would be honored if you would, little sister."

Vella smiled too. "I want a chance to prove myself too. I want to show that… that Octarians are perfectly capable of winning."

Hachiko nodded. "Four told me about that. Don't worry about it. She said he is clearly compensating for something."

Vella huffed. "Well, he was honest at least, even if he was wrong. It actually made him seem more trustworthy. He was the only other one to put up any kind of fight before Agent 4 appeared."

"Did sound like he was quite feisty. I don't know much about inkling males though. I don't interact with all that many on a regular basis aside from some of the ones at Pearl and Marina's studio."

"Whatever." Vella shrugged. "I'm certain Octarian males are better."

"Vella."

Vella winced. "Don't expect me to change overnight! Besides, I haven't had any better examples than them."

"Fair," Hachiko replied. "Hopefully, you will, once this whole mess is over."

"Sure," Vella muttered. "Until the next mess."

Marie looked at everyone seated around her, a mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces, all serious. In movies, a scene like this would have been dimly lit, probably with overhead spot lamps to emphasize the tension and the importance of what was going to be discussed. They had no use for such theatre, however, so the room was fairly well lit, with the rolling poster boards and their table sitting directly under reasonably powerful lights. The boarded up windows and the guards posted outside the door offered them all the privacy they needed.

She eyed Ambassador Betanuss and Scylla, the acting matron of what remained of inkling influence in Xapheerell Ward. Her guides had been extremely useful in helping Hani's scout group gather information. Without it, she would have felt much less confident going forward with all this.

"Well, I guess we're all here. So, unless anyone has any statements to make, I suggest we let Hani make her report." Nobody rose to speak so Hani, standing just off to the side, made her way to the poster board where a map of Xapheerell Ward and another map of the City of Inkopolis was stuck with push pins.

She pointed to one push pin that indicated the fortress nearest Scylla's holdouts. "Fortress One, as it has been designated, is where most of the crab's combat strength in the field seems to be gathered. We managed to get a quick look inside but we can only estimate that there are at least fifty, but probably no more than one-hundred."

Scylla tensed visibly, her mantle rippling with distress. Marie didn't blame her. Having that many crabs ready to come at you would make anyone worry. Worse for them was that they were going to have to somehow kick these same crabs out of a secure and fortified position with comparable numbers.

"There are no simple ways in," Hani went on. "But it seems some of the damage from the time the crabs raided has not been repaired. That allowed us to slip inside unnoticed, but a full assault is going to be more difficult to manage."

Callie waved a hand. "We still have a bit of time to come up with something more detailed. We won't like it but it's going to have to be a last-minute thing. It's better to have a more robust general plan than a really specific one that just falls apart once one or two things goes wrong."

Hani took that as her cue to move on and began talking about the other fortresses, pointing at each corresponding push pin on the map and giving them the suspected strength and disposition of each. She kept going until her finger moved to the city-wide map and gently pressed onto a yellow push pin on a wharf at the harbour.

"This, we believe, is their central headquarters. Crabs we've identified as leaders frequently visit this place. We also noticed a fishing boat that dropped off numerous crates to the warehouse there. What's in them is unknown but they seemed important the way they were handling them."

"Weapons maybe," Kifi muttered. "But we didn't find much in the way of weapons that the crabs traditionally use."

The ambassador hummed thoughtfully. "Perhaps they invented something new specifically to counter our two species."

"I don't even want to imagine what that would be," Marie said grimly. "But we can't worry about that right now. Hopefully, whatever they are, stay in their crates. We might be able to salvage them at the end of all this. Any ID on the boat?"

"The Salty Maiden. It's a fishing boat registered in Inkopolis, but it's owned by an inkling captain."

"A traitor?" the Ambassador asked.

Scylla snorted. "No way. No Inkopolis sailor would ever 'elp the crab gangs. They 'ate 'em as much as we do, not to mention the way they've been trying to bully 'em into giving fishing territory and berths for their boats." The right side of her mouth pulled back in a savage grin. "'Course, they didn' realize sailors ain't like regular city folk."

Callie chuckled. "I imagine they've learned the hard way. Hopefully, they'll back us up a little during the fallout from this whole thing."

"Let's not think about that right now, please." Marie rubbed her forehead. She was so tired, had barely slept in days and barely been at home. The only times she had been at home had been spent eating. Her nerves had been ground down until they were so raw that a mere breath could set them off. They stood a good chance of getting exposed, and if they were, she wasn't sure how they would handle the government coming down on them, even if their actions were justified. Not to mention the idea of killing so many… it just wasn't the sort of thing the squid sisters were supposed to do.

Enough, can't think about that right now. Focus on the task at hand, now that you've already chosen this path.

"What about numbers?"

"Most likely the largest numbers outside Fortress One," Hani replied.

"We think they've been smuggling people in," Scylla said. "Probably people our government might actually turn down if they tried to come in through immigration."

"And what kind of people do you think they are, based on the ones you've encountered?"

Scylla pulsed grey with red blotches. "Not sure exactly, but I'm guessing they're crooks or ex-army types. Probably whoever they don't want back home so they're sending 'em 'ere to cause trouble 'fur' us instead."

"That would only work if their leader could keep them under control," Callie pointed out. "Unless they're disciplined or obedient, their secrets might get out through them trying to escape or something else. Regular crooks aren't the kind of people you can keep cohesive and disciplined."

"We should expect them to have some of their more professional fighters there." Betanuss pointed to the map and drew an imaginary line in the air between it and Fortress One. "That's where they'll be getting their reserves from, where and when they need it."

Marie grimaced. She had been hoping attacking the wharf wouldn't be necessary. Since it was technically outside of Xapheerell Ward, that would be much more difficult to disguise as a gang-related turf war, but they couldn't just leave them with a beachhead in Inkopolis. If they were going to do this, it had to be a complete job. It would mean a longer fight and potentially worse consequences but it should still be manageable.

"We'll be going there last, after we've already taken out all the fortresses. It'll be up to Scylla to secure the ward while we move on and deal with the wharf warehouse. We'll need to hit it in the early morning when all the boat horns and sounds of the waking city will help hide the ruckus. There's really only one direction we can attack from so it won't be anything fancy, which means we'll be playing to the crab's advantage. Let's hope our new bag of tricks will help even the odds a little. Any questions?"

"What 'appens when it's all over?" Scylla asked. "What you gonna' do? You 'spect a whole army to up and disappear without anyone seein'?"

"It's not really a whole army," Callie pointed out. "A lot, sure, but not an army's worth. Let's just hope it's enough to fight whatever the crabs have to throw at us."

"I'm talkin' about what 'appens if you get caught. 'Rest of us are fine but you two are big names. You get spotted an' first thing we'll see is your names plastered all over every site an' newspaper in the world."

"We're aware." Marie couldn't help but sound aggravated. She'd been over the same thing so many times in her own head, after all. "But it's a risk we have to take. This is bigger than us, it's about Inkopolis, not to mention what it could mean for all the octolings." She let out a heavy breath and forced herself to calm down.

"Your concern is appreciated, really, but we can't stop just for us. We'll just have to deal with what comes and hope we can ride out the storm." She smiled in spite of herself. "We're only two people vs. your entire shoal, after all, not to mention everyone else in Xapheerell Ward. All that's much more valuable. We'll just have to hope the government sees things our way."

She let out a long breath and met the eyes of everyone else at the table. "Any more questions directly related to this? No? Then we'll move on to assignments, starting with you, Four." Four, who had been leaning her head on her hand, suddenly perked up. "You'll be leading Splatoon Gamma-Three, under Agent 3's command."

Now both girls looked surprised, and Marie couldn't help but smile. Neither could Callie, it seemed.

"Come on," Callie said. "Four, I know you had a rough time with Cricket Squad but this is different. You know a little more about leadership now and you know the girls of Work Detail aren't gonna' give you lip. They'll trust you."

Four looked hesitant. Understandable, it was a lot of responsibility, especially taking them into deadly combat. It wasn't ideal but Marie needed every commander she could get, and nobody could doubt Four's skill or her ability in combat. To Marie's relief, Four eventually pulsed green, though she still had reservations. That was fine. Marie hoped that the coming battle would lift her confidence. It wouldn't be easy, no matter what, but they might just turn out alright with the right people in the right places.

"Three?" Callie asked. "Do you really think someone else can lead the girls who have all pledged eternal loyalty to you?" Three flushed while Scylla looked surprised.

"A life debt? Serious?"

"Very. She's never commanded a group this big before in battle but I'm sure she can handle it."

"She's been doing a good job of commanding us so far," Kifi said, beaming a smile at Three. "We would all give our lives for her."

Through tuk'yan," Three protested that statement, but Marie considered it an effective means of persuasion. In mere moments, Three had also acquiesced to her assignment.

Marie nodded. "Good. You'll command the entire company as well as your Gamma-One splatoon. Unless you have any objections, Kifi will command Splatoon Gamma-Two."

Three flashed green, indicating no objection, and Marie moved on.

"Good. Hani will be commanding a slightly enlarged reconnaissance unit, designated Delta Splatoon. Callie will be commanding the Alpha Company, which will be the Octarian Army units we're bringing in, and I'll be taking Beta Company, mostly Work Detail girls who didn't pledge to Three." She couldn't resist that last, playful jab.

"Any further questions or concerns? No? Then we'll move on to how we actually get into position without getting noticed because unless we can do that, this whole plan is bust. We win, Inkopolis and the Domes have a chance at peace. We fail, we all burn. Let's make sure we get this part right."